Here’s a different blog entry from the norm. Did any of you guys (my regular-readers) know that I play guitar? No, yes? Ok, well I do, and a bloke from work, Adam, Graham and Caron are in a band which is rather awesome. I’ve yet to get any photo’s of us all together yet, but it must be done soon.
Anyway, I am planning on getting another amp. At the moment I am cross between getting another lens for my Canon, or a guitar amp, and in all honesty, my current amp is not going to cut it for very much longer, so the amp must come first. I am planning on buying a Marshall AVT-275, which is a 2x 75 watt Advanced valve state amplifier. Its not only that, but stereo sound, from a single combo, so quite impressive really.
My question is, does anyone have any experience with these amps at all? Or any Marshall valve-states? I am hoping to pop into Nevada Music, Portsmouth, to test one out shortly, so I’ll post back here with my thoughts. I don’t suspect my regular-readers will know at all, since my current viewing/reading user-base is photography/computer/geek related, which doesn’t usually coincide with guitar amps!
Oh, and also. The guitar I use? Its a Gibson SG, bought in the US-of-A.
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1 Oct 2006 at 2:41 pm
I don’t know a great deal about guitars, but I play around with that sort of thing a lot, being in a band my self, and being around this sort of equipment a lot, But i think valve amps are good, unless you knock them you get a nice sound of pressing all keys on a piano, well, From my experience anyway
[...] Go on, call me mad. What for you ask? Ok, well I saw a Marshall AVT275 guitar amp on eBay a few days back - the one I’ve wanted for a while. So I contacted the guy about it and wondered if he would end the auction early for a reasonable offer. It was brand new, aparently, so I offered £300 (considering he lives in Torquay and I was hoping to collect in person) and the RRP is about £360. He accepted, and I paid. [...]
19 Oct 2006 at 2:34 am
Dude, dont do the AVT 275. I have it. This is the review I wrote for it on MusiciansFriend.com:
I bought this amp off ebay about 3 years ago and it was my first decent amp, but I consider myself an experienced musician and recording engineer, so I can tell you that this amp will try and fool you. Let me start off nice by saying that the clean is friggen beautiful when you throw on a little of it’s room reverb, which is great for when I play ska, or if you throw on some of its echo you can impress everyone with the beautiful demension of it’s clean tone. My fellow musicians have even stopped playing and commented on how nice the stereo dimension to the clean sounds. Only the effects are stereo tho, not the dry sound. The distortion is verrry sloppy, and I cannot for the life of me get it to record well. It has a strange gshhhhhh sound to it, and it’s just ugly, not the marshall glory everyone knows and loves. I like ugly sometimes but this is sloppy ugly. There is damn near no chord detail. I play a jackson warrior with light gauge stings and seymour duncan invaders which are nice and not as dark as people say, and an ibanez iceman with heavy gauge strings. The jackson even with the invaders doesnt make enough bass under distortion (and I dont like that much bass, thats the bassist’s job) but like others have said, it makes palm muting sound silly unless you turn the amp up loud and get the natural bass of the cabinet or turn the distortion all the way up, but either way it sounds super muddy and sloppy. I bought this amp for 600 and then it broke on me and cast 200 to get it fixed by certified marshall guys (I had no warranty) and then it broke AGAIN and it cost another 300. The guy at the amp repair place was like “yup. It’s a valvestate. We see way too many of these in here.” I told him I played as gently as I could and he told me to try beating the hell out of it, because all the ones thay get are lightly played haha. I do not recomend this amp for anyone with serious skill, because it will hide it. I haven’t tried running a nice distortion pedal through it yet, but even if that works, what’s the point of this expensive friggen amp if I’m not using it’s distortion? Save your money and buy a half stack like the Marshall DSL. If you’re thinking about buying this amp then you’re probably either thinking of recording with it or playing small venues, both of which I do not recommend it for. GET A NICE HALF STACK!
19 Oct 2006 at 8:14 am
Interesting, I did read a few reviews and a few said the same, although others didn’t
Either way, I’ve bought it now! See this post here. Personally, I think its awesome. Its mega loud, and it sounds superb. The distortion sounds fine, very heavy if I want it to be, and then quite crunchy as well. I love it.
6 Jul 2007 at 2:53 am
Look away from the valvestate. Although great for clean sounds, they are never as warm or full of tone as a full valve amp. I’m using a Marshall TSL100 and the awesomeness of sound with my Les Paul is mind blowing. Right brand, not necessarily the right amp. Test out a few then make up your mind.
1 Nov 2007 at 7:06 pm
i have had a marshal avt 275 for about a year and a half now and it has served me well.
it gives out a wonderul warm tone when set to the irst ditortion chanel,
its capable of handeling any style of music you could posibly think of.
i have done alot of gigs with it and people have often comented on the amazing sound of my amp.
i would highly recomend it
3 Jun 2008 at 10:29 pm
I play this “baby” for about a year now every weeknd on gigs and it never let me down. With this amp you can do anything-from U2, Pink Floyd, Clapton, Guns´N´Roses to VanHalen-this amp provides all the sounds you could probably want. Endless echoes, warm hall sounds, dirty crunch, heavy distortion…all possible! By the way, I´m playing a Gibson ´61 reissue SG - and it´s a perfect combination - the Gibson and the Marshall. Some of the other guys say, you should go for a DSL or JCM or whatever - I´d probably take a JCM - but it´s more than twice the price - and I´m really happy with this amp - and 150 Watt is enough to blow away almost anything ( once almost killed our bassist…hehe! ). If you want to spend less and get more - go for the AVT275. And the distortion is chord-consistent! Don´t know, what this other guy must have done - or what a cheap guitar he must have used…this amp is great! Get one. You won´t regret it. But be quick, they don´t produce ém anymore.
4 Aug 2008 at 12:57 pm
Thanks! Really interesting. I wish i could spend my time on writing articles…just have no time for it.