Thoughts on Blackstar?

[Dmoney]

VS100's were good! that was my first head!

I still have it somewhere. its probably in need of some care.
It was good at low volume.
I used to gig with it too, but it sounds pretty weak compared to a big valve amp.
I remember playing a show and i was stood behind my rig, and everyone was pushed up against it, and nobody could hear it. I has all the dials maxed, plus my boost maxed out, and the level on my eq maxed. it was the last song, probably sounded aweful but i couldnt hear it anyway! haha.

hybrid. single tube pre and ss power. but without all the gubbins you get in the AVT's.
The AVT's are terrible.
VS100's are probably SUPER cheap.

[MDV]

Ive seen the combos go for ~100 quid quite recently.

bargain.

Its just finding one.

[Dmoney]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Marshall-VS100-guitar-amp_W0QQitemZ290389284426QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_MusicalInstr_Amplifiers_RL?hash=item439c8cd64a

Blip!

[MDV]

Well done!

[Dmoney]

may lack the gain he wants.

[MDV]

May do, yeah. Not that gainy or that saturated. But good enough for chuck schuldiner = good enough.

or did he use 8080s?

Regardless, very similar sounding amps.

[craig_mccann]

i actually found 1 of those http://edinburgh.gumtree.com/edinburgh/64/52508464.html

didnt think it would be up to much so never really considered it lol

[Dmoney]

might be worth a play you know.
along with a bunch of other stuff i guess

[MDV]

Definitely try it out. The VS and 8080 series are not to be judged by AVTs and MGs, which suck. They didnt.

[craig_mccann]

I'm guessin i'd need a pedal or 2 to get it to do Bullet n Disturbed?

[Dmoney]

i used to play mine with the gain maxed out.
if you want to do dual rec, 5150 super saturated tones, it doesn't have that much gain.

Im not sure what the best pedal to use would be.

Back when i used a VS100, I used a DS-1 and a GE-7 if i felt i needed more, but that's not boosting the ampas such, that was to eq a distorted signal straight into the amp.

[MDV]

They're thick and saturated tones that are largely the result of studio techniques. The tones that were actually being produced by the amps when they record will be much thinner and shallower.

Could you post up a few vids of the sort of album sounds youre using as reference? Its very possible that they are to all intents and purposes unattainable with any amp, right out of the cab. On the other hand it may not be that hard.

[Dmoney]

I just had a look at the VS100 schematic.
some things id question...

If youre using a pedal infront of the amp and the first gain stage is SS rather than tube, what is the best pedal to use?
Im very sure the fact the early gain stages are SS is a factor.

Also, the amp distorts by using diode clipping, much like a JCM900 dual reverb does. Im sure that can effect pedal choice too.

[MDV]

I believe the 12ax7 in it is set up to never clip. I think. Could be wrong but I think its not really doing anything but letting marshal say theres a valve in there. Its an SS amp. Still sounds good though.

[craig_mccann]

Il se if i can find something video wise. but i know Im not going to get the same sound as their studo recorded sound, but i just want something that will sound good for them, not necessarily their exact sound lol.