Marshall AVT100

I bought this amp at Sam Ash Music for $659 because I needed an amp that I could do small gigs with.

The sound is good, when it works. I play a Strat, and I can get pretty good Marshall/Strat sounds out of it (Jimi, etc) considering it's a valve amp. You can get a nice dirty blues sound out of channel 1 and the onboard reverb sounds are very usable.

You can get a really nice bluesy sound out of it with dist. channel 1, but I couldn't get that nice screaming lead sound that you need to really rock out. I found channel 2 is useless unless you're playing metal power chords or something muddy.

Also, you can only select one on-board effect at a time, so you can't for example choose a reverb setting + delay or chorus, which is annoying. The Boss petals I have are much more adjustable and sound better than this unit's effects. I only used the reverb settings regularly.

I don't know whether or not I just ran into some bad luck with this one or if they all suck, but after two months it crapped out--I couldn't play it at more than 1/8 max volume without it popping and crackling. I sent it in for repair, and when it came back (6 freakin months later!) it broke again after 2 weeks. I didn't even play through it that much or anywhere near gig volume during that time. I met a guy who had the same problem with his AVT10, so I'm pretty sure its not just me.

For sound quality, I'd give it a 4. For diversity of a sound, I'd give it a 3. 'Cause it keeps breaking, nothing else really matters. Don't buy one.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I paid $699 plus tax for this amp at a local music store a couple years ago, and it still sells for the same amount today, even on eBay. I suspect the price will go down in a year or two. Obviously, I was looking for quality at a reasonable price. Then again, pretty much anything Marshall is quality.

I like everything about this amp. Its sound and performance qualities are greater than entry-level Marshall amp quality (AVT 50, etc.).

The AVT 100 comes with tons of on-board effects. You will not need effect pedals when you have one of these awesome amps. The on-board effects alone will be adequate enough for most guitarists' needs, this eliminating the need for external effects. The AVT 100 can add a wide range of reverb, delay, chorus, fladge and plates -- just to name a few programs -- to your sound. I like how you can adjust many aspects of the effects that you add to your sound. For instance, if you are adding delay to your sound, you can not only adjust the delay time, but the intensity of the the delay. That's Marshall quality for you.

There are three channels. Each channel has its own volume level, gain level. The overdrive channels share the same tones. This can become a little counter-productive because you may wish to keep the tone settings for one overdrive channel, but need to change them for the channel. Therefore, you will need to copy the tone settings on a piece of paper for the previous channel before you switch tone settings. It's amazing how versitle Marshall makes their amps, and the AVT 100 is no exception. The volume and gain levels of each channel are completely independent of each other, therefore changing the levels will create totally different sounds. High volume and low gain can create a British sound, yet high gain and low volume can create a grunge sound. Amazing versitality.

As I mentioned, the tones reflect the very essence of Marshall sound. Lots of bass will put foundation in your sound, kinda like making your sound deep and bodied. Middle tone will give your sound some meat; adding dimension to your sound. Added treble will increasingly produce that beautiful, trademark Marshall ring sound in your guitar sound. The channels have scoop/bright buttons, which take a little experimenting with before you start developing your own original sound.

The first channel is clean. You can definately reproduce the vintage sound of the 50's through this channel, especially with the bright button turned on. The first channel is perfect for truly hearing what your guitar sounds like. The second channel is capable adding pop/rock gain to your sound. Think Matchbox Twenty to Madonna to Prince to The Doors to The Rolling Stones. A very diverse channel and my personal favourite channel of the AVT 100. Marshall comes through with the goods with the third channel. The third channel is capable of adding Nu-Metal gain to your sound. Think Korn, Linkin Park.

Because two channels share the same treble, middle and bass tones, some degree of counter-production occurs when changing settings. Changing settings can be the effect of switching channels or simply desiring a different sound. Time is lost when you need get a pen and paper and copy the tone settings before changing them to, say accomidate a different channel/sound. This problem could be avoided if each channel had its own tones, and the tones of each channel were completely independent of each other channels' tones. I would recommend Marshall add independent tones for each channel.

The third channel, as brutal and extreme as it is, has very limited use and is not as versatile as the other two channels. In other words, the only use I've found for the third channel is the genre nu-metal, which is just one water droplet in a sea of music. I think this thought is just a simple opinion, but a popular opinion (the thought that the third channel is limited in musical application). Marshall should add more versatility to the third channel by maybe not adding more gain, but sound. I don't know, just a thought.

The AVT 100 is so great that you start imagining what it would have been like if you spend a few hundred dollars more and bought the AVT 250. You start getting a little jealous of the AVT 250, if only for its more features, but you remain satisfied with your AVT 100. Just sometimes you think about other amps, like the AVT 250 and how slightly greater the AVT 250 is.

I like how Marshall amps have been described in the past, so I'm going to say what everybody else says about a Marshall amp and call it a tank. It really is a freakin' tank. They smell good too. Has anybody ever noticed that? When you buy a Marshall amp you not only get audio quality but smell quality. They smell so good. Yeah.

But I've had people sit and stand on the AVT 100, and it didn't even phase the amp. The screen is a bit thin. I'm guessing the screen would tear if you kicked it or smashed your guitar through it. It handles heating effeciently. It has a nice vent on the top which is supposed to be left clear, and for good reason too. The handle is rubber, which I guess is overall the best material to make a handle out of.

The amp's knob area is shiney and gold-plated. You really get that Marshall feel even by looking at the amp. I've seen and played with other amps, even Mesa Boogie, and we're not even talking about audio here, but asthetically, all other amps are ugly. Not even visually can other amps compare to the AVT 100. Here you get, originally designed, gold-plated knobs that look like they belong on a wonderful amp. The numbers and words around the knobs looks proportional to the knobs, so nothing looks out of place.

The values of the AVT 100 -- such as its sound, features, performance -- are worth more than $699. Marshall proves again why he is the king of amps. Marshall makes the best amps, okay, but you, the player, get the glory by playing through the AVT 100, because it will enrich your sound and make you look professional.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

Purchased this baby from the Guitar Center. Sounded awsome - no other way to put it. I paid $675 (pre tax)

I checked out Marshall's lower line of amps, the 'MG' series, and thought they sounded pretty darn good. I had a MG15DFX and liked it so much that I thought it was time to move up to it's big brother, the MG100DFX. So I bought it, took it home and played on it for a few days but something was lacking. I just couldn't get the fullness I was looking for. I went back to the Guitar Center and checked out the AVT line that I've read many good things about and WOW! What a difference! The AVT50 had way better sound than the MG but the AVT100 with all it's channel's and effects was just that much better. Lots and lots of bottom, great mid range and ear piercing highs. I mean, this amp has a serious amount of bottom. It's gonna boom through anything or anyone I play with. So I took back to MG and exchaged it for this one. It has 3 channels, clean, OV1 and OV2 which are all foot-switchable and a DFX circuit - also foot-switchable. Nice selection of effects too. Both overdrive channels sound great but OV2 is the most fun to play with. And the foot switch, unlike the one that came with the MG, has LED's on it so you know which channel is selected or whether the effects are enabled without have to turn around and look or to have to take a guess. The only FX down fall is that there isn't a seperate reverb channel with it's own foot switch. They did engineer on effect that has reverb with it (it's a chorus/reverb and chorus/delay/reverb) which I like a lot.

Kind of heavy.
Reverb effect not independant from the other effects.
Don't care much for the "scoop" setting but I don't play that type of music anyway (metal/grunge).
Spent a little more that I wanted to but it will be worth it.

Very, very solid built construction with a heavy duty foot switch.

Fantastic sound, great effects, well built. Spend a little more for a great amp.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this amp over the internet for 699 dollars. I read good reviews about this amp saying how intense the "marshall tone" was in the overdrive channels , and most importantly for me, how reminiscent the clean channel was of fender tube amps. I confirm this by the way. Therefore, i went ahead and got this amp.

I love a lot of things about this amp. First of all, the overdrive channels have a good tone. OD1 is pretty loud and allows one to get led zep, ac/dc type tone pretty easily. OD2 is where the true marshall tone comes into play...great tone and grain, pretty bassy too. My favorite thing about this amp is the clean channel...OH MY GOD! This channel is like cream, water or anything that is smooth and silky. Without any effects running, you can get a nice country, or light bluesy type of sound, and when applying a little chorus, it makes your jaw drop...really. Plus this channel is VERY loud. Overall i give a 9.9 to this channel, no doubt. I just reminds me so much of fender cleans.
Also, there are 16 effects available with this amp. However they are average. Only reverb and chorus are good, and maybe delay too. I don't really use the effects on the amp, i have pedals instead, i prefer that. However i often use the chorus on the amp though.

On this amp, there really isn't much that I don't like. I would like for the OD channels to be at the same level as the clean channel, but besides that...nothing.

I have had this amp for just two weeks so i don't know if it's very reliable YET, but it seems like anyway. This quality of the amp is irreprochable. Just sublime.
I've always loved how marshalls sound AND look like!

The Marshall AVT100 has a lot of good aspects and has very few negative sides to it.
The three channels, the clean, and the two overdriven channels are great, althought the clean channel is better overall than the ODs. The clean channel is noticeably louder than the overdrive channels and its tone is more tube like than the overdrive channels. The tube in the preamp does its job very nicely. For people considering to buy this amp, I would definitely say go fot it, you won't be dissapointed For people who think the OD channels might not be loud enough for larger gigs, the PA output will make your sound SCREAM, or you can also get an extension cab...
Overall GREAT AMP!!!

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com