How are the newer marshall amps?

[mbengs1]

like the JVM or the Vintage modern series? I hear they sound great like the older marshalls but is there a catch?

[Sir Don]

I have a Satriani JVM which has now become my main gigging amp, sounds great and is very versatile. The only catch is the price, pretty expensive, particularly in Australia.

[mbengs1]

Thanks. I'm considering the earlier marshalls instead. like the jcm900 4100, jcm2000 dsl100, or the jcm800 .

[Edes]

I love the JCM2000 DSL and TSL both have killer distortion channels.

The 2203 JCM 800 with a boost is high gain heaven too.

[mbengs1]

What about the valvestate series? I was considering a marshall vs100 head. I thought they sound reasonably good but still lack the organic sound of a tube power section. but theyre really cheap so its ok.

[WRGKMC]

I have a Valvestate and Have owned Plexi's so I have a pretty good feel for the two. I'd trade the 100W Valvestate for a 50W plexi in a heartbeat but the two aren't a fair comparison.

 

The 100W Valvestate head which uses Mosfets which are very tube like sounding and its got one Preamp tube for drive. The clean channel is very good and I usually use the clean channel and boxes to get my drives. The effects loop is excellent too. Its got a knob to adjust how much effects loop you have and a button for pre or post Preamp.

 

There's another button that gives the power amp section some growl to emulate driven speakers.

 

The two drive channels are crunch and drive. I'm not real happy with the crunch channel because you cant adjust between cleaner and slightly driven tones very well. Its OK but not quite what I'd like from the amp. The lead channel is very good and gives you that typical Marshall lead tone.

 

The one thing I do like allot is the amp has a speaker emulates line output. I use it for recording direct and when I compare a mic in front of the 1960 cab and the speaker emulated line out tracks in a blind listening test, the Line out wins hands down. If I were recording in a big room and wanted to capture room acoustics that might change, but the like out sounds just like a miced cab and has no bleed over when you're recording with a drummer or other instrument so it makes mixing so much easier.

 

I've had mine at least 8 years and the only thing I've done is swap the preamp tube for a 5781 which is a lower gain 12AX7 type preamp tube and it did help tame the drive a bit which was a little too over the top for most stuff I play. The head is real light too which makes it allot easier to haul around. I can say it does nail the plexi tones quite well, its just that little extra edge you get from a cranked 50w tube is what I like. Other then that its an excellent substitute that wont bankrupt you. You can find the used ones around for about $300. I do have the newer version Valvestate, not the MG series which weren't quite as good. Oh and the reverb is pretty good too, nothing wrong there. It will also handle 4~16 ohm cabs without any kind of switching and sound good.