Marshall Valvestate Bi Chorus 200

[Vass]

I love Jersey City. Cruising through downtown, some guy's got a bunch of crap he's selling. Was the neighborhood "festival" which means everyone drags shit out of their houses and tries to sell it.

Anyway, there's a marshall sitting there, I was like, wtf might as well look at it. Guy selling it says he is a property manager & someone left it in a building he works at. $20 bucks he says. So I just kind of look at him, and he says, OK $10. Alright, for that price, why not.

No power cord with it, but it does have a 2 button Marshall footswitch, which I am sure I could sell for $10 itself. Has celestions in there. I can't really find too much info on it. I have no idea if it works, or if I'll die if I try to fire it up. It's a Bi-Chorus 200 as the title of the thread says. Apparently has a tube pre-amp and is 200 watts.

Anyone know anything about these? Normally I wouldn't have gotten involved, but wtf for $10 you gotta check it out.


Vass

[toejam]

Amazingly awesome deal!! That original Valvestate series kicks ass! I've still got my 2x12 8240 stereo chorus combo as my living room amp (bought it brand new around '92 or whenever it came out).
Yours should be the 8280. Here's info from Marshall's site, and you can download the manual at the bottom of the page.

http://www.marshallamps.com/heritage/valvestate_i/valvestate_i_01.asp

[Franx]

Toejam just beat me ...

I have the little brother (8240), too (as my backup practice amp) and it's a great amp ! Gratulation on your deal, these amps still sell for 200 - 300 Euros over here ! And they are rare, esp. the 8280 !

[Vass]

Wow that's cool to hear- I assume this thing is deader than fried chicken, but I just talked to my local guy & he's going to check it out. Is the Bi-Chorus 200 the same as the 8240, just different names, or is it a different series all together?

What does yours say on the front? 8240? Or something different? This one just says, "Bi-Chorus 200"...

Maiden rocked by the way bud- Wish you coulda made it, we had a nice time, pre-game right through the show

Vass

[toejam]

Same series. Under the power button, mine says Valvestate S80, then above the input, it says Stereo Chorus model 8240.
Above the input on yours, it should say Bi-Chorus model 8200 (head) or 8280 for the combo. The Bi-Chorus should be 80x80 watts stereo, and the 8240 is 40x40 watts stereo. The Bi model just has an extra chorus mode for a flange-type chorus instead of the regular chorus. Check the manuals for the Valvestate 1 series.


I wish I could have made the Maiden show, but oh well. Glad you had a great time.

[Vass]

Weird...... I have to go home and look at it again, but I'm 99% sure it says "Bi-Chorus 200". More than 99% actually. Earlier model perhaps? Also looking at the back (briefly) it seemed to say 100x100 watts.

Will update when I check it out @ home again.

Vass

[toejam]

That is weird. Anyway, here's the specs I just copied and pasted from that first series.

8010 - The baby of the range but don't let its size fool you. This compact 10 Watt, 1x8 combo packs a powerful punch and is perfect for practice at home or backstage. A Headphone output is included for 'silent' shredding too! 8020 This 20 Watt, 1x1O combo is the 8010's bigger brother and boasts two footswitchable channels - Normal and Boost. Its Contour and Reverb controls add to its tonal versatility, making it ideal for home and rehearsal situations.
8040 - This 40 Watt, 1x12, twin channel combo features an ECC83 (1 2AX7) valve in the Boost channel's pre-amp section for authentic valve distortion. Contour, Reverb and an Effects Loop make this amp equally effective at home, on stage or in the studio.
8080 - A two channel, 80 Watt, 1x12 combo with an ECC83 pre-amp valve in its Boost channel. It also features Contour, footswitchable Reverb, an Effects Loop plus a Clean/Crunch switch on the Normal channel and an OD1/0D2 option on the Boost. Thanks to its killer features, versatility and tone, the 8080 is currently Marshall's best seller.
8100 & 8412 - A 100 Watt head and matching 140 Watt 4x12 (8 Ohm) cabinet. The 8100 head features are identical to those of the 8080 combo but give the larger-than-life image, sound and projection of a stack.
8240 - 40x40Watt, 2x12 Stereo Chorus Combo. Very similar to the 8080 except with the addition of Stereo Chorus and Reverb for a truly panoramic spread. The 8240 also features stereo Line Out jacks and a stereo, parallel Effects Loop (mono Send, left & right Returns) complete with a Loop Level switch (-20dB or 0dB).
8280 - 80x80 Watt, 2x12 Bi-Chorus Combo. The next step up from the 8240, the 8280 features separate chorus Rate and Depth controls for each channel plus two switchable chorus modes. The extra power and headroom of this combo make it ideal for large venues.
8200 - 1OOx1OO Watt, Bi-Chorus head with features identical to the 8280.
8222 - 1OOx1OO Watt, 2x12 Stereo/Mono (8 Ohm/4 Ohm) cabinet designed to complement both the 8280 combo and the 8200 head, the latter of which can drive a pair of 8222's if you so wish. Incidentally, the 8200 head also fits a regular Marshall 4x12 perfectly and can drive up to four of them at once for truly massive stereo projection and spread.
Handbooks

[Vass]

Thanks bro.... I was planning on just selling the sucker @ the guy's store- 80 watts, 100 watts, whatever...my poor apartment building would collapse. If it ends up being in working order & I can figure out the model I'll list it here for cheap, if it's as cool as you guys think it is, enjoying yours. Rather have one of "our" guys hook it up rather than someone else.

If it's busted and just unrepairable, I'm going to see if there are components worth saving- Won't do that unless it's truly "dead", I hate destroying things, especially those out of production.

Wish I could keep it but my fiancee was like, "WTF?" She's right....I could never play it at any kind of volume where I live now.

Vass

[toejam]

No problem. Just get a new power cord and have it checked if it's in proper working order. They do sound great. With the master volume, you can keep it to as low a volume as you need. Hell, if it works, maybe I could meet up with you and take it off your hands.

[Vass]

Sweet. I'm going to go check it out today if I can get there before the owner bails around 6:30. If it's totally trashed I'll let you know that too.


Vass

[Franx]

Weird....I'm 99% sure it says "Bi-Chorus 200". More than 99% actually...

Maybe somebody took the 8200 head and swapped the 8280 to have a 100x100 combo ? I did that the other way 'round and changed my 8240 into a "stand-alone" head to run a 4x12 cab (stereo) !

[thetroy]

I definitely read that as "Marshall Valvestate Bi-Curious"

[bibz]

Great amps these, get a nice clean going then add a little chorus, creamy deluxe! I had two 8240's at one time setup in stereo with a delay, if only I could have worked out the hum issue I mightn't've sold one

Still got the other, it isn't going anywhere

[Vass]

Update- Took it down, made a noise when it fired up, but no signal from a guitar plugged into it. Guy thinks it's the input transformer, not the output, which he said is "good" but that just to get someone to look at it is $100 bench charge & that it's only worth $200 in his opinion if it were fixed.

It is indeed an 8280, says Chorus 200 on the front, but 8280 model number on the back, 1993.

Any thoughts?

Vass

[lerxstcat]

Just for shits, take a 1/4" patch cord and bridge the effects send and return and see if it works. I had an 8040 that "died" and that's all it was. The jacks were oxidized and the little switches in them got stuck.

You could sell the Celestions if they work, the logo, might sell the chassis as is for parts or a project, justr do a no reserve auction plus charge shipping. Maybe sell the cabinet locally, it'll be pretty pricey to ship that, but then if someone wanted it they'd pay for shipping, I guess.