Answer to a fellow TB'er who asked about MB 300's tone:
I would say it's a tube amp for a person who wants classic tube tones but also appreciates greater flexibility and higher fidelity. I haven't played through an Orange so I can't compare. But the CL 300 has greater clarity than an Ampeg, while staying more composed. It's more of a balanced amp. Plus its technology is amazing.
The weight & technology in this amp are second to none. It's 300 watts just like Ampeg but about half the Ampeg's weight. And the technology is really deluxe. On power up it let's you know when the tubes are heated. It automatically biases your tubes every time you turn it on. And it will bias the tubes between long life & hi-fi in less then 5 seconds, not even the best amp tech couldn't do that. Check out this youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT-THVVZW48
It has great clarity for being all tube, with the low-mids/high-mids knobs being the main controls to sculpt your tone. Cut both mids and boost the bass & you get a classic pillow soft attack with fat, airy bass tone. Crank the mids and switch on the hi-fi biasing and now you have near solid state cut & clarity, pedals sound great through the amp. This is it's strength, to be able to produce traditional tube tones as well as do a modern tube sound. Plus the technology allows use of this amp with out fear of knowing what is going on inside. The amp will message you before you need service, so it won't be an issue of it worked yesterday but not today.
The trade off good/bad is the amp is more composed than the Ampeg. It's warm and tubey, but the pre-amp doesn't fuzz out as much as an Ampeg. The pre-amp seems padded to maintain clarity. To push the amp past tubey warmth into fuzzland, I needed a boost pedal to help my passive bass. I thought about changing the pre-amp tubes to something that fuzzed out earlier, but by using a boost, OverDrive or Fuzz pedal to get that tone, I was able to maintain greater tonal possibilities. I'm not a fan of being limited to one sound. I used a DOD 250 re-issue for boost which pushed the front end into Ampeg land. I actually prefer the tone I got from pushing the pre-amp with my EHX English Muff'in & my buddy's Duncan Twin Tube Classic. Both pedals the nailed vintage tube amp fuzz tone but with greater control over tonal shaping compared to driving the front with just the DOD. The Duncan created a thicker, darker fuzz with tons of low end thickness; while the Muffi'n had more of a gainy, buzzy, British fuzz, a very sweet rock tone.
Its a Swiss Army knife of tube amps. It does a little bit of everything and does it well. It gives you great flexibility to sculpt the tube tone you want without painting you in a sonic corner.
