What is the difference

[Dross]

Okay, anyone here own marshall valvestate one and 2 series?

I want to get an 8240 marshall valvestate combo, i also see 265Rs, and the bi chorus model combos, and the VS65 (essentially the same as a 265 i think).

I was wondering what the gain between a valvestate one, and a valvestate 2 sounded like, if there are any differences.

I was also wondering what ones the smashing pumpkins were using on the machina tour.

[Dross]

Re: What is the difference

no one knows?

[JACKSONFREAK]

Re: What is the difference

I had a 94ish Valvestata Bi-chorus head that I loved. It was my first marshall and to date the only one i've owned. It was 100 watts a side stereo with the ability to run two 4x12 cabs a side. I ran it thru a Marshal 1960A vintage 30 cab. It was the best sounding rig i had. Each chanel had its own reverb with the CHorus/Flange switch Joe mentioned. I think th emain diference between the 1st and second series of Vs stuff was the switching capabilites and effects loops on all models instead of some. The circutry was the same. The 80 watt and higher ones had a ECC83 tube in the preamp that workied in both cleanand gain stages. You could get some amaizing tones out of those amps. I did. I kinda miss it. But i got my Rockman XP100 now. Tom Scholz would be proud. Infact he still uses his Rockman stuff live. But Marshalls in the studio that he modded himself.
The Valvestate stuff was great but the new AVT stuff is almost identical with tubes in every am and not just the high watt ones.
Gil

[toejam]

Re: What is the difference

I have an 8240, I totally love it!! It's the first stereo chorus Valvestate combo Marshall came out with in the early '90s. It's 80 watts with 2x12 speaker section (40 watts per channel), has reverb built in (not footswitchable), and stereo chorus. Channel 1 has a clean to crunch switch on the amp (not footswitchable) and channel 2 has OD1 to OD2 switch also on the amp (not footswitcable). The two-button footswitch is for changing from channel 1 to channel 2, and the chorus switch is to turn the chorus on and off. I've had my amp since about '93 or '94 and it hasn't failed me yet. There is a lot of gain coming out of it and the contour control (mid frequency) is just awesome for scooped out mid tones or can go blusier with extra, darker mids. The only thing I wish it had was footswitchable reverb, since I only use it for playing on the clean channel.

The VS265 is the upgraded version of the 8240 with the boost switch on the pedal for OD1/OD2. There might be footswitchable reverb on this model also, but I can't remember.

The older Valvestates are great and highly recommended by me! The bi-chorus models (8200 head and 8280 combo) just have an extra switch to go from regular chorus sound to a flanger/chorus sound. They also have outputs for connecting external speaker cabs.