Marshall TSL100 head amp hum

[WhoFan]

I bought a used TSL100 a few months back for cheap... i hear these amps have a repair history that is not a good track record... that being said it was a steal so i figured why not try it... It was cheaper then a new Valve State head... also being that cheap has my spidey sense up too... it was a pawn shop deal

so i've been keeping my eyes and ears open waiting to see if it is a lemon or not...

Last night i noticed that the head itself, not the speakers, emits a hum noise when the power is on... not too loud... just like an old TV when it was turned on you could hear a slight hum from it before the picture came on... i never noticed my other tube amps do that... i've heard hum noises from the speakers before but never the amp head itself...

any ideas? Is it normal operation?

 

[DonP]

Re: Marshall TSL100 head amp hum

How old is it? Filter caps dry up in 10 - 20 years. They go bad faster if the amp isn't used too often, so you want an amp that's used every so often.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Marshall TSL100 head amp hum

i'm not sure what year this one is from... i should have a look on the back... i assume it should have a date.... TSL's have only been out maybe 8-10 years...

and as far as i know it sat in the pawn shop for a few years... they said an employee used it every so often.. but who knows...

but the hum i'm hearing is from the head itself and not thru the speakers... would caps cause that?

I think i just noticed it for the first time because i had the head on oneside of the room and the cab was 10 feet away on another wall...

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Marshall TSL100 head amp hum

how can i tell the year this one was made? there is nothing i can see on the back that tells me...

ps-the hum i hear is not that loud at all... just as soon as i have the power on i hear a slight electronic hum from the head... i'm not too worried about it at all... just wondering if other Marshall 2000 series owners hear a quiet Hum as well when the amp is on...

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Marshall TSL100 head amp hum

just gave the amp a little spin... can't crank it... sometime soon i hope to get a chance to crank it at a jam session... i find it has that Bee's in the Jar type of distortion on lower volume levels... i'm hoping that changes when i open it up and get the tubes going a little... plus the Peavey 1x12 i was just playing it thru is the wrong speaker for it big time!!!

but no matter what at a lower volume i can't seem to get a good sound out of it with a stock strat... that amp's crunch channels does not like my Custom Shop strat too much... with my 22 year old American Standard with a JB in the bridge it sounds fine... good metal to rock tones... seems to favour humbuckers...

the clean channel was OK with the neck pu of my strat...

 

[glassman]

Re: Marshall TSL100 head amp hum

Power transformer hum: some amps have it, some don't. The proper term is magnetostriction and it is the movement, on a minute scale, of the laminations of the transformer. Though it is technically a loss occurring within the transformer, it is a relatively small loss compared to eddy current losses and hysterisis losses that are also present.

In a nutshell; it is normal.

 

[shredaholic]

Re: Marshall TSL100 head amp hum

^ agreed

When I'm really cranking my amp, I can also hear a whizzing sound coming from the OT!!

 

[LuredMaul]

Re: Marshall TSL100 head amp hum

I also just got a TSL100 and mine also has a very faint hum when I have my head close to the back of it........I still have the back plate off as I'm rolling preamp tubes here n there and with the known bias drift issue of early models I was concerned and watched for awhile.

The serial # will tell you the year mine is M-2006-XXXXX meaning a 2006 model.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Marshall TSL100 head amp hum

I also just got a TSL100 and mine also has a very faint hum when I have my head close to the back of it........I still have the back plate off as I'm rolling preamp tubes here n there and with the known bias drift issue of early models I was concerned and watched for awhile.

The serial # will tell you the year mine is M-2006-XXXXX meaning a 2006 model.

ya i heard there was some Bias issues with this amp model....

i'm still playing around with mine trying to dial in some sounds... mine is pretty much a great metal buzz saw sound... but at lower volumes right now i'm limited to what i can do... can't wait until my band starts rehearsals again so i can crank it some and see what it really does...

Thanks for the dating tip... mine also says M-2006 in the serial number...

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Marshall TSL100 head amp hum

Power transformer hum: some amps have it, some don't. The proper term is magnetostriction and it is the movement, on a minute scale, of the laminations of the transformer. Though it is technically a loss occurring within the transformer, it is a relatively small loss compared to eddy current losses and hysterisis losses that are also present.

In a nutshell; it is normal.

best technical description i've ever heard of on this issue! Thanks...

 

[LuredMaul]

Re: Marshall TSL100 head amp hum

ya i heard there was some Bias issues with this amp model....

i'm still playing around with mine trying to dial in some sounds... mine is pretty much a great metal buzz saw sound... but at lower volumes right now i'm limited to what i can do... can't wait until my band starts rehearsals again so i can crank it some and see what it really does...

Thanks for the dating tip... mine also says M-2006 in the serial number...

Stock Tubes= cheap plastic saw sound.

I put JJ E34L's in it and thinking of trying the EH6CA7's
JJ ecc83s where lifeless and I ended up with a Tung-sol reissue in V1 and a Mullard reissue in V2, kept the JJ's in V3 & V4 for now.


I think the bias issue was cured by 2006 <----good news.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Marshall TSL100 head amp hum

trying a bunch of different guitars thru the TSL was interesting last night... with my 66 Custom Shop strat i was getting a great Brian Adams style 80's strat rock sound... but only on the bridge PU... switching to the neck PU it was too mushy...

switched to a stock MIM Standard strat and the output of those PU's almost seems double what the 66 put's out... again bridge PU sound good neck sound awful...

weird...

 

[AdamR]

Re: Marshall TSL100 head amp hum

I have a DSL which is from the same family (JCM2000) Not sure how similar they are but mine was very bright sounding. I run mine

On Red channel, lead 1

Prec. 2
Treb 4
Mids 5
Bass 6
Gain 5

I dont use the Green/Clean channel. Instead I prefer to roll the volume back on my neck pick up and just toggle back and forth for clean/dirty.


Gor tubes I use SED winged Cs in the power section and Ton Sols in the pre amp.

Another thing to remember is that the JCM2000s are designed for Pre amp gain, Not tube over driven tones.

Good amps for the price.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Marshall TSL100 head amp hum

I have a DSL which is from the same family (JCM2000) Not sure how similar they are but mine was very bright sounding. I run mine

On Red channel, lead 1

Prec. 2
Treb 4
Mids 5
Bass 6
Gain 5

I dont use the Green/Clean channel. Instead I prefer to roll the volume back on my neck pick up and just toggle back and forth for clean/dirty.


Gor tubes I use SED winged Cs in the power section and Ton Sols in the pre amp.

Another thing to remember is that the JCM2000s are designed for Pre amp gain, Not tube over driven tones.

Good amps for the price.

thanks... ya it is a bright amp for sure... Most Marshall's seem very bright to me... last night i was getting a pretty good tone out of this amp... but today i'm fighting it... for some reason i hate all my amps and guitars today... LOL...

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Marshall TSL100 head amp hum

ps-local shop says i should send this amp out to a local tech to see if the hum i'm hearing is normal...

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Marshall TSL100 head amp hum

Think i'm going to sell this TSL 100.... it sounds OK with some guitars and not so great with others... think i'm going to grab a Peavey 6505 if the local Peavey Dealer will take it on a trade in... i have an older 5150 that i love... maybe i'll grab a 6505 as a back up to my 15 year old 5150...

just can't get used to the Modern Marshall sound in general

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Marshall TSL100 head amp hum

sent this amp in to a local tech to have him at least look it over... he did quiet down a lot of the hum from the head by tightening the transformer bolts... at least that is what i heard was done.....

while he had the amp in the shop he phoned me to say that someone had mixed in a set of non-matched tubes on one side of the 4... 2 tubes were Marshalls and the other 2 were a non-match different brand... so i had him throw in a new set of power tubes...

after trying out the amp for a few hours tonight on lower volume since people are home tonight i noticed the amp started to sound a lot better the more i used it... maybe the tubes were getting hotter after a while... all in all it's not a bad amp for some stuff... it will never be a good stock strat or tele amp but for guitars with humbuckers in it it sounds alright.... Can't wait to give it some gas at my drummers house!!!

 

[korovamilkdud]

Re: Marshall TSL100 head amp hum

I was eyeing that amp pretty closely for awhile. They sound decent. I ALWAYS wind up hearing some story related to reliability though. Maybe it just comes from silly stuff like you experienced.

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Marshall TSL100 head amp hum

I was eyeing that amp pretty closely for awhile. They sound decent. I ALWAYS wind up hearing some story related to reliability though. Maybe it just comes from silly stuff like you experienced.

ya they have their uses but they are not the best sounding amps for what they cost.... for way cheaper then what a TSL 100 head cost new a few years ago you could of grabbed a 6505 Head... and to my ears they sound much better then what most 2000 series Marshalls will ever sound like...

i think the TSL is discontinued... for what i paid for my TSL from a pawn shop it was a good deal... i took a chance... i do not normally ever buy Electronics from pawn Shops but once in a while you get lucky...

I play all sorts of different music and the best way i can put it as far as a TSL 100 in my opinon sounds like and works best at.... if you play Kiss, Black Sabbath, Metal type rock and use guitars with humbuckers... this amp will work for you.... if you expect this Marshall to be a Hendrix style Marshall sound keep moving... as this just ain't it! No matter what the catalog description says this amp does not have anything in common with Vintage Marshall tones at all....

 

[korovamilkdud]

Re: Marshall TSL100 head amp hum

Interesting. A Marshall Amp without Marshall tones. That's deep.