Hey Taylor. I've seen that Marshall power amp hiding in the corner there. Any chance of a review using pedals as the pre-amp, or any actual pre-amps you may have? I'm slowly building my rack rig, the heart of which is a Marshall 100 watt monobloc power amp, with 5881 tubes. Then I have a Marshall JMP-1 pre-amp with the midi switching pedal. I also just received a Digitech 2112 with the Digitech Control one pedal board. Next will be a Boss GX700,a tuner, stereo noise gates, power supply and maybe a custom pre-amp too. No gigging, its a bedroom setup through my H&K 4x12 with V30's in it. I haven't fired it all up yet, as I'm going to replace all the tubes, and have them serviced first. For now I'm running a Marshall Lead 100 Mosfet head with a Boss SD-1. I figured, all the guitar sounds I love, are from the 70's 80's and 90's. So now its all quite affordable, why not go rack mount rock star lol. :D
i had 3 crate g130c they are good but once you put a 5150 against it in the same room your like oh it doesnt sound that good its very muddy also had a marshall valvestate it blew up i got another one and it blew up back when they were new sounded pretty good tho love my diezel vh4 tho very unique has more lowend than any amp i ever played
I have a '97 vs100, was a 1x12 combo I cut down into a head, and I run it through two 1x12 ext cabs...it was noisy and had mediocre tone with the stock Chinese made 12ax7, popped a vintage American 7025 in there and it came to life, now it has a great tone and is a great pedal platform, and runs much quieter, that tube isn't just a gimmick
That would be great if they would make it more reliable, that was it’s only problem. I recently bought one of the 100 watt heads but have had several take a shit on me!
There is someone in here that did a great shootout between valvestate, JCM 900 and maybe the 800 or six, but suffice to say the valvestate was by far the gnarliest.
When your demo playing starts, you’ve essentially ended the argument for/against any type of amplification. The reality is we can now see behind the curtain of the music industry, we can record pro quality music on a laptop in our bedrooms, and technology is so good, it’s impossible to separate tubes, solid state, or modelers if you’re listening with your ears and not your eyes. Now more than ever, it’s simply about preference, not the logo/brand. Great vid.
I think when playing, tubes cant be replaced tho. Things like the amp heating up, your phones interference being annoying, seeing the tubes glow, and carrying around a little box with spare fuses really give a whole diffrent vibe, feels more "real"
Please get the next gen version, VS100 and do a side by side. You’ll be maybe the only person on RUclips to have that video. Endless forums and people questioning… it would get major attention
I had the half stack for years. My wife bought for me, i love my wife, I was the 2nd owner and the rig was in mint condition, never gigged or turned up. I gigged a few times, band practices and jams, fun times. A couple years ago i sold it to a young guy for $100 and he was absolutely rapt when i dialled it in for him, I blended the crunch and od channels making sure he saw what i did. It was awesome to see the smile on his face, the next generation metal head 🤘 Such a fantastic and underrated amp... I want another one damnit... New subscriber, dig the channel dude🤘
I have used the V8080 for around 30 years, toured with it and always sounded good. I've never actually felt the need for another amp or a full tube one. I end up trying other amps (solid state as well) looking for a slightly different tone, but this has been one of my favourite amps. I laugh at those who laugh at them. They don't know what they are missing.
It's the tightest amp I've ever played through. I couldn't believe my ears. My uncle had an 8080 and gave it to my dad. My dad wanted me to test it out. I plugged in a tubescreamer and instantly blasted out Sickening by Meshuggah on it. Fucking unreal man. Still one of my all time favourites. Its why I bought an LV300H so long ago. Its a little looser but it still has the same kind of sound. Even has the red LED's for the extra gain stage just like the Marshall.
That was my first head back in the 90’s at 14 years old. The contour control is awesome and adds so much versatility. I wish I would’ve held on to mine after all these years. 🤘🏻
I have one and I will never sell it. It sits with my Mesa tremoverb, Mesa simul class ED, Fryette Sig X, a Swart STR, a Mesa TA30. It sits highly with that company indeed.
I have the 8200 Bi-chorus version from the 90s. I haven't played it in years because it went through a band trailer fire in the late 90s/early 2000s...But, I gave it to an amp guy I use and he recently called me...he brought it back to life, but has to have a guy build a new cabinet shell for it. I can't wait to get it back. I loved the amp. I also now have an Orange Crush 120 head. Should be interesting to compare the two. Great video.
I have both an 8100 and a VS100, they are both killer amps. To this day when I bring one of them to practice someone always says how awesome these amps sound. Of course, I play in a thrash metal band and this amp is extremely good for thrash metal. The VS100 combo also comes with a Celestion Hot 100 speaker, which is also known as an excellent speaker for thrash metal. Anyone who has this amp, try this trick: Turn up the effects loop volume all the way, then turn off your effects loop. For some reason, it makes the mids really pop.
I’ve also seen people jump the effects loop. I’m assuming for similar reasons! How do they compare tonally? When I was researching for this video a lot of the forums I came across swore that the 8100 was better, but I chalk that up to internet lore more than fact
@@TaylorDanley To my ears they sound so similar that it is basically the same tones. I think the main difference is that the 8100 uses the 12AX7 for the OD channel, the VS100 uses it for the clean channel as well.
Valvestate was my first REAL amp when I was a teenager. 30 years later I still own one. The 8080 combo. It still sounds awesome. I have several dsl Marshalls as well. The Valvestate sounds good at any volume, the dsl needs volume to sound good. And al Jorgensen from ministry also used a Valvestate
I had this model, and I have yet to find another amp I like as much. I bought it used at a Music Go Round for $100. People would always ask me how I got the tone I had, from this amp. Like I had some big secret. All I used was this amp and a Jackson Randy Rhoads custom with Duncan Design pickups. That was it. It was all I needed.
I think the reason this was so popular was taking Mesas and older Marshall’s on long tours they were more likely to break down and when the players got used to playing them for the tight low end etc. this being more the case for Meshuggah in the early days. They had to pay insane money to acquire their various Mesa and kept them mostly as studio only
100% I also think since they were more affordable, you’d probably be more likely to see them back lined on festivals and whatnot. I wonder a lot of times when you hear stories of “I saw x band and they used x gear”, how much of that is the band using a venues back line
You're high, Mesas are some of the most road worthy gear out there. I've had my mkiv since 93 its played hundreds of shows thousands of hours with no hiccups. Sure you have to replace tubes once in awhile but mess don't have to be biased if you use their tubes. It's just plug and play. The valvestates on the other hand while good sounding have meh build quality under heavy touring the boards inside don't like the heat and when they do break they are harder to fix.
@@TL-angzarr I don't buy this theory either. Mesa's are some of the best quality builds there is for reliability. I've heard this amp can be a reliability nightmare however. It's more that it's cheap and sounds amazing and unique that it was popular.
I owned this amp during the 90's and I was listening to Prong pretty heavily so :) Btw, according to Tommy Victor in a guitar world interview (circa 1994), solid state amps (and valvestate in this case) were more reliable for pick attack and down tunings than tubes (referring to his signature pinch harmonics) . his gear was 2x valvestate 8100 heads, 2x hush in rack format and a DOD metal X/cry baby wah on the ground (seen on stage). Those amps were pretty bright and snappy with a nice texture, even though the tube is not super critical to the sound, acting more like a soft limiter or a sweetener haha. Still they were sturdy and reliable. The only downsides I've found were a tad lack of gain on OD2 and quite sleepy EQ controls (apart from the contour) but that's what you get with marshall type passive controls on a low voltage solid state head (preamp that is).
I believe that. I feel like with tubes you’re always chasing headroom in the power section (unless you like that plexi compressed dorty power section sound)… But for metal definitely we always want more headroom. If you compare kt88s to 6L6s, the kt88s are more desirable for that reason. So high wattage solid state power sections with tremendous headroom kind of make sense for metal!
@@Kevin.Kelly. yes it did! The pedal board was pretty small. metal X and a cry baby. no more, no less (marshall heads and hush noise gates were set as racks)
I've had the 2nd generation Valvestate 100 since the late 90's. It was heavily gigged and toured with. Also, recorded with it for years. It sounded killer and it still turns on and sounds awesome today. It has stood the test of time. The only thing I did was put a new pre-amp tube in it a year ago. That amp sounds so tight and with a great feel and response. Every note shines through and sounds musical. Nothing really gets buried in the mud with the Valvestate amps. Marshall should definitely bring these amps back.
This was a bad ass review and probably the best I heard for a Marshall Valvestate. My first amp was a Valvestate 8080 that my dad bought me in like 94' and I still have it to this day. I never heard mine sound like your, looks like it's time to bust it back out again. Thanx again!!!
I bought my 8100 half stack for 300 fucking big ones. I thought "a marshall half stack for 300? I'll bite." And I liked the way it sounded, so it went home with me. I only realized how legendary the particular amp was until much later.
Awesome demo of this amp. I remember picking on up from a local music store in the mid 90s but returning it a few hours later. Basically, I was a noob and had no idea how to dial it in correctly at the time and couldn't get a sound I liked. In retrospect, I sure wish I had kept it, haha! Love these solid state amp reviews too and I can't wait for you Crate review. I have the GX130C and I love it, a total beast. Have a Peavey Supreme 160 on the way too so I can't wait to check it out. Have heard about them a lot and after Kyle Bull's review, I was sold and had to find one.
Yeah that's really typical of affordable gear that gets rediscovered as a lost gem: young people try it out and don't have the experience to set it up for a good sound, gatekeepers tell them it's a bad product, and then the first group go back to it and find out that it was actually used on a lot of their favourite recordings and sounds great.
I think Valvestates in particular make great pedal platforms. Another great hybrid amp is the Trace Elliot Supertramp Tube. First proper amp I ever owned and it's still one of my favourites.
The Ampeg VH & SS series, the CRATE GX series, Marshall 8100 series, these are the greatest solid state amps ever heard of in metal. Fender M series, and PEAVEY various series solid state amplifiers in their lines are of notable mention it is harder to pinpoint those amplifiers as they are not as well known. What is notable about the Ampeg and Crate the ones mentioned specifically are that they are stereo chorus models, there are non stereo chorus versions of those amplifiers as well utiblizing the same preamp. i am designing an amplifier with ALL of these preamps in a single amplifier as well as multi channel simultaneous modes and separate signal out modes, so a four by twelve cab you can use 4 inputs, a single input to each speaker with four different pre amps running it simultaneously. Also has some tweaks on the original preamp's design for more tweakability. Also a stereo pre and post 64 band eq built in. Also with different power settings. The 60 watt mode has a 120 watt power amp physically, because any power output is ran at a 50% cap for highest efficiency and cool operation. Class A. Class A/B. Class B. Class C. Class D modern power design full of energy. 60 watt, 120 watt, 240 watt, 480 watt, 960 watt modes. Micronized molecular circuitries throughout large analogous system. Ultra high powered micron computer construction.
The Valvestate was also maybe the first affordable amp, where you did not need any pedals to do the extreme metal sound. That is also why it was so popular in the 90's.
I said maybe. And I bet, that especially in Europe very few people have even heard about Peavey Supreme. Everyone knows Valvestate. (Bandit is a legendary death metal amp). @@SwedishMeattball
Seeing you in a Gorgoroth shirt gave me an idea. Would be nice to have a video series where you show how to get a certain tyle of tone step by step. Like one video you show how to get a Death Metal tone, the other it's about Black Metal tones, another video for Thrash Metal or Power Metal and so on. Starting from which amps, cabs/speakers and fx are gonna be used, going to how to dialing in every pedal and the EQ. I'm searching and waiting for that kind of videos since forever but nobody makes them.
I've been running a Valvestate head since the mid 90's, still have it. It is has always been a go to in the studio and live. Can cover a lot of sonic territory with it.
i Appreciate that you took the amp apart and gave it some TLC getting all the dust and grime out from the inside! i have a huge detailing habit when i get stuff used and give it a detailing
If you put a BBE Sonic Maximizer in the FX Loop you can give the Valvestate a lot more low end than it initially has on it's own. Definitely worth trying out and seeing the difference.
@@danielluna1818 i use a digital emulation of an Aphex Aural Exciter on a Zoom MS50G stompbox pedal in the FX loop of my Randall RG80 combo, and believe me when i say that it truly brings this amp to life. The regular tone of the Randall RG80 isn't really much to write home about in comparison to even the all solid state Marshall amps, but with the Aural Exciter in the loop it not only brings the amp to life, but i'll even argue that it blows tube amps out of the water entirely. I'll take a Randall RG amp head with an Aural Exciter up against even Randall's Diablo series of tube amps any day of the week.
I dig your choice of guitar as well!😎🧨 the Solar V is going to be my next guitar purchase. I have a Solar A1.6 Artist series BOP 2019 (#67 of 100) and am so pleased with it - it's just beyond words in my opinion! I wasn't sure about the Evertune bridge, but I'm happy to announce it too be GREAT! Think I'll go the same route w/t V as well. (I have enough guitars w/floating Floyd Rose bridges. 9 too be exact! 🤘 Rock on!!
I have used a Crate G120 2X12 combo for almost 30 years with and without distortion pedals. My favorite Crate combo was the G40C 2X10. My problem was note definition at high volume. I still have yet to own a tube amp. I bought an Orange Super Crush a couple months ago ol and that has opened some doors for my playing and it can get loud and you have great note definition. Now it's my main amp.
For what it's worth, I appreciate your process in the way you dial in your amps. Meaning you show just enough, and with enough attention to detail, but keep it quick paced and interesting. You don't noodle for 15 min on each slight adjustment you make *cough John Browne cough* 😁
Thanks, I really appreciate that. I've tried different pacing during the demos, and I think where I am now is a pretty good middle ground between too much talking and too much playing. Glad someone noticed!
I was in a small ma and pa music store in Syracuse NY and one of these Marshalls was sitting in a back corner behind a few more popular heads. It has a hang tag marked $199. I knew it had a tube preamp from reading about it and they had no cabinets to plug in to so I just bought it. What did I have to lose? $200 no big deal. I brought it home and spent a couple hours eqing it and I was blown away by the diversity of the different channels. To this day I use it for recording very often. Between my JCM 900, Blue Voodoo and my EVH Iconic I can get just about any tone I need and this amp hangs with all of them. Great job.
I own the 80-watt combo which I plan to convert to a head soon. Easily one of my favorite amps - bought it because of Scott Burns and almost all the OG bands from Roadrunner Records (when they were still a real metal label) used 1st-gen Valvestate🤘🏿 - plus it's got a good AC/DC / The Cult 'Electric' tone as well. I've read somewhere that Chuck Schuldiner used a DS-1 to boost it. Maybe you can try it too and then upload it man!
I'm literally with a studio that is looking to downsize but wants to keep at least one good versatile amp head. This video helped a lot in deciding to keep ours. Thanks!
Marshall Valvestate VS265 Stereo Chorus. 2x12 65 watt combo. Could run in mono and stereo. 3 channels. More than loud enough for the midsized-bar to small-theater gigs we played (maybe 250 to 500 person gigs), and I could plug earphones into it and practice silently in my small apartment very late at night...or was it early in the morning at that point. The clean channel sounded great on its own, a bit JC120-ish especially when set to stereo with the amps chorus turned on. Super 3D, lush and trippy. It made an excellent pedal platform for the Epandora EX2000 v1 that I'd run into my early 4 screw v7 EHx Green Russian Big Muff (a 4 screw bubble font) that was my core sound. That's what we called it at the time, sound, not tone. Ahhh the 90s. The OD1 channel was reasonable crunch and blues. The OD2 channel gave more gain that I could use at the time. Everything you said about right harmonics and feel under the fingers is spot on. This amp covered A LOT of ground, especially given the Contour nob, as you note. Looking back, the Marshall GOLD speakers were crap. They're the only thing I'd replace if I had still this amp today. I never should have sold it in the late 2000s for next to nothing.
My first amp was VS265R. Still have it today and yes those goldbacks were terrible. Mostly sits as a bit of Marshall bling amongst a collection of Mesas but occasionally I give it a spin.
The Marshall VS100 was my first real amp. I got it on a whim back in maybe 2004 or 2005? As a huge Static-X fan back then I had no idea this amp was used by them initially. By the time I'd realized all this I'd already sold the amp. Would love to get my hands on another one.
Dude, your video rocks. I still have my 8100 I bought back in 1994, sadly though it has not been powered up in over fifteen years 😕 But after watching your video this evening, I reckon tomorrow is the day to let the neighbours savour the sound of unbridled Heavy MoFo metal. I still reckon these amps have the most killer tone, as plenty of guys would come up to me after gigs we played and say what an absolutely amazing sound the amp produced, be it Pennywise/Fu Manchu covers etc played via my 1987 Ibanez RG550DY (which I still have), to playing all manner of down tuned revelry during my Korn/nu-metal wannabe days, using an original 1997 RG7620(also which i still own). These amps just dished out the tones, so glad I never sold it 🤘🤘🤘🤘
I noticed that you also have another of my favorite heads, the Ampeg 300W! Nice! I've never been able to get it above 3, and that's with a live drummer!!
Taylor, Great video. It brought back some bitter-sweet memories. Whatever you do, do not let it go! I bought one of these used in 1992. The previous owner had redone it into red Tolex, really cool looking. Long story short, I had GAS for a Roland GR-1 so I traded it together with a 4x14 1960A Marshall cab and a bunch of pedals etc. I still paid over $1000 on top of it. The used value of all I traded for that POS is over $3000 as of today (2022), while the GR-1 doesn't fetch more than a couple hundred bucks! The main problem with the GR-1 was the atrocious tracking which destroyed any possibility of enjoying the thing. Fortunately I still have the 2x12 stereo 80 combo of this amp that I had bought brand new before I bought the head. Oh, I traded my Roland GP-8 for it plus loads of cash. I miss the GP-8...
Yeah I don’t think it’s going anywhere. Sorry for your loss! That’s the thing when you’re trading gear, you never know what’s going to increase or decrease in value!
@@TaylorDanley It really is not the loss of value that pissed me off, it is the fact that the GR-1 was not the dream gear I had hoped for, quite the opposite.
I love my Valvestate 8100, I've had it for almost 18 years now, I recently bought all brand new Marshall knobs for it, rewrapped the head and the cab with new black grill, and put a new 12ax7 in it, this thing just rips, anything you throw at it, I've got guitars with active pickups, passive pickups, 6/7 and 8 string guitars, it just rips through anything I throw at it, I also have an original ADA-MP1 Tube Preamp that I run through the effects loop of it now and then as a preamp (those who know about the MP1, know how nasty this rack can be if you know what you're doing with it), also have a BBE Sonic Maximizer 482 rack tied in with the MP1, the tones you can get between the three of them are literally endless, I have the matching 4x12 straight cab also with V30's in it, props for give the 8100 some shine, also, check out the 200w version of the 8100 which is the 8200, it can power 4 4x12s and has a true stereo analog bi-chorus built in.
Absolutely love your channel man, your demo vid sounded so much like the bleeding to my ears! Always thought it was a crate also. My friend had a Valvestate combo as a kid and it ripped.
I have a Marshall MG100HDFX , which is the little brother of this guy just without any tubes, and it’s basically the same amp, it has a SS preamp but it still absolutely rips, I have a bunch of tube heads that sound great too, a few orange lunchbox terror heads, and I’ve owned a JCM 900 as well, which sounded amazing but was always failing on me at shows. But the mG100 I picked up at a pawn shop for $45, it sounds 90% as good as any tube Marshall, it’s crazy loud, and best of all is it’s much more reliable and leSs prone to fail. Old Marshall tube heads can be finicky and need a good tech to run reliably all the time. By the way, your playing in this video was stellar, as always, you always play the tastiest riffs. You really know how to lay down some wicked notes and then let a few power chords stretch out and breath, don’t think I didn’t notice that. Thanks Tay Tay. 🤘🤘🗿
Thanks so much! You know it's funny because those MG heads get even WORSE hate than the valvestate mk2, so it makes me really curious about them as well. I know they made a change to the output circuitry, and on some of them it has a tendency to overheat and break, but I really want to try one of those up against it now... especially since they can be had for so cheap!
@@TaylorDanley dude I’m telling you, I’ve played Marshall MOSFET heads from the 80s and several of the MGs, I always thought people hated valvestates the most because they were some hybrid bastard child and didn’t commit fully to tubes or SS, hehe. But yeah, I think a good cabinet goes a LONG way into shaping your tone, because when you put an MG into a 1960 or Mesa cab, it sounds like a Marshall. Mine is fairly noisy, not too bad, but my god it has so much clean headroom if you want it to, but also has several channels and crunch/OD switches . Marshall engineers know what they’re doing whe. They design a circuit, because quite honestly a good circuit design can sound great without tubes, using JFETS, which is what I believe it has. Colin from the science of loud has a great video on them, as I’m sure you’ve seen. Thanks for the reply dude, made my day
When the clean channel is dirty it reminded me of some early flaw clean-ish stuff. Can be used. And the “new guy” marshal sound made my ears perk up and I was like yea that’s definitely what prong used on cleansing. Sounds exactly like the opening track.
It hasn't released yet. We have the art completed and the final prototype is in production currently. I'll 100% have a video when it's available for purchase.
I have a disassembled one on my desk, which I already played in the 90s. Unfortunately several knobs and switches are broken, so there's some work to do...
I loved my 8100. Never needed an overdrive or a noise gate, even on a cheap Ibanez. That contour knob is OP. Really shines when you play with a drummer that hits extremely hard. It was so bright and present, and sounded vicious when cranked.
Love this amp, is my main amp, and booat it with some different pedals, my favorite mix is with a modes metal zone, no gain, all volume and eq to taste 🤘, it could get so many colors and voices
@@ballsofdoom3124 the pots get dirty very easy, away from that is awsome, another "common" issue is problems with the power stage, but i haven't had it
One of my pet peaves with some amps esp. Solid State ones is that the Clean channel is pure cleans and doesn't really break up. Even though a lot of guys use solid state pedals for their overdrive anyway. Very cool this amp is an exception.
I have a bi chorus 8200 which is the stereo model and it's an amp I can't part with. it works so well with pedals and because it's a hybrid amp you have don't need to worry about tone consistency between gigs. I like how this was Marshall's reaction to the roland jazz chorus because I feel like it's really doing it's own thing. I wish marshall could reproduce this amp because it really was a hidden gem.
Sounds really great ! I admit that i havent seen all your videos although i have seen a lot of them, but this is probably the best you have sounded in the ones ive seen.
I had a Valvestate in the late 90s. Saved up my paper route and summer job money until I could finally afford one. I was never able to get anything good out of it. It was loud, it was cheap, it had a Marshall logo on it but it didn't sound good. Sold it a couple of years later and I never looked back.
@@TaylorDanley The 212 Combo - it had what, G12Ts? The speakers are not at fault. It's whatever tone control circuitry Marshall hides behind the "Contour" knob is what I can't deal with. I briefly had a MG100 a couple of years ago, hooked that up to various cabinets and I was unable to dial that to anything that I liked either. I'll take a Katana over a Valvestate or MG any day.
To me, the contour knob either gives you an overly scooped lifeless guitar tone that has no presence in the room whatsoever, or when turned to the left, it's just thin upper mids without any body. Somewhere in the middle and it sounds like someone threw a blanket over the amp.
i have a vh140c head into matching cab w/xpattern v-30s and gt75. also have the gx130c 2x12 combo. both are sick af but totally different amps. this 8100 is on the list and is a verrry overlooked ss amp imho as is the crate td50c, dunno why lol. BUT what i've been looking at lately is the mini plexi through a vertical 2x12 and running a metalzone/whatever gnarly dist box through the fx loop. should be sick af thick af etc.
My favorite amp, been usin' it for almost 10 years now, used it on my recordings with Horrid Apparition, DungeönHammer, Hexenmal and Iron Lizards : absolute ripper!!
I was the guitarist for a Dutch Power metal outfit by the name of Slavantas from 2006 until 2012, My amp in those days was London City Bulldog head, but that amp was unreliable, it had signal loss and drove me nuts. So I replaced it with a Crate CLX series head which was far better in dependability issues, it worked when I turned it on and had a killer distortion. After Leaving Slavants I also bought Marshall Valvestate head. And used both as my main live amps. But I became bored with that tone after a while and have since gone to using Fender solid state amps because of their headroom and lush clean sounds.
I picked up one of these at a pawn shop for $100 like 15 or 20 years ago. I had it as a backup for a while. Have no clue what happened to it. 2 years ago browsing through a pawn shop (different one from before. In a neighboring city) and what do ya know?! I found it. The same one. I know because I scratched my nickname into the back of it. It was for sale for $200. I really wanted to buy it back but I saw a bugera trirec half stack for $300. It didn't have any tubes and needed some fuses internally replaced. Got it all back up And running and now I have a solid backup to my evh 5150 el34 100 watt head. Although I don't plan on letting it go down long enough to need to use my backup amp.
I bought a used Crate FXT120 because it was the same amp that the lead guitarist in my band used and I ended up using it as my main amp for about 8 years, it has some problems now, and I dont play in a band regularly so I haven't ever fixed it up but it always sounded killer. Effects were meh. But needs a rotary sim on a ripping distorted metal guitar?
Hey Taylor. 1:22 into the vid and want to share this: For about a decade I used a Crate FXT 120 which is an amazing and unknown ss amp.. cuz it's a Crate of course. Used it as my main amp until I got a Micro Dark. Short story is that it was made as a Guitar Center special with a twin brother made for Sam Ash. The circuitry Crate 'invented' for these is called Trans-Tube and is 3-stage gain with the ability to use one, two, or three via foot switch with a pristine clean channel as well. It has digital DSP FX (mostly useless but the pitch and time based are nice) and the EQ is dialed in nicely. If you want to hear an amazing ss amp... that most players would s**t on... as research for your Crate vid I recommend you seek one out. The info on them is buried in old forums but I tell you as a guy who grew up in the late 80s on Peavey ss combos like the Backstage Chorus 210 and the Gorilla and all that 'crap' that is now sonic gold... find one and learn to dial it in. IIRC it's the little brother to your Crate.
Ive owned the crate gx130c and the valvestate…….and as a SUPER tube snob ive always loved them. Being a broke kid in the late 90s early 2000s when i started playing you pretty much got what you got. Valvestate through my stock eminence 2x12 vader is still one of my favorite tone machines!
I had an 8100 in high school. Loved that thing and kept it until I got married and need to get a smaller amp to save space. I replaced the tube like once the whole time I owned it. Replaced it with a Sovtek tube (is that company still around). Sold it to a teenager and he seemed quite happy with it. It was pretty versatile amp (not just used for metal)
This was the first head I ever owned. I eventually sold it to buy a BV120 which also eventually went down the road. But it was a cool amp and still the only Marshall I've had.
You have inspired me to buy one of these amps. Absolutely incredible sound. With only a small amount of weight obviously, and with minimal cost to operate, in that you’d only have to stock a few high quality 12AX7As vs. hundreds of dollars for a whole set of tubes. I’m definitely buying one today. Faubus
I have an old 8080 combo. The contour really livens up the sound. If you set to maybe 9, 9,5 O'clock. At maybe before halfway it really starts to scoop up the sound.
Great video, Taylor! I ran a TubeWorks 100w 12” combo, in the ‘90s. I lined off a 12” wedge by my drummer. WALL OF ME. Just a Digitech Multiplayer in the loop. Those amps were KILLER Mosfet (‘MosValve’) power amps, I never needed it over 80% power. The 2 preamp 12ax7s those amps run at a partial of full plate volts, & w/the OLD Groove Tubes, it was alike a Mesa Boogie/ Plexi ‘chewiness’. I had a tone much alike George Lynch on Dokken’s live album. I was settled on it! I’d traded in a 100w Mushall JCM800 & $200 for that little monster. I got frequent offers for trades, after performing, for you name it. It was just too much good tone & SO LIGHTWEIGHT, I would’ve only held out for a clinical idiot & a Mesa Boogie Coliseum. THX, Taylor, for pointing out that the Valvestates run a preamp tube. Put a BK Butler Tube Driver in front of it! 🤘
Yeah I ran in to quite a bit of confusion with them. Some people thought they were completely solid state and others thought they were tube amps, so I wanted to clear that up. Lol @ wall of me 🤣💪
@@TaylorDanley ; While I’ve got your attention, Bro, you really got to check out LPD Pedal’s Eighty7 JCM800/ Hot Rod Plexi stomp box; it ‘bubbles’ like a real JCM800, has that ‘phantom bass response’ & is so very close to the real thing, it even reminds me of the things I’ve always hated about JCM800 100w Back-Breaker Boxes! 😆👍
Most of the valvestate amps were amps that punched way above their price level. I still have a VS30R that I bought nearly new over 20 years ago. I've gotten so good at mic'ing it that people think I'm joking when they ask me what amplifier I'm using.
I love the sound of Marshalls and have owned several but they are the only amps I've had to take in for repairs (broken pots, broken jacks) while my Mesa amps are seemingly indestructible.
I have one of these that I've had since about 1996-ish. They were very cheap to buy (and still are), and sound great at high volume. The sound can get a bit... 'fizzy'/toppy, so I ended up switching out to a JCM800 so I could get more low range in the end. These are killer for anyone starting out with metal though, great gigging amps and surprisingly versatile. You can play it without effects and it still sounds pretty rad when it's dialed up.
Thanks for dropping by! Get yourself some Chug Squad merch here! taylordanley.creator-spring.com
Chimaira also used this amp on their old albums
Hey Taylor. I've seen that Marshall power amp hiding in the corner there. Any chance of a review using pedals as the pre-amp, or any actual pre-amps you may have?
I'm slowly building my rack rig, the heart of which is a Marshall 100 watt monobloc power amp, with 5881 tubes. Then I have a Marshall JMP-1 pre-amp with the midi switching pedal. I also just received a Digitech 2112 with the Digitech Control one pedal board. Next will be a Boss GX700,a tuner, stereo noise gates, power supply and maybe a custom pre-amp too. No gigging, its a bedroom setup through my H&K 4x12 with V30's in it. I haven't fired it all up yet, as I'm going to replace all the tubes, and have them serviced first. For now I'm running a Marshall Lead 100 Mosfet head with a Boss SD-1. I figured, all the guitar sounds I love, are from the 70's 80's and 90's. So now its all quite affordable, why not go rack mount rock star lol. :D
i had 3 crate g130c they are good but once you put a 5150 against it in the same room your like oh it doesnt sound that good its very muddy also had a marshall valvestate it blew up i got another one and it blew up back when they were new sounded pretty good tho love my diezel vh4 tho very unique has more lowend than any amp i ever played
I have a '97 vs100, was a 1x12 combo I cut down into a head, and I run it through two 1x12 ext cabs...it was noisy and had mediocre tone with the stock Chinese made 12ax7, popped a vintage American 7025 in there and it came to life, now it has a great tone and is a great pedal platform, and runs much quieter, that tube isn't just a gimmick
If you like death metal the Crate Blue Voodoo is a killer amp. Love and have the Marshall Valvestate 8100 too. Both killer amps.
The Valvestate is the on amp that needs to be resurrected without being turned into a modeling amp, it had the most potential and I miss mine.
That would be great if they would make it more reliable, that was it’s only problem. I recently bought one of the 100 watt heads but have had several take a shit on me!
There is someone in here that did a great shootout between valvestate, JCM 900 and maybe the 800 or six, but suffice to say the valvestate was by far the gnarliest.
Mode 4
@@Mobius010 it’s a great pedal
AVT i thought always sounded great!
When your demo playing starts, you’ve essentially ended the argument for/against any type of amplification. The reality is we can now see behind the curtain of the music industry, we can record pro quality music on a laptop in our bedrooms, and technology is so good, it’s impossible to separate tubes, solid state, or modelers if you’re listening with your ears and not your eyes. Now more than ever, it’s simply about preference, not the logo/brand. Great vid.
Abe Froman?!? The Sausage King of Chicago?!?!?
@@TheRosswise Yes...yes I am...
Yeah in a production/studio scenario you can do and get away with so much. But don’t tell the internet, it gets mad when you use logic!
@@jburdsinfuse Don't make me get snooty.... eh snotty
I think when playing, tubes cant be replaced tho. Things like the amp heating up, your phones interference being annoying, seeing the tubes glow, and carrying around a little box with spare fuses really give a whole diffrent vibe, feels more "real"
How does this channel only have 21k subs? Seriously. Your cam/production/tones are all top notch. Solid stuff, Taylor! 👊🏼
Killer riffs too, as always! 🤘🏻
Thanks a lot Michael!
@@TaylorDanley I come here partly to enjoy listening to some good ol' death metal riffing haha
@@tatelmarcelino4846 awesome! I’ll keep it coming 💪
Shit, I was actually not subscribed.
Please get the next gen version, VS100 and do a side by side. You’ll be maybe the only person on RUclips to have that video. Endless forums and people questioning… it would get major attention
I’m watching for one 👀
THANK YOU Derek! I’ve also been looking for an A/B comparison of the 8100 and VS100 online for years… nothing. I own a VS100 and love it!
I had the half stack for years. My wife bought for me, i love my wife, I was the 2nd owner and the rig was in mint condition, never gigged or turned up.
I gigged a few times, band practices and jams, fun times. A couple years ago i sold it to a young guy for $100 and he was absolutely rapt when i dialled it in for him, I blended the crunch and od channels making sure he saw what i did. It was awesome to see the smile on his face, the next generation metal head 🤘
Such a fantastic and underrated amp... I want another one damnit... New subscriber, dig the channel dude🤘
Thanks for sharing, and welcome!
I have used the V8080 for around 30 years, toured with it and always sounded good. I've never actually felt the need for another amp or a full tube one. I end up trying other amps (solid state as well) looking for a slightly different tone, but this has been one of my favourite amps. I laugh at those who laugh at them. They don't know what they are missing.
You’re so right 👍👊🫵
It's the tightest amp I've ever played through. I couldn't believe my ears. My uncle had an 8080 and gave it to my dad.
My dad wanted me to test it out. I plugged in a tubescreamer and instantly blasted out Sickening by Meshuggah on it.
Fucking unreal man. Still one of my all time favourites. Its why I bought an LV300H so long ago. Its a little looser but it still has the same kind of sound.
Even has the red LED's for the extra gain stage just like the Marshall.
If you can get your hands on an old Marshall JMP-1 preamp it’s pretty tight too.
@@Kevin.Kelly. Isn't that what Stef Carpenter used for years?
He got some seriously good tones out of that.
@@joshuabeckwith7906 yes sir!
That was my first head back in the 90’s at 14 years old. The contour control is awesome and adds so much versatility. I wish I would’ve held on to mine after all these years. 🤘🏻
Yeah they fetch a pretty decent price these days too!
Actually just got one!
One of the best amps I´ve ever had, i love it.
In fact, it´s one of those amps I´m gonna keep forever.
Have you ad any issues with it? I just got one last week and so far it's great
I have one and I will never sell it. It sits with my Mesa tremoverb, Mesa simul class ED, Fryette Sig X, a Swart STR, a Mesa TA30. It sits highly with that company indeed.
I have the 8200 Bi-chorus version from the 90s. I haven't played it in years because it went through a band trailer fire in the late 90s/early 2000s...But, I gave it to an amp guy I use and he recently called me...he brought it back to life, but has to have a guy build a new cabinet shell for it. I can't wait to get it back. I loved the amp. I also now have an Orange Crush 120 head. Should be interesting to compare the two. Great video.
Awesome video and amp-the Peavey XXL and Marshall Mosfet 100 both solid state & both sound fantastic.
Thanks 💪 I have an XXL also that I’ve played for like 3 min after I bought it 🤣 need to get around to that thing soon
i have a mosfet 100 and I love that thing
I have both an 8100 and a VS100, they are both killer amps. To this day when I bring one of them to practice someone always says how awesome these amps sound. Of course, I play in a thrash metal band and this amp is extremely good for thrash metal. The VS100 combo also comes with a Celestion Hot 100 speaker, which is also known as an excellent speaker for thrash metal.
Anyone who has this amp, try this trick: Turn up the effects loop volume all the way, then turn off your effects loop. For some reason, it makes the mids really pop.
I’ve also seen people jump the effects loop. I’m assuming for similar reasons! How do they compare tonally? When I was researching for this video a lot of the forums I came across swore that the 8100 was better, but I chalk that up to internet lore more than fact
@@TaylorDanley To my ears they sound so similar that it is basically the same tones. I think the main difference is that the 8100 uses the 12AX7 for the OD channel, the VS100 uses it for the clean channel as well.
I've got the 80 Watt version of this, they are just awesome, and have a pretty good clean tone too
Valvestate was my first REAL amp when I was a teenager. 30 years later I still own one.
The 8080 combo. It still sounds awesome.
I have several dsl Marshalls as well. The Valvestate sounds good at any volume, the dsl needs volume to sound good.
And al Jorgensen from ministry also used a Valvestate
I had this model, and I have yet to find another amp I like as much. I bought it used at a Music Go Round for $100. People would always ask me how I got the tone I had, from this amp. Like I had some big secret. All I used was this amp and a Jackson Randy Rhoads custom with Duncan Design pickups. That was it. It was all I needed.
Bruh Definitely one of my fave tracks you've put together. Hits those death metal vibes so perfectly.
Thank you!
I think the reason this was so popular was taking Mesas and older Marshall’s on long tours they were more likely to break down and when the players got used to playing them for the tight low end etc. this being more the case for Meshuggah in the early days. They had to pay insane money to acquire their various Mesa and kept them mostly as studio only
100% I also think since they were more affordable, you’d probably be more likely to see them back lined on festivals and whatnot. I wonder a lot of times when you hear stories of “I saw x band and they used x gear”, how much of that is the band using a venues back line
You're high, Mesas are some of the most road worthy gear out there. I've had my mkiv since 93 its played hundreds of shows thousands of hours with no hiccups. Sure you have to replace tubes once in awhile but mess don't have to be biased if you use their tubes. It's just plug and play. The valvestates on the other hand while good sounding have meh build quality under heavy touring the boards inside don't like the heat and when they do break they are harder to fix.
@@TL-angzarr I don't buy this theory either. Mesa's are some of the best quality builds there is for reliability. I've heard this amp can be a reliability nightmare however. It's more that it's cheap and sounds amazing and unique that it was popular.
@francismcfadden3305 probably more paranoia of a Mesa getting stolen LOL.
I owned this amp during the 90's and I was listening to Prong pretty heavily so :) Btw, according to Tommy Victor in a guitar world interview (circa 1994), solid state amps (and valvestate in this case) were more reliable for pick attack and down tunings than tubes (referring to his signature pinch harmonics) . his gear was 2x valvestate 8100 heads, 2x hush in rack format and a DOD metal X/cry baby wah on the ground (seen on stage). Those amps were pretty bright and snappy with a nice texture, even though the tube is not super critical to the sound, acting more like a soft limiter or a sweetener haha. Still they were sturdy and reliable. The only downsides I've found were a tad lack of gain on OD2 and quite sleepy EQ controls (apart from the contour) but that's what you get with marshall type passive controls on a low voltage solid state head (preamp that is).
I believe that. I feel like with tubes you’re always chasing headroom in the power section (unless you like that plexi compressed dorty power section sound)… But for metal definitely we always want more headroom. If you compare kt88s to 6L6s, the kt88s are more desirable for that reason. So high wattage solid state power sections with tremendous headroom kind of make sense for metal!
I remember the advert with him in it.
Did the Prong rhythm guitar sound include the old Metal X?
@@Kevin.Kelly. yes it did! The pedal board was pretty small. metal X and a cry baby. no more, no less (marshall heads and hush noise gates were set as racks)
@@AIBCustomFx This is golden info! Thanks! I’ve always loved that Cleansing tone.
I've had the 2nd generation Valvestate 100 since the late 90's. It was heavily gigged and toured with. Also, recorded with it for years. It sounded killer and it still turns on and sounds awesome today. It has stood the test of time. The only thing I did was put a new pre-amp tube in it a year ago. That amp sounds so tight and with a great feel and response. Every note shines through and sounds musical. Nothing really gets buried in the mud with the Valvestate amps. Marshall should definitely bring these amps back.
This was a bad ass review and probably the best I heard for a Marshall Valvestate. My first amp was a Valvestate 8080 that my dad bought me in like 94' and I still have it to this day. I never heard mine sound like your, looks like it's time to bust it back out again. Thanx again!!!
Hey you never know, you may love it! I find that I like it more with my 1960a cab, but I didn’t have that cab when I shot this video 🤦♂️
@@TaylorDanley Yessir!!! I'm gonna mess around with some of your settings tomorrow, if you don't mind man. Lol
This is my absolute favorite amp. Sucks that they're getting more expensive.
Yeah, but also everything is getting more expensive! Would have been great to buy it 6 years ago for 50 bucks, but what are you gonna do 🤷♂️
I got one for only £200 not even a year ago, given it does have a fair amount of cosmetic wear. If you look hard enough you can find them real cheap.
@@dq7860 I got one for £50/$60 9 month ago :D
Amazing deal! The best deal I've gotten recently was this B.C. Rich NJ Bass from Korea. Got it for only £350 and it's beautiful.
I’ll let you in on a little secret. Get a Marshal JMP-1 preamp.
I bought my 8100 half stack for 300 fucking big ones. I thought "a marshall half stack for 300? I'll bite." And I liked the way it sounded, so it went home with me. I only realized how legendary the particular amp was until much later.
Bought mine new back in '93. Still have it. Had it in the shop for a tune up. Still sounds great & keeps me inspired. Cool video 🤘
Awesome demo of this amp. I remember picking on up from a local music store in the mid 90s but returning it a few hours later. Basically, I was a noob and had no idea how to dial it in correctly at the time and couldn't get a sound I liked. In retrospect, I sure wish I had kept it, haha!
Love these solid state amp reviews too and I can't wait for you Crate review. I have the GX130C and I love it, a total beast. Have a Peavey Supreme 160 on the way too so I can't wait to check it out. Have heard about them a lot and after Kyle Bull's review, I was sold and had to find one.
Thanks dude! Yeah the gx130c stuff is coming soon hopefully, I’m just waiting for the head I bought to get serviced and then I’ll make that happen 💪
Yeah that's really typical of affordable gear that gets rediscovered as a lost gem: young people try it out and don't have the experience to set it up for a good sound, gatekeepers tell them it's a bad product, and then the first group go back to it and find out that it was actually used on a lot of their favourite recordings and sounds great.
That midrange voicing is so delicious. I imagine, in the right hands, this can produce some insane lead tones as well.
I think Valvestates in particular make great pedal platforms.
Another great hybrid amp is the Trace Elliot Supertramp Tube. First proper amp I ever owned and it's still one of my favourites.
The Ampeg VH & SS series, the CRATE GX series, Marshall 8100 series, these are the greatest solid state amps ever heard of in metal. Fender M series, and PEAVEY various series solid state amplifiers in their lines are of notable mention it is harder to pinpoint those amplifiers as they are not as well known. What is notable about the Ampeg and Crate the ones mentioned specifically are that they are stereo chorus models, there are non stereo chorus versions of those amplifiers as well utiblizing the same preamp. i am designing an amplifier with ALL of these preamps in a single amplifier as well as multi channel simultaneous modes and separate signal out modes, so a four by twelve cab you can use 4 inputs, a single input to each speaker with four different pre amps running it simultaneously. Also has some tweaks on the original preamp's design for more tweakability. Also a stereo pre and post 64 band eq built in. Also with different power settings. The 60 watt mode has a 120 watt power amp physically, because any power output is ran at a 50% cap for highest efficiency and cool operation. Class A. Class A/B. Class B. Class C. Class D modern power design full of energy. 60 watt, 120 watt, 240 watt, 480 watt, 960 watt modes. Micronized molecular circuitries throughout large analogous system. Ultra high powered micron computer construction.
The Valvestate was also maybe the first affordable amp, where you did not need any pedals to do the extreme metal sound. That is also why it was so popular in the 90's.
rubbish peavey supreme 160
I said maybe. And I bet, that especially in Europe very few people have even heard about Peavey Supreme. Everyone knows Valvestate. (Bandit is a legendary death metal amp). @@SwedishMeattball
Death is the only reason I NEED this amp
💪💪💪
Seeing you in a Gorgoroth shirt gave me an idea. Would be nice to have a video series where you show how to get a certain tyle of tone step by step. Like one video you show how to get a Death Metal tone, the other it's about Black Metal tones, another video for Thrash Metal or Power Metal and so on. Starting from which amps, cabs/speakers and fx are gonna be used, going to how to dialing in every pedal and the EQ.
I'm searching and waiting for that kind of videos since forever but nobody makes them.
Like Andertons Sounds Like?
Not a bad idea! I did do something similar a while back but haven’t revisited it. When I get back to making videos more regularly I’ll consider this!
@@TheRosswise But for MEH-TUHL 🤣
@@farqueleyou7578 They have MEH-TUHL bands on there too :p
@@TheRosswise
Kind of, but more like general basic genre sounds than like a specific band
I've been running a Valvestate head since the mid 90's, still have it. It is has always been a go to in the studio and live. Can cover a lot of sonic territory with it.
Hell yeah man! Have you had any issues with your 8100? I picked one up recently and so far it's been great!
@@ballsofdoom3124 never have had a problem it's gone to Japan a few times and all over the US so it hasn't always been treated gently.
i Appreciate that you took the amp apart and gave it some TLC getting all the dust and grime out from the inside! i have a huge detailing habit when i get stuff used and give it a detailing
If you put a BBE Sonic Maximizer in the FX Loop you can give the Valvestate a lot more low end than it initially has on it's own. Definitely worth trying out and seeing the difference.
In other videos I have advised the exact same thing .
Really enjoy this amplifier very much
@@danielluna1818 i use a digital emulation of an Aphex Aural Exciter on a Zoom MS50G stompbox pedal in the FX loop of my Randall RG80 combo, and believe me when i say that it truly brings this amp to life. The regular tone of the Randall RG80 isn't really much to write home about in comparison to even the all solid state Marshall amps, but with the Aural Exciter in the loop it not only brings the amp to life, but i'll even argue that it blows tube amps out of the water entirely.
I'll take a Randall RG amp head with an Aural Exciter up against even Randall's Diablo series of tube amps any day of the week.
Valvestate 8080 was my first amp.Really great and loud amp.
Had the first gen valvestate when I got my first job. Was the first thing I bought. Sold it years later. Hate I sold it. Was such a great amp.
The Bleeding was the best CC album, IMO. My friends and I wore that album out back in the day.
I dig your choice of guitar as well!😎🧨 the Solar V is going to be my next guitar purchase. I have a Solar A1.6 Artist series BOP 2019 (#67 of 100) and am so pleased with it - it's just beyond words in my opinion! I wasn't sure about the Evertune bridge, but I'm happy to announce it too be GREAT! Think I'll go the same route w/t V as well. (I have enough guitars w/floating Floyd Rose bridges. 9 too be exact! 🤘 Rock on!!
It's a great guitar, I really enjoy it! 🤘
I have used a Crate G120 2X12 combo for almost 30 years with and without distortion pedals. My favorite Crate combo was the G40C 2X10. My problem was note definition at high volume. I still have yet to own a tube amp. I bought an Orange Super Crush a couple months ago ol and that has opened some doors for my playing and it can get loud and you have great note definition. Now it's my main amp.
Yeah lower wattage solid states tend to fall apart at high volumes
For what it's worth, I appreciate your process in the way you dial in your amps. Meaning you show just enough, and with enough attention to detail, but keep it quick paced and interesting. You don't noodle for 15 min on each slight adjustment you make *cough John Browne cough* 😁
Thanks, I really appreciate that. I've tried different pacing during the demos, and I think where I am now is a pretty good middle ground between too much talking and too much playing. Glad someone noticed!
Used these right through the 90’s and often received compliments. This amp with an early 90’s Charvel fusion really worked great together
I was in a small ma and pa music store in Syracuse NY and one of these Marshalls was sitting in a back corner behind a few more popular
heads. It has a hang tag marked $199. I knew it had a tube preamp from reading about it and they had no cabinets to plug in to so I just
bought it. What did I have to lose? $200 no big deal. I brought it home and spent a couple hours eqing it and I was blown away by the diversity
of the different channels. To this day I use it for recording very often. Between my JCM 900, Blue Voodoo and my EVH Iconic I can get just about any
tone I need and this amp hangs with all of them. Great job.
I own the 80-watt combo which I plan to convert to a head soon. Easily one of my favorite amps - bought it because of Scott Burns and almost all the OG bands from Roadrunner Records (when they were still a real metal label) used 1st-gen Valvestate🤘🏿 - plus it's got a good AC/DC / The Cult 'Electric' tone as well.
I've read somewhere that Chuck Schuldiner used a DS-1 to boost it. Maybe you can try it too and then upload it man!
That bass tone really kicked things up a few notches. Gave the guitar some extra balls.
💪💪💪
I'm literally with a studio that is looking to downsize but wants to keep at least one good versatile amp head. This video helped a lot in deciding to keep ours. Thanks!
I bought one back in the days.I still have it but for recording I bought the audiority plug-in which is very realistic ! 👍
That’s what I hear!
Marshall Valvestate VS265 Stereo Chorus.
2x12 65 watt combo.
Could run in mono and stereo. 3 channels. More than loud enough for the midsized-bar to small-theater gigs we played (maybe 250 to 500 person gigs), and I could plug earphones into it and practice silently in my small apartment very late at night...or was it early in the morning at that point.
The clean channel sounded great on its own, a bit JC120-ish especially when set to stereo with the amps chorus turned on. Super 3D, lush and trippy. It made an excellent pedal platform for the Epandora EX2000 v1 that I'd run into my early 4 screw v7 EHx Green Russian Big Muff (a 4 screw bubble font) that was my core sound. That's what we called it at the time, sound, not tone. Ahhh the 90s.
The OD1 channel was reasonable crunch and blues.
The OD2 channel gave more gain that I could use at the time.
Everything you said about right harmonics and feel under the fingers is spot on.
This amp covered A LOT of ground, especially given the Contour nob, as you note.
Looking back, the Marshall GOLD speakers were crap. They're the only thing I'd replace if I had still this amp today.
I never should have sold it in the late 2000s for next to nothing.
Hey we’ve all been there and sold things we wish we hadn’t! Thanks for sharing dude 💪
My first amp was VS265R. Still have it today and yes those goldbacks were terrible. Mostly sits as a bit of Marshall bling amongst a collection of Mesas but occasionally I give it a spin.
The Marshall VS100 was my first real amp. I got it on a whim back in maybe 2004 or 2005? As a huge Static-X fan back then I had no idea this amp was used by them initially. By the time I'd realized all this I'd already sold the amp. Would love to get my hands on another one.
Best clean channel demo I‘ve ever seen. ♥️
🥳
Dude, your video rocks. I still have my 8100 I bought back in 1994, sadly though it has not been powered up in over fifteen years 😕 But after watching your video this evening, I reckon tomorrow is the day to let the neighbours savour the sound of unbridled Heavy MoFo metal. I still reckon these amps have the most killer tone, as plenty of guys would come up to me after gigs we played and say what an absolutely amazing sound the amp produced, be it Pennywise/Fu Manchu covers etc played via my 1987 Ibanez RG550DY (which I still have), to playing all manner of down tuned revelry during my Korn/nu-metal wannabe days, using an original 1997 RG7620(also which i still own). These amps just dished out the tones, so glad I never sold it 🤘🤘🤘🤘
I noticed that you also have another of my favorite heads, the Ampeg 300W! Nice! I've never been able to get it above 3, and that's with a live drummer!!
Taylor, Great video. It brought back some bitter-sweet memories. Whatever you do, do not let it go!
I bought one of these used in 1992. The previous owner had redone it into red Tolex, really cool looking. Long story short, I had GAS for a Roland GR-1 so I traded it together with a 4x14 1960A Marshall cab and a bunch of pedals etc. I still paid over $1000 on top of it. The used value of all I traded for that POS is over $3000 as of today (2022), while the GR-1 doesn't fetch more than a couple hundred bucks!
The main problem with the GR-1 was the atrocious tracking which destroyed any possibility of enjoying the thing.
Fortunately I still have the 2x12 stereo 80 combo of this amp that I had bought brand new before I bought the head. Oh, I traded my Roland GP-8 for it plus loads of cash. I miss the GP-8...
Yeah I don’t think it’s going anywhere. Sorry for your loss! That’s the thing when you’re trading gear, you never know what’s going to increase or decrease in value!
@@TaylorDanley It really is not the loss of value that pissed me off, it is the fact that the GR-1 was not the dream gear I had hoped for, quite the opposite.
I had a AVT 150 in the early 2000’s. I’ve had many an amp since. And the tone I got from that amp hasn’t been matched. Wish I still had it
Loved mine too!
I just rebuilt mine. I love it
I love my Valvestate 8100, I've had it for almost 18 years now, I recently bought all brand new Marshall knobs for it, rewrapped the head and the cab with new black grill, and put a new 12ax7 in it, this thing just rips, anything you throw at it, I've got guitars with active pickups, passive pickups, 6/7 and 8 string guitars, it just rips through anything I throw at it, I also have an original ADA-MP1 Tube Preamp that I run through the effects loop of it now and then as a preamp (those who know about the MP1, know how nasty this rack can be if you know what you're doing with it), also have a BBE Sonic Maximizer 482 rack tied in with the MP1, the tones you can get between the three of them are literally endless, I have the matching 4x12 straight cab also with V30's in it, props for give the 8100 some shine, also, check out the 200w version of the 8100 which is the 8200, it can power 4 4x12s and has a true stereo analog bi-chorus built in.
I think a blue voodoo vs 8100 shootout could be pretty interesting :). Very good video dude. \m/
Thanks buddy 🙏
I sold my 8100 for the BV120.
i have 2 of these 8100s from England and I love them. Boosted with an 808 sounds clear and amazing. Mine are not noisy.
Yeah, bad tube in this one… go figure, it’s the only one! 🤣
@@TaylorDanley lol! You are licky to have one of these. They are keepers as they are getting harder to find.
I used to have the later version of that head and I loved it. I wish they still made them.
Absolutely love your channel man, your demo vid sounded so much like the bleeding to my ears! Always thought it was a crate also. My friend had a Valvestate combo as a kid and it ripped.
Thanks so much! That's actually totally what I was going for, so glad that came across!
I have a Marshall MG100HDFX , which is the little brother of this guy just without any tubes, and it’s basically the same amp, it has a SS preamp but it still absolutely rips, I have a bunch of tube heads that sound great too, a few orange lunchbox terror heads, and I’ve owned a JCM 900 as well, which sounded amazing but was always failing on me at shows.
But the mG100 I picked up at a pawn shop for $45, it sounds 90% as good as any tube Marshall, it’s crazy loud, and best of all is it’s much more reliable and leSs prone to fail.
Old Marshall tube heads can be finicky and need a good tech to run reliably all the time.
By the way, your playing in this video was stellar, as always, you always play the tastiest riffs. You really know how to lay down some wicked notes and then let a few power chords stretch out and breath, don’t think I didn’t notice that.
Thanks Tay Tay. 🤘🤘🗿
Thanks so much! You know it's funny because those MG heads get even WORSE hate than the valvestate mk2, so it makes me really curious about them as well. I know they made a change to the output circuitry, and on some of them it has a tendency to overheat and break, but I really want to try one of those up against it now... especially since they can be had for so cheap!
@@TaylorDanley dude I’m telling you, I’ve played Marshall MOSFET heads from the 80s and several of the MGs, I always thought people hated valvestates the most because they were some hybrid bastard child and didn’t commit fully to tubes or SS, hehe.
But yeah, I think a good cabinet goes a LONG way into shaping your tone, because when you put an MG into a 1960 or Mesa cab, it sounds like a Marshall.
Mine is fairly noisy, not too bad, but my god it has so much clean headroom if you want it to, but also has several channels and crunch/OD switches . Marshall engineers know what they’re doing whe. They design a circuit, because quite honestly a good circuit design can sound great without tubes, using JFETS, which is what I believe it has.
Colin from the science of loud has a great video on them, as I’m sure you’ve seen.
Thanks for the reply dude, made my day
When the clean channel is dirty it reminded me of some early flaw clean-ish stuff. Can be used. And the “new guy” marshal sound made my ears perk up and I was like yea that’s definitely what prong used on cleansing. Sounds exactly like the opening track.
I have the 40w combo version and it's sooooo useful to that harsh piercing distortion very scooped sound...and the clean it very nice too
I wish I had either a Valvestate or a Peavey Pacer because both with a TS808 in front sound badass I got a Acoustic lead G20 right now.
Nice video and demonstration. So how do I get a boost pedal. Do you have a link or website I can find it?
It hasn't released yet. We have the art completed and the final prototype is in production currently. I'll 100% have a video when it's available for purchase.
I had one and remembered it sounding like a compressed POS
I still use my crate VTX350h (same preamp as the ampeg vh140c) and absolutely love it
I have a disassembled one on my desk, which I already played in the 90s. Unfortunately several knobs and switches are broken, so there's some work to do...
Me too, think I’m gonna order the parts it’s all pretty cheap just needed a little push 👍
I got one but it's a combo, a 12
Model 8080
I loved my 8100. Never needed an overdrive or a noise gate, even on a cheap Ibanez. That contour knob is OP.
Really shines when you play with a drummer that hits extremely hard. It was so bright and present, and sounded vicious when cranked.
Love this amp, is my main amp, and booat it with some different pedals, my favorite mix is with a modes metal zone, no gain, all volume and eq to taste 🤘, it could get so many colors and voices
Have you had any issues with yours? I just got one and so far so good
@@ballsofdoom3124 the pots get dirty very easy, away from that is awsome, another "common" issue is problems with the power stage, but i haven't had it
One of my pet peaves with some amps esp. Solid State ones is that the Clean channel is pure cleans and doesn't really break up. Even though a lot of guys use solid state pedals for their overdrive anyway. Very cool this amp is an exception.
4:52 you dont know me, lol
I have a bi chorus 8200 which is the stereo model and it's an amp I can't part with. it works so well with pedals and because it's a hybrid amp you have don't need to worry about tone consistency between gigs. I like how this was Marshall's reaction to the roland jazz chorus because I feel like it's really doing it's own thing. I wish marshall could reproduce this amp because it really was a hidden gem.
sounds good. i used to own a crate 130c and i thought it was rather muddy. this sounds way better imo. maybe a side by side comparison would be cool
You got to use pretty unorthodox settings with the Ampeg VH-140C and Crate GX-130C.
This is crazy. My first Marshall was this amp. And I loved it. I switched to tube amp. But I might get another one. I do love the tightness from it!!
A staple in 90s hard-core bands. I ran mine through one of those Jackson rat fur Cas loaded with V30s. It brought the mosh.
Sounds really great ! I admit that i havent seen all your videos although i have seen a lot of them, but this is probably the best you have sounded in the ones ive seen.
Thanks! It’s not me, it’s the amp 🤣🥳
@@TaylorDanley Nothing wrong with your playing but a good sound also helps a lot 🤘
I had a Valvestate in the late 90s. Saved up my paper route and summer job money until I could finally afford one. I was never able to get anything good out of it. It was loud, it was cheap, it had a Marshall logo on it but it didn't sound good.
Sold it a couple of years later and I never looked back.
🤔 what kind of cabinet?
@@TaylorDanley The 212 Combo - it had what, G12Ts? The speakers are not at fault. It's whatever tone control circuitry Marshall hides behind the "Contour" knob is what I can't deal with. I briefly had a MG100 a couple of years ago, hooked that up to various cabinets and I was unable to dial that to anything that I liked either. I'll take a Katana over a Valvestate or MG any day.
To me, the contour knob either gives you an overly scooped lifeless guitar tone that has no presence in the room whatsoever, or when turned to the left, it's just thin upper mids without any body. Somewhere in the middle and it sounds like someone threw a blanket over the amp.
Same here. Had it for many years and was never happy with it. Albeit I had a Randall 4x12 with Celestion seventy 80’s which could be the reason why.
i have a vh140c head into matching cab w/xpattern v-30s and gt75. also have the gx130c 2x12 combo. both are sick af but totally different amps. this 8100 is on the list and is a verrry overlooked ss amp imho as is the crate td50c, dunno why lol. BUT what i've been looking at lately is the mini plexi through a vertical 2x12 and running a metalzone/whatever gnarly dist box through the fx loop. should be sick af thick af etc.
my main amp now is the newer 2000 series valvestate, an avt50 combo, absolutely love it for just about any tone i want.
Awesome! Never tried an avt but I plan to 💪
My favorite amp, been usin' it for almost 10 years now, used it on my recordings with Horrid Apparition, DungeönHammer, Hexenmal and Iron Lizards : absolute ripper!!
I was the guitarist for a Dutch Power metal outfit by the name of Slavantas from 2006 until 2012, My amp in those days was London City Bulldog head, but that amp was unreliable, it had signal loss and drove me nuts.
So I replaced it with a Crate CLX series head which was far better in dependability issues, it worked when I turned it on and had a killer distortion. After Leaving Slavants I also bought Marshall Valvestate head. And used both as my main live amps. But I became bored with that tone after a while and have since gone to using Fender solid state amps because of their headroom and lush clean sounds.
I had one when they first came out. I was a teenager in the 90s being raised by a single mom. The valvestates where affordable and sounded great.
I picked up one of these at a pawn shop for $100 like 15 or 20 years ago. I had it as a backup for a while. Have no clue what happened to it.
2 years ago browsing through a pawn shop (different one from before. In a neighboring city) and what do ya know?! I found it. The same one. I know because I scratched my nickname into the back of it. It was for sale for $200. I really wanted to buy it back but I saw a bugera trirec half stack for $300. It didn't have any tubes and needed some fuses internally replaced. Got it all back up
And running and now I have a solid backup to my evh 5150 el34 100 watt head. Although I don't plan on letting it go down long enough to need to use my backup amp.
Oh man, it was serendipity! You should have bought it back 🤣 it’s kind of crazy, I remember when you could buy these for that price!
@@TaylorDanley yeah the used market has gotten all wacky these days
Ah this brings back memories. Contour knob
I bought a used Crate FXT120 because it was the same amp that the lead guitarist in my band used and I ended up using it as my main amp for about 8 years, it has some problems now, and I dont play in a band regularly so I haven't ever fixed it up but it always sounded killer.
Effects were meh. But needs a rotary sim on a ripping distorted metal guitar?
me and my buddy both used em back in the 90's. had the valvestate that had built in chorus too
Hey Taylor. 1:22 into the vid and want to share this: For about a decade I used a Crate FXT 120 which is an amazing and unknown ss amp.. cuz it's a Crate of course. Used it as my main amp until I got a Micro Dark. Short story is that it was made as a Guitar Center special with a twin brother made for Sam Ash. The circuitry Crate 'invented' for these is called Trans-Tube and is 3-stage gain with the ability to use one, two, or three via foot switch with a pristine clean channel as well. It has digital DSP FX (mostly useless but the pitch and time based are nice) and the EQ is dialed in nicely. If you want to hear an amazing ss amp... that most players would s**t on... as research for your Crate vid I recommend you seek one out. The info on them is buried in old forums but I tell you as a guy who grew up in the late 80s on Peavey ss combos like the Backstage Chorus 210 and the Gorilla and all that 'crap' that is now sonic gold... find one and learn to dial it in. IIRC it's the little brother to your Crate.
Thanks for sharing! I'm going to keep this on my radar!
Ive owned the crate gx130c and the valvestate…….and as a SUPER tube snob ive always loved them. Being a broke kid in the late 90s early 2000s when i started playing you pretty much got what you got. Valvestate through my stock eminence 2x12 vader is still one of my favorite tone machines!
I had an 8100 in high school. Loved that thing and kept it until I got married and need to get a smaller amp to save space. I replaced the tube like once the whole time I owned it. Replaced it with a Sovtek tube (is that company still around). Sold it to a teenager and he seemed quite happy with it. It was pretty versatile amp (not just used for metal)
I got the 8100 brand new for a graduation gift in 1996. I still have it today.
A Krank and a Valvestate 8100 in the same room? I JUST BLEW MY LOAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
🤣
Great tone.! It locks in super tight with the bass tone. Great job.
This was the first head I ever owned. I eventually sold it to buy a BV120 which also eventually went down the road. But it was a cool amp and still the only Marshall I've had.
You have inspired me to buy one of these amps. Absolutely incredible sound. With only a small amount of weight obviously, and with minimal cost to operate, in that you’d only have to stock a few high quality 12AX7As vs. hundreds of dollars for a whole set of tubes.
I’m definitely buying one today.
Faubus
I have the Marshall VS265. It outperformed my buddy's Marshall 2000. He went and got a Fender Bassman...he still has his tail between his legs!
I have an old 8080 combo. The contour really livens up the sound. If you set to maybe 9, 9,5 O'clock. At maybe before halfway it really starts to scoop up the sound.
Awesome tone I had a Marshall MG 10 and my first big amp Crate GT 120 combo
💪
Great video, Taylor!
I ran a TubeWorks 100w 12” combo, in the ‘90s.
I lined off a 12” wedge by my drummer.
WALL OF ME.
Just a Digitech Multiplayer in the loop.
Those amps were KILLER Mosfet (‘MosValve’) power amps, I never needed it over 80% power. The 2 preamp 12ax7s those amps run at a partial of full plate volts,
& w/the OLD Groove Tubes, it was alike a Mesa Boogie/ Plexi ‘chewiness’.
I had a tone much alike George Lynch on Dokken’s live album.
I was settled on it!
I’d traded in a 100w Mushall JCM800 & $200 for that little monster.
I got frequent offers for trades, after performing, for you name it.
It was just too much good tone & SO LIGHTWEIGHT,
I would’ve only held out for a clinical idiot & a Mesa Boogie Coliseum.
THX, Taylor, for pointing out that the Valvestates run a preamp tube.
Put a BK Butler Tube Driver in front of it! 🤘
Yeah I ran in to quite a bit of confusion with them. Some people thought they were completely solid state and others thought they were tube amps, so I wanted to clear that up.
Lol @ wall of me 🤣💪
@@TaylorDanley ; And my drummer really liked being able to hear me clearly, rehearsals or performances. 🤘
@@TaylorDanley ; While I’ve got your attention, Bro, you really got to check out LPD Pedal’s
Eighty7 JCM800/ Hot Rod Plexi stomp box; it ‘bubbles’ like a real JCM800, has that ‘phantom bass response’ & is so very close to the real thing, it even reminds me of the things I’ve always hated about JCM800 100w Back-Breaker Boxes! 😆👍
Most of the valvestate amps were amps that punched way above their price level.
I still have a VS30R that I bought nearly new over 20 years ago. I've gotten so good at mic'ing it that people think I'm joking when they ask me what amplifier I'm using.
😂 I mean, honestly I think most people when blindfolded would not guess it was a Valvestate amplifier if they heard it in person.
I love the sound of Marshalls and have owned several but they are the only amps I've had to take in for repairs (broken pots, broken jacks) while my Mesa amps are seemingly indestructible.
I loved my valvestate 8080 and later the jmp-1 rack which had sort of the same sound.
I passed up a chance to buy a jmp preamp with my el34 100/100 and I’m always like 🤦♂️ over it lol
I have one of these that I've had since about 1996-ish. They were very cheap to buy (and still are), and sound great at high volume. The sound can get a bit... 'fizzy'/toppy, so I ended up switching out to a JCM800 so I could get more low range in the end. These are killer for anyone starting out with metal though, great gigging amps and surprisingly versatile. You can play it without effects and it still sounds pretty rad when it's dialed up.