I'm a tube amp guy and have little experience with solid state amp repair. But I have built many effects pedals. My neighbor asked if I could take a look at a broken phaser pedal for his friend. I agreed and they came by yesterday. The guy did an "oh by the way" could you look at my Marshall MG250DFX as long as I have it here. I told him I wasn't really a solid state amp guy but as a favor I'd look at it.

The guy said he wants to give it to a young nephew but when he turned it on, it sounded great but he could smell smoke and shut it down. I haven't powered it up yet. My quick research says this particular amp has a history of unreliability particularly in the power amp section. I'm thinking anything that causes smoke is likely coming from the power supply/power amp. I'll open it up to see if there are obvious signs of heat damage, but I don't want to spend alot of time on it if it's a lost cause (i.e. not worth repairing).

Anyone here familiar with this amp? It is even worth repairing? Based on what I've read, even when the amp works it's not real desirable in terms of tone.