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4K views 28 replies 10 participants last post by  Drew 
#1 ·
Hey

I need your help guys

I am finally gettin my first decent amp in about 2 weeks but I cant decide.

Should I get the Marshall AVT150H or the Marshall TSL 100 Head ??

I need a nice all-round amp, nice clean sounds to beefy sounds to full on rock sounds.

Whats the differences what are they good/bad for ??

I have found decent prices on both
AVT150H - £355
TSL 100 - £675

Both prices are for brand new models, but is the TSL got enough good points for the extra £320?

or should I just put the £320 towards my 7VWH ?

Cheers Guys
Scott
 
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#2 ·
Do you need a new amp? I'd go with the TSL. I'm getting away from solid-state. I have a valvestate that I have trouble getting good sounds at volume. It sounds very thin, but it has an awesome clean sound. Granted it's different than the AVT which has a 12AX7 in the preamp to warm it up. I tried one at GC and actually liked it. It's got built-in FX, but you can only use one at a time. At volumes, though, I suspect the TSL is going to sound better. If you ever wanted to trade it, I think you'd do better with the TSL--kind of like the difference between a Honda and a Chevy, if you will.

Otherwise, save up for a 7VWH! Yummy. I'm partial to the re-issue FP, but I bought an SBL last year. Mods, you didn't just read that.
 
#3 ·
Do what I did-get both!

I prefer the TSL100 quite a bit but the AVT150H is excellent sounding, too. Much warmer than one would expect from an amp with only one tube in the preamp. It's built well and having separate on-board FX circuits for the dirty and clean channels is nice. There are some sounds that are nice that tube amps don't do, also. The TSL 100 is no less flexible. I prefer using my own effects pedals in my combinations of choice but the TSL has two effects loops (1 for the lead and crunch and 1 for the clean channel). It saves a lot of tap-dancing.

I currently have the TSL hooked up to a slant cab (JCM1960A and the AVT to a straight (JCM1960B). I didn't get the heads and cabs simultaneously. I got the TSL before I got the AVT. I'd recommend the same.

Mike 777 Haug
 
#4 ·
The TSL is an amazingly loud amp. I found the clean channel to be it's strong point. The lead and crunch sound really similar and they don't really open up unless the amp is cranked, until then they sound sort of buzzy. The VPR function is useful but it darkens the tone considerably sort of flattening all the frequencies. If you like marshall and you like loud marshalls, then the TSL will likely make you happy. Cabinet choice makes a big difference in how the head sounds so be careful there as well. All around, its a good versatile amp, but its big, heavy and requires you to crank it to maximize its tone...just like any other marshall.

Good Luck
 
#7 ·
Hey

Guys thanks for your responses, I was pretty much set on the TSL100 and this has confirmed it.

I considered the TSL60 but I'm the sorta guy that everytime I look at it Id want the TSL100 :roll:

Anyway none of it matter now because Ive decided that the amp goes on hold, I'm off to get a 7VWH next week :p the only thing is I aint got an amp :?

Cheers
Guys
 
#8 ·
Anarchi5t said:
Hey
I considered the TSL60 but I'm the sorta guy that everytime I look at it Id want the TSL100 :roll:
but everytime you want to crank it if you play it live at smaller venues and find its waaaaay too loud you would think again about it

seriously unless your playing gigs in halls or larger you wont need 100 watts. I use a 50 watt amp and its easily loud enough, and if your doing a big gig you could just make the pa work a bit harder. just something to think about when you do get an amp.
 
#9 ·
go for the tsl100

i have a 100watt marshall valve state that seems to be louder than my 100watt tsl, for example at gigs i used to have my valvestate set to about 4 1/2 for my rthymn sound but now with the tsl i always it set to bout 6. i guess it must harder to get the tubes to be louder but without a doubt the tsl sounds Class
 
#10 ·
I have no idea what Ill end up with really, If I had the choice it would be a TSL100

I just found a DSL50 second hand £400 which is really cheap

I want a decent amp badly. I started with a Bass amp which wudnt pick up the 1st and 2nd string then I got a MG15CD and Ive had that ever since I need a good amp!

But I cant live without my Jem any longer :p

Lifes tough :roll:
 
#11 ·
I'm telling you, if you decide to get a TSL, get the 60 watter. Do you honestly think you'll need 100 watts? Anybody, raise your hand if you've ever cranked your amp all the way up live and it wasn't loud enough. :roll: Trust me, 60 is LOUD. 40 watts sounds like a lot of difference, but it's really not. I was on www.amptone.com reading an article about low-power amps, and it said that you would think a 100 watt amp is twice as loud a 50 watt amp, but it's not. Really, if you think about it, the concept of the 100 watt guitar amp makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. It's WAY too loud for anything but completely clean playing in a stadium with no PA. Really, if you're trying to get great cranked amp tone, 15 watts is a good deal too loud for most venues. Get the 60. You'll be much happier. You'll still have to reduce the wattage to really crank it.
 
#13 ·
It's obvious that you don't play out either, because if you did, you would realize that I am right. At least attempt to make it look like you know what you are talking about. Whatever amp you have, I don't care what it is, crank everything all the way up, and try to tell me that you need more volume. :roll:
 
#16 ·
i just like to set the volume so i can get the best tone out of my amp, then if its too quiet i will use the pa to increase the volume, with a 50 watt amp i can do this more easily at smaller venues than with a 100 watt amp.
IMO 50 watts or so is perfect for most pubs/clubs because you can get the tone without overpowering your band.

John finn: is there just the one guitarist in your band? if there isnt then you could ask the other guitarsist to turn down a little. Also you may want add more mids, with a seperate eq if neccesary, to cut through the mix a little easier. This should also help get a sound the just sounds 'better' in a live band situation, rather than a very loud with less mids sound.
Sorry if you already know this, just trying to help :)
 
#17 ·
to be honest mr.anarchist you sound about 16 (not in an offensive way, im only 18!) and at this age, i think we just want to be able to say 'I HAVE A 100 WATT F***ING MARSHALL! EAT MY PICK DUST!' or something like that! plus, 100 watts of tube power amp is going to be way louder than 150 watts of solid state. go with the volume, and to hell with wether you'll need it or not-this is rock and roll! :twisted: :D 8)
 
#19 ·
hi ARRRRGGGHHH!

im the only guitarist in the band and the main reason im using the 100w tsl is that the drummer im playing with is really frikkin loud, im mean the guys unbelievable, i usually have my amp set to 6 with overdrive 1 and then have my lead over drive at about 7 1/2 and i do apply a nice dose of mids to it, we then mic up all the guitars,drums bass etc.

maybe im going a bit deaf at this stage cranking the amp up that high but i know for sure i`d be lost with a 50 watt :D


and like i said, they make my pants flap...

which is nice
 
#20 ·
though I agree with the 60 watt advice, there is something to be said for getting what you WANT.... can't tell you how many times I've "settled" for something other than what I wanted and then spent the next three months wishing I hadn't.. THEN i decide I have to have the original item and take a beating on trades or selling...
Ughhhh
Oh, and to your original question: the AVT is good but I really prefer the TSL for the difference in $$$
 
#22 ·
John Finn said:
i cranked it and i need more volume..
happy smart arse? :p
I hate to say it, because i'm big into the "small tube amp" school of thought, but you're right here. I'd much rather be running a three-channel 10-watt tube head than the TSL-100 i do have, and just compensating a bit by micing it, but i was won over this summer; i was playing a LOUD gig with my TSL one night, and volumes kept rising as we played. I had VPR on, and at the end of the first set, i had the thing cranked, and i just wasn't cutting it. I took the VPR off for the second set, backed off the volume a bit, and was fine. Turns out i needed more than those 25 watts...

Of course, no one MAKES good multi-channel, high-gain low-wattage tube amps... I gotta get into electrical engineering and design my own or something, lol.

-D
 
#23 ·
The_Grindfiend said:
Well, no advice this time, but I just wanted to say that I went to a show last night, and one of the band's guitarists was using a couple TSL combos, and I was reminded how great they really sound.
worst tone i ever heard came out of a TSL. full 100 watts, volume at like 2, mids scooped all the way up, bass, treble, and prescense cranked. At frst i thought it was a 100-watt valvestate, lol. Of course, i own one, too, so take that with a grain of salt...

-D
 
#24 ·
Its all about the way they are set up.
Most people round here have marshalls, only some have what i would class as good tone. Too many people scoop out all the mids and add waaaay too much bass and treble to get a 'heavier' sound. The best way of making a good amp sound like ****

i do usually try and give other pointers about sound, but i am very carefull to do it in the least insulting way. Im certainly not arrogant about it
 
#25 ·
No one said you were, ARRGGGHH (did I miss any letters? :lol: ). I probably occasionally come off as pushy or rude, because I'm a pretty opinionated guy, so I'm sorry if this has happened to you. Anyway, Drew, I can see what you're saying about maybe needing more than 25 watts, but I'm talking about 60 here. That's nearly as loud as 100. The volume differnece is going to be negligible. And by the way, this TSL sounded goooood. The mids were maybe slightly scooped, but not a lot. Actually, that's the thing that struck me, was the great midrange grind it had.
 
#26 ·
argh- hey, i'm just a dickhead about it. I figure, if they don't want to listen, i'm not the one with bad tone. ;)

now, taking my tongue back out of my cheek... ;) The one thing that REALLY impressed me about the TSL, on VPR mode, at least, is how shockingly good it sounds at REALLY low levels. I swear to god that the thing sounds better with the master below 1 on the lead channel than it does at any point up to at least 3-4, befre the power amp begins to add some coloration and smooth things out. it's amazing- theoretically, practice-level volumes ought to be the main selling point of the AVT over the TSL, but this thing soudns incredible. Granted, i'm not running the stock tubes- JJ's in the preamp and Groove Tubes GT E-34's in the power- but still...

To put my amp where my mouth is, so to speak, here's a short locrean clip i recorded for this girl i know- a little rough, since i hadn't warmed up and i'm a hack anyway, but she doesn't play, so what does she know. ;) the master was just under 1, gain just over 6, treble, mid, and bass all a touch under 7, prescense about 6, tone shift off, deep on, and reverb 8. it was my 7620, tone zone, straight into the amp, recorded with a cheap radio shack dynamic against one speaker come of my recto 2x12, into a crappy 4-year old laptop soundcard, with some compression (a little too much, i think, but i was working quickly for a non-developed ear, lol) and delay added in sound forge. downloadable here: http://www.geocities.com/drewpeterson7/freetime1.mp3 Not bad for a volume you can practically whisper over, huh? I had to normalize the hell out of it (approximately 36dB boost, before i mastered it) to get it to a decent level, so there's some background hiss, but like i said, it sounds AMAZING for a tube amp that's just barely working.

-D
 
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