Last night a Marshall saved my life...

EricTheWeary

https://bobblepic.com/images/2017/02/08/IMG_1053.jpg

...metaphorically speaking. This is a very unloved AVT that hides up the corner of the rehearsal room I go to. Well, the normal amp I use there was dead and I managed to kill the power supply to my pedalboard  so I had to go effectless to the AVT. 

Over the rehearsal I managed to dial in a sound I quite liked ( overdrive but very, very little gain otherwise it reverts to mush)and the onboard delay sufficed as my only effect - I worked out a little arc on the mix knob where it could do useful things ( below which you wouldn't know it was on and above which it's a digital, clangy mess). Luckily I had my headstock tuner in my gig bag so I was fine without my Boss tuner. 
I'm now wondering wether for the gig this Saturday I should bother with my pedal board, it is fairly modest anyway but I could reduce it to, well, a delay pedal and a tuner probably. Hmmm. 

Anyway, I know the AVT doesn't get much love but this one is my little friend now 

Voxman

I hear you.  I have a Marshall Valvestate Mk1 8080 '80v' 1x12 Combo.  Cracking little amp, with a spring reverb.  It was my gigging amp for a few years, and remains  faithful, reliable & a good sounding back-up that would still get me through any gig today even with no extra pedals.  Sometimes it can be very liberating to travel light & get back to basics.  It makes you think much more about how to get the best tones with what you have, makes you use your guitar controls more, and by working a little harder you sometimes find you might actually play a little better too.   

EricTheWeary

Voxman said:

I hear you.  I have a Marshall Valvestate Mk1 8080 '80v' 1x12 Combo.  Cracking little amp, with a spring reverb.  It was my gigging amp for a few years, and remains  faithful, reliable & a good sounding back-up that would still get me through any gig today even with no extra pedals.  Sometimes it can be very liberating to travel light & get back to basics.  It makes you think much more about how to get the best tones with what you have, makes you use your guitar controls more, and by working a little harder you sometimes find you might actually play a little better too.   

Apart from the odd moment when I was struggling to generate crazy noises I played well last night ( by my standards anyway). Got a new power supply on it's way today and it might, it just might, end up on a mini board.
I used to have an 8080, not really sure why I got rid of it at all, I was so pleased with it when I got it I thought it would be my amp for life. 

ChrisCox1994

Voxman said:

I hear you.  I have a Marshall Valvestate Mk1 8080 '80v' 1x12 Combo.  Cracking little amp, with a spring reverb.  It was my gigging amp for a few years, and remains  faithful, reliable & a good sounding back-up that would still get me through any gig today even with no extra pedals.  Sometimes it can be very liberating to travel light & get back to basics.  It makes you think much more about how to get the best tones with what you have, makes you use your guitar controls more, and by working a little harder you sometimes find you might actually play a little better too.   

those old valvestates are the best solid state power amp'd amps I've ever heard, inc the new stuff (blues cube) and the pre amp valve lasts forever! 

ESBlonde

My extra spare, rehearsal and home amp is an AVT 20. Everything that should be wrong in an amplifier but somehow it gets the job done. It's very old now and had a couple of faults in it's first year or two, but has been a solid reliable performer ever since. I've even used it in a theatre setting a few times and a couple of months ago it even got used in a small pub gig!

timmysoft

I've used old vs8080s and vs100rs for years, they're great amps regardless of price point.