Marshall JCM-2000 TSL 100

Plenty.

Guys, realize something: IF you want a JCM 800 tone, buy a fucking JCM 800. don't get a JCM 2000 thinking one of the channels is going to sound like a JCM 800. Stop it. Get realistic. Vintage brown tone is the hardest tone to replicate. It's even hard to get from most old amps!

I don't own one of these. Just play it at Guitar Center all the time. It is a solid amp. It sounds very good, but I won't rate it until I buy it and own it. Very versatile. I've heard negative things about the craftsmanship.

But again: I've gone through most reviews and people complain about "buzzy" distortion. Oh friggin wah! Listen, the AMP was manufactured from 1999 on. Not 1969. 1969 was thirty years ago. If you want that sound get an amp from that era.

That being said, it is a great amp, it does vintage tones pretty well, but not like a JCM 800. AGAIN, because it isn't one. Thank you for listening to my diatribe.

heard they're built like turd/.

playing for 15+ years. Had some Marshalls, now play a Rocktron Prophesy through a Marshall 9100 dual monobloc. Sounds great.

You should know 'em by now. Three channel amp, can cover a wide variety of music. Its difficult to ask for more unless you want a digital amp.

Awesome tone over a wide range of styles. If you want a 10 you will only get it for one type of music. Note, I tried different tubes with poor luck. I tried several tube substitutions but they were noisy. Now I am of the openion to stick with the Marshall tubes which are really Russian tubes. Definaetly better built that many others. Don't mess with the tubes. I learned a somewhat expensive lesson.

I use a Les Paul Studio (1990 version)and do not need a distortion pedal. The lead channel has enough gain that, except for heavey metal with a fuzz sound (vice crunch or high gain) you shouldn't need one. If you want that fuzzy buzzy metal tone, save yourself alot of money and get a solid state amp and some pedals. Also, a good tone is more than just the amp, like the speaker cabinet, guitar, pickups... etc. You will have to learn to adjust the controls on this amp also.

This amp sounds great with a 1960 AV loaded with V-30s. This is not for beginners or metal kids.

Have not had a problem. I don't wear heavy black boots or big shoes. I don't slam the pedal switches. Be careful and gentle plugging in the footswitch because the connector is soldered directly to the circuit board. It definately should be more sturdy. Also, all the channel switching and associated circuitry makes me nervous. But I have cranked this amp multiple times and no problems so far. I do baby it. I'm sure it cant take alot of physical abuse so be very careful. Don't wrap the connector cable around the footswitch. Take care of the amp like you should a nice expensive sports car and you should be ok.

Also, my amp was manufactured in the UK but I understand they will be built in other places, possibly China or other. What the hell though that may be better than Mexico ( Fender amps).

Bottom line, baby this amp and it will take care of you. Road worthiness in Mack trucks ... etc.? Good luck.

Margional. Support is thru KORG USA. I don't like that. Probably similar to Fender and definately better than Line6 (terrible support).

Overall I give it a 9. You won't find a tube amp as flexible as this one that gives a great tube tone across multiple music types. You can buy an amp that is a 10 for Blues, Jazz, Rock... etc. But it won't have the flexibility you may want.

Alot of un-happy people think the amp alone is a "catch all end all". They will give a bad review for an amp but don't mention the speaker cab, guitar, control settings...etc. The amp alone will not give the desired tone. That "tone" is comprisied of multiple components.

Don't need to repeat it 323 times!

Don't need to repeat it 323 times! but let me just say this, if you want to have a sound similar to the 80s, forget about it! you'll need to buy seperate distortion pedal and a reverb.

changed pedal twice. after 10 months of careful usage with stock everything, it died on me. At the moment it's in the shop, and it will take about 2-3 weeks to fix.

headquarter of marshall for americans is in NEW YORK! i'm in california. The shop is over an hour away! I just wish if marshall would cover the cost for the tubes! Don't even know how much i'll have to pay yet.

doesn't exist. you'll have to deal with independent shops that have techs who are certified with marshall. LAME!

too much money, not satisfied with the tone, poor customer service/satisfaction

Fantastic features. Pretty much all you need for a broad spectrum of tone. Versatile enough to manipulate each channel to hone in on your sound. Channel switching? FOOTPEDAL IS JUNK. I'm not going to harp on about it. There are hundreds if not thousands who feel the same. When it works its great, straight forward and no nonsense; however, the pedal breaks. Not a matter of if, rather when. Just be prepared. I would have expected Marshall to have a pedal that compliments the phenom of the TSL head. Cleans are great, really good. Crunch is mean... don't let if fool you, theres more crunch in there than you could imagine. Lead... out of control... hot is such an understatement. Headroom for days... go ahead crank it up... 10 easily if the pedal was better quality...

Cleans are awesome. Super crisp, and throw in the reverb and its amazing. Cruch, with the drive at about 8/9 and mids at about 2/3 the treble max'd with bass about 5/6, and it's metal mayhem. The lead channel is HOT!!!! mess with the setting all you want. I use a MXR 10 channel EQ, and it brings the sound out like you wouldn't believe. Tons of headroom. My band pratice in a pretty small space with another Marshall full stack, Bass stack, a gagillion piece drum set (my drummer would like that comment) and a ball park PA, and yet I'm at 4 or 5 and it's too loud. Mic this amp if you're playing in a stadium or are afraid of deafening the folks in the small club.

The amp head is solid as a rock... has worked for me all the time everytime! Give it time to heat up and cool down, keep it covered when not in use and try not to bang it around too much (case it if you can). Simple. the footpedal is a different story... NOTE: I'M RATING THE AMP HEAD ON THIS ONE... THE PEDAL GETS A -2 BECAUSE IT IS JUNK!

I really haven't needed it. I live about an hour from the Marshall factory and the one time I did call, they were nice as could be and invited me down for a day at the factory while they fixed my amp. I didin't need it fixed, just had to stop being a dummy with it. Same with the pedal; however, I think I'll just buy another one and try and modify it to be more reliable

I've been playing for about 10 years now. I'm a serious hobbyist, as I'm a full time military member; however, involved as much with bands, guitar playing and music as I can possible muster. I can tell you with my limited knowledge of amp quality that this amp is awesome. I've played a few different types of amps, i.e. mesa-boogie, crate, line 6 and for the money this amp is tops. I wish the footswitch was better quality, but small beans overall. The only thing I would suggest is to run an EQ in line with the head. Man, it's amazing... takes an amazing amp to perfect... in my opinion

It's about as versatile as anyone would ever need. I had a 6100 anniversary before which has similar sounds but I never used half the switches/compensation/damping etc. and it was hassle just checking that they were all where I'd left them and my sound was still intact! This amp is simpler and just gets it right. 2 effects loops could come in handy and the 25W switch is quite useful for a bedroom sound but does lose some clarity. I'd like a voicing switch on the crunch channel though to dial out some of that JCM800 bark and get closer to plexi territory now and then. That's that one feature of my 6100 I miss. You can use the FX footswitch as a solo booster which is nice.

I play in three originals bands across the whole spectrum of rock and do loads of covers work in all styles and eras. I mainly use a standard Strat with Duncan JB jnr. in the bridge and alnico II pro single coils, Gibson SG with Duncan JB and Jazz, and a Peavey Wolfgang for heavier things and as an all-rounder. I play it through a 1936 2x12 which is warm and smooth, and a 1960 4x12 which is more aggressive and has more bass and treble. I actually prefer the 2x12. A 4x12 with 25W Greenbacks would probably be even better.

Clean: Never outstanding. With humbuckers it can get that Guns n Roses clean sound which isn't a bad place to be. If you turn the amp right up and put the gain on 4 (mid boost on) with a Strat it gives a stunning SRV tone but you'll need a Powerbrake/Hotplate to actually use this sound (I use a Hotplate and I think its quite good). I've had compliments on this sound but the clean channel as a whole is just adequate. Really good for a Marshall but lacks compression and chime. Will try a compressor in the fx loop at some point but my setup is complicated already...

Crunch: Again needs to be turned up. At bedroom levels it's muddy. Turned up beyond 3 it starts to come alive. This is the classic rock sound - halfway between a plexi at full tilt and the bark of a JCM800. You can move it closer to either camp with the mid control. Too much treble though - it sounds thin above halfway which means you have to turn the amp up to get any clarity. Sometimes I miss the chimey sound of my 6100's crunch channel but this has more balls and grunt. The louder you go, the better it gets. All the way up and the power stage gets nice and creamy like Parisienne Walkways or 70s Jeff Beck. Use an attentuator with this amp and you won't have to buy a plexi!

Lead: I play some heavy stuff and this is perfect. It's halfway between Marshall and Boogie which is perfect for me. Very similar to the anniversary lead channel but with a but more sizzle (almost like a Soldano). Loads of treble though - even for metal I wouldn't go above halfway, and for a Van Halen or Slash sound, more like a quarter, and gain on 3 or 4. On most amps for these sounds I would want to boost the treble a bit. On this amp too much treble transforms it into a thin, buzzy monster and masks all the bottom end grunt. You have to turn up the volume to make the treble sing though, and some of the juice comes from the speakers working hard too - so even the hotplate is a compromise. I use this channel as a modern/heavy rhythm channel and use an eq pedal in the fx loop for solos. Set up right with just enough mids this is the best heavy sound I've had. Much warmer and more singing than my old 5150 but with 90% of the grunt. Bigger and more aggressive than my Anniversary but just as toneful. Not as fat as a Boogie but minus the mush and much more responsive and dynamic. I think for modern sounds and metal only a Soldano would beat this but I can't afford one! Maybe an ENGL for metal?

It is easy to make this amp sound bad, but with some work it's great. If you're not gonna be able to turn it up, buy a 50W combo or you'll be disappointed.

It seems well made and doesn't produce any strange noises or do anything unusual. It blows a lot of fuses though - perhaps I should retube it? I take spare fuses everywhere. The footswitch is a bad design. The lead is only held to the pedal by the six solder connections inside. I solved this problem by wrapping a huge wad of gaffa tape around the cable, just inside the hole at the back of the pedal.

Never used Marshall customer support but I was able to download a manual easily from their site.

I've been playing fifteen years and I am a professional teacher and guitarist. I have had three different Marshalls and a 5150, and if this was lost or stolen I would get the same again, or possibly another anniversary (but this time an el34 version for that creamy power stage). I do a lot of different things, and this gets me most of the way to all the sounds I need. I'd love a plexi for classic rock, a 2555 jubilee for heavy rock, a Fender for clean, and I'd like to try a Bogner. But this does everything I need for a really good price. Even if I could afford the Soldano I'd still want the TSL.

I've owned three TSL100s in my lifetime, so this is a combined review - same amp!

The first amp was produced in 1999 bought from new. The second was a 2003 model bought new and the third was a second hand one witha 2004 serial.

I love this amp, I really do, I just wish it loved me back! Three seperate channels, clean crunch and lead, the latter being my favourite channel! EL34 power section and 12ax7 preamps, and in english that basically means nice natural saturation and sag and a host of flexible options all in! 100watts! I used these amps at various times through a Marshall 2x12, a 4x12 and for the 2003 and 2004 models, both were used on full stacks with an engl powerball full stack.

I play metal in a fairly big name band and do a lot of venues. The first amp I used with a punk band I used to be in - hey I was young! It sounded good enough for that and had plenty options. It does like to hum at louder volumes so a noise suppressor is an absolute must! I used the Boss NS-2, not the best pedal in the world but at least it got rid of the hum.

The distortion is quite brutal, however this amp really does come alive with JJ preamp tubes! They offer the gain and saturation. A NOS tube is also a good option in the PI slot. I used an old Jan/Phils and its a really really good option!

Stock the amp still does the business! The clean is really chimey and dare I say fender-alike. It takes pedals very well, I couldn't find a pedal it didn't take to. High volumes with the noise suppressor and it still had that good old marshall roar.

However, a mate's DSL50 with a full compliment of Groove Tubes sounded a good bit better! If you want really brutal distortion on a budget, go for the DSL50. The TSL100 is still very good though. I used my own brand of boost with this amplifier!

In the UK, marshall are great with service. OK so we have the advantage of Marshall being a UK company anyway but their service has always been excellent!

I've had three TSL100s and they've all had issues at some point or another. Here's a run down:

TSL #1:

- Crackles and hisses and squeeks coming from the cab: turned out to be a dodgy set of tubes. Retubed for free!

- Intermittent signal, rather like what you're describing: bad HT fuses resultant of bad tubes which was caused by a fault in the cathode follower circuit (Marshall's words, not idea what that means)

- The amp would play fine for two minutes and then cut out totally dead: The DC heaters on the first two tubes had shorted out

Sold the amp after a marshall service


TSL #2:

- Nothing, nowt, zip out of the speakers, not even a hiss: Bad HT fuse due to power valves failure (at three weeks old) caused by a fault with the rectifier circuit

- Smoking heavily at band practise: was first thought to be the power amp tube setting alight some dust on the chassis due to heat. Cleaned chassis, replaced the tubes and off we go

- Two weeks later at gig, same problem and amp cut out almost instantly: mains transformer had developped a fault which was shorting out the amp. Replaced lots of caps, tubes, tranny and various other bits

- Got it to band practise same day I got it back from marshall. Same problem... was told the cabinet must be causing the problem. Drove the lot up there, cab tested fine AOK. They replaced a PCB to deal with the cabinet output section and all tubes and all tested OK

- Amp finally died three weeks later. Strange sound to it, Marshall refunded me the price I paid for the amp as it was only about 4-5 months old... just a bad one I guess


Not deterred, I went for amp #3:

Tsl#3:

- Perfect! Bought it off a guy here and all went really well. Supplied 2 footswitches with it as he said the first developped a fault.

- About a month or 2 later, developped problems with noises and crackles. Repalced the preamp tubes myself, problem solved.
- A week later, amp was making no noise at all and wouldn't switch channels. Marshall said it was a grounding problem with the amp and they replaced both footswitches and the power tubes

- Sold the amp anticipating more problems and happy with my Engl.

The reliability of the TSL just got me in the end, and the fact that marshall are moving production to china which means that there is no more going to the factory to get your problems sorted out easily... time to sell up.

Shame, its a really good amp but just the reliability kills ya! I guess if you are playing in your bedroom for most of your life like I did with my first TSL100, it will serve you well but if you gig regularly, then fuggedaboudit!

Marshall has always been really good with their support! They were always willing to take my amp in at the drop of a hat!

I've been playing since I were a nipper - 8 years old. This was my first tube amp at 15. I'm 24 now so about 9 years of playing various tube amps.

I sold it down to the reliability! That's the only issue I had with the amp - otherwise it would definately have been a keeper!

1999 TSL 1000 Marshall head. 3 channels. Used for live performance, large clubs, outdoor stages

Les Paul standard, Stat Texas Special with humbucker. I play classic rock/pop/blues, I am in my 40's, so everything from Beatles/Badfinger to Journey, Boston, Eagles, ZZ Top in a traveling cover band. Amp is great for live covers, very versatile...

Never a problem except the damn footswitch. ALWAYS have a spare...

Great. They sent me footswitch parts for free, and I installed...

I wanted to add some comments to my earlier reveiw....Played for 35 years, would buy this again, but there are some tricks, and tweaks needed to get "the sound". I explained these in another review, but wanted to add to it...THIS IS A GREAT, VERSATILE, LIVE AMP. That being said, there are many other Marshalls, or smaller tube amps that sound prettier in a living room situation. But live, with vintage 30's or G12H's, these cut through the mix, mic well, and have plenty of clean headroom and punch. And the tone is rather nice, too. Plenty of harmonics and growl at your fingertips.
I need to mention that the treble on both of our TSL's in the band is only up to about 9 o'clock, and the same for the presence. the mid is flat, and the bass is at 2 o'clock....these can be overly bright on the gain channels, especially when using the stock celestion G12 75's, or low output, bright pickups....however, the clean channel treble is full on, with flat mids or the mid boost on(my preference). With JJ tubes, and a hotter bias than factory, you will be very pleased, indeed...Gibson Classic '57 Plus or Seymour duncan Custom pickups work quite well, overall....
Again, there are sweeter, nicer sounding "living room amps" out there....but for live, I have found nothing that compares overall, for classic, fat, harmonically sweet, crunchy rock sounds. A 50 watter won't do it, and we really don't play that deafeningly loud, either.
Without the tube upgrade and re bias, vintage speakers, etc, I am not surprised at some people's less than thrilling reaction to this amp. It is a "made for live" rock and roll amp, in my opinion. Many smaller, sweeter amps get lost on stage, and sound like a big warm fuzzy bumble bee....with less than distinct notes...this one doesn't...

made in 1999, bought it new. Use it for live shows, from medium size clubs to outdoor festivals. Plenty of power. 3 channels. Reverb.

I use a les Paul Standard, with 57 classic and classic plus pickups, and a Fender Texas Special strat with a seymour custom humbucker, and 2 ssl-5 single coils. I only use a boss chorus, a tuner, and an acoustic simulator run to the board. I like it simple. For me, the clean channel is perfect with the mid boost engaged. Nice, warm, chimey. Really nice. The lead channel is also my cup of tea. I play with a lot of vibrato and this thing has balls and tone.
The rythm, or crunch channel is just "ok". Not bad, but a little thin and fuzzy, unless you crank it up. Unfortunately, in a club, that's tough to do. Outdoors, at bigger shows, it's killer.

I have used it for numerous shows for 5 years, never a break down.
Wait a minute. The floor pedal has had the led's and footswitches fixed more than once. I keep it in a SKB suitcase....and the last 3 years no problems. If you play out a lot....have an extra footswitch. We do....you will need it someday. My other guitarist has one of these, too. He loves it. But, is still playing with a burnt led on one of the footpedal switches....someday, I will fix it, too....

Korg was great. They sent me replacement parts for the footpedal right away. Fixed it myself. Worked ever since. 5 year warranty.

First of all, out of the box, this thing was a little dissappointing. Kind of cold and one dimensional, with little feel. I have played Marshalls for 30 years, played since age 10, I am 47, and play mostly classic rock, pop, and heavy blues style riffs. For me, it's always been Marshalls. I travel and play out on weekends. YOU HAVEN'T HEARD THIS AMP UNTIL YOU PUT JJ TUBES IN IT, AND BIAS IT AROUND 40MV (It was 35mv factory) Then, you have a great live rig that has fat, soaring, singing leads, chimey clean channel(with mid boost on), and a reasonable crunch channel. YOU CANNOT GET CLASSIC ROCK TONES OUT OF THIS AMP WITH THE STANDARD 75 WATT CELESTIONS. Been there, tried that. I have a Marshall 4X12 vintage cab (vintage 30's), with the bottom two speakers swapped for Celestion G12H 30's. Yes....it sounds pretty damn good on just about everything "classic rock". We mic the vintage 30's with Audix i5's. Great stuff...
Greenbacks, blackbacks, whatever...the 25 watters are nicer than the 75's, for sure...but for live, nothing sings like the the "30's" G12H, and Vintage, I mean...
I miss having an in between crunch and clean channel. The crunch is a bit much on some things, and the clean is too clean sometimes....you know what I mean..... Wish they made a 35 watt crunch section, and a 100 watt lead section....:)
Overall, it's not everything, but instead of 3 heads, and 3 cabs....this works quite well, has tons of sustain and fatness...and is fun to play if you are a player that likes to dig in and make your vibrato sing! I have thoroughly enjoyed this amp.
If it was stolen, I couldn't replace it...the back is signed by both origonal April Wine guitarists...they used it when we opened a show for them, and their rented dual reverb went south. Brian Greenway loved it, by the way. But I made Myles Goodwin sign it too, as payment for the "backline rental".
Yes, I would buy the same amp again, no question.

Well this the amp with the most knobs i've ever seen. It's got three chanels, clean, crunch and lead, each one with seperate gain master volume and equalizer. It has got a spring reverb and even two fx loops. They are adjustable seperately for the clean channel while the crunch and the lead share share one reverb and fx level knob.
The 4 power amp tubes definately provide an 'acceptable' amount of power! ^^ I can't stand the sound any longer when i turn the volume up to 12 o clock. But for home purpose it has got a virtual power reduce switch, which throttles the power amp down to 25W and i use it very often. At last i have to mention the few other functions i don't use, eg. the mid boost in the clean channel as well as the mid shift in crunch and lead

Mostly I use my Gibson Les Paul Studio on this amp and it really sounds great! This is THE amp for this guitar. Lead channel + bridge pickup provides a great Heavy Metal rythm sound just like BOOOM. I like it. When you play muted powerchords and unmuted chords in turns the it feels just like a little man turns on and of a bass boost switch inside the amp. Great. The Neckpickup + Leadchannel provides a really creamy-screamy lead guitar sound, exacly like the guitar intro of Rainmaker by Iron Maiden. If you play this amp and then switch over to an ordinary transistor amp you will even recognise that your guitar feels different! Suddenly it will get sticky and your brains scream to use the jcm 2000 again!

I used it at 3 gigs yet and i never had a problem with it. I thruthfully trust in this head but i think it is to early to give a comment about it yet.

No experiences yet.

Yip, Great, provides, if adjusted carefully every sound a guitarrist needs, no matter what he plays. At least I experienced a great compartibility to heavy metal, hardrock, crunch, grunge, rock & roll etc. If it were stolen i would definately buy it again, if i had the money :-)

The amp was made in the last quarter of 2004.
This amp is very versatile and can be adjusted to get nice sounds for most types of music. Probably best suited for Rock,Metal and Alternative. Three channels is perfect 1)clean 2) cruch 3) Lead
The marshall website lists all of the features this head has to offer.
I am happy with the features this amp has. I will be using this amp in the studio for recording and possibly an occasional gig. The amp has plenty of power. I was quite suprised with the balls this thing has. I like the deep feature, it might be nice have a deep and reverb for both the cruch and lead channels, but this is no problem.

I am using this amp with a fender USA strat plus with a hotrail in the standard tuning and a Les Paul Gothic tuned to B. This amp works well for Rock, Metal and alternative. The guys playing the Nu-Metal should be very happy with this amp. The amp is fairly quiet compared with other tube amps, a few clicks n pops to be expected. This should cover most styles of electric guitar playing. I am quite pleased with the clean channel, seems to be better than the JCM 800/900 from what I remember?
I think this JCM 2000 can cover the sounds of the JCM 900/800 and beyond, I have no desire for either of those older units when this head covers those two plus even more. This marshall head is being used with a Mesa oversized recto w/ vintage 30's. This setup ROARS in the lead channel with my gothic (les paul) everything on 10 except volume which is a nuclear melt down at about 5. Plenty of distortion for all types of metal.

Seems reliable. I would not do a serious gig without a backup, but that is with any tube amp unless maybe I had a full set of tubes and fuses possibly. I did blow one fuse (1Amp) not sure why it blew?
I would not be happy if this thing breaks down, I do not really want to send it to NY. I give this an 8 because of quality which seems that is a bit less than a few other competitors in the same price range.

Warranty is 5 years! Very nice, I thing the unit should be reliable considering a warranty of 5 years(I hope) I am afraid of service centers and hope I never have to send it to one. I also do not like shipping stuff like this. UPS claim waiting to happen. I have not dealt with Marshall and hope I never have to. If I do I hope I have a pleasant experience.

I have been playing for 17 years. I have a Bogner Ecstacy and a Mesa RoadKing each with the respective cabinet loaded w/ V 30's. I tell you what; those two amps are killer, but I am very happy to say that the TSL 100 is right up there with them. I am not marshall mesa or bogner advocate. I love all 3 amps, just the same as having 3 children they each have there own special qualitys. Well if it came down to it and I had to choose, it would be the Bogner hands down (Duh !!) I am diggin this Marshall and for so many years I wasnt all that excited about them.
I am finally convinced marshall amps kick ass!
Now I gotta save for the next 5 years and check out a Diezel.
If it were stolen (RIP) I would buy another for sure.
I love the way the unit smells when it gets hot, burning Tubes an Iron! I do like the reverb, it is an added bonus. I think Marshall (and some others) has gotten a little greedy on the price increases.
I would give it a 10 , but the price on this thing is going up a bit too fast. Slow down on the price increases, none of us have gotten any decent raises since all the jobs are going to china (no offense) etc. and 9-11 happend.

MARSHALL LAW !