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MGR/Justin « Marshall Valvestate VS100 Combo »
Published on 12/24/03 at 15:00I got this thing off ebay used for $250. Thats a steal for a 100 watt amp, let alone a marshall with a tube in it. I played one of the newer 100 watt valvestates, that go for around 700 bucks or so, and the only difference between the vs100 and the avt100 is that the avt has some extra amp effects. Seeing as I already had a decent multi effects pedal, and like a good clean sound, I knew it would be perfect for me.
I definately like its features, the power dimension switch actually does do something, i don't know what the guy who wrote the previous review is talking about. He probably doesn't know how to use it properly. Its great for when you need to pay quiet, but still want the same amp effects of being turned up. And by turned up, I mean your guitar's volume knob. It basically allows you to turn down your guitar, but crank up the amp, and not have the police pounding on your door threatening you with a fat ticket, all because you just want to perfect your tone. This thing sounds s pretty good, my roomate has a Crate Blue Voodoo Half Stack (120 All Tube Head, 4x12 Cabinet), and I like the tone I get out of my amp more. I find it to be warmer. And oh man, this thing can get loud. Even though its only got 1 12 inch speaker, it can hold its own against my roomates half stack. Which leads me to the other features of this. It's a real combo amp. The speaker plugs in just like a head plugs into a 4 by cab. You can also use it as a head, and get a speaker cabinet later on, as it has the umph to power one, and two speaker outputs on the back. Its great if you want something powerfull, and gigable, with a good sound, but may want to upgrade later on. The first overdrive channel is a good blend between a sweet warm clean tone and a crunchy tube overdrive. It has problems if you try to use it out of context (not for screaming distortion sounds). The Overdrive 2 Channel can get you that scream, and if you are in the mood for pissing off your neighbors with screaming harmonic distortion that seems like its on the verge of shaking the resonance frequency of your apartment building, it works great.
Everything about it is good, except that its noisy. It hums like a 2 dollar whore with a bad crack addiction. I replaced stock marshall tube, and put in a Mesa Boogie SPAX7, and it improved the sound significantly. It also has a spring reverb, so this thing is suseptable to interference and bad power wiring in your house. I may be a tad bit spoiled, because i've been using my strat (with vintage noiseless pickups) on a fender acoustic amp, which has no noise at all. Its a very "natural" amp, so with the tube and the spring reverb, it seems almost impossible to completely get rid of a hum. Take care of the tube inside it (don't stick the amp in the trunk of your car and go hit speed bumps at 50 MPH), and keep the power to the amp as clean as possible, and you'll be ok. You can't be super picky about noise, or this thing will drive you nuts. I'm currently researching about installing a ground loop in the amp, and that may be what it needs.
Its a Marshall. Its beefy, and marshalls are just about the finest made amps on the market. I'd suggest swapping out the tube and putting a mesa boogie SPAX7 in it.
Great amp for the price, its got plenty of feautres without a bunch of cheezy low quality bells and whistles. Its got that good marshall quality, its loud enough to gig with, and its very versatile.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com
I definately like its features, the power dimension switch actually does do something, i don't know what the guy who wrote the previous review is talking about. He probably doesn't know how to use it properly. Its great for when you need to pay quiet, but still want the same amp effects of being turned up. And by turned up, I mean your guitar's volume knob. It basically allows you to turn down your guitar, but crank up the amp, and not have the police pounding on your door threatening you with a fat ticket, all because you just want to perfect your tone. This thing sounds s pretty good, my roomate has a Crate Blue Voodoo Half Stack (120 All Tube Head, 4x12 Cabinet), and I like the tone I get out of my amp more. I find it to be warmer. And oh man, this thing can get loud. Even though its only got 1 12 inch speaker, it can hold its own against my roomates half stack. Which leads me to the other features of this. It's a real combo amp. The speaker plugs in just like a head plugs into a 4 by cab. You can also use it as a head, and get a speaker cabinet later on, as it has the umph to power one, and two speaker outputs on the back. Its great if you want something powerfull, and gigable, with a good sound, but may want to upgrade later on. The first overdrive channel is a good blend between a sweet warm clean tone and a crunchy tube overdrive. It has problems if you try to use it out of context (not for screaming distortion sounds). The Overdrive 2 Channel can get you that scream, and if you are in the mood for pissing off your neighbors with screaming harmonic distortion that seems like its on the verge of shaking the resonance frequency of your apartment building, it works great.
Everything about it is good, except that its noisy. It hums like a 2 dollar whore with a bad crack addiction. I replaced stock marshall tube, and put in a Mesa Boogie SPAX7, and it improved the sound significantly. It also has a spring reverb, so this thing is suseptable to interference and bad power wiring in your house. I may be a tad bit spoiled, because i've been using my strat (with vintage noiseless pickups) on a fender acoustic amp, which has no noise at all. Its a very "natural" amp, so with the tube and the spring reverb, it seems almost impossible to completely get rid of a hum. Take care of the tube inside it (don't stick the amp in the trunk of your car and go hit speed bumps at 50 MPH), and keep the power to the amp as clean as possible, and you'll be ok. You can't be super picky about noise, or this thing will drive you nuts. I'm currently researching about installing a ground loop in the amp, and that may be what it needs.
Its a Marshall. Its beefy, and marshalls are just about the finest made amps on the market. I'd suggest swapping out the tube and putting a mesa boogie SPAX7 in it.
Great amp for the price, its got plenty of feautres without a bunch of cheezy low quality bells and whistles. Its got that good marshall quality, its loud enough to gig with, and its very versatile.
This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com