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[sonhenry]

Originally Posted by GraemeC

It has started cutting out after a period... I suspect it is heat related, its now several years old and really should have been serviced, is this something you would tackle?

G, it sounds like a cold solder joint. Open it up and hit all the connections with some fresh solder and see of the problem goes away before you do anything else.

[Huw]

Originally Posted by stuartmaxwell

the marshall avt series are without doubt one of the worst series of amplifiers built

gash sounding, over expensive and unreliable are ways I would describe em, a few pals who work in music retail will also testify this. also had a pal whos avt head broke about 5 times in 3 years

do yourself a favour and get rid of the thing asap, you could get a real amp for that kind of money

correct. from what i've seen/heard AVTs are seriously(!) unreliable and produce a very sub-stanmdard sound. there is no - despite what marshall say - sculpting to the sound. with the EQs everything seems a bit too weak or a bit too powerful. the effects loop makes odd noises and just doesnt sound very good. i reckon you actually get a better overdrive sound out of a £40 marshall 10w practice amp.

[CRANIAL_MIND]

well ive never had any issues with my avt other than the 2 times its broken , both in the same practice situation in a dusty barn so chances are the environment affected it, i got it years ago when i was was lookin to upgrade from my old valvestate 100w combo, and to be honest id say ive got my moneys worth over the years, was thinkin bout a new amp but would it be worth spending hundreds on another amp when i could repair the one ive got for £100 or sumthin? was lookin at the randall g3 150h they look tasty .....

[PVH]

It worth spending hundreds on an amp if you are looking at keeping it for life, i would say.

[Old Gold]

Originally Posted by CRANIAL_MIND

was thinkin bout a new amp but would it be worth spending hundreds on another amp when i could repair the one ive got for £100 or sumthin?

No point in putting water in a leaky bucket?

[stuartmaxwell]

solid state amps shouldnt break that frequently. especially one that you pay so much money for

you could buy a real amp for £350!

[Huw]

Originally Posted by CRANIAL_MIND

well ive never had any issues with my avt other than the 2 times its broken , both in the same practice situation in a dusty barn so chances are the environment affected it, i got it years ago when i was was lookin to upgrade from my old valvestate 100w combo, and to be honest id say ive got my moneys worth over the years, was thinkin bout a new amp but would it be worth spending hundreds on another amp when i could repair the one ive got for £100 or sumthin? was lookin at the randall g3 150h they look tasty .....

It really is. You can pick up a Peavey Valve King Head for 350 or something off GAK and i reckon that tone would suit what you want perfectly. I might be wrong, but from what I've heard they produce pretty good tone and have clarity even when you crank the drive. It has valves, so you will have to have 'check ups' every so often, but its probably worth it. Or you can fork out for something you'd keep for life - maybe a JCM 800/900?

[stuartmaxwell]

jcm900 is not a good option, they actually suck the life out of guitar tone

the 800s are kickass though!

[Huw]

Originally Posted by stuartmaxwell

jcm900 is not a good option, they actually suck the life out of guitar tone

I thought they were meant to be really good. bummer. Why is that then?

[stuartmaxwell]

well, they are decent amps, but nowhere near as good as the 800. they need a good cab (orange!), a good player and a good guitar to get a great sound out of them. the gain is somewhat suspect as it lack balls/sounds a bit fizzy