Marshall AVT50X, AVT20X owners Manual
AdvancedValvestateTechnology
AVT20X, AVT50X & AVT50HX
Owners Manual
From Jim Marshall
I would like to thank you personally for selecting one
of our Valvestate AVT amplifiers.
Ever since its initial launch in the early 1990’s, the
original Marshall Valvestate technology received
worldwide acclaim and set a new standard in affordable
quality amplification. However, my dedicated team of
designers are constantly looking for methods to make our
amplifiers sound even better. As they are all guitar players
themselves this process has become a passion within the design
department.
As the name Advanced Valvestate Technology (AVT) suggests,
your new amplifier benefits from their research and utilises their
latest circuit innovations, all of which are totally unique to
Marshall. By emulating the feel and response of an all-valve
amplifier even more closely, the AVT range perform brilliantly and
represent yet another major step forward in guitar sound
technology.
Since I first began making amplifiers in 1962, one of the key
factors in our success has been reliability. Therefore, many hours
of exhaustive testing have been carried out in the development
of AVT to ensure that this remains so.
ENGLISH
I suggest that you read this manual thoroughly before operating
your new amplifier and keep it in a safe place for future
reference. This will help you to derive maximum enjoyment from
our Advanced Valvestate Technology.
Wishing you every success.
Yours Sincerely,
1
AVT20X Combo Front Panel FeaturesIntroduction
Welcome to the third and most recent generation of Marshall Valvestate guitar amplifiers - AVT.
The History
We first started making the critically acclaimed Valvestate amplifiers in the early 90s and then updated
the original range to the best-selling VS II line in 1996. Our original intention with Valvestate was
simple: to capture the special sound and feel of a Marshall valve amplifier by using solid state
technology. By so doing we knew we could make our unique and highly desirable tones more
affordable and thus more available to many more guitar players. The first two generations of
Valvestate both achieved these goals and have become firm favourites with players and critics alike,
the world over. Now, we have once again redefined what guitarists can expect from affordable
backline amplification. Utilising all the knowledge and experience gained over the years, we proudly
ENGLISH
bring you - AVT Series.
Addictive Tone
In this latest generation, not only will you find more, guitarist-friendly features, but more (much more!)
valve-like tone and feel. As with all our amplifiers, we started designing with a clean slate - relying
totally on our experience, skill and tonal history. As all our designers are guitarists in addition to being
exceptional engineers, the aforementioned feel and tone were an absolute priority from the beginning.
In short our goal was to make these amps so enjoyable to play, they are addictive!
Pre-amp Valve Power
In each of the Valvestate range, all the preamp stages are equipped with an ECC83 (a.k.a. 12AX7)
Dual Triode valve. Drawing on our vast experience in this field, we have gone to great lengths to
ensure that this precious device delivers maximum sonic benefit at all settings and volume levels. As
a result, even the AVT clean sounds ring with the bell like harmonics that only a valve pre-amp can
deliver. On the Overdrive channels the ECC83's dual triodes are saturated to their limit, providing the
dynamics and feel worthy of a place in the Marshall hall of fame. The same sort of toneful care and
attention was focused on the all-important power stage of each amp too. Once again we wanted to
ensure that they delivered the warm, musical feel and 3-dimensional sounds that have made our allvalve power-amps world-renowned. We are so proud of the end results of our labour that we felt we
had to coin a new name for the technology used. So, we christened it AVT - Advanced
Valvestate Technology.
Fire-breathing Babies
This manual covers the AVT20X and AVT50X combos plus the AVT50HX head. Even though these
are the ‘babies’ of the range, they go far beyond the realms of traditional, lower powered amps. These
are all real, fire-breathing Marshall amps in their own right, and, as such, are bestowed with all the
technology, tone, and feel of their higher-powered brethren. As is the case with the entire AVT range,
the loudspeakers used are all custom built by Celestion and have been specifically designed to fully
complement and augment the myriad of sounds generated by our Advanced Valvestate Technology.
2 3
1. Input Jack Socket
This is where you plug your guitar into the amp.
In case you are not aware, you must always use
a screened guitar cable, never use an
unscreened speaker lead. Also, for the best
performance this cable should be one of high
quality. If you are in any doubt regarding this,
your Marshall dealer will be more than happy to
help and advise you further.
2. Clean/Overdrive selection switch
Your AVT20X has two selectable modes - Clean
and Overdrive. When the switch is ‘out’ Clean is
selected, when it is pushed ‘in’ Overdrive mode
is activated.
The Clean mode of the AVT20X has the warm,
responsive action normally associated with a
valve amp, rather than the relatively sterile, onedimensional sound that is typical of many solidstate type guitar amps. At lower Gain settings
this mode remains very clean but will evolve into
a bluesy/rock type crunch at higher Gain
settings.
When Overdrive is selected it will take you from
mild crunch to aggressive ‘modern’ distortions
and all-points in between. The many sonic
palettes available are dependent on the exact
settings of the front panel controls for Gain,
Volume, Treble, Middle and Bass.
3. Gain Control
This rotary control can best be described as the
sonic ‘brains’ of the amp. At lower settings, with
the Clean/Overdrive switch set to Clean, the
AVT20X will give you a wide range of welldefined clean tones. At higher Gain settings, the
amp will start to ‘crunch up’ into the
aforementioned ‘blues/rock’ type sounds. This
‘crunching up’ is often referred to as ‘break-up’.
When Overdrive mode is selected lower Gain
settings will give you a vintage sounding, valve
distortion while higher settings will produce more
modern, high-gain tones.
Volume Control
4.
As its name suggests, the Volume control
determines how loud your AVT20X will be by
controlling how much signal is transferred from
the preamp to the power amp. Due to the
remarkable realism of our Advanced Valvestate
Technology, once the Volume control is turnedup past a certain point, the preamp will start to
push the power amp section into creating its
own, desirable distortion mode - just like an allvalve Marshall amp. When this occurs, the
AVT20X's power amp will start to add musical
harmonics, compression and ‘break-up’ into your
sound.
5. Tone Controls
The AVT20X is equipped with rotary Bass,
Middle, and Treble controls, all of which work on
both the Clean and Overdrive modes. These
three passive EQ controls are designed to
achieve maximum tonal variation from your
AVT20X and, just like our famous all-valve
amps, are highly inter-dependent on each other.
As a result, the way each one functions
depends on the exact position of the other two
controls. This is especially true of the Bass and
Treble controls in relation to the Middle control.
The lower the Middle control, the more reaction
can be obtained from the others. As tone is very
much down to personal taste, experimentation
and experience is probably the best way of
learning how these three controls will affect your
sound. Some suggested settings are shown
later.
* Points to remember are:
A) The tone and output level coming out of the
guitar is as widely variable as there are guitars
themselves, all guitars are not designed (nor
intended) to be equal. Therefore, amp settings
will vary to suit your guitar and playing style, and
by necessity, are at your discretion. Again, if in
doubt, consult your Marshall dealer for advice.
B) The tone of your sound is also dependent on
the settings of the ‘tone’ controls, and adjusting
them to taste will further enhance the sonic
textures of your AVT20X. The best way to
achieve your desired settings is to experiment.
6. Reverb Depth Control
Your AVT20X is fitted with an internal spring
Reverb unit. This control affects the mix of the
direct (dry) and Reverb signals - the higher this
control is set, the greater the Reverb depth.
7. CD Input Jack Socket
The CD input will take a stereo signal from an
external source, such as a CD or tape player,
and mix it into a mono format. This will allow
you to play along with a pre-recorded signal.
Because this input is after the preamp stage, its
volume has to be controlled from your CD or
tape player.
ENGLISH
Loading...