marshall valves

phaeton

ok, its that time again, when i get to visit the delights of fairdeal music emporium in birmingham and i'm thinking of trying some cheaper marshall valve amps [still got that spider II and still not using it].

i'm liking the looks of the avt50 and the valvestate 100, what do poeple know about these? they both seem pretty popular on ultimate-guitar with no poor reviews.

jellybelly

They aren't valve amps I'm afraid, although I can vouch for the valvestate 50, it was a crarking little combo.

AnotherTool

The valvestates ain't bad for the money, but you will get the valve geeks scoffing at you for buying one.

I used to have a valvestate 8280 before i delved into tube amps, really good, standard marshall cleanliness (not as clean as a fender but alright), and the distortion channel was really cool, high gain with a cool ass contour knob that dialled right into the mids for that scooped loveliness.

phaeton

sounds ok to me, i'm really not so bothered about genuine tubes, just as long as its good for cleans and distortions and better than my line 6 and around

AnotherTool

I think the old valvestates like the 8280 run at about

phaeton

while we're on the subject of amps, can people here tell me all about the tech terms I hear with amps.

eg; I don't know what pre amps and power amps are exactly, also what is an ohm impedance? and can amp heads be used on their own without plugging into a cab?

AnotherTool

Pre amps create the sound, power amps push it out, 'nuff said on that one.

You can't use a head without the cab, the power amp section gives the sound to the cab, and the cabs speakers produce it.

nirvana23freak

on a combo amp the preamp is the part you plug into and adjust all of your EQ and reverb, etc. The pre then sends the signal to the power amp which converts the signal to one that speakers can make sound with.

phaeton

i think i get it.

so when speaking of pre and power is that refering to what the tubes in the back do as there are usualy at least 2 in a combo?

AnotherTool

Pre amp = before power amp.

You have three types of amp, solid state, valvestate and tube.

Solid state has no tubes, valvestate models have a tubed preamp section with a solidstate power section, these are better than the solidstate models, and tube has a tubed pre and power sections.

phaeton

essentially what i meant was does the signal go through the first tube thats connected to the pre section then into the second tube thats connected to the power stage?

taking what you said, what would happen if you had a valvestate the other way round? a solid state pre amp with a tube power amp? or is that nonsense as solid states have no pre section?

nirvana23freak

solid states have pre's. I do not know what would happen if you did solid pre tube power. i dont think anything. it would make sound.

phaeton

ooh ooh, i just heard about the fender vibro champ all tube (saw it for

AnotherTool

Never heard of it, but that's cheap for a tubbe amp, cheaper than a second hand valestate.

Post the specs of it and a pic and we'll have a look.

phaeton

well, this link should be enough;

http://www.guitarvillage.co.uk/product- ... tts%2C+New

the only problem is it has no headphone jack with i always use.

AnotherTool

I wouldn't buy it.

It's a 5 watt amp, which tells me that you only play at home, don't bother buying a tube amp unless you're gigging or soon to be gigging.

If i were you, i'd look into a Marshall Valvestate 8240, you'll get a second hand one for about the same money and you'll love it more.

phaeton

well I don't know, the harmony central peeps seems pretty unimpressed with it, and an amp aint tube if it aint tube.

plus i like the idea of accessorising a clean amp with pedals, even though that is a more expensive option.

but the no headphones thing is a real bummer since nothing totally satisfies me sound wise unless its through a real set of headphones.

also, playing at home and not a stage isn't really a matter for me, although I wouldnt go as far as to by a JCM rig or anything [as much as i may find them appealing] a tube amp is better than a solid so why compromise?

Richie

The reason you shouldn't go for the Vibro Champ is because it's only 5w, if you turn that up it won't stay clean. The very nature of tube amps is that as they are turned up the load on the tubes creates natural overdrive, i.e. Van Halen's "Brown Sound" etc. Amps like the Vibro Champ are made mainly as recording tools for people who want to get real natural tube overdrive at relatively low volume, compared to say a full Marshall stack, which would bring the studio crashing down with the volume. If you want to get a clean amp and accessorise, buying that amp would be massively counter-productive.

I actuallly own a Marshall AVT50, and can't say enough good things about the clean tone, and it doesn't break up easily, so I would agree with Another Tool and suggest you look into a Marshall valvestate model. If you're dead set on getting a cheap proper tube amp though, get a Peavey Valve King (although I promise you you will regret it).

phaeton

ok I believe you, and besides, marshalls have the distortion sound I like, although I do like duel rectifiers too they don't come cheap unless its digitally processed.

phaeton

Well, I visited the store and they had no valvestate models, apparently they've ceased production and the smallest marshall valve model i could get was 600 odd quid.

But i did have another go on a vox AD30 with an ibanez g3qrt65/fx265ef36t4 series (didnt like the guitar at all) but for a half tube amp i liked it, i didnt like the amp models on there much but then i hate playing in music shops, i find it impossible to properly assess something.

Now in your finest opinions what do you think of the AD series? and how would it perform as a pedal/processor platform?

I like the price, the size, the tube factor and the power dial.