Marshall VS30R

Lower wattage model--all solid state.
Most notable features: no mids on the clean channel; "contour" on overdirve channel is like a reverse middle control, so if you want to sound trendy and lame, turn clockwise to scoop your mids; reverb--I don't know what this does here; line out and headphone jack great for recording and small apartments, respectively; footswitchable, which is nice.

This has all the traditional Marshall sound, but without the warmth or sparkle of tubes. I bought this in the late '90's, after taking up electric guitar again after 6 years of being overseas with the Marines. I was young, didn't know any better, and played everything with the gain on '10'. Since then, my playing, music tastes, and guitar collection have improved, so everytime now that I plug in, it is a soul-crushing experience, knowing that I could have bought a tubie if I had saved my disposable, single guy income just a tad longer.

Made in England, so it keeps going and going, just like that stupid rabbit.

Never had to deal with them (see above).

Great for the time, but doesn't suit my needs now. If stolen, I wouldn't care, knowing the thief would be stuck in tube-simulation purgatory. Kids: friends don't let friends play solid-state.

I'm not sure when this was made exactly, but it would probably be the mid-90s. It is a solid state amp with tube emulation (at least it is supposed to simulate the sound of tubes).

This amp has a single input. It basically has two channels (clean and drive/ distortion). There's an option to use a footswitch to go from one channel to the other. It has a global reverb setting. The reverb mechanism itself is a spring reverb. In terms of EQ, it has bass, mid, treble for the clean channel, and it has bass, contour (scoop), treble for the drive channel.

It's rated at 30watts for power, and has one Celestion driver, if I am not mistaken.

I normally use it as a practice amp, and it is reasonably ok as a practice amp. For a full band performance, it does not have sufficient power to cut through a band mix, especially with live drums.

I would appreciate if it had a presence feature as well, and I would have appreciated more articulation (more on that below).

I currently use two guitars with this: a Squier Strat with stock single coil pick-ups and a Hamer STX with dual humbuckers wired in. I normally play mostly rock or alternative, as well as some jazz pieces.

Overall, I feel this amp lacks articulation and sparkle to its sound. Howver, this is not to say that it has a "warm" tone to it. Rather, I find it a bit flat sounding, especially on the clean channel. This is why I would have wanted a presence feature on it. Particularly on clean, there is very little sparkle to it, even after boosting the treble. Rather, it becomes rather harsh.

It also does not have very much sensitivity to playing dynamics on the drive channel. It will clean up somewhat with a roll-off of volume, but it does not have the characteristic ramp up from clean to overdrive that true tubes will have.

The drive channel, on the other hand, sounds rather dirty, and lacks the characteristic break-up of overdrive. Rather, it is more a distortion tone, not very apt for blues or rock, but more towards metal music.

That being said, it does sound respectable, when you consider that it is a 30W solid state amp which most will use as a practice amp. It just lacks a sense of liveliness for recording or playing live.

I have had it for a good number of years. I honestly cannot exactly remember how long. Suffice to say, it's served me for a while.

I have never had to have it serviced or repaired. Over the years, the input jack has come a bit loose, but nothing overly alarming or out of the ordinary. Some of the pots are also no longer as clean as before. It sometimes crackles with adjustments, especially on the lower ranges/ settings.

But, even then, it has held up well and it has been through a few loud practice sessions, small gigs, and a whole lot of home practice.

Never dealt with them, but, generally, manufacturers do not have dedicated service centers here.

Overall, this amp has served me well as a practice amp. It has been pretty reliable, and it does sound better than many amps in its price range.

However, given the heritage and the legendary status of Marshall and the Marshall sound, it does not quite deliver on the idea of emulating the tube sound in a small solid state package.

I bought it long ago, as a relatively newbie guitarist, given the brand, mostly. As I've grown with it, I've found myself wanting more liveliness and crispness from the sound, which I could not get, no matter how much I tweaked.

If it were lost or stolen, I'm not sure I'd get it again (assuming it were still available). I would consider it, but I would also consider offerings from other manufacturers, like Fender and Laney, for the price range.

I am a minimalist when it comes to features, and I avoid pedals. The features give me just what I need. Here's how they break down:
Channel 1 (clean): volume, bass, treble. Channel 2 (overdrive): gain, bass, contour, treble, volume, reverb. The amp also features line-out, footswitch, and headphone jacks. The phone jack has been extremely useful since, until recently, I have lived my entire adult life in small apartments. The contour is, in practice, a reverse-middle control, and turning it up scoops the mids for that palm-mutey metal sound. The reverb doesn't do anything--but then again, Marshall isn't known for reverb.

First off, this is a solid-state, pure and simple. The sound comes really, really close to the tradmark Marshall sound, just without the warmth and sparkle. I play through a Gibson LP Studio and Flying V, and the best sound for me is with all of the tone shapers set due north, and the volume between 3 and 5. Beyond 5, the distortion channel gets grittier, but also more brittle as the bass response thins out--I must dial the bass control up likewise. The clean channel breaks up at around 7, and on 10 it evokes that chimey Malcom Young rhythm sound. This is when the VS30R comes closest to sounding like a tuber, and it makes my Flying V spank like a drunken stepdad, which is not easy to do on a Gibson. Also, the clean channel is excellent for acoustics.

I have owned this since the late 1990's, and through countless practicing hours and jam sessions, neither it nor the footswitch has quit on me. It was made in England, meaning the QC and components are faultless, and it doesn't look a day older than when I bought it. But alas, like all other solid-state AV appliances (think TV's, radios, etc.), with age there is an increasingly noticable background buzz while it's on and I'm not actually playing. If or when this amp goes out, since it is way, way past warrantee, it will cost more to service it than what it's worth.

Never had to deal with the Marshall folks--see above.

I've been playing for almost 20 years, though only as a hobbyist/vicarious rockstar. Looking as how these other reviews are from the previous decade, it looks like I am the last word on the VS30R. If misplaced, I would not get another one, though this has given me great service for what it is. The solid state sound has gotten old as I've gotten more experienced. It's past time for me to move on to tubes, and very soon I will use this to trade up to maybe a Traynor YCS50 or Fender HR Deluxe. Possibly I could trade it for some other gear and then get a used Marshall, Fender, or Boogie off Ebay for cheap. And maybe I can finally get serious with gigging.

2 Channel - Clean & OD. - Option of footswitch.
Great for a practice amp, but sound is interesting at times.
Lacks mid control.
Definitely not using valves, despite the name.

Used this amp for the past 10 years with various Les Paul and Strat ripoffs, and a few assorted nice axes.

The O/Drive channel is incredibly dirty, even at lower volumes, which would be great for shredders, but tends to lack some of the bottom end if you want to get into Blues. Lack of mid control really doesn't help in this respect. Definitely a shredder's distortion.

Volume wise at home I've never been able to get it past about 2 on the O/D channel, and about 4 on clean. O/D channel appears to get a lot more volume out of it. Clean tends to lack at higher volumes, and distorts a bit. I've still heard far was amps.

You can get some half decent sounds on the O/Drive channel if you mess around with the controls. The contour control tends to change everything around on you, so you can find yourself changing everything once you move it.

The Line Out sucks. Even using the O/D channel with low gain produces a fairly intense distortion that lacks omph, but will take your ear drums with it.

I'd prefer mid controls on both channels, and the gain range could do with being extended so you can get a gentler, bluesier sound out of it without an hours worth of messing around.

Really wish I could get a crisper sound out of it at times.

Using the foot switch causes me some grief - it's prone to ignoring the switch and cutting in and out. Possibly a short somewhere, and haven't had time to fix. Also had to put a new plug on it more than once, but that was going to happen with age.

The amp itself has always been reliable, as expected for solid state. It's only ever been on stage a few times, and for the most part, I used it as a monitor as it had no hope of getting over the drummer. Not sure I'd rely on it, as it's a bit small, but still reasonably suited to bedroom/quieter jam use.
Using a few effects pedals, you can get some improved sound out of it.

Never dealt with the company, though the retailer has always provided good support.

Overall it's a reasonable amp for what it is. I bought it without a lot of research, and at the time was playing some pretty crap guitars through it.
I've never expected much from it, though I've always wanted more - (or in the case of distortion less).
It's a great size, it's always worked, and it's been around.

If it vanished, I'm not sure I'd look for another VS30R, though I'd probably stick with Marshall. Despite the lack of need for more output, I'd be more interested in finding something that is more versatile.

Give me a decent blues driver, and a clean channel that's got more oomph, and maybe a mid control, and I'd be happy.

standard practice amp
2 channels (clean and overdriven)
tone controls and reverb
footpedal and line out as well as a headphone socket
not much but for the price what do you expect

I play indie punk stuff for a small band and for my needs the amp works admirably. the clean channel is alright there isnt loads of tonal variation but you can go from a very bluesy bass sound to a high end treble squeal without it breaknig up, unlike some amps of this calibre ive tried the trebly sound doesnt assault your ears in the same unbearable way.
the overdrive channel is farily limited. I have the gain on about 2 or 3 because anything over this starts becoming thrash metal or american rock. some people like this but i actually like to be able to tell what i am playing.

this is a really solid little amp. ive used it on several occasions to gig with and can tsee any need for a backup. the black covering has peeled away slightly on one side but this isnt much of a problem. the footswitch though has broken its jack connection twice. easy to sort out but a pain especially if you need to play live and need to swap channels mid song

never used though i hear fender are alright

ive been playing for about 2 years and own a squier jagmaster(excellent, split the humbuckers to get singles)) and a washburn hb30 which both work well with the amp. I also own a zoom pedal though i only really use that for tuning . i also play slide which works well with the amp
the sound i get out of it is really fat and is great for indie and punk and all the way up to white stripes esque blues. the clean channel is nothing special but the overdrive (once fiddled with works really well)
I compared this amp with the orange crush 30 and both were really good though the orange had a boxy sound and this was far cheaper so i went for this.
I am currently buying a new amp and i really wich i could get something with the sound i get on this but with a higher wattage as i really like this amp and all the tranny amps now are ones with built i effects which are just silly.!

1998, VS30R. This unit has all the features for practice amp(ie headphone jack and single 10" speaker. Dual channel with the clean channel no where near 30 Watts IMHO. The gain channel however really moves some air. The reverb is decent sounding, but nothing to get excited about. Marshall was never known for reverb amps anyway.

My two main guitars are a 1989 Washburn GV8 with EMG pickups and 1991 Fender Stratocaster Deluxe with Lace Sensor pickups. The first thing I noticed with the Washburn plugged in is that when using the gain channel you really need to tinker to get a good sound. This sort of surprised me as my last Marshall practice amps Marshall Lead 12(5005)and Lead 30 (5010) sounded great the minute you plugged in. I must have spent close to one hour adjusting knobs on the gain channel to get what I consider the "Marshall" sound. The contour control is the real culprit as the slighest movement changes the tone considerably.

Bought used and had to repair broken tone pot on the gain channel. The handle looks like it would break under normal conditions. The cabinet is made of cheap pressboard.

Never dealt with.

I've been playing 27 years and have played or owned just about every major guitar amplifier out there. My main rig is a vintage 1978, Marshall 1987 50 W head and 4/12 Marshall cab. This IMHO is the gold standard of sound and is what I use to judge other amps against. The VS30R has a decent clean sound and with some major time spent adjusting the gain channel, a passable distortion sound. For a practice amp the VS30R is fine. If lost or stolen I would probably look for another Marshall combo

This amp has two channels : Clean and OD. The clean channel has a volume, bass, and treble control; the OD channel has a gain, bass, contour (kind of like a mid sweep/scoop type control), treble, and volume; and then there's a master reverb.

Input, Line out, Headphones, and Footswitch jacks.


I will tell you up front right now that this amp is not a hybrid amp like it advertises; it does not have any tubes of any sort - it is 100% solid state. "Tube emulation" doesn't count. It's still solid state and there are no valves to be found.

The EQ controls are useful but you can't really tweak out the actual sound of this amp. There's always something you're looking to improve, but the fact remains that this amp is still this amp, and that's the sound it will give.

I use both a Fender '57 RI Strat and a 1998 Fender Toronado with this amp. I can write a review based on memory of how the amp sounds, but since I have it here with me right now, I believe it would be more effective to write the review as I play through this amp to provide complete and total accuracy.

I will break this section down by each guitar :


Fender '57 RI Strat

The clean channel compliments my Strat pretty well, but makes it sound thinner than most good clean channels I've played through. The clean channel has little to no warmth; it's more bell-like and chimey. It captures the jangle of the Strat but the warmth just isn't there. With my bridge pickup, the clean sound I get is barely useable. It sounds best on the neck pickup because it gives it a more rounded tone that's missing. If I adjust the Bass and Treble controls, I can make the chimey-ness disappear, but also with it, it takes the clarity and crispness of the sound. So it's 6 one one, half dozen on the other.

Switching over to the gain channel, the overdrive bites pretty hard but there's something lacking. No matter how hard I try, I can't seem to dial in a great sound. Once again the bridge pickup proves to be harsh with this amp, as the Overdrive circuit is built similarly to the clean circuit. When I switch to the middle, it's less harsh, and once again when I flip to the neck pickup, it's the best setting I can get. Fiddling with the contour controls proves to be somewhat effective, but I can't seem to dial out whatever it is that's causing my tonal confusion. With the contour knob past 12 o'clock, it's a little too square-wavey for me. It's modern, but it just doesn't sound right. With a Strat, the best setting is to have the contour knob 12 o'clock or less. I usually always have the treble set at 12'oclock or lower, because the trebles on this amp are just horrendous. Very biting, very chilling, very cold, very harsh. I have the bass knob at about 2-3 o'clock.


So for the Strat, this is probably not the kind of amp you want to go with. The clean channel has always sounded much better than the gain channel to me, and even then - the clean channel is not very impressive.


Onto the '98 Toronado.


The clean channel captures quite a bit of the murkiness from my Toronado's humbuckers; but in the process it creates a bit of mud and the bell-chiming highs are almost unbearable. Even when dialing out the highs and boosting the bass, we have the same dilemma as with the Strat - when you take away the highs you sacrifice the clarity of the tone.

Onto the OD channel. Humbuckers really do shine with the Overdrive channel on this amp. I think this amp was made for Humbuckers. It screams and wails, but we still have the dilemma of the square wavey distortion when the contour goes past 12. Dialing in a good sound takes some time, but it's a fair bit easier with a humbucker-equipped guitar than with a single coil like a Strat or Tele. You can get a wide range of useable sounds from the OD channel with the right guitar, but it's quite unresponsive as most solid state amps are.


The OD feature is best with the Toronado. The clean channel is very unimpressive.



Some other worthy noteable facts are that the Line Out should not be used on any occasion. If you are unable to mic the amp, use someone else's. The Line Out is NOT EMULATED and therefore sounds like crap. Pretty much the equal effect of plugging a distortion pedal like a Big Muff or a ProCo RAT straight into a mixing board. You'll get buzzy, fizzy, ratty, nasty distortion. I repeat, do not use the Line Out.

I have not tried the headphones feature yet, but it's in the same bracket as the Line Out on the panel, so I'm guessing you'll get the same effect. Save yourself some grief and don't blow your ears out.

There has been some question on whether this amp sounds good cranked. I got it about 3/4ths of the way to maximum volume (my neighbor's would allow anything louder - that's how loud this can get) and it didn't sound as bad as I thought it would. The speaker can handle high volumes a lot better than most amps I've tried, but the fact still remains that this amp will still sound like this amp at any volume.


I give this category a 6.

Seems pretty sturdy and reliable. I haven't gotten a chance to play out with it yet, but we shall see. I'll leave this one as N/A for now.

Depending on what you're looking for in an amplifier, this may or may not suit you. If you're looking for a JCM800 emulation, look elsewhere. This will not respond or sound even remotely close to a JCM. This amp will on the other hand, sound like a Marshall, whether it be solid state or not. It may not sound as beautiful as an all-tube JCM800, but if you want the "Marshall tone", then buy a Marshall.

I will re-emphasize the fact that it does not have any tubes whatsoever. A close examination of this amp has shown that it is completely solid-state circuitry with no tubes involved. It's false advertising on Marshall's part as it's not a hybrid amp like they claim it to be. I would rate it a step above the MG series amps, but if I had to compare I would have to say it's closest to an MG80. The MG80 has a Goldback Celestion like this amp does, and the circuitry between the two is pretty similar.

This amp is meant to be a practice amp. It's not professional by any stretch of the imagination - and as long as you realize that, I don't think you'll be too severely disappointed. It has that Marshall sound, but it's not nearly responsive as its more expensive older brothers.

All in all I was kind of disappointed in this amp, I was expecting more - but for dropping only one bill on it, I can't really complain.


Have a nice day!

Basic 1x10 medium power (30 or so watts) SS amp 2 FS channels HP & LO jacks. Made in UK.. includes low end Celestion "Gold Back" speaker. Somewhat limited by todays standards (no FX, CD in ect.) but workable.

I have a Fender MIM "60s Classic Strat. the amp works OK with this guitar..perhaps a little bright. I get the idea that it was voiced to handled humbuckers without farting. Typical middle of the road clean with a bit of breakup past 1/2 distortion is usable at low gain but is quite good for low volume "shredding".. HP sound is basic but usable..I only use the LO for a tuner once in a while.

I have never known a Marshall SS product to fail in normal (bedroom/jam /informal gig) use.

Have delt with the amp guys at Korg USA once or twice concering a problem with a small VOX; they were polite and prompt and resolved things to my satisfaction..

I bought this to replace 2 amps; a larger/ louder/heavier Kustom 1x12 Combo and a smaller quiter Park 1x8 combo.. I didnt really need the power of the Kustom any longer, and was enjoying the Park but it really didn't have enough "git" to handle the ocassional jam I do with a drummer friend. I was able to trade for this and some cash at a local shop, and it's a nice combo of the two. It lacks the fat sound that the Kustom had,but it dosen't rattle the windows either, and I no longer need to pull out a different amp for practice, recording. HP use ect. As others have stated this is pretty much a big practice amp with some nice features..it's pretty quiet for 30 watts..and if you are on loud gigs with a heavy drummer I would look elsewhere..its fine for pub gigs if your drummer is on a small kit, and you bass player is also on a smallish combo. A nice portable amp for blues, R&B, church players ect. Everyone under the sun seems to make a 1x10 channel switch combo
running around 30 watts. Most have one problem..shared EQ between the channels. This didn't and was pretty much the same price as the other offerings..I have always had good experence with Marshall and the chance to own UK made product for the first time tipped my hand.

I got this amp 3 years ago and since than i have changed many opinions on it. At first it was excellent but with time i matured in playing and the amp showed some flaws. Don't get me wrong, this is an excellent amp for a begginer starting from a scratch - lots of gain and volume, just what a rock-wannabe needs. Footswitch, 2ch, 10' speaker, headphones, line out.

Yeah, the sound. It's a typicall Marshall, solid state amp. I'll divide sound review in few parts to make it easier.

Volume
This amp is loud enough for home practice and rehearsals under condition members of your band do not have amps with more power. For live gigs it's too silent - i had it once turned 3/4 and i couldn't hear what am i playing. I never played on it live after that.

Sound Quality
I believe this is the weak point of all Solid States - the amp works perfect in only one volume range, and tone varies alot while changing volume level. I have been playing on it through the Korg AX300G effect proccessor and it worked seamlessly half way up the volume (+-10%). If i turned it down, sound became flat, the groove was gone, and on the other hand while turning it up the sound became unclear, and started to crack, ecpecially in the bass levels.

Clean
Is preety good, although it is stable up to the 3/4 volume.

Distorsion

Through AX300G - I use a high gain, studio dist., with slightly reduced treble, enhaced bass and lower mid, some stereo delay. Sound works perfect, distorsion is very high freq, but very stable even during palm mutes.

Second Channel (No FX) - The distorsion itself is very good, freq is not very high, just enough for rock, but still not stable while palm muting.

Never had problems with it

Never needed

Excellent amp for begginers, although i think marshall itself is overpriced. I'm not sorry for buying it, but i will sell it ASAP and buy myself a Tube amp.

Bought this thing new a few yrs back. Great little 2 channel amp, with footswitch. perfect for home use, lots of gain at low volumes.

Using Fender Hot Rodded Fat strat, with duncan designed pearly gates. Like the hard rock from the 80's, motley crue, bon jovi, acdc etc. Great amp for practising at home. At low volumes you get great sounding gain, and turning it up it comes alive. Can sound a little messy at higher volumes. If you want the full sound of a tube amp, go and spend 4 times the money. The clean channel sounds pretty good and clear for a marshall.

Never had a problem with it and have owned for 3 or 4 yrs. Only thing is the pedal, can act up occassionally but not often

never had to deal with

perfect for practising with

i bought it used around 1999 at a music store about half an hour from ft. campbell for 100 dollars exactly. they said someone sold it to them as down payment or something for a new amp (the handles were broken when they received it, i bought it after they had fixed it). i didn't have a foot-switch for it for about two years.

its got the basic two-channel jobber, a real amp-kicking spring reverb (i break into bouts of "miserlou" on this amp for some reason...) i'm rooted in jazz/blues types of stuff and i mean no disrespect when i say that i've been told me my tone is very grant green or wes montgomery tinged. i of course disagree. for some reason i get an extremely gutsy low-end with the clean channel with my es-335 the clean is like

i've used this amp for recording quite a bit. when i bought it i was using an ibanez rg-270 and a fender standard telecaster. for fun, i was playing a lot of "grind-core," "power-violence," metal, and all that stuff with friends and mostly recording 4-track demos with these bands. the majourity of this amp's use has been in drummer+guitar jam situations and solo performances and in these situations proved to be more than usefull.

i don't think i'd use it over anything other something smaller or any crate combo. i used to have trouble hearing this amp when i'd bring it to rehearsals. it'd seem fine until the drummer started playing. haha

anyways- the amp gives me plenty of punch and its surprised people on tape many times.

using your ears: it sounds very nice but the clean distorts extremely easily and can prove a problem especially if you're recording direct (it goes from the green to hot in like half-a-notch). it also lacks a mid knob on the clean but my guitar tends to make up for it. i get a lot of low-end on it when i get the volume at about 6 or 7 and my point of reference (normal amp) is a vintage ampeg bass-amp (4x12).

the distortion channel is a little thin if you're trying to play quietly. i've been known to use a big muff in combination with the amp's OD. i also tend to use a dod-yjm2000 in combination with the OD (most of the time i use the big muff and the yjm-2000 together, respectively with a wah in between, i get no kick out of effects, really)

the reverb is extremely obnoxious past 3!

i'll just say i play jazz. regardless of what guitar/amp for whatever style i'm playing, i've always appreciated the stereotypical "jazz-tone" over twang. i never use the bridge with clean and never use the neck with distortion (i usually leave it in the middle for clean though) and none of the amps i've owned or used have really changed this bit of eccentricity.

i get a nice jazz sounds out of it. i might go as far as to say that i agree with the grant green comparison i've received from people who listen to my tapes. when it comes to e.q. i cut before i boost and never go past 6 really. so that should give a nice scale (once again i use an es-335, humbuckers, flatwounds (the 1st and 2nd strings on my guitar are 17 and 18, respectively)

this amp is quieter than a guitar center during school hours. i've picked up an AM station (imagine a "solo-guitar" type "piece" interrupted with "PURRRROOOOO MEXIIIICOOOO!" or two a total of three times that i can recall.


the distortion is what i guess you could classify as "the status quo"

i would never use this amp for a gig unless i had to or if it was a recital (think christmas family talent show situations or some shit like that)


i think i'm gonna have to bring it in soon because the clean has been acting up. i've crushed a footswitch once i really didn't see an urgency to replace it but it was easy to do so.

i have no idea what the people at marshall are like- i heard they're english, though. (just kidddinnng)

i've been playing about 9 years and some straws. i'm a minimalist when it comes to gear- i use one rack-mount effect (a bbe sonic maximizer), an electro-harmonix big muff, a dod-yjm2000, a morley wah-wah, and i have an ibanez flanger that keeps papers down pretty well.

i really wish the eq was more complete (i don't like the contour and i never use it), the electronics could have been set with a bit more care (the reverb problem, the volume instabilities)

This amp has a lot of really good useful features. It has two footswitchable channels, reverb, and a lot of knobs on the overdrive channel to shape the sound.

The only thing that prevents me from giving this amplifier a 10 on the sounds is that the clean channel could use a bit of improvement. That being said, I never really use the clean channel on this amp. The dirty channel sounds amazing. It's excellent for recording. I just set in at a moderate volume, mic it from about 6 inches away and it sounds amazing every time.

This is a very reliable amp. I've played around twenty gigs with it, toted it back and forth to practices and recording sessions, and it still looks and sounds great. It's a little dusty, and the plastic covers over the metal clips that hold the handle on have disappeared, but it has held up amazingly well.

This is a great amp for practice, recording, home use and small (less than 30 people) venues. I wish it had come with a footswitch. I will never get rid of this amp. It's loveable.

I bought this amp for the dirty channel but I like having the clean side available too. Would've liked a mid EQ on the clean side though.

The sound is good given the price. The clean side leaves a little to be desired. I mostly play an old Fender Duo-Sonic II through it. I think the overdrive sounds great. I keep reading comments that this amp isn't loud enough. Please! Want ear-bleeding Marshall stack sound? Buy a Marshall stack already. This little thing is loud for its size. Yes, it's probably best for home but I play small alt club shows with it all the time and not a complaint yet. If you're a metal head you don't gig with a 30W combo anyway, so why even go there? I use a tube pre/DI box with this amp and I can get pretty big sounds. Lots of amps sound better with a tube pre anyway (and they're coming down in price) so go get yourself one and you will find a new appreciation for this amp. One last thing. I like this one for recording. Lots of big sounding records have been made with little amps (think vintage Fender Champ) and the VS30r is well suited to this application.

Don't like the pressed-wood housing. If I had the motivation I would build a better box for it. Haven't had any tech problems with it yet.

Haven't needed it yet.

I've been playing 17 years. And I drive amps harder now than when I was 16. I really like this amp for the value. I don't buy expensive gear for playing bars/clubs. In my circuit, if you can't spill beer on it you shouldn't own it. Unlike many of the reviewers on this site I would not "kick the guy's ass" who stole it, but thanks for sharing. I would however try to find another VS30.

2 Channels Clean/Overdrive 30W solid state Amp with reverb, 10" (or 12", I don't know how many centimeters make an inch...damn Americans :-P). Has controls for treble and bass - no middle - and contour in the overdrive channel. High impedance input for guitar, footswitch, low impedance line output and headphone. No effect loop... too bad.
Since it is only 30W, I expect it to be a practice amp.

I'm using a really bad guitar on it, an old Samick bought used, and my pickups really suck big time. Anyway, my feeling is that the clean channel on this amp is useless, because it's very quiet. And when you push the potentiometer further than half the volume, you can hear distortion, so ... Anyway, you can have a better clean sound on the overdrive channel by putting the gain control on about 1/4 and the sound is great !! The distortion sound is Marshall like, I love it ! So if you like big distortion (Ok you can't compare this with a tube amp) to play in your room, go for it !

I've had this amp for some days only, it works perfectly ...

Never had to contact them. Don't know the warranty, since I bought it used.

This is my first guitar amp. Since now I plugged my guitar in my PC (using Amplitube, which is a digital tube simulator) and I can say this amp is great for beginners like me (I've only been playing the guitar for 6 months), especially for the price I've paid. But since I don't have all the effects I had on my computer, I'm going to build some pedal effects :-).

This is 30watts Solid state
and is great competitor to the Marshall MG30CDR
the difference is the distortion is heavier and the amps 30watts are a lot louder i think this has 1 12" speaker
the amplifier is much louder
and is ideal for garage band scenarios
which most people recommend 40-50watt solid state throught a 12"
it has real Spring Reverb
over all mong better solid state amplifiers

The distortion is among the most decent solid state distortion
this amp is for Alternitave Rock,Grunge,Punk even to metal to a cerain degree ,the clean is good enough for blues jazz,classic rock ect. This amp doesn't buzz
for a MG30DFX/or CDR solid state amp it deserves a 8
in comparison to the new valvestate 2000 avt20 it deserves a 6
so i'll give it 7

this isn't a gigging amp
but it is loud for its size
it can compete with an Crate BX80 80watts or bass man 60
and a drummer with moderate hitting stile
in a room with good resonating acoustics ie; 1/2 car garage
small basement

customer support for a most guitar companies are shit
its better to rely on places you buy it from
disregard the warranty

I've been playing for a while now
this amp is a great bedroo practice
these amps aren't made new
but sell for 130-150
and are well worth it if your looking for a good amp for jamming with a drummer
there better than competing Frontman 25Rs from fender
Crate GX30/GFX30, and Marshall MG30CDR/DFX, Ibanez Toneblaster 25R,
which are all in similiar price range

Im sure many other people have listed features, but basically, it has 2 channels (clean and overdrive) (footswitchable), reverb, headphones out, line out, 30 solid-state watts, which is great for me in my bedroom, but i have never jammed with it. For a bedroom/practice/occasional garage jam amp, it performs well.

You can get a pretty good AC/DC style crunchy, rocky style sound from this amp. I get a better clean tone from the overdrive channel rather than the clean channel, just by winding the gain back a bit. I do this as the clean channel sounds a bit thin, but it sounds great to beginners or people not to fussed about great tone.

This amp has been great to me, never stuffed up or anything and always works. no problems here

This amp is great for practice, for beginners or for people wanting another amp for stuffing around with

It would be nice if it had middle frequency control knob in the clean chanell, but what the hell, you can't ask for much more on a cheap amp like this one.

I have two Ibanez, one rg-270 (my first guitar) and one s-470 sol. I've also been using an Epiphone es335 (hollow body) which belongs to my brother. I like blues, rock and fusion.
I got this amp 5 years ago and i've come to the conclusion that i don't like it that much. The clean channel distorts at high volumes, but it's acceptable for practicing at home or for small (and i mean small) rehearsals. The od channel can give you a suitable sound for heavier music, but if you're looking for a decent blues/rock distortion, forget it. I can't understand those 10's and 9's you guys state for sound quality. You must be nutheads.

Like i sad, i've had this for five years. It went dead a year ago, and i spent 60 euro repairing it. I don't know about the rest of you, but, well, 60 euro spent in five years isn't that bad.

Ok

If you're looking for a practice amp, this one is probably a good amp for you. But for this price, i would advise anyone to gather a few more coins and buy something better, especially if you are thinking about using it for rehearsals and gigs. Buy tubes instead of solid state.

Not sure of the year of manufacture, but I've had it for a year or so now.

Two channels, one clean, one overdrive, push button to switch between with an optional foot switch. The foot switch really should have been included in the package, but cost so little extra I hardly noticed. Clean channel has volume, bass and treble controls, channel 2 has gain, bass, contour, treble and volume. Both channels share the reverb.

No effects loop, but it does have a headphone jack. Also has a line out (though I've never used it).

This is a practice amp, pure and simple. It sits on a shelf in my
study, and rarely moves from there. I don't currently play in a band, but I have done in the past - doesn't really have the power for anything outside the garage, even then at a push.

I'm basing my rating on what this amp was intended for - a practice amp. That's what it is, that's what I use it for.

I'm in a fairly temporary living situation at the moment, so am keeping my hardware outlay to a bare minimum - to that end, I'm using a Washburn Mercury series MG 740 that I bought second hand for relatively cheap. Stock pickups, humbuckers at the bridge and neck and a single coil in between.

I play all kinds of stuff, but mostly rock / metal (older stuff).

Because I keep it at lower volumes, I couldn't really comment on the noise factor. At those levels (sub 4) it's fine in both channels.

The clean channel is a little flat, lacks brighness, but if you want that buy a Fender Tweed. It's no secret that Marshall has never been known for its clean sound. The overdrive channel has a fabulous sound, and offers good range for the limited controls provided. Love the contour control. My only criticism is that it lacks bottom end depth, but remember folks, this is a solid state practice amp so it really isn't fair to compare it to a JCM 900 or a rectifier. For the money and for what it is, the sound is great - would find it difficult to beat. I find that I'm using the neck pickup much more than I used to though, trying to promote the depth. The reverb is a little overdone, but the simple solution is to keep it turned down low.

If you're going to use headphones, invest in a good quality pair. Pretty obvious when you think about it, but some folks forget that when you use headphones you're not using the speaker, and the speaker and cabinet help shape the sound.

As a practice amp sitting on my shelf in my study, I can depend on it just fine. I would *never* gig with it though - plastic nuts on all jacks are a dead giveaway that this amp is not intended for heavy use. The lack of bottom end depth in channel 2 is also less than ideal, and I can imagine would only get worse at volume. Despite the particle board construction I haven't noticed any of the build faults other contributors have noted. Only complaints would be that the little plastic covers on the handle fall off way too easily, and it's very obviously built with cheaper components. Despite that, it feels well put together to me, very sturdy. I bought mine in the UK, perhaps that's where the difference lies? The foot switch is a little tank, very strong, well put together. The lead lacks adequate reinforcement on both ends so you need to be a little careful, but is nice and long - 4 or 5 metres.

I like the idea of building a birch cab for it. To be honest, the idea of a solid wooden cab had occurred to me already. Think I'll look into doing that. See if we can shape that tone a little more. ;)

Never had to deal with them, and considering the way I use it I doubt I'll ever need to.

I've been playing for over 15 years, and in that time have played all kinds of guitars on all kinds of rigs.

If it were lost or stolen, I would consider buying another but would probably shop around a bit first to see what's come out in the past couple of years. I like it, but I wouldn't go out and blindly buy another right away. Having said that, I certainly don't regret my purchase.

I love channel two, albeit the lack of depth. I like the clean channel, still room for improvement though but you've got to keep in mind what this amp is and what it cost. I really don't like the quality of components they've used, I really would've expected better.

I haven't reviewed sound based on another product because I don't like doing that - I know the sound I'm after and I review based on that. For the money, this really does very, very well. Build quality I compared to older Marshall and Fender amps.

What do I wish it had? An effects loop would be nice. And Marshall really needs to consider the quality of their components.

I know some folks have rated this amp quite harshly. I think its important when you go shopping for an amp to think about what it is that you want, how you're going to use it, and have an idea of the sound you want to get out. If you want a gigging amp, this isn't for you. If you want an amp that you can turn waaaaay up loud and get a classic Marshall overdrive sound with masses of depth and tone, this probably won't suit you either. If you're after a nice overdriven sound with decent tone for practicing at home or with a few friends, you could do a *lot* worse than to buy this one. I think it's a great little amp.

Brand New VS30R, prob 2001 / 2. Has 2 Channels, Reverb, what more do you want for $200. Foot switch input.

This amp is SUPERB if you are wanting that classic Marshall Sound. Got it on sale at zzounds.com and it is the best small amp I ever bought. Only 28 pounds, looks small but is LOUD... Do Not be fooled by the 30 Watt rating.

The Clean sounds great, don't know what everyone is moaning about, my Les Paul never sounded better and I just traded in an 80 Watt Peavey for this thing.

The OD Channel is unreal, it sounds just like the big ones! Everything from crunch to that beautiful fuzz... This baby does it all.

Dunno, not had it long enough to know but 5 year warranty as standard says it should be pretty good.

Unknown.

Been playing 15 years. Use a Les Paul for my electric work and this little beaut.

Would definitly buy it again. Just wish it was bigger so it looked meaner!

Well, I don't use the reverb, it sucks, but I like the overdrive channel (and a footswitch..yay). I don't understand why ol' Jimmy Marshall would put a mid control on the OD but not on the bloddy CLEAN CHANNEL!

Here goes:
GUITAR: strat knockoff with two Fender '63 single coil pickups (neck and mid) and a DiMarzio PAF humbucker (bridge)
EFFECTS: Dunlop Crybaby, Danelectro flanger, boss flanger(sometimes), Digitech RP-300, Boss digital delay, DOD compressor
i practise everything on this amp, blues, jazz, rock, metal, punk, EVERYTHING, the only problem is, i can only practise on this with it still sounding good. When I play a gig I have to put it through a P.A., and I don't have the equiptment for that, nor the cash to buy it. but if you do have the right stuff it soudns pretty good if you mic it right (DISTANCE EQUALS DEPTH PEOPLE. the clean channel is pretty awful loud, im coverign it up with effects usually, but its pretty good on low volume. I really wish their was a mid control on the clean channel. This is supposed to sound like the old tube (valve to the birts, hence the name) amps, but it smells like a solid state to me, I'm gonna go buy another Marshall for gigs, with some dang tubes!

i got this sucker used and its really great.

never needed this, thank god. i dont like the marshall website (add that to the list with Korg and Boss)

Great amp, for practicing, if you wanna gig with this sucker youre gonna need a good P.A., or a really good processor (<cough>DigiTech<cough>) good overdrive, quiet and loud, clean = shit when cranked. if this was stolen i would repalce it with a marshall, a different marshall, on gigs i dont use it primarily, i borrow my friend's fender twin for those.

2 channels, Footswitch, Headphone jack,
ideal 4 practice and small ( i mean small) gigs
although it has a contour control on gain channel it has no mid selection

Using Ibanez AX120 with EMG Zack Wylde Pickups,
Playing Metal, Good gain channel but not so great clean channel

GREAT SOUND FOR ONLY BEING 30 WATT

NO PROBLEMS EVER

n/a

Good for a small amp but usless at gigs unless put through the PA

Yeah,. whatever. Who cares when the amp sucks so bad..

The sound quality is crap. The clean sound is horrible, kind of a wet, thin sound. The distortion channel is awful, yak. This amp doesn't work no matter how you try. With pedals its crap. Impossible to get a good sound at high volume.

Ive never had a problem.

I've been playing for 4 years. This is my first amp. Its okay when youre just practising home at low volume. BUT you can't play in a band with this amp. At high volume its HORRIBLE!!!!! Muddy, shitty etc. Stay away from this amp and buy one with tubes.

Clean channel, dirty channel, reverb on either, contour switch (removal of mids) on dirty channel.

The reverb is pretty good, as Marshall reverb usually is.

The clean is utter crap, while the OD channel is also crap. This is the perfect practice amp, or recording amp for someone who plays in an old school punk band.

The clean is utter crap, while the OD channel is also crap. This is the perfect practice amp, or recording amp for someone who plays in an old school punk band.

I've never had any problems with it, and I've had it for 4 years.

I had put money down on it, and they thought they had lost it, so they were going to sell me the floor model for $100 less than the one I was buying (which was $250), they ended up finding mine, and still gave me it for $150.

2 channels solidstate with separate eq's, reverb and 30watts of power. Footswitch not included, 2 output jacks: Headphones and line out. I guess it is your typical practice amp as far as features are concerned

I am using a Jackson DK-3 with stock pickups and I mostly play hard rock/metal with this amp. The amp is very versatile and you can get various sounds out of it. The clean channel is good if you add a lot of reverb(although it gets a bit noisy) and it distorts in high levels, but not much. The distortion channel though is why you'll get this amp, it is very good and gets pretty heavy with not much gain. The eq is good. The "contour" controller can drammatically shape the sound. Don't expect to get any exact bands sound using this amp because you will not.
As said this amp is a practise amp, not for band practice. If you play with a drummer he will drown you out and even worse after the master volume passes the "4" setting the sound loses its clarity, drammatically. My biggest complaint though goes for the "line out" and "headphones" jacks. I mean the output is soooo bad it isn't even funny. No matter how much I've tweeked the settings I cannot get a decent sound that resembles the amp's sound. Total crap.
To sum up:

Pros
-------
Good clean channel. I give it a 7/10
Very good overdrive channel at LOW volumes. I give it 8/10

Cons
------
Very bad overdrive sound at high volume levels.
Awfull line out sound.

I have the thing for about a year and have used it a LOT and cranked(unfortunatelly)many times.Also have been moving it on week basis. No problems till now, thank god. It cries still and cries well and loud. I might gig with it, if I get it micked at less than half the volume of the amp(See above why). It can't handle a gig by itself, no way
I guess that you can depend on it.

I haven't got a clue. Hope I'll never have to find out about it ;)

I've been playing for about 2 years and I am overally happy with the sounds I get from it. It is much better than the crappy ibanez 25 watt I was using. If it gets stolen I would save up and get a bigger one. I mainly like it cause of its good sound and portabillity although I wish it had an acceptable line out sound for some direct recording. I think that if you want a good portable nice sounding practice amp, this one is for you. It is good bang for the buck.
Keep rockin'

This is the second coming of marshalls illustrious valvestate range-since replaced by the avt2000 range. 30 watt, 10" celestion speaker, 2 channel(clean and overdrive) Bass and treble on clean. Gain, bass, middle, treble on lead. line out, headphone out for when you cant resist in the small hours and reverb. Everything you need for practicing or playing in a band like I do, never turned it up past 5 on lead cos it shakes the floor!

The high gain sounds on this are very good on this little amp. I like to play punk-rock ala offspring, metal ala metallica and funk ala red hot chili peppers which are all done very well. If anything it could do with a touch more bass but combined with the right guitar there isnt really a problem there. i play my own stock strat through it and sometimes my brothers kramer which has a ridiculously high output. Definitely excels in the overdrive department. Clean channel has a "natural crunch" at high volumes says the manual which is good for some situations but can be a bit annoying at times although i only really experience crunch with the bridge pickup. Reverb itself sounds good but for the background hum i get from it (is this a fixable problem or not? email me plz). Did my first gig with it recently through a PA of some sort and got a lot of good comments about my tone, especially the Offspring songs we did.

Havent had any problems with it yet in a year that ive owned it or the 2 years that the previous owner had it (so he says), other than the reverb but i only noticed that just when i got it home after buying it so its had that problem the whole time. Seems robust enough.

Never had to deal with the company but there was a 3 year warranty as standard which is nice. If i had a problem, however i would just take it to my local guitar store cos i know them and they are great when it comes to service (Sound control, best guitar shop in Scotland)

If it were stolen id cry, then go and buy the newer model from the avt2000 range as i have fallen in love with marshall after buying this. If you need something that can make the most of your high gain axe then this could be just the ticket. As i said it gets played with a strat and a cheap crappy wah pedal and it sounds the dogs twitcher. Superb for an upgrade from your first practice amp. Shame about the slight crunch on clean or it might just have got full marks

Pretty good amp, good for in-your-room-with-your-mother-downstairs practicing. I mostly use it for punk and hard rock, and it fills those roles pretty well. Has 2 channels, clean/overdrive (pedal can be used to change), controls are bass, treble, contour (mid level freq.), gain, reverb. headphone jack, also good for quiet practice at home. not much power (30 watt 1X12), but its designed for practice seesions, so thats no surprise. no fx loop.

The sound is pretty good, although the bass is a little too weak in my humble opinion. Very rich and full, not noisy, only with heavy gain. The distortion is very powerful, i hardly ever turn more than halfway up. Has tendency to get a little false. clean channel IS distorted at hi volume, but not very much.

The casing seems very shabby, it has this really cheap plastic leather imitation glued to it, and its already coming of in the edges. the cabinets got paper clips sticking out of it. the amp unit itself looks pretty and seems very sturdy too. It hasnt ever left my home really, so i havent ever tested it in rough environments, but it seems really crappy, not what youd except from a company with marshalls reputation. hasnt broken down yet though.

no idea, man. 1 year warranty, i think, but im not really sure.

ive played it for about a year now, and im quite satisfied with it. Visually, it appears to be poor quality, but on the other hand i havent had a single problem with it yet, so it must be better that it looks. anyways, it has good sound, and plenty features for home or backstage practice.

This amp is an excellent practice amp. Not enough power for gigging, but it's plenty for basement / bedroom practice. 30W with 2 channels. Like many other reviews, I agree the cabinet construction could be better.

For the money I don't think you will find better. The overdrive channel has great distortion. The clean channel does distort at high volume but I think it sounds good. For hard rock (AC/DC, etc) this is a great amp. Plenty loud for practice, and killer sound compared to your $200 range solid state amp.

The cabinet construction isn't the greatest so I wouldn't be dropping it off any roofs but for normal use there should be no problem. Beyond that, it's a Marshall so you wouldn't expect many problems.

After reading some of the reviews I was unsure if I was going to buy this amp but when you compare other amps in this price range it's easily the best value. Compare it with a Fender Champion 30, or a Peavy / Crate in the same price range. If I lost this amp I would buy one again right away if I could find one. If not I would get the AVT20.

I don't use the distorion on this amp because it sucks. Everything sounds really cracky at high volume levels. My line out jack doesn't work anymore and I didn't even get it a year ago. :( .

Sounds cracky and crappy at high levels. I go though an Ibanez RG270, then a Digitech RP3 processor and then the amp. It sounds great on low volumes, though.

My line out doesn't work anymore and I havn't even had it for a year. I used this for a few gigs (small ones of course) and it was fine. But the damn line out makes me mad. I have to use my little Crate GRX15R to record. Whoopee.

its okay

Its okay if you have a drummer that doesn't beat the crap out of the drums. Otherwise, it sounds too cracky (especially on clean) But it is a fairly good amp.

30Watt 1x12 amp with 2 channels (clean and distortion); reverb, high/low levels, and master volume on both. The distortion channel has knobs for gain and contour. Both channels are useable. This amp is a perfect practice amp. I use it when practicing in my room or with other people as long as there's no drums. I've played through it before with a drummer and even cranked to 10 it gets a little lost. But that's not what this amp is for, it has plenty of power for a "practice amp" and suits that purpose very well. I have a box full or pedals but I never use them with this amp, very convenient for transporting for small practice sessions.

I play a fender tele and play mostly gritty punk and revved up rock a la the Stooges. I also have a hollow body Guild starfire for jazz and this amp is OK for jazz but the clean channel is missing that sparkle that you need. The distortion sound is as good as you're going to get from solid state devices. I also have a Roland JC-120 guitar amp (a highly regarded solid state amp, perhaps THE most famous solid state amp) and no matter what pedals I use, I can't get as good a rock sound as I get plugged straight into this little Marshall. There's a "contour" knob that is very useful. I play with the contour rolled all the way off which gets a gritty dirty distortion. Turning the contour up will smoothen the distortion. The gain knob can get you mild overdrive to heavy crunch. I play at around 4 o'clock. The reverb sounds fine at low levels. This is the perfect rock practice amp. I give it an 8 because it is still a practice amp.

No problems.

N/A

I would buy this again. I have 3 amps: this, a Roland and a Marhshall half stack, and I use this amp the most frequently because

1) It's small and light
2) It's loud enough to play with other non-drummers
3) I don't need to lug around pedals when I use it
4) It sounds good

Don't be cheap about practice amps because you will use it probably more than your gigging amp. This is a great amp that you will use.

the amp was made in 2000, its overall a great little amp, i play folk music and hard rock mainly. the clean channel is pretty good for surf with the reverb cranked. 2 channels, no f/x loop (sad thing). i use this amp for home practice and quick jamming. its pretty good in my setting.

i play a hamer arched top with duncan desigened pickups(humbucker) and an ibanez custom shop model(humbuckers with coil taps). the distortion is good for the type of music i play. and the clean channel is ok, it can be a little noisy at times in the bridge setting. the clean you can play so high or youll get noise. the distortion can be a pain in the ass at the wrong settings.

this is one tough bastard, its fallen down the stairs, hit the street, kicked, sat on, everything and ive never had to bring it into the shop for anything. stays in great shape and the sound hasnt changed one bit.

never had to deal with the bozos at the marshall amplification company

this is a great amp for someone starting off, or someone who wants just a good amp that holds its end of the bargain. if it were lost id get an other (if i could find it, they dont make these no more)far better than the fender princeton 65 and all that crate solid state practice amp crap. this little devil box is worth every dollar.

I think my amp was mad in 1999. My amp is very versatile, is good for Blues, Metal and Barn dances. It has two channels with switching vai a footswitch. What's an effect loo? Headphone jack straw comes as standard.
I wish it had a cup holder, for when I balanced my cup of coffee on my amp and played real loud, she fell over and my amp made this wikked banging noise.
I use this amp for barn dances and has plenty of power.
Solid State, 30 watts, Mono.

I am playing a Squier Affinity Strat. Wit this setup I can play the blues as well as ole madd johnny boy and his cavaliers. It is very noisey except after I spillt coffee on it. Then it sounded wikked for a minute, before she blew. Then I sent it back to Marhsall, who were well cool and gave me a Squier Sidekick 10 watt amp, which suits my tastes more.

She blew.

Marhsall are jolly good sports. It took ages to phone up as I live in Ghana with my boyfriend Sven (and his father, Axel). But I didnt mind coz they sent me a nu-amp.

I have been playing 40 years with my boyfriend Sven. He is a fun piece of gear.

i got this amp a year ago (00). After owning a small 10watt amp. the amp posseses an average range of tones and a good mixture of functions. I used to use it for home practice, but now as i am in a band i will need to buy a larger amp. Its excellent for home playing, and starting a band.

I use a Washburn WG-300.. that wont mean much to anyone.. Washburn dont even recognise it was built.. but its an ibanez style guitar with two single coils and a humbucker with split coil. The marshall produces an outstanding clean tone with nice sound recreation.. this is due to the Valve preamp being in the Clean section. The distorted tone isnt as good however, it can carry well but the tone is false and kinda gritty, and when whacked up on full tends to be characterless.

No problems

N/A

A good overall amp, some nice tones, and an average distortion. A good buy.

The amp was made in 99', let me tell you if your buying an amp for it's destortion, this is not the amp for you. I bought this strictly for practice. It has a good sound, and enough power for a small jam session with the band and that's about it. I use effects, so all that matters is that it has a nice clean, and quiet tone. It comes with most of the fetures that a practice amp should have, and for that i'll give it some credit, but if your not going to buy effects look somewhere else. I play mostly metallica, and if your looking for that metallica crunch, such as that on the black album look no further then a mesa boogie strategy 400, it's all you'll ever need.

I use all of my guitars with it, which are an esp kh-1, 2, and 3, also a jh-2. They all have emg's so they help out the sound of the amp. Like i said before buy this amp for the clean sounding channel, and add effects, don't buy it for the desortion built into the amp.

I would never use this amp in a gig, it dosn't have enough power for that, But it is pretty solid, it could go through a gig, if i wanted it to, but i use a mesa strategy 400, going into two 4X12 mesa cabs for livve gigs.

never delt with them, and that's always good.

i have been playing for a while, i own lots of gear, if it was stolen i probably would buy it again, or i would just use the lower settings on my strategy 400.

From the other reviews everybody propably knows the features of this
amp by now. Anyway, it has 2 channels, clean and overdrive, and a reverb. Well, it has everything necessary, but not much extra.

I'm reviewing my friends amp, and he has a Squier Strat, with lots of
deluxe stuff, he had to pay a price of a nice Fender of it :) We've also played my guitar through it, which is a nice sounding japanese Fender. Both guitars have single pickups. We both play rock/pop, some blues and a bit of jazz. This amp is no good for anything, the clean channel is *very* ... something not good, can't think a word for it. Sucks anyway. The overdrive has nice Marshall sound, except for its thinness and lack of low frequencies, which makes the sound really shitty.

The reverb continues in the same line, which means I wouldn't use it.

I've played for couple years, the owner of the amp couple more, and we both think the same way about it. He's got a Lead20 also, and it's a much louder amp than VS30R, and better sounding, so he uses it. I've got a Vox Cambridge 30 Reverb (Korean reissue, has a tube in the preamp section), so mainly the Lead 20 and my Vox are the amps I've compared this one to. the VS30R sucks, wouldn't recommend it for any use, not even practice amp.

this amp is a decent little 30 watt amp. its not loud enough for stage playing. its a solid state 30 watt amp with an alright reverb. this is the first amp i have had with reverb so i have nothing to compare that to. the enclosure was horrible.i just dont like the particle board enclosures i thought about making a new one out of Medium density fiberboard but its pretty soft . I chose to make it out of poplar due to its availabilty in our woodshop downstairs and its ease to work with. i remade the enclosure and left it natural color with a finishing coat on it. it looks classy with the dovetailed joints and nice colors that poplar has . i think it ever cleared up some of the muddiness at higher volumes. this amp is good for playing many different styles but mainly guns n roses and some ozzy and stuff like that due to its high gain overdrive channel. the clean channel is really clean but sounds like it might have a little of the reverb effects still on it. not as smooth of a clean as a fender and not as versatile as my epiphone amp with my les paul but good sounds.

it is pretty quite in operation once in a while it will make a hum but it goes away not sure where that is from.

havent had it long enough to know but it is a used amp so it should last a while.

N/A

nice for home practice and maybe small gigs.

A solidstate amp, has reverb and two channels. It's not bad, the reverb can change the shape of the sound pretty dramatically. Channel switching via footpedal. Footpedal isn't included, those damn corporate bastards! Has a line out, comes in useful if you feel like using it in combination with other small amps. I play mostly alternative and pop/rock and it satisfies most of my needs. I wish it was louder....but hey, it's a 30W amp, i suppose i can't ask for too much power from something like it. All the same, it can go pretty damn loud.
It's not jam-packed with features, it's pretty standard really...but I'll give it an 8 just because Marshall bothered to put in reverb.

I use a Les Paul '56 Goldtop with P-90 soapbars and Spectraflex cables. It siiiings when I'm on the overdrive channel. The overdrive is really thick and....round (for lack of a better word). It's great for classic rock and pop/rock. I can get some sweet bluesy tones from it too. I don't imagine jazz players and heavy metal-heads will enjoy it as much as I do. The clean channel isn't as clean as I'd like. It's actually pretty dirty. I like "dirty" clean channels, but I'd really like to be able to play on a pristine clean channel every once in a while. Clean starts to break up at high volume levels, for the tone puritan.
I'd give a 10 if the clean was...well....clean.

Shitty cabinet. Need I say more?

It hasn't let me down yet, but the cabinet really just totally sucks. I mean, you'd think such a respectable company would make cabinets with plywood at least. *shakeshead*

6 because it hasn't fallen apart yet. 4 because I'm expecting it to. Average = 5

didn't bother.

Been on it for about......a year. I like it, I would probably save up and get a Mesa/Boogie, Orange Amps, VHT, Vox or Marshall stack if it was stolen. It's great as a practice amp, and it's good for jam sessions with a band because it can go pretty loud for a 30W amp. I LOVE the overdrive, I can't express enough how much I love it. I've used a bunch of overdrive and distortion pedals and none of them have really come close to the kind of tone this amp's overdrive produces. I hate the cabinet. Wish it was plywood, at least. Oh, and clean isn't as clean as it should be....so I guess whether that's a good thing depends on your personal preference. I'd prefer it to be cleaner.
Overall, I'd say it's a terrific practice amp. I really like it.

This amp is a current model. I bought it new 2-3 years ago. I wish I had bought the VS65 as the VS35 is a little weak in power department...not much bottom and not enough guts for live band, but great for practice...which luckily, is the main reason I bought it.

My main guitar is a US Strat with Texas Specials pickups, but the amp sounds better with my secondary.. a Les Paul Special. It sounds a little thin with the Fender, but it gets help by using 11 strings. I play classic rock and some blues and jazz fusion. The tone of the overdrive is probably the best thing about the amp. Changed the speaker from supplied Celestion to a Carvin and sounds warmer and more meaty (better). Used the line out to drive a Fender twin reverb for some help, and it sounds great.

The amp has had some moments of failure. Power switch problem within 1 month (bad solder connection)...and later, loss of power and noisy also caused by bad solder connections...but overall, it has been fairly good. Workmanship INSIDE is a pretty flimsy PC board held only by the bushings on the knobs. But outside, at least the cabinet is well built.

Been playing for over 30 years. I feel no great loyalty to Marshall, but it's a nice contrast to Fender.

I Think the amp was made in '99 or 2000.
I play rock, pop, metal, and much more. The amp is really great for all of them.
It has 2 channels, Clean & Overdrive. It has a foot switch, a line out & a headphone jack, and reverb.
If I could switch the reverb and on & off with the foot switch, it sure would be useful.
I use this amp in my room. It's a 30 watter, so it's loud enough for me. Even if I crank the overdrive 4th of the way it's too loud!!! I think I'll use the really loud features when I'll start playing in a band or gigging.
It's a solid state.

I play a Fender 48th St. Strat (Sam Ash Custom). It has a humbucker, so the overdrive sounds really good with it. The singles also sound good with the Clean channel.
The guitar starts humming around neon bulbs (and my computer screen), but I don't think that's because of the amp.
The overdrive channel has a gain knob and a contour knob, so I can get a variety of sounds and go from a nice and warm sound to a heavy metal sound.

I can totally depend on it. I don't know if it's good for gigging (it's a 30 watter, after all..)
It never broke down, and I don't think it will. I have it for 2 monthes, so I'll wait and see...

Never dealt with 'em.
The warranty is 5 years. I don't think I'll ever need it.

I've been playing for about 2 years.
If the amp was stolen or lost, I couldn't but another one. I saved for a year and a half for my guitar and ampy and I don't have any money left...
I love the way it looks, the way it sounds, how easy it is... everything!!!
I thought about buying a MG30RCD but the guys down at Sam Ash told me it's made in Korea by a lame company, and they just put the Marshall logo on it. I saw this one in the store and just got it.

Made 1999. Covers a wide range of styles, depending on your guitar (s). 2 channels, clean and distortion, changable by footswitch. Headphone jack, and line out, I haven't used either yet. No effects loop. I would like it to have an effects loop, that's the only thing it really lacks that I'd hope for.

I'm using it with an Ibanez GSA-60 and I can get a very wide variety of pleasant tones. The higher you put the volume controls and reverbs, the more noisy it becomes, not particularly the gain though. Guitar volume contributes a lot to the distortion.
I've found it possible to accidentally get the clean channel more distorteds than the distortion, if you keep your guitar volume down and out the clean volume very high.
9 for its quality compared to price

It seems very good. It takes half a second to turn off, channel switching is almost instant, just try to do it while you are not playing a note or it'll sound nasty.
5 cause I haven't played it enough yet.

Cannot say. 3 year warranty

I have been playing 3 years acoustic, 6 months electric. Compared with the other amps i've played on, it has a very good variety of tones, and in this respect my VS30R and Ibanez GSA60 beat my friend's Gibson LP Studio and VOX AC30 reissue.

Update: Although I have sold the original VS30R which I reinforced with the beads of glue which I ran on the amp, someone has just purchased a fantastic sounding amp. My other VS30R with the Birch Cabinet and mod electronics, is still in the process of experimentation. These VS30Rs are incredible sounding studio amps.
Hopefully, Marshall will realize this and treat them like the vintage Fender Champ, which was also perceived as an "entry level amp." Marshall should upgrade the EQ shelves and cabinet. Apart from that, they kick ass.

See review below regarding mods.

See below.

See below.

If you're willing to do some work, you could ultimately create a versatile brutal stack by combining these amps and performing some mods. Marshall wake up! These are good amps!

For those of you who have followed my previous reviews on this amp, I will be creating a webpage, based on complete teardowns and complete modification of the electronics. So, why would I invest time in performing these tests? 1) The V30 is the warmest sounding amp of all the valvestates; 2) because of the inferior parts used in the manufacturing process, this amp deserves better; and 3) small combos from a recording perspective offer enormous possibility (remember the Fender Champ?). Miking a cranked 100 watt stack in the studio is not only misleading, but it will overdrive your dynamic mics or condenser mics, depending on whether or not your using a combination of close (dynamic mic) and distant (condenser mic) techniques during the recording process. Conversely, using a small combo that is pushed will often produce remarkable results. Features: This is a solid state amp with two channels: clean + overdrive. EQs on clean comprise Volume, Bass & Treble. Bass has two spots where EQ curve shifts, as does the Treble which has an 8K ear piercing presence. Both can be modified to create a more parametric curve. Unlike all solid state amps, the V30 does demonstrates unique harmonic intervals (as opposed to dissonant harmonic intervals). Further the V30 does not overly compress the the source signal, allowing an airyness allowing for headroom. Apart from the awful partical board cabinet, undeserving of this unique amp, I chose to construct a cabinet out of solid birch. However, for those who play metal and are seeking a dark sound, solid mahogany would be the way to go, as it is a less dense hardwood, easy to work with, and absorbs sound, as opposed to birch, which is extremely dense. Dense wood will naturally cause sound to reverberate creating sound waves to project. Ideally, this is what you want in a small combo. Channel 2 on the V30 likewise can be tweaked creating more controlled EQ points. But the added contour may not necesitate modification nor changing resistant values, only because the distortion channel on this amp sounds fantastic. Line out (pre amp out) has to go. It sounds sterile and artificial and, as this is the source signal you'll be directing to another amp or PA, it has to be replaced with a preamp capable of uncolored transfer of signal. Likewise reverb has to go. It is quite simply the noisiest reverb I've ever heard in any amp - awful. In designing the birch cabinet I was faced with one problem: 1) the amp is a combo and transfers sound to the brain, i.e., the electronics, resulting in vibration from the driver. Thus, in designing the cabinet, I ran a half inch bead of clear silicon on all metal edges, and after it was dry, fitted the electronics in the cabinet. This acts as a shock absorber and I have experienced no vibration even when the amp is dimed at full volume. The hard plastic boots that the amp originally came with were replaced with soft rubber, so when the amp is resting on a hard surface there is no transfer of vibration. Likewise speaker was re-fitted with Loctite so it would not spin loose from vibration. Because the pots are made of cheap plastic, my cabinet was designed to position them so they would be ressesed, thus affording full protection of the pots. The ultimate stack! By following the preceding guidelines and using a transparent line out (pre amp out), you could build 4 of these units and run them together, creating 4 synched units totally independant of the other units with regard to EQ mods, and cabinet material. The end result would be blending 4 unique amps together, for an unprecedented sound.
Should one amp blow up during a performance, one would simply disconnect the line out, and 3 other amps would be up and running. The possibility of blending these combos, in my view would be the ultimate, especially, if one performed various tweaks with each amp.
This principal could extend to other small combos, such as vintage Voxes, Gibsons, Fenders, even digital amps. Get the pic

See below.

See below.

See below.

This is a brand new 2000 model. The sound is awesome! I like to play metal and rock, so the natural overdrive of the amp is perfect -- I don't need a pedal. This amp has a clean and overdrive channel that is footswitch selected or panel button selected. 30 watts is plenty of power to practice, plug into a board, or mic at a gig. the 10" Marshall speaker is a ditto Celestion -- prime preformer. The clean channel, however, is not that bright. If you want a good clean amp, get a Roland JC or a Fender.

I use a Epi LP-90 with humbuckers diectly through the amp. I am fully satisfied with the Iron Maiden-like sound this produces. I do, however, expect to purchase an EQ to stabilize the sound. The Bass/Contor/Treble EQ is limited in its control of highs, mids, and lows.

Marshall is known for their reliability. Just look at all of the professionals that use their products and all of the vintage amps that are still on the market working well. I have only had the amp for 2 months; it has not given me any problems.

Ihave not dealt with their customer support.

Ihave been playing for 6 years on and off. Playing through Crates, Laneys, Fenders, ADAs, and Boogies, I can say one thing -- Marshalls are second to none. The VS30R is every bit a Marshall and totally what I am looking for in a metal/rock sound.

Please refer to my other reviews below. I've been very hard on Marshall's because of the inferior materials they use on their amps. This amp was purchased because of its unique sound. Warmer and not as tinny sounding as the V65. This amp was purchased specifically for a recording project I had to produce and mix. I built a solid birch cabinet for it, installed a neve preamp with power supply replacing the line out, and finally tweaked this amp by changing resistant values. The recording project was with mega-platinum songwriter Al Lancellotti. Studio equipment: vintage BCM 10 Neve Sidecar synched into an SSL 400 G series computer with Total Recall (10 channels had
the vintage E modules). Used a stereo miking pattern on the VS30R. One mic close to the speaker cone and slightly off axis, and the other a condenser mic at a distance of 10 feet with a cardiod pattern pointing directly at the amp and 10 db pad activated. Both tracks went direct to the Neve BCM 10 sidecar, I also used two vintage TeleTronix compressors 5:1 ratio and quick release (very mild just to smooth things out) signal was then directed to Amperex 499 2". Tracks were then doubled via an SSL, with a little Pultec EQH2, and sent to an 8 track ADAT slave synched with the 2". ((((Wow!)))) the chorus on the song SuperGlide sounds like a vintage stack of Marshalls! We even
tracked an FX SuperGlide in the intro on this R&B/Pop Rock tune. Lead
guitar was tracked on a vintage Alamo amp with a 12" speaker. You'd never believe that a Marshall VS 30 could kick out this sound, but it did. Any non-believers, feel free to contact me direct and I'll send you a CD single ($3 to burn one). The Marshall was never turned off during the entire two weeks of the recording project. No problems, save for the cheapo plastic crap. THIS AMP DELIVERED AND KICKS OUT SOME SERIOUS SOUND IF YOU DON'T MIND MAKING A FEW MODS. The Neve 1272 is class A discreet pre and is used as a line out to other vintage combos (runs about $500 and up with power module and quarter inch ins and outs), and by-passes the Marshall stock line out. You
can then run your Marshall direct into other vintage combos. Unless,
you know what your doing, don't mess around with electronics, take it
to a tech.

SOUNDS LIKE A VINTAGE STACK. DON'T BELIEVE IT? I'LL BURN YOU A CD SINGLE OF SUPERGLIDE AND YOU LISTEN TO THE CHORUS!

See my other reviews below.

Corresponded with UK main office about the shoddy cabinet. Corporate attitude. Read my reviews below.

As a pro producer and mixing engineer, this is the first time I've used a small combo to create the sound of a stack. I got lucky and
pulled it off. Apart from the cheap plastic pots, knobs, input, line out, etc, this is a GREAT SOUNDING AMP. For a small combo it has a warmer sound than the other valvestates I've heard, which is why I worked on it. So, if you build a decent cabinet, by-pass the line out and use a good preamp, tweak it up, this is a GREAT SOUNDING AMP. On the recording it sounds like a very high dollar amp, 'nuff said.

For its price this amp does quite well in the features department. Not many amps in this range haves reverb. This amp has 2 channels (normaI and overdrive) it has an optional footswitch socket for changing channel quickly, which you can add later if you wish (pity its not included in the package). It has a line out socket which, if you wish to play on stage with, for an amp this size is vital. Headphone socket is also included but i havent got aorund to trying it out. If i could ask for one thing extra it would be delay.

I use a fender strat, always, and i think it sounds great out of whatever your amp is. This amp does a fair job of it, as long as you keep it low. As soon as you turn it up on normal channel it sounds brash and ugly, even on the overdrive channel its a bit jumpy and not too sure of itself. However for a 30 watt amp you get amazing thumping bass, my mum can feel it upstairs in her bedroom when im in the cellar

I have had the amp for over a year and i cant say i have had any problems, only i am fairly careful with my equipment. I never use it for a gig, it isn't loud enough over the drums but its only meant to be a practice amp

Year long warranty ( I think). Never dealt with Marshall

I've been playing for about 5 years now, as I said earlier I use a fender strat and when ever im gigging i nick my friends amp. Overall, its a good liitle practice amp, good value for money and I would recommend it to beginers and those on a small budget. The only thing that lets it down is the sound at high volume.

Two separates channels, with separate controls, reverb. You can activate the channels with a footswitch (not included).

I use a Strat Plus, and I tell you, this amp really sucks. The clean channel is very week and poor, it has no feeling, if you really want clean sound, buy a Fender and you'll hear what's clean sound. The overdrive... it's not as bad as the clean channel, but still sucks. It has no punch, no force, no sustain. Even if you add reverb this amps sucks. When I play live at high volume, this thing gets weeker and weeker, you can't use it for live playing. The only thing that I could tell you is... NEVER try to buy a Valvestate model (VS15,VS15R,VS30R,VS65 and the others models...) because you'll be wasting your money

I've been playing for 15 years and I don't know why I bought this amp... a very big error. I'd not buy it again if it gets lost. I hate the way it sounds.

bought mine in 1996, at a frickin' cheap price. features...30 watt solid state amp with 2 channels and spring reverb,gold anodized front panel,looks real classy compared to what shite Peavy gives ya. best of all, a British Celestion Goldback speaker, 10'...nice spec on a solid state practice amp. 9, 'cos its what i paid for.

guitars...first used it with my mex strat, now im using it with a '57 RI strat and a '72RI thinline tele. tried amplifying my yamaha acoustic-electric with it, sounds decent with some reverb. even tried amplfying vocals...quite okay.

okay, to put it short, the clean channel ain't your pristine fender clean, but it's alright. pretty clean, though you need to turn up the treble sometimes. when driven with a TS-9 Tubescreamer, it sounds *almost*like a tube amp breaking up.

the reverb's decent for the price, but it won't do Dick Dale. sigh...

the overdrive channel is really versatile. the gain knob at 9 o'clock (the rest at 12) is bluesy overdrive, not really tubey, but still good. hell, it's a solid state yeah? at 12 o'clock, it's your really classic rock sound. turning the contour up and down with the gain maxed can produce great sucked-mids rock crunch all the way to really heavy shite... damn versatile amp.

the line out is pretty weird for recording, it brings out the acoustic 'click' of yer pick going tru the strings...makes my strat sound like a parker fly bridge...heh but i guess that's alright.

an 8 rating for a solid state amp. won't compare it to a tube amp.

damn this one's tough, banged it around, dropped it a few times, kicked it, and it still sounds the same after 4 years! okay, the covering's peeled off abit, but heck, the covering doesn't make the sound. the amp does. one tough cookie.
hell, i even play slap bass on my fender jazz bass tru this, and the speaker cone hasn't flinched!
this is the amp i do all my shite on, from guitars to sequencers to bass...
hasn't broken down on me whatsoever in 4 years. still sounds the same.

nah, cant be bothered, prolly won't be needing it. i'm in Singapore anyway,think the lads over at Milton Keys would give a shit?
don't see anything blowing up on me...maybe only the speaker cone...heh

gee, i love this amp, this is my bring anywhere, play anything-tru-it amp. it'd outlast my Marshall JTM tube amp anytime. maybe i'll wait'll all that covering wore off, then i'd redo it with tweed..haha just kidding.
anything i wish it had? uhm..yeah..one more input.
anyway...take a look at this amp if you're in the market for a reliable solid state practice amp.

Bought this amp new, summer of '99, along with a Standard Strat (my first guitar & amp, so far a killer combo for the money).
-Two channels:Clean, w/ volume, bass and treble knobs & OD w/ gain, treble, bass, contour, and volume, as well as a spring reverb for both channels. Also has a headphone jack (the only source of trouble) The channels are footswitch-able, though it would be nice to have said footswitch included with the amp. The clean channel suits me fine, I don't use it much so I can't really say too much for it anyway. THe OD pretty much blows away everything else I've seen in this price range. Between the gain and countour, in addition to the pickup selector/tone/volume on my guitar, I can squeeze out a pretty wide range of sounds w/out any pedals or effects. As for power, it's only 30 watts, but for playing along to CD's and jamming with my friends it does just fine. For a beginner like me this is a sweet deal.

I play (or at least attempt to play) a pretty wide range of stuff, from blues to metal to punk to psychedelic shit. My tastes lean more towards the heavier stuff, which this puppy serves up with pleasure. Getting a mellower oversdrive is a little harder, as anything past about 1 or 2 on the gain will really start to crunch things up, though adjusting the guitar's volume compensates pretty well. It is a little noisy, but that's to be expected with my Strat's sing coils, but I think that the Strat's sound really complements this amps. With the contour left of center you get a really bright punk rock sort of distortion, move farther to the right and it starts getting much heavier. I'm not going to comment on the clean channel, like I said I don't use it very much, only for tuning up and practicing riffs so I can get the notes down. Again, excellent value for the money.

THis is where I've run into a problem. I hooked up some headphones through the headphone jack (duh), because I wanted to crank it up enough to get some feedback, but without pissing off my folks -too- much (past about 3 or 4 on the OD volume, 5 or 6 on clean, is plenty for just playing in my room). I hit a chord, the headphones short out and poof, smoke is coming out of the headphone jack. I took it back to the dealer for repairs (which didn't happen for a good month, very unpleasant), got it back, plugged it in and poof again, it's dead. Now, the first time was definitely a product flaw, anyone else had this happen to them? AS for the second incident, it could be another flaw in the amp, but it could just be a result of shoddy work on behalf of whoever made the repairs to it. So far I haven't been in contact with Marshall about this, it's just been between me, Mars, and wherever they send amps to be serviced. I don't think it would be very good for gigging in the first place, so a backup isn't really an issue.

Never dealt with Marshall yet, a 7 for a fair warranty

I've barely been playing for a year, so I'm hardly an expert, but I know what I like and I like what I hear. If it were stolen I'd probably beat the SOB with a tire iron and replace the amp, or possibly step up to a VS65. The business with the headphone jack brings the score down some, but lots of that bad experience was due to a dealer which didn't give a shit, and a crappy repair job, I can' t blame Marshall for that. WHen working it's a great amp for the money and for what I do, I'd reccomend it to anyone in the market for a good amp in the $200-300 range.

This is my final update concerning this amp. I bought this amp because
I liked the sound and use a variety of vintage and new amps when I produce and mix in the studio. I have now replaced the awful particle
board cabinet with a real birch cabinet - WONDERFUL! I have by-passed
the line out and am running it through a Neve preamp module that is attached to the inside of the birch cabinet with its own power supply - REMARKABLE! Feeding the signal via the Neve to a vintage tube amp is
FANTASTIC, as the Marshall adds a unique sonic dimension to this set-up. The reverb on this amp is NOISY and I recommend that it not
be used. Oddly enough, my 1965 Gibson Skylark is quieter than the Marshall. Only mods are a grounded cord, new 22uf Xicon 450 VDC caps on the power side, and orange drops from .0047 400 VDC .022 600 VDC throughout. Thus, the noise of the Marshall is UNACCEPTABLE, considering that the Gibson is 35 years old. The electrical components used in the production of the Marshall are cheap, including the plastic input, line out, headphones, pots, corners and cabinet material. This extends to the other Valvestate combos. The birch cabinet has improved the sound of this amp significantly, as the bass and treble response is balanced and has greater dimension. Distortion channel is more definitive - not so muddy. I now give it a 9!

With my Gibson SG this amp comes to life, especially with the 500T super ceramic humbucker in the bridge position. Incredible punch,
dimension and feedback that is quite pleasant to the ears. Buy a
top of the line guitar with great pickups and you'll be able to
play just about anything, especially if you run the VS30R through
another vintage combo - it will really sizzle, sparkle and bite.
If you're prepared to build a good cabinet and perform a few other
modifications, then this amp delivers.

Because the components are cheap I don't expect this amp to last. Extremely noisy gain and reverb. Line out can be compensated by using a good quality preamp to feed another combo, etc. Original cabinet is
the worse I have ever seen. Definately not Jim Marshall's work - it's the result of corporate clones managing the company - they don't care.
On contacting Marshall direct about the shoddy cabinet, I was told that they can count the number of complaints they have received on one
hand. Please! I suggest that Mr. Steve Yelding read the other opinions relating to the Valvestate combos, as there are NUMEROUS complaints about the shoddy construction and workmanship by those other than myself.

ZERO

I've been a profession musician, producer and mixer for nearly three decades. When you've been around for a while you begin to form opinions based on experience. My opinion is that many companies built
great reputations years ago in connection with their product. Today,
however, the vast majority are living on reputations and producing junk. I imagine if Jim Marshall took control of the Valvstate line, you would see at the very least plywood cabinets [ At the rate they buy wood it would cost US 10 bucks for the plywood]; metal corners; metal imput, pots, line out, etc. The end result would be QUALITY. Unfortunately, over the past 30 years or so, there has been steady decline in the quality of electrical components, workmanship and
overall pride. The only established company that continues to produce
quality merchandise is Gibson USA. Despite incredible advances in technology, I feel bad for many of the young players out there that have never experienced a quality piece of merchandise, as they live in a music industry run by big corporate mentality. Any amp made out of glued sawdust is a discrace. And any amp with a reverb turned up midway that is noisy is a discrace, regardless of the price. I like Valvestate but it needs IMPROVEMENT.

I got this amp just a couple days ago, it was probably made in 1999, because I got this in early 2000. It is a significantly lower-end all-solid state amp, but if I heard this baby without knowing it was a lower-end, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. The only thing I wish I could do is blast this fine piece of machinery. I live with a brother, a sister, and my parents, so for now, blasting this amp is not something I'm allowed. I wish this amp came with the footswitch, now I have to go out and buy one.

I use a Squier Strat with this amp, and I like to play punk rock and also just any kind of rock really. The clean channel really sounds great, and since I came from a really crappy amp, I think it's awesome for an amp to have separate volume settings for each channel. The distortion, however, is really only three ways, from light distortion to punk distortion to metal distortion. If I played metal I would love this equipment. But I don't, and since the distortion won't get that much versatile, I'm saving up for a RP3 or a RP7 (probably the RP7, because it has a 12AX7 valve in it). Overall, I don't think this amp is that versatile, but it will be soon, when I get an effects box. But I can make this baby sound like Blink182 and he uses Mesa Boogies and JCM900s. :)

The casing I'm not proud of, as a fellow reviewer said (particle board). I'm not in any situation to make a cabinet for this thing, but I don't care, this thing would probably survive a fall down the stairs (at least the amp and speaker would, the cab would probably be mutilated).

It's Marshall, but I don't expect to call them up unless I drop it down the stairs, and I don't think their 5-year warranty would help me there.

If it were stolen or lost I would probably buy a VS65R ... but I don't know. This amp overall kicks tail, but really ... if you are a beginner and want good distortion, for a low price, buy this baby from Sam Ash. I told them I found a cheaper price and saved over $25. But the normal price there is $259.99.

I really like the overdrive. It's pretty good for heavy metal and blues. The clean channel isn't that good though... It really is clean.

This amp has great distortion, I love it. But then again the clean channel has no mids, and there is no EQ.

It's a Marshall!

Great warranty and service!

This is a great amp, it has volume and is great for what I am playing (Metallica, Nirvana, Hendrix, and My Band). I am really impressed with the overdrive channel but the clean channel was a real dissapointment. And no footswich INCLUDED.

This is an update to my previous comments about this amp. As a professional musician and record producer, I prefer small combo amps so I can blend two or three amps together when recording. I bought this amp because I liked the valvestate sound. It is warm and has an interesting sound. The cabinet is rubbish and likewise the attitude at Marshall. Straight ahead amp with two channels and rather noisy when gain is maxed out. Accordingly, I will be modifying it with better components to quiet it down. It is agressive and sounds good at high volumes in combination with other "real" vintage amps.

I use a variety of guitars in the studio and live, the two main ones being a vintage Les Paul and newer SG with a 500T super ceramic pickup in the bridge position. Clean channel is quite interesting:
nice fat bottom and interesting mids. Good for clean rhythm and possibly mellow jazz. Hit the overdrive and it sounds big. Use the line out to a vintage Vox or Gibson and things get really fantastic!
The Celestion Goldback speaker puts out a rather nice sound, but when
cranked starts thumping...thump...thump...thump.

The cabinet is a piece of rubbish best suited for the trash bin or used as firewood. I contacted Marshall direct in England about this and received a reply from their advertising manager, who babbled on about the tight market and that corners had to be cut, as Marshall keeps a keen eye on the bottom line - the price! And they have sold thousands of these amps all over the world and can count the complaints received on one hand, etc. I even offered to pay them the cost of a piece of plywood to build me a solid cabinet. I was told this was not possible, as their wood working operations are carried out by computer controlled machinery, and that they did not have the facilities to build one for me. Thus, here is my bottom line! Have the managers and executives take a pay cut and put the money back into building a solid cabinet! A few days ago, I removed the top panel of the cabinet in order to measure it and build a "real" one. The top panel does not line up flush with the side panels; there is a 1/2" gap on each side where it lays on about 1/4" of the 3/4" side panel; and the bottom panel is the same. All of this is covered by the plastic corner caps and housing (each side) held by two screws per cap. MARSHALL SAVED 1" OF PRESSWOOD ON BOTH THE TOP AND BOTTOM PANEL! After measuring the junk box I glued the top panel to the sides. I strongly recommend that anyone who owns the VS 30R junk box or other presswood product made by Marshall be prepared to run a bead of glue on all edges, corners, top and bottom panels. Jim Marshall built his reputation by building great amps. However, one can't live on one's reputation forever, and occasionally has to step in the ring and
prove he is a contender. MARSHALL! RATHER THAN DEFEND YOUR COST CUTTING PRINCIPALS, TRY BUILDING A SOLID AMP! LIKE THE ONE'S JIM MARSHALL USE TO BUILD! Apart from the junk box I have not had any electrical problems so far, save to say the gain is noisy, especially when reverb is added. All inputs and pots are plastic on this junk box, so I don't expect them to last. Too bad that this unique sounding amp is subject to these cheap plastic parts. Like putting expensive antiques in a barn yard.

Arrogant and only interested in the bottom line. Customer support is
non existent.

Having played a few real Marshalls in my time, the VS 30R sounds good, but is built like junk. The materials used in the construction of this amp are the worst I have ever seen, and ranks with the likes of Gorrilas and $79 specials. If you are a young musician do not buy an
amp made out of presswood. Do not buy a re-issue, instead look for a good vintage amp and have your tech inspect it and bring it up to par. Many vintage amps are still up and running, as they were built to last. More importantly, do not get sucked in by old DINOSAUR COMPANIES LIVING ON THEIR REPUTATIONS - MANY ARE HEADING TO EXTINCTION. There are EXCITING NEW companies building GREAT amps
that reflect pride, quality and workmanship, so look around! The music industry today is run by corporate clones only interested in acquiring your hard earned cash! A few of them have never played a guitar much less plugged in an amp.

Is not much versatile, two channel swtichable, no mid control in clean chanel, no effects loop. I wish an effect loop, and a footswitch. I use the amp just for practice at home, enough power for my room.

I use a Ibanez RGX70TR, a Boss metal zone, i dont like the amp distortion, too harsh, maybe it would be good for blues, the clean channel is too bassy, but waht can i do, no more money to buy a fender twin reverb, or a Marshall JCM.

Its a Marshall. very dependable.

no deal with them.

No comments. I'll get some extra money to buy a Fender Hot Road or a JCM900

This is a 1998 Marshall Valvestate. Clean and Overdrive channel. Line out, reverb and knobs. Real simple and plenty of power, as I shall get to that shortly. This amp sounds unique and "tube" like. How do I know? Because I own vintage tube amps. It has a warmer sound than the Marshall VS65R, which to me sounded quite dreadful...to bright...no balls.

I have been playing since the mid 1960s. I am a professional producer and musician. My two axes are a 1958 Les Paul Goldtop and a 1999 Gibson SG Special Limited Edition comprising a ONE PIECE mahogany body, ABR bridge, and 490R and a 500T super ceramic pickup. How, I got this ax is another story. I never use large amps, always small amps in combination. First, if one blows you have a backup and second, one will have an interesting variety of sounds to work from. I am using the Marshall's line out and runing it direct to a 1965 Gibson GA 5 Skylark. The Skylark has two Telefunken EL 34s in the power stage and one RCA 12AU7 Blackplate in the preamp stage. The Marshall uses a 10" Celestion Goldback speaker and the Gibson has the original CTS 10" alnico speaker. How does it sound? AWESOME! The Marshall is ballsy and the Gibson adds the harmonic bell and chimes. The Marshall sounds good alone, a rather interesting and unique warm sound with regards to the clean channel, and a positive sounding distortion. With the two amps combined the "gain channel" for the Marshall is set at a 1/4, bass dimed, contour 1/2, treble 1/3 and volume dimed. Gibson volume is set at 6, treble at 4, and bass dimed. QUITE LOUD! But I own my own home, so who cares! If I could find another 1965 Gibson Skylark in great condition, I would consider purchasing another Marshall VS30R and create the ultimate stack. This combination is great for Blues, Rock, and Metal. Perhaps even jazz? Provided one ease off on the volume, of course.

As I only have had the Marshall for 1 month, I am not quite sure about the reliability factor, as the cabinet is made out of a ludicrous material known as: particle board. I suspect that Mr Marshall has lost control of the company? Irrespective, I shall construct a cabinet made out of real wood in due course. In the interim, I have glued the joints on the front panel. COME ON MARSHALL BREAK OUT WITH
THE PLYWOOD!

As I do all my own tech work, I doubt I shall be exercising my warranty.

Apart from the bloody cheap cabinet, it is a great sounding amp. As I have played many amps over the course of time, I feel the concept Valvestate is "true", unlike the junk Fender, Peavey, Crate and the remainder of the group are manufacturing today. However, I remain partial to Gibson, as they are bulletproof. I have a 60s Gibson Falcon with a 12" speaker that would blow most of the high end amps away. If you're a young musician stay away from some of the reissues, its all hype and a marketing scam. If you want a real VOX AC30, Fender Twin, etc., look for a good one from the sixties. This principal applies to the vast reissues of guitars currently flooding the market. Look around for a vintage guitar in great condition. Get the real thing! And while your at it, trow those awful Sovtek and Chinese tubes a>way. Buy some "NOS" Amperex, Telefunken, Mullard and RCA...you won't be disappointed.

I dont know even what is the year my guitar was made, i dont know when it's made, but this amp seems like a "small monster" with a good few features! and i give 7 not 8 or 9 coz i saw some other amps in the same price and power and have a built in chorus or flanger. and i don't think that any one would prefer the optional swtich pedal on a dist. stomp box!!!

I use two guitars to play GrunGe, (YAMAHA ST500R) and (WESTONE spectrum XS),, in the clean channel it really SUX, even my WESTONE sounds like a "bass out of tune!!", and if you don't have distortion pedals already don't count on the built in overdrive, the best feature on this whole amp is the contour knob which allows you to shape your dist. sound, i've played thru sum CRATE 15R and 30R in a shop (coz i don't have any friends play guitars or listen to rock music here) and it's sounded better than this amp i think, but don't buy the both of those amps, lend sum extra money or steel it and buy sumthing better and louder!

I think it's weak unlike "all" other marshal amps, i had to fix sum it's leather with a glue from the 1st day i bought it!! anyway it's "marshal", the ever best thing made in ENGLAND!!!

V.V.GOOD! i needed that 3 years warranty coz i'm very hard with machines!! the guyz where very helpful and gave a great offers every time i visit their shop! they where very friendly so i thought they would give me this amp 4 free!!!

Okay, i've been playing for 3 years and i feel that i started playing just last month coz i couldn't find sum1 here to teah me anything 'bout playing, and this amp made me slower at learning a lot of stuff and riffz, i broke many strings just trying to get a sound out of this amp and (it works a bit!!), but don't buy this amp if u're a just started or it will make you take "a backwards steps"!! but i'll still a fan of marshal amps, and if it stolen i'll give the guy who steel sum extra money as a reward to take this lazy amp from me!!

30W amp with dual channels, one clean, one overdrive. 10 inch speaker.
reverb for both channels. Bass and treble knobs for clean; Bass, treble, contour,and gain knobs for o/d. Line out, phone jack, and footswitch jack (switch not included). I use it as a practice amp and it has plenty of features for that.

I use a Johnson JS-100 Frat style guitar (3 single coils, 5 config switch, dual tone and volume). The clean channel sounds good, I like the reverb feature. The o/d sounds reeally nice for a solid state practice amp. It's got good volume for 30W (enough to piss off the guys next door) but the o/d gets real choppy and nasty at the higher volumes. I've been playing for about a year now and this is my first "real" amp. I shopped around and looked at many different types in the VS30R price range, but I ended up liking this one the best. Though, one complaint I think I have is trying to really vary the o/d sound. I've been experimenting with the gain and contour but I don't seem to find many different voices. Drop any suggestions my way. My fav is probably gain all the way, contour all the way, bass and treble at half. I like to play everything from Pearl Jam and COunting Crows to Chuck Berry and BB king.

Haven't had any probs... it's indoors all the time, and gets played nearly everyday.

I bought it New and it came with a 5 year warranty from Marshall. I haven't had to deal with the company yet.

Overall, I'm happy with the amp. It suits my needs as a rather versatile practice amp that let's me work on crunching power cords as well as warm riffs. I do wish it had a second input (I guess a lot to ask for a 30W prac amp) and came with a footswitch. The Crate I was looking at in the same price range had a lot of effects (chorus,flanger,delay,etc.) but was a smaller wattage and did not have as nice a sounding o/d channel. I also own a Fender DG-7 acoustic guitar and have been shopping for a sound hole pickup to run through the Amp, from the reviews I've read It should sound great.I'd buy it again.

Two channel solid state combo with valvestate circuitry. 10" speaker, 30w, reverb, contour scooped mids available on the overdrive channel. Footswitch (optional) available.I only used it in rehearsal but my lead guitarist used it live a couple of times, miked up with a Boss ME30 for better fuzz effects.

Playing British indie and rock with Korean 335 clone with Seymour Duncan '58 bucker in the bridge. This amp has a pretty good clean sound, quite warm, but messy treble at high volumes. The overdrive channel I mainly use for feedback because, when playing with the band at live volume, it lacks any kind of useful clarity. 7 for the clean, 5 for the o/d

Never failed me yet

n/a

Have now upgraded to a VS100R due to need for proper o/d sounds and 12" speaker for big boot. As I say, I'm selling it, but as a practice combo it was great with a lot to offer for the small price.Wish it had better treble.

It is a 30 watt with reverb, 2 channels with seperate volumes. All you need for a practice amp.

I use it with everything from a strat to a Jackson to a Heritage double cut away with vintage pickups. The clean channel sucks. It is dry and lacks low end tone, but what do you want from a solid state. The distortion channel on the other hand is awesome. It has a contour knob that can shape the sound of the amp dramaticly. It's great, used in the combination with the gain you can do anything with it. It gets just about as heavy as any mesa. It's got great overtones. My other amp is a fender hot rod deville so i'm kind of spoiled with the clean channel, but my fender distortion is not as versatale as the marshalls distortion so I sometimes use my marshall as a pre amp. My oppinion is 4 for the clean and 10 for the distortion.

Nothing could hurt it.

na

It's a great practice amp. Loud enough to hurt your ears.

1999 Model with Reverb. 30W with a ten inch speaker. Two distinct channels, one clean, one overdriven with a pushbutton to switch. There is a jack for footswitch but those cheap Limeys didn't include one in the deal. Oh well, I'm not so lazy that I can't push a button. Maybe when I turn seventy I'll buy one... I compared this amp with several others in the low wattage range, such as the Crate 15W & 30W with those nice electro-effects, the Fender Amp Can & Bronco with 6" & 8" speakers (no reverb) and Peaveys. This amp was in the middle for features, has ample wattage and a decent size speaker...but the best thing I like about this puppy is....

TONE! Now, I bought this amp to practice in my bedroom with, but occasionally use down at the local open mics to jam with buddies. I tried those other amps I listed above. Prices were less on the others, some with a few more features like dial-in chorus & flange, but I wanted a sweet tone for my bucks, something that stood out a little. My intended use for this amp was primarily with an Ibanez GAX70 with dual humbuckers. That is coming soon to me in the mail. But until then, I have been strumming my acoustic (also an Ibanez, performance series $178) using a Dean Markley Pro Mag hole pickup. I had tried the Dean running it through a little Peavey PA I owned, but it sounded tinny and sad. But I was totally surprised when I plugged into the Marshall. On the clean channel it was brilliant, and with the reverb about 2 or 3 oclock and the volume turned all the way up, it sounded better than I ever expected. With that setup, there is only limited volume however, and I would have to play to a silent room at a bar for this to carry with the acoustic. The overdrive channel, with the gain about 9:30 and the volume cranked up will give louder tones, but you loose that sweetness you get with the reverbed clean channel. I have been playing the acoustic sans amp for so long, it was really cool to finally hear all the nuances through the Dean. It has given me a whole new outlook on that pickup as well. Glad I bought it now. That combined with the Marshall would be great if miked through a good PA.

This is the Marshall's weakest point. The electronics appear to be sound, all dials are smooth, switches work well, no hissing or popping when you turn the thing on and off. My bone with Marshall company is the cheap pressboard they use for the cabinet. I can go buy pressboard at K Mart if I need that, but for $300 I want at least a semblance of plywood construction for ruggedness. That plus when you look closely, where drill holes are made and joints come together, there are already small chips of wood fallen away from the edges on the interior. Combine that with ABS-type plastic corners with golden-headed screws that aren't all nice and straight, and it looks as if the Limeys were nipping a bit of the amber nectar when they were choosing "quality parts". A saving grace is there are four tiny rubber bumpers screwed to the bottom of the cab to raise the cab edges off the floor, so they won't be broken off immediately. I suppose that if I treat this thing gently there should never be a problem with breaking off edges, etc.

Haven't had to yet, since its brand new. The warranty is a five year, so I am guessing that the electronics will be very sound.

I took up guitar playing about five months ago. Mostly acoustic, but also like to do the ZZ Top impressions with power chords with my Ibanez GAX70. It sounds alot like a Gibson Les Paul. At 43, I thought it was a good hobby to start, and was getting tired of begging other guitar players to sit and play with me when I sang. I have a set of harmonicas (Lee Oscar) as well as some bongo drums. I am looking forward to hooking the Ibanez electric to the Marshall, but I had to write this review about the surprise I got using the acoustic and hole pickup. I thought you had to have a special acoustic amp to get a good sound, but feel differently about that now. I give this rating based on what the amp will be used for, and its relative size and output compared to similar models. I hope to eventually obtain a really nice JBL PA system that I can mike this amp with to give me the volumes I will need for playing out at clubs. I already have plans to have a nice cherry or mahogany cabinet built for this thing, with some brass corners. The components should be easy to swap out, and would add alot of class to an already cool-toned amp.

This is an update from several months ago when I purchaced this amp.

Okay, you want the real deal on this amp? Here it is. This is only a practice amp, don't expect anything more than that. Don't get me wrong, it does a really good job at that. I just had my first gig last night (yes, I'm a begginer) and this thing just sucked. When in my basement, I can crank it up, throw in my favorite cd, and jam alond and it sounds really good. Didn't sound bad at all when practicing with other people either. On stage, with a drummer, keyboard, and 3 other guitarists, at stage volumes (7 and higher) this thing was harsh, tinny, ugly, and pathetic. THE ONLY thing that saved me that night was my Boss SD-2 dual overdrive pedal. It seemed to give my amp twice the power it has, but it still didn't make for a good tone. You want a good amature stage amp? Stay the hell away from this. Save up a little more money and buy a nice used half stack. Don't even think about it unless it has more than 1 speaker, because your sound will suffer. But I won't part with this thing 'cause it sounds good at low volumes. Who knows, that'll probably change too.

This is a call to the Marshall company, replace the handle on this thing. I've read lots of other complaints about this, so at least I know it's not just mine that sucks. Other than that this thing is great.

This is a Marshall SS amp with it's "Valvestate" feature, which it's supposed and I stress supposed to emulate the classic Marshall tone without the tubes and the weight. It has 1 10inch speaker, 30W, with 2 footswitchable channels Clean and Crunch I think. It has reverb, and a gain control and a three band eq in channel 2. Adequate features

I mostly play blues now, but at the time I was playing butt-rock. I was using my dad's old LesPaul with it. It sounded really good for me at the time, it was what I thought was loud and with lots of cool knobs. That all changed until I played with my teachers Fender Blues Deluxe. When I came home I couldn't play with that Marshall again. The clean tone is flat and textureless. The distortion sounds tinny and weak, like the old toy guitars with the built-in speaker. It's not a good amp for tone, if you want tone you need a tube amp. I was fooled with "Valvestate". If you want true and I mean true Marshall tone and distortion get a JCM 900 or any of their tube amps, you'll hear the diffrence. I wouldn't dare go on stage with that amp, I'd take my 54 Champ any day over that.

Only had it for a year, but it didn't give me any trouble so I'll be generous. I'm sure it's pretty reliable on stage.

I've been playing for over a year, I know that I haven't been playing long but I know what I want in tone. I'm not ragging on this amp, it just doesn't fit me, with it's lame clean tone and sloppy distortion. I don't think that It's worth the money, for around the same price you can get a small Fender tube amp. If you want distortion get a pedal with it. You will not get a Marshall like tone with the VS-30R, don't let them fool you. If you get but it and totally love it, great, but don't fool yourself into thinking that this is classic Marshall tone because it far from it.

IT has two channels. Clean has bass, treble and own volume. Gain channel got volume, gain, bass, contour and treble. Both channels has same reverb. 30 W trough 10" speaker. I think it's preamp is powered by single tube? rest is solid state. Channels can be switched by pedal (it isn't included) and there is also headphone jack(I have used it couple time, it doens't have enough output and sound terrible, well I haven't used it with good headphones, but still..) I use this amp only for practising and it is atleast loud enough probably I could use it with drummer.

I use it with Fender Stratocater with Texas Special (great pickups). I play blues, rock (hard and not so hard)and surf. I don't use clean channel, somehow it doesn't sound good, you get better cleans with gain channel (just keep your gain under 1 and volume over 4, bass 5, countour 5 and treble 7). I always use BOSS Super Overdrive (SD-1), when I play clean, I just boost signal with SD-1 and I keep reverb on 10. This is best way to get quite good Shawdows sound.
With this amp you get only clean or too distorded sound, I mean when you keep your gain at <2 your get clean soud but when gain is >3 it is too distorted for crunch. SD-1 is help for that. Reverb is OK, I usually keep it at max. If you want to get distorted sound, this amp is for you. Somehow I feel this amp gives you only OK cleans with gain channel and too much distortion for "vintage crunch". Overdrive pedal helps alot. There is no use for clean channel.

I have had it for 9 months and it have been working.

In Finland warranty is 6 months, I haven't dealt with company but they have been very helpfull in company where I bought it.

I have been playing it for 9 months, it have been working well and sound are OK with SD-1 and Strat with Texas Specials. I'll probaly change it to Fender Blues Junior. This just basic amp and it takes some time to get right sound out of it but it just distorts too early and cleans aren't too good only reverb is good. This is quite good amp only for quite hard distortion. If you are going for blues don't buy this, if you are going for harder rock or metal buy this. I you have extra money just forget this and buy tube amp.

I think it was probably a 97/98 amp...I play rock/alternative/punk with some slow pop songs here and there...So it's pretty versatile.. 2 channels, headphone jack, foot switching. 10" Speaker..30 watts.

I have an Epi SG that I play through it and it roars. It sounds great for what I play... The distortion is real good, but kinda muddy when you crank it up. The clean is real clean and loud as hell. The distortion is good for overdrive..

I don't gig (yet) but this rig has fallen off a tv and landed on its own footswitch, both survived...This puppy is tough..period

Never Dealt with them 5 year warranty on everything

This amp is great, but if it got lost or stolen I would probably get a similar setup with more power and perhaps more speakers (like two 12s) It is suprisingly loud for a little rig. I choose this brand mainly because I see them plastered all over the place and it sounded good when I tried it out...

Well, I guess I really liked this amp when I first purchased it, it was a definate improvement to my Park G10R (which i still own for some reason...) It offers 30 Watts through a 10" speaker...not a great package for anything huge, but its perfect for home practice, and its VERY quiet, so it would offer good sound for recording. As I have grown musically, it has become unuseful for the style of music that I play, as it is not versatile enough. I am in a band, it was loud enough to hear over drums...but I wouldnt trust it up on stage, but since I never giged with it, I couldn't say if it works on stage one way or another. The amp has 2 independent channels, a good clean sound, but the reverb on it kept sounding worse every time I played through it. It was especially touchy to the note "c" and as well as the C chord. It has channel switching, pretty sure that it has effects loop, and it has a headphone jack (only used a couple of times). I wish it had a 12" speaker, instead of 10", the bass can not be dialed in correctly with a 10." It thumps too much. It doesnt feature independent reverb for each channel...dont like that. I used this amp for practice and with my band. I guess the power is alright, but not for large applications. It is solid state.

I use an Ibanez S540LTD with it, primarily using the neck pickup, but also use an Alvarez-Yari Acoustic Electric with it. Both sound good, but sometimes the sound "whiplashes" with the acoustic. It suits my pop/rock style, as well as country, but the bottom end is less than nice, it's bad actually when turned up to loud volumes. Surprisingly, not noisy at all. BUt, i've never taken it past 7 or 8...the distortion is good for solid state. The amp is pretty basic in sounds, nothing huge in any one way. Clean channel is just OK, not great, distortion is good, not brutal.

It's solid state, of course I would rely on it. I would PROBABLY trust it w/ out a backup, but I dont think I would use it for a large event anyway. Never broken down. It's small, wouldn't trust it at high volumes.

N/A Never dealt with any kind of repairs.

I've played for 4 years now, and just recently got a Fender Ultimate Chorus, so, I had to sell the Marshall. If it were lost or stolen, I would get something else. I don't love anything, except it's light. Hate the 10" instead of 12." I wish it had a 12!!!! I wouldn't buy it again, unless if it had a 12" speaker, then I might...

This amp is 30 watts (obviously), it has an awesome reverb feature (won't play without it), 2 channels, volume, treble, contour, bass and gain controls. It has a 10 or 12 inch speaker. It weighs about 30 or 40 pounds. I like the gold knobs.

Two words: KICK ASS! I mainly play rock like Hendrix, Kiss, and Aerosmith and this is good for it all. I have an Epiphone Les Paul Standard and an LP Special 2. They both sound completely awesome. i was playing through a Crate GX15. God, what an improvement! The Crate was a good beginners amp, but it is nothing compared to that famous Marshall tone. It has a smooth, clear clean tone. Sweet! And then theres th overdrive. Oh my God! I love it! With the bass, contour, & treble halfway, the gain & reverb at 10, It sounds killer. The gain is cool. Not too wild, but it is so great. I really love this amp!

I don't know about this, because I've only had it for two weeks, but, hey its a Marshall. It's got to be durable. I would definitely gig with it without a backup.

I don't know about this either, but I really like how they had suggested settings in the owners' manual. From what I have heard, the support is good.

I've been playing for 5 years(and I'm only 13) and I can't believe it took me this long to find out how sweet Marshalls are. If it were stolen, first I'd find the stupid f**k that stole it and beat the sh*t out of him then go buy a new one. I love everything about it. It was my Christmas present to myself and it is great. Also, I'd like to add that for 30 watts, this mofo is loud! If you never played a Marshall, do yourself a favor & check it out. I chose this over a Crate GFX-212 and I'm happy I did. All I have to say is "DAMN!"

VS30R Valvestate combo. 10" Goldback speaker (30 watts RMS). 60 watts max power, 30 RMS. 2 channels, clean w/bass and treble, overdrive w/gain, bass, contour, treble, volume, and shared reverb. Foot switchable, line out, headphones, detachable power cord. Good features. A middle tone would be nice on each channel, as would a contour control on the clean side.
I wish it had a 12 inch Goldback instead of the 10 for beefier sound, but it still sounds wonderfull. the line out is great. I hooked it up to my big stereo at home and it'll shake my neighbors windows while sounding even better than using it's own 10 inch.
I use this amp at home to play. It works great for that. This amp can get very loud. I'll definately use this amp when I play with the garage band. A little more power might be nice, like in the 40 range, but it'll still leave your ears ringing.

I use an Epiphone Les Paul classic birdseye w/2 humbuckers.
Sounds great. Not overly versitile. Has great distortion, the best I've heard. All notes can be heard clearly at full distortion. Sustain is good, too. It's a tad noisy when cranked all the way up on the overdrive channel, but if the gain is turned to the halfway range (which is still plenty) it gets quiet.
I play mostly hard rock like Aerosmith, some Clapton, G & R, etc. It can do anything in this catagory. The only problem I have with the amp is the overdrive is either on or off (sounds dumb, huh?). Even at very low gain it'll wail, so subtleness is not a vurtue. It's either clean to hard to all out wailing. The reverb is just fine.
The clean channel is a little thin, but hey, it's a transistor amp, and for that it sounds good. I use humbuckers, so when you play really hard, it'll distort at any volume. But turn it all the way up and keep the strumming normal, and you'll never distort, even on 10.
For all you Aerosmith wannabe's out there like myself, this amp is it. Plug in your Les Paul, crank it up, throw in your favorite 'smith album, and jam away. You'll blend in perfectly. It's the perfect hard rock amp.

Just got it today, but I've been playing with this amp in the store for the past 4 months (I finally decided it was time to take the thing home!). It's built good, that's about all I can say.

Never had to deal with the company. 5 year parts, 3 year labor (did I get that right?), what more could you want?

I've only been playing for 5 months, so I technically suck. I will for a long time. But I have a load of fun playing, and this amp made it a lot more fun. I searched for months for a good amp. In this pricerange, it can't be beat. I looked at a lot of other amps: Fender, not enough distortion, Line 6, great, but too expensive, and everything used. Nothing did it for me. And comparing it to the Line 6 flextone, it would have been nice to get all those other sounds in one amp, but the price was too big. Besides, I plugged right into the marshall after playing the flextone, and the marshall had much huger distortion, and that's exactly what I wanted.
If it were ever stolen I'd just sit down and cry cause I won't be able to get another one till I'm not broke. But as soon as I'd get the money I'd do this one or the VS65R.
It's a great amp at a great price, period. Let me explain how I got this amp so cheaply. The store had it on clearance for 299.99. I saw it at Discount Music Center for 249.40, so I asked the store if they'd match. They said yes, but wouldn't take my p.o.s. Peavey as a trade with that price. They said they'd trade my Peavey for the Marshall at the 299 price, and then nock off 89.00 for the peavey! Then I noticed the amp had a very small dent in it, the guy did some calculations, and nocked another 40 bucks from the price. That's when I told him he'd just sold an amp. I would have paid the 250 for this great amp.

The Marshall VS30R has two channels;clean and overdrive.This amp plays good with Fender Strats. I usually play 60's and 70's rock'n'roll and it sounds great with this music. I wish it was bigger and a lot, lot louder.I use this amp at jams with my friends and when I'm just chillin' in my room.It's really good for that kind of stuff.

I play a Fender Lone Star Strat.I think it is a perfect match with my amp.When I have my amp on overdrive I play on the Seymour-Duncan humbucker.I keep my gain between about 3 to 5, my contour from 0-5,my bass at 10,and treble at about 4-8. My volume just depends on where I'm playing. I love the sound my amp makes on overdrive with my guitar.On clean it is good too but I'd much rather have a tube amp.

I've played at one gig with this amp.It turned out to produce pretty well.But like I said before, it would be great to have a bigger amp.Especially for playing gigs.I've had this amp for over a year. So far no problems.

This amp will last me long as just a little amp to jam on.Right now I'm looking for a bigger louder amp with tubes.I recomend this amp to any one who doesn't gig alot and just jams around in their room.

A 30 watt solid-state amp with two channels. See the other reviews for specifics.

The distortions are excellent, and run the full gamut more or less. Easy to get classic rock, Van Halen type stuff, on up to most 80s and 90s metal. True metallists may find the gain a little lacking. The clean channel -- compared to Fenders in the same price range -- really blows. It's tinny, thin, and distant sounding, and not all that clean. So there's the conundrum. You can get a Fender Princeton (or similar) and have perfect cleans and reasonably usable distortions, or you can get a VS30R and have great distortions and a marginally OK clean blues sound, but forget pop and jazz. I've concluded you pretty much cannot get a true "do it all" solid-state amp in the $250 range, you'll end up getting pedals or a second amp. The reverb is medicore, sounds good with VH-type overdive but really cheesy clean. The Accutronics in the Princeton is way better. Gets a 10 for distortion and a 4 for clean.

I opted not to get a VS30R. I already own a Princeton 112, which is much better built, has a better reverb, better clean, and (sadly) much inferior but passable distortion. The overall build quality was disappointing on all four VS30's that I looked at -- crooked corner joints, messed up screwheads, frayed ends on the grille, weird chips in the Tolex, little irksome stuff like that. The overall cabinet quality is crap -- which you only really notice when you put the VS30R right next to some of the other amps in the same price range from Fender, Crate, Roland, and even Epiphone. If all you want to play is classic crunch and metal, this is a great way to go, but for versatility there are better choices. The cheaper Park Marshalls have many of the same distortion tones at 1/3 to 1/2 of the price. The best value of the Valvestate series is the one that is really a valve-state, the VS65R with a 12AX7 in the preamp. But...that's $400 or more.

Wow. I'm used to playing with crappy amps like peavey and when i first go my marshall it changed my veiw on amps. Whenever i would play through my peavey i would get this high picked whine but my marshall sounds beatiful. I play and alternative hard rock sound (like nirvana) and i find that the marshall gives me a metal metillica sound but i like it. You can use the marshall for a nirvana sound. In my opinion it sounds good its really ur pereference, but i think its a great amp. It has two channels. My didnt come with a foot switch but u can buy one. Yes there is a headphone jack but it messes up the sound as it always does. It has all the features i want out of an amp no complaints. I use this amp al over the place but never out doors yet. It is a very loud amp. I had it set up in my basement for band practice (which it is loud enough to compete with drums and a bass amp) It have this shelf in my basement with glassmugs all across the top and i had the amp cranked up loud enough that the vibrations of the amp made some of the glasses rattle and fall of the shelf. Great amout of power.

I use a fender jag stang( desinged by Kurt Cobain) which has a single coil and a humbucking pickup and i keep the single coil on. I think it suits an alternative sytle well. The amp has a small variety of sounds. A light metal/alternative to a heavy metal.I really dont like the clean channel that would my only complaint. No biggy just get a chorus or something else for the clean channel. I like the Distortion alot.

No complaints yet. I did drop down a 3 steps carrying it survived.

I been playin for couple a years, and of all the amps i used this is my faveorite. I would buy it again it were stolen. Its a good price for a good amp. I love the lightweight( for luggen it around) and the loud sound. I compared this to some fender amps like the priceton 112 but i happy i got the marshall. It was smaller, louder, and better sounding then the fenders. Dont get me wrong i love fender but i like the marshall better. If you're looking for a good amp get this.

See earlier submission (second go after owning it for a year) for full features. It's a basic middle range solid state amp with reverb and two channels.

In July 98 I replaced me Epi Les Paul for an Ibanez, which obviously makes a big difference in sound. It's now nearly Xmas and i'm getting the point where the guitar is settling down with the amp nicely and figured what sounds good on it and what doesnt. Through the clean channel the Ibanez sounds nowhere near as good as my Les Paul, although the Marshall still makes the most of what it gets. It now seems apparent the warm tones must have come from the Epi, not the amp. There are a number of tips for newcomers to this amp. First, unless you are into really heavy metal, punk, or own a Squire Strat with the shittiest set of stock pickups ever, ignore the contour. Set it about halfway and forget about it. Same goes for the rest of the EQ, to be honest. The best sounds are to be had with the gain on about 2 or 3, with full reverb and neck pickup selected. Even on my Ibanez RG you can get usable blues tones, although in the real world i'd go for a P90 loaded LP and a Fender Twin any day of the week. Heavier distortion is also pretty good, maybe a little muddy on really high gain. Harmonics and overall sound nowhere near as good as Tech 21 tried Ibanez out on.

I dont really have the time to lay out the features but I will say this, for a small solid state this amp has amazing sound with a good variety of tonal options.

This amp sounds wonderfull. I am an SRV style blues player and have played through this amp with many guitars ranging from a cheapo 80's Harmony to a cherry 59' strat. And I must say it makes all instruments sound better than they are. It has good crunchy distortion but the best part is the clean channel with reverb on 9 1/2. It sounds so beautiful, clear, and bright.

This amp has never once scratch, hissed or made any other bothersome noise in the year and a half that I've had it. I might bring it as a backup to a gig although I wish it had more wattage so I could get a little more volume. I dont think its for gigging as a backup or especially as a main amp, but it is the best practice jam amp in the world (seriously).

Never had to deal with customer support....so I guess its good!

Ive been playing about ten years. I own a couple strats (59',65',79'), a couple teles (71', 50's esquire), and some Pauls (78' custom, 55' gold top). I usually play bassman amps as well as mesa boogies (and I got the Marshall as a bedside jam amp). Its overall a nice, good, sturdy amp.

See other entries for features (this is my second submission after having owned and played through this amp for over a year.

I have played an Epiphone "dot" with humbuckers and a Fender traditional strat with stock single coils (main guitar) through this amp for over a year. I use it for solo practice in my bedroom and for playing with bass, drums, and occasionally a second guitarist. I have found that the best sound on this amp is the on the clean channel, but you can't turn the volume above 4 or 5 without the sound getting very muddy. On the drive channel, the distortion sounds are very good from slight distortion to full blown roar (type of pickups definitely make a difference in the quality of the distorted sound)...but only for bedroom practice. I have been unable to get a satisfactory overdrive sound when playing in a band setting. For rhythm, the overdriven sounds just sound like a lawnmower engine, with no definition...others find it hard to figure out what I'm playing (not a problem on clean rhythm sound). For leads, it's really pitiful. It sounds very tinny and brittle, regardless of which guitar I use. The most successful I have been in getting a good lead sound is by putting the gain on 1 and the volume on 8 --any higher and it sounds too harsh-- and maxing my guitar volume knob. The clean channel does not distort at high volume, but like I said, it sounds awful above 4 or 5. I have coped with this by using the line out to send the signal to our PA. The PA doesn't help the overdrive sound, however. In summary, very satisfactory sounds for solo practice in bedroom, or maybe with one other guitarist, but not very good in the band context, except for playing clean rhythm using the line out into the PA (clean below 4 or 5 volume is very good.)

The amp has always worked. I have had some slight crackling through the speaker. This comes and goes...maybe the humidity? Doesn't seem to be my cable, which would be the prime suspect. As I mentioned in an earlier submission, the plastic corner protectors on the back of the top of the amp are cracked, revealing hardly any joining at the corners. I don't like that. I hope Marshall builds better cabinets for their high end amps.

I have sent two e-mails to Korg, the US distributor and they responded both times very timely and helpful information. They suggested I take the amp back to the dealer for a fix or replacement on the plastic corners that broke, but I haven't done it..I think I'll keep the amp for practice at home (don't expect it to fall apart just sitting there) and look for something in Fender line to play out with. Warranty is three years and Korg admitted that the broken plastic corners were covered under it (I'm sounding kind of obsessed with those corners, huh?)

Love - sounds and features for low volume practice at home. Hate - those !@#@$%^!!! plastic corner protectors! I expect to continue to use it at home for those moments when I want to play some Black Sabbath riffs. It has been very dependable over a year of weekly jam sessions and the occasional small gig in the neighborhood (but thank God for the line out feature, or the tone for gigs would be terrible). I think that a small tube amp --probably Fender Pro Jr., Blues Jr., maybe Ampeg Jet or Vox AC15--would suit my particular playing style and needs better at this time. When I bought this amp, I thought I'd be playing late '60's hard rock, and it turns out I'm still stuck between '56 and '66. For Cream and Black Sabbath imitations for one's own amusement, I would recommend this amp. For doing the same thing with a band, I'd get the real deal Marshall, like a 100w in the JCM line or whatever. The amp has better distortion than any other solid state amp I've heard, and as good or better clean sound than almost any amp I've heard. I've just learned that both are better for bedroom practice than in a band. It will work well with a small band if you play only clean rhythm and use the line out through a PA for sufficient volume. Then you've got excellent tone...but that's it. '66.

The VS30R is generally your basic 30 watt combo. 2 Channels, each with EQ; Reverb, Gain, and some contour control, which messes about with the mids. It also has a Line Out and footswitch socket. No speaker out (which is a shame), but i'm not complaining for #195.

Tried it with my mates Korean Squire Strat and my Epi Les Paul, with both it rocks big time. Les Paul first. Clean it is superb - lovely warm tone on the neck pickup, glassy on the bridge pickup. With a bit of phaser on it it sounds superb. Distortion seems a bit odd - 1 to 5 on the gain control gives the widest range of tones, but you can figure a superb rock solo/rhythm tone from about 7. The weirdest thing is the reverb - without it my Paul sounds a bit flat and sad. You need to dial in loads of reverb (past 6) to get any sort of nice sound, and it adds a fair bit of noise. The rock sounds are easily the best, everything from a small Pumpkins OD like on 1979 to full on metal distortion. When I first heard this amp in the shop I was totally blown away with the distortion, i'm still happy with it but want something a little more versitile. The strat works well with it, but with the single coils it needed a lot of the contour dialled in before it started to match the solo tone on my Les Paul. Playing it in my practice room (which is kinda dead) it sounds great. I took it to college with me and it sounded completely different: too much reverb, too much gain. I guess you need to change the settings for each individual environment.

The only worries I have with the VS is the mains lead, which doesn't feel too tight in the amp. I've knocked it about a little, but not enough to trouble it. I trust it will stay in one piece, being a British built Marshall and all.

I've never had to deal with Marshall, so dunno.

My last amp was a Peavey Rage, and compared to it this kicks butt. I'd recommend the VS range for anybody after a budget amp with decent tones. I wouldn't buy another if it went AWOL but thats only because I'd get something more expensive. The clean tones are superb, the distortion's a bit full on but great for rock. I got it after checking out loads of sub #250 amps, including Laney (HC50), Fender (Princton), Peavey (Envoy), and this was better than the lot of them. If it had a speaker out it would be damn near perfect for the price. Anybody after a good, cheap amp with that little extra should check this out.

This is a fantatic practice amp that's loud enough to use with a drummer. It's light and very easy to port around.

This amp sounds execellent! I play a lot of Santana and SRV style music. I originally purchased this amp for use as a bedroom practice amp. I was very surpised when I got it home and really started to play it, this little amp really boogies!! I'm now thinking of bring to group practice sessions. For a solidstate amp I can't beleive the rich tube like harmonics that this amp produces. I paid over $800 for a custom carvin amp that can't produce the sweet harmonics that this amp produces, sad but true. In summary, if your looking for a relatively inexpensive amp that produces a Santanta type sound, this amp is a great choice. The only negative thing I will say is that the clean channel is a little dirty.

I've only owned this amp for about a week but considering that this is a solidstate amp and being an electrical engineer my expectation is that this amp should be very reliable. My only disappointment was the construction of the cabinet. It too bad that they packaged such great sounding electronics in kind of a cheap cabinet, but then it's also a $250 amp.

I've been playing for 20 years. I'd buy this amp again if it were ever stolen. All I can say is this little amp really boogies!

This amp doesn't quite have the heavy metal kick that I like to play, but it's great nonetheless. Has 2 channels and one of the best reverbs I've heard, no matter what wattage. Great for blues, rock, etc. but I would like a bit more gain.

With an Ibanez RX20 and Duncan SH-10 Full Shred bridge humbucker, you can get some nasty distortion, or awesome clean. Clean is good, but get's raunchy above 5. Distortion is great for every volume level. It doesn't have a Pantera or Slayer distortion, but it can get up there.

Only had this one for about 4 months. No probs so far.

Haven't had any trouble yet.

I'd really like this amp, but I might try something that's a little louder, like a VS65R or VS100R. I think the Valvestate series is great.

It is versatile enogh for ALL kinds of rock(Blues,hard rock,metal)But it is a small amp you shouldn't expect too much.It has Two channels overdrive and clean.The clean is loud and a bit crunchy, overdrive is very well but not enough for thrash-like stuff.It has no effects, loops etc. A foot switch jack and one for headphones.It is a perfect amp for practising, it has a good celestion speaker and enough to play with a drummer in a small room.It is useful for carrying 'cause I'm in the school band and every friday I'm carrying it to school and back.

I use it with a Phil Collen signature Jackson and its original pickups (DiMarzio Super-3 and HS-2).My musical style is Hard-Rock, even metal and it suits 10/10 with my style, I think it is the best purchase for a 30W amp.It is a little bit noisy but the tone is really good.Clean channel is already crunchy even in low volumes but it doesn't change in high volumes.The overdrive is NOT a killer metal distortion, it IS a 30W amp not a cabinet you should not expect a gig performance from it.

It is reliable.It never broke down since one years and I would surely use it on a gig without any backup but it is not a gig amp like I said before.It never made a problem.

Can't remember the warranty time but I'm sure that I'll never need it.

With a DOD Tec8G it works fine but with a ZOOM-4040 perfect.I love the crunchy clean and the reverb.I would buy it again, but for using in a gig I prefer a Mesa/Boogie heartbreaker. Excellent for a 30W amp!!

Its a 2 channel, 30 watt,solid state practice amp with footswitch,headphones and lineout sockets. Its has separate Eq's with the only differance between them is that the overdriva has a gain&countour button. The speaker is a celestion 10" G10C. I use this amp for everything and the volume is actually quite ok for a 30watt, maybe even very loud.

I use a Charvel soloist and i play mostly metal, something which im afraid it cant really handle, its not chunky enough but I dont think a 30 watt is made for what I try to get it to do. Something it is very good at is Van Halen style reverb drenched rock, it sounds beutiful! It can also handle bluesy rock a la' Down very good. It sounds very good clean. This amp is made for accoustic/soft rock styles.

Its a very solid - solid state amp if you know what I mean....It never breaks, never sounds funny.

I have no idea bout these things since I 've never neede a repair.

I really wish it had a greasy,heavy,mind-nubing distortion so I could play Pantera.

30 watts in two channels with independent volume controls, spring reverb, headphone jack. It has just enough power to jam with friends (even with a drummer) under reasonable volume levels. Its small enough to be cranked and not cause extreme volume conserns to others. An effects loop would have been nice, and the direct output line doesn't produce a very good sound for recording or running though a PA.

The clean sound is really good, although not as warm as a tube amp, or some amazing solid state amps. The spring reverb is among the best I have heard, and isn't noisy. The dirty channel is great for blues and rock, but it is a little too thrashy for more restrained playing, and it doesn't get to extreme levels for metal leads. This amp smokes for blues rock, which I love, but for playing in other more accoustic oriented bands where leads are more restrained (which I also use it for), this amp needs a little help from other distortion pedals.

The construction is not what you would expect from Marshall. The handle is coming apart on mine, and also missing a screw for the speaker. Another screw was found inside the head. None of this affects playing, but it is annoying...

I had it sent to Marshall to fix a rattle (which turned out to be the screw) and it took months. I blame the place I bought it at partially, but I think this is still to long to wait. They did send me a repair kit for the handle.

These are great amps and if you play rock you can't go wrong. I would hope my reliability concerns don't happen often, and I got unlucky. I like being able to crank to great that great Marshall sound when others are still on 4 on their half stacks, and not getting that ferocious tone. Since I play other things than rock nowadays, I would probably get something a little more suitable, but this amp has served me well for nearly 2 years with weekly small setting gigs for the past 1.5 years.

2 channel clean or dist. foot pedal switch line out headphone jack

clean channel is very bright and suprisingly loud for 30 watts dist is increadible at lower volumes but as you turn it up it loses the crunch and sustain the gain control allows for a tradional blues sound with some decent volume in dist mode

Input jack had a weak solder joint resulting in some crackling,fixed it myself withn no great effort (was a bit dissapointed with marshall quality control).

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top honors for sound,very good amp for practice

This is a solid state, 2 channel, 30 watt amp, with a 10 inch speaker. Other accessory features include a line out jack headphone jack, and channel selection. Channel 1 (Clean) has volume, Treble and Bass controls; Channel 2 (Overdrive) has Gain, Volume, Treble, Bass, and contour. Each channel is set independently. The reverb is active for both channels (Master). The footswitch (for channel switching) is not normally included with the combo however, this deal included the switch.

For a point of reference (and amusment), I was looking at only low wattaged tube amps (10 - 25 watts). I played them all from Ampeg's Retro Jet, Top Hat, Matchless, Boogies, to Fenders, etc... Although many provided a quality tone, I bought this amp for the "clean" channel sound. It's ironic to buy a Marshall for this purpose and a solid-state one one at that. This is very subjective but the responsiveness, tone and "feel" of this amp is right and it's certainly a separate tone from everyone else in the room. The gain channel is quite broad but my interests is in a mild breakup into distortion with overtones and sustain. Thus I keep the gain around 9 o'clock or so. It's a good bark and works well for a nastier attitude but it requires work to simulate (attempt) the tubes sound. With that said, you can still make a point in the Overdrive channel that's convincing.
I'm quite a neanderthall in my personal beliefs about playing electric guitars through amps - and that's just it, a guitar plugged into an amp (well a little reverb). So I must say that the channel switching is a very practical and welcome feature that has increased my playing versitility.
The headphone output sounds very artifical and I don't care for it. I'd rather just play quieter. I suspect the output "lineout" will also sound the same but I haven't tried it.
By the way, a mahogany guitar with Humbucking pickups (Gibson 490s) is used for this evaluation.

The morning sun hit this amp for a couple hours over a course of a week and the naugahyde separated from the partical board case. It literally puffed up. I could of disssembled the case and applied contact cement but I super glued the stuff down instead. If is persist, I might build a studier case. Which bring me to the case. I'm half amazed at Marshall's inventive thinking to reduce labor costs in assembly and I'm half repulsed by the cheap material and wacky construction methods. I'm not gone to try this but if the amp drops on a corner, it's done.
I deducted 2 point for the case but I do appreciate the fact that I bought this new for only $250. So I'll build a proper case some time down the line.

I haven't used it.

This is a good sounding versatile little amp. It's small, light weight and compact thus easy to transport. The 30 watts keeps it flexable: practices, jamming and small clubs. My only concern is the construction. I don't think it will last through several careless handling adventures but then again, a lot amps don't!

This is a solid state, 2 channel, 30 watt amp, with a 10 inch speaker, line out jack and headphone jack. I think this amp fills a much needed niche for amps that you can both practice with and also jam with a small group. In comparing this amp with other amps in the 25-35 watt range, one really nice feature is that it has a separate volume control on the overdrive channel, and a lot of amps in this range just have one volume knob.

I'm using a Fender Squier series strat with this amp. It has a very, very, very good clean sound. It is not noisy at all, and really stands out from other amps in this category. On the overdrive channel, I have tried out a Les Paul and it produced nice, thick distortion. The distortion with the strat is a little more grungy, but the contour knob helps you tailor your sound. Everyone associates Marshall amps with heavy, ear splitting distortion, but this amp can give beautiful clean sounds and give you any amount of distortion you want, from mild to wild.

No problems. Have owned the amp for 6 months.

I sent an e-mail to Korg USA asking about a footswitch, they responded in a day or two with model number.

I love the sound and the features. It also looks pretty cool, and is easy to transport, not too heavy. The only misgiving I have about the amp is that the construction seems a little shoddy. the corners are plastic, rather than metal, and the cabinet, at least at the top seems to be joined kind of half-assed, with a strip of plastic along the top that, along with the plastic corners, appears to hold the top together. I'd like it to have sturdier construction, but I guess the great tone makes up for what it lacks in that department.

This 30W all solid state amp has a single input, two footswitchable channels, master reverb, line out and headphone sockets. The footswitch wasn't included, but was pretty easy to make using stock parts. There is no effects loop or connections for an external speaker which is a shame,but I'm not too dissapointed. When jamming with friends and used for home practice it is quite loud enough, I guess it would be OK for small venues, but is a bit short of grunt for larger ones.
I also use the line-out feature through my PC sound card, this is quite handy for direct recording although the sound quality isn't quite as good as through the speaker.
Overall I think the features are pretty good for an amp in this price range. Mine is fitted with a 10" Celestion Goldback speaker. A friend tells me that this is no longer the case and that the newer ones don't sound so good, so check this out before you buy.

I play mostly blues/rock using an Epiphone Les Paul Special, i.e. like a Junior but with two humbuckers. I think the range of tones possible is quite impressive. I've tried a few other guitars through it (Fender Strats and Tele plus a Washburn) and they all sound pretty good to my ears.
The clean channel is clean and glassy, with good punch. At the same time it's not 'in yer face'. With or without lots of reverb it really does make a nice sound.
The overdrive channel up to about half gain is smooth and valvelike. With the humbuckers it's pretty easy to get that nice creamy blues tones. Crank up the gain and the distortion gets a bit more dirty, which is great for rock, especially if the contour knob is cranked right up too. The distortion isn't as aggresive as some other amps I've heard so I wouldn't recommend it to any thrash metal freaks out there, but for a nice blues and british rock sound, just plug in something resembling a Gibson and away you go.
By the way, I think the reverb is excellent.

Apart from having a slightly damaged corner piece when it arrived in the shop,it has been no problem at all.

Not had any problems to bother about.

I've had the amp since December '96 and it's been spot on. I would buy again as long as it was Celestion equipped.
For the style of music I play, it sounds great (and my friends agree).
I didn't compare it with anything else, because the price, features and name were right. Having listened to other since, I still like the VS30R.
I would like to be able to drive an external speaker.

I got this amp about 3 months ago. I definatly recomend it to anyone I do wish it had a little more power, only because our drummer seems to really beat the heck (I won't swear because I want to be heard). out of his drums. I am a "Nirvana freak" and own a Jag-Stang (great guitar) and it has a great clean and distorted sound, just like Kurt's

It has a crystal clear clean sound to it. But still has a great contour knob so you can get a versitle distorted sound. I wish it came with a footswitch because I'm so broke, but The clean channel sounds great when it's played with a BOSS(or Roland) XTORTION pedal. Great for Nirvana fans, or anyone else. (Good JIMI HENDRIX Sound also)

The VS30R is a 30-watt solid state combo with a 10-inch speaker. Two channels, clean and overdrive, footswitchable (footswitch not included), reverb, headphone jack, line out for hooking up another speaker or to a PA. In my opinion, this amp has all the features a "serious amateur" needs in a combo amp. I use it for practice at home and weekend jams with bass and drums. It has enough power for these purposes. I've even played out with the band in a medium size room and it was quite adequate for this (but we don't play super loud, either). It sounds very good run through a PA, though, if you need more volume.

I play a Fender Squier series strat, mostly Buddy Holly and early to mid '60's rock. So a clean sound is important, and this amp delivers. It is totally quiet when the strat's p/u's are used in combination, and even the famous single coil hiss that is present when an individual p/u is used is kept to a bare, bare minimum. The reverb is very good. For a great clean sound, I use the clean channel (what else?) with the volume control all the way up, then use the strat's volume pot to get the appropriate loudness. I think the overdrive channel is absolutely the best I've ever heard (keeping in mind that my experience is only with solid state amps). The gain control, in conjunction with the guitar's volume pot, can give you any amount of overdrive/distortion you want, and the contour control, which I believe would be more accurately referred to as a "mid range contour control" really does its job. I usually set the gain about 12 o'clock or 2 o'clock, depending on my mood, no reverb, and use the strat volume pot to get a terrific distortion. Just like on those Cream or Aerosmith records!

I've only had it about three months. I'm expecting it to be reliable.

No problems yet. I think it's a three year warranty.

I'm a terrible "second guesser" type person. Should I have bought something else? I've had lots of second guesses about this, but they always come back to, this Marshall is great, and I don't think you could do better. The tone is absolutely great...it's always given me just what I was trying to get. People always equate Marshall with big stacks and lots of distortion, but this compact little amp delivers beautiful clean tone as well as very pleasing distortion for whatever style you like. Besides, it's pretty neat for a guy like me to see my strat propped up against a "Marshall"! I wish the footswitch had been included, or at least that the store had a Marshall f/s to match the amp. If you're into rock n roll for "serious fun", and you want the best solid state guitar amp available, I very highly recommend this Marshall. Now here's a buying tip: the store had it marked at $399.00; I called around and also checked the catalogs for discounters (both published and on-line), found the lowest price available was $259.00, and when I went to buy the amp, told the owner, "XYZ Music sells these for $259, will you match that?" After he played with his calculator for about a minute, he said, "yeah." So definitely do some comparison shopping before you put down the bucks for any piece of musical equipment!

2 channels (clean/distortion) provide a great range of sounds covering the whole spectrum. Have used this amp on a couple of jams and the power came through OK. Wish I had bought the footswitch to go with it, as it is a hassle constantly having to use the channel change switch on the amp panel.

I use a Fender Telacaster and play styles from reggae to blues to Status Quo to heavy. This amp can do it all. The clean channel is amazing - even at full volume there is little or no distortion and the reverb sounds really good. Channel 2 is awesome - use of the gain and contour controls provides a wide range of sounds from subtle chunky rythms to out & out thrash. I have yet to explore all of the tonal combinations - so far my favourite settings for either channel are to set volume at maximum and back off the volume control on my Tele - wonderful!!!

Come on - it's a Marshall!! What do you think????

3 year warranty excellent

It was a toss up between this and the Laney HC25. I'm glad I got the Marshall - I love everything about it. When the time for real gigging comes, I'll definitely be getting a VS100

I had to follow-up on my initial comments, because I've decided to return the amp and get a refund. The big reason is that I need more power in certain situations and feared I'd be outgunned. I also feel I can get a more powerful and better amp for the money (used of course,) If you play at home or small jams, it's a great little amp, but you do only have 30 watts to work with.

Darn good in the sounds dept.

Only had it a couple of weeks. Couldn't get the heaphone jack to come to life.

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No--need more power; needs to be louder. But otherwise it's a good product.

10. Yes, very versatile and and good value for the money. Headphone jack, line out, two channels (clean/dirty) sound shapers. I use the amp for home and jamming with friends. This is a solid state amp--so far tested it at one good sized jam and it cut through OK--I was concerned there may not be enough power. I've only had it a few days, but so far so good. I also played acoustic 12 string thru it with an removable Dean markley pick up and it sounded very good.

Yes it suits my style of playing. Not noisy at all. Great clean sound and the dirty stuff is darn good. I tested it with an ibanez Artist ('81) semi-acoustic elec guitar with stuck humbuckers and it kicked ass. Haven't played my strat thru it yet, but that's a foregone conclusioon. If it can make the Ibanez sound good, I know it's hapnin.

Haven't had it long enuf to say--but Marhsall is supposed to be very reliable product.

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Yes--nothing to hate--lightweight, versatile, loud

I have been looking for a good amp since I destroyed my old amp. This one is nice and cheap yet it has the power to play some heavy stuff. It has two channels one clean and dirty. I have a Fender Strat and it sounds beautiful on both channels. I even try to get a warmmer sound out of my Strat, making it sound like a Gibson Les Paul with two humbuckers. It even does that! This amp is truly a thing of beauty!

This amp does everything I love it. It sounds really nice whatever type of music you are playing with it! Distortion is really dirty if you want it, if not it gives great sustain! It even makes single coil pickups sound extra bright!

It's a Marshall! Need I say more!

Have not had trouble but it's been only 3 hours! Yet, it's a Marshall!

Yes anytime! Nice cheap and plus it's a Marshall!

The VS30R is 2 Channel and is Foot Switcable. Strangely enough the foot switch doesn't come with the amp. I thought that was kind of cheesy for a Marshall. The added feature of a headphone jack makes it a great practice amp. I'll ding it a little here because they didn't include the foot switch. Also, it's probably not loud enough to gig with so you'd have to mike it or run it direct.

The clean channel is incredibly clean. Add some reverb and use the middle pickup on a Strat and you've got a great rockabilly sound. Switch to the Overdirve Channel and you get a variety of sounds. The Contour control varies the sound from a good tight biting to a warm ballsy distortion. Cutting back on the Gain cleans it up a little and gives you more of the Overdriven Tube sound. With a Strat the combinations are endless. In fact, I'm having trouble deciding what sound I like the best. The documentation says the clean channel will distort slightly at high volumes but I haven't seen this. Maybe it would with a Les Paul.
I play many different styles of music and the VS30R suits mne perfectly. My acoustic even sounds pretty good through it.

So far I've had ZERO trouble with the amp. It's a Marshall...I don't expect problems.

Marshall has re-done their standard warranty to 3 years. I don't anticipate ever having to get it serviced. However, if I did I know the store where I bought it is an authorized service center.

When I bought the VS30R I had been looking at a variety of 30 watt amps. I wanted something that was versatile and a good value. I looked at everything from the VS30R to new Ampeg combos to Vox AC15 and AC 30's. The Ampeg sounded great as did the Vox but I felt the price was exorbitant for a 15 to 30 watt amp. I felt the VS30R sounded about as good for a fraction of the price. Of course if you want just straight tube overdrive...buy a tube amp.

Well, after selling my Matrix finally I got this Marshall amp for a pretty low price. Its one step below the VS65R, meaning it has NO tubes in it. Anyway, it has a VERY nice reverb, and 2 channels footswitchable. I like it alot , considering I bought it today and havent had enough time to mess with it.

The clean channel is AMAZING on my neck pickup position, even more so with reverb up all the way. As for distortion, being a distortion freak, and from what I could gather in the few short hours I've had it, it has a pretty good overdrive channel, but why should I care, I have a DOD FX69 GRUNGE, and I'll never use the overdrive channel anyway :) I dont know if its loud enough to gig, but its great for practice and rehearsals. I havent checked if the clean distorts, Ill do it sometime later. All in all, AWSOME!

I've had it for 3 hours, what do you want me to say?

I dont know about warranty, but even if it ever breaks down, (probably never, its a Marshall) then I guess the store I bought it from would probably repair it for me...

If I had 300$ more, I would probably have bought the VS65R, but if you want a great cheap amp with AWSOME clean sound and VERY GOOD distortion, GET THIS ONE!