So you're wanting to play out...
Written: Jul 15 '02 (Updated Jul 15 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great clean channel, ballsy overdrive channel, affordable, LOUD 50 watts, good response from the tube
Cons: Volume swells when switching from overdrive to clean, headphone out sounds like crap
The Bottom Line: Remarkable versatility, A-grade tone, portable, durable... For the price, I dare you to find a better amp. Period.
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| higle's Full Review: Marshall Avt50 Guitar Combo Amplifier |
It's finally that time. You're playing with a group of people (in your drummer's garage) after all this time practicing by yourself, and you're looking to upgrade from your 10-20 watt, one channel, solid state practice amplifier to something a little more gig-worthy (that's what was happening to me, anyway). So you go out to make that all important purchase: your first giggin' amp!
Actually, I shouldn't limit this amplifier to the "beginner" category. It has enough rawk to rival several higher-price all tube amplifier heads and combos, and is versatile enough to cover just about any sonic territory. Let's start with the facts and features:
This is a Valvestate amp, meaning it's a hybrid between valves (British-speak for tubes) and solid state components. It has one ECC83 tube in the pre-amp and a 50 watt solid state power amp. An unusual feature is a small cooling fan on the back of the amp, which could pose future problems (any moving parts in a gigging amplifier are subject to a nasty, untimely demise). The tube is hidden deep inside the amp. This could pose problems and unnecessary headaches as well, as it essentially means you have to take the amp into a shop just to change the tube (unless you're comfortable with disassembling your amplifier almost completely).
Two footswitchable channels, clean and overdrive. Clean has gain, bass, treble, and volume controls. Overdrive has gain, bass, mid, treble, and volume controls. Accutronics spring reverb, with one universal control on the front of the amp, non-footswitchable. CD input and headphone output jacks on the front, in addition to the instrument input. On/off powerswitch, with no standby switch.
One 12" Celestion speaker in a closed-back cabinet. On the back of the amp are effects send and return jacks, an "emulated DI" jack (for plugging into a PA board or recording console; supposed to emulate a miked cabinet, haven't tried it), and a speaker out jack. You can plug this bad boy into any speaker cabinet rated at 8 or 16 ohms and generate some righteous noise.
Firstly, this combo is versatile. Very versatile. More so than most of the pricey heads that I tested when I bought this thing. The clean channel is the best that I found in this class (especially when paired with such an evil OD channel). You are simply not going to find a better clean in an amp under $500, well on up to $1000 or more. I don't know how Marshall did it, but they've done up the solid state power amp so that it believably imitates overdriven tubes when the gain is cranked on the clean channel. What you get is dynamically responsive, attack sensitive, beautifully controlled breakup at all volume levels. Back the gain down, and you've got smooth jazzy tones (bass up, treble down), or Fender-like country twang (bass down, treble up). I can't say enough about the clean channel.
The overdrive channel is a monster. At the lowest gain settings, it picks up seamlessly where the clean leaves off: Texas blues crunch and classic blues-rock bark. Keep workin' the knob clockwise and you tread into brutal tone territory. You can saturate your sound to your liking, anything from grungy growl to Brown Sound. The EQ controls are good, allowing you to shape your tone very well. Again, great dynamic response and attack sensitivity on this channel. Harmonics just jump off the fretboard effortlessly.
Unlike a lot of amplifiers in this price range, this amp assumes the personality of the guitar that you are playing. I own a number of different guitars, each with different characteristics. My main axe is my Hamer Echotone (semi hollowbody ES335 looking deal). The AVT50 brings out the hidden potential in that guitar. There is no sound that is beyond the reach of that setup. For heavier stuff, I use a punked-out Ibanez Stagestar (a Fat Strat clone), with one high output humbucker at the bridge. The powerful bass thump of the closed back cabinet will rattle your teeth with palm mutes, while the treble chime from the light weight alder body of the guitar keeps everything distinct and precise. And just like any good tube amplifier, the distortion cleans up nicely with the volume knob on the guitar.
The reverb is a little dry beyond the 9 o'clock setting. If you crank it anywhere beyond 12 o'clock it's somewhat annoying. This doesn't really affect me, as I don't like a lot of reverb anyway.
As mentioned before, the closed back on the speaker cabinet can give this combo a rich bass that almost replicates a 4x12 cabinet. The closest thing that I've heard in such a small package was a Mesa/Boogie F30 combo ($799). For the money, I'd stick with this combo.
I've only superficially used the effects loop, but it is level-matched to the main signal so you get a balanced sound from it, if that's your bag. Pedal wise, I just use a chromatic tuner pedal and a Voodoo Lab Sparkle Drive for volume boost during solos. Both of these are plugged up before the main input, so I don't use the loop at all in practice. I should mention that the Sparkle Drive's clean boost slams the AVT50's preamp and creates a remarkable lead sound full of sustain and harmonics, just like a full tube amp would behave. Do this on the Clean channel and you've got something similar to Stevie Ray's lead sound. Do it on the Overdrive channel and you've got anything from roadhouse blues to super saturated Steve Vai scream.
The mix from the headphone output is lame. Even when using a pair of Bose headphones, the sound was like someone amplifying a fart through a tin can. The headphone output on my Marshall MG15RCD solid state practice amp was superb in comparison. This shouldn't be a concern for most people anyway, because you don't buy a 50 watt amplifier just to listen to it through headphones. I'll continue using the little practice amp for that, I guess.
There is also a very noticeable volume swell when changing from the Overdrive channel to the Clean channel, if you're playing at the time. Sustain a note on OD, hit the footswitch, and there's a brief "aaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaa" as the sound transitions from dirty to clean. This is apparently consistent with all of the AVT amplifiers and a common complaint. There is no sound or swell or anything if you mute the strings while switching, which is just fine with me. Rarely do I ever find that I need to sustain an overdriven chord or note and switch to clean while it's still ringing.
Overall, you are going to be hard pressed to find a better amp in this price range. I paid $350 for mine (new) at a local guitar shop, and I couldn't have found anything else that my ears and wallet would have been happier with. Unbelievable tone, tremendous volume (I can overpower everyone in the band without a problem), very portable weight (41 lbs), and unbelievable versatility make this amplifier something that any gigging guitarist should check out.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
higle
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Reviews written: 8
Trusted by: 3 members
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