The right Marshall Amp for me - Valvestate 8040?

[Th0r5ten]

Detailed version below. In short: Which Marshall combo from the 1985 to 2005 era would you recommend to buy?

~ 50 W solid state / hybrid or ~ 5 to 10 W valve with built-in powersoak,
two channels,
as a practice amp and for the band room and small gigs,
should weigh 15 kg or so,
must not cost more than ~ € 150 ($ 170)
should be a popular model that can be found on ebay, in classifieds etc. more or less regularly.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Hi,

I'm glad I found this forum and hope that I will find some useful advice!

I'm not a guitarist in the first place. I've sung a lot, both classical and rock/pop, play the piano on an intermediate level, took up the cello ten years ago. I had already played some guitar as a teenager and it got more important for me when I taught music at a local school during the past three years.

I'm now one member of an "alternative" trio where I mostly play the cello and sing backing voices but sometimes also play electric guitar. I own a PRS style Fame Forum III (which you may not be familiar with because a German store has these guitars made in Poland).

I'm looking for a combo that would be a big step forward compared to my Roland MicroCube regarding both sound quality and volume. I want to use it for practice at home but maybe also in the band room and for small gigs (we sometimes play very small concerts, e. g. in living rooms). Money is an issue right now and so I will either have to buy a used amp for < € 150 or no amp at all.

I don't think I want to have a modeling amp. I want two channels for clean and (slightly) distorted sound, a footswitch jack, a three-band EQ, maybe a headphone jack, maybe reverb, maybe a jack for FX Loop. I do have a pedalboard with some nice pedals that I purchased to use with the cello, I could use these with my guitar and amp, too.

I'm thinking about a combo with one 12" speaker, ~ 50 W solid state / hybrid or ~ 5 to 10 W valve, but only with a built-in powersoak. I know that a valve amp will be hard to find within my budget. The amp should definitely weigh less than 20 kg! And I think that I would like to have a Marshall amp, although I don't really now why. It's more of an intuition.

I came across some classifieds for Marshall solid state amps like the 5210 and for amps of the Valvestate series. The 8040 seems to be particularly interesting to me. Do you think I should try to get one of these or is there an alternative that I should consider among the other older Marshall models?

Many regards
Thorsten

 

[Th0r5ten]

Hi,

please tell me if any additional information would be helpful.

Also, if my question is superfluos because the information I'm looking for can already be found somewhere, please tell me where.

I stumbled upon a JTM30 on ebay, it seems nice, but I expect it will sell for ~ € 250 ...

Regards
Thorsten

 

[Th0r5ten]

This monologue is quite a unique experience ...

I could buy a VS65R for ~ $ 170. Any comments on that offer? Assume that the amp is in a good condition and that there is no need to change the valve ...

Due to the nature of my concern, I will not be able to go to a shop and compare the amps against another. I will not even be able to o to one place, try a Valvestate 8040, go to another place and try a VS65R, etc. One does not come across used Marshall amps that often in my area.

 

[GabrielEngel]

For what it's worth, I have and still play my 8080 (big brother to the 8040), it sounds good to me. Never like the seond gen Valvestate (VS65R) but liked the later AVT20. I had, but was underwhelmed by the JTM30, though some might prefer it, being an all tube amp and not some hybrid. Now the 5210 is great, I have a 5010 and still play it the most. This series was a solid state version of the JCM800's and sounds amazing for their price. The only thing better (besides an all tube JCM800) was the hybrid 4203, I miss that one, sorry I sold it but being young and unexperieced we make mistakes.

 

[johan.b]

Thorsten ( i assume that's your name)
you haven't stated where you live, but if you are anywhere near Stockholm Sweden, there is a Mosfet lead 100 (3210) for sale for next to nothing at gitarrtorget in Stockholm. Condition like new. You'll need a speaker cab too but I'm sure they could help you out
i saw it last week and was very tempted, but passed on it since I'm currently selling stuff to free up space.
j

 

[Th0r5ten]

Thanks for your replies!

It seems the first generation Valvestate or the 5xxx series would be a good choice ... right now there is neither of these amps available in my area. My "strategy" is now to try to get the next amp that fulfils my criteria and has a good reputation, be it a Marshall, Laney, Hiwatt, Ampeg ... play it some time to gain some experience and then either keep it or get another amp.

(...) if you are anywhere near Stockholm Sweden, there is a Mosfet lead 100 (3210) for sale for next to nothing at gitarrtorget in Stockholm. Condition like new. You'll need a speaker cab too but I'm sure they could help you out.

I live in Germany. Thorsten is quite a popular name here, too.

I'll definitely get a combo and it will definitely be one that weighs ten to 20 kg. I want to be able to carry my stuff alone and I don't want to walk twice just for one amp (unless I need to to get the sound and volume I want).

 

[SLA]

I would look for an jcm900 combo, theire mostly rather cheap to get, not much more in price than an valvestate but you get an much better amp for the money, they also have an half-power switch and sound good on low volumes. Their is tons of info about how they kan be made even better with some really easy mods. You find one for approxmitly 300 euros