tubes for TSL100

[VintageRocker]

Hey guys my guitarist is using a marshall TSL100 head with 1960a cab and its about time to replace the tubes and hes still using the stock ones, so which tubes do yall think are gonna bring out the best of this amp? Thanks

Oh yeah sorry haha, talking about the power tubes, thanks

[aleclee]

Re: tubes for TSL100

It's a lot easier to make suggestions with an idea of what you're looking for. Since "better" is generally a matter of taste, it's hard to figure out what you'd like without more information.

What kind of music do you play?

What are you looking to get out a tube upgrade? Better cleans? More articulate crunch? More headroom?

[VintageRocker]

Re: tubes for TSL100

I'm just looking to bring out the cleans to make them a little more punchy and sparkly, we use alot of gain on the distortion channels so we also want more note articulation while still having alot of gain and low end. Best thing I can compare it to is we want the cleans alot like Incubus (Morning View cd) while having alot of distortion like Blindside or Killswitch Engage.

Also Well there is this thing with the clean channel that has always been weird, when playing with the band live you can't ever really hear it, but it seems when switching from either of the OD channels to the clean channel the clean channel swells in really quickly with a slight delay instead of instantly coming in. any ideas?

[aleclee]

Re: tubes for TSL100

I'm just looking to bring out the cleans to make them a little more punchy and sparkly, we use alot of gain on the distortion channels so we also want more note articulation while still having alot of gain and low end. Best thing I can compare it to is we want the cleans alot like Incubus (Morning View cd) while having alot of distortion like Blindside or Killswitch Engage.

My favorite EL34-compatible tube for cleans is the 6CA7. The EH version is a great value. The GT version is pretty pricey, especially since I don't think they sound much different from the EH model.

If you're looking at premap tubes, a GT 12AX7-M would be nice in V1 but probably a waste of money in most other positions.

Also Well there is this thing with the clean channel that has always been weird, when playing with the band live you can't ever really hear it, but it seems when switching from either of the OD channels to the clean channel the clean channel swells in really quickly with a slight delay instead of instantly coming in. any ideas?

Some amps have those sorts of problems as part of the design. It might be an amp fault, though. I don't know TSLs well enough to say.