TSL100: Who REALLY loves it?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jessie Sammler
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Re: TSL100: Who REALLY loves it?

I ended up trading the head for a pair of breeding hogs and a bushel of soybeans. Still have the cab, though; it's really taken on a second life as a G12-T75/Vintage 30 hybrid.
 
Re: TSL100: Who REALLY loves it?

I liked my TSL60, but the lack of independent EQs on the dirt channels annoyed me. I bought a backup switch because of all the problems I read about, but never really had any problems with mine. I don't use it much anymore, I picked up a Mesa Roadster that really does everything I want an amp to do.
 
Re: TSL100: Who REALLY loves it?

I don't have much experience with the TSL100, but I owned a TSL60 a long time ago. I loved that amp. When I had it, I sat it on top of my DSL100 and went back and forth for a few weeks before deciding that I liked the TSL60 more. To me it was a little warmer. Most people say the DSL sounded better so my experience was different.
 
Re: TSL100: Who REALLY loves it?

I don't have much experience with the TSL100, but I owned a TSL60 a long time ago. I loved that amp. When I had it, I sat it on top of my DSL100 and went back and forth for a few weeks before deciding that I liked the TSL60 more. To me it was a little warmer. Most people say the DSL sounded better so my experience was different.
Swapping tubes can make a big difference in them, it's surprising how much you can change the voicing with different 12ax7s in some amps.
 
Re: TSL100: Who REALLY loves it?

Swapping tubes can make a big difference in them, it's surprising how much you can change the voicing with different 12ax7s in some amps.

I didn't notice much difference from swapping tubes really. Mostly the only difference you hear is a marginal difference in smoothness, brightness/darkness, compression, or cleanr/gainier. You can use the long plate 12AX7's but it's not a whole lot different. However, I've been experimenting with a few different tube types. There's the 12AT7 which is a cleaner sounding tube but it has a really good feel and sound. They can sometimes add a bit of headroom on amps that breakup early. There's a 5751 which is in between a 12AT7 and 12AX7. Then you can also use a Shuguang 12AX7B which is a slightly cleaner/lower gain version of their 12AX7. Still, the biggest difference is changing speakers. Next to that probably pickups.
 
Re: TSL100: Who REALLY loves it?

you've spent some time with that cab now jessie, care to give us more info?
i see a lot of potential in mixing these, but still have 1 box of each.

and were you disappointed when you didn't get (re)glossed at 6666 posts?
 
Re: TSL100: Who REALLY loves it?

I've had the 1960A for about ten years now. It was built in about 1999 (I think), and it was all stock when I got it. It was my second cabinet, after a Mesa 2x12 Recto-cab Horizontal.

One thing I could tell right away was the unmistakable "bounce" that you get off a relatively lightweight plywood cabinet that size. There's not a lot of internal bracing, and there's no damping material. It's certainly part of the character of the cabinet.

Cool story (bro) about cabinet resonances: One day I was playing clean at pretty low volumes at home, when I noticed that one note on the guitar would make a buzzing noise from the cabinet. It sounded like a voicecoil buzzing, but I couldn't localize it. Even after playing the note over and over and putting my ear right in the center of each driver in turn, I still couldn't tell exactly where it was coming from. Turns out that there was so much extraneous mechanical noise being elicited from the cabinet when I played notes in that range, it was masking the source of the new buzz I was hearing. I ended up taking the back off and disconnecting drivers until I figured out which one it was. When I took the driver completely out of the cabinet and played through it with it sitting on the floor, it was unmistakable. And the cabinet was still buzzing like crazy.

While I was waiting for the new G12-T75 to arrive, I went in and did what I could to dampen the more unseemly vibrations. I put self-adhesive rubber skid pads on the insides of the handle moldings, and I used metal braces and wood glue to stiffen up the joints of the wooden bracing that were there. I also re-wired it with some crazy audiophile speaker wire -- mostly for fun -- and I wire-managed it so that it wouldn't rattle (solid-core, you know). After that, the cabinet was quite a bit cleaner sounding but still had the bounce that I like.

One thing the cabinet is great for is Malmsteen. I've read that he tends to use some variation on this model, and while I don't know to what extent that may be true, I feel like I can get functionally close to his tone with this cab, some Marshally-sounding head, and an overdrive like a YJM-308 or probably a number of similar pedals. I can also do many flavors of rock and metal (many of them pretty generic, tonally, but still very useful), and a modern hi-fi jazz tone that I like to use.

At one point I decided I wanted to consolidate my cabinet use into one main piece. I can't remember where I got the idea to put the Vintage 30's from my Mesa cab in the 1960A and sell off the Mesa with the two displaced G12-T75's, but that's what I ended up doing. I got more out of the Recto-Cab than I paid for it, and I have a Marshall that can make sounds that it never could before. I used the familiar X-pattern, and the two stereo inputs are each dedicated to either the V30's or the G12T75's. Naturally, the mono input uses both sets of drivers in the customary series-parallel configuration. All three sounds are distinct, useful, and great for the kinds of playing I do.
 
Re: TSL100: Who REALLY loves it?

Overall, I'd say my experience with the TSL100 -- along with the other amps I've owned -- has left me with a taste for Marshall-flavor amps and a willingness to try different brands to get what I'm looking for. Which is an amp.
 
Re: TSL100: Who REALLY loves it?

I love the low end output of the TSL-100, by pressing the "deep" button. It's like the JVM's resonance knob, and it really lets the 4x12 shake the room, or double as a bass amp in a pinch.

Overall I think the JVM head is a much better amp, but I'm sure a TSL-100 can be had for less than half of what a JVM head costs.
 
Re: TSL100: Who REALLY loves it?

I liked my TSL60, but the lack of independent EQs on the dirt channels annoyed me. I bought a backup switch because of all the problems I read about, but never really had any problems with mine. I don't use it much anymore, I picked up a Mesa Roadster that really does everything I want an amp to do.

I don't have much experience with the TSL100, but I owned a TSL60 a long time ago. I loved that amp. When I had it, I sat it on top of my DSL100 and went back and forth for a few weeks before deciding that I liked the TSL60 more. To me it was a little warmer. Most people say the DSL sounded better so my experience was different.

I currently have a TSL 60 running JJ's E34L's. I've had it roughly a year. The clean channel is pretty good, but the gain channels leave more to be desired for me. It's extremely bassy, even with the bass at 2 and the deep knob not engaged. But I suppose that's part of the Marshall sound. I've had thoughts about parting ways with it, so I put it for sale in the trading section. Luckily, when I bought mine it came with the switch doctor footswitch, so I didn't have to deal with any of those problems. If I do sell it, I hope I don't regret it....
 
Re: TSL100: Who REALLY loves it?

I currently have a TSL 60 running JJ's E34L's. I've had it roughly a year. The clean channel is pretty good, but the gain channels leave more to be desired for me. It's extremely bassy, even with the bass at 2 and the deep knob not engaged. But I suppose that's part of the Marshall sound. I've had thoughts about parting ways with it, so I put it for sale in the trading section. Luckily, when I bought mine it came with the switch doctor footswitch, so I didn't have to deal with any of those problems. If I do sell it, I hope I don't regret it....

I'd call that the 'Modern Marshall' or 'JCM2000 and later' sound. Their older amps are much more midrange heavy, and for the most part aren't really capable of the gigantic bass response of their new amps. I run the bass on my Jubilee at 8, and it's probably about the same or slightly less bass than you're getting.
 
Re: TSL100: Who REALLY loves it?

I'd call that the 'Modern Marshall' or 'JCM2000 and later' sound. Their older amps are much more midrange heavy, and for the most part aren't really capable of the gigantic bass response of their new amps. I run the bass on my Jubilee at 8, and it's probably about the same or slightly less bass than you're getting.

I definitely didn't do enough research. The good news is, the tsl is definitely gig worthy and I would not hesitate to record with it. That's saying something...
 
Re: TSL100: Who REALLY loves it?

Hi guys....
I am new here and this is my first post and I just wanted to say...
- I think the TSL 100 is an amazing sounding amp.
- I have owned mine since 2005 and it's got a lot of hours on it. It's been in 4 bands with me now and bounced around in many vehicle across most of Canada on tour.
- the original foot switches did in fact suck... I replace the first one after a year or so but have beat the **** out of the new (2006ish) one and still going strong.
- This amp needs to be played loud to get the tone, it's designed to be played loud. I like loud.
- Any of those hybrid Marshalls do suck. A friend had one and I did everything I could to get it sound nice... couldn't do it. They SUCK.
- Anyways... I've been playing for 30 years so maybe I'm deaf but I do get a lot of compliments on my tone and it's been TSL since 2005 and an 800 before that.

To each his own. TSL kicks ass for me.
 
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