A movement has started to get the Vavlestate 8100 amp reissued.

[Mrmadd]

Now that I thought about this a minute....
You would probably have an easier go of it if you were to convince Marshall to include the Valvestate tones in the patch programming of the newer Marshall CODE amps.
That would be easy for them.
I seriously doubt that Marshall is going to venture to produce any amp that they can not count on selling by the hundreds or thousands of units.

 

[Nmoc strat]

I've had the 8080 combo, it was a little beast. However, if Marshall were to reissue a 90s Amp, I'd go for the JMP-1 rack pre-amp, Thats a really Nice Piece Of equipment, and its drive sound is unique. Lots Of great artists uses it or have used it, Maiden, Priest, Def Leppard, ZZ Top, Uriah Heep, etc.

Maybe Marshall should do an upgraded version Of it, with the JFX-1 incorporated, instead Of a Different unit, and maybe a powered version too, to match nowadays Kempers / Fractal etc.

 

[Mrmadd]

The CODE amps are fun. They may be a near miss on the reproduction of an actual tube amp, but lots of great tone at a small price.
I like how Marshall placed the history of Marshall amps into to one computer box. Still sounds good. Especially at low volumes for the late night practice or bedroom players.

 

[Mrmadd]

There is currently an 8100 on Reverb listed for $509

 

[ricksdisconnected]

Me and my brother bot the 8100 brand new from Scam Cash (Sam Ash)on Li and paired it with an ART SGX2000, I thought it sounded great at the time! Wish I kept it.

damn where have you been tusk. long time no see bro.

 

[Drinkingdeath01]

Depends on the price

How much would YOU be willing to pay for a new, made-in-asia valvestate head?

Not all the VS were made in Asia. The first batch with the red rocker power switch were made in England, the black push button batch were Asian made. I prefer the first versions, they sounded much better.

The VS always had pot problems. Some say the pots are junk, which they might be, but I always found it to be the design of the faceplate. The plates were angled in an upward fashion allowing dust to collect above the pots. Once the amp is fired up the vibration shook the dust particles down into the amp.

 

[Adieu]

Not all the VS were made in Asia. The first batch with the red rocker power switch were made in England, the black push button batch were Asian made. I prefer the first versions, they sounded much better.

The VS always had pot problems. Some say the pots are junk, which they might be, but I always found it to be the design of the faceplate. The plates were angled in an upward fashion allowing dust to collect above the pots. Once the amp is fired up the vibration shook the dust particles down into the amp.

That's not the point

Today they WOULD be made in Asia to make any sort of economic sense at all.

Btw, my opinion? A $250-300 lunchbox head would probably make sense, a fullsize direct reissue would probably flop.

 

[Maggot Brain]

Hate to burst your bubble but your pursuing a dead end.

Logically it makes no sense to reissue this amp. The demand will never be anywhere near enough to warrant production of a reissue. Marshall is in it for one thing and one thing only.... Money.

Marshall doesn't reissue a lot of its most desirable amps already, people screaming for 70s era JMP reissues etc... Now those maybe fairly desired Marshalls... Ain't worth it to them.... Just... It's never going to happen sorry.

 

[Sg-ocaster]

Bottom line is a buck. Marshall would have to decide if they could make enough profits off it in todays market with todays component costs etc..... Are there enough guys looking for the 8100 tone and of those how many want to pay the 2021 price for it vs buying used and having it recapped(they are 20+yrs old now)

 

[ricksdisconnected]

Bottom line is a buck. Marshall would have to decide if they could make enough profits off it in todays market with todays component costs etc..... Are there enough guys looking for the 8100 tone and of those how many want to pay the 2021 price for it vs buying used and having it recapped(they are 20+yrs old now)

can you imagine the shit storm if marshall did release it above all the other long time major requests
they have had from all different type of fans?

 

[Neville]

A 8240 combo was my first amp when I was 15. Owning this amp I learned a lot back then:

• Glowing valves in hybrid designs are pure marketing.
• Speakers are important...this one had terrible speakers
• You don't need 4 voicings if only 2 sound decent.
• 80 transistor watts don't hold up with my drummer.
• Never put digital effects in a parallel loop...because of the AD/DA conversion there is a short latency. When mixed back with the original signal there can be some horrible phase cancelations. I didn't know this back then and blamed my zoom multi for the shitty sound. But I still own it and the chorus and delays are actually great.
• Live is live. Recording is recording. Those 1st generation valvestates somehow managed to sound great when recorded. I did it and a lot of local bands did it and as mentioned some well known acts did it. Great results. However, live I used to get drowned.
• I have no need for an amp that "sounds good for it's price range". I need an amp that sounds good.

Looking back I have mixed feelings for this one. It was ok for me, but I feel like any Marshall build today, tube or not, sounds better. Well, maybe not the Code series lol. I would pass on a reissue but would pick up a used ministack from that era anytime just for the looks and pure nostalgia.

What strikes me is the contour knob. While blackstar promotes it's ISF feature to go from UK to US, it just does not. But as I remember the contour knob on the valvestates did exactly that! Maybe not as perfect as the tone knob on some orange amps like the TH30, but still better than blackstar.

 

[Bartrant]

Jesus H Christ reissue the 8100?????
They won't even look twice at a 6100, and if you knew two shits about Marshall's you would clearly see the difference.....................

I once owned a 8200 bichorus 'stereo'head (which was a great amp for playing the rehearsalrooms) and a 6100 halfstack-it never got any better than that.It was a 5881 fitted one,but I surely would take my hobbychainsaw out for the guy who stole it ( a very famous Amsterdam music store owner,I knew him for years,sold it in consignation and all of a sudden did not remember me...BTW that was the moment I learned the hard way that the Netherlands kill their own people for not having 1 (one,yes..) of the payroll things after years of hard work for the same boss,what was known,it was that paper-two years no income at all...so there went my gibsons,my Anniversary,my 8200,my '81 Dean model Z...)

But f*kc that-I just started again,and not playing with a band,I still love my DSL5CR with just a DimeDistortion before it.

But man,i miss that 6100 halfstack.But a good 8100 would be nice too,dang! \m/

 

[SkyMonkey]

The VS always had pot problems. Some say the pots are junk, which they might be, but I always found it to be the design of the faceplate. The plates were angled in an upward fashion allowing dust to collect above the pots. Once the amp is fired up the vibration shook the dust particles down into the amp.

When I got my used VS65R (2nd gen) it was full of dust!
And I do mean FULL.
I had to remove the speaker to empty it and vacuum around inside!
But the chassis was not too bad, and the pots were fine after a little squirt.
I think the problem was that the previous owner must have practiced/stored the amp in a cotton mill or something.

The only 1st gen 8080 I managed to try 'in the flesh' in the last few years had rampant 'pot rot' though.
But again, I think it was mainly down to storage conditions because the screws that secured the chassis in place were rusted.

A $250-300 lunchbox head would probably make sense, a fullsize direct reissue would probably flop.

In the 'twice yearly' Marshall Wish List threads, I have always voted for a Valvestate reissue.
A 20W preamp tube head and combo option would make the most sense these days, à la the Studio line-up.
Orange, and a couple of others, have happily revived the Valvestate concept in recent years with the 20W Micro Terror.
So why not Marshall, the originators themselves.
Just as long as they make sure it's a Mk I reissue 8020HR/CR.

 

[Madfinger]

Marshall needs to do something better in the hybrid market. Full ss is subjective at best appart from Boss & Roland. Orange are all over it with the hybrid offering & it would be insane if marshall introduced a REAL low budget contender series say 10w, 30w & 60w that could be versatile due to tube swaps 5751 v 12ax7 etc. as in a micro terror for example. Again subjective but the MG series to me is a wart on Marshalls nose IMO. They nailed it with the studio series for todays market maybe time to deliver a knockout blow.

 

[Robert Herndon Project]

Chuck also used the 8100 on "Human". I seen them on the Spiritual Healing tour with JCM800'S and the Human tour with the Valvestates.

I personally own three 8200's which is the same circuit but double the power. To me the 82's kill the 81's. They were designed to run four 4x12 cabs. They also are stereo and have a nice chorus built in.

I'm not so sure about these amps being rare, I see them all the time on Music Go Rounds website for a good price. Maybe you should look there ?

Like...

 

[Robert Herndon Project]

I have owned everything from a 1968 model 1959T with the Tim Caswell mod and #1990 cabinet, to a bought new VS265, a 1999 or 2000 MG50RCD (that I still have) a Headfirst Hot Rodded 50 watt origin and two DSL40C's.

I'm happiest with my 1993 VS 8200 in terms of size and portability and how it cuts through a live mix.

A few weeks ago, our live performance workshop at the local music academy (where I teach) was performing for their annual Christmas party. My wife and daughter wanted us to take one car to the event (Honda Fit) so I needed to quickly downsize. I grabbed my les Paul and my MG50RCD.

That little amp worked out so well. It had great sound and sat really well in the mix.





The 8200 has the built in chorus and reverb that I really like and it allows me to work without a massive pedalboard sometimes.

 

[Robert Herndon Project]

@Drinkingdeath01 - How do you use the line out feature on the 8200??? My current interface only has one input. I have (only for experimentation) unplugged both speakers and ran the amp with one cable from one of the line outs. It worked OK, but if you could share how you are using it in a recording environment, that would be awesome.

Happy New Year!!!!

 

[Robert Herndon Project]

A 8240 combo was my first amp when I was 15. Owning this amp I learned a lot back then:

• Glowing valves in hybrid designs are pure marketing.
• Speakers are important...this one had terrible speakers
• You don't need 4 voicings if only 2 sound decent.
• 80 transistor watts don't hold up with my drummer.
• Never put digital effects in a parallel loop...because of the AD/DA conversion there is a short latency. When mixed back with the original signal there can be some horrible phase cancelations. I didn't know this back then and blamed my zoom multi for the shitty sound. But I still own it and the chorus and delays are actually great.
• Live is live. Recording is recording. Those 1st generation valvestates somehow managed to sound great when recorded. I did it and a lot of local bands did it and as mentioned some well known acts did it. Great results. However, live I used to get drowned.
• I have no need for an amp that "sounds good for it's price range". I need an amp that sounds good.

Looking back I have mixed feelings for this one. It was ok for me, but I feel like any Marshall build today, tube or not, sounds better. Well, maybe not the Code series lol. I would pass on a reissue but would pick up a used ministack from that era anytime just for the looks and pure nostalgia.

What strikes me is the contour knob. While blackstar promotes it's ISF feature to go from UK to US, it just does not. But as I remember the contour knob on the valvestates did exactly that! Maybe not as perfect as the tone knob on some orange amps like the TH30, but still better than blackstar.

Interesting...

I thought I would share some opinions related to these topics. I've been a session player for years and we were one of the only SoCal bands that played continuously (private under contract for private events) through the pandemic. I also teach live performance at a local SoCal music academy.






My main performance amp in the 1980's/1990's was a 1968 1959T that had the Tim Caswell mod performed to it back in the 1980's. The tremolo circuit was repurposed for a second gain stage. I played through a Marshall 1990 cabinet. It was loud, but listening to old recordings, there was nothing great about that rig - except the high price I got for it when I sold it in 2015.

I switched over to a VS265 in the mid 1990's to reduce my loadout. I never had a better (quality of tone) live sound with that amp. I never struggled to "keep up" with a drummer in a live event scenario, even when not miked.

For 2 years, 5 nights a week, I played in a couple of tribute rock bands and I was using the DSL40C, which gave good performance, even playing alongside my bandmate's Carvin 100 all tube full stack.

Last year, I decided to buy a new Origin 50 and a good friend and amp guru added a second gain stage and Metro style FX loop to it. Kinda based on the Headfirst mod, but took it to another level with revised voltage droppers and altered voicings. I gigged with that all last year.



Recently, a buddy loaned me his brand new Mesa Fillmore, just to try it out. It's a great amp, but I could never get a "great" sound out of it. While I was up at his studio, he let me play through every amp he had - and his collection is impressive. The only amp that really sounded great to me was his 8280 Bi-Chorus.

I was so impressed with the sound quality of the amp, the tightness of the overdrive without a pedal, the depth of the chorus and reverb, that I bought a 1993 Mk1 8200 Bi-Chorus. Best live sound I've ever had from an amp.

That's become my main #1 amplifier for live work.

I've had two students, one with a 100 watt Marshall JCM800 re-issue and the other with a SS 100watt Katana and both were on par in terms of volume, but the Katana had a more cultured tone.

I don't really feel nostalgia, I just gravitate towards what has worked for me on the stage and I do not follow trends or fads.

In my home studio, I had been using a Blackstar ID-Core 100 as a DAW platform. It has been a great amp in that capacity, but recently, I found that I get a better, more organic sounding overdrive on recordings with a MG100HFX.

Talk about culture shock. A local SoCal studio that I work for has a Mike Morin modded JCM800/2204 that was their house amp for years. Recently I let them borrow my hot-rodded Origin 50. They won't give it back. They said it is better in every respect than the 2204.

Now I have to try and get rid of a trainwreck of a 2204... LOL



Nothing wrong with the old tube amps, but TBTH, I don't miss them...

P.S. with regard to live sound and how a given amp 'sits' in the mix. I've found that speaker choice is a big part of that. So many people try to 'color' the amp with a speaker that has a 'mid spike' or some other tonal attribute.

I hate speaker breakup. I prefer to have a speaker that can amplify my tone without 'doctoring' it with some frequency spike. I also will not run any speaker with less than a 100db spl.

In my quest for a good speaker, I have tried all of them that are currently available, and I've been allowed to borrow many vintage speakers for testing.

The best speaker I have found for live sound are the 12" Celestion 250 watt Copperbacks. This is a 100db speaker....

Happy New Year!!!!

 

[Seventh Son]

When I read the original post, the first thought that came to my mind was, This doesn’t make any sense.

Beside, the most godawful guitar tones I have ever heard in my life were death metal tones. Why would anyone want to “reissue” that?

 

[Mrmadd]

Seems to me that Marshall abandoned that tone when creating the CODE amps.

They feature several other famous Marshall amps in the CODE amp programming but not Valvestate.

If anything they should add a preset to the CODE amp list.