Marshall Tube Amps

[rastachild]

i've got the 50w vintage modern head. great sounding head, but not so great sounding at bedroom volumes (i.e., 3 and below). once you get it past 3 (2.5 really) it starts getting pretty loud, but it also starts sounding a lot better.

i have a laney gh50L which is louder than hell, yet it sounds better (imo) than the marshall at low volumes. i'm guessing it's because the preamp gain on the laney sounds better than the marshall's preamp gain, but once they poweramp tubes start to get pushed, they both sound much better.

i've played the tsl602 many times and wanted to buy it at one point. it does sound great at low volume, which i guess is attributable to the preamp gain stage. i've never played the dsl401 (the 40w 1x12 combo), but i can say i prefer the sound of the dsl's to that of the tsl's. the dsl's just sound a bit warmer to me, but that was comparing the heads. anyway, the tsl 60w combo is a nice sounding 2x12, so if you want it go for it.

[richard1973]

thanks rasta, its good to hear info from someone whose used it. I found a site online yesterday that had pages of reviews of that model, overall it recieved good feedback (err no punn again). And then my system at work crashed so i lost the website, doh!

But yeah certainly seems to be a contender, as its going to take me a while to save up for this it makes sense to check out reviews and such of other makes rather than having Marshall tunnel vision, so around the £600 mark i'll be researching other amps, but certainly the TSL602 is at the top of the list so far

[Jolme]

I have the TSL602 too. It works fine at practicing home and in a band with a loud drummer

Of course it sounds the best when pushed but I won't say it is bad sounding at lower levels. 3 channels on the amp, clean, crunch and lead, covers a lot except maybe the craziest of grind core.

Which kind of music do you play?

[Gudster]

Originally Posted by richard1973

thanks rasta, its good to hear info from someone whose used it. I found a site online yesterday that had pages of reviews of that model, overall it recieved good feedback (err no punn again). And then my system at work crashed so i lost the website, doh!

But yeah certainly seems to be a contender, as its going to take me a while to save up for this it makes sense to check out reviews and such of other makes rather than having Marshall tunnel vision, so around the £600 mark i'll be researching other amps, but certainly the TSL602 is at the top of the list so far

I bought my TSL 100 a few years ago now and I still love the bugger. I went up to the store with the intent of buying a JCM 900 50 watt with a cab and somehow got to testing a few other amps (as you do). Fell in love with the TSL. I only ever really use the lead and clean channels but it also has one of the most handy features I've ever seen - that switch to cut the amps power to 25 Watts.

[richard1973]

thanks Jolme and Gudster.

Jolme, type of music:

My main preference is the clean channel with Boss Super Chorus and reverb on the amp itself is my main sound for appregio kinda mellow tunes. Sometimes I add Boss Compression too, though thats so minor its hardly noticable, but sounds great if strumming.

Main reason for a tube amp is to enhance the clean sound more to make it make more
warmer kinda sound than I currenty get. Though the sound I get sounds great anyway especially using the neck pick up on JS1200, but ya know when yer just not quite happy enough Full neck pick up on Jem7vwh i find a tad little too loud so 4th position on pick up sounds pretty damn good, though for clean mellow stuff I find the JS1200 has the edge (the tone knob i have pulled and turned to about 7-8 and volume knob to about 8 on the JS).

Distortion wise i'm using a Boss Metal Zone as I like a Metallica / pantera kinda sound. I run that through the clean channel too (Peavey Bandit 112 1993 era). The distortion channel on the Peavey is pretty good, though doesnt quite make it, so I dont really use that. This time the Jem seems to have the edge for metal over the JS. Again a tube amp will bring more depth to the sound and give it an over all richer sound than I currently get too.

I'd imagine on the new amp i get I'll be running it all through the clean channel using stomp boxes for my main sounds, and just use the crunch and lead channel for more classic rock kinda sound, its good to know they are there for versatility.

[Gudster]

I find that I use my Boss OD-3 for light overdrive instead of the Crunch channel, simply because its quite bassy and I like a scratchy crisp Overdrive when I'm using it sparingly. But if the mood swings me for a solo then I usually use the Lead on it. Its that Marshall lead sound man, gotta love it.

The TSL likes pedals for sure. I use quite a few of 'em and they sound great.

Oh and may as well show how I have it rigged up





Sorry about the varying quality btw, pics were taken on different days with different cameras.

[richard1973]

very cool set up that rig will blow the walls down!

dig the bottom poster, gotta love Eddie Hitler

[racerevlon]

I had a TSL602 combo and it sounded like junk, no matter what I did (eq, different tubes, BBE, etc.) I sold it and stuck with my DSL401--the tone is WAY better and there's really no difference between the "3rd" channel on the TSL and the OD2 on the DSL. Look at the DSL401--you'll be much happier for less money, and 40 watts is still PLENTY loud, plus you can use an extension cab if necessary (I use a vintage Marshall 4x10).

[richard1973]

thanks for the info racerevlon. will be several months before i get amp money together but all info is always appreciated, cheers

[560licious]

another option is to get the marshall that is of higher wattage and purchase a power soak. A divice that lets you crank your marshall up to those great tone volumes and soaks up the volume part. Great for bedroom playing. Also, an old method before the soak is to put a heavy blanket over your speakers and crank it then...it drowns out a lot of volume and you get your tones that way, and you still have the power for a live situtation with a band.