Marshall VS2000 AVT50 112 Combo

see below

SOLD IT..........I really liked the sounds of this amp, but I had enought about the damn FAN inside which has been crapping out five times. The last time it happened during a gig, something inside the amp got too hot and broke (smoke).

To the folks at Marshall:

INSTALL A BIGGER HEATSINK AND GET RID OF THESE DAMN FANS IN YOUR NEW LINE AMPS (AVT-Line, MG-Line, MODE FOUR) OR SPEND TWO BUCKS MORE AND GET SOME BETTER QUALITY FANS.

For the price, you get exactly what you need. The reverb is sweet, its the only real effect any amp should have besides overdrive. However, only a bass/treb EQ on the clean channel, I dont know why they didnt put a mid level, but its hardly annoying.

I cant believe this amp, its really an incredible beast. Turning up the gain much above 1/2 is really worthless however, it really does its best metal sound at just above 1/2. The crunch on high gain clean or low gain overdrive is amazing. I absolutly love this amp for its lower overdrive feel! And whats more amazing is how versitile it is, especially when you play with the EQ, you can get some really retro sounds to heavy metal.

However, when trying to play completly clean its no louder then a cheap practice amp, and its sad because this has to be the loudest 1x12 out there. And as mentioned, most of the heavy gain is worthless, its just not needed for anything at all.

Where did they go wrong? After almost a year of owning it there are some problems. First, when switching channels you get a pop while in the middle of holding any degree of note. This is a pain in the ass if you have people sleeping in your house, its quite loud.

I can really live with the pop, but the next problems annoy me very much. First off, it seems the footswitch will flip from clean to overdrive for no reason at all. And it isnt a clean switch, its sounds like its trying to switch back and forth very slowly. Sounds like an amp having a bad trip. Then the fx loop does the same exact thing! It doesnt do it too much, but it just can kill your current playing mood to have to take off your effects and fiddle with the footswitch in the middle of a song.

Its really too bad, this has to be the best sounding distortion ive encountered, especially in such a small amp. Im not keen on paying $1500 for a head and another $1000 for a stack either, but you get what you pay for.

Marshalls everywhere, information everywhere. Never had to deal with customer service, but if your amp doc cant repair a Marshall its time to get a new doc.

Beautiful amp, with some reliability problems and clean channel issues that make this a great small crunchy amp good for practice and small performances.

If your a begginner or intermediate its great, so versitile, but once your taste has developed you really need to get some better equitment that wont fail you.

This Amp was made in 2002. It has one small tube in the pre amp which can accurately re-create tube sound. Has your two channels (clean and overdrive, which are simply amazing I might add), channel switching with pedal (comes with it), effects loop jack, cd jack, and a headphone jack. I mostly play classic rock and maybe a little modern every now and then, no metal whatsoever because it sucks. I use this for practice and to jam with friends/band mates. It can produce well more than enough sounds to play most indoor gigs and more than enough for jamming.

I use this with a Les Paul with two stock Humbuckers and it just blows me away how good this amp sounds. You can pretty much play anything through it, it is very versatile. This will start shaking your house at around 4 or 5 with the gain all the way up which leads me to another thing... The overdrive is crystal clear! You can hear every note being played instead of just a blob of noise.

I have only had it for a week so I cant really judge it here. It is more than two years old and still works fine. Plus if something did go wrong, you have the good old Marshall 5 year warranty to go along with it. :)

IT'S A FREAKING MARSHALL FOR GOD'S SAKE. It isnt one of those crap amps that everybody else makes that is made in Indonesia. It is made in England. Which is probably better than it being made in America. I have never dealt with marshall, but its marshall. 5 YEAR WARRANTY!

I did my homework and tried many amps and this is the one I chose. I just love this amp and If you get it I know you will too.

Amp was made in 2004.....Very versatile, I play everything from classic rock, jazz and a BIT-O-METAL. I use this amp both as a practice amp and as a small forum gig amp (AKA.... wedding singer) In a few larger settings that I felt that I needed more demension, I mic'd it. If I played at larger forums on a regular basis, I'd either step-up or get a cabinet. . I would like a 2nd overdrive channel, but hard to play the 100/150 watt version in the house at over-drive levels w/o having a visit from the local Sheriffs department.

I play 3 guitars. Gibson Les Paul Studio ( I am sorry, I do play it in public and love it!) Fender American Strat and a beat-up Acoustic Martin. (Mic'd only) The clean channel plays very well at any volume. Has a tube feel to it. Compaired to a Crage ss (solid state) AMP I have used in the past,it has a great full, warm tone, espicailly with the Gibson. The distortion channel, IMHOP, is great TOTAL MARSHALL SOUND. I can get anything from mild to WILD! I just wish it could play at an even lower volume with "Dirt" added. I accomplish this by useing headphones for those times when you do not need, or want the neighbors to know what I am playing. The effects loop is a cool addition. Though, for what I play, just a neat aditional tool that I don't really need. As of yet.

I can't give a TRUE rating as I have only had the amp for 3 months and played at only 5 gigs..........So, I will give it an 8. I'll give it a 10 if it still performs as well in several years.

I have no issues so far. No need to use their customer support.

I'll give it a 10 for any amp under $500.00. It is a great deal. Hybred's give you the TONE comparible to a full tube amp at a much more comfortable price and the reliability of far less tubes. I'll leave the Crate models such as the XT120R to the 16 year old that only wants to play total overdrive, bangs away and only cares about decibels.

2 channels, reverb, headphone out, CD in. All the things I need this amp to do. No built in effects. And that is good for me since I rarely use any. But has a series effects loop if you want to put any in there. And has an external speaker jack that the built in speaker connects to. So can be run right to a cabinet for more/better sound when gigging. I rate it high for a lack of effects and other features I don't want. Hard to find a basic solid state/hybrid type amp that doesn't have DSP in it. Mine came with an Electroharmonix 12AX7 in it. And a 4 ohm Celestion with a really small magnet. Looks like a Rocket 50.

Most of my playing is rock, blues, and also dabble in jazz. Guitars used are a 58 Les Paul Historic, Peavey Wolfgang std, and Fender Telecaster.
I am really happy with this amp. I use it primarily as a practice amp at home. But it is definately capable of gig use. Sounds better at low volumes than my Marshall TSL60. When an all tube amp is to loud for the playing area, I use the AVT . I really like how it responds to the volume control on the guitar. Usually set up clean channel a little dirty with guitar all the way up, and then cleans up when the guitar volume is decreased. And the overall volume stays about the same. The overdrive channel responds the same way, with more distortion of course. Overall it does clean really well, all the way to more gain then I care for. I have played it through Celestion V30 and G12H speakers in my external cabinets and the tone is better at higher volumes than the built in one. I am a tube amp lover, but this AVT is great when you just can't turn it up loud enough to make power tubes sound good.

No problems with mine. This is my second one. Sold the first one, then figured out how much I needed it later. No reliabilty issues. But I haven't had either one more than three months. The 12AX7 tube could go bad I suppose. But I have a stockpile of them. Only takes 4 screws to get to it. This is actually a good backup for my TSL60. The cooling fan in mine is quiet.

No problems. Never would depend on warranty service. Not to say that its bad. I always expect the worst.

I love it. Great as a practice amp. Sounds good at low volumes. Need it loud, plug in a good external cab. Really versatile amp. Fills in when my 3 other all tube amp can't do it.

I am not going to describe the features in details. You can go to Marshall's web site and look for yourself. I bought mine Aug 2004. I like the Headphone jack as I normally use it at night. I wish it had more effects in addition to reverb. I seldom use the clean channel. If I want to play clean, I use my Fender amp.

I am using Epi LP custom with Gibson pickups and Mex Fender Strat. Sounds very good to me on the overdrive channel. This is one of the sounds I have been looking for an amps that cost less than $500. Unfortunately, the cooling fan of this amp is very very annoying to me. Most of the time I play soft like volume 1 to 1.5 and I can really hear the motor of the cooling fan. I unplugged my guitar, turned on the amp, went down stairs and I can still hear the motor of the cooling fan. I cannot stand it! In the store you cannot hear it because it was very noisy there. So, I returned the amps and I feel bad about it cause I really like the amp. Since the cooling fan impacts the sounds, I am giving it a 7. It would have been 9 otherwise. If you play loud you won't hear it and probably it won't bother you. Don't let this stop you from buying it. Give it a shot first. It is not fair to compare this amp to a tube amp but it is fair to compare it to another hybrid amp. However, it sounds like a tube amp sometimes.

I am using Epi LP custom with Gibson pickups and Mex Fender Strat. Sounds very good to me on the overdrive channel. This is one of the sounds I have been looking for an amps that cost less than $500. Unfortunately, the cooling fan of this amp is very very annoying to me. Most of the time I play soft like volume 1 to 1.5 and I can really hear the motor of the cooling fan. I unplugged my guitar, turned on the amp, went down stairs and I can still hear the motor of the cooling fan. I cannot stand it! In the store you cannot hear it because it was very noisy there. So, I returned the amps and I feel bad about it cause I really like the amp. Since the cooling fan impacts the sounds, I am giving it a 7. It would have been 9 otherwise. If you play loud you won't hear it and probably it won't bother you. Don't let this stop you from buying it. Give it a shot first. It is not fair to compare this amp to a tube amp but it is fair to compare it to another hybrid amp. However, it sounds like a tube amp sometimes.

Never deal with them.

If the store has the same amp with a quiet cooling fan, Yes, I will buy it again. I like the sound of the overdrive. I am not sure about the clean sound. One thing I do not like about this amp is the cabinet. It is made of particleboard - cheap! Would have been nice if it were thick plywood. I have been playing the guitar since 1960. I first play the Ukulele on 1958.

I paid $450 in Jan '04, so I believe it is an '03 model. The features cover my needs for playing Led Zepplin, Kiss, Aerosmith and other similar bands. The reverb sounds great. Its nice to have a real spring reverb rather than a simulated digital reverb. I was not looking for fancy effects but for a good sounding amp.

I use a Les Paul Studio. The clean channel is just ok. It seems to distort at lower volumes than I had hoped for. However if clean was the most important sound I would have bought a Fender or other amp. Marshall is about rocking and the overdrive channel sounds great. When the volume is high I have to back off the gain to keep it from getting too muddy. I may try a speaker upgrade.

I played this amp beside a Crate 60 Watt solid state amp with lots of digital effects and the Marshall kicked its butt. I use this amp mostly at home but have jammed with a garage band on several occasions and it definately held its own with a drummer. I also played an all tube marshall JCM 112 combo for almost twice as much and was just as happy with the AVT-50 sound.

Its an amp that roars and can be played without going deaf.

I have owned this amp for 8 months and have had no problems. I cannot speak for reliability yet as I don't haul it around so it does not receive any physical abuse.

I have not had to deal with customer support. My only concern is that if there are problems you have to deal with Korg USA. I would prefer dealing direct with Marshall. Not sure if Korg is a "parent" company or if they are the USA distributors.

If the amp had a clean mid-range control and if a better speaker would make an overall improvement I would rate this a solid 9. Placing a skimpy speaker with a great sounding amp does not make sense other than to cut costs. For these reasons I give it a solid 8. A great amp considering the price of all tube amps. Also, to saturate a power amp you would have to crake up the volume and use an attenuator to not blow your ear drums out. Therefore I am not dead set on having an all tube amp. The 12AX7 preamp seems to do a great job. I would love to hear this amp in a 4x12 cab.

I definately reccomend giving this amp a good try at your local music store.

Two channels - clean and distorted. At the moment im in to doing john petrucci and paul gilbert exercises, that kind of tone - I mostly play rock and anything above it. This amp isnt versatile enough to nail anything, but it'll "do the job" providing you dont need to use the clean channel for a cheap price. The reverb is half decent.

Using this with a Brian Moore I-1. Clean channel is basically a joke, not worth commenting on - and the distortion is good, well as good as you could expect from a hybrid amp at such a cheap price. For a beginner or amateur it'll do the job but lets be realistic - it cant compare to the likes of an all tube amp. Can't really hit any "sounds" as such, but it'll do.

Well it did me proud, no problems UNTIL after about 4 years of ownership the thing stopped and started to smell like smoke, now all I get is a crappy frizzle. Don't know why this happened - it's in amp hospital now.

Took it to Billy Hydes in melbourne - god knows if ill ever see it again lol

I've been playing five years, and owned this amp for 4 of them. If this was lost or stolen I'd have a good laugh cause the theif would have wasted his energy, he might as well have stolen a bar fridge - costs about the same and makes the same kind of hum, just less loud, plus the marshall won't keep your drinks cold. I'm waiting on a genzbenz el diablo to be shipped to Australia - a REAL amp - so in summary - buy this if you're a beginner wanting something better than a 15 watt solid state - or amatuer needing a backup - apart from that its nothing special.

This is perhaps the best hybrid single tube amp on the market.

This is one of the best sounding Marshall amps out there right now. It's let down by that cheapass bottom feeder Celestion speaker which is OK for practice volumes. For live work, you need an upgrade. If you want Classic Marshall tone, you have to upgrade to a top line Celestion Speaker like the Vintage 30, Greenback, or G12H. My fave is the G12H for its fabulous low end response, but my style is moderate to heavy distortion at high volume. Country players need the Vintage 30 or an Eminence speaker. Save the bottom feeder Celestion speaker for an old Crate or Peavey solid state amp you can pick up for chump change. It's an 8 after a speaker changeout, and the volume is increased. I stuffed my cab with 1/2 pound of acousta-stuf to take out resonant peaks. Now its a true quality sounding amp, and fairly loud. The tube was pulled and tested as well as other tubes I had laying around, including some NOS tubes.

This depends on how you treat it. The particle board cabinet and phenolic resin circuit board will NOT stand the abuse that an amp with a plywood cab and glass epoxy boards will take. If you keep it in the home or studio, or transport it very carefully, it should hold up. The workmanship is of a higher level than the construction materials. Slap another coat of paint or two on the underpainted backboard to prevent scratching of the particle board or it gets trashy looking quickly if you haul it around. All jacks and pots are soldered to the board and require exact replacements.

It's from a big company and they act like a big company. Expect it to be a bit slow and impersonal. People have wildly varying experiences with Marshall gear.

I'd buy a few spare pots and jacks if I depended on it for a living. It's only a 6 or 7 as a stock unit, which is good at the low price end of acceptable REAL amps. Try a better speaker and consider another tube before passing judgement on it. Those things make a lot of difference. It almost plays at the quality tube amp level now, and I would prefer it over some all tube amps I have heard. Fairly easy to get up to the 8 level. Buy this amp used, because lots of them are in circulation. Then spend the money you saved on a few upgrades and for less than a new one you get better sound with better parts. This amp is too expensive new because several all tube amps can be had at that price on the used market and will perform at a higher level.

Do you know what year the amp was made in?
- Yes, it was made in 2003

Is the amp versatile enough for you and the styles of music you play? What are those styles?
- It's extremely versatile. You name it, you can get the sound, if you take the time to fiddle with the settings. I play nothing but metal.

How many channels? Does it have channel switching? Effects loops? Headphone jack?
- Two channels, Channel switching via foot controller, Effects send and return, headphone jack, reverb.

What features do you wish it had? Why? Are there features you never use?
- I wish it had two OD channels like the AVT100 and up models and an FX mix dial a la the MG100 series. Since this model is pretty basic, I pretty much use them all. I have no effects currently so the FX send/return isn't being used.

Where do you use this amp? Does it have enough power for you?
- I'm new to playing, and I kinda suck, so I just play in the basement. It's 50 watts of hybrid power, and it doesn't take a whole lot to start shaking the ductwork in my basement.

What guitar and pickup styles are you using it with?
- I play a pre-Fender Jackson RX10D with a EMG81 in the bridge. Tasty stuff.

How does it suit your music style (and what is that style)?
- I only play metal, and it does one heck of a job at that. It's no triple rectified monster, but for what it is, it suits me perfectly.

Is it noisy? On what settings, and in what environments?
- If I get within a foot of the amp with the drive cranked I get some squealing, otherwise it's pretty darn quiet. I've only used it indoors in rooms and in the basement, so I can't tell you much more about how it performs in other environments.

What kind of sounds can the amp make? How much variety?
- Like I said before, you name it, you got it. You have to spend some time tweaking, but the options are vast. The clean is very clean actually, I didn't detect any noise, break-up or dirt in the sound at all. Everything from pop/rock to metal is covered, it just takes time playing with the controls.

Is the clean channel distorted at high volumes? In what settings?
- If you really want the cleanest signal, just crank the volume all the way up and adjust the level with the gain control. This will ensure you're getting the cleanest signal you can get from the amp before the gain becomes an issue. I'd imagine the clean channel will start to get dirty at some point, but I'd go deaf before I found out.

How brutal is the distortion?
- Well....it's definitely more brutal than anything you'll get from the MG series that's for sure. I think it's Metallica brutal, without the deep, deep lows. It's not JCM 800 2203 brutal, but considering what you're playing with, it's 99% brutal enough for me (and brutal is what I live for!)

Can you depend on it? Would you use it on a gig without a backup?
- It's a Made in England Marshall, none of this Made in India or China or Taiwan junk. It's quality, serious quality. I'd go to war with this bad boy.

Has the amp ever broken down? Because of neglect of
regular servicing (as in tubes), or just plain neglect?
- Nope, and as a matter of fact, I've never met a person that's had an issue with one either.

If you've dealt with the company, how helpful/friendly were they?
- No idea.

Ever try and get it repaired? Was the repair done under warranty?
- Never had an issue.

Were you able to find
an authorized service center easily?
- Shouldn't be an issue with anyone. The internet can point you in the right direction for that sort of thing.

How long is the warranty?
- Good question! Between a year and 5 years, probably one year.

How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own?
- I'm a newb. I've been playing briefly here and there for almost a year. In that last year, in the way of amps, I've owned an MG10, MG50, Brand X X-25 and this one. This one slaughters the other ones by the way.

If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else?
- If it were lost, I'd get one within an hour. If it were stolen, I would get something else. I'd get a big ass truck and run the dumbass over that stole my amp.

Did you compare it to other products? Which ones? Why did you choose this one?
- I compared it to everything in the MG series (drive sounds tinny with no definition, very flat), the Brand X amps (not bad for a starter, but the speaker craps out way too early when volume is applied), and Peavey Transtube amps (pretty damn good too, only issue was the drive was even worse than the MG amps). Why did I choose this one? TONE.

Anything you wish it had?
- I think I answered that one already. hmmm.....reverb control on the footswitch would be nice, as well as a mid control for the clean channel.

Anything else you'd like to share?
- Are you tired of the solid state combo scene? Do you want a good tube-like sound from your amp without breaking the bank? Do you want a vicious, bone shaking amp that, when connected to the MG412 cabinet, will shake yer nuts when you stand in front of it? All this for the fraction of the price of an all tube Marshall? Look no further ladies and gentlemen.........this is the cats ass.

The amp has the typical features two channel (Clean and Distorted) with volume and gain knobs including EQ and Reverb.

It come with a footswitch and access to effects looping.

The amp is fairly powerful for me. I have only used it for minor
recording and practice.

It gets a nine cause I wish it had a better clean tone

Depending on the type of guitar and pickups you use, you will either love or hate the sound you get.

For example,

I have a Stratocaster with Texas Special pickups. When I play on this guitar, I get a VERY dark tone with very muddy distorted sounds.

But when I play on my strat with Bill Lawerence L-280s and a Dimarzio Fast Track 2 bridge pickup I can get a very clean and crisp tone.

So it shows how different the Marshall sounds with different pickups.

I can get a variety of tones with the marshall: from a lite whispers
to a screamin' lead and if I play with a little reverb great depth for chords.

I haven't had any problems with it. I would gig with this without a backup.

I've been playing for 3 years.

I would definently buy something like this again.

It sounds OK in stock form, especially if used for home practice or band practice with the stock speaker with small magnet. It allows distortion at lower volumes tha nthe best Celestion speakers. I installed an 8 ohm Celestion G12H80 and it now kicks. A G12H30 would also work as going up to 8 ohms from the 4 ohm speaker cuts the power back to where the G12H30 could handle it. The amp is louder in spite of the power loss from the 8 ohm speaker due to the much higher efficiency of the G12H80 with 50 ounce magnet. You can now add on another 8 ohm extension cab to get the impedance back down to 4 ohms for the full 50 watt output. The G12H speaker goes back to the 70's and was used in many of the best Marshall amps of the period. The amp now nails those classic rock tones that you buy a Marshall for.

It should be OK, but not quite a tank although it is fairly heavy.

The price includes the new Celestion G12H speaker. My tube Traynor YCV-40 is better, but it has a lot more tube circuitry. A great point-to point tube amp would be a 10, my Traynor is a 9, and this amp is now an 8 with the speaker upgrade. Still a good grade for an amp you can pick up brand new for $450 and kick up another notch for the price of a $100 speaker upgrade. If you are considering buying it new and upgrading it wit a new speaker, consider that the Traynor YCV-40 will still outperform it in stock form at around $600 and with a tube and speaker upgrade to the YCV-40 the AVT-50 will never touch the YCV-40 no matter what you do to it. I would never buy this amp new because I could get an excellent used YCV-40 for the same price or less, but as a used amp the AVT-50 can be a very good deal if you pay $350 or less, depending on condition. I paid $350 in mint very slightly used condition in original shipping container, and the speaker costs around $100.

This is a 2003 Marshall AVT-50, Valvestate 2000. I play classic rock and metal, and the AVT-50 handles the classic rock better. It has a clean and an overdrive channel, switched by either button or footswitch. The reverb is nice and really is the only effect i expect from an amp of its size. The OD channel is loud enough onstage but the clean is not. The MG-100 preamp is AMAZING for me, because I am playing Iron Maiden.... it is a better choice for metal and it is louder. But for classic rock, this amp kicks.

I use a Fender American Strat with 2 SD Hot Rails in the middle and bridge, and a JB Jr. in the neck to immulate Iron Maiden's sound. I also have a Gibson SG Special. Like I said, the MG-100 is more suitable for metal, but classic rock is great with this amp. It is noisy with lots of distortion, but that can be fixed with the Boss NS-2, Noise Supressor. Any amp needs that. The clean channel is always great as long as the gain is kept below 5. Above 5 you can get good twangy sounds, but it is not really "clean." The clean channel is very versitile and does not get distorted unless you turn the gain up, obviously. The distortion is EXCELLENT, great for classic rock. Again, if classic rock is your boat then this amp is a great buy. Metal.... is still good but not AS good as the less-expensive MG-100.

I would certainly use it without a backup, It's never failed me.

I've been shredding for 7 years now, and this amp and the two guitars mentioned above are basically it, besides a BOSS pedalboard and a Dunlop Crybaby wah. I would buy the MG-100 if this were stolen, due to its loudness, more affordability, and metal-like qualities. I love this amp, but it just doesn't suit me as well as the MG-100. My friend at Guitar Centre recommended this one, and I liked it and bought it. With the Gibson this amp KICKS, but with the metalized strat it is not as good.

Read other reviews for features please. Basic two channel 50 watter with Marshall tone and a great clean.

Listen up. Here is the best way to get great tone from this beast. Take the back panel off and saw 3 or 4 inches off bottom to let speaker open up a little for better cleans. A 3/4 closed back is always the way to go for all around chime and punch on both channels. Next, replace cheesy speaker with an 8 ohm Vintage 30. Even though amp is rated with a 4 ohm,the V30 is so loud and full you will still have more volume than before and is totally safe to run in this amp. I emailed Dr Decible at Celestion and this is his reccomendation. Now fire this sweetie up and you will wet yourself. Remember you will not get that good power tube tone unless master volume is past halfway mark so try master fairly high and slowly work up the preamp control. This is a Classic tone Marshall and will do all the standard Marshall tones not a Triple Rec! As the V30 breaks in you will have better tone than the DSL 201 or 401 series, I know, I have owned them all.

Never had a problem.

Marshall is painfully slow but Dr Decible knows Marshalls.

A very good and reliable Classic toned Marshall that hits all the tones you hear in your head. With above simple mod this is one of the best.

You know the features by now!

Pretty much everything you can ask for on a small practice amp.

I played my friends PRS Custom 24 through it, and i played my mexi strat through it. I plugged this thing into my marshall 1960 lead cab, and it was pretty good. However this thing has too much distortion, and the bad thing about that is that if you actually want meat in the distortion channel you have to turn the gain all the way up. Then you have waaay too much distortion and it sounds kinda muddy. This thing has alot of balls when its at lower volumes, then at the volumes i really care about when i practice and play live it turns into a girl. it looses its girth and becomes a digital distortion pedal like the metal zone...suck. I am used to playing my peavey ultra(older version of triple xxx but much better) and i can say that my tube amp that i bought at around the same price as this eats it for breakfast. The distortion is digital and buzzy sounding...i jammed wityh my friend with my amp and his avt50, omg, you can't hear it through the mix cause its hella buzzy and sounds like a little bee flying around the room...then when he turns it up so i can her him, thats all i hear, and it eats the sound in the room with its crappy ass scooped metal zone tone. For metal this things sucks, for punk its alright, but most anything is for that genre. Clean is awesome however, best marshall clean...omg did i just say marshall and clean in the same sentence. Anyway, its alright for a starter amp, but if you want to share music with other people, get a tube amp.

N/A

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nice little PRACTICE amp, if you just want clean and distorted tones for making riffs.

Features on this amp is simple and straitfoward. Not too much but it has good quality and its build sturdy and tough. Theres no useless effects but the reverb is nice. I personaly dont use the other features such as, headphones, fx loop, and DI output. Theres not too many things on this amp so thats why I give a seven.

Right now I'm using a PRS Santana SE. The distortion sound is versitile and can be from classic to metal. However, I wished the amp did have a little more gain onto it because it lacks some "bite" or "crunch." The amp sounds clean, no buzzes (I use a Monster Cable, Jazz). The clean sounds clean. Just clean. This amp is extremely loud and I have to put it under volume 2, otherwise my stinking neighbors will complain...

This amp is a tank. Strong, well built. I read a lot of reviews and it mentioned about the footswitch not working... Your channel on the amp has to be on Overdrive and then the footswitch will work. Common Sense

no problems

this amp is a tad bit pricy but I say its worth it. The amp is reliable.

fairly standard, just what you'd expect really. no bells and whistles, no light up panal, just that famous squigal on the black cover. it definatly looks the part. this is a hybrid amp, and i'm sure the people below can offer better explanations of this than me, but it basically uses a valve in the pre-amp and then solid state in the power section. two channel clean and overdrive with footswitch, head phone and fx loop. 50 watts may seem small, and you can loose your sound in a free-for-all jam, but you're mic'ed up live so it is gigable at small venues. and it has reverb. some may hate that, others will love it. it has all the features i needed, except maybe a mid control for the clean channel. fairly versatile, but more on that later.

this amp was the first i got when i ventured out of practise amp territory, looking to explore sounds and textures. ok, thats a lie, i wanted distortion and lots of it. what can i say, i got this amp when i was 14 or 15 and i wasnt very tonally versed, and i creditt his amp for helping me discover there was more to an amp than the overdrive knob. i got this amp when i was first discovering tone, and it was great at adapting to my tonal demands as i discovered new guitarists and tones and i (almost) always found an acceptable tone for whatever i wanted from the amp. of course i have grown somewhat in the 3 or 4 years i have had this amp, and now have my own ideas for tones and that was what led me to reconsider the amp. nobody lied on this page, the o.d. is awesome, far more than we should expect at this price. MetallicA, anyone? hows bout some megadeth or slayer? we could get some Jimi on the go with some work and Led Zep is there too. this was all great for a while, but when i started trying to come up with a tone of my own, i had problems, the biggest being that it did NOT get on with my Strat at all. with my hot roded epi LP it shines, but when i stick it with single coils and try and get the distortion to 'sing', it just didnt happen. the sound was just all aggro, no majestic soare through the mix, it was too fuzzy and indistinct. so i began to reconsider it as my main amp and eventually upgraded to a gorgues new Fender twin. speaking of Fender brings clean tones to mind, and the clean channel here could use a bit of rethinking. it is a bit generic and lacks its own character. to sum up, the distortion is huge and right for alot of stuff (mostly heavy though) and the clean does what it should, i guess, after all it is a clean channel. but it doesnt shimmer. and since i am less inclined by massive distortion these days, i found myself limited and tonally restriced. thats not to say everyone will feel that was though, and it still it deserves high marks for the disortion alone, which is blissfull with a decent humbuker.

hmmmm. *ahem*. well, this is where you start to realise why this is a sub-500 quid amp. the amp was cool for a good long while, and the one day just arbitrarilly, the footswitch stopped working. not too bad, just a soldering problem, but a real pain, in that this happened another three times and while i was performing. about a year into owning the amp, it started to display more interesting behaviour, such as arbitrarily flickering between the channels. thankfully this never happened live, but it was a big reason that i retired it. it also began picking radio up when combined with a wah in the bass position. basically, it behaved very eratically and gave me one or two headaches. i guess these are problems that can be reparied, but they are there and they are obstacles you do not want to have to worry about, especially live. but still, depending on your experience with amps these may be easily fixable problems, but the fact that they are there is enough to loose marks on.

no experience with them.

i have now been playing 6 years or so. like i mentioned earlier, i got this amp with very little tonal knowledge, and did learn alot about tone from it. it is strong and will deliver the goods, provided you know how to fix little problems here and there. if it had been stolen when it was all i had, i probably would have opted for something else which was slightly more versatile and reliable. having said that, i do believe this is one of the best bargins in existance, and that the problems i descibed could well be to do with my own heavy-handedness at times. if you want distortion, this is your first port of call. i dont think anyone who is all about the clean tone would be considering this amp, and if you are, i would advise you to the Fender section, but i think this has much more than enough going for it to justify the price and will take you close to some of your dream tones for very little money.

Very versatile amp, brand new, no cheesy digital effects, which is why I liked it. It sounded better than all the other amps I tried in the AVT line. Raw clean, and raw crunch, that's about all I need. I'm only giving it an 8 because the clean channel lacks midrange, although you can still get some sweet tones. Has an effects loop, headphone jack, and emulated output for P.A. Great for all styles of music, good clean, and great gain anywhere from blues break up to heavy metal. I also liked the fact that it was very light compared to all tube amps, which is good for gigging with.

Using a few guitars - Ibanez S540fm with EMG 81, SA, and 85, sounds very crisp - SG 61 reissue and Les Paul Custom with 57 classics (very Zeppelinesque), and a Strat plus with a hot rails in the bridge (Great for Deep Purple). The amp emits very little noise, which is a plus, even at some high gain settings, however you need to turn it up a little to get a sweeter sound. Gets some awesome Metallica - Zakk Wylde distortion, sounds great if pushed with an overdrive pedal for leads, but if you roll the gain back a little, you can get some good classic sounds. Perfect for what I was looking for. I've been playing through a hot rod deville 2x12 for years, which is great, but this gives me that extra punch and crunch I've been looking for. Not nearly as loud though. You should mic the amp through a P.A., especially if you play with a powerful drummer.

Only had it for a few weeks, hasn't given me a problem at all. I never gig with a backup, although I probably should.

Never dealt with them.

Been playing for almost 10 years, tried a variety of amps, and I like this one the best! Would definitely purchase it again, great value for the money. Wish it had a little more volume though, and was available in a 2x12 cabinet. Wish it had midrange on the clean, but overall a great sounding amp, especially considering it has a solid state power section. Feel free to contact me by e-mail if you have any questions, always happy to help out a fellow axe-man.

This is a new Marshall AVT 50 Valvestate combo amp. It has two channels, plus reverb. It has an effects loop, and headphone, and CD jack. It has a tube pre amp, and solid state power section.

This amp is amazing!!! Both channels have a gain control on them. It allows you to have "twin reverb" clean, or "blues" break up, on channel 1. Channel 2 can sound like a "plexi", or a "JCM 800", if you increase the gain. You can not tell that it is a "hybrid" amp. This baby sounds like an all tube amp, but without going deaf!! I use a Am. Standard Strat, and a Les Paul Standard, with it. You have to adjust the gain, and EQ depending on which guitar you use. Now let me make this clear . . . this amp sings, and sings, and sings. I've been playing for 30 years, and have heard and played through most of the top brands. I play classic rock, and blues. I love "plexi's", but they're too damn loud for small clubs, and stages. The singer has to hear himself too!! (I sing). This baby is the best hybrid / solid state amp on the market, and sounds like an all tube amp. It is great, and you can get the tones at reasonable volumes. I love it!! And get this . . . I don't like the sound of "modeling", and solid state amps!! This amp is remarkable!

I haven't had the amp long enough, to remark on its reliability. Usually solid state amps are indestructible.

Haven't needed.

Refer to my above remarks. This amp is incredible sounding. I love it. I am using it over my '68 Dual Showman Reverb, my '65 RI Deluxe Reverb, and my Marshall 1987. I would replace it if it was stolen.

2-channel 50w 1x12 Combo with one 12AX7 valve (tube) in the pre-amp and a solid state power stage, built in 2002. Has independent controls for both channels; Clean channel comprises of Gain/Volume/Bass/Treble, Overdrive is the same but has a Mid control. The amp also has proper spring reverb and CD and Headphone inputs on the front panel. On the rear panel it has an FX loop, Footswitch Jack (Footswitch included) and an Emulated Line-out, which is very useful for recording purposes or DI?ing into a PA. The closed back cabinet is covered with textured black vinyl and is fitted with a custom designed 12? Celestion speaker. It looks like a Marshall and sounds like one too.
The only things missing from this amp, for me, would be a footswitchable solo boost and an option of an open back cab. This amp has a very narrow directional volume spread. If you?re standing right in front of it you?re hit with its full force. If you stand off to the side you can struggle to hear it in certain playing situations. If a section of the back panel was screw-fix removable it would allow a little sound to be heard by the rest of the band, and let the speaker breathe a little. The closed back does keep the bass tightly controlled though and aids projection. I always stand this amp off the floor to help with the directional sound anyway.

I use an American Strat with a SD Hotrail at the bridge and an Epi Les Paul Std into a Boss ME-50 then into the front end of the AVT50. I tend to play Rock, Grunge and Blues and the band I play in is kinda in the vein of Pearl Jam, Audioslave and Jane?s Addiction. There doesn?t seem to be a whole lot of bands playing this style in the UK where we?re from?
I use this amp for pretty much everything I do. I practice everyday, rehearse with the band twice a week and play at least 2-3 gigs a month and it takes it all in its stride. It?ll provide really useable tones over a wide range of volumes, from conversation levels up to mid sized club gigs un-mic?ed. If you like the Marshall sound then you?ll love this amp.
Starting with the Clean channel; It?ll go from crystal clear bell like clean tones with single-coils right through to a nice bluesy break-up as you wind on the gain. It breaks up earlier and is less defined with humbuckers due to the nature of this type of pick-up. I have found that at larger gigs you can start to run a little short of headroom with this channel if you want to stay completely clean. You?d really need to start thinking about mic?ing it up if that?s what you wanna do. I only tend to use this channel occasionally at gigs so its not a big problem. It has to be said that it sounds great as the volume gets wound on though. Would be cool if there was a Mid control on the EQ for a little extra tonal tweaking too.
Ah, the Overdrive channel; This is where I spend most of my time? Sounds great pretty much whatever the settings. The gain control is the key here. Set low it?ll give you a nice bluesy vintage type tone. It?s a similar sound to the clean channel when fully wound up, but more rounded. As you wind on a little more gain you start to get into 70?s rock. Then, at ?5? on the dial you get an immense crunch like a JCM 900, this is where I tend to have it set, its huge at volume. I like a fair amount of mid range dialled in to accentuate the growl at this setting. As you go past the halfway point on the dial you start to get into more modern sounding hi-gain tones then into deliciously harmonic fuzz. There?s a large range of gain settings to play with and they?re all usable. The amp does start to get a bit noisy at high volumes and gain levels, but this is only a problem between songs. I tend to just kick it over to the clean channel to silence it, but it?s not a major inconvenience.
Overall this amp has a great range of versatile tones at all volume settings. This is the advantage of the solid state power amp coupled with the valve based pre-amp. You can get great sounding distortion at conversation levels that only improves as the volume?s wound up.
I really hate the scoop and bright switches that Marshall adds to some of their amps; thankfully this one?s free of such gimmicks. It?s a nice simple EQ section, which provides quick access to vintage and modern tones in one portable package.

Now, this was where I was let down a little. I?ve had the amp for over 2yrs now, but after about 8 months it stated to cut out intermittently. Initially it wasn?t often, but after a while it got progressively worse. The only way to get it to work was to flick the channel selector switch, on the front panel, several times until the sound kicked in.
Eventually I had it returned to Marshall in Milton Keynes for repair. Turns out that the valve base on the PCB was cracked and was causing the pre-amp to malfunction.
Since the repair the amp has been an absolute tank. Like I said before, I use this amp for everything from practice to gigs and it hasn?t missed a beat. Its well built and durable, has a great carrying handle and corner protection and stands up to gig abuse well.
Only thing I have a small doubt about are the potentiometers used on the front panel. The overdrive gain pot is starting to get a little scratchy and it?s not easy to get to with contact cleaner without voiding your warranty!
I have actually seen inside this amp. It?s not that impressive inside, two PCB?s, one with the valve on it (pre-amp, obviously), and the world?s smallest fan. All the people out there moaning about a revving noise when they first start this amp up? this little ?? fan is the guilty party! I really can?t see this little thing doing any worthwhile cooling, more like gentle stirring of the warm air inside the cab?

When I started to have trouble with my amp cutting out (see above) I phoned Marshall and spoke to a fairly un-interested lady who told me to contact my local dealer? Bet if my name were Dave Navarro or John Frusciante I?d have had a slightly different response. Politeness is free and they have to remember that kids out there buying Marshall?s will stay loyal to the company if they?re treated well.
Anyway, I emailed the shop that I originally bought the amp from (a considerable distance away) and got no reply. So, I decided that I?d take the amp to my local dealer (ABC Music) who were more than happy to arrange return to Marshall. They kept me informed of what was happening and I had the amp back within a fortnight. Marshall carried out the work under warranty; I just had to pay transportation costs.

I paid #289 for this amp 2yrs ago. In the UK this amp has a rrp of around #350, so I made a killing. All you guys in the States buying these amps will, I?m sure, be a little shocked by this. You have to remember that, here in the UK; we pay a premium on Fender/Gibson/ Mesa Boogie etc?
Initially I was gonna get the AVT20 as a practice amp, but when I saw the price on this AVT50 I thought I?d get it. Glad I did too, ?cos the 20w model wouldn?t have covered all the situations this amp does. I?ve played through the AVT100 Head several times at the rehearsal studio we use and I just prefer AVT50?s sound. It?s something in its tone that the larger amp just doesn?t have. I?ve also compared it to the 100w Head from the MG range (solid state) and it?s the same thing again, although I preferred the MG to the AVT100 Head strangely. The only Marshall I?ve played through that I though was better than the AVT50 was a JCM900, which was perfect for what I play. But the AVT50 gets close enough in an affordable portable combo format that I really can?t complain.
I also own a 1224 Matamp 30w single channel all-valve head and 2x12 cab. This is a great amp but needs to be driven by an OD pedal to get the levels of gain I need. Its more of a blues/classic rock kinda amp. Whereas the Marshall will do that plus a whole range of other tones besides.
Like I?ve said before; the thing I really like about this Marshall is its combination of portability (i.e. not as heavy as an all-valve combo), versatility, tonal range/quality of tone and ease of use. Yes, I?ve experienced problems with it, but I haven?t read about anyone experiencing the same problems here so assume it was a freak problem. Since its repair I have no doubts about its operation and use it constantly. I?ve played for 5yrs and as I mentioned, use this amp for practice, rehearsals and gigs. It handles it all? I?ve had it mic?ed up at larger gigs, played through 4x12?s with it and it always sounds great. It?s worthwhile emphasising how easy it is to dial in your tone quickly and easily. Also, how you can quickly nail a signature Marshall tone, if that?s you?re thing. Actually, I keep meaning to try it through the Matamp 2x12 Cab come to think of it? must do that.
In conclusion, if someone stole it I?d replace it with the same model; it suits me down to the ground. I?ve played gigs and been told I should get a proper amp (all-valve) because my Strat deserves better. Well I?ve never felt that this amp is hindering my guitars at all. Inevitably the people that make these comments come up to me after a gig with a big grin on their face saying how great the guitar tone was! I?ve always liked using equipment that gives you a kind of underdog status, ?cos its always good fun to upset people with really expensive rigs?
I hate having to carry a lot of equipment around, so with this amp, 2 guitars and a Boss ME-50 I can cover a lot of bases with an easily transportable set-up. I?ll always have one of these amps around, I might buy something like a Mesa Boogie F50 in the future to augment this, but for what I do this is perfect.

I like having a gain control on the clean channel. I can get a very clean or a good crunch sound. I tried the effects loop and found it changed both the sound of the amp and the effects compared to using the effects in line with the input. The line out is a good feature. I would like a reverb on/off option on the foot switch. The reverb is decent. Equalization is a little lacking, but quite adequate.

I use Carvin guitars, mostly with humbuckers, but have coil taps as well. I'm very impressed with the sound and can get a great variety of tones from extra clean, to bluesy, crunch, and mega metal. The amp will tear your ears off if you want, but also sounds great at low volumes. Recently recorded with it for the first time, and am much happier with the tone compared to using my Digitech rp2000 as I have in the past. Bottom line - I love it!

No problems so far. I've had it about 6 months.

Never dealt with them

Been playing for 25 years. Used a Peavy Bandit for most of that time. This amp sounds much better, though the bandit had a better reverb and equalization options. Before this amp, I usually used distortion pedals or my Digitech RP2000 for overdrive. Now I almost always use just the amp's natural overdrive. If lost, I'd consider getting one of the 3 channel AVT models, as that would be pretty useful. However, my friend has the AVT100, and I wasn't able to get the same sound out of it as with this amp.

Im bought this amp in late 2002 but i only use it as a pratice amp when im not using my main live rig which is a marshall valvestate 2 head(100 watts).If your into anything from old school metal to 70's rock ala Black Sabbath,Kiss and Bad Company etc...this amp will deliver it.Im a huge fan of 70's and 80's rock and metal and it's a marshall the best amp for the job.If this amp had an extra OD channel it would be perfect for gigs so i can set my leads to be a little bit louder than my rhythms.If i ever did play gigs with this amp i would run through a cabinet because i know it takes alot of power to cut through a loud metal band on stage.

I play a black les paul standard with EMG's 81/85.Since i like the genres of classic rock and metal explains why i use marshall in the first place.Because Marshall was the innovaters of all metal and kick ass rock.On high gain settings it puts out great Sabbath/Grindier metal tone and on lower gain settings ala Ace Frehley rock.I only messed with the clean channel when im in a mellow mood it stays pretty clean if you keep all the knobs at 12oclock as normal.Like my other valvestate amp it doesnt quite have enough gain that i need (close but no cigar) so i use a marshall bluesbreaker 2 pedal switched to boost for that extra gain for leads,fills and harmonic screams.Although this amp has a little more tube warmth than other valvestates but i like the old ones better they seemed to have a tighter low end.The new models get a little bit round and fuzzy on higher gain settings so to clean things up a bit i back the gain knob at 6 and turn the volume on the booster box all the way to 10 and back my guitar volume around 7 or 8 and the fuzz is gone.

I would only use it on a gig if it was going through a 4x12 cabinet or if my other valvestate broke down.

Out of the last 16 years ive been playing its definetly one of the best sounding rock/metal amps around.Once again it doesnt have enough gain that i need and it comes so close sounding like a tube amp that it's not funny.Yes maybe ill buy this amp again maybe an avt150 or mf350.

Mine is a 2002 model. It is a Marshall, it is for rocking. The clean channel is actually good on this one. I play this amp for that classic Marshall sound. The simplicity of this amp is beautiful. Not a lot of features to detract from the very good tone. I use this amp live and in the studio with the mic emulated DI/output. Not a lot of features, but all the right ones.

I use this amp with a G&L Legacy strat and ASAT, mid 70s Gibson SG, Charvel Model 1 w/ Seymour Duncan JB and JB jr., and a Guild Bluesbird. My effects are a fulltone Distortion pro and fulldrive 2 custom shop, Line 6 DL4, Carl Martin chorus, Electro-Harmonix deluxe electric mistress and MXR phase 90. I use quality gear and have good tone. I bought this amp to replace my old and tired 50 watt Marshall plexi. I think this will be more reliable and I feel I lose prctically nothing in my tone. I use this amp for leads and my 65 Deluxe reverb reissue for my cleans. I roll off the treble for the violin tone and this amp delivers it. With good compression, this unit sounds extremely close to my plexi halfstack without the loss of hearing. I set the lead channel gain at 9 0clock and the volume at 3 oclock, and I have the classic Marshall plexi sound. the distortion pro and fulldrive push it over the top to deliver EVH and Eric Johnson tones. I get the Gilmour tone with it too. Jeff Beck, Cream, Hendrix, it is all here. The clean channel gets very sweet when you push it. The gain control is very musical if you want this amp without od pedals. The key to beautiful tone with this amp, like an old tube amp is to get the sweet sounds from pushing the power amp. It is beautiful.

I have used this amp heavily for 2 years. No problem.

Called once a few years ago and the guy on the phone was a tonehead just like me. I received meaningful and useful help.

I have played since the hair metal days, about 15 years. If it were lost or stolen, my insurance would buy me another one. I insure my gear. This amp is worth replacing. It gives me my tubey, classic Marshall tone without the fear of breakdowns. I am a tube snob. I admit it. This amp gives me the tube tone I demand. I compared and compared it to tube amps that cost as much as $1500. This one was as good or better than all of them. The DI/out is awesome for having massive tone in your home studio. I have lost enough hearing after standing in front of the plexi for about 10 years. This amp delivers all I demand from my lead amp. I know this is a glowing review, but this amp is an essential piece of my gear. One complaint. WHY NO MID-CONTROL ON THE CLEAN CHANNEL?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
COME ON!!! Who told Marshall thi was what people wanted? That is the only thing holding this amp back from perfection. I do not want mid scooped cleans all the time (despite using a Deluxe Reverb). If it had more mid control on the clean channel, you could get that Hendrix vibe with your Fuzzface pedal, But as it is, the clean channel misses that old school mid-range kick in the face of complexity and beauty. The Beatles and Hendrix understood the beauty of mids in your guitar sound. The blues is all about mids growling. Argh! If only there was one more knob!

2003 Marshall VS2000 AVT50 1x12 combo, same features as listed below. 50-watt, 2-channel hybrid amp (tube preamp, solid state power amp), independent gain and EQ, master reverb. Closed-back cabinet.

I play mainly blues, blues-rock, classic rock, jazz, and a bit of everything else. This amp is one of the best values in the market today. Prior to owning this model, I owned a solid-state Marshall G50 combo....this sucker blows it out of the water completely. Tube-like tone and response....still not 100% tube tone, but very very close, with all the compression and dynamics you'd expect when you dime it out. I use an Epiphone SG with replacement Seymour Duncan and Dimarzio humbuckers, a Godin G1000, and a Fender Mexican Strat, and each guitar's unique tone is represented superbly with this amp, unlike my old G50RCD, which was mud city. The drive channel is fantastic, the clean a bit brittle - I could have done without the gain control on the clean channel as it tends to muddy up the sound at lower volumes, but it's not a terrible thing. Overall very toneful, useful, and versatile for anything ranging from sinewy blues, to higher-gain modern rock.

I've used this for two gigs and various jam sessions, and so far it has been *very* reliable, no problems of any sort. Very durable and well-built.....dig the closed-back cab.

Never had to deal with customer service.

This is one of the best amp deals for under $500 and truly covers a wide range of tonal options. If you're looking for an affordable Marshall that truly pays homage to its great heritage, look no further. I've been playing 6 years, have owned about 5 amps, and this is undoubtedly the best I've posessed yet. Worlds away from the POS G50 I had before....I'm not a big fan of solid-state amps, and while this *does* have a solid-state power amp, its ability to replicate tube-like tone is a wonder. My only complaint is that I wish it had a bit more power or perhaps another speaker....whilst playing a gig at near-full volume with a three-piece blues/rock combo I could barely hear myself, although the gig was taped and it cut through fantastically on the recording. Truly a fantastic value.

It has features, if you look for them.

It has the brown sound in spades. Tonally, my head is up my ass and I don't think I'll ever pull it out. This amp is the shit for tone! Now that I have the right speaker in it.

My dog pissed on it, and the tone changed because the speaker got wet. I played it loud and ripped the voice coil off the cone. That was fun. After putting in a new Celestion G12H80 that I got on sale from Avatar Speakers for $50 delivered (I recommend this company), the tone impoved 100%, and it's the best hard rock amp that I ever heard now. I sawed a 6" round hole in back of the cabinet to let the speaker breathe and develop more bass. Stuff is falling off shelves all over the house now! Don't let your dog piss on it. The particle board cabinet does not tolerate too much moisture.

Want customer support? Go buy a customer jock strap.

I put a metal grille on front of mine for when people throw shit at the band. It helps a lot with shielding the speaker from heavy stuff, but it is worse for shielding from dog piss. The sound is all you could ask for in a cheap amp for hard rock tone, but it could be a bit more sturdy. It works well until you can afford an anvil tough amp. Don't let dogs or drunks piss on it or leave it wheer it might get wet. I would like to put the control box in a plywood cabinet, then it would be much tougher.

Amp was made in 2003, I purchased it shortly before new years. Reason I got it so cheap was I bought it on my friend's discount at Sam Ash. I play mostly rock and punk/emo and so far the amp seems capable of producing tones suitable to those genres.

The features have been gone over ad infinitum, but i'll just summarize here. Hybrid amp, one tube in the pre-amp, solid-state for the power amp. 50W (a very LOUD 50W i might add). 1x12 Celestion speaker. Two channels and a footswitch.

I usually set the amp at volume 1 or 2. At volume 2 it's loud enough to annoy the neighbors in my apartment building. I had it up to 5 briefly at a buddy's house and I was surprised how loud a 50 watter could sound at only volume 5. I'm extremely new to the guitar and have just formed a band with some friends from another band, so I haven't had a chance to gig with it yet, but I assume it would be loud enough for the average bar/club.

I use a Gibson SG special with stock pickups (love this guitar by the way, it blows away the Squier Affinity I got in the Squier Electric Jam Pack by a mile). I'm still trying to find my style, but this guitar seems to fit Punk Rock pretty well.

Like I mentioned above, volume 1 or 2 is way more than enough when youre practicing by yourself, and volume 5 or so will cut through a drummer well enough. For a gig you'd probably have to set it higher, or mic it thru the PA.

The clean channel is also nice on this amp, but I haven't had it loud enough to see if it distorts and high volumes. You can get a wide variety of sounds through the dirty channel, and the distortion can get pretty brutal at high gain settings. The amp also tends to feed back alot at high gain/high volume unless you stand pretty far away from it.

Only had it a couple weeks so I can't really say; but from what I know of Marshall they tend to be built pretty solidly, just very expensive to have repaired. So far so good. *fingers crossed*

Never had to deal with them, I understand that they go thru Korg in the USA.

Just to re-hash, I've only been playing around 4 months, but this amp seems to be really good for a guitarist just starting out in a band. Sounds good at low volumes for home practicing, yet loud enough for small gigs.

So far I haven't found anything to hate about it, and if it were stolen I'd have to decide whether I wanted to replace it with the same thing or just save up for a half stack (something I plan to purchase in a year or so).

Overall, a great amp for a beginner to intermediate guitarist.

2002 model, amps is great for punk (what i play), i regret buying it only becasue im buying a jcm 900 100 watt half stack...but avt 50 is capable of filling a 200 ft by 100 ft room ( my schools auditorium) i wish reverb was foot switchable, recomend as a firt amp for a serious player, i wish it had od1, od2, clean 1 and 2 like avt 50,

sounds great for punk, has a nice distortion and a beautiful clean for ska up strokin, i use a PRS santanna SE and it sounds great through it

It was dependable for so long then one day tragity struck as my speaker blew, its still in shop waiting for a new celestian from england...so atleast it was during practice, ont at a show.. now im usin an old 79' ampeg 20-30 watter with digitech preamp and micing it through PA, i miss my beauty,

good...i bought a NADY wireless system and i plug it in and my amp started to smoke... nady tried to blame it on marshall so i sent nady and nice fax with me shitting on the guy i talked toos desk...anyway marshall was very helpful

i love this amp, but the speaker blew, i am gonna keep it but get a jcm 900 head and cab.. but in the year span i was using it it never let me down until the speaker... sounds better than the new jcm 2000's in my opinion... but jcm 900's sounds are the best marshasll ever had, and honestly id say this is the second.. for just under 600 or like 300 used..id say best choice

Mine is about 3 years old now. I play most "rock" type music.... Pink Floyd, Alice in Chains, Ozzy, AC DC. The amp works well for these styles. The headphone sounds good for late night practicing and it's loud enough when used with a band to cut through. Most people don't realize unless you're playing a 300 + seat venue, you don't need a half stack and definitely don't need a full stack. 50 Watts is plenty for the places I play, which is typically in basement/bar bands.
Not many features as far as effects go. Just reverb and distortion. If you want effects, buy pedals.

It sounds really good. I've never had a problem with it and I'm complimented on my tone regularly. I play usually with lower to medium gain and then kick it up with my o.d. pedal when I need some push and volume. The clean channel is really pretty great and a HUGE improvement over my old Marshall DSL. The distortion is Marshall, not Mesa. So if you want to play your "Nu Metal", go buy something else, someday you'll wake up and smell the coffee and find a sound worthy of a Marshall.

3 years, too many gigs to count, never had a problem with it switching channels on me like some people here. I take good care of it and I'm sure it'll last many years to come, if not, I'll fix it myself. Repair shops charge too much.

I only emailed them once and they responded within a day, so I'm satisfied.

I've been playing since the early 1980's. I have a mini home studio with M-Audio monitors a Yamaha sub. Midi Keys, Digitech processors, Morley Wah pedals. I record and have done some recording with this amp. It works as well as anything else I've used and has nice voicing that transfers well to tape.
At the time, I was looking for another practice amp as mine had crapped out on me. Eventually, I ended up using it at gigs and it just kinda stuck that way. I retired my DSL for home use and use this regularly. My one and only gripe is that it should have a seperate lead channed, but If you have an overdrive pedal or use a volume pedal, that's not an issue.
It's a great amp, if you have one, you know what I'm talking about. If not, go try one out. They're quite a steal.

Clean channel-gain, volume bass, treble. Overdrive channel-gain, volume, bass, middle, treble. Accutronics reverb(very nicely voiced). CD input, headphone output. Channel switching, series effect loop. 50 watts. 12" speaker.

I use a squire affinity strat w/bill lawrence pick-ups, gibson firebird 5, yamaha sg1000 played straight into the amp most of the time. Sometimes a ts-9(lead boost) or line6 dl-4 delay(rock-o-billy) in front. I love the tones that this amp delivers! The clean channel works so well i'm selling my '68 fender twin reverb-which does sound richer but is pretty much a one sound amp (but hey, who ever thought a marshall had a clean tone this sweet?). I think the clean channel on the avt50 sounds more "round" than the overdrive side. I choose to run this side with the gain at 5 to 10-volume to the size of the room-bass 5-treble 5. Overdrive side is what anyone could want when speaking "marshall" tone. I like to put the gain on 3 or 4- volume at the appropriate room size-bass 10- mid 2-treble 10. You know that scooped-mid marshall sound. Adjust guitar volume to taste. After 12 years of fender amps i can happily say the is what i want to sound like. Marshall sweet tones in a box that costs under $500!!!!

Have only used this amp for 5 months but i am sure a lifetime of use is in store for me.

5 year warranty-shouldn't need it.

Ok my musical tastes have changed over the years, but i think i know now better than ever what i want in a guitar amp (been playing 18 years). If i can be so impressed by an amp- and an affordable one as well- that i don't play my classic all tube fender any more, well this is it! dollar for dollar, pound for pound the best amp!

I got this amp about a year ago. It is pretty basic as far as features go. 50 watts and 2 channels one clean and one distortion. I bought this amp as practice amp but what I found was it is not bad for playing small gigs. It is very loud for 50 watts.

Both channels great. The distortion is better than most. The speaker that comes with this amp is ok at lower volumes but wont handle loud volumes very long till it starts sounding nasty. I changed my speaker out using a celestion classic lead 80 with 5 pound magnet. This made a huge differece. You can run this amp to a good sound system and you can keep with any drummer.

It has been fairly reliable. I have a couple times that channels would switch on its own but as much as I have used this amp I guess thats not too bad.

I have been playing for 34 years.This amp definetly has tone,is loud,and is compact. I think it is great for a small amp.

Tube pre-amp. Clean & Overdrive channels w/separate tone adjustments. Reverb. Headphone jack. That's about it, which is fine.

Most people buy Marshall for the distortion. The big surprise to me with this amp is how wonderful the clean is. Bell-like. Brilliant. Beautiful. In fact, to my ear the overdrive is the weaker of the two channels sound-wise. OD seems harsh and honky, but that could also be because I play it with a Fender Mexi-Strat with ceramic single coils (ugh!)Someday I'm gonna hook it up with an LP and I suspect it will be better.

Had it two years, no problems. It's a truck. I have no idea when the pre-amp tube might need replacing and the manual doesn't offer any guidance.

N/A

Third amp I've owned, and the first "real" one. Previously tried a Behringer Ultraroc (great value!, the salesman said). It crapped out after two months. What junk. I took it back to Mars, talked them into getting a store credit and walked straight over to the Marshall section. No regrets. Like I said above, Marshall distortion may not be my cup 'o Joe, so in the future I may consider a Fender or Line6 (which I like despite the tube snobs' sneering). But this is a very very solid amp. Hook it up to a couple stomp boxes and wah pedal and you've got about everything you need.

I use a 87 American Strat with Dimarzio Evolution Humbucker in the bridge. The only effects I run are a DD-3 Delay and a CE-5 Chorus. I play mostly rock/metal. I messed with this amp for a week and frankly I couldn't get a decent tone outta the thing. The distortion is thin and buzzy and doesnt have much flexibility. Very disappointed with Marshall's at this point..they've really gone downhill in the last 10 years.

Didn't keep it long enough to know. Returned it within a week.

Horrible..sorry guys but I really don't know what all the positive reviewers are hearing in this amp. Easily the worst Gain channel I've heard in a Marshall.

This is a 2001 AVT50. The two channels go from clean to heavey distortion. There is a volume and master volume for each channel.The clean channel has bass and treble controls; the gain channel has bass, middle, treble as well as an overall reverb control.The amp puts out 50 watts and cuts through well.

I play a Carvin DC 135 and Gibson Les Paul through it with multiple settings. It has a very good clean sound with my Carvin in single coil settings, and a great "pushed" sound with the clean channel pre-amp volume at about 7.5. I like the humbucker "pushed" tone with both guitars. It has a raw, "in your face" drive tone. The distortion channel sounds great with the humbuckers at any setting if you adjust the tone controls to taste. The single coils on my Carvin sound good if the pre-amp volume is around 3 to 4. The closed-back cabinet produces a more raw, directional output than an open back cabinet does. But I like this tone in contrast to my Fender Deville amp.

The amp has been reliable so far except for the included footswitch causing the channels to bounce back and forth occasionally. I need a new footswitch. Switching the channels on the amp itself has worked fine.

I have no experience with customer support. I have never needed any repair to date.

I have been playing off and on for over 30 years and have used Les Pauls, Strats, Teles and other unique guitars(I love my Carvin).I have used several amps and currently play through a Fender Deville and the AVT50. I love the pushed,upper mids tone of a marshall, and this amp sounds great with just the single 12ax7 tube!It is also much easier to carry around than most amps at 50 watts!I would certainly consider this amp again if lost or stolen. Give it a try!

I think this was made in 2002. 12-inch custom celestion speaker, 2 channels(the usual clean and dirty), effects loop, DI out, headphone jack, and a reverb.

I play an ibanez rg421 and I play blues and rock. There's more than enough distortion here and the clean channel is one of the best clean channels i've heard from a marshall(or is it the best?). You can go from blues-rock type distortion to heavy palm-muted distortion ala john petrucci's "pull me under" riff with the crunch channel.

I think it would be dependable. I don't really know for now because i've only had it for a week. What i'm a bit worried though is how i'm going to change the tube inside the pre-amp if it burns out after about 2 to 3 years? I opened the back panel and i found out that it's not accessible from the speaker. I think u have to take the whole pre-amp out as there is no other opening except maybe if u unscrew the four screws on top of the cabinet. I think they're mounting screws.. I don't know. Does anyone of you guys know how to do this thing? Aside from that, i think i'm happy with my amp

I tried to contact them about this tube-changing problem but there's no response.

It;s actually my first amp with a tube in it. So I don't know much about tube amps. But what i'm sure of is that i really, really like it. Never went out of the house for a week, skipped meals and stopped watching tv just to play with it. I'm freaking out the my friends and family with it. : )

This is a AVT 2000 series 50-watt Marshall combo amp. It's a Tube-Solid state combo which means it's got a real tube in the Pre-amp stage. Headphone jack, CD input, 2 footswitchable channels, reverb, an Effects Loop, and an Emulated Digital Pre-out. On the clean channel it has Volume, Gain, Bass, and Treble. On Distortion Channel it has Gain, Volume, Bass, Middle, and treble. 12" Celestion speaker. No stupid digital effects to deal with (if you want those get a pedal). I pretty much play in my bedroom or with friends in a basement somewhere for fun but i take my guitar playing seriously and this is just mind-boggling...well you'll see in the next sections.

I play an Ibanez RG-550 and it sounds incredible (both clean and distrorted). I'm pretty much an anything rock guitarist (stuff like Bush, New Found Glory, Metallica, Linkin Park, POD etc.) I've turned this thing up pretty much all the way and it loses NO sound quality. In fact, it gets even better the louder it goes. The distortion goes from mild to crazy, well more than you'd need (unless your style is 'I dont like to hear a difference in notes from my low E to 24th fret-High E strings') Havent heard any distortion on the clean channel and it gets loud as well. Also the ECC83 Pre-Amp tube really adds depth and volume (like big sound, not just loudness). In combination with the 12" Celestion speaker it pumps out huge bass that knocks pictures off the wall (seriously i have done that!) It also sounds incredible with palm muting. My friends are all like "That amp sounds absolutely perfect." Give it a 10.

No problems yet, like twice it has switched from clean to distortion for no reason, but never from distortion to clean. Not a problem at all though. It's heavy, tough, and i sit on it a lot and never had any problems with it. Sound i always reliable, doesnt cut out or anything and always keeps the volume and sound true.

Dont know, never needed anything. Bought it used with no warranty but honestly, i'm not worried about ever needing to get anything done with it.

I've been playing for almost 2 years now and i used to have a Marshall MG-15 RCD and this is so much of an improvement i'm still cleaning up the mess i made in my pants after i got it. I used to play with a DOD FX-7 pedal to get the distortion and what not, now i dont use it at all because the amp itself has everything i need to sound incredible. I would buy it again without thinking about it, no matter what i had to pay. I love the sound and everything about it, only thing i got a beef with is the weight, it's pretty heavy, but what do you expect? it's big. I compared it with a few other Fender and Crate amps and really couldnt find anything i liked but this. I guess once you go Marshall (especially a good one) you never go back. Definetly recommened this.

This amp is a recent make, unsure of year. I play alot of Metal and rock (Metallica-Led Zeppelin), but I also enjoy playing Funk and Blues
(Funky Meters-Clapton). It's got two channels (clean and overdrive). it comes with a footswitch pedal, input and output jacks for EFX loop, a headphones jack, and input for CD playalong. The only thing I would like is to maybe have 2 OD channels instead of one. This is a home/ band practice amp, and it can get loud enough (too loud at home)(

I am playin a Fender Double Fat Strat straight through the amp. I don't get the best metal sound, but that's more due to the guitar than the amp. The clean channel can get pretty edgy, depending on how high the gain is set, and the distorted channel can get pretty heavy

I have owned this amp for 2-3 months, and there hasn't been a single problem yet

never had to deal with Marshall, and I don't remember the warranty lenght

I have been playing guitar seriously for about 2 months. If lost or stolen, I would try to find a used all tube amp on EBay, but if I couldn't this would be my first choice

Wish the reverb could be turned off via the footswitch

I'm using a 1990 LP Classic PP with an SD Pearly Gates bridge and a JB neck pickup. I play different styles of rock with this setup and it sounds great. The amp's tone controls are fairly sensitive enabling you to get a better variety of sounds than I expected. Like most of the others have said, the clean channel on this amp is fantastic, but can be a bit on the bright side if you aren't careful with the tone controls.

The only issues I have had with the amp are the oft mentioned noise when swithcing channels and a tendency for the clean channel to clip at a lower than acceptable volume sometimes, but for what I paid for it I really can't complain

Never dealt with them

I've been playing guitar for 19 years. I have owned many amps in that time. I bought this amp for a practice amp and it serves that purpose well.

This is my 2nd review. I have had it for a couple of months now and I feel that I needed to review this amp again. Everyone knows the features of this hybrid amp . It has really good features. Its simplicity is what makes this amp great. It has all your basic feature to practice in the bedroom and to handles small gigs. If you're not happy with the features of this amp, you must be a really picky person. It is a real value.

I'm pretty happy with the amp. I use a Schecter Ci Plus with 2 SD's. A JB on the bridge and Jazz on the neck (this is a very great p'up setup,very versatile). I really dig the sounds I get from this amp. I'm currently really into blues, jazz, rock, and pop(in that specific order). The clean channel is all right for blues. I just turn the gain up bit to get a little grit and switch to Jazz neck p'up and I get a a pretty decent blues tone. I use to like the clean channel for some fat jazz chords, but I realized that the clean channel is not that great for playing chords like that. What I particularly dig in the amps is the OD channel. You can pretty much get any sound that you here in any of your old school rock records like Led Zep, Hendrix, ACDC, and other great artist who used the Marshall sound. What I really use this amp for is the power amp section. I use my Digitech GNX3 pedal and use that as a preamp for all the great tones I find with the GNX3. I use at as moniter on stage and also as my amp for when I the sound system is down. I think this amp is perfect for what I need it for. I wish it was a little lighter. I probably should have gotten a Tech 21 Tradmark 10. Has the same basic feature escept for the reverb and dual channels.

In other words, I AM HAPPY WITH THIS AMP.

As I told you guys earlier, I use this onstage when I play at church and when I have played with the band. I play w/o a backup and I have not had any problems with it. Sincee it only has one tube, it really can't break on stage. It could go out, but these 2 words sum it all up: SOLID STATE. It very dependable. I take care of my stuff, so it should last a long time, but who knows.

Never contacted them, but ther websit is really bad, and they're w/ KORG USA. Their support probably sucks.

I think this amp is pretty good for the cash. I really dig the OD channel. It has a lot of classic favorites in there. I like the fact that it has a tube in the preamp. It gives the amps sound a nice warm touch that you can't get out of a 100% solid state, but its not as warm as all tube amp. I like the fact that I don't have to worry about tubes. I'll get an all tube when I have the experience as well as the cash. I have been playing for 3 years. I know I havn't playing that long. All you older guitarist are probabl laughing at me, but thats cool. It is great for what I need it. Theres alot of other cool products that suited my needs better. Behringer makes this GM10(?) that has features I wanted. Tech 21 also makes the Trademark10 which is really awesome. I wish I would have bought the Trademark 10. Mostly because its a lot lighter, cheaper, and versatile. All I wanted was a good sounding practice amp w/ an effect loop so that I could tap my GNX3 into the power amp section of the amp. I wish the AVT20 had an effect loop. That would have been awesome. I hope Marshall could build a small recording amp with the same features that the AVT50 has. Overall as I stated earlier, I AM HAPPY WITH MY MARSHALL.

Update to my last post. Their website is horrible, and they are too hard to contact. when finally contacted, they were not helpful at all, and sort of pushed me aside. Very poor customer service.

2001 valvestate, pretty standard feaures, two channels, and a good reverb, came with a one button footswitch. The amp is plenty loud, I only use it for practice at home, but it can get very loud. I'm giving it a seven because other amps in the price range have more features, this one has plenty, but I would have liked maybe a better footswitch.

I have a Dean Icon Special Select with a Duncan Custom in the bridge and a Jazz in the neck, straight into the amp. The sound of this thing is great, especially the clean channel with the jazz pickup, very big sound. Not noisy at all. Very versatile, I can get a great jazz and clean sound, then switch over to the od channel, and get some pretty heavy sounds. I don't play metal, but I think the amp would suit the style fine.

This is where the amp has had some problems. When on the clean channel, sometimes it will randomly switch channels, or just turn off. I took it to a dealer, and they had it for a week, when I got it back, the problem persisted, so I gave up. Also, when switching channels, there is a very annoying "pop" sound. Not sure if I would use this amp live at all.

The warranty was good, and there are authorized dealers everywhere, so everything fine here.

I've been playing for about three years, and I love this amp, I just wish it could switch channels correctly. If it were stolen, I would most likely buy another one, I really like the clean channel on this amp. This is overall a good deal, I don't think my problem is common, as I haven't seen anyone else on here with the same thing.

I like this amp!
I play lots of styles: blues, country, hard rock, jazz, folk, and this amp can handle them all. I use the channel switching for going between OD and clean sound. I also use the reverb and the effects loop. I sometimes use a chorus and/or digital delay. I use a crybaby wah-wah outside of the effects loop. I use this amp for small indoor and outdoor settings and haven't been overpowered yet. Any larger setting and I might have to go to an extra speaker cabinet or more robust amp. The amp has an output for an external 8 ohm speaker. I've had this amp for about six months.

I use a gibson SG. I like the clean tone and it has a nice one. Very bright and present at high settings. I'm not a heavy distortion fan unless the song/style calls for it, and from that end it gives me all I want. Its great in practice because you can get a lot of different sounds at low volume.

I've found that when playing a gig, I let the amp warm up before playing. Mine seems to get a warmer richer sound after I'm playing it for a while.

Seems to be very sturdy.

Don't remember but its at least industry standard. From what I know of the company they stand behind their product.

Its the perfect amp for me right now. For the price I don't think you can beat it.

50 watts with a 12" Celestation speaker. 2 switchable channels (footswitch included), effects loop, headphone and direct out (for recording, etc). Hybrid amp- solid state, but with a tube in the preamp to add some tonal variation and warmth.

I like to play all styles of Rock music, primarily focusing on lead playing and love both the clean and distorted sound. I prefer a simple 2 channel setup, so this works great for me.

I am using a Gibson ES-135 w/57 Classic humbucking pickups (the good model with f-holes, not the newer "striped" model). The amp workes great with this guitar, which gets (in my opinion) a great hard rock sound. The only pedals I'm currently using are a Boss SD-1 Super Overdirve (for a solo boost)and a Thomas Organ Crybaby wah.

I love the Marshall sound, and this amp does it for me. The overdrive is unreal, and I have found so many wonderful sounds in all gain/volume levels just by spending some time messing with the EQ. The clean is punchy as all hell, and works both totally clean or with a little gain on it (the separate gain/volume controls give a lot of options).

I'm sure others will think I'm being stupid, but I prefer the hybrid tone to a full tube setup. I know, I know, I'm stupid or high or haven't played a good tube amp...whatever, it's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. I've actually played/owned many great tube amps from Mesa, Marshall, Fender and Peavey and actually like my AVT50 better. I'm sure part of the reason is that I play in my apartment a lot, so need to play at lower volumes and many tube amps don't get going until cranked a little. Either way, I wanted to put my opinion out there in case anyone reading this agrees with me and wants some validation- I'm with you man!

PS- in case anyone cares, my favorite settings are:
OD- Gain 4, Volume-varies, Bass 9, Middle 3, Treble 5, Reverb 5
CLEAN- Gain 4, Volume-varies, Bass 5, Treble 7, Reverb 5
Again, I use many other setting as well- next week, I might have a new favorite. That is the main reason why I like the amp so much!

I haven't had any problems yet and don't plan to. Obviously, reliability is one of the benefits of not going all-tube. I had an AVT20 before this, and that was a tank for me. I am hopeful that the AVT50 will work just as well.

I have not had to deal with Marshall, so I can;t comment on that. my rating is for the warranty only. 5 years on parts, 3 years on speakers and labor. Most importantly, it is all transferrable! That is so important if you ever have to sell (by choice or necessity)your gear. For me, a transferrable warranty also gives me more faith in the product.

I have been playing for 13 years and have had a lot of gear in that time. I have also held jobs at a major guitar/amp manufacturer and at a major music chain, so I have a lot of experience with guitar equipment. Also, for the last couple of years I have been in the education field and did NOT work for Marshall in any way. Not that any of this makes my opinion more important, but it's not like this is my first amp or anything.

Obviously, I love this amp. For me, this is the best sounding amp available. The fact that it is so much less expensive then most other great amps is a total bonus for anyone who buys it. I would agree with some other review I've seen here that the other AVT models that include effects don't seem to have the same sound quality and, yes, I tried them all. This is the amp that made me stop looking for a new amp. I used to check Harmony Central to see reviews of other amps to get ideas on what I wanted next- now I check the AVT50 reviews to see what others think of "my" amp. As a side note, most of my other amps were much more expensive than the AVT50. If I can get anything across in this review it would be that, for me, this is the best amp available. Give it a try- it might work for you too!

I bought this used, so I don't know when it was made. I mostly play metal-hard rock ('tallica, slayer, ozzy, sabbath, disturbed, opeth, etc...), It has 2 channels, I had to buy a seperate Roland footswith for it, works great, I don't mind it not having effects, I use it to practice at home and annoy people around me, and to play with friends (great for the latter, read on...)

I'm using a Fernandes strat copy w/ duncan hot rails pup and an ibanez sz320(kicks ass) with a dimebucker(even more ass), in the bridge position, with both axes it gets a great Randy Rhoads tone (crazy train, mr. crowley kind of stuff), and if I tweak the tone settings enough(throw out the mids), I can get a great Lightning-Puppets tone. It is somewhat noisy on the OD channel, maybe the tube is going (i didn't try it out so loud at the store), or maybe my house doesn't have good wiring (it could be the guitar, it goes away when I turn down the volume on mu axe), the clean channel is great, nice and warm, or nice and bright, the OD channel is great, although dialing the gain beyond 2.5-3 o'clock it gets a bit buzzy, but it's nice and heavy, it sounds better with the dimebucker, a little brighter and the distortion is "squishier" with a little less bottom end (you can still feel it thumping your chest at high volumes), this works great. (oh, it sounds muffled when playing on a carpeted floor).

It's pretty solid, it says "made in England", so does the Celestion Speaker, i don't plan on throwing down a flight of stairs, so if you don't do that, set it on fire or shoot at it, it will last, i do plan on changing the tube, maybe that will help with the buzz.

I bought it used, so I only got the store's 30 day warranty.
But the store;s people are very helpful (Guitar Center).

I've been playing about 5 years, my axes are listed above, a crybaby original, boss metal zone(I barely use scince i bought the marshall), a boss flanger(dont use this either, i only bought it becouse it was just $10 at a swap meet). If it was stolen i would buy it again, sure.
I love the tone, it screams tube distortion, i hate the buzz, i compared it to a 50 watt marshall solid state combo that sounded good at low volumes but turned into mud when the volume is past 5.

GREAT AMP FOR THE PRICE!!!

basic features, but has a a preamp tube in the preamp.

Pretty normal hybrid amp

Im using a Gibson Les Paul Studio and actually, I quite like the amp, its one of the most versitale amps Ive come across for a while. It gets the normal Marshall brownsound pretty easily, but also has another wide range of tones, ranging from a pushed plexi amp, to a real glassy and shimmering clean tone that sounds a lot like what someone said before a hot rod fender, but its beefed up a bit and has a tighter bass. On the clean channel, the higher you turn up the volume the more full the sound becomes, however, as you do that, it helps a little to roll off the tone on the gutiar a bit as the high notes can become a bit harsh. I dont ever dime any of my amps, after about 7 or 8, the sound starts to get a little mushy, but its loud before you get to that volume anyway, unless you have hte gain turned down a lot. The gain control really gives you a lot of control over the amp. Its very responsive and each turn will give you a differnt tone.

Ok now the Overdrive channel. Its pretty good, I love the old vintage rock tones of players like Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, and Ritchie Blackmore so I try to keep the gain down a little rather than crankning it to get some nu metal detuned metal tone. What i noticed is that if you turn the gain down and turn the volume up, it shapes teh sound a little more and gives the tone a more cutting edge, and a lot of sustain but still retains a lot of clarity. Your personal playing nuances definately shine through and if you suck at the gutiar, then the amp will only make the statement louder. The tone controls are very responsive, and no matter waht setting, the amp sounds very warm. The only problem Ive seen witht eh sound is that it doesnt clean up when you roll back the volume as good as a all tube amp does, but thats a reason that you have hte clean channel. Also, if your gonna turn the amp up real loud, be sure to back off the treble a bit so you still keep teh brightness, but you dont permanently damage your hearing because this amp can be treble hell if you dont eq it right at high volumes.

hasnt broken down yet

no opinion on marshall, but, the store that sold it too me was wonderful.

great value, even if it isnt all tube, it still has a great tone.

This amp line came out in late 2000
to replace Marshalls original Valvestate line
the new line is call Valvestate 2000: AVT (Advanced Valvestate technology)
This is the second generation of hybrid marshall Tube Solidstate amps
and a significant improvement over the first
this amp has a 12" Custom Celestion designed for this amp
50watts of power
a Dual Triode diode tube in the preamp
two foot switchable channels: clean, with a gain to fatten the tome
and overdrive with gain to increase distortion
3 band eq + volume for each channel
Reverb
Speaker ext on back
and head phone ect.
it weighs a hefy 45LBS
the features are expected on practice amps of these size so it will recieve an 8,
this 50watt amp can easily be used in practice with loud drummer, even percform in a small club size venue if cranked

I've used 5 Guitars on this amp all of them have there stock pickups but most of these guitars stock pickups are Seymour Duncans
a Mexican Fender Strat 88
Korean Fender Esquire GT ( Seymour Duncan Invader Pickup
Japanese Jackson Soloist SL3 ( Seymour Duncan Hotrails, jeffbeck
Japanese Epiphone Lespaul ??? (stock pickups are dizmario super distortion
Japanese Epiphone Zakkwilde (stock pickups are emg ?? )
I'm not a marshall fanboy, i have only played solidstate and transtube marshalls i will not know if this is expected of marshalls
The clean is warm, with a strat and the gain fattens it, it also grows warmer as you crank, i've found turning the gain down below 4 on the clean lowers volume significantly so when practicing with a loud drummer the clean will be fat, if you have pickups like the Jeffbeck on my soloist, the Invader on my Esquire GT and EMG active pickups, and dizmario when gain and volume turned up it actually produces distortion. There are advanteges when the cleans gain is on 10 with the invader,and EMGs,Jeffbeck, Superdirstoir is actually power full enough to play hardrock not metal, or nirvanna, but stuff like greenday, 3 Doorsdown, and the clean distorted sounds very close to a all tube Fender hot rod deluxe with dizmario super distortion thorugh it. I don't think many people will be able to tell the difference between this and distortion tube. However the distortion on the overdrive channel is heavier, but not as convincing. The distortion on over drive is smooth and as far improved over the original transube Valvestate 65R
in adition this amp seems much more powerful. The original Valvestate line seemed to be the best solidstate amps but was no where near tube, though the clean was better. The new Valvestate 2000 AVT's are much more like tube amps. The out put pickups increase distortion, volume increases distortion, tube saturates, has the tone and the weight of tube amps.

I dunno i borrowed it from a friend for a week

music industries customer service sux
warranties are meaning less
buy your amp from a retailer
who'll help you more than the cuztormer support will

Overall a significant improvement over the Valvestate 65reverb
much louder
this is the first line of valvestate that actually sounded like tube amps, the price is on the high side
for about 60$ more you can get tube amps from fender of the same size(but not the amount of distortion)
The clean is comparible to the overdrive channel of the fender hotrod series. It would bennifit if the gain did not affect volume of the clean, this way the marshall would not sound like it had to distortion channels. The amp's clean does sound almost exactly like an overdriven all tube fenderhot rod amp, when the gain and volume is turned up.

Very versatile amp Will play beautiful cleans and can play some freaking loud distortion 2 channels Came w/ footswitch Headphone jack, effects loop, the works

I am playing a Godin LG with SD P-90s on it This amp suits my musical style perfectly Good clean channel, but I bought it because of its awesome distortion It is great Fenders amps couldn't touch the distortion on this baby

This amp is a tank! Never broken down, and I dont think that it ever will I would use it in a gig without a backup

Never dealt with them

I have been playing for just over a year I play the Godin and also an Ibanez acoustic If it were stolen, I would definately get a new one I compared it to Crates and Fenders The Fenders had good cleans, but the distortion sucked The Crate was a close second I chose the Marshall because of its Distortion LOVE THE AMP!!

See below. Headphone and line out were terrible, in my opinion.

This is an update. Okay, I'm about to lose all my credibility but I don't care. I sold mine and bought a Crate GLX120, which I am satisfied with. I loved the Marshall's overdriven clean channel but could only get the clean to sustain with a compressor. The dirty channel always sounded buzzy. The mid knob affected frequencies that I didn't care for. The Crate GLX120 has much greater versatility, sounds great, and is a one-pedal solution to my gigging needs. No regrets, no remorse.

Seemed fine.

No clue.

Again, I know Crate gets bashed but this time they got it right and I am someone who gives credit where credit is due. The Marshall simply didn't get the tone I was looking for even though I tweaked for weeks. I gigged with it too. Good amp, I suppose, just not for me. For the same price I got the Crate which has decent effects, a built-in tuner, and three very tweakable channels. I've been playing for about 23 years and use a heavily modded Mex Strat with humbuckers.

The amp is a 2003 model. This amp does not have built in FX but really now who needs them when you have a killer distortion and one heck of a sweet clean. It comes with FX loop , and a head phone jack. I use this amp as a bedroom practise but could easily be used for jaming with your friends. This amp is a Valvestate half tube half solid. Valve ( british for TUBE) this amp has 2 channels a clean and overdrive. Clean channel has a gain , volume , bass, mid, and treble. Crank the gain and you get a great blusey crunch, turn up the volume lower the gain and you get a beatuifuly warm clean with fabulous harmonics.

I play a Yamaha RGX121s. It has 2 double coils and a single. Great guitar for metal. The AVT50 is very quiet on the clean setting but a like buzzy on the overdrive setting with the gain cranked, but most amps do make some buz. This amp can get some fantastic sounds. Squeaky cleans with a hint of warmth. Great crunchy distortion that only a Marshall can get. This amp Sounds so much like an all Valve amp it isnt even funny. You all tube snoobs would be embarassed, because you probably could pick this amp out in a room of tube amps.

This amp is closed in from ever angle. The second you lift it up you can tell it was ment to handle some punishment. I have had no problems with it to date.

never had to deal with them.

I have been playing for 5 years, my friends have been play for longer and i have had a chance to listen and see many amps, Fenders, Peavey's, Line 6, Yamahas. and i tell you This Marshall AVT50 is won hell of a good buy, it has huge sound and greater tone.

PS-- The distortoin is deadly.

See other reviews

One of the two best amps at its price point, the other one being the Traynor YCV40. Decide if you want an amp that sounds a lot like tubes without the recurring retubing costs, or if you want a real tube amp with the recurring retubing costs. The YCV40 sounds better and is built better, but will cost you more in the long run in routine tube maintenance expenses. I own both amps. The YCV40 needs a tubing change right out of the box to sound its best. My choice was NOS Tung-Sol 5881 output tubes (I had a box of those things saved up from years past) and JJ Tesla ECC83S preamp tubes (as good or better than most NOS 12AX7 types) in the Traynor. The AVT50 needs a speaker change out of the box to sound its best. You can use a Celestion Vintage 8, G12H, or Eminence B102 with a baffle board adapter (it's an extremely nice 10" speaker with a bottom far beyond the two Celestions, as well as a more extended and cleaner high end and much nicer build quality, but it's an expensive and heavy 10 incher). Most people prefer the clean channel of the Traynor and the gain channel of the Marshall, but its a close call. You should say to hell with deciding and buy them both. The Marshall has a better low end because of the closed back cabinet, but the Traynor has a more open sound. If I had to pick one or the other, I would choose the Traynor, but if I could only aford one amp, I would choose the Marshall because of its greater versatility. The birch plywood cabinet of the Traynor is MUCH more rugged, But the closed cabinet of the Marshall gives better protection speaker protection from overexcursion as well as foreign object damage. You need a backup. But 'em both if you can afford it.

No problems yet, but the long term reliability will probably be less than the Traynor due to poorer build quality. It should last 20 years in normal home use, or until it takes a major fall in touring use (that particle board cabinet is the weakest link for pro use). In home or studio use, until the electrolytic caps crap out. Remember that you can get these slightly used for $350 now, and a lot less later on. Reliable for what little you pay. Remember that the Traynor will outlive it several times over if you physically beat the hell out of your amps, but in a home or studio environment that is not an issue.

I fix my own amps. I doan need no steenking custohmer support! Except for schematics, that is, and old Marshall amp schematics are scattered all over the internet. This amp will be no exception when it gets old and needs some fixing up.

Play this amp, then go play a Traynor YCV40. Buy the one you like the best. It's unlikely you will find a better sounding amp at this price from any major manufacturer that has the resale value of Marshall or Traynor. Your next best bet is the Fender Deluxe Reverb at $800 or more. Both amps blow away the Blues Junior or Hot Rod Deluxe in sound quality.

Marshall AVT 50 combo, two channels (clean/od) with a footswitch, reverb, CD input, headphone output, FX send/return...
i play mostly punk/ska music, and the distortion isn't great for heavy punk distortion, but is great for metal, and the od set on low gain is good for dirty ska riffs. i mostly use this for home practice, but the amp has enough power for small gigs, and if not, it can be miked.

i run a PRS santana se (2001 ed.) through a crybaby wah, dod distortion, boss ds-1, and ibanez ph7. on the clean channel, the tone is incredible, even through my effects loop (i usually run it straight into the input, not through the FX send/return. the gain on clean, though, should not be set too high, and if you need more volume, mic the amp!! the clean channel gets dirty with high gain, which can make distortion stomp boxes noisy. the OD channel is great with gain around 12-3 o'clock, but the when the gain is full, the distortion is a bit noisy. the distortion is also very bassy; i set my treble to full and my bass as low as i can get them without sounding too thin. even then, the distortion is full of low end, so i usually just use my grunge pedal for punk distortion with the clean channel.

never used this in a live show, just practice. however, occasionally, while i'm playing on the clean channel, the amp switches on its own into od (which can be painful when i'm running heavy distortion pedals on the clean channel). this can be fixed easily by footswitching back into clean... but no serious problems.

never dealt with them, but the dealer i got this from is closeby and accessible.

i've been playing for two years, and this is the only amp i've owned, though i gig with various amps that are supplied at the venues, including peavey (usually the bandit 112), other marshalls (jcm heads and combos), fender, and roland. this amp has much more versatile clean channel than many others, though with heavy distortion, this amp tends to be bassy and, thus, more restrictive. this amp sounds great, though, and it even sounds pretty good as an acoustic amp (though i don't advise using this as a main acoustic amp)