marshall mg50cfx is this a good amp?

The Marshall MG series is not a great amp. I mean it isn't terrible or anything, but there are far better choices. The Blackstar Danny mentioned is a far better sounding amp and you would need no effects pedals at all, just the optional foot switch to control the effects on the amp. Blackstar just rules the market for solid state amps in that price range. I'm getting ready to buy an ID:30 myself for rehearsal so I don't have use my Marshall JVM half stack and save the tubes for gigging. To me a Blackstar sounds closer to a Marshall tube amp than a Marshall solid state amp does.

Too many kids today are under the misconception that buying a certain amp or guitar will let them sound like they're favorite bands, Hate to piss in your cornflakes here but what your going to sound like is a kid with a guitar and 1x12 50w solid state amp, Not that its a bad thing, but your not going to sound like your favorite bands, You'd need to able to play at they're skill level and use pretty much the same gear as them to accomplish this,

As to the Marshall mg50cfx, its an OK little entry level amp I suppose, Marshalls intent here I think is to make kids believe that these little SS amps have some of the aura that they're Tube amps are renowned for, Which unfortunately is far from the truth,

In reality your paying for a name on the grill, Its no better or worse than any other 50w 1x12 on the market and most likely made at the same Chinese factory as them, An actual British made Marshall tube amp requires a much larger bank account, And to be honest I find that 4 channels on a 50w 1x12 SS amp to be a bit amusing, Wow Marshall seems to really be going after the head banger crowd with that puppy,

I think a little 1x12 modeling amp would be a bit more versatile, Rather than just a Marshall voicing you'd have a few more options. and believe it or not the modeling stuff today is getting pretty close to emulating the sound of a tube amp, Not that they can do it perfectly but there not one trick ponies either,

Which brings us to that peddle you seem to be interested in, Once that's in the loop the amp becomes a little less important. but in this case that Marshall is geared for the distortion the peddle your looking at is trying to do, hence going after the head banger crowd, meaning it already has a distortion effect built in, Kinda the reason for the 4 channels kid, Clean, Dirty, Dirtier and Dirtiest, so why you'd think you need to add more distortion is anyone's guess,

So now for some words of wisdom, Stop trying to sound like your favorite bands and concentrate on playing, Find an amp you like and go from there, and yes a little 1x12 is a good choice, brand is preference, from there you can develop your own sound and in the years to come improve along with the gear you choose. Hope you don't think this will be the last amp you buy?

Looks good to me, but I'd probably scrounge up another hundred bucks for this Blackstar:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers-effects/...

And not buy a pedal.

It looks reasonable.

Remember you need a pedalboard between the guitar and amp to control the tone (plus appropriate levels of skill on the guitar itself); any heavy rock / heavy metal guitarist uses effects pedals to create the tone / sound & the amp just makes it louder.

eg. have a look at this example for Avenged Sevenfold, below the Amps section:

http://www.uberproaudio.com/who-plays-what/188-ave...