[ernhrtjr]

I am looking to buy a marshall tube amp TSL602. Does anyone know about these amps? Or what I should be looking for in a tube amp? I am a beginner when it comes to amps, I have a 2004 Standard Les Paul and want to make it sound like,
it should sound. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Robert1950]

I am looking to buy a marshall tube amp TSL602. Does anyone know about these amps? Or what I should be looking for in a tube amp? I am a beginner when it comes to amps, I have a 2004 Standard Les Paul and want to make it sound like,
it should sound. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Marshall amps are meant to be played LOUD. You take a loud Marshall and an LP,... you have bliss. At low volumes you may have to add an OD pedal if you to emulate that tube driven LP/Marshall sound.

So, ask yourself. How loud do I want to play? How loud can I play without the police being called or getting evicted.

 

[GuitaristZ]

If I were you, check out the marshall dsl50. Its very loud, but still has a nice tone at lower volumes.
I currently own one, and have played it ranging from my basement, to my main venue with seating for about 300. I love it

The dsl50 is also at a great price right now. I saw a head last week, in great condition, for about 850$...that is an amazing deal for such a great head.

 

[violation]

JCM2000 is the worst all tube Marshall available IMO, especially the cleans. And the combo you're talking about costs $1649.99 new? Go used and you can get a JCM800 or JCM900 half stack for the same price or even lower.

Looking locally right now I see a JCM800 head + the 1960 cab for $1500... a JCM900 head for $900 and a 1960 cab for $600... so for $1500 you could have a better sounding setup for less cash and they're in perfect condition.

JCM800 is the classic rock tone... JCM900 is pretty good for high gain / hard rock stuff, add an overdrive pedal and you're set.... it can do blues / classic rock very well too. Excellent head, my step dad has one and I use his over my 800 everytime I go to the jam room.

You can find used combos of the 800 and 900 occasionally too, go for about $1000 from what I've see.

 

[bolero]

I would ditch the marshall idea & go with a SF fender vibrolux/super reverb/pro reverb

they don't look as cool, but they are built & sound better than any marshall made after about 1987 IMO

also you can get a cool boutique head/amp for way less than the cost of a new marshall, that will smoke any new production marshall...ie: Dr. Z should be fairly easy to find

....or get an old Garnet/Traynor :wink:

 

[Stratin2traynor]

If you are looking for a great Marshall sound with a LP, get yourself something that has enough power and sounds great clean, then buy yourself a Zvex Box of Rock. I just got one and it sounds fantastic at bedroom level and cranked.

 

[GuitaristZ]

JCM2000 is the worst all tube Marshall available

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh3jZnqlybQ

you were saying? You obviously are just parroting what someone else has said...or something...

The JCM2000 does not sound exactly like the other JCMs, but it sure is a lot more versatile. And saying that it "is the worst all tube Marshall available," is just plain ignorant in my opinion. And we are both entitled to our opinions.

More JCM2000 clips:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=677250

 

[violation]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh3jZnqlybQ

you were saying? You obviously are just parroting what someone else has said...or something...

The JCM2000 does not sound exactly like the other JCMs, but it sure is a lot more versatile. And saying that it "is the worst all tube Marshall available," is just plain ignorant in my opinion. And we are both entitled to our opinions.

More JCM2000 clips:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=677250

Were those supposed to impress me? Just confirmed my opinion that it's the worst all tube Marshall available. And no, I'm not repeating what someone said, I used one for atleast 5 hours when I stayed the day and night at a friends house (not by choice, was his only spare amp... this was the same day I fell in love with Mesa).

JCM800, JCM900, JVM and all those old school Marshalls sound a lot better IMO. JCM900 and JVM are hands down the most versatile Marshalls available to date and do it sounding good.

 

[GuitaristZ]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=XXYjEMTQRm0

suck on that...worst all tube marshall? I dont think so.

thats what I thought

 

[violation]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=XXYjEMTQRm0

suck on that...worst all tube marshall? I dont think so.

thats what I thought

Still the worst... go play a JCM800, JCM900, JVM or any of those old school Marshall models. They all sound better. Especially those really old, really expensive ones from the 70's... like the ones Yngwie (50 watt Mark II models I believe?) uses. Sex for your ears. Or this one:

http://songbirdmusic.com/product_details.asp?id=22758

Same amp Rhoads used... * drools *

On the note of Gary Moore, he typically uses old school JCM 800's with a Marshall Guv'nor if I remember correctly. I know it's a JCM800 'cause that's why Zakk got his originally.

 

[GuitaristZ]

Still the worst... go play a JCM800, JCM900, JVM or any of those old school Marshall models. They all sound better. Especially those really old, really expensive ones from the 70's... like the ones Yngwie (50 watt Mark II models I believe?) uses. Sex for your ears. Or this one:

http://songbirdmusic.com/product_details.asp?id=22758

Same amp Rhoads used... * drools *

On the note of Gary Moore, he typically uses old school JCM 800's with a Marshall Guv'nor if I remember correctly. I know it's a JCM800 'cause that's why Zakk got his originally.

In that video...Gary Moore was using a dsl50. Gary Moore, which definately has an ear for tone, and of course has a huge marshall amp collection, uses a dsl50 for his live shows recently...that speaks for itself. He has a bunch of other amps, etc...but yeah...he still chooses the dsl50.

 

[violation]

And from that clip I can tell his tone has suffered compared to his older, good tone.

 

[GuitaristZ]

LOL...sure...enough foolishness...if he wants to sound just like a 800, then get an 800. If they guy wants versatility, great tone, and a good price, get the dsl series

 

[Adicted to Tubes]

The only thing the DSL series does is make more grind from the diode bounding circuits.It's synthetic distortion.Not that that's all bad,it's just not like a JCM800 cranked with a les paul.
The TSL series is even more synthesized.Three channels for what?Nothing else beats the sound of tube distortion.Diodes don't cut it.
Listen to Gary Moore with a STRAT.Single coils.With a humbucker it's crushing.The idea of the new marshalls is to get grind at lower volume levels.Thus the need for diodes.When you add diodes to a tube amp circuit it sucks the life out of the amp and makes all guitars sound the same.
Experiment:take a DSL and set it at high gain,scouped mid.A strat can sound the same as a les paul.With a JCM800 the individual guitar sounds shine through.
It's like a boogie.Synthetic.Yuck!

 

[GuitaristZ]

Good Lord...DSLS dont have diode distortion...


http://www.marshallampforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8636&highlight=dsl+diode

and even if they did and you thought it sounded buzzy...you could turn down the gain and mainly use power tube distortion...

 

[GuitaristZ]

I see the marshall amp community is not liking you guys very much...show some respect for the greatest amps ever made

I dont think they like violation very much haha


http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandid=310033

recorded with a dsl50

 

[Robert1950]

Boys, Boys, Boys. Easy. Marshall has lots of variety for everyone. Except for low watt guys, but again that's like asking Porsche for 911 with 2 litre 4 cylinder. Some people can get their sound out of a TSL, some need a good old JTM45.

P.S. Right now I'm listening to Cream, Live, March 1968, Huge Marshall Stacks !!!!!

 

[Wild Bill]

The only thing the DSL series does is make more grind from the diode bounding circuits.It's synthetic distortion.Not that that's all bad,it's just not like a JCM800 cranked with a les paul.
The TSL series is even more synthesized.Three channels for what?Nothing else beats the sound of tube distortion.Diodes don't cut it.
Listen to Gary Moore with a STRAT.Single coils.With a humbucker it's crushing.The idea of the new marshalls is to get grind at lower volume levels.Thus the need for diodes.When you add diodes to a tube amp circuit it sucks the life out of the amp and makes all guitars sound the same.
Experiment:take a DSL and set it at high gain,scouped mid.A strat can sound the same as a les paul.With a JCM800 the individual guitar sounds shine through.
It's like a boogie.Synthetic.Yuck!

In the immortal words of Slip Mahoney: "Indubiously!"

+1 to everything A2T has said! I've repaired JCM2000's, DSL's and TSL's and they are just a JCM800 bastardized with extra solid state stuff to wash out the good tone with fuzzbox transistor distortion.

To me they sound like a 10w Crate practice amp dimed!

By all means, get a JCM800 or a clone. The 2000 is also a PITA to work on, giving Booger a run for their money. This means more money to me on the bill to the customer, but at the cost of higher blood pressure from the aggravation.

Oh well, if you're rich and don't have to worry then by all means go for it...

 

[GuitaristZ]

There are 800's and 900's with diode clipping I hear...

JCM 900 master volumes:

The JCM 900 master volume was designed to give the late 80ies metal bands what they wanted the most, MORE GAIN. And more gain they got. However, the sound of the 900s is not as ballsy as the 800s’. To get the extra gain, the diode clipping-circuit was modified which in turn gave not only more gain but also a somewhat buzzier and brighter distortion.
But the players loved it anyway, and lots of people still do. By backing the gain of you decrease the amount solid state-clipped signal (the clipping circuit is fed with less signal the lower the gain is set) and you can get some killer more vintage "true tubeish" tones out of these amps too. The tones produced by these amps will first and foremost suit modern thrash metal, hardcore or punk players that don’t need a clean sound. In 1994 the Mk III was replaced by the Mk IIII, also known as the SLX. These amps feature an extra ECC83 (12AX7) preamp tube and even more gain than the original JCM 900 master volumes.

References:
http://www.guitarsite.com/guitar_FAQ2.htm
http://www.jcfonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29170
An article that specifically quotes an amp technician removing diode circuits in the JCM800 to make them sound better I suppose..but he says you will lose a lot of gain.





and isnt it funny...how you guys keep saying stuff like "oh theres this awesome distortion/overdrive pedal that I love the sound of" and you forget that these use diodes to clip :|And then you say, just because an amplifier uses a diode utilizing circuit to produce more gain (which is a good thing for a lot of people, and a lot of people like the gain) that it has to sound bad.
referenced: http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~gmarts/ampovdrv.htm

Plus...why do you guys run overdrives, etc into your amplifiers to get more gain, if diodes are a bad thing? The PROCO rat is one of the most praised distortions and guess what...it uses diodes

maybe I dont understand this topic that well...but please explain more.



im here to learn too...so if I am wrong, then correct me. I want to know.

 

[Cross]

This thread just seems to be a pissing match about which Marshall model sucks or which one is better. I wouldn't be surprised if the topic starter has become even more confused about what kind of tube amp he should buy.

I would simply recommend that you go to your local music store and plug your guitar into as many tube amps as you can. Nevermind the name or model type, let your ears be the judge to what YOU think sounds best for yourself. Hopefully that perfect amp you find will also meet your budget, but if money is not an option, then you have a boatload of selections. Find an amp that you'll enjoy listening to yourself play through each and everytime. Good luck with the hunt!