Marshall JCM-2000 TSL 100

Its a beautiful amp with so much versatility. the clean channel is totally un-Marshall-y, which is why i bought it - i'm more of a fender-sound freak, and the amp does that beautifully! the gain channels (both of them!) are absolutely incredible for sheer gain and volume.

hmmm... the only thing here is, dont even try using it quietly! its one of those amps that will NEVER sound good until cranked (and i live in a block of flats... :( !) but once you get it up there, it is unmatchable! the 1/4 power switch is a cool feature. i only gave it 8 for this section cos i mainly have to practice quietly.

ive actually had quite a bit of trouble with this one. its very temperamental, but other people are well and truly impressed with the reliability of their own tsl. from time to time, it won't even switch on, which is a pain in the butt.

the guy from rock dog amps did the servicing for me. he's brilliant, its the best service ive had of anywhere! he was the sort of guy who you can tell loves his job! of course, not all amp techs will be like that...

ive been playing 13 yrs, and its the best sounding amp ive had to date. its my first stack, and will probably be the last, as im a small bloke and i cant carry a quad around particularly easily. i wish i'd got the 2x12 combo! other than that, the amp is beaut, but i think anyone considering their first stack should think carfully about size and weight. i didnt, and ive had heaps of trouble! basically, the size/weight and reliability lose it the marks.

Mr "Apple" (below) says that he measured the amps output to be 49 watts (VPR mode) and 117watts (full power mode) using a "watt meter".
This method is flawed for a few reasons:
First he "cranked the amp" for the measurement.
When you do a load test on an amp you measure it at the point of clipping or at a certain %THD (Total Harmoic Distortion) -%5 is a common value used. All amps put out signifcantly more power when driven into clipping (distorted) than when they are run linear ("clean" tones).
Second the signal has a power factor by it's nature (speaker load) and this also has to be factored in when using a Watt meter hooked up to a speaker load. However this isn't as big an error factor as running an amp into it's non linear regon (distortion) when measuring out put power.
The proper way to measure output power is to supply the amp with a 1khz sine wave, turn the tone controls to their most linear position, hook the output to a resistive load, and measure the voltage across the (known) resitive load using a Scope. Adjust the gains and master till you reach clipping or a %THD to get the amps maximum "Clean" output voltage across the load. Then you do the math (using the rms voltage and resistive load value).
If "Mr Apple" had used this method I think he would have found that the amp does produce power close to what Marshall claims for both modes of operation...

Il suono e 1. Se ti piace Marshall ok altrimenti evita. Non punterei molto sulla versatilita.
Per quanto riguarda switch/loop/jacks e completo.

Suonato con Peavey Wolfang EVH. Genere A-Rock.
Nessuno dei tre suoni eccelle per qualita e potenza sonora, il crunch e il peggio dei 3.
In generale, secondo il mio parere, manca molto di pienezza/sustain

Nessun problema avuto. Minimo!!

Nessuna esperienza di riparazione.

L'ho suonato per 1 anno per poi passare ad Orange.
Se adori marshall ok altrimenti con i soldi comprati qualcosa di diverso. Per qualsiasi genere.

This is the latest of this amp I got it in may of 2003 and I think I have been playing with it long enough to talk about it with others. First of all I choose to use a super modified Mexican Stratocaster because Americans are too bright for me. I enjoy all of the features of this amp. It would be nice if the amp had a separate reverb for each channel but oh well what can you do. I enjoy the stock tubes on this amp. I wonder if i will ever change them, I honestly kind of enjoy the sound of a tube that has been played through too long. It?s almost been a year and they still sound great.

I combine the neck and middle pickups on my Stratocaster and go through the crunch channel and I believe I have the Hendrix tone with out any fancy compressor?s, limiters, gates, maximizes or any of those goodies. Though I will say you should try this amp playing with the PB100 power break and really crank those tubes. Because I play in a mellow indie band I feel I am the only person posting here who is not 30 years old or older and loves those 80's ripping solos. I am 15 years old but I am not spoiled getting this amp. I have played for 9 years and I got into one of the best music schools in the world for guitar The North Carolina School of the Arts. But I live in San Francisco now and play in a band called Go Go Nasty come check us out www.gogonasty.com, back to the amp, here are some tips for the amp. I like turning the trebles down and the mids up. I don?t really like the deep switch but it?s a cool feature. The VPR really doesn?t cut it for me. Everyone says it cuts your amp to 25 watts but I cranked the amp and put a wattage tester in. with the VPR (virtual power reduction) on and the volume all the way up the amp was running at 49 watts and 117 without the VPR on. Maybe I have an exceptionally louder amp and a off scale VPR but I believe it switches the amp from 50/100. This would be great for when you record and really want to turn it up to get the tubes warm.

Well I can say this amp is a tank but the footswitch broke 2 weeks after I bought it. And for all of you that don?t know why and decide to spend weeks calling Marshall I can tell you HOW TO TEMPORARILY FIX THE FOOTSWITCH! Here is what the problem is. Open up the footswitch and you will see the long green rectangle panel with 5 black boxes solder to it. You will notice where the black box connects to the metal button by a very flimsy piece of metal with two teeth on opposite sides. What happens is if you press the button two hard this piece of metal detaches itself from the button and you might notice it does not make the "click" a button does when you push it down. Before one gig I stuffed a t-shirt I ripped up and stuffed it in with the footswitch under the buttons not in-between them. That will break them. This will help you for a while but you will eventually have to replace it. Just don?t step down to hard and you wont have a problem. Also the cord attaching to the footswitch is not a good cable. It is one of the cables Marshall uses for wiring their amps and it is just shrink wrapped. If you ever cut it open you will even see there is an extra brown wire that is there for nothing. When I pulled this out I noticed a lot of buzzing left. Maybe you should try it. Just cut the cable (I thought the cord was too Long) and pull it out. I am researching other footswitches that may be compatible. I have heard a mesa 3 channels may work because they have 6 prong inputs as well. I will inform everyone if they do though I doubt it. To those of you that hear that cowbell noise when moving the amp around, IT IS OKAY it?s just the reverb not the tubes. But the reverb is a problem on this amp. You may notice it does not work sometimes. Here is what to do. Open up the reverb unit. (Take off the two RCA cables first one is black and one is red) and you will see 4 springs behind a box (I forgot where it is just look for yourself) when the 4 springs are all not touching each other the reverb does not work. Simply setting the amp down can detach them. I usually just tap the grill in the front because that is where the reverb unit is a big rectangle in the front behind the tubes. YOU CANT MISS IT its the only thing made in the USA. Hitting the two ll's in Marshall seems to do the trick for me. I also believe in Re biasing this amp. When I got it the biasing was really off. I wish that Marshall would take the time to correct them considering there the ones making the amp and they are also giving the recommended levels you would assume they would be sure to put those into place (90 mv).

I definitely have to give a 1 on this. I have called korg usa and left so many messages. They close at 5 and out here on the west coast that is 2 in the afternoon. And they are not open weekends, which put?s a big hassle on me to get in touch with them. I have left a total of 7 messages, 2 letters. I did call one day I was sick and not in school. I got a machine and they put me on hold for 20 minutes, then I talked to someone and they told me the footswitch had a 6-month warranty. Thanks Marshall and Korg usa I CANT WAIT TO BUY ANOTHER PRODUCT FROM YOU!

You know I gave some 8's 9's and 1's but ill have to say this amp really does do the trick for me. I have played on most Marshall amps in production and I believe the only other amp that comes close is the 1959 that amp is pretty cool. Feel free to email me guys I am a pretty knowledgeable guy on this amp. I have been studying and playing on it every day since I got it. I can honestly say that I am really happy that I bought this amp. I have a secret too I bought it from musician?s friend without playing it just because I had heard how amazing it was. I also knew Marshall was closing down the British factory and making the ?super factory? in Korea too keep up with the supply and demand. You should hold on to this amp or any British made Marshall head now because they will have significant value later. British amps being made in sweatshops by needy Asian kids. HMM I predict some quality and tone going away.

It's got everything you could want feature wise. If you want FX then there are two loops that can be set for rack or stomp box levels. I've rated it a nine as a global master volume would be very useful.

Prior to this amp I gigged extensively with the combo version the TSL122. Obviously the 4 x 12 cab makes a difference but even I was surprised at how different this amp sounds to the combo. My cab has V30 speakers whereas the combo has one V30 and one heritage. Maybe this is why?? Anyway this amp can do most things except a great clean tone. The clean channel is very warm but if you are after blackface type tones then look elsewhere. If you wanna rock however then just flick to the crunch channel. Angus Young? No prob. Blackmore? Page? Hendrix? It's all there if you look hard enough. This amp does the just breaking up thing really well. Sweet.

The tone controls are effective without being severe. The lead channel is a beaut. Loads of gain and not much noise. I use a Strat with a Dimarzio VV Solo pickup in the bridge and this is a great halfway house between single coil and humbucker tones. I've noticed that there is more reverb available on the crunch and lead channels than there is on the clean. I don't know why this should be but it was the same on the combo.

I have noticed a vibration on these amps. It seems to come from the transformer. I'm not sure if it is the mains or the output tranny. It is a physical vibration rather than anything that comes through the speakers. Not really a problem unless you play very quietly in which case you bought the wrong amp.

The 1/4 power switch (VPR) is useful but if I were to be picky I would point out that wbhen you engage the VPR the tone loses a touch of top end. Similar to turning down the presence. The tone shift feature gives a scooped tone if thats when you like but to me it seems too processed sounding. I prefer a balanced tone for classic rock anyway.

My amp has the original valves still in place after nearly four years of use. They will not get changed in the near future unless one blows as I've noticed that the amp seems to have "matured" ie the tone has just got sweeter and sweeter as time has passed and right now it is really in the zone. I know that I risk a failure and it could convievably take the tranny out when it goes but I'm not losing these sounds for anyone. I've tried the Line 6 amps and the Roland / Boss amp sims and nothing that I have tried comes close. Maybe in 5 - 10 years when the sampling rates are much higher they will get it - maybe. For now valves are the only way to get the tone. I have rated it at eight for this category due to the mediocre clean channel. If I was rating only crunch and lead channels it would be a nine or even a ten.

I've read the remarks about the footswitches here. I have not had any problems in this respect with either this unit or the combo version. Hint - do not wind the cable around the footswitch when packing down. This will put a strain on the cable where it runs into the footswitch itself. Zigzag the cable in the same way it was originally packed loosley. The socket is weak but if you know this then treat it accordingly.

People who rate valve amps low for reliability due to issues with the valves themselves are, in my opinion, misguided. If you buy quality valves and treat your amp with care it should be reliable. Nothing is 100% in this respect but look at the alternatives.

Never had cause to complain so I can only gues what their customer support is like. Generally it seems to be something that we don't do very well in the UK.

You know pretty much what you are going to get with a Marshall. Everyone knows the tone so you either love it or you dont. If Marshall could improve the clean channel then this amp would be all you would need. EL34s are not known for their clean tones so I don't really know if Marshall could do much better with the traditional "brit" valve. As it is the bottom end is always a bit "woolly" on this channel and the reverb lacks depth compared to the crunch and lead channels. In fact a bit more available reverb would be a good thing anyway.

A head and 4 x 12 cab takes some shifting around but you just can't get the same tone from a combo. OK the TSL122 is close. The Boogie F50 is a great amp but neither of these amps sounds as "big" in a live situation. I'm not just talking about volume but the way the bottom E hits you in the chest, the way the tone spreads around the room, the effortless delivery. The midrange seems to blend in better. The combos that I have mentioned are not boxy sounding as such but that is the closest analogy can come up with. You dont get this with the big cab. Even the top end seems sweeter. Is this the V30s? I don't know. I rate it at an eight overall, points being knocked off for the clean channel tone and the weak clean channel reverb as well as the absence of a global master volume.

Plenty of versatilty here

Modern Marshall all the way

Foot switch cable seems to be the problem here. I have replaced the conector once and still had a problem, so I change out the connector and the 7 wire cable and WOW no more problems.If you are going to do this make sure that you use a quality cable and connector, I used a 6 wire shielded cable @ $.23 per foot and a $3.29 connector, Marshall doesn't seam to think they need to do this. I cut appart the old connector and to my supprise I found cold solder joints and bear wire on all 6 connections......BAD NEWS and the wire looked like somthing you would find in a cheep toy. Now I just cant figure it out, even if you get this amp at a deal new your still going to pay around $1,100 U.S. why can't they spend $10.00 more on materails and do away with this issue...? Hey Marshall where is your R&D department I think some firing is in order.

I didn't even bother with it so I'm not going to rate it.

This is a update on a post that I made back on 12/10/03 I think I have had this amp long enough to make a fair posting. On avarge I use this amp 6 hours a week. Over all this amp has a good fundemental tone, cuts well and has great versatilty. How ever if you had to rely on this amp to make a living I think you would go broke, or at the very least pull you hair out. I think untill Marshall makes some improvments on there design, there are better amps out there for the money.

This is an addendum to the review I submitted before. If you recall, I bought this amp brand new. It died 3 weeks later with gewd aweful sounds coming out of the thing whenever I hit a note. I returned it and bought a Mesa Dual Rectifier. At first I loved it. It was solid. It had features, so many features. I played out with it for one gig. I hated it. I guess I'm just a Marshall guy at heart. I could not get rid of the heavy bass of the Mesa. It had way too much bass and the amp didn't cut through the mix like the Marshall had. I brought it back to Guitar Center and had their guitar techs try everything they could to tone down the bass (it was on zero). We tried 3 more Mesa heads, 3 other cabinets, a different guitar, etc. I couldn't get a good "chunk" out of it when palm muting. Very muddy.

So, they brought out my VooDoo Marshall and said they couldn't get it to fail. Hmmm. I plugged it in and it started cracklin' again. Gee, that didn't take long. I plugged in, hit a chord and it went nuts again. "See!" I told the guitar tech, "I'm not crazy! Listen to that!" I stopped playing and he immediately went over and pounded his fist on the amp (not too hard). The amp went nuts. The more he pounded, the worse it sounded. He said, "It's a loose tube. Good thing we caught that before we sold it to someone else, because we couldn't get it to fail. Someone played it for 4 hours and it never failed once." So, they boxed it up and sent it right back to Marshall for repair.

I guess I just happened to buy a lemon. Must be rare because all these artists out there wouldn't be using Marshall if they all broke down like that!

So, he ordered a brand new one from Marshall and it arrived in about 8 days. I unwrapped it myself, opened the box, plugged it in and it sounds fantastic! I even pounded on the top of it, just to see what would happen. Nothing but a little reverb noise, which is expected.

So, I'm back to the Marshall and loving it.

In fairness, however, I still stick to my original review that the Boogie offers more options and more features. But in all honesty, once you select the sound you want, those features are useless. You flip one switch this way, another that way and you leave them for the lifetime of the amp. Even though the boogie has more features, I would personally not use them after the original setup.

I do wish Marshall would include a cover for the amp (like Mesa does) and a footswitch case (like Mesa does) and a more adequate manual (like Mesa does).

Because I realized I wouldn't use all the features of the Mesa, I'm bumping Marshall's score up 2 notches on this category.

It sounds like a Marshall. I still don't think the clean is as clean as it could be (breaks up when you turn up). But Marshall isn't known for clean and it is by far the cleanest I've ever heard a Marshall. If you need to be *that* loud, then mic the damn thing (which we do). I still say the built in Powerbrake (VPR) stinks. Good for bedroom levels but sucky live. The clean is a joke in that mode if you want volume.

If you like Marshall sound, then you won't be disappointed.

Considering my first one died in 3 weeks, I gave this a low score originally, on a sample of one. Now I have another one and so far it's fine. The guitar center said that they haven't had any returns (except mine). I guess mine was a fluke. At least they took care of me. Oh, and there's a 5 year manufacturer's warrantee on them now. Even if the footswitch flakes out like people have stated, it's all covered. I'm increasing the rating for this category since the new amp hasn't failed and all my past Marshalls have been solid. But, I always carry a backup amp to gigs, just in case.

Same as my last review. Customer Support was excellent.

Been playing 16 years. Overall, I'm bumping up the score again since the one that died was a fluke. I'm so much happier now with this amp than with the Mesa. It sounds great, it cuts through the mix and the band members like its sound a lot better than the Mesa.

It was made in 2004. Has all the bells and whistles... you guys know anyway...Loud loud all tube marshall power

I use a Les paul, a 7 string Ibanez with tone zone 7 and air norton 7 ( check'em out, they rule ! ), a custom warmoth and plan on getting more. It sounds great in every style I had a change to put it against...rock, blues, metal, funk, pop...you name it...I did sessions a couple of months ago with it and it really got well. I also have a flextone IIHD which is good, but it's a different animal, this one's got "THE" tone, the one everyone's looking for. Once it is correctly biased and setup of course. YOU MUST BIAS IT RIGHT !!!! I just plug a G-major in the loop and I'm all set...I used to have racks and stuff but now it's just those two and a pedal board ( GCpro voodoolabs ) and an expression pedal+ a wha ( either the good'ole Dunlop or a charlie stringer Whine- O )

I always gig with a backup ( usually a POD or a line6 amp ) but so far so good, never forget murphy's law though...

never dealt with them, probably won't. Customer service is not dependant on MarshallInc in my area

I've played for 18 years ( 10 as a pro on & off ), It's the best marshall head I've had so far and it's the 6th ! None has broken down on me ( except for tubes, to be expected IMO ), all sounded good but this one stands on its own ground. No need for a small analog comp od OD to smooth it out, just a good multi FX in the loop and off you go !

Bought it in February of 2002. The most versitile amp I'VE EVER PLAYED. Period. I play everything (classical, bluegrass, jazz, rock, blues, metal, shred, you name it) and this amp handles all the electic guitar stylings I can throw at it. 3 fully independent chennels with switching. 2 FX loops, emulated line out, deep switch, mid-shift switch, VPR ('virtually' cuts the wattage from 100 to 25 watts), the whole 9 yards here. I use all the features except for the 2nd FX loop and the reverb . . . and that lousy VPR. The VPR is good if you want to play in your bedroom by yourself. However, the VPR sucks tone like you wouldn't believe and I have no use for a device that sucks tone. Marshall can leave that at home. More on the reverb later. I only use this amp for gigging and occasionally at rehersals. More power and features (100 LOUD-AZZ watts) than anyone could possibly need. I sort of wish it had a master volume or some sort of internal attenuator (VPR is close to this, but kills tone) 'cause this beast gets really loud - but sounds best with the volume knob over 5.

LP Custom>>morley bad horsie>>boss tu-2>>ibanez turbo TS>>rocktron deep blue chorus>>boss dd-6>>jcm2000 tsl100>>4x12 w/Celestion v30s. I cannot say enough about how much I love this amp. The bands I am currently in play classic rock/hard rock/modern rock/80s-shred metal/nu-metal. OK, OK, rock and metal. This head absolutely RIPS the skin of faces (mine, the audience, the sound guy, the club owner, bouncers, bar tenders, everyone).
Lemme say this however; When I first bought this amp, I hated it. The floor model that I tried out at the shop was rippin'. I played it along with the DSL100, Mesa Double and Triple Recs. In the store, this was the best amp. Hands down. But when I took mine out of the box and fired it up, it sounded awful. Thin/buzzy/no bottom/too middy (not muddy)/and no ballz. I thought maybe because it was so new, the tubes needed to break in a little and the sound would improve. No such luck. I tried attenuators, o/d pedals, different cabs, different guitars. Nothing helped. I was about to throw in the towel. Then, after a little research, I decided to replace the stock tubes (pre and power). Took it to my tech who also replaced some transformers and caps. It's like he shoved godzilla in my amp now. This amp is the nastiest (nastiest meaning best . . . like Janet Jackson nasty) thing I've ever heard. The only noise (minimal) I get is from my signal chain. I can deal with that. I've never had a complaint from any sound guys so . . . we're cool there.
Clean channel= sounds like a heavy'd-up twin. I can dial in full/warm or bright/chimey. Just fiddle with the EQ a bit. Toss a little chorus in there and I nail that British 'stone roses' clean sound. Before my tech worked on it, the clean was weak with not much character. Now I love it. Clean stays true even at high volumes. I attribute it to the re-tubin'.
Crunch channel= sounds like a modified plexi married with a jcm800. This channel really shines. The overdrive is oh-so organic and punchy. Think early Joe Perry meets Angus Young gets mugged by Adam Jones here. By far my favorite channel and most versatile. Can go from mildly broken up plexi-type warmth to all out "cornbread-fed" marshall chaos. Throughout the entire gain spectrum on this channel, the sound is just awesome. I usually keep the gain around 4 or so to get that mid 70's/early 90's type dirt. Again, sounded like a wool blanket was over my amp before the retubings. Now, I can't get enough of this channel. Without a doubt, the most articulate amp I've heard when gained and pushed as hard as I push those el34's. The decay on it make me weak in the knees. Falls out nicely with great over/under tones. Perhaps the LP has a lot to do with that though.
Lead channel= You want to melt faces? Well, here you go. Hold on tight players! The lead channel absolutely SCREAMS. Harmonics fly out of this channel. Like a pissed off spitting cobra . . . or something. I've watched people pee themselves when they get hit with my lead channel LOL!! Seriously though, with the deep switch in you can dial in anyone's nu-metal tone (if that's what you dig). Doesn't sound like a Dual Rec (all that headroom) as the marshall is a touch more compressed (el34s here) and smooth however, the TSL has ballz to spare in this channel. I set the gain to about 6 to 7 and I've got Kerry King, meets Kurt Hammet, jams with Dave Navarro ('Nothing Shocking' days [he's kind of lame now]) on demand. The palm mutes on this channel hit you right in the focking sternum. Feels good ya know? Not to beat a dead horse, but this channel sucked until my tech got a hold of it. Dig into an open E chord and point to the sky!!

Sorry, but this thing has crapped out on me during live performances. I gigged ONCE without a backup and it fried that night. I was ready to smash it through the floor. I do not leave home without a back-up you better believe that. I've heard other owners have had reliability problems. However, I've also heard others have had no problems at all. I let it warm up and cool down properly and always handle it with care. But I've blown tubes and have fried trannys and fuses a handful of times . . . always at the worst possible moments. Maybe I don't get it rebiased as often as I should, but blowin' thangs every 6 months? C'mon! I had never run into this problem with the other amps i've owned. Also, the reverb tank stopped working after a few weeks. I didn't like the reverb anyway, so insted of getting it fixed, I just threw a EH holy grail in the FX loop. Perfect. If the amp did not sound as good as it does, I'd buy another amp. But it just sounds too good to let go. This amp gets about 10 - 15 hours a week on it. Yeah, the footswitch is as bad as everyone says. Out of the box, the fx loop button didn't not work. BUT, my tech fixed it up and said that the problem was with the cord and not the switches. The switches are actually very modern and high quality. But the cord is shite and that's where all the problems happen. Pretty soon I'll need to buy another footswitch 'cause the cord is starting to get a little short with all of the dead spots that need to be cut out of it. Again, sorry . . . but every time I turn this thing on, I'm praying it doesn't die on me. Because of the footswitch and my anxiety, reliability gets a 5. It really hurts me to say that.

I called them once about a perceived problem with my footswitch. They never called me back. I'm leaving this rating blank because I cannot go on this 1 experience alone.

I've been playing for 24 of my 33 years here. I've owned a lot of marshalls in the past (800's, 900's, reissue plexi's) but this one is by far my favorite. If it were stolen or lost, I'd either get another or look into a 3 channel Dual Rect. I love the sound because it sounds like the tones that I've heard in my head for so long. You can honestly dial in any marshall sound that you've ever heard . . . except for Eddie's brownsound . . . but hey, do you know any amp that can? I also love the features, I use about 90% of them. Only someone like Fripp or Belew could use or need ALL of the features. I love the responsiveness of the EQs and gain knob. Sit down with it and mess around with the EQs to learn it's sweet spots. Thay are in there, you've just got to cull them out. Those that say "this amp sucks", I question the amount of time they've spent with it and what they are trying to accomplish musically. I HATE the fact that I feel that this thing will blow at any minute. Perhaps I need to be better on the maintenance. So take that for what it's worth. This is a great amp for rock. This is a great amp for metal. You better be an accurate player 'cause this thing is articulate as hell. If you flub a note, your audience will hear it. If you are an accurate player, this amp will make you SHINE!
Bottom line; Best sounding amp I've ever played - after the retubings. It acutally inspires me to play and has made me a better player. I'm not kidding. Because of my opinions on it's reliability, I cannot give it a 10. So it's gets a 9. Hurts to only give it a 9. Listen, get one, swap out the stock tubes, put on your safty harness and helmet, and stand back. You will love it. If you "love it loud".

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I use a japanese ibanez with emg pickups and an LTD esp v 250 with emg hz pickups.
I think that it's very suitable for my taste....
I can play different styles without adding effects....
From jazz to rock I found it perfect...

mmmm....

I can't say.....

Reading other reviews I'm waiting something.....

I bought it in 09/2004.. I hope they fixed everything...

The warranty in Italy last 2 years.
I've never needed to call them.

Very gooooood head!!!!!

I like it very much.

I think I could buy another one if lost.

Read all the other reviews for features. I was always a Marshall guy, but after comparing this to the Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier, I think Marshall is lacking...

What can I say? It has the Marshall sound, which I do love. It's not quite the same as the older Marshalls, but you can definitely tell it's a Marshall. The clean channel isn't quite so clean at volume, however. If you play live and want to match levels without mic'ing, then your clean isn't going to be very clean. Forget about the built in Power Attenuator. No way you'll ever get a good clean using that option, unless you play at very low volumes. But if you like that Marshall overdrive sound, you should be happy.

This is where it falls apart, unfortunately. After 3 weeks of using it (6 hours a week), it started to do volume swells. Then it stopped and went back to normal. Also, upon powering up in standby mode, a nasty crackling (like a dirty pot or someone plugging in their guitar while the amp is on) came out the speakers. But it was in standby! Nothing should be coming out of the speakers! Okay, so maybe it's just a design fluke. But, upon powering OFF (i.e. amp unplugged from wall) I would get the same crackling out of the speakers. Doesn't sound good. Well, I had a gig 4 weeks after buying it, so I didn't want to return it just yet. All it had to do was get me through the gig. It never got me through the next practice. That's correct. It died. It was making these god aweful sounds every time I hit a chord. I thought the speakers were gonna blow out (4 x 12 1960A cab)! I eliminated all but my guitar and a cable (no pedals, etc) and it still did it. I switched cables and it still did it. I switched guitars and it still did it. I had a gig in 2 days. :-( I returned it to guitar center and bought the Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier instead. Yes, it has a different sound, but it can come close to Marshall's sound. But the options on the thing are amazing! And, the clean is clean at volume. ;-) And it got me through the gig. I've had Marshalls my whole life, but I think I'm gonna keep this Boogie and see how it pans out. Spending $1500 on an amp that dies in 3 weeks is just ridiculous.

I called Marshall on 2 seperate occasions to inquire about the crackling noises, to inquire about the footswitch problems everyone talks about and to ask about biasing. My call was answered very quickly each time and the tech spent as much time as needed to fully answer my questions. He said if the footswitch ever fails, they will replace it no questions asked. He also told me the amp should not crackle like that and to bring it back for an exchange. All in all, I can't complain about the customer support. By the way, the Marshall I called was located in NY.

Well, I have to give this a low score. What good is an amp if it's unreliable. Perhaps I just bought a lemon. Perhaps not. All I know is that I don't trust the JCM 2000 series anymore and am not trying the Mesa Boogie to see how it delivers.

This amp has plenty of features....maybe to many at some times. but everything a normal guitarist would ever need to tackle a situation.

Ok....I've had this amp for over a year now.
I use a Gibson Les Paul Studio Plus with the stock pickups. I also use Monster rock performer cables. (they do make a huge difference)
I Morley wah and thats it. I play hard rock/ punk....like Jimmy eat world, RelientK, Finch, All american rejects, Lifehouse, and original material.
There are a few things you have to know when playing this amp.
(Mind you....i still have the stock power tubes in the amp, and these things still made a big improvement. in the preamp i have GT-12AX7-C's in the V1 and V2 positions, with the stock preamp tubes in the V3 and phase inverter.
one is...the bias can be off when you buy it brand new, cause mine was. Get a good multimeter and check the bias and set em around 80mV per side. I find anything lower than 80mV, it makes the treble response really high, and you'll find yourself turning down the treble, Unless thats what you want...thankfully your able to experament with the bias and use your ears and you'll get it where you like it. Also keep in mind when finding the right bias setting, leave all eQ knobs at 12:00, that way your getting a default signal, nothing increased or cut. This way you'll be able to tell the difference in highs and lows. The bias pot is located on the bottom of the tube bay. no risk of shock or having to go inside the amp.
Second...you HAVE to know how to EQ properly...sometimes it takes just moving knobs, but you gotta know some basics, that atleast work for me. I find that when you want to get the proper setting for the presence...you should set the treb, mid, and bass at 12:00 or 5. Then while playing some chords increase the treble from 0 on up and stop it when it sounds good. I always find that the presence should be adjusted first, then you can cut or increase the other EQ's. Presence has a strong role with this amp. too much of it will sound weird and too less makes it sound like somthings missing...you'll be able to find the middle.
This is really not an amp for the person whos buying their first tube amp...unless you know a lot of how tube amps work and you already know their soemtimes quirky actions.
Overall this amp sounds AWESOME when you bias properly and then EQ properly. Also...the stock preamp tubes SUCK atleast switch out V1 and V2...you should be able to hear a better tone...if you dont use a sovtek 12AX7WA, or GT-12AX7-R cause these are really bright and i hate them in high gain amps. Get some chinese 9th generation.
I also believe this amp needs a good guitar to go with it with good pickups.

It hasnt given me grief yet....except the stock preamp tubes went microphonic with noise and pops and crackling. The footswitch is still good, no problems there.
BTW, i bought this amp brand new, not used and I bought it Sept. 2002.

Their alright....if you get the right person. Slow response time...but they will get back to ya....sooner or later.

been playing for 3 years. great amp for rock...i cant see it being used for anything else. but for what it does, it does it best.
The only thing i dislike is maybe....how heavy it is (not heavy as in tone, but heavy as in weight.)...and maybe get rid of the mid boost, cause i find no need for it, atleast for me.
I've learned a lot about this amp...I believe every guitar and amp has a weird quirk that makes you say, "why the crap does it do that?!" You gotta get to know guitars and amps...it's like a relationship, except the amp wont kick you out of the house for any reason. yes weird theory, i know, but i've had my share of experiences...so i know what i'm talking about to some extent.
Great amp can highly reccomend it. just gotta know what your doing when it comes to tube amps.

Wow....so many features....you can read other posts.

Okay....I use a powerbrake so that I can crank this amp to at least 5 or 6 volume wise, and if you really want to hear what this amps sounds like, I would suggest you do the same. I use a lot of different top of the line guitars, from an ESP m-ii to a Wolfgang standard to a Les Paul. This amp "sings."

Okay, so after owning it for three and a half years, and gigging with it heavily, I have finally had to bring it to my tech to have the footswitch input jack tightened up. Oh well,,,not much to ask for after using this amp and moving it extensively. Otherwise, never even a remote flaw.

I have called them quite a few times,,,,, mostly to confirm that the 2000 Marshalls don't use any diode clipping in the preamp. So glad that they gave in and added the extra 12ax7. Always friendly and polite. Next on my wish list,,,,,a DSL 100 head.

Wow, what a killer amp. For the first year and a half that I owned this thing, I gigged extensively, playing 4 hour a night gigs every weekend. This amp performed flawlessly. Over the last year and a half , I have mostly used it at home,,,and finally the footswitch jack in the back began to act up....but after the numerous times that I have pulled that plug in and out over 3 years, that is to be expected. My tech is fixing it ( very minor repair) All I can say is,,,,don't judge this amp until you get the volume over 4 or 5. That's when you get to hear what the distortion really sounds like. And I'll tell you, It has massive tone. I really love the powerbrake , besides what anyone says. It brings on the tone....which this amp has in spades. It is a known fact that preamp tube distortion has a bit of fizz to it....in any modern high gain amp....so get those Marshall power valves working so that they also have a role in your distorted tone. Compared to the many 5150 amps I have played through, which were the extreme of fizzy fuzz, the Marshalls still rule. Hey, don't doubt the best company in the world,,,they do their homework, you just have to know how to use em. I also have a JCM600 combo amp which sounds absolutely amazing and I will have it forever. Like I said,,,,I just want a DSL100 to complete my collection.,

This amp has to be up there in terms of features.
3 Independant channels which are footswitchable (1st reason why I bought the amp)
XLR Speaker Emulated Out (2nd reason why I bought the amp)
VPR Power Reduction
FX Mix controls for Clean/Dirty channels
Deep Switches for Clean/Dirty channels
Reverb settings for Clean/Dirty channels
Footswitchable Reverb & FX

Guitars: 1987 Ibanez JEM with Dimarzio Norton/Tone Zone - Neck/Bridge
1997 Godin LGX Re-wired with EMG-85/81 - Neck/Bridge
Occasionally, Strat Ultra with std Fender neck PU instead of
the blue lace sensor.

I've had this amp for more than 2 years now. Biased it as it was off from the factory.

This amp basically covers it all. From the honky tele through a Fender Champ sound to nice clean lead sounds to Ozzy, Maiden, Halen and to a certain extent Metallica, but I'm not a huge fan of the Metallica scooped mids sounds. This amp does it, but probably not as well as the Mesa.

Distorted sounds: This amp has a modern feel to the sound that the DSL doesn't have. The TSL series has slightly more gain but also more "buzzyness" to its sound. The DSL line is definitely sweeter sounding and seem to have less compression and more attack. The TSL isn't as open sounding as the DSL. I have both at home and compared them extensively. I guess a good way to describe the DSL would be "Classic Rock sound" ala JCM 800 whereas the TSL is the one with a bit more attitude and aggressiveness.

Clean Sound: This amp will in no way, shape of form give you a sound even remotely close to that of a Fender. With that being said, the clean sound has its applications. I really like it for lead lines but for chordal work, it can lose a bit a definition if the gain is set too high and lose presence if the gain is too low - You'll definitely have to find the sweet spot. Has a lot of clarity to it but there's something missing in the upper midrange that I cannot quite dial in with the amp's EQ. I'm sure an external EQ could fix that but that's just another thing to lug around at gigs. The DSL's clean, in comparison, is a little more compressed, breaks up earlier but very smoothely, unlike the TSL which has more of an edge to the breakup but the TSL will stay cleaner more easily. I tend to prefer the DSL for Hendrixy chordal work. I don't think the DSL is necessarily better or vice versa... Just different applications.

Emulated XLR Out: This is my favorite feature I love this thing and use it all almost exclusively, strainght into the PA with the output mute switch in for practicing at lower volumes. Sound great!

Noise wise, it really good. Can't complain - One of the quietest amps I've owned.

Had no problems with it but I haven't plugged in/out the footswitch very much so I'm crossing my fingers.

Been playing since 1984. I've owned a 5150, Peavey Classic 50, Marshall 75w Reverb, 1964 Fender Bassman, Line 6 POD Pro. My main amp is a Marshall DSL 50w and I have played through a number of different Fender amps (twins, hot rods, princeton ...)
If it were stolen, I would seriously look at the Hughes & Kettner 3 channel amp or maybe a JCM2000DSL 100w/JCM 800 re-issue with a marshall speaker emulator for direct recording/practicing.
I wish it had better mids on the clean channel so it wouldn't sound as if a veil was in front of the speakers.
Overall, I really like the amp but I'm not in love with it or anything.

Mine's a 2001 model I bought in late 2003. Same spec's and features everyone else described.

I use Gibson guitars and a Marshall 1960A 4x12 speaker cabinet, and play styles like Metal, Hard Rock, Classic Rock, Punk, Blues, and Jazz. This has been my main gigging amp for over a year now.

CLEAN: Very nice; round, warm top end, very full sounding, with your choice of either ballsy low end or deep Fender-like punch. The Mid Boost and Deep switches are nice features. This channel can be very clean or very dirty like an old Plexi, depending on how you set it up. Has separate effects loop and Reverb/Presence controls.

CRUNCH: Has a very wide tonal range. The low end can sound very broad and full when set higher, or can tighten up when set lower. The gain control will bring you from Blues territory when set low, all the way up to Metal when maxed out. This channel's voicing sounds slightly scooped normally, but has an additional Scoop switch to notch out the Mids altogether. With the switch out and the Midrange set high, it can lend itself more toward classic Marshall tones. In my opinion this is the most complex channel of the three.

LEAD: This is where the amp kicks major ass! This channel is naturally bright and has a lot of presence to cut through live mixes. Has a more "modern" sound than the JCM800 series, although at times it can approach those tones. It's basically what you'd expect in a high-gain Marshall rhythm or lead tone. This channel also has a Mid Scoop switch for those who prefer this channel for chunky rhythms and cutting leads. A "Deep" switch is shared by the Crunch and Lead channels, and really adds a ton of low-end bottom, depth, and punch. There's more gain on tap than anyone could possibly need, so you won't be needing those pedals.

100% reliable in the past 14 months I've owned, operated, and gigged with this amp. Never a hiccup. I keep the bias set properly and check the tubes before every gig. It's a great amp!

I had 3 Mesa Rectos, the last one being the 3 channel Dual. Those are very nice amps, but the TSL really cuts through live mixes much better for me. I'd buy another one right away if anything ever happened to it. Best amp I've ever owned.

I purchased this amp in May of 2003 and submited a review that shows up here on date 7/04/2003. This is still a great sounding amp and I stand behind my review along those matters, however, serious reliability issues have surfaced since then that caused me to reconsider ever buying a Marshall again. By September of 2003, the footswitch failed completely and by October it started having sound problems in the form of volume surges. While playing the amp with the volume set on 3 it would sporadically and at random surge to a very low volume level along with changing its inherrent sound to that of a TV with a guitar pluged into it. Cycling the standby swich would rectify the problem temporarily. I took the amp to an authorized Marshall repair shop only to find out that Marshall would not replace the footswitch due to it being out of its 90 day warranty period and would not cover the repair due to a possible tube problem. (Marshall does not warranty tubes). The shop replaced the power tubes and rebiased the amp. I elected not to get a new footswitch because I have zero confidence that that it will be any better than the original or last any longer. Two weeks later the volume surge began again. So now I will have to take the amp back and start this fiasco all over. Marshall was and is no help and assumes no responsibility while hiding behind their 90 day warranty. The only glimmer of hope is that it may not be a tube problem and Marshall will have to pick up the tab. I have since purchased a Peavy 5150II which sounds better and works for more than five minutes at a time.

Lousy

1999 Model
Extreemly versatile. However it falls a bit short of the Mesa Boogie Mark IV, with respects to the 5 band EQ that the Mesa comes with. But it does have three completely seperate channels, where the Boogie's channel 1 and 2 both use the same mid and bass controls. It also has "boost buttons" for each channel, which are nice, and add a lot to the amp.
100 Watts - Plenty loud.

I play a Fender American Special Strat, with a DiMarzio DP100 in the bridge, Virtual Blues humbucking single coil in the middle, and a FRED in the neck position. I also play a standard strat with a Seymour Duncan lil '59 in the bridge and stock pickups in the middle and neck positions.
The head is over a 1960 Lead 4x12 and can get all the sounds that I need, and more. From classic Marshall, to the warmest blues sounds, to the perfect distortion.
I play old school metal to hard rock to the blues, and this amp does the job and more.
However - please read the reliability and CS sections below. It sounds awesome, in fact it sounds perfect, when it works!!!!!
So if it were not for the problems that I put down below, it would have been a 10 in the category.

I bought it 1 month ago, and I already have a tube problem. Granted its a 1999 model, but it had been at the store for that long and it was purchased new, now I have a tube issue.
It makes me nervous to gig with it without a backup, so thats a problem.
The sounds varies because of the tube problem. For a bit it sounds great then sundenly it sounds like someone put a pillow over the speakers, then it goes back and forth.

Okay, this is where I have a problem. I live in Protland, OR and there is only 1 authorized service center here. The site lists three, but after calling all three, only one actually is. The first time I called CS they said "take it to one of these three and they'll take care of you." The only one that does the work is only open when I'm at work so getting it there is difficult, not to mention the 1 week work time they require. So I have to do without it for at least a week.
So I called CS again, and again they said they had three service centers and it took some convincing to get them to realize that there is only one. And getting the amp to them is difficult with their hours of operation. Needless to say, Marshall were unwilling to do anything else.
So I tried to take the amp to them (service center) yesterday, took time off work and everything. I got there at 1:30 to find out that they close at 1:00 on Monday's. So this was getting crazy. I paid so much for the amp, have to do without it for a week, take time off work, and still cant get it fixed.
So I called CS a third time. I got all the way up to management. They will not have someone come pick it up. They will not call another local dealer and work out an exchange (I bought it in CA, live in OR). They will not do anything to help me out in this situation.
I told them to "sell me the amp then. Why should I buy one?" They said, "Marshall has been around since 1960 and is number one in quality." To which I replied, "but I have a broken one, so qualtiy is no reason to buy one." They said "Marshalls sound is second to none." "But mine is having a power tube issue, and therefore sounds terrible 1/2 the time, so sound quality is nothing to rely on" I said. "Marhsall provides outstanding customer service." Yet they will take no action to assist me in my situation.
To get my amp fixed I have to take more time off work and do without it for at least a week, or box it up myself and ship it somewhere to have it fixed, obviously doing without it for a longer period of time, taking the risk of damage due to shipping and obsorbing the cost of shipping and packaging.
CS is no help at all.

I've been playing over 15 years. I sold a Mesa Boogie Mark IV after buying this amp. Man do I regret that. If this amp were lost or stolen I would replace it with a Mark IV Long Head over a Mesa 4x12 recto cab. Plain and simple. In fact, last night I went down to a local dealer and talked about an exchange of all my marshall gear (the head, the 4x12 and an extra 1936 2x12) for the Mark IV I spoke of before. They would only give me $1000.00 for all of it, leaving another $1200.00 to come out of my pocket. Time to sell it all myself.

This review is a PSA that addresses the footswitch problems.

This review is a PSA that addresses the footswitch problems.

The 5-pin DIN jack for the footswitch on the back of the amp is soldered directly to a circuit board. There is absolutely ZERO reinforcement or strain relief on this jack. So after plugging/unplugging the footswitch a bunch of times, those solder joints crack and make intermittent or no connection. No connections means the footswitch doesn't work and intermittent connections means that the amp acts like it's possesed (changes channels for no reason). Sound familiar? I'm not an amp tech but I piddle with amps and this problem took me about 20 minutes to complete, start to finish. All I did was touch up those solder connections (which means the problem is likely to return). But many of these people replacing the footswitches are not fixing the true problem I don't think.

Also; if you need to limp through a gig or something, try draping the footswitch cable over the top of the head so that the weight of the cable is not pulling down on that jack. Then gently jiggle the connector until you get a good connection (look at the LEDs on the footswitch), then DON'T TOUCH IT! Haha.

This review is a PSA that addresses the footswitch problems.

My Amp i purchased was a 2003 model. The amp is plenty versatile for my styles having 3 footswitchable channels. I mainly play hard / rock punk so covers everything for me. FX loop which is quite quiet so thats cool. Pfffft headphone jack... LOL dont by this amp to use headphones. I wish they made a Class A version of this head but oh well cant have everything. plenty loud at 100W, you wont need more.

I play mainly humbucker guitars. LPs PRSs and Ibanez' so it covers them really well. never tried single coils with it but i am buying an American Deluxe strat in may so i will let you know. Its not really noisy and its good cuz you can get some mad controllable feedback through it.

Ive gigged with this amp and had it around a year now and never had one problem with it so im happy, though i have heard some horror reviews of marshall amps in the new ranges its perfect

Ive never dealt with them so couldnt give an opinion.

Ive been playing around 8 years now. I own/owned tons of gear, at the moment i use this with an ibanez SZ a PRS custom 22 a les paul from the late 70s and some oldschool 80s ibanez rip off that is getting ripped apart and replaced with all new shit. i compared this to a mesa dual recto and it was all over it in price value and sound for me. It wont suit everyone cuz its a rock amp but if you want versatility go buy one. best value on the market and hell yeah i would buy another one. It gets an 8 overall for me. i like Class A amps in particular and the clean isnt fantastic but its hell versatile and the distortion is high gain brit tone i was after so its pretty damned close to perfect.

I bought this amp new from a shop in London, I have it rigged through a power break into a 1960a 4x12" cabinet. It's completely valve based. Sporting three totally independent channels Clean, Crunch and Lead all with their own gain, vol, treble, middle, bass controls. It has two independent fx loops - one for the clean channel and one for the cruch/lead channels. I think the versatility of this amp is totally unmatched by any other Marshall Head, with the exception of possibly the Mode Four - but if you want true valve with this many options it's the only head for the job. I will mainly use it for touring, but also for studio work. My set-up is Gibson SG into Crybaby into TSL - pure tone heaven.

I have mainly used this amp with my Gibson SG and it kicks out. If you're using it to rehearse or at small venues you will definately need a Power Break. Without the break vol 2 is painful!!! :-) With the break on it's lowest setting (most attenuation) I can get it to around 5/6 and the power this provides to the power amp stage valves is 'that valve sound'. It's awesome. Even with the lead channel on the (Nigel Tuffnal approved) max gain setting you can clearly hear each and every note. The clean channel is clean even at massive volume and the crunch/lead channels react exactly as you'd expect a Marshall to. Goodbye 'wasp in a jam jar' tm distortion. If you just want metal get the Mode Four, but if you want a true rock sound this is the head.

Build like a brick. The head alone is heavier than most combos I have used in the past because of the solid construction. I'll have no worries about touring this one. As with all valve amps I will have it regularly serviced though.

Marshall are excellent and they're based in the UK. I will continue to use them for many years to come.

Pure Marshall Valve tone. I've dreamed about owning one of these since I was a kid playing Nirvana covers. I worked at my music and eventually got to this goal. I highly recommend this amp to anyone's whose serious about there tone but needs the versatility of channel switching. If you're not fussed about channel switching go for a vintage every time.

Marshall TSL 100 head 2003.
This amp has loads of features. It may confuse you when you first see it but in fact its very simple- you just have separate equaliser, reverb and gain settings for each channel thats why theres so many knobs. I play a lot of 80-90s rock (slash/metallica etc.) and some earlier stuff like Hendrix. The VPR (virtual power reduction feature) is superb as you can drive the valves at maximum without having to have the amp cranked to full. It emulates a 25w amp according to the manual (although its a lot louder with the VPR on than any 25-30w amp I've ever played)

I now play a Gibson Les Paul standard and find the amp well suited to this guitar. I find the amp is very well suited to the 80s and 90's stuff and not too bad for the vintage tones, I've stopped playing a lot of this though so haven't tested it fully yet, however I also have a MKII JMP 100w superlead head from the 70's which obviously sounds better for the hendrix type stuff. See my review under JMP MKII head. Also this amp isn't as loud for lower output settings as the vintage head but I haven't really cranked it yet so can't say like for like if they were both at max volumes. There's a lot less interference than other amps I've used [the hum or buzzing](and yes I still get some interference even with humbuckers). The sounds available are very versatile, the clean channel doesn't seem to break up at all even at full gain, the middle setting is slightly crunchy and more vintage, also very good for soloing and the full distortion setting has loads of gain available for metal or whatever.

I've owned this amp around a month so can't say/

No idea yet.

A very good amp, highly recommended.

two FX loops, 2 distortions, read the other posts...

ok, this thing sounds ok sometimes... keep in mind i want bass response and clarity...

this amp hums in between channels all the time... the distortion is thin, and for what i play almost usless... it does have an amazing clean channel... and if you want that Deftones Stephen Carpenter lead sound you can get it with some work....

it sounds great for green day weezer stuff... no really depth to the distortion though....

so far so good

no probs yet...

After owning a '65 Fender Blackface, an '83 Mesa Boogie MarkIIC, and other misc. amps over the past 20 years, I finally purchased a Marshall. The amp is wonderful. Just play through one.....especially the clean channel! Great overdrive tones that you would expect.

Now for the foot controller..............beware! These footswitches are defective. I have owned this amp for 30 days and I am now placing my 2nd footswitch with another "warranty" controller. The switches themselves are bad as well as the midi cord.

Will keep you posted....just remember to purchase an extra one for the soundman to bring with him to the gig!

- 3 channels
- Independent Gain, Volume and EQ for all 3 channels.
- 2 FX Loops
- Emulated Output
- Virtual Power Reduction which cuts the power to 25 watts.
- Tone Shift
- Deep Switch

Extremely powerful and versatile tube amp. A real pro piece of gear.

I play mainly shred and metal. Not detuned Nu Metal, but the 80's variety. I'm using an Ibanez 3120 with a DiMarzio Tonezone and PAF Pro. The amp suits many different styles. From jazz(I'm not kidding!) to metal. It can handle anything. It does perform better for some styles than others. It can get pretty much any classic Marshall sound you're after. It excels at blues, classic rock and 80's metal. But its certainly not limited to that. By engaging the tone shift button and raising the gain a bit, you can have some great modern metal sounds. If you play around with the EQ you can get some great chunk for palm muted riffs.

This perhaps the MOST complicated amp Marshall has ever made. That being said, its not hard to get great sounds out of it. Its just not as plug-and-play as a JCM 800, but it also has ALOT more versatility.

I initially went in and played a couple of Dual Rectifiers. They're great amps, but they were not for me. I couldn't get my sound. Every sound I got felt awkward. The feel of the Rectifiers really didn't work for me. I went over to the Marshalls, plugged into a DSL100 and within 30 seconds, I had MY tone and I was wailin'. I then decided to try the DSL100 next to the TSL100 and to me, both sounded practically identical. I went with the TSL100 simply because of all the features. Its just a more versatile amp. But if you don't need all the bells and whistles of the TSL, I would highly recommend the DSL100. The thing I really liked about these amps is that they really had a vibe and personality all their own. You can get a JCM800, JMP or SLP sound out of it, but these amps really have their own mojo.

This amp is also VERY sensitive to guitar and pickup changes. I auditioned this amp with 5 different guitars. The sound ranged from mediocre to absolutely jaw-dropping and everything in between. The best guitars out of the 5 were the Les Paul Standard with Burst Buckers and an Ibanez Jem DNA with Breeds. Both guitars sound different. Both sounded absolutely INCREDIBLE!! The cheap Ibanez with the stock pickups sounded mediocre. The Ernie Ball Petrucci guitar was a bit better. The Ernie Ball Axis sounded pretty good, but the Les Paul and the Jem were phenomenal.

I think that you see negative reviews of this amp because people don't know how to tweak. This thing has ALOT of knobs and buttons. It can seem overwhelming at first, but once you get used to the amp, its a snap. One thing I found with this amp is that the Volume and Gain control complement one another. The ratios of those 2 controls can yield a very wide palette of tones. On the lead channel for example, I turned the volume to around 4 (no VPR) and the gain around 5 and this thing had searing gain and sustain. If you go past 8 or 9 then you have too much gain. So the sweet spot is somewhere between 6-9. Each channel has its own sweet spot. I bet alot of people that gave this amp a bad review just cranked the gain, scooped the mids, engaged the deep and tone shift switches and then complained about the buzz and fuzz they heard. Thats NOT the way this amp should be tuned.

The stock preamp tubes the amp comes with are somewhat shrill sounding. I changed the tubes to Svetlana EL34's and Electro Harmonix 12AX7EH's and rebiased the amp. Rebiasing this amp is a snap. You don't have to take anything apart. All you need is a DMM and a small screwdriver. When I checked the bias before retubing, I noticed that the values have drifted considerably. Needless to say, the amp was not properly tuned. With new tubes and a proper bias, the amp came alive. It didn't sound bad at all when I first got it, but it sounds incredible now.

Haven't had any problems. It doesn't leave my house so I can't attest to its road-worthiness.

I haven't had any problems with the footswitch either. I believe Marshall replaced the footswitch buttons for more durable ones. I must have one of those, because the footswitch is built really well.

Haven't had to contact them for anything.

Overall this is a great amp. As good as anything in this price-range or higher. Its very very versatile and has a wealth of excellent Marshall tones. I've been playing the guitar for almost 20 years and this is one of the finest pieces of gear I've owned. The only amp I've ever played that I liked as much was the Bogner Ecstasy. The Marshall just works for me. It fits me like a glove.

I honestly dont understand the negative reviews for this head. This amp and its 3 channels are to me all that anyone, regardless of particular style will EVER need. Its capable of sooooo much. The only things about this amp I can even think to be critical of is the tendency I have for turning it up so loud I anger the neighbors and the noise I am experiencing throught the effects loop(i have yet to determine the cause here), which by the way is really nice, you can choose whether you want to go through just the clean or just the overdrive, or all 3. Ive used the VPR button a limited number of times and personally think It changes the sonic characterisitcs of the amp when driven hard so...I dont use it if I dont have to. All 3 channels are of course footswitch enabled.

I play primarily death metal and hard core with A 79 The Paul, a ESP LTD MV-200 and a recently acquired Les Paul Studio, all of them dropped a whole step then detuned to C. I play it through a Marshall 212 1936 for home applications and a 412 1960A for live applications. Simply put, it has yet not amaze me with the output and fullness. The clean channel can be adjested depending on the guitar for belltone clarity to dirty AC/DC style groovin, then make the walls crumble on Channels 2 and 3. If it were just a LITTLE tighter at high volumes Id give it a 10.

I have had this amp for a while now and it has yet to let me down.

Aside from my local guitar shop helping me out tremedously, ive had no need for support.

Ive been playing for about 11 years, I now own my dream set-up. After playing Mesas, Peaveys, Laney's and Crates, the Marshall has bar-none spanked them all.