Amp Vault - Marshall Valvestate 100V 8100 Amp review

[@morbidalex666]

I've got one, being a huge Death fan you are right by saying that someone wouldn't buy this amp for "tube feel" but no tube amp can match the 8100 edgy and dry sound - not without boosts, EQs in front and a shitload of post-processing anyway because of its uniqueness, it blends well with more mid-rich sounds, like a 5150 type tone it is possible that it can be distorted enough, if you hit it with high output pickups I hit mine with Entwistle Darkstar ND and Dimarzio X2N pickups and I don't have to turn the gain knob right up to get it where I want something about the underestimated clean channel: it doesn't do lush Fender-esque tones at all what it does rather nice is heavily modulated sounds with reverbs and delays without turning into a mushy mess - try that instead stay heavy!!

[@HM2CULT]

8100 is a great amp. Glad I found one.

[@dq7860]

They also go very well with the HM-2.

[@AndreiGrozea]

the sounds at 16:15 would sound pretty good in a mix, all the fizz is easy to EQ out. Honestly this amp is more "metal" than most other small tube amps targeted at metal players.

[@JesseCrabtreectsp]

Thanks for the post. My '94 is about to go to the amp shop. Now I can explain what's cracking out on the knobs.

[@Lavabug]

I have one and I love it, it is my favorite sounding amp. Call me crazy, I have a 5150ii and a 5150iii, but there are some sounds in the 8100 that are impossible to get from any tube amp I've had thanks to the contour knob (which I set very high). No tricks or postprocessing required, it sounds exactly like the records it was used on.

[@slobnchop]

This was a great weekend, 2 vs related videos. This and Kohle's. Hope that somebody would do boss gx-700 videos too.

[@twinsismoon]

how about testing the amp with an hm2 on the boost channel, there are rumors that Dismember used a valvestate during the recordings of the Like an Ever Flowing Stream album

[@DomeNightbearer]

Don't you think I will check the chainsaw potential of this amps anyways? 🤣

[@neongroves628]

Just built a 140 watt - 4 ohm cab for one of these beasts and when dialed in, it sounds so amazing. The unique microphonics in the power stage allow for metal magic to manifest…

[@GartenhausLP]

Hell yeah. This is an amazing amp. I‘m on my third one because the first two which were in pretty rough shape when I got them died on me within a year each. The one I have now is also not as clean as the one you have but it is still going strong. I should plug into it way more often.

[@PinkertonJM]

I bought mine when it was just out. Still own it and it's doing fine. But love an valve amp way more. Especially my Engl Powerball 2 and Peavey Valveking VK100 heads.

[@ilikepotatoes1345]

This is just because of the second OD channel unironically one of the best amps Marshall ever made, even though it's most likely completely unintentional. As to why the EQ knobs didn't do very much, it might because the pre-amp tube is faulty, don't know if you've checked on it, might be worth looking into that and perhaps changing it for better results. Great demo either way! :)

[@DomeNightbearer]

Thanks, will look after it. Do you have a suggestion?

[@riffsnoleads]

@@DomeNightbearer I have personally found Shuguang factory preamp tubes to be the most consistent in quality. There are only 3 factories in the whole world that make the tubes and then they are just branded by different sellers. You either get a Sovtek (Russian), Shuguang (Chinese) or JJ (Slovakia).

[@AIBCustomFx]

there's actually several factors for the groggy EQ. First is the input cap filter that cut far too much mids and lows (look at the "passive" high peak in the video). second is the contour knob which is a pre EQ sweeping notch filter twinned with a low pass filter. although it has interesting tone characteristics the notch cuts far over 20dB of a broad Q which not only filters the EQ but also drops the general dB output. Third is a primary gain stage that amplifies the guitar signal above 700-800hz but not below. All this leads to a very tight tone but very loose EQ. note that these are quick calculations and varies between versions. The tube however has close to no impact on the overall tone as it's used to raise the weak signal up several dB...

[@ilikepotatoes1345]

@@AIBCustomFx I never claimed that it is THE problem, I just metioned that it maybe could have something to do with it which I think is true. When I first got my valvestate it sounded incredibly scooped (even for its' own tonal character),sizzly, bass deprived and just weak, so I checked the pre-amp tube and sure enough, I found the original Marshall ECC83 straight from the factory that has been sitting in there for 20+ years, immediately changed it and all of the above mentioned unwanted tonal characteristics went away. I'm no engineer, I just shared my thoughts as a fellow owner of a valvestate. :)

[@AIBCustomFx]

@@ilikepotatoes1345 and you were right to state it. Tubes have a limited life span after all. even though the tube itself has a limited impact on the tone under normal conditions, a defective one would have a tremendous impact on the tone!

[@Admiral_Bongo]

Lol, Kohle releases a Valvestate vid and the next day so do you. I can only say one thing: this is nice.

[@pissepartout]

Hallo :) I've been owning a 100W Valvestate combo (12" celestion) for nearly 16years ; EQ never worked well, too. Even if I'm fan of Marshal sound, I've never been satisfied by itself. I usually use it boosted with an OD and and EQ, or direct in loop with my MT2 working as pre-amp (dirty or as clean as possible with fuzz). To me a Joyo Jackman sounds Marshall better , meanwhile Billy Gibbons uses 100w Valvestate heads as pre-amp in lives !

[@DropB]

I have the 8080 model. Crank the mids to full and treble to 3 o'clock or to full and then set the contour to 9 or 10 'clock. It will be metal.

[@santiagomoreno696]

Can I use the send (from the FX loop) to do the frequency analysis? I don't have a Torpedo captor, so I would do it straight to my audio interface. I also have one of these Valvestates (Actually two, this same one and the combo as well) and would like to do the same to address that bass control, I don't think it's that useless actually.

[@DomeNightbearer]

Yes you can! To be completely safe don't forget to connect a speaker to it tho 😉

[@francoguadrini9397]

Hi Dome. Anyone who is insane should equip themselves, or at least have had a Valvestate Marshall. I have the Valve 8080 and the 8020. Of course, i'm talking about Metal Brothers; yesssssss!

[@ianedmonds9191]

I've had valvestate 8020 since about 1989 which I got for christmas after my last amp (demon) died. At 16 or so I felt very cool to have a Marshall. Her I am now 47. I sprayed the pots with contact cleaner on my old 8020 but it's still a bit noisy. Now I've bought an 8100 head for about 250 pounds. No cabs but I'll run it through my mixer and studio monitors. Might buy a cab at some point. I finally will have a proper valve pre-stage. I've recorded 3 albums of music and only ever had virtual valves. Can't wait to hear a real one here... Live. The virtual modelled valves sound amazing. I guess I'll wait and see if meeting your heroes is as bad as everyone advises. Luv and Peace.

[@christianboddum8783]

@@ianedmonds9191 The 8080 is a great unit the 8040 and below can't do cleans, they don't have the headroom. But the 8080 is great. Have 2 for a stereo setup you can afford ;-) return can be used for powering modellers, and it is on the front of the amp, handy for live use!

[@nicolasaraistrujak208]

hello! how does it sound when there is a metalzone or another preamp pedal in its FX Loop?

[@DomeNightbearer]

Probably good. However you should not run into the internal preamp but directly into the pedal and from its output to the fx return.

[@nicolasaraistrujak208]

@@DomeNightbearer Thanks Dome! I thought that it wouldn''t work with transistor poweramps

[@downcode]

Which Torpedo Captor you're using? 4ohm ? Do you know whould 8ohm work here?

[@DomeNightbearer]

I used 8 Ohm, so yeah, it works 😉

[@downcode]

@@DomeNightbearer Neat, thanks man :) Got any more recordings with this beast?

[@DomeNightbearer]

@@downcode No recordings, I swapped it recently for the Suhr reactive Loadbox

[@downcode]

@@DomeNightbearer Ahh I mean the 8100 :D

[@DomeNightbearer]

haha... well... I have plenty of coversongs that feature the digital simulation (Audiority Solidus) but now that you're saying I should use it again in the near future!

[@chrisholman2289]

I rather like the 8100, but they inherently fizz… so LPF or careful EQ necessary to kill it.

[@SirLongBongFatRipps]

How do they sound chugging an octive down?

[@Tehstroyer]

Valvestates are probably my least favorite of the classic metal solid-states (VS the Randalls and Ampegs at least - didn't actually see any direct comparisons with the Peaveys), but are still plenty cool and at least they're readily available for normal prices, unlike the aforementioned two.

[@jorgea.9988]

Whatahell is going on with those eqs?

[@guntherachterhof4876]

👏👍

[@97warlock]

whats the LOOP LEVEL do??

[@DomeNightbearer]

it's sets the level for the FX Loop

[@michalvyhnal777]

You playin just on head.Without any Cab speaker?And what guitar do you use?

[@DomeNightbearer]

I use a loadbox with an impulse response. I have several guitars, most of them custom 7 strings 😉

[@michalvyhnal777]

I am a beginer i dont know about guitars that much but i want to ask if i can play only with head cable and guitar and nothing more.Just that

[@DomeNightbearer]

It depends on your amp, but the general answer is no. I can do a video on this topic as well 😉

[@michalvyhnal777]

@@DomeNightbearer so the sound cant come out just from head.

[@michalvyhnal777]

@@DomeNightbearer i am about to buy the exact same head marshall valve state 100

[@joaquinmalebran4604]

Hi;)

[@DomeNightbearer]

Hello 😅

[@SGobuck]

Don't. Buy . One. Of . These. Amps. Most unpredictable, unreliable and unserviceable amp I ever plugged into. Overrated, overpriced, ass of an amp.

[@DomeNightbearer]

Never had an issue with mine and I don't know how to get this particular sound otherwise, at least in the real world. However, these days I use the Audiority VST-emulation way more

[@SGobuck]

@@DomeNightbearer it was ok for a while, but once you have problems with what you think are the potentiometers... it doesn't have potentiometers.