Your thoughts please on the Marhsall AVT50 combo

[teleblooz]

I've been looking at a Marshall AVT50 for a few weeks. It's in very nice condition. I can get it for around $125 to $140.

I've played for many moons, gigged professionally, been on a few recordings, blah, blah, blah....but er owned a Marshall! I've played through a couple of older Plexi's years ago and owned one of those little red mini stacks for a week or so, but that's it. My life has been filled with a few Fender tubers, a couple of semi 'botique' F style amps and mostly solid staters ala Roland Blues Cube, Peavey artist, Bandit, Specials, et cet.

So, I've done some reading on the now discontinued AVT series and most of what i read is good....there are a few disenters, but not every piece of gear fit's all. I play clean the majority of the time, so what I've read about an abundance of great clean tone and headroom appeals to me. When I do use some beef, I've got a few choice low gain od's, but I also hear tell this amp does a nice 'bluesy' deal also.

If I do get it, I have 30 days to return it if not satisfied, so I can try it in the real world to see if it's gonna fit, but I would still like to hear (pro and con) from those who have some experience with these amps. I know it's solid state......but that does not bother me. Per above, I've used ss amps a lot in the past 40 some years and I get along just fine with them. Thanks in advance for piping in!

 

[richard parker]

Re: Your thoughts please on the Marhsall AVT50 combo

I had the original VS combo and it wasn't a bad amp - not great by any means but it saw me through a couple of years of cabaret gigs. I've heard that the AVT 50 was an improvement. At that price with a 30 day trial what are you waiting for ? As for dissenters - there are people that don't like Boogies, Splawns, Bogner etc. You decide.

 

[alteredbeast]

Re: Your thoughts please on the Marhsall AVT50 combo

if you can return it if not pleased why not test it out for a few weeks?

 

[teleblooz]

Re: Your thoughts please on the Marhsall AVT50 combo

Agreed! I went and got it first thing this morning. They let me have it for $100 out the door! The longer things sit, the more they discount. Plus, I do a lot of biz there, so they are always willing to cut me a deal. I won't be able to fire it up till tomorrow night, so looking forward to that.

I returned a Peavey Special 130 I've had for a few weeks. That one was $75. I was hoping it would do the trick. While it did have tons of clean headroom, the drive channel was a bit wonky....fine for a while, then cut in and out and the reverb wasn't working. Probably an easy fix, but these day's I don't have the time or space to get into it. So, for $25 more buck's than the Peavey, I'm hoping this one will work out. Pretty happy about the deal I must say!

 

[Aceman]

Re: Your thoughts please on the Marhsall AVT50 combo

I am personally a huge fan of the VS100. However, I have played a coupole of times, and had read a lot of good press on the AVT 50. I assume we are talking about the head version?

I say try it. Good sound is good sound.

 

[Petrovsk Mizinski]

Re: Your thoughts please on the Marhsall AVT50 combo

I am personally a huge fan of the VS100. However, I have played a coupole of times, and had read a lot of good press on the AVT 50. I assume we are talking about the head version?

I say try it. Good sound is good sound.

Thread title : Your thoughts please on the Marshall AVT50 combo

COMBO

:laugh2:

 

[Jay 77]

Re: Your thoughts please on the Marhsall AVT50 combo

Pretty happy about the deal I must say!

This is the most important sentence here. Enjoy.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Your thoughts please on the Marhsall AVT50 combo

People knock SS Marshalls or hybrids and all that, but sometimes they do the job perfectly when using them at living room volume. They still capture most of the Marshall tones, but don't shatter your windows while doing it.

You'll probably find yourself playing on the more rock side of your skill set, being inspired by all the gain on tap.

I like to have an assortment of amps that do something good. Loud gain, loud clean, bedroom gain, and bedroom blackface cleans. You end up having appropriate tools for the job, despite what some internet experts say about inexpensive solid state or digital devices.

 

[DankStar]

Re: Your thoughts please on the Marhsall AVT50 combo

Aceman thought he meant a combo burrito with a side of avt50 head.

 

[Petrovsk Mizinski]

Re: Your thoughts please on the Marhsall AVT50 combo

From my experience, it's better to just tell the speaker in the combo to go away, and instead use a good 2x12 or 4x12 with quality speakers running through the external speaker instead.
While the amp itself is not incredible sounding, the 1x12 combo with its stock speakers lets the amp down massively.
When I tried using a 2x12 loaded with V30s with it, it sounded WORLDS better.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Your thoughts please on the Marhsall AVT50 combo

From my experience, it's better to just tell the speaker in the combo to go away, and instead use a good 2x12 or 4x12 with quality speakers running through the external speaker instead.
While the amp itself is not incredible sounding, the 1x12 combo with its stock speakers lets the amp down massively.
When I tried using a 2x12 loaded with V30s with it, it sounded WORLDS better.

+1. I even take my little Fender Vibrochamp XD and feed it into my Bogner 212 cab w/Vin 30's. And I just bought a killer vintage Fender Pro Reverb 212 combo. I need to see how the little Vibrochamp XD sounds plugged into a big Fender combo's two speakers.

As for the Marshall combo, simply changing the speaker to a Vin 30, G12H30, Eminence Wizard, or Governor would make a big improvement. Half an amp's sound is the speaker.

 

[dominus]

Re: Your thoughts please on the Marhsall AVT50 combo

Half an amp's sound is the speaker.

The more people realize this, the less they will harp on an amp's "sound". I haven't tried an AVT version yet, but I had an 8100 and it was awesome. Found someone that wanted to pay $80 more than I paid so I sold it and grabbed a VS100 for very little money. (The used market is so crazy these days, you can have a decent half stack for under $300 if you shop hard enough.)

I can get killer sounds out of just about any amp when I run them through cabinet IRs on the computer. I've even been picking up combo amps on the cheap with plans on converting them to heads. Will have pics of the first one soon.

 

[Diego]

Re: Your thoughts please on the Marhsall AVT50 combo

Yup. My Roland Cube 60 is all fizzy and nasty in the high end with thin mids.
Plugged into my Eminence Wizard 1x12 cab the high end sounds much more natural and the mids become wider and more present.
Much better. The stock speaker in the Cube just isn't very good.

 

[dominus]

Re: Your thoughts please on the Marhsall AVT50 combo

Yup. My Roland Cube 60 is all fizzy and nasty in the high end with thin mids.
Plugged into my Eminence Wizard 1x12 cab the high end sounds much more natural and the mids become wider and more present.
Much better. The stock speaker in the Cube just isn't very good.

Yup. If the original poster isn't totally satisfied with the combo, posting over on the Marshall forum or maybe on The Gear Page or Harmony Central and asking about replacement speakers will probably let him tailor his sound.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Your thoughts please on the Marhsall AVT50 combo

I had one of the original 1x12 combos for a bit. The original owner put a EV speaker in it and made a sealed back for it.

Tonewise, it had some classic marshall sounds albeit a bit on the thin side. I found running the amp just barely breaking up and hitting it with a Guvnor pedal really opened it up. Much more convincing and pleasing.

I love the old Marshall 5xxxx SS amps, and the new MG stuff is just as good (though not built nearly as well). As mentioned , speakers are key..they have a drastic effect on the tone you are getting.

 

[teleblooz]

Re: Your thoughts please on the Marhsall AVT50 combo

Thanks for the reply gents! I hear ya on the speaker deal....I've had many amps over the years that 'came to life' with a speaker change.

I just don't have room for a larger cab (or a need at this point) as we have moved fro a 2000 sq ft house to a 600 sq ft condo....YIKES! Thats why 23 guitars, 7 amps and about a dozen pedals have gone bye- bye over the past year and a half.

I did keep my old, original black box Marshall BluesBreaker pedal, so I am anxious to hear how it sounds with this amp.

At the place I got it, they also had a Peavey Vypyr 75 I could have procured for the same $100. But, although I've had a few modeling amps over the past few years, I find they really don't fit for me.....although it was tempting! I play clean most of the time, use a bit of delay and for my dirt needs, the BluesBreaker and an older Tech 21 Double Drive serve the purpose very well. Just got a Boss SD-1 from a member here, so also anxious to try that with the Marshall.

Thanks again for the replys and suggestions. Appreciate it! I'll post back later how it worked at practice tonight.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Your thoughts please on the Marhsall AVT50 combo

From my experience, it's better to just tell the speaker in the combo to go away, and instead use a good 2x12 or 4x12 with quality speakers running through the external speaker instead.
While the amp itself is not incredible sounding, the 1x12 combo with its stock speakers lets the amp down massively.
When I tried using a 2x12 loaded with V30s with it, it sounded WORLDS better.

BTMN was running one of those little Brian May Deacy things through a Marshall 4x12...DAYUM! It was pretty awesome.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Your thoughts please on the Marhsall AVT50 combo

Aceman thought he meant a combo burrito with a side of avt50 head.

A head is important. That way, you leave the burrito on the head, and put the beverage on the speaker cab where a spill will cause little/no damage.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Your thoughts please on the Marhsall AVT50 combo

People knock SS Marshalls or hybrids and all that, but sometimes they do the job perfectly when using them at living room volume. They still capture most of the Marshall tones, but don't shatter your windows while doing it.

You'll probably find yourself playing on the more rock side of your skill set, being inspired by all the gain on tap.

I like to have an assortment of amps that do something good. Loud gain, loud clean, bedroom gain, and bedroom blackface cleans. You end up having appropriate tools for the job, despite what some internet experts say about inexpensive solid state or digital devices.

I think many Marshall SS are undersated (yet not stellar tone machines either), but the 25w switch on that VS 100 rules for stage vs home playing.

 

[Ashurbanipal]

Re: Your thoughts please on the Marhsall AVT50 combo

I own one, it's been my amp for over 10 years. It has its good and bad points, but for a bedroom amp, and if you can get it for under $200, it's worth it.

Couple of things: the fan is a bit noisy when the amp is turned on, needs about a minute to warm up. Decent clean channel, though a bit warm (even with the treble maxed out and bass low), and can sound a bit harsh if you hit the strings hard. Spring reverb is ok. The o/d channel is not bad, but lacks some sustain and body, even with the gain at 3 o'clock. I 'fixed' this by getting a treble booster, so I get a warmer, fatter, tone. Switching from o/d to clean generates a whooshing sound, but I don't use the clean channel much, just turn down the volume control on the guitar. I also took off the rear panel to get a more open tone. The speaker is some Celestion designed for AVTs; have heard people changing them out to other things for improved tone.

So, for a bedroom/practice amp, it's good. I'm sure with the right equipment and micing techniques, it could record well too. Live in a band situation, I don't know, never played it thus.

Here's what mine sounds like. I don't have a pro recording set up, just into my laptop's mic.