Do any famous guitarists use the Marshall JCM2000?

[Red_Label]

Re: Do any famous guitarists use the Marshall JCM2000?

I've owned many Marshalls and most boutique modded-Marshall clones. The JCM2000 DSL50 that I had was an awesome amp and I'd have one again in a second. The green channel gained-up, with an OCD hitting the front end sounded a lot like my 2203X. It was that husky. The red channel was thinner and buzzier.

I almost bought another DSL50 on another board yesterday. And then I almost pulled the trigger on an open box 2555X on the MF 36-month no interest plan later that afternoon. But cripes... I've got a Splawn Quickrod and Friedman Smallbox. It's just dumb to be throwing more money at similar amps when I'm trying to stop the GAS madness.

 

[Red_Label]

Re: Do any famous guitarists use the Marshall JCM2000?

+1

In my experience, TSL100 are the sound of sanding paper. Really hard to get anything resembling creamy or smooth from them.

:bigok:

You nailed it Diego. I'm aware of no pros or tone hounds who would choose the TSL over the DSL. There's a reason that DSLs are common backline amps for visiting artists and TSLs aren't.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Do any famous guitarists use the Marshall JCM2000?

Sometimes I miss my TSL100, but then I remember that I used to slave it to my Vox ToneLab because the JCM 800 model sounded better. (When used with a stock 1960A.)

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Do any famous guitarists use the Marshall JCM2000?

I don't get it, and I never will. My opinion is not "on paper." I owned one for over 10 years. I could get any Marshallesque tone, and even some nice Fender-like ones, out of my TSL 122. I didn't find it inherently grainy or fizzy (well, no more than any Marshall; grainy is kind of what makes a great Marshall tone, after all). The thing about them is that they are complex, and require the user to be very deliberate about the placement of every knob and switch. You can't just walk up to one, turn a couple of knobs really quickly, and get the standard Marshall tone that's in your mind. You have to know how to use everything on the amp, know how it interacts with everything else, and spend time dialing things in. Full responsibility is on you to get the right tone. It's not going to just default to what you think a Marshall is supposed to sound like. It's very Mesa/Boogie-like in that way: totally shapable, but if, and only if, you are good at using it. You don't see TSLs on backlines because number one, they were expensive, and number two, nobody knows how to use one. They are too complex and sensitive for a backline amp.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Do any famous guitarists use the Marshall JCM2000?

I don't get it, and I never will. My opinion is not "on paper." I owned one for over 10 years. I could get any Marshallesque tone, and even some nice Fender-like ones, out of my TSL 122. I didn't find it inherently grainy or fizzy (well, no more than any Marshall; grainy is kind of what makes a great Marshall tone, after all). The thing about them is that they are complex, and require the user to be very deliberate about the placement of every knob and switch. You can't just walk up to one, turn a couple of knobs really quickly, and get the standard Marshall tone that's in your mind. You have to know how to use everything on the amp, know how it interacts with everything else, and spend time dialing things in. Full responsibility is on you to get the right tone. It's not going to just default to what you think a Marshall is supposed to sound like. It's very Mesa/Boogie-like in that way: totally shapable, but if, and only if, you are good at using it. You don't see TSLs on backlines because number one, they were expensive, and number two, nobody knows how to use one. They are too complex and sensitive for a backline amp.

Which is not what one thinks when one thinks "Marshall". Technique and finesse are what you do on the guitar neck and knobs to coax tones that range from soft and subtle to bold and brash - NOT the knobs on an amp with a Marshall logo.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Do any famous guitarists use the Marshall JCM2000?

That is indeed why people don't like them, I've always thought. I think people go into the TSL expecting it to be something that it is not, therefore of course they're going to be disappointed. But it doesn't mean they're bad sounding amps on an absolute level, and it most certainly does not mean that the wide total pallete on the amp serves to replace playing technique to control your sound. It just means they're not your traditional Marshall.

Conservative Marshall traditionalists won't like the TSL, i.e. those who think a Marshall should always fit the Marshall mold. Probably why I like it so much...and also why they offered the DSLs as well. Hey, I bought one brand new, and I'm a Fender/Ampeg guy for the most part. Only Marshall I've ever bought new, and probably the only I ever will. I love Marshalls for what they do, and I've owned a few, but I've never found what they provide valuable enough to me to plop down almost 2,500 bucks for a brand-new one...except for that TSL 122.

 

[superpete]

Re: Do any famous guitarists use the Marshall JCM2000?

I don't get it, and I never will. My opinion is not "on paper." I owned one for over 10 years. I could get any Marshallesque tone, and even some nice Fender-like ones, out of my TSL 122.

agreed. i have 2 jcm2000 heads, a dsl100 and a tsl60. both rip. you may prefer one to the other for whatever reason, but the conventional wisdom that dsl=good tsl=bad, while seen online a lot, has not been my real world experience at all.

 

[loversmoon]

Re: Do any famous guitarists use the Marshall JCM2000?

http://www.marshallforum.com/index....e-guitarists-who-use-the-jcm2000-dsl100.6845/


A few names here . A lot of guitarist have used them. I personally would love to have one

 

[Red_Label]

Re: Do any famous guitarists use the Marshall JCM2000?

agreed. i have 2 jcm2000 heads, a dsl100 and a tsl60. both rip. you may prefer one to the other for whatever reason, but the conventional wisdom that dsl=good tsl=bad, while seen online a lot, has not been my real world experience at all.

May be true. But the masses and the market has spoken. DSL = well-regarded, TSL = not. There was a TSL60 at my local pawn shop last year for $300. I thought about it, but I get tired of buying stuff just to buy it or because it's "a good deal". I gotta want to play it. And I don't wanna play a TSL.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Do any famous guitarists use the Marshall JCM2000?

I'd play a TSL head if I still had that Mesa Recto-cab.

The TSL122 was fine; they paired it up with two speakers that worked great for it.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Do any famous guitarists use the Marshall JCM2000?

I'd play a TSL head if I still had that Mesa Recto-cab.

The TSL122 was fine; they paired it up with two speakers that worked great for it.

Exactly. Two different speakers, and they made a good sound together. Better than a head through a stock 4x12 IMO. The 122 plus the matching 2x12 extension cab was the way to go for those who really need four speakers. No need to bring the 4x12 all the time, and when you do want four speakers, you can place them in pairs of two, separately if you want (two left/two right, for instance, or the built-in speakers for the audience, and the extension as a sideway pointed monitor for the band).

 

[chadd]

Re: Do any famous guitarists use the Marshall JCM2000?

May be true. But the masses and the market has spoken. DSL = well-regarded, TSL = not. There was a TSL60 at my local pawn shop last year for $300. I thought about it, but I get tired of buying stuff just to buy it or because it's "a good deal". I gotta want to play it. And I don't wanna play a TSL.

I had a TSL 60 for a few years and traded it for a hot rod deluxe. It does the metal thing great but the OD1 and OD2 channels weren't very useful for much of anything else. You could drive the clean channel pretty hard and get decent tones, assuming that you didn't actually need the clean channel. I later played in a band with a guy that had a TSL100 and he always complained about how it sounded compared to my Mesa Roadster.

 

[NjuiMusic]

Re: Do any famous guitarists use the Marshall JCM2000?

TL : DR, Karl Sanders from Nile uses JCM2000s, and Yngwie is currently using DSL100 (new versions) on his current tour! I love my JCM2000 DSL100

 

[El Dunco]

Re: Do any famous guitarists use the Marshall JCM2000?

I've heard the TSL sound terrible in the wrong hands and sound just how you would expect a Marshall to sound when dialed in by someone who knew what he was doing. The DSL's I've played certainly aren't bad but they can't touch the JVM tone wise. I wouldn't get one just because I'm not a fan of shared EQ.

 

[XSSIVE]

Re: Do any famous guitarists use the Marshall JCM2000?

Just saw the generation axe tour on their NY stop last night and Nuno is rocking a 2000 boosted with an old Rat pedal sitting on top of it and his tone was killer all night long.

 

[allbutromeo]

Re: Do any famous guitarists use the Marshall JCM2000?

That is indeed why people don't like them, I've always thought. I think people go into the TSL expecting it to be something that it is not, therefore of course they're going to be disappointed. But it doesn't mean they're bad sounding amps on an absolute level, and it most certainly does not mean that the wide total pallete on the amp serves to replace playing technique to control your sound. It just means they're not your traditional Marshall.

Conservative Marshall traditionalists won't like the TSL, i.e. those who think a Marshall should always fit the Marshall mold. Probably why I like it so much...and also why they offered the DSLs as well. Hey, I bought one brand new, and I'm a Fender/Ampeg guy for the most part. Only Marshall I've ever bought new, and probably the only I ever will. I love Marshalls for what they do, and I've owned a few, but I've never found what they provide valuable enough to me to plop down almost 2,500 bucks for a brand-new one...except for that TSL 122.

This is also why I think a lot of people dissed on the JCM900'S, they were expecting it to sound like an 800 and it didn't so now they are regarded as one of the worst Marshalls just like the TSL, and IMO it's an unfairly deserved reputation for both amps.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Do any famous guitarists use the Marshall JCM2000?

This is also why I think a lot of people dissed on the JCM900'S, they were expecting it to sound like an 800 and it didn't so now they are regarded as one of the worst Marshalls just like the TSL, and IMO it's an unfairly deserved reputation for both amps.

Funny you should mention the 900. I almost brought it up, because a 900 Dual Reverb head is the only Marshall other than the TSL 122 that I've owned for any length of time. I like the amp a lot. It's third behind the TSL 122 and the JTM45 combo ("Bluesbreaker") on my list of favorite Marshalls of all time.

 

[El Dunco]

Re: Do any famous guitarists use the Marshall JCM2000?

I'd also like to mention that a famous person using a particular amp isn't a good motivation for buying it. I buy amps that I like the sound of and you never know what modifications they've had or which amps are for show and what's really producing the sound out FOH or on the records.

 

[jonsick]

Re: Do any famous guitarists use the Marshall JCM2000?

Just my thoughts.

Famous guitarists that were using some incarnation of the JCM2000 series seem to gradually move onto the JVM series. At least when I see bands live, they used to use either DSLs or TSLs, but most use JVM410Hs. In fact at Bloodstock, I seem to remember Marshall at one stage supplied JCM2000s but now every year its JVMs. And every single band that uses them sounds good!

AS for TSL vs DSL. I have both and have had multiple TSL100s and DSL100s. I think I've owned each 10 and 6 times respectively (buying and selling). I've also had a few DSL50s. I'm convinced this whole DSL100 > TSL100 is nothing more than Internet folklore. I have played both side by side and with a few EQ notches, I can't really tell any major difference. You can very easily get anything the DSL100 can do out of the TSL100. The fact that the TSL100 has three channels with separate EQ and gain controls is enough to make me reach for that every single time. I would say that they both suck equally in terms of reliability but the nice thing is that they're cheap to fix and the aftermarket TSL100 replacement footswitches you can get on eBay are far more reliable than the standard.

That said, I have a Jubilee 2555X that I think I would struggle a lot to part with. It's pretty much on the top of my Marshall stack, despite the fact I'm looking for a JVM410HJS to nestle into the collection.

 

[Little Pigbacon]

Re: Do any famous guitarists use the Marshall JCM2000?

I'd also like to mention that a famous person using a particular amp isn't a good motivation for buying it. I buy amps that I like the sound of and you never know what modifications they've had or which amps are for show and what's really producing the sound out FOH or on the records.

You also don't know what kinds of effects, double tracking, and other studio magic might be on the record.