Valvestate VS100 parts

[Patriot59]

Thanks my friend...

[J M Fahey]

I too have a Marshall VS100 ..... Any input on the VS100? Does anyone like the Valvestate amps? .....

Well, for one I do

Got undeserved bashing in their time because they were compared to classic full tube units, apples to oranges.

fact is they do sound quite good, as long as you use the right way.

Buzzy buzzy at bedroom levels, but like on most (all?) SS amps, there´s an easy cure: play them LOUD.

There is a sweet spot (around 6 or 7 on the Master volume) when *power stage* just starts clipping, and evens/chops "wasps in a tin can" spikes but waveforms are not yet dull flat squarewaves and sound becomes very acceptable.

[Patriot59]

Thank you for your response Juan. I was playing through a Carvin Tube Amp, but had a Fender Princeton Chorus, and was also using a friends small Peavey Combo Tube.
So now I have a Category 5 from a friend (check that out), named after Cat 5 Hurricanes. Now I have a Mustang III V.2 and I really like it. I'm 58 and in my 40th year in a band(s), I need simple.
It's a shame because I had cobbled a C3 Compressor, a TC Flashback, CH-1 Chorus, an Xotic Lead, and an OCD which I played in front of all the others in some fashion.
So I could not get comfortable. But I am determined to be with this Fender.

Oh I also used a Line 6 POD on the front end.

But Juan, my favorite 80's amp of all time, was a Galien Kruger little lunch box. %0 Watts Stereo...it drove a Marshall Stack. Had mor sustain and growl that I have not heard since.

So God Bless keep in touch, and keep rockin my friend.

JK a.k.a. Patriot59

[J M Fahey]

Yes, those little GK lunchbox sized combos had a killer Preamp and Poweramp, (and very good Chorus and Reverb) but quite compromised by the tiny speakers and literally shoebox sized cabinet.
But you plug them into real cabinets and .... stand back !!!! (Y).

[Justin Thomas]

Yes, those little GK lunchbox sized combos had a killer Preamp and Poweramp, (and very good Chorus and Reverb) but quite compromised by the tiny speakers and literally shoebox sized cabinet.
But you plug them into real cabinets and .... stand back !!!! (Y).

Had a chance to play one of those GK-250s through a 4x12"a few years ago... one if two SS amps I'd consider owning (besides a Fahey). And once I heard it, I realized that amp, along with JCM-800s, <WAS> the sound of the 80s. I hear them EVERYwhere now.

Screw the new junk, they need to reissue those little bad boys. And with the lunchbox craze going on, I bet they'd kill in the market. And I mean <REISSUE> - not some crappy digital clone or whatever, but use what they did then.

I also had a first generation ValveState 8200, and I thought it sounded pretty dang good, too - it got really compressed and smooth if you dialed it in JUST right, which was nice for my Deep Purple phase I was going through at the time. Then one day, I powered on, and POOF! Light was on, nobody home - not even speaker noise. I went to the music store with $1,000 in hand, asked for the best amp in the store, and walked out with my first tube amp - a red Prosonic combo. I never looked back.
But, a WELL-DESIGNED SS amp can sound pretty damn good if it's done to SOUND good, not just be cheap. Oh - Polytones are nice, too!

Justin

[Patriot59]

Hey Justin,
I was kind of introduced the other way. I started in 77' with a Sears Silvertone, where the amp head was stored in the speaker cabinet. I didn't know the difference between tubes and Transistors. But then I started playing through Yamaha's. Like the 412S and the G100 Head and cabinet. They were 100 watt and we used that wattage because we didn't mic out yet. We we playing Alabama, the Eagles, and Chicago. Wedding receptions, and parties.
Then came the rock years of the 80's. Got that little GK-250 and drove 50 watt stereo in to 2 Marshall cabinets, 1 stack. That bad boy had the best crunch that I had ever heard.

Then came the "You have to have a tube". A friend of mine owns a company called Category 5. Please take a look and see what you think. We graduated together from high school in 77' and after our 40th anniversary last year, he sent me his Allen Demo as a gift. His name is Don Ritter and he is a very approachable gentleman. So take a look at Category 5 amplifiers.

But since then I have played through my friends little Peavey, and his Carvin. Both were great sounding tube amps.
But after using a Line 6 POD, a Fender Mustang II Floorboard, and discreet pedals like OCD and Xotic, I finally now have settled on a Mustang III V.2 as it has great modeling and FUSE software to make changes or share settings with the Fender Community. I heat up the tubes in the Cat 5 and practice at home. I am unfortunately disabled and cannot carry the heavy boys anymore.

I finally understood that there was more to distortion and overdrive than RAT's and Yamaha or Fender Princeton distortion. And now I see the dilemma of should I place overdrive pedals in front of my already overdriven tube amp? Should I use the amp overdrive alone? Or, should I just use the OCD in to the clean channel.

I have great little selections of combo amps to play with. This band does Led Zep and the Eagles and all the stuff in between. So I need 3 channels. One clean, one dirty rhythm, and one lead. I lost dexterity due to Cervical surgeries, so marginal at lead but trying to be tasteful and deep rather than speed bound Pentatonic although every once in a while!!!!

Anyway, I would buy another GK 250 Lunchbox. That little Bas***d would rock the world...

Thanks for the responses and allowing this newcomer to enjoy this forum.

[Patriot59]

Hey JM,
I can honestly say that driving a Marshall stack with that little lunchbox, with a little Chorus and Reverb, was the Bees Knees.

I remember playing Sweet Child of Mine very soon after it came out. And rocking some Bon Jovi in 86'.

Thanks for your responses Sir.

Jerry