Marshall Valvestate Guitar Amp For Sale (2024 Update)

'm a novice guitar player with less than 2 years experience, but I reached the point that I wanted to experiment with different tones and effects. The problem is that it would be very expensive to do this with different pedals, amps, guitars etc. I ordered the CODE 50 sight unseen after researching reviews & videos online, and it fits the bill perfectly. CODE 50 is an affordable way to play around with a crazy number of tones and effects & find your sound. I'm sure there are plenty of experts & purists out there that will find flaws with this amp, as it models (imitates) a number of historically great amps from Marshall, & what I presume are a version of Fender amps ("American Clean" etc). Does the BluesBreaker preset sound identical to the BluesBreaker amp that Clapton was playing in the 60s? Close enough for me cause it sounds pretty radical! There are a number of presets that are just epic for playing blues, rock, metal, on & on. Pick a genre of music and you can generate a tone that will fit right in. All of the presets can be tweaked to the players specifications. You want more reverb on that reverb? Dial it up. Some of the things I notice after just playing it a few times: As billed, CODE 50 is LOUD, so be careful. Not a complaint; I wanted something versatile enough to practice at home, but be loud enough to jam with others. There are some pretty big discrepancies in the volumes between a few of the presets, another thing you have to be careful with when toggling back and forth between presets. While plenty of the presets sound unique, there are a few that sound a bit redundant, or maybe just so close in tone to another that it feels that way. There are one or two that I can't imagine anyone using ("Virus?" Virus sounds like someone is strangling an organ-at least that's what she said!). Overall, if you want an affordable way to experiment with tone, get loud, and have fun, the CODE 50 is a rad choice. Thanks Marshall!Jeremy

I've been playing on and off for 20 years. Mostly an attenuated tube amp guy and a gear tinkerer. Found one of these on the showroom and gave it a quick whirl. This quickly led to buying one. Cons: The more time I spent the more I realized how limited the stock speaker is. It's super directional and the bass is a bit boomy and hard to dial out without removed too many lower mids. It still sounds good, but it can be much better. The stock preset settings, like a lot of reviews, leave me scratching my head. The resonance, presence and gate settings in particular tend to screw with the quality of sound as set from the factory. There's no speaker out, so I installed one. If you want this amp to shine, you'll need to do a speaker swap or plug into a 4×12. Marshall should have done this. Pros: The goods are definitely there, but you need to scratch the surface. Once you get that direction figured out, it's very easy to dial in your own settings which will differ quite a bit from the factory presets. I have a 4×12 w/ Vintage 30's and this amp sounds amazing plugged in. The JTM, Plexi, JCM, JVM, American amps all sound outstanding. But the JTM45 in particular sounds outstanding. Effects are great and I'm starting to use certain effects that I normally wouldn't buy a pedal for simply because they're in the amp. Another must do is to figure out your speaker choices for each amp. I'm a Vintage 30 fan, so after changing the speaker to V30's on all the amps, to me it sounds much better. It's a good tool to be able to hear what different speakers will do at the turn of a button, just to see what characteristics in speakers you may like. My secret sauce with this amp is my Les Paul through a 10 band EQ (to boost the highs you loose using the speaker emulations through a 4×12 with those emulated speakers), through a Marshall BB-2 for boost, into Marshall Code on JTM45 through the 4×12 w/ Vintage 30's. Absolute heaven going on with this, even at low volumeWisconsinski

The marshall code 50 and all other modeling amps are not plug and play,you have to dig in and change the parameters in the amp and create user presets that sound good to you! If it sounds good then it is good! If you want your amp model to sound just like the tube amp it is modeled from,then buy the tube amp. I have other modeling amps and my peavey vypyr 75 recto model that i like very much does not sound just like a mesa but i tweaked it to sound good for what i like,i think the marshall code amps sound very close to there own tube amplifiers that there modeled after and that is how good amp modeling is getting.I just want to mention some things you can do to improve the sound of your marshall code,first break in your amps speaker for about 100 hours by playing your amp fairly loud a few hours a day,about two months or you can play MP3 music through the AUX input. This will smooth out the harsh higher frequencies and break in the speaker for better low end without the speaker farting out.Here is a great tip for the bluesbreaker and other amp models that have too much low end,when i first heard the bluesbreaker model the low end was muddy and had too much bass even with the bass and resonance turned down to 0! I tried my behringer PB100 pre amp booster pedal with the bass control turned down to a 7 o clock position and that did the trick,the low end mud was gone and the mid frequencies stood out like i never heard before! It just sounded great now! I then tried my behringer TO100 tube overdrive pedal and i could not believe that the bluesbreaker model even sounds better then the pre amp booster! The TO100 overdrive also cut out the low end mud and the mid frequencies were smoother and the higher E and B strings on my guitar had a nice round tube tone without thin sounding harshness! I also tried the marshall codes internal OD and GVR pedal effects but my behringer TO100 sounded much better!MarshallMan50

If you're expecting an amazing Marshall sound, you might want to invest in some of the bigger amps Marshall has to offer. If you think you can get a concert level sound out of this little guy, you will not be the happiest person. However, that level of "high" expectation would not be very reasonable or even realistic for such a little amp. This is a very cute, small amp that will help you plug your guitar so you can practice quietly in any room in your house without annoying your wife. It will distort if you crank the volume all the way out, and if you're used to the full sound of a bigger Marshall (like I do) it might make you feel like you're hearing your guitar over an old telephone (just my opinion). However, if you calibrate your instrument volume & tone you can find a happy medium. With that said, for the price it is a very nice solution to practice and if the sound seems too weak for you, you have the choice of putting headphones. I personally use it just for practice on the fly, it serves it purpose, but then again I was not expecting the best sound output. So I am happy with the purchase.BeeZee

It's basically a toy amp. I can see it being used as a portable amp for non-serious performance. Personally, I like it for a quick jam and for (relatively) quiet practice in my apartment setting. Won't disturb my neighbors but it does get noticeable at the highest volume. That and the overdrive knob are the two main controls. By default it just does a clean sound but overdrive lets you toggle in some gain for that distortion. It has a good look that definitely models after its bigger brothers.Rick

I don't know what some of you guys expect from this thing, but be realistic: it's an inexpensive 5 inch tall, 1 watt amp. It's not designed for anything but sitting in a chair and entertaining yourself or a couple of people. Within that context, I enjoy this thing and sometimes get it off the shelf and play around with it for awhile. Also, when I owed somebody a 1 minute long riff for his podcast and my main amp was getting some regular tech service, I plugged my American Standard Strat into this thing, mic'd the amp, used the OD channel with the volume and tone both on 10, played the part, then added tons of bass, reverb, and chorus to it in post, and it sounded great and nobody ever knew that I recorded the part using a 5 inch tall amp. It is what it is as long as you don't expect the world.Steve

Overall: This amplifier absolutely rocks! With so many options you can dial in any sound that you want, from crystal clear clean to roaring rhythms and screaming leads. As everyone has already said, the reverb is almost nonexistent. However, the amp, tubes and build are rock solid. BUT… if you really want to blow your mind, swap out the speaker with one that fits your style. My style is classic hard rock so after much research I swapped out the 70 watt Celestion V-Type speaker that it comes with for a 150 watt Eminence Swamp Thang and I swear that it sounds as loud and ballsy as my full-on DSL100 full stack with 1960 cabs. The difference is mind boggling. No fizz, no speaker distortion at all. Just a loud, clear representation of my sound. Obviously the Swamp Thang might not be your speaker of choice but do your research and this will be the only amp you will ever need again!Scott

Sound: With good tubes properly biased, yes. Features: One feature that I absolutely detest is the effects loop button. When it is activated the front of the amp ceases to operate and when deactivated, the front works but the effects loop deactivated. There's no reason for this feature to exist. Substantially limits what the user is able to do. Bad decision in the design. Ease of Use: Just need to fix the owners manual to include specifically how to bias the tubes. Value: At the time I bought it, it was around $800. So at that time, yes. Overall: It took me a while for this amp to grow on me as it sounded like crap out of the box. I replaced the stock speaker with a Celestion V30 and replaced the stock tubes with Ruby EL34STR and a 5751 in the PI as is my typical configuration. Still couldn't get an acceptable tone was fuzzy and grindy. Years later, I learned that you can self bias the amp. After reading forums, there is little info on how to bias the amp and nothing in the manual. I discovered the bias was at 31mv so I turned both to 40mv and HOLY SMOKES this was the tone I've been seeking all these years. Eureka, I found it and it's incredible now. Completely unacceptable that Marshall included zero information in the manual regarding this, which is a pretty important feature. Moreover, it's important that I explain how to bias this. When you place the multimeter leads in the ground and point, one point will give a reading and the other red test point will read zero, always. YOU WILL NOT BE USING THIS TEST POUNT AT ALL. Go back to the one that gives the reading and keep it in that test point and adjust the pot to 40mv. Then, keeping the multimeter lead in the same pot, turn the other bias adjust til they both read 40mv. Next onto the effects loop, there is a button to turn the effects loop on and off as you can not use both simultaneously like in other amps. What good is this feature? Worthless and is an absolute thorn in my side as I would like to use the midi to switch between both which is why I bought it, but can't. Now, the amp does sound good now that it's properly biased as well as replacing the stock speaker, but I lost years of good tone due to the lack of instruction in the instruction manual.Jonathan

Overall: This thing is awesome if you like that Marshall tone this amp is for you, it's really a 4 channel amp if you get the six way Marshall foot switch, if I had to nit pick this amp would be the reverb, don't get me wrong it sounds great and is useable for 90% of what you would need it for, but if your wanting that Gilmour type reverb you'll need to add a reverb pedal in the chain. Where this amp really shines and I discovered this on accident I was messing around with the effects loops and added an EP booster which I would normally run on the front in, and just WOW…adding the EP booster to the loop really opened it up, tamed some of the compression and evened out the gain while improving the tone, sounds more like a JCM800 at this point, I'm super impressed with this little amp and I have some really nice amps in my collection. Let me say I would totally gig with this amp without question. This fact that Marshall made it easy to change and bias tubes is a huge thumbs up as well. Other manufactures please take noteRick

Went for this as my first valve amp for room playing. Definitely an upgrade on sound over my 20w fender solid state amp. Would be nice to have a dedicated gain knob for the clean channel and/or presence adjustment, though within its price range it has the best value for money as it has dual channel and an fx loop. Also it was delivered next day on a Monday, contacting customer service was really helpful.Joaquin S.

Clean sound was fantastic, the amp felt well built and looks the part. Included footswitch was metal and felt really good. Reverb was good, for a built-in effect. However, even at 0.5W I just couldn’t dial in a crunchy/blues tone I liked. At louder volumes I could get it to break up nicely. I returned the amp, as I’m a bedroom player and needed something I was happy with at lower volumes. If you can open it up a bit more, this amp was excellent.Joe A.

Overall: First off, this amp head is LOUD for 1W, even at the attenuated volume you will piss off the neighbors if you live in an apartment or condo. A 2 channel tube amp w built in fx loop and reverb from Marshall at this price is hard to beat. I mainly use the clean channel and run pedals through that as the dirty channel wasn't quite what I wanted, but it's a nice option to have. If you are a big reverb player than the built in reverb won't be of any use, but if you just use it sparingly like I do it gets the job done. You could easily gig with this head and a single 12" in most venues without issue, especially since most of the time your amp is mic'd once you get into larger venues.Chris

I bought this amp as a practice amp to keep in a house that I'm remodeling. I'm running through an old early 2000's marshall MG 4 x 12 cab that I had laying around. I love the high gain channel…its got that great marshall dirt from the 80's type sound. The normal channels can get you that ZZ Top type of blues overdrive if that's what your after. I'm not crazy about the clean sounds, but nobody really buys a marshall for cleans anyways. The digital reverb is pretty decent as well. It's really nice to have the effects loop as well. Overall, a great little amp!Kevin

This little amp head rocks. I mean it really rocks. Now, I am using this after using the DSL40CR for years. Yes, sounds crazy I know. But, I am trying to downsize and this is perfect for room playing. I also love the size of this. It is small, light and very effective. I also feel that the reverb on this is way better than the DSL40CR. The other thing I really love about this amp that makes it unique is it has a dedicated clean channel which the other Marshalls do not have. The gain channel also sounds like a Marshall. So here is the story. I am trying to downsize my house by getting rid of duplicate things. I have two amps. I sold the Marshall DSL40CR. I missed the Marshall sound so much I bought this little 1 watt head. Best decision I made. Do not think about it just BUY this amp now if you want a rich tube amp sound without breaking the bank. You deserve this.CS Guitar Guy

I have a Marshall 412 cabinet with a 100 watt Marshall head. I needed a smaller amp to practice at home and for small jam sessions. I picked the Marshall MG15FX because I know and like the Marshall sound and quality. The Effects features sound good too. I bought the footswitch for it too. This amp sounds good and powerful enough for any small jam or studio work. Marshall makes a MG30 if you need more power.Max

I really like this amp. I don't have to turn up the master volume very much for it to get loud enough. I plan to hook up a Line 6 Pocket Pod for heavier distortion and more effects options. I'm a big fan of delay and am happy with the delay that comes with this amp but I did get a Boss DD-8 digital delay pedal and it works well with this amp. I previously had a cheap 100 watt amp but it only sounded well at low volume. I feel this Marshall amp is better quality and I am glad I got this one.Ferdad

i use this fun little amp at home to practice and jam. sometimes with friends. i've have owned fender and peavy practice amps and this Marshall is just as good or better. i like the clean and various overdrives..the effects do a good enough job and really like the two different reverb effects. i like the headphone option for keeping the neighbors and girlfriend happy when playing late night. i play a Epiphone Les paul traditional pro iv and the combonation sounds super for hard rock and blues but i needed to get a heavy metal pedal for metallica songs. wish it had a longer plug in cable. but over all it sounds really good for what i payed.. ;owned it for two years and keeps on rocking.rob

Overall: What a nice sounding amp. It's my first all tube amp and I am very well pleased at how much better the sound is over most solid state amps. It's very easy to use, and is plenty load for most rooms I play. The only recommendations I wouldake is to play it through a 2×12" cab, or upgrade it to a 12" Celestine green back speaker. Other than that it still sounds amazing through the included 10" one.Houston

This amp is fantastic! Legendary Marshall tube tone in a combo amp with a great look. The power switch is perfect for practicing your chops in the bedroom while still retaining that legendary tone. The tone controls provide a lot of EQ flexibility, and the tilt knob lets you easily blend classic Plexi-style channels to your desire. Adjusting the Gain and Master knobs lets you balance your volume needs with your gritty needs, though this amp doesn't really get dirty. It's a GREAT pedal amp. I'm currently using a Boss Super Overdrive and a Walrus Audio Ironhorse Distortion pedal and getting all the tones I want. There's no reverb built-in, so a reverb pedal is on my shopping list next. I'm not regularly gigging, but I don't see why you couldn't gig with this amp. It gets plenty loud, it doesn't weigh a ton, and it's tone is incredible. For where I'm at and what I'm doing, I couldn't ask for a better amp.Jay W.

I own an older one from 1985, this amp sounds great broken up, and does not buzz or hiss when you're not playing. It has a simple single channel with very few knobs which I like as well. It's a rock solid amp great for loud rock and roll, but…. It's way too loud! I have it running through an attenuator and then into the cabinet, which sounds great, but the attenuator then becomes an extra thing to worry about hitching up and breaking down on stage. It's also heavy, and in the road case it takes two people to move. I toured with this amp recently and it was way more than I needed. If you are playing through a full stack to a crowd of 400+ then go ahead and get this amp, you need it! but if you're playing to a smaller audience througha 2 or 4 speaker cabinet, consider getting a jtm style amp or something you can crank up instead of having to reign in.LOOTERS

Overall: SInce most people who read reviews want to be sure and compare before making a purchase. These are a very simple tube amp with alot to offer. I don't go in for two much on the effects side as with other amplifiers as I always felt with rock these had everything you really need to sound good…and I mean really good. I have owned vintage 2203 as well as the new reissues. These sound great and are everything the vintage are. Let me just add I put in my own favorite tubes and had the biasing done and ran the tubes a little hotter to hot rod it a bit. But out of the box it was very tight sounding just like the vintages were when they were first sold. The only thing in my book that I would regard as better would be a high end hand-wound boutique head- frankly that is necessary- these will give you everything you want. If you like nice cleans and nice gain and like it to sound natural—buy a tube amp and buy a Marshall 2203. – Let me mention I own 2 Roccaforte boutique heads- A 76 Marshall 100 JMP MV and this reissue JCM800- It holds it's own against the others no problem!Doc

Top of the line detail point to point wiring – My amp tech verified the beauty and stood behind the claims Marshall makes on this amp. It took me 3 trips to my tech however to get the tone dialed in properly. Out of the box the low end was honestly horrid at high volume. The low notes literally sounded like mud. So, I had a few tweaks and that sounded better – then after 2 rehearsals at high volume the power tubes bombed out and needed replacement. As of now, the amp is in great shape and sounds unbelievable, though I am still confused with the level of bass this amp has is way too much – I have an original 1971 JMP Marshall Head and Cabinet and it sounds as good or better.JP

One of the best combos ever made and this recreation does the original justice. If you want to sound like Clapton or numerous others you have heard on records. Tube breakup at its finest. Great amp: If you have the cash, pick one up. You will not be disappointed. *Hands on review by Christopher M. from store 57 in Indianapolis.Christopher M.

The only complaint would be how much it weighs, but the sound is amazing! It's definitely worth its weight in tone… loljonnydirt74

This head is rugged enough to endure constant venue changes and climates! The clean tones are like the feeling of warm chicken noodle soup sliding down your throat and into your tummy! Mmm mmm good! The crunch tones are so beefy you'll think you entered the hamburger eating contest at the Farris Truckstop in Missouri! That lead tone though…. Have mercy! Smooth like Betty Crocker and cuts through the mix like a warm butter knife! This head is for anyone looking to make the switch from lil Wayne playing to sounding like Carlos Santana! Well worth the price!Thomas O

This is a great amp! I had the 15 watt version a while ago so I already knew this would sound good, but with more power. At 40 watts of all tube power, this thing is a beast! Lots of headroom so you get a really nice bottom end out of it as well. I play a strat through it with 50's style pickups, so not a very high gain guitar. With the classic gain set to "crunch" and the gain turned to 12 o'clock, I get a nice warm dirty-clean sound with just a little light break-up. On the ultra gain channel, I keep it on "lead 1" to get that classic JCM800 type of sound. Lead 2 sounds pretty good and would be ideal for more modern tones. With a set of humbuckers, you could likely dial in a good metal tone there. Conversely, with the switch set to clean on the classic gain channel, you can easily dial in sparkling cleans if you don't like the dirty-clean sound. My only two complaints with the amp are that the reverb sounds weak, and for an amp that technically has four channels, the footswitch is only a two-way. The reverb probably wouldn't even be bad to me had I not just been playing a Fender amp with real spring reverb. That thing on 2 had more reverb than the Marshall on 10! But to me, that's not much of an issue. I actually kinda like that the reverb is there but not in your face about it. As far as the channels go, it would be nice to have a 4-way footswitch to use, or even a boost switch that works with both channels. Again, no biggie. I just dial in the sounds I like and use a tubescreamer to push the front end for solos. Some people complained about the speaker and that there's only one eq for both channels. I guess that's a preference thing and I'm sure other speakers might sound better depending on the sound you're looking for, but to me, this speaker sounds great! And as far as the eq goes, I don't really see a problem there either. I tend to set my eq somewhat flat with the bass and treble at 6 and middle at 7 so I'm not really relying on eq for my tone.Pifer

This is an awesome amp. I have played guitar for over 40 years and I have owned a bunch of amps. My last combo was a Rivera era Fender Princeton Reverb II. I sold it to buy a Marshall half stack. Although I love my UK made DSL50 half stack, I always regretted selling my Fender combo. I can honestly say I like the Marshal DSL40C better than the Princeton. The DSL40C is much more versatile, with great cleans and the best crunch around. The half power switch adds to the versatility, and actually takes a little of the hard edge off of the sound. Crunch channel at half power is creamy blues heaven. The Lead 1 / Lead 2 channels have all the gain you could ever need. I have read several reviews complaining about the stock speaker. I think it sounds fine. The Celestion 70/80 is the same speaker Fender uses in many of their newer amps. Are there better speakers available? Sure there are – but this speaker isn't as bad as many reviewers say it is. I have also read reviews complaining that the amp is too bright on the high gain channel. The original DSL series (which I own) share the EQ stack between the channels. This new DSL series is no different. In my opinion, its the biggest shortcoming of the DSL line. It is impossible to have a perfect EQ on both the Clean and Lead channels. When the Lead channel is dialed in with the right EQ, chances are the clean channel will be mellow and a little bassy sounding. That's how the DSL series has always been. I typically set the mid and bass at 5 and roll the Treble and Presence off to around 3. Tone Shift off, Bass boost off. The DSL40C has replaced the Bass Boost switch with a sweepable Resonance control which helps give it's open back single speaker a little more thump – similar to a 4 x 12 cab. My DSL50 has Accutronix spring reverb, my new DSL40C combo has digital reverb. I like the digital reverb of the DSL40C better. This is a great amp. I love it.Old Rocker Dude

A little 15W solid state amp has no right to sound this good. Honestly for home playing, if you want a versatile amp, that is straightforward to use without the complexity of digital modelling amps I think this amp takes some beating. Considering the price I think this is a remarkable amp. I have reached the point now where I favour solid state amps for home playing. At the volume levels I usually play at, this sounds better than any small valve amp I have tried. Crank up the volume and the amp really opens up surprisingly well, and the bass response is pretty good. The built in reverb is also excellent.Mark

This is my first amp. It does just what the background information suggested and I am thrilled with it. Well packed and I could see it was checked before it left the depot. Delighted-from-DealReviewed by Absolute Music custo

Brilliant practice amplifier to use for the electric guitar. Makes the guitar sound good. Excellent value for money, really glad I bought it.anaw3.uk.qcggvj

Great sounding amp, full sound great cleans and crunch. Easy to use and has a great master volume so the amp can be used at home without a problem. #sweepstakesBryan