valve amps...are they better than say my valvestate marshall...

[antwhi2001]

Marshall VS are not crappy, they are ok and reasonable value for money. A good all-tube Marshall or Fender will give you better classic rock / blues tone with a Gibson, but only if you drive it hard and hot. If you are gigging regularly and play that sort of music you may think it's worth it. If you are playing either very clean or very distorted metal-type stuff with overdrive / fuzz I wouldn't bother upgrading to all-tube.

I've had a 1960s Vox AC30, a Fender Twin, a Peavey Renown, and a Session 75 over the years as well as Marshalls.

In recent years I've had 3 Marshalls :

 

MG DFX 100 combo (solid state) : speaker and fan both needed replacing in less than 12 months. FX not footswitchable so when gigging I had loads of pedals. I'd give it 4 out of 10 for clean tone and 6 for dirty, but basically it's an over-sized bedroom amp. It had to go when I got back into regular gigging.

 

Marshall AVT275X combo (single valve pre-amp?) : better tone. 6 out of 10 clean, 7 dirty. Switchable channels made it morer versatile for gigging.

 

Marshall TSL122 combo (all valve) : 7 out of 10 clean, 8 out of 10 dirty. I don't need any overdrive / fuzz, the high gain channel gives me everything I need for solos. I can get a bit of break-up for chords through the clean channel. I know that some of the improvement is that fact it's all tube, but also it has 2 very good speakers, higher spec than the other Marshalls I had.

 

FWIW, I'd give my old Twin 9 and 9 out of 10....but at 80lbs I couldn't cart it around!

[wrighty3693]

MARSHALLS RULE IN GENERAL!!!!!!!!!

[wrighty3693]

Marshalls are nice amps the VS 100's clean channell rules its doesnt break up easily and

has plenty of tone to boot the Overdrive 1 Channel is great for a classic blues tone like

Claptons woman tone the Overdrive 2 Channell is awesome for metal your all way too harsh

its about peronal preferance for f**k sake

___________________________________________________________________________

Epiphone Les Paul Custom Alpine White

[leicester35]

MARSHALLS RULE IN GENERAL!!!!!!!!!

 

Thank you for that incisive insight....

[leicester35]

Marshalls are nice amps the VS 100's clean channell rules its doesnt break up easily and

has plenty of tone to boot the Overdrive 1 Channel is great for a classic blues tone like

Claptons woman tone the Overdrive 2 Channell is awesome for metal your all way too harsh

its about peronal preferance for f**k sake

___________________________________________________________________________

Epiphone Les Paul Custom Alpine White

 

Reassuring to see that grammar, spelling and punctuation are still properly taught in my nation's schools...

[wrighty3693]

It's always nice to see a few English people are interested in tone as opposed to playing

one million notes a second in particular leicester35

[leicester35]

It's always nice to see a few English people are interested in tone as opposed to playing

one million notes a second in particular leicester35

 

?

 

Sorry mate, but as an old man in my 30s I rarely bother with anything beyond 90 bpm (or thereabouts) these days...if you'd read my earlier post, you might have noticed that I address the issue of tone quite a lot in my playing...

Bloody whippersnapper.

[wrighty3693]

I hate people that play too fast it becomes too rehearsed with no emotion and eventually gets lethargic

theres alot more to learn from playing jazz and blues in a band situation because you get a true feel for the beat

and begin to improvise alot better

although tone is a personal preference its always more important that what you play its all how its played

but you also have to consider that most of your tone is in your fingers to be honest

 

BTW please refrain from calling me a whippersnapper because even though im a young man theres no need to be

ostroseized for a comment

[leicester35]

BTW please refrain from calling me a whippersnapper because even though im a young man theres no need to be ostroseized for a comment

 

Granted. Apologies.

[wrighty3693]

Apolgie accepted

[Ron G]

theres no need to be ostroseized for a comment

But perhaps you should be criticized for your spelling' date=' grammar and word usage.

 

os·tra·cize

/'?str??sa?z/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [os-truh-sahyz'] Show IPA Pronunciation

–verb (used with object), -cized, -ciz·ing.

1. to exclude, by general consent, from society, friendship, conversation, privileges, etc.: His friends ostracized him after his father's arrest.

2. to banish (a person) from his or her native country; expatriate.

3. (in ancient Greece) to banish (a citizen) temporarily by popular vote.

Also, especially British, os·tra·cise.

 

there's, not theres

[generation zero]

But perhaps you should be criticized for your spelling' date=' grammar and word usage.

 

os·tra·cize

/'?str??sa?z/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [os-truh-sahyz'] Show IPA Pronunciation

–verb (used with object), -cized, -ciz·ing.

1. to exclude, by general consent, from society, friendship, conversation, privileges, etc.: His friends ostracized him after his father's arrest.

2. to banish (a person) from his or her native country; expatriate.

3. (in ancient Greece) to banish (a citizen) temporarily by popular vote.

Also, especially British, os·tra·cise.

 

there's, not theres

 

 

LOL... +1

[wrighty3693]

Must I sincerley apologise for my punctuation and spelling. Generation Zero I have also posted a reply to

your other post.

[leicester35]

Fellas, give the lad a chance...

 

Wrighty, why don't you introduce yourself, tell us what kind of music you play, and which guitars you own, etc?

 

No-one is out to get you, and perhaps we should be a bit friendlier here... This is a forum for all Epiphone players, of any age.

 

Take you time, and try to post a bit less breathlessly.

 

Welcome to the forum.

[generation zero]

Must I sincerley apologise for my punctuation and spelling. Generation Zero I have also posted a reply to

your other post.

 

Noted. I was trying to be a little nicer about it, but I thought Ron's post was funny. :D

[wrighty3693]

Most of the music I play ranges from old jazz music to modern blues and rock. Although

the blues is a style I find most useful to play because it really does help phrasing and

timing.

At the moment my only guitar is an Epiphone Les paul Custom 2007

with an EE serial number. Although it has seen it's fair share of abuse.

As a friend lifted it by the strap and snapped it in half, a three mounth

repair.

[Stevie Nazarenie]

i had a 70's marshall/ park 50 watt head and 4x12 cab then a marshall jcm 800 2210 head and 1960a cab. it cost about £700 upgrade in the 80's it simply was not worth it. i can't hear anything better over my pod but then i have tinitus. i am going to have the confidence to say plllllrrrrrrr! with my tongue out. i like the vox model much better than alot of the other amp models i have heard. that would be a better upgrade for me just turn the dial...

[sexygibson]

As has already been said, both have their advantages and tone is all subjective. I personally have only played tube amps for several years now but I do gas for a Roland Jazz Chorus.

[charlie brown]

"Better" for what/who? I have both Tube amps (Fender HR Deluxe, Blues Junior, Twin Reverb), and 2 Solid State

Amps (Marshall AVT-20, Fender ('80's Japanese) "Sidekick 35 Reverb"). I like them all, for what they do. Was just

this morning, playing my Riviera (Korean/mini-humbuckers) through the little "Sidekick 35R!" Damn, if it didn't sound

good! A bit "boxy" admittedly (small cabinet, somewhat less bass) but "Bluesy" as Hell, and plenty of sustain/tone.

For my Rickenbacker 12-string, the SS Roland Jazz Chorus is a KILLER amp! I feel like there might/will be one of those,

in my future, at some point. Another amp (Tube) I really like, but no longer own (unfortunately) is the old Fender

Blackface Dual Showman, with the smaller 2-15 JBL closed backed cabinet! Awesome amp, all around! So, it really

isn't a matter of "Better," more a matter of what works, for YOU!

 

CB

[Ron G]

It's really difficult to get a thorough education on a guitar or amp purchase, aside from buying something a friend has that you've played a lot. The best we can usually do is play a few things for a short time in a music store, which just isn't enough. With cars, for example, some dealers will let you take the car for a 24-hour test drive. Or you can rent the model car you're considering for a day from Hertz or Avis and get a better idea of how it's gonna be for you. Wish we could do that with music stuff before we plunk down the big bucks. Unfortunately, educated guessing and other people's opinions are usually all we have.

[acewarslave]

thanx for all the replies its good see what people think about this topic..

[Telechamp]

Im currently playing a marshall VS100 and its the best amp ive been able to play

ignore what people say its personal preference a marshall vs100 has a large array of sounds

and the greatest clean channel i can find

 

Personal Preferance Not proffessional opinion

 

Wrighty 2012

 

I have a VS100 and I love it, but it's no match to my '69 Champ or Fender Hot Rod Deluxe for tone. However, if you want that "Marshall crunch", this SS (hybrid, really - tube pre-amp) has it. Coupled with my Les Paul Jr., it's a one-trick-pony Marshall crunch that I love. I don't jam with it, but I do record and practice with it for that Marshall sound when I want it.

[Dave]

I'm not a big effects user. If I can get a clean channel and a good SS replication of an overdriven tube sound, I'm happy. So many tube amps are built plain jane with purists in mind and I think that sells solid state amps with dozens of effects built in. If tube amp builders added the effects, people would say that it's not a "real" tube amp. "Real" tube amps don't have all that junk in them (grin).

 

In my book, a good all around solution to the problem is to buy a tube amp and a good multi-effects controller. Then you have the best of both worlds, although now you have processed your signal through, gulp, solid state circuits before it gets to the tube chain. So, do you have tube sound or a mixture of the two?

 

So, I settled on a Vox AD50VT 2-12 and really do enjoy it. Does it sound as good as a Marshall JCM or a Randall stack? Probably not...but it's close enough for me to enjoy playing it immensely. Will I fork over $2000 to get the real thing? Not even on my wish list. Except on rare occasions, I don't get to turn my amp up enough to appreciate a true overdriven sound. When I do, my old ears probably couldn't appreciate the difference. Or, maybe all those years of playing through cranked tube amps (Fender Bandmaster 2x12, Vox Super Beatle, Vox Berkley 2x10, etc., got me to the point where the difference isn't worth hauling around the weight anymore. . (grin)

 

I'll stick with my measly 12AX7 hybrid in the Vox.