Marshall JCM-2000 TSL 100

got an ass of features, but i usually just read the sound quality review...

I've been playing for about 10 years now. I got a Strat fitted with EMGs and LSR rolling nut. Its got all the versatility in the world and maximum balls. If you've never played a Marshall all-tube stack cranked you just don't know...

Simply put if you like Korn or anything like Korn get a Triple Recto/Mode 4 amp and stop reading Marshall reviews. They are pretty good and loud amps. Just no nads, thats all. i bet you could probably could do a mean "Nookie" cover on a mesa, however.

If you can actually play guitar and respect Hendrix as god, do what he did and get an amp that you can play Sweet Child O'Mine, Mr. Crowely, Back in Black, or f-cking Eruption on. Hell its good enough to do justice to SRV, Silverchair, Floyd, Metallica, Slayer, Zeppelin tones. The amp is the f-cking Force.
If you don't like this amp you probably cannot play Stairway or Eruption and therefore not a true rock guitarist.

Also: David Gilmour is the man.

i've gigged, no problems. i'd hope you'd take care of a $1400 amp head!

never dealt with em, but i heard they are assholes.

More powerful than Superman, Batman, Spiderman and the Incredible Hulk combined.

Three channels clean, crunch and shredd. Good controll on the tone with all the knobs and buttons that are on this amp. It has good power and cuts veary well through a live mix.

Right now I'm using a stock Schecter C1+ and it sounds ok but the pickup's that are in this guitar suck badly and are going to be changed out SOON.I play in a worship band and play just about every style there is to be played, this amp sounds great and is veary versatile, and that is what I need the most. I have had this amp for 1 week now and I am very impressed with the tone that it provides.I did comparied it to a JCM 800 that was sitting on top of it and the 8 was a lot more raw and in your face but for shure a 1 show pony unless you add pedals. Not that thats a bad thing but I already have enough now, and I was able to get the TSL to sound dead on like the 8 and that was good enough for me. The fundemental tone of this amp is marshall all the way and when compaired to the boogie (Road King) that I traded it for + 1960AX cab, the distortions were different in a way that I liked better that the boogie, I not trashing the boogie I liked that amp alot too but it weighed a ton and what I was using it for I was not using it to it's fullest. The cleans are veary good although I do get a ring in the power section when I turn the main volume past 6 even with the gain turned all the way down (0) not shure what that is but I suspect tubes, never had that problem with the boogie.

Can't coment on that yet way too soon. But based on the way it is built I would have to say the if taken care of it should last a few befor you had to do anything to it. I don't care for the Plastic that is all over this amp corners,input jacks buttons and knobs, it may save on weight but gives it a cheep look and feel and wont last under long term useage. Not somthing that I care for. I am going to play this amp without a backup beacuse I don't have the funds to buy another. I baby all my gear this head won't be any different. So we shale see....

Havent had to use them yet and hopfuly I won't need to. I'm quite shure the last two guys have a smile on there face if their reading this, as they wern't to happy and I can see why. no one should have to go through 3 amps after spending this kind of money. Whats up with that Marshall.....?

I have been playing 30 years on and off never serious though and have been through my fair shair of amps and guitars but this is my first Marshall if you can beleve that, and so far i like what im hearing with whats left of it anyway. If it were stolen or lost I would probable try somthin else.

I just bought this amp two weeks ago. Great tones for rock. The third
channel is where it's at, just set it to three and go. Plenty of power, great sound at VPR (virtual power reduction 50Watts)..really lets the tubes get good and warm without having to let the people
down the street know your practicing.

Marshall's and Les Paul's just seem to go together well, thats what I'm using.

The happiest day I will have have with this amp is tomorrow, when I return it.I wouldn't gig with this amp. I have already had to return the first one because of a burned-out power supply. The second on has problems with the effects loop, or the footswitch, I'm not sure yet. Lucky for me I have a 30 day "no questions ask return policy"...so I'm getting out of this amp and buying a Bogner Ecstasy Classic.

Yeah, right, smug pricks. Sorry it's not EVH calling to complain.

This is the amp I always wanted, and then once I had it, I couldn't wait to get rid of it.

Everyone knows the features. There's a lot of features for a tube head.

Amazing. It's got three main sounds: clean, crunch, and what I'd call metal. It's more versatile than many tube amps becuase there are a number of features that allow tweaking. The main sounds are phenominal, especially at higher levels. Playing this thing live is a trip in and of itself because it fills a room beautifully.

Here's where I have my beef. I'm on my third unit. On the first one, the footpedal stopped working, so they replaced the footpedal. It still didn't work, so they replaced the unit. The second unit didn't work at all -- got it home in its box, plugged it in, nothing. Believe it or not, the third one's been the worst. It simply went silent in the middle of practice. I know what you're thinking -- yes, I allowed the tubes to warm up sufficiently. I treated this thing like a baby (because you have to with a tube amp). It just died. I took it to the Marshall repair center, and they returned it to me STILL BROKEN. I brought it back again and finally they fixed it and said there was simply a loose connection caused by poor soddering in manufacturing. Finally, it's up and running, but I'm none too pleased about its reliability.

Marshall is a maze. If you think you're going to call them up and ask a question or two, I've got a bridge in Baghdad I'd like to sell you. Their repair place treated me like I was a petty annoyance to them. They were far too busy working directly with Metallica or with Jim Marshall himself apparently to simply take thirty seconds to answer my questions as to WHY I'VE HAD TO GO THROUGH THREE UNITS !! Also, they kept the unit in repair for a month, and when I got it back it wasn't even repaired (see "Reliability"). I bought a Marshall because of its reputation. It's blatantly apparent that they've grown too big for their britches, because they clearly don't care about focussing on quality or customer satisfaction.

Amazing amp, if it works. I dreamt of buying a Marshall since I was 15 years old. It took me nearly 15 years finally to be able to afford one, and when I did it was a huge disappointment. By the time I finally got an amp that sounded like I'd always dreamt, I was already so bitter about all the returns, etc. etc. that it was a greatly diminished joy.

read the other 200 or so reviews

I tried the mode 4 first for about three hours and was dissapointed by the sound so the music shop assistant said try this TSL 100, it took my 3 seconds to decide on this amp, it was crisp powerfull and what i have been looking for for years!!! i play metal/metalcore and this amp is perfect!!! anyone who says it is crap is deaf.

Cant comment only had it for 4 months.

everytime i phone marshall they are 100% helpfull they send me any info i need and give me advise, i had a vs100 before i bought the TSL and the feet broke of the cab (it had been constantly gigged for 5 years though) and marshall sent me more for free, no questions asked!! i think all the people marking customer support low must live in the us and deal with KORG (they distribute marshall in the us) i live 1 hour away from the uk headquarters and they are perfect.

I have been in a semi pro band for 6 years and this amp is all i need, if it got nicked i would buy it straight away. I ADVISE IF YOU WANT A POWERFULL AMP WITH CLARITY AND THUMP TRY THIS YOU WILL PROBIBLY LIKE IT!!! If you want to sound like a dog barking get some muddy hi gain crap (This does not include mesa retifiers which are awesome as well, but i prefer the more bright sound of the marshall)

I purchased this from musicians friend in October of 2000 for $1429.
At the same time I also bought a marshall 1960AV 280W 4x12 cabinet for $829. This amp has three seperate channels which is a very convenient thing to have.

I have a U.S.(no mexican crap thank you very much) '57 reissue strat w/ seymours in it, a U.S. '62 reissue strat, and a gibson '67 flying V reissue. This amp is great for music style. I play everying from Hendrix and Miles Davis to John Scofield and Slayer. This amp is very versatile. The clean tone w/ my '57 strat is great. If I want to play Slayer I use my V and that works well also. If you are looking for an amp to play metal with, get something else. This is an all purpose amp. Jimi had the right idea.

This amp has been fairly reliable. However, the footswitch broke after about a year and a half of playing. I have taken great care of this amp but the footswitch is CRAP. With the expensive price of this amp, THIS SHOULD NOT HAPPEN. There is an extremely short warranty on the footswitch as well. I'm giving a 5 because of the footswitch.

Never dealt with Marshall, by the time my footswitch broke, the short warranty that's just on the footswitch had already expired.

Overall this amp has been great. I've been playing for 5 years and own a lot of gear, but this amp is essential for me because of its versatility. I love playing Little Wing and other Hendrix and Stevie songs with my strat through this amp. Ladies, if you have any other questions about this amp or anything else, email me with your picture and i'll email you a picture of yours truly, the next boy band rocker, Babyface McGee. I'm 19 and live in the Albany, NY area. We can make beautiful music together and go from there.

Very flexible 3 channel amp.

Out of the box it's pretty evident that this amp is a little more than plug-and play. Knowing the proper method of biasing the tube compliment of this amp is pretty important: you wouldn't play a gig without tuning your guitar would you? Well, the variable resistors used in the bias adjustment on this amp are pretty tight tolerance and moving the amp could be enough to cause the bias to drift a little bit and this can definately affect the sound as well as the overall life of your tubes. (In fact I'll bet the reason for most of the negative reviews popping up on this site is because some folks didn't know about this.) If you're going to be moving the amp a lot get a multitestor and take 5 minutes or so to tweak the bias before you start playing - it makes a HUGE difference. Also change out the stock tubes - I think they could've made some better choices there. Mesas really sound nice in this amp, it kind of pushes it more toward the sound of a Fender but with the low-mid balls of a Marshall. It might not be the right amp for angry kids that want a low frequency fart sound similar to the tailpipe of a Harley Davidson though. Think Jeff Beck or Jimi in the studio.

Like I said before the stock tubes pretty much suck. I had one foot switch die a year ago and was given a complimentary replacement and haven't had any trouble since (knock on wood) And again - I can't stress this enough- the bias is going to need a fair amount of attention. If you're afraid of servicing your own amp, or you're just lazy this probably ain't the choice for you.

So far I haven't needed it aside from the FS that crapped out, Guitar Center replaced it immediately though, free.

I like this amp a lot. It seems to have all the classic elements of a Marshall but is capable of deep, bright shimmering tones I would expect from a fender twin. Then again i like tweaking electronics so I don't mind fussing over the bias - the tiny amount of work is worth it. If you don't like the work get a Boogie, then you can waste a lot more time trying to get a presentable sound out of that merciless Boogie EQ.

Der Amp wurde 2002 in England gebaut.
Drei kanale und verdammt laut!!!!
Die Eigenschaften brauche ich wohl nicht mehr aufzuzahlen!!!
(damn great features)obwohl ich doch noch gerne ein Master volume
hatte.Aber fur den Preis:)genial

Ich habe eine Gibson Les Paul Standard und eine 2001 er Fender
USA stratocaster.
Musikrichtungen:Hard Rock
Classic Rock
Metal
southern rock
Blues (you see it fits me and my styles very well)
Der Clean-Kanal reicht von jazzigen bis ubersteuerten Klangen(gut fur
keith Richard sounds).Klingt sehr gut!!!!!!

Der Crunch-Kanal ist mein Lieblingskanal, denn er reicht von
leicht angezerrten Klangen bis zu fetten, jcm800(hot rod) sounds

Der Lead-Kanal klingt auch sehr gut, er reicht von fast cleanen sounds
(volume-poti bei der strat zuruckgeregelt) bis zu fetten verzerrten
(fuckin' "bolz") sounds mit so einem Punch, das ist schon genial!!!(Probs**** das krist du nie hin, hehe!)
Au?erdem ist der Amp derma?en vielseitig, dass man alle nur erdenklichen SOunds (au?er vielleicht mesa rectifier) hinbekommt.
Mit der 1960 A-box klingt das derma?en fett dass einem die Hosenbeine
wegflattern!(Au?er vielleicht dem B*lz, der tragt ja nur schottenrocke!!!!)
GeiLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!

Allesinallem ein genialer Verstarker weil er alle bekannten marshall
sounds in einem hat(sogar noch verbessert!)und einen neuen Jcm 2000
Lead Kanal besitzt!
Wenn der amp nicht schnellstens in irgendwelchen modeling preamps
auftaucht dann werd ich echt verdammt grantich.

Julgo que faltava uma "review" para este amplificador em portugues. Relativamente a versatilidade ja tudo foi escrito, para quem souber ingles, e se tem 3 canais com func?es independentes para cada um deles, mais versatil n?o poderia ser. As caracteristicas desta cabeca s?o sem duvida enormes tendo em considerac?o a especificidade deste produto!

Bom, aqui realmente e que se fala do que interessa. O SOM! ja algum tempo que consulto esta base de dados, mas so agora resolvi escrever a minha opini?o devido ao que tenho vindo a ler. A guerra dos utilizadores Marshall/MesaBoogie continuara a ser travada indefinidamente pois estes s?o os dois fabricantes dos melhores amplificadores que existem. Agora parece-me e que as pessoas (americanos, porque s?o ricos e o material e muito mais barato!) n?o sabem destinguir entre produtos de alta qualidade mas que se destinam a diferentes tarefas. N?o me parece possivel fazer o Figo jogar Futebol Americano, pelo menos t?o bem como o NOSSO Futebol. Aqui em Portugal a Mesa Boogie e inacessivel, devido aos salarios pagos e ao preco do material (os nossos importadores querem ganhar comiss?es de quase 100%!!!), mas ainda me foi possivel experimentar a triple Rectifier com a coluna correspondente. Realmente tem um optimo som..... p'ra quem tocar maioritariamente metal, de preferencia Nu-Metal. Tambem da pra outras coisas, mas ai ja n?o acho t?o fenomenal. O que realmente sobressai daquele estecticamente belo amplificador e uma distorc?o massiva e cheia de graves, ou low-end como dizem os nossos amigos americanos que caso n?o sejam bem doseados tornam o som demasiadamente abafado e imperceptivel. A coluna da Mesa e impressionante na resposta aos graves.
Mas voltando a TSL, esta cabeca deve ser uma das melhores coisas que a Marshall construiu desde as Plexi. O canal Clean, e limpo :-) sendo obvio o som valvulado e encorpado (com a minha Gibson Les Paul). O canal Crunch e o que uso mais, as minhas sonoridades preferidas andam a volta do Rock Classico e com uma Les Paul e este canal temos tudo o que precisamos para ser felizes. O canal Lead e um monstro de ganho que necessita de muitas horas de "mexer nos bot?es" para se encontrar o sonoridade perfeita. Alias, este e outro facto que leva a escrever esta 'review': esta cabeca e fenomenal e faz practicamente tudo (ainda falta fazer francesinhas, mas vou mandar um mail para a Marshall para incluirem esta caracteristica nos proximos modelos), so que alem de ser preciso saber tocar (algo que ainda estou a tentar fazer decentemente ao fim de 9 anos de guitarra), e preciso ter 'ouvido' e saber como funciona a equalizac?o numa maquina a valvulas. Ate que se sacasse um som minimamente aceitavel andei uns meses a mexer nos bot?es pra esquerda e pra direita e isto serviu para conhecer como era produzido o "tone" da maquina e perceber a sua resposta aos volumes da guitarra e as quantidades de ganhos e e.q. que ia administrando. Se tivermos em atenc?o que todos os settings variam a sua resposta entre si, existem uma infinidade de sons que podem ser extraidos. se alguem necessitar de um som massivo e cheio de graves experimentem o pedal da Tech21 Tri A.C., que e bastante bom e estou a pensar adquiri-lo para devaneios metalicos ao tipico genero Novo Metal.

Tem uma construc?o tipo Mercedes-Benz. Faz um milh?o de quilometros e mesmo assim esta melhor que um Renault ou Seat novos!!! Ta tudo dito: e um tanque de guerra. A quem se queixe do footswitch, mas o meu tem um ano e ta como novo.

Como nunca precisei n?o posso comentar.

Para a realidade monetaria portuguesa e o melhor amplificador do mundo, sem rival nenhum. A nivel World Wide, se tiverem dinheiro comprem o TSL, o Triple Rectifier e um Pedal A/B. So tem um problema, nunca mais tem aquela excitac?o de comprar outro amplificador novo, pois n?o precisar?o.

Features are excellent, but not exactly world-class. Would prefer independant Reverb, Presence and Effects controls for each of the 3 channels. I dislike that channels 2 and 3 share one FX loop. You cannot have [for example] a delay only on the Lead channel for soloing without also having it on the Crunch channel as well. It would have been better to share one loop for the Clean and Crunch channels, since they are typically both used as rhythm channels, etc. Not debilitating, but the design does limit the amp's potential otherwise.

First of all, I'm not a Metal Guru, so I won't review from the perspective of "Pantera" and "Slayer" qualities.

I've owned the amp for 8 months and use it stock (I don't change tubes until they need to be changed, although I do make sure the amp is biased correctly) with a stock 1960A cabinet. I use Les Pauls and Strat's. I'm in a covers band playing everything from The Doors to Creed. I sold my Mesa 3 channel Dual Rectifier for the TSL, because after a year's worth of gigging and recording, I'd had enough of trying to get more cut [through live mixes] and less bass out of the Recto. Recto's are simply incredible amp's, but for me the TSL has much more versatility to say the least.

Overall the amp sounds fantastic, and decent tonal balances between all 3 channels can be achieved after some tweaking and getting your ears accustomed to the amp's character.

The Clean channel is clear and can be bright enough, although it doesn't have the top end shimmer of say, a Twin or something like that. It's a very warm, useable clean tone. Great for Jazz. For my covers band I find I'm running the Presence and Treble up quite high at shows. Turning the Gain all the way up produces a Plexi-like [not a Plexi-exact] kind of gain. Sweet!

The Crunch channel is a bit different than the Lead channel, so it's not the kind of thing where you can set the controls the same for each and have them both sound the same. The Crunch channel has less gain than the Lead, and sounds as though it has a much wider bandwidth on the Bass control. I would prefer it to be the same as the Lead channel though. The Mid and Treble seem the same as on the lead channel. This channel is perfect for medium rhythm gains when running the TSL in a 3-channel setup, or when cranking the Gain and Bass, makes a good 2-channel setup when using the Crunch channel for rhythm and the Lead channel for fatter solo's.

The Lead channel is basically what I always wanted my JCM800 2205 and 2210 heads to sound like: lots of clear, tight gain and plenty of low end. Many complain about this channel being "compressed". I don't agree. It sounds just as compressed as any amp will sound when using this much gain. Rather, I find this channel to be the tightest channel of the three, and depending on the amount of gain you use [there's WAY more than anyone could possibly need], you can get anything from Maiden and Priest classics to all-out modern Metal tones.

Compared to my Dual Recifier, the TSL has "character" where the Rectifier has "attitude". The Recto covers reds, blacks and blues very well, but the TSL covers all the colors in the crayon box.

It hasn't screwed me so far.

Been playing and gigging over a 22-year span. This is the best and most important amp I've ever owned. It has all the tones anyone could need, all in one box. Three channels will take you through any level of gain short of a MIDI rig. It's what guitar amp's really should be in many respects. My gripes are: some of the features are shared, I'd prefer a tighter sounding Crunch channel, and I'd like a bit more edge and sparkle on the Clean channel. Oh well, nothing in life is perfect! If stolen, I'd buy another the next day.

I'm givin a 10 for features on this amp. This amp has more features than any amp I've ever played. That alone isn't enough to give it a 10 - all the features are very usable and worth being there. Makes for an extremely flexible amp. Hopefully the last I'll buy for a long, long time.

Okay, this is the real reason I bought this amp. This thing sounds great! I'm a huge fan of Edwards "brown sound" from the first 6 Halen albums and this thing nails it. Big, warm and majestic. The secret is mids - this amp knows how to kick out the mids in a nice pleasing way.

My last amp was a 5150 - while I liked some of what it did, it was pretty harsh. This amp isn't harsh at all, like I said its very warm - if you set it up that way.

The clean channel is nice and warm - can be super duper clean, or can be overdriven a little. The attack from it is so immediate, its almost frightening.

The crunch channel is where I spend most of my time. Can dial in a rythme sound that just begs you to tickle, hammer, strum and pound your guitar for hours. The trick is to get the EL34s cookin enough to really give it the punch. So you gotta turn it up. If you turn up the gain as well, you'll have a LOT to work with.

The lead channel is fairly compressed compared to the crunch channel, but it works out great. Almost unlimited gain on this thing. You can really turn the gain up and still have it sound warm - something that I couldn't do with my 5150.

Aside from the way it sounds, but eq blocks really do what they should. I've played a lot of amps that really didn't have any flexibility or the eq knobs worked in a really bizzare way. While this amp has a lot of buttons and stuff, its really intuitive and easy to tweak your sound.

Really can't say. Have only had the amp for a month, not enough time for something to go wrong.

Again, haven't had problems so I don't know...

I'm givin this thing a solid 10. Its rock and roll personified. Can also be punk, jazz, blues, metal, reggae if you want as well. I'm super happy with how flexible it is. I haven't been able to explore all the things it can do, but am lookin forward to it.

If it were stolen, I'd definately buy another.

Great features on this amp. Three channels with three seperate eq's,
VPR button which reduces power output from 100 watts to 25 watts, parallel-serial effects loop and reverb. The only reason it does not score a 10 is due to the shared effects loop, reverb and presence controls between the lead and crunch channel.

All of my guitars are various models of USA Jacksons equiped with Seymore Duncan JB and Full Shred pickups in the bridge position.(I am 32 years old with 18 years of playing experience and still not mature enough to use the neck pickup). My style of music is equally immature, stubborn, and limited. The only bands I will listen to and learn songs from are Judas Priest, Black Lable Society, Slayer, Kiss, Halford, Motley Crue, Pantera, Alice in Chains, Skid Row, Loudness, and Megadeath.

I have owned this amp for 62 days now and it has proven to be a Godsend. This is also my first Marshall. My favorite guitar tone would be a combination of Pantera's rythym sound and Judas Priest's lead sound. I have finally aquired this sound with a very expensive yet simple setup. Here it is: USA Jackson--BossSD1--BossSD1--Boss Super Chorus--Korg rack tuner--Marshall TSL100(with Boss GE7 Eq in effects loop)--two Mesa Boogie 4x12 recto cabs. Also, every cable is a Monster cable.

I always use the Lead channel on the TSL for my metal sound. The settings are as follows: BossSD1--This is an overdrive pedal used by Zakk Wylde to compliment his JCM 800. I do not know how he uses it but I have it on all of the time. With the way I set it, it seems to sharpen up the attack and provide razor sharp note definition to the lower notes without adding distortion. I set the Level at 100%, Drive at 0%, and Tone at 50%. The sound is that of a slight treble booster with no harshness. BossSD1--The second sd1 is set with the Level 100%, Drive at 0%, and Tone at 75%. This acts as a double treble booster and is only turned on during solos that require tremendous sustain and harmonics. never used for rythym. Boss Super Chorus--This is on all the time with all knobs set to 40% in order for SLIGHT tone coloration. Boss GE7 Eq--Run in the effects loop with the effects loop knob of the Marshall set fully clockwise on 10. The Eq is set flat with a SLIGHT mid scoop and the Level slider boosted up just a hair. Marshall TSL100--For the Lead channel, Gain 5.5 to 6, Bass 7, Mid 3-4, Treble 6-7, Presence 3, Tone Shift on, and Deep Switch on. When used inconjuction with the Boss SD1, lower gain settings like 5 or 6 end up sounding more massive than gain settings of 7 or higher. This is the sound I have always searched for. The important thing to remember for a massive, heavy, articulate sound is to zero the drive on the SD1 and find the sweet spot of the Marshall's gain by limiting yourself to 5 or 6. Unfortunately for the neighbors, this awesome sound does not come alive until the volume is at LEAST 2.5 or greater; and that is LOUD.

Other notes: The clean sound is easy to dial in and is one of the best I have ever heard.
I never use the VPR button. It changes your sound and forces you into a re-tweaking fiasco.
I never use the Crunch channel. It is good, however not quite my style. Sometimes I will use it when playing old Kiss songs because of the more vintage sound, but I like the sound of the same Kiss songs better with the sound of the lead channel.
I have played the DSL100 and like it, but cannot compare the two fairly unless I hook it through the same equipment.
I love the sound of the TSL100 through these Mesa 4x12 cabs, but I have never heard the Marshall cabs with this so I can't compare.
The most important thing I have learned is this: EVERYTHING MATTERS. Belive it or not. When I replaced all my crappy cables with Monster cables my sound improved. When I use a brand new .88mm Dunlop Tortise Pick as opposed to a pick that has as little as 3 songs played on it, my sound improves. All of my guitars are the same, but two sound better than the other two. I thought the TSL100 was great when I bought it, but completly outstanding with the BossSD1.

The footswitch is a common problem here. Mine is showing its first signs of refusal to switch channels.

Have not contacted them, yet.

I spent a ton of money searching in the wrong direction. 1985--dumb practice Peavy amp. 1986--semidumb Marshall 30watt solid state 1x12 combo. 1996--Mesa Boogie DC-5 half stack. Almost a descent metal sound, but flubby. 2001--Line Six Flextone II HD. Very fake sounding amp, got worse as volume was turned up. 2002--Mesa Triaxes,G-Force,Mesa 50/50, sonic maximizer, noise gate. I tried very hard to like this set up, but to me it ended up sounding over processed and lacked balls. 2002---Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Triple channel. I tried to like this too, but did not. When the effects loop is used, it gives your tone a very processed sound. Too muddy sounding, lack of articulation. When mids are used, the amp still sounds scooped. When terble is used, the amp just sounds irritating. The overwhelming bass cannot be dialed out without thinning the sound out too much.
The Marshall TSL100 is the antithises of the Dual Recto. It has a perfect amount of bass. Massivie but not overwhelming. A Marshall TSL with its mids on 3 will cut through a mix better than a Dual Recto with its mids on 8. The TSL responds to increased trebel very well without sounding harsh. Most important, your inherrent tone is not changed when using the effects loop, unlike the Dual Recto.
I will end by saying that the Marshall is 60% responsible for this sound I am getting now, however the other 40%(guitar, pickups,effects,cables,cabinets) is a necessary ingredient aswell. To give an example of the sound I have now is a combination of Ride The Lighting, Vulgar Display of Power, Reign in Blood, and Defenders of the Faith.
I LOVE THIS AMP.

You know the features, and it cost $1,429.00 plus tax.
All three channel amps deserve a 10 in this category DUH!!!

Ok my style is METAL, NU-metal, OLD metal, DEATH metal, and oh yeah more METAL. My setup is a ESP explorer with emg-81 and afterburner circuit, and a ESP F-200 Gothic looking thing with emg-81 and afterburner circuit tuned down. I use (2) MESA 4x12 standard Recto cabs (the big ones w/ massive bass), and a large home made 4x12 w/ Vintage 30's also. First off you need to use the MODE FOUR cab or MESA big RECTO cabs to get good bass out of this amp or any other amp either. Oh yeah I also have a 3 channel MESA dual rectifier too.
This amp first off I would like to say it kicks ass, It's solo sounds are truley unmatched with the mids cranked with your neck pickup.
If you like SLAYER you must own this amp, I mean I have their sound down with amp to a tee. The CLEAN channel does not sparkle as much as my recto, but it does have a nice warm clean sound and the reverb is really cool and really does save the clean channel from being boring and sterile. The CRUNCH channel fucking has so much tone it rules, but its is dont perfect, it needs more gain. Dont get me wrong I love this channel you just have to crank it almost all the way up to get it to sustain. I like to use my afterburner circuit in my guitars to get it to sustain and give it more gain, the afterburner is made by EMG and adds 20db of gain when you turn it on, it replaces your tone knob, I guess a distortion pedal would work to like Zack Wlyde does to his JCM-800, but then you are introducing solid state into your all tube head, I HATE EFFECTS!!
The LEAD channel has tons more gain then the crunch channel. I love to set the this channel for slayer. Pressence at 4, Bass at 5, Gain at 10, Middle all the way to 10, Treble at 5, then set the volume to3 3-5 and it just kicks ass and so much like slayer and old school metal. Ass far as mid scooping this amp using the typical DIMEBAG DARREL setting this amp is pretty fucking brutal, and I love it.
BUT it is gain is not as thick or as Extreme as the Mesa Recto, also the Bass is not as heavy and the highs are more harsh and not ass creamy. I am not here to rip this amp it just not as Heavy as a VHT Ultra lead, or a MESA Recto. Ok alot people think the Recto does not have alot of bass because everyone uses the modern mode on channle 3, when they should be using channel 2. This is the most bass HEAVY sound I have ever heard. Back to the marshall, the marshall is less compressed than the Recto and a little more articulate when scooping it out like DIME. But overall I think the marshall is way better for solo's and for old school Metal and Rock too, but the Mesa Recto is better for super heavy shit because of its massive bass and over the top amount of bass. So it is not perfect but Damn close so I give a sound rating of a 9. While I gave my Mesa Recto a 10. I must add that using the Marshall and the Mesa is like a 20 on a 1-10 scale. Using a ABY box and the 2 heads you have to hear it to believe it, it is better than any sound I have ever heard, Better than the most expensive Bogner, Soldano, VHT, or Disel, that I have ever heard or tryed out.

So good so far, but it does rattle alot more than any other head that I have ever owned when you move it around

Flat out dont know?

Overall it will cover every style you could ever need and its sounds are awsesome and verstile, in a 3 channel gig ready package. If you where just into EXTREME HEAVY shit there are slightly better amps for that, but if you want some amazing tone to boot, You NEED one of these!!!

3 channels. more than enough coverage of the entire marshall sound spectrum. i think everything else has been said before....only thing would be the fact that the crunch and clean channel both share presence, fx loop and reverb controls. it would have been nice to have individual dials for both gain channels. having said that though, i don't really see it as a problem anymore, as both crunch and lead channels are well balanced against each other.

i play an epiphone les paul std which has had some serious modding done to it, including a seymore duncan pearly gates in the bridge and a seymore duncan alnicoIIpro humbucker in the neck position. the pick-ups in the les paul respond extremely well to the tsl-100 and vice versa. i'd expect this to be the same case for any humbucker based guitar. the other guitarist in our band plays a gibson les paul studio with stock pick-ups and the amp responds euqally well to tone and volume adjustments to the humbuckers.
the clean channel sounds awesome. period. at times almost fender-esque. the reverb on the clean channel adds enough depth without being over-powering. nicely done marshall. the crunch channel has that classic retro-marshall feel. personally i think it could have done with just a tad more gain, but hey... there's the lead channel...
this channel is the dogs bollocks! believe me when i say this, i haven't ever played through an amp where one can feel that gutair-amp response as well as with the tsl-100. this amp will never part with me. the only thing that could possibly be better than playiong through one of these babies would be, well, playing through two of 'em i guess. ;) there is some noise on the lead channel, but well less than a lot of other all-valve heads... my other guitarist plays his les paul through a laney vh100r and the hiss on his lead channel is a million times louder... the sustain the amp delivers via the seymore duncan is incredible. a lot of my soloing is done with a jimdunlop original crybaby, and the tone through the marshall is phenomenal. with some tweeking and tuning you can get anything from hendrix/ clapton to zakk wylde. which is f*!?ing great!!!
the rest of my floorboard consits of: les paul into a boss turbo distortion (which is used with the gain pretty low, but the volume almost on the full to push the signal for solos and palm muting), which goes into a boss chromatic tuner, which foolows into the crybaby, and then into the tsl-100. good stuff. i also use an old beat up zoom4040 multi fx unit in the fx loop of the tsl-100. purely for chorus and delay sounds. the fx loop on the amp is well balanced in the over level of pre-amp and power amp. also footswitchable, which i find highly useful.

well... this amp does come across as being built like damn tank, and belive me it is. although it has to be said that i had a few little internal hick-ups when i bought the amp. luckily i live 30 minutes away from the marshall hq in milton keynes, uk, so i just drove it up there and the guys fixed it for me the and there. no questions asked. not a penny demanded in labour work. thanks marshall!
the footswitch for my model, as with many other people's on this page, gave me the tiniest of grief at first... after gigging the amp for a week straight after purchase the led on the lead channel switch gave up on me. to be honest it never really bothered me that much so i just forgot about it. then the other day, it just decided to work again...?! so i'm feeling a bit dodgy about the footswitch and am considering buying a back-up for touring.

the guys at marshall are well cool. nuff respect.

i've been playing guitar guitar for 8 years now and am currently playing in a touring band here in the uk. this amp gets my full stamp of approval. if it got knicked, i'd would buy another one, and nothing less.
i'd just like to say that i have recently used the tsl-100 to record an EP and it totaly kicked my other guitarist's laney vh100r to the curb! in the end he ended up recording half his parts through my marshall...!
if you like big ass rock sounds then get this amp. this is what marshall do. it's pure genius. it ain't no boogie, 5150, cornford or vht. if that's your thing go play one of 'em. if you love everything rock'n'roll you will never beat a marshall! and compared to the prices one pays for some amps these days i found the tsl-100 fairly cheap.

Very versatile amp. I like to have a lot of different tones at my fingertips without having to lug more than 1 amp to a gig. This amp certainly delivers. Plenty on tonal control in all of the channels. This amp has more than enough volume for live situations. The VPR button is nice, although I don't use it often. I would have liked a boost switch on the FS.

I'm playing a G&L Legacy Special with Blade humbucking pickups. I play a lot of different styles on this amp, ranging from ambient noise to solid hard rock.

The amp isn't quiet per se, but it's a tube amp, so I don't expect silence. I don't like some of the clicks and pops that happen when switching channels, seems Marshall could have spent some more time on this.

Clean channel is what sold me on this amp. It's got an amazing sparkly, bell-like tone, with amazing presence. I love it. Stays clean even at high volumes.

I use the crunch channel the most, although it took a long time to get it set just right. But now that I have it dialed in, I am getting a gritty, messy sound without a loss of clarity. I'm not one of those guys who rolls all the knobs to 10, I like to roll off the distortion and look for sweet spots. And there are plenty of sweet spots on this channel. I haven't noticed an inordinate amount of low-end in this channel like some of the other reviewers.

I struggle most with the lead channel, mainly because I think this channel mushes up the sound of the guitar. But this channel simply screams. The distortion is sweet and powerful, and the tone is great. It will knock you off your feet.

When I first bought the amp, I had some issues with... you guessed it, the FS! However, the replacement has been good for almost a year now, and I'm hoping I won't have any more issues. The amp itself seems sturdy enough, no problems at all.

Warranty is nice and long, haven't had to deal with Korg yet, and I'm hoping I never have to.

I've had this amp for about a year now, and I'm pretty happy with it. It really has added a lot to my sound. I think I would buy another one, it's just a great versatile amp. I think the most difficult purchase for a guitarist is the amplifier purchase, because it takes about 6 months to really get to know an amp. After a year, I can say I made a good choice.

This amp has a lot of features and is very versatile. it has things that no other amp has like and output mute and a vpr switch. when you have 3 channels with seperate eq, gain, and level for each. your pretty much set.

no offense to the great marshall amplification, but this amp was a slight disapointment. although its very versatile. the sound doesn't sound right. it sounds like your volume pot on your guitar is only up to 5, and theres a blanket over your speakers. the clean doesn't have a lot of ring to it, and isn't full. if your playing in a small room with it, forget about it. i happen to use a distortion pedal, delay, noise supressor, compressor, and parametric eq with the amp. these effects make the amp sound much better, but sometimes i wish i can get i nice direct tone from the amp. i am an experianced guitar player whoi knows what specifications are needed to make your tone sound good, and this amp doesn't quite fit the qualifications, although it doesn't sound extremely bad.

no problems with it yet.

never had to deal with them

people say this amp is great. i happen to think its a cool amp, but can't fit my standards if no effects are used. marshall make awesome amps, so this amp was kind of upsetting to me. i suggest a jcm 800, but right now i'm using a carvin legacy head.

It was built in 2000
I play many style from Jazz to Death Metal; so I need an amp that can deliver the tones when I need them...
I play Guitar since 1986.
I use this head with a Marshall Cab 1960B (bottom)
This head is 100w and feature 3 distinct channels switchable via a footswitch (included). The 3 channels are: CLEAN, CRUNCH, and LEAD using their own EQ (Bas, Mid,Treble) Volume and Gain for maximum tone shaping capability. 2 Sections :CLEAN and CRUNCH/LEAD have controls
including: Presence, Deep Switch, Tone Shift, FX/MIX and Reverb. The Clean channel has got a MidBoost switch!
There is also a VPR (Virtual Power Reduction) switch that can take the power from 100w to 25w approx. without losing the Tone (a kind of Pentode thing); very useful in a practice situation.
A very cool switch is also provided: A MUTE!!!!!!!! yes you can mute the sound to the output valves! useful for a recording via the speaker simulation jack (back of the head).
I mainly use the tone shift to "scoope" the mid in order to get that Modern Metal Tone. It can be used also to get a less mid/marshall sound at low volume...
The Presence switch can be used to boost the upperMid/lowerTreble when you have to cut through cymbal but I dont use it since I dislike trebly sound. On the other side I use the Deep switch to gives the tone a more resonant texture to the low frequency in the loudspeakers cabinet. As the they say in the manual its great for filling out the Bottom end at low volume (ex: using VPR) but will also give a resonant but "controlled" growl to the tone at high volumes.
Speaking of High Volume: CAREFUL WITH THE VOLUME ITS A VERY LOUD AMP!!
But we are in marshall mainly for 2 things...TONE AND POWER!!!
The only thing missing...well may be a master volume...but with all those features...

Giving a 2 on 10 to this amp when the average user gives a 8.6 speaks for itself...some people here aren't listening or they don't know anything about setting a sound...anyways here is my rating:

I use a Gibson Lespaul Standard with Stock pick-ups soon to be upgraded with a 500t (bridge). This amp respond marvelously to a high output passive pick-up.
I have 2 Roland JC-120 which are great (by the way) that I use with a GT-5. I wanted a more natural, powerful less processed (more tube)sound; so the Marshall was my logic choice. I will sell one of my JC-120 and A+B the other with my JCM 2000 TSL.
I was amazed by the CLEAN channel on my JCM 2000 (I am a JC-120 user don't forget). Marshall lost his "bad clean" reputation with that baby!
The Clean is clean even at high volume but can break if you set the gain to high (but some people including myself like that...).
For the Crunch channel well,it really delivers a good punchy and thicky sound. If set properly you won't miss your old vintage amp.I like the old overdrived sound a la Robert Fripp (think of RED) but could not afford a Hiwatt...anyway much less versatile.
For the LEAD channel well just raise the gain and you will get a very razor sharp attack (depends on your pick-up) suitable for Metal and very hard rock. If you use the Tone shift and the Deep switch with high gain on this channel prepare for a real headbanging thrash/death assault. But keep in mind one thing: This is MARSHALL tone not Peavey 5150 or Boogie sound...if you want those sounds buy those amps...
For more Tone shaping (for the purist) I suggest to put a Graphic EQ in the Effects Loop like the BOSS GE-7 . I did and it can now produce EVERY sound I need. If you like the Marshall tone you will get plenty of. If you are more into Overoverdrived ultra compressed Tonedeaf 7 strings Rap/Metal stuff (personal opinion here) check somewhere else.
Keep one thing in mind, this amp will sound as good as you are...if you are not confident go to Transistor based or compressed stuff it will cover your misplaying...

Been playing with this amp since 2000 and it rules !
No problem at all...even the so called fragile footswitch keep up the beat.

Never had to deal with them

This amp rocks, if you

See other reviews. It's 3 channels and 100 watts.

It sounds like a Marshall with a blanket over the speakers. Everything is dull and lifeless. Boring sounding. It's loud. But, it's still a shitty sounding amp. Typical of Marshall these days. It sucks.

Well, it broke right away. I got it fixed under warranty, with a bit of finageling. New tubes, new screen resistors,new fuses, a new output transformer. Sounded just like new, and still sounded like shit.

Well, after a bit of runaround and acting pissed off at their incompetence, Korg came through and I got it fixed.

I was hoping that this would be the be all and end all amp for me. But, it wasn't. It was totally a let down. Give me a JCM900 4100 anyday, at least that amp has tone and character that a real musician can use. The TSL-100, like all Marshalls these days, is just another poser amp.

The real Marshall sound is not in it, and this amp sounds just as bad as the POS JMP-1 preamp they sell.

WELL, I ALREADY PUT MY REVIEW ABOUT THIS AMP JUST ABOUT ONE WEEK, BUT I FORGOT TO TELL SOMETHING REALLY IMPORTANT ABOUT IT.

OK READ ON...

IF YOU REMOVE THE METAL COVER OF THE REAR PANEL, YOU WILL NOTICE THAT THERE'S A THREE PIN MOLEX CONNECTOR BETWEEN EACH PAIR OF POWER VALVES. SO, WHEN I BOUGHT THIS AMP, I FOUND THIS MOLEX CONNECTOR, IGNORING EVERYTHING ABOUT IT, I INVESTIGATED A LOT ON THE WEB, UNTIL I FOUND INFORMATION ABOUT IT'S FUNCTION, AND BELIEVE ME, IT'S CRUCIAL.

THIS CONNECTOR ALLOWS YOU TO CHECK AND ADJUST THE "BIAS VOLTAGE" WHAT I DEFINE AS THE STRENGHT OF SIGNAL THAT THE POWER VALVES SEND TO THE SPEAKER CABINET, AND NEED TO BE ADJUSTED IN THE RIGHT WAY TO PROLONG THE LIFE OF YOUR VALVES AND LET THE SPEAKERS HANDLE THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF POWER. THE BIAS VOLTAGE CHECKING AND ADJUSTMENT IS SIMPLE AN EASY, JUST GET YOURSELF A MULTI-METER, AND I RECOMEND YOU TO ENTER THIS SITE FOR TIPS AND INSTRUCTIONS:


http://web.aoct.org/marshall/JCM2000-Bias.txt


WELL, I GUESS THAT MANY USERS OF THE TSL100, COMPLETLY IGNORE THAT THIS CONNECTOR IS INSIDE THEIR AMP, I'M READING MANY REVIEWS, AND FROM A GREAT NUMBER OF REVIEWS, JUST TWO OR THREE SAY SOMETHING ABOUT IT, AND I CONSIDER A LITTLE BIT STRANGE THAT THE MANUAL OF THIS AMP, DOESN'T MAKE ANY REFERENCE ABOUT THE CONNECTOR.

BUT ANYWAY, THE FACTORY RECOMEND THAT THE BIAS VOLTAGE IN THE TSL100 SHOULD BE ADJUSTED AT: (90mV EACH POT THAT ARE LOCATED AT THE SIDES OF THE CONNECTOR) EACH POT CONTROLS THE BIAS VOLTAGE OF EACH PAIR OF VALVES, LEFT POT CONTROLS THE BIAS VOLTAGE OF VALVES 1 AND 2, AND RIGHT POT CONTROLS THE VOLTAGE OF VALVES 3 AND 4. AND EACH SIDE NEED TO BE ADJUSTED IN THE SAME RATING.

I SET MY AMP IN 80mV, CAUSE THE VARIATION OF ELECTRICAL POTENCIAL IN MANY PLACES THAT I PLAY, AND MY AMP BIAS SETTINGS AT THE FACTORY WAS LEFT SIDE: 69mV AND RIGHT SIDE: 75mV. NOT GOOD... SO BEWARE. CHECK YOURS!

EVEN THAT I SET MY AMP IN 80mV, BELIEVE ME, STILLS VERY VERY LOUD, SO THERE'S NO PROBLEM.

AGAIN AS I TOLD YOU IN MY REVIEW, THIS AMP IS ONE OF THE BETTER VALVE AMPS IN THE WORLD BUT, """SEAT DOWN AND WORK IT, AND KNOW IT AT ALL.

This amp is great. I play mostly hard rock styles of music but every now and then I like to experiment just for fun. This thing kicks the crap out of any amp I have played before. The two separate FX loops are great, 3 channels for very specific tone quality, decent reverb, and a slew of push buttons that can alter your tone in almost any way imaginable. The VPR button is very useful for wanting that great tube sound at a lower volume, and the output mute buttuon it much better that having to shut off the standby switch every 2 second if you need to. Great features.

Like I said...I play hard rock, and this amp pulls it off without a flaw. The clean channel is excellent, offering great bell like tones. You can even fill the sound of your clean tone by pushing in the MID BOOST button. The crunch channel is great, although i don';t use it much. It has a bit more bass than the lead channel, but no as much gain. Also, palm muting sounds kind of muffled on the crunch channel to me. However, the lead channel ROCKS!!! Brutal distortion that is fluid and crunchy and smooth all at once. It doesn't have an overkill of bass like some other amps, which i like, and it has a growl to it that makes this amp worth the buy. By the way, this amp is very sensitive to the type of guitar/pickups you are using.I find I get my best sound with EMG's, although other pickups will sound great, trying different guitars with this amp could vary your sound even more.

ok Let me tell you some things about this amp. 1:The Footswitch hasn't crapped out on me. 2:The 4 and 8 ohm outputs have crapped out on me, but the 16 still works fine. 3: The return effects jack for loop 1 has crapped out on me, but the send is fine. 4: This all may be do to the fact that when I was moving my cab with the amp on top, it tipped over and fell HARD on the floor. However!!!! The AMP STILL WORKS!! Just a few jack problems. I have to give this a 10 because I would expect a tube amp to be shattered to pieces after taking a fall like that, but it didn't. Tubes are still good!

haven't dealt with them yet, although, did you know that in the US, Marshall is Distributed by KORG.....so you can always try and contact them if you are having problems.

Great amp and great reliability. Beats Mesa by a long shot and will be around for years to come.

Well, for complete features you may want to enter marshallamps.com
Excellent amp for live and studio sessions. Some features that are really fine to me, are the power amp section and the emulated line out as well as the effect loops.
I think that this amp works for every kind of players and styles, you can use it however you want. Yoy will love this amp (if you like the classic marshall sound) I do. Very verstile all valve amp.

As I told you, I think this amp will suit every kind of playing and style cause its versatillity in features and sounds, just set it as you like, three channels to experiment.
I run this amp with an Ibanez Double Edge RG2020X and a JEM7VSBL and those guitars suit very good to my style as well as this amp. But.... I suggest you to seat down and work this amp with care an patience, the amp won't sound good in its own right until you hear it several times, if you use this amp live, pay attention to the sound, you will notice the hidden amazing stuff of this amp at high volumes, just work it and play it.

Marshall amps are tough and well constructed, the wood is very hard, but i'm just thinking about buying or built a case, for a better protection.
Valves are always the delicate part, there are some rules and tips for valve care and impedance settings, if you follow them, your amp will work for years without trouble.

********** !!!!I also use this amp as a microwave oven for instant meal and as a calefactor in cold nights!!!!******** ja!! just kidding!!! but... !!!BEWARE!!! THIS AMP GETS EXTREMELY HOT.

I have been playing about 10 years, different styles and with different bands and tried different kinds of amps, but I like the Marshall sound a lot, and I chose this amp cause the features and versatillity, and its good to me. Something that really amazed me was the quallity of sound of the emulated line out, sounds great direct to a P.A. system or even to a computer or recording devices, and its enough power to play live, very very loud.
Listen at your TSL100 carefully and patienly, its some of the best valve amps ever, but you must work it and your ears will do the right thing and... read all the manual until you understand all the functions; learn and follow in the best way all the rules for operation, care and caution.

An amazing amp for all those fans of the big big marshall sound.

Thanks to Jim Marshall.

Lots for a Marshall.3 channels,buttons galore,knobs out the yang,2 fx loops etc...Very versatile, but ther are a couple of things you should know before you pop $1400 for one. First , there is a drop out of volume when switching from the crunch channel to the clean channel-I don't do this that often so it isn't a huge problem for me.Second, there is a drop in volume when you turn the effects loop on, which is usually the exact opposite of what you want. These are problems which can be overcome by careful layout of your fx setup, just think about it and you can figure out what I mean by that.Other than that it is a Marshall!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is worth alot!

I use a '94 les paul studio and a 2001 fender American strat and a 84 American strat with the Gilmour emg setup.All three sound great but different which is what is cool about this amp.Some amps color each guitar with their own flavor where this amp brings out the flavor of each guitar. I still believe, through experience, that strats go with fenders and les pauls go with marshalls. I know all about hendrix and all that but in general strats -fenders , pauls -marshalls. o.k. music styles -all over the place , I like it all, and this is not a one trick pony amp. If you try you can get any sound out of this amp except that boogie saturated sound , sorry it just will not do that. This is a Marshall, it smeels like a Marshall, it looks like a Maeshall, it tastes like a Marhsall , and it breathes like a Marshall, IF YOU TURN IT UP DUMBASS!THIS IS THE KEY . YOU CANNOT PLAY THIS THING AT 2 OR 3 AND HEAR WHAT A MARSHALL SOUNDS LIKE!BEFORE YOU GO TO THE MUSIC STORE AND SHOW OFF YOUR LICKS WITH THIS THING SET AT 2 STUDY UP ON HOW TUBE AMPS WORK. LEARN ABOUT A LITTLE THING CALLED POWER TUBE SATURATION AND YOU WILL FIGURE OUT THAT THE SOUND OF THE COOL GUITAR TONE ,THOUGH NOT THAT LOUD COMING OUT OF YOUR SPEAKERS,WAS A TUBE AMP TURNED UP REALLY FREEKIN LOUD HIT REAL HARD TO TAPE. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU WILL READ IN THIS WHOLE REVIEW COLUMN TOP TO BOTTOM. I,M NO GENIUS WHEN IT COMES TO ELECTRONICS BUT I KNOW THIS FOR SURE-WHEN YOU HIT ABOUT 4 OR 5 WITH THE VOLUME KNOB THIS AMP CHANGES-GGGGGGEEERRRRRRARSTICALLY!

it's a Marshall- who the hell knows?No problems with mine in 2 years, just new tubes and re-bias like all owners of tube amps should know.

FOOTSWITCH SUCKS - BUY A BACKUP

Been playing all my life-guitar , bass , keys- really have tried it all. Thats why i ranted about thr volume thing. YOU HAVE GOT TO TURN THIS THING UP!!!!!!!! If it were stolen I'd be sad. I would also tell whoever stole it to TURN THE DAMN THING UP PAST 2!!!!HERE WE GO AGAIN.

Fellas, See my post below for my reveiw, just thought I would post this great trick I found with the TSL 100. This won't hurt you amp at all, trust me, the trick is strait from Marshall. If your not useing any effect loops (which I am not) Plug a dummy cable just into the return input on Loop A. Play with the loop level for the channels and it will lower your volume. Not only does this let you drive the amp harder at a lower volume but you can set it so that turning the effect loop off with the foot controller giver you a volume boost for solos! You can, in essence, turn this 3 channel amp into a six channel with an old worn out cable! Hope this little trick comes in handy!

Bought brand new. This is a very powerful and quite versital amp. It is incredibly handy having that third channel. The other guitarist in my band got the DSL 100 half stack and is kicking himself for not getting this one, simply for that extra channel. The other key feature is the VPR switch. It allows my to get the tone i desire without having to crank it to 10 at 100 watts and making everyone's ears bleed.

I am playing a PRS McCarty through it and can get the cleanest of cleans and the crunchiest of crunches. Exactly the sound and tone I was looking for. Great control of all tonal pieces for each individual channel.

Have had the amp for a few months now and not a problem yet.

no dealings yet.

I have been playing for 15 years and this was my first "REAL" amp purchase. Everything prior to this seems like a toy. I couldn't be more pleased.

Late 2001 model purchased new 4 months ago. I play original modern pop radio rock and use the amp for live performance only. 100 watts is quite enough power for anyone, but power can be reduced using VPR switch. Very versatile amp, which is the real attraction to the TSL100. It does lack independant reverb & presence controls for Crunch & Lead channels, independant deep switches for Crunch & Lead channels, and independant control over FX for Crunch & Lead channels. So, while this amp is generally loaded with features, some corners were still cut in the true Marshall tradition. One feature I do appreciate is the new addition of a Molex connector outside of the chassis for checking and adjusting bias voltages. That alone saves big bucks in the long run.

I use Les Pauls exclusively. The TSL100 suits my musical needs which are; 3 channels and tone that cuts through a live mix well. It's a very quiet amp. The clean channel is a milestone for Marshall, though I find myself cranking the highs to keep it from being a bit dark on stages. The Crunch channel is very nice and produces a decent Marshall growl. I don't like the broad low end this channel has, but it's ok for a rhythm tone. It would be the best channel for Mesa Recifier-style tones because it gets very deep, broad low end, especially when using the Tone Shift. Channel 3 is more typical of what you'd expect from a high gain Marshall tone. I don't find anything buzzy, muffled, or thin about it, although I would prefer a bit more range out of the mid control. This channel IS a little compressed sounding, but nevertheless, cuts through the mix easily. I've gigged it with and without using the VPR power reduction. I think the VPR is ok for home use, but makes the amp sound too dark on stages. I don't really care for it, but it's still a good feature. I like the tones better than my Dual Rectifier for what I'm using it for right now, and especially for live performance use.

The newer Marshall amps are not made as good and solid as the old ones. After the JCM800 series was discontinued, Marshall has put more emphasis on making amps as cheap and commercial as possible, while trying to maintain an acceptible level of reliability. There have been too many complaints over the footswitch for this amp. Mine hasn't failed on me so far, but I felt the need to buy a spare and keep it on hand. So far the amp is holding up just fine.

Overall I love the TSL100. It gets a number of useable tones from pure clean to modern metal. If you're expecting it to be a box full of past Marshall tones, you'll find it's not the same as owning those amps individually. It's a modern take on the traditional Marshall tone. I would buy another unless reliability became an issue. I also think that the whole AVT series of hybrids are great as well, especially for those who want Marshall tones without the hassle of tubes. I feel that Marshall should improve the overall quality of their products.

Re reweiw from the past!

great features, improvements should be, control of the "deep" switch with a dial, and umm seperate presence control. thats it.

fruicking great, ! played all ranges of volumes, best of course was ten, not loud enough though! (people may be confused, but i like mega!!! volumes) anyway it was all about the lead channel, i wam in an indie band and the lead was so sweet, i just stayed on that almost all the time, and controled the gain with volume and a compressor to drive it. However, it does not cut in the mids like all marshalls i found even when above the rest of the band, that i was getting lost in the mix. so i sold this and bough a hiwatt. booom i have the amp i want now but not to the discredit of the marshall, (it does its job)

some people i know have had problems with the combo, which uses the same amp, but i put that down to heat, being in a small box and all that. never broke, i could throw this thing. infact i dropped it down my steps outside my house, no worry.!

how do you think marshall got known as the greatest amp company in the world? it may not have been my ideal amp but the sevice is A****

been playing four years, only ever played stacks really. Im on a board of old geezers who complain about new marshalls compared to thier #4000 jtm45's but i will let them, this thng is not the same amp as those vintage things, trust me i only own vintage amps now. and the tsl is in a different league, not saying its better or worse, its just not a vintage amp, so dot go thinking it will do that for you, what it will do for you though is give you tone no matter what you dial in. it just doesnt suit my playing, and as much as i miss it, i will never sell my hiwatt dr103 for this thing ever, its my ideal amp full stop. but this amp wont let you down it basicly wont be less than good! and if you play covers, BUY IT! since that is the only disadvantage i now have going back to my single channel vintage stacks. but hey with a bit of time i will get my way around it!

SOLID AMP!

Has 3 channels including 2 distortion channels and a nice bright clean tone. I play in a ska-punk band and we many shows and this amp head is amazing.

The sound is amazing. There are so many possible ways to set the distortion channels. You have you normal EQ with the mid, gain, bass, treb, pres and then you have a few other buttons to make the distortion bright or dark. The distortion just cuts right through and sounds like a million bucks. The clean is prefect too. i can't be any happier. everyone was telling me not to get this head and to buy a mesa boogie, but i am not trading this head in. It just takes a little big to get the right settings.

no problems yet

haven't needed to deal with them yet, but my old marshall head broke before and i sent it to guitar center and i got it back in about 1 and a half weeks, not bad.

I can't be happier. The distortion is so warm sounding and the clean tone is perfect for ska.

Im sure you know all the features this amp has. Definetely a versatile amp. I love being able to go from a Heavy distortion to an old vintage slp sound.
I just wish the Lead and crunch channels had seperate reverb and presnece controlls.

Ive posted a review awhile back and im alittle disappointed with what I said. Ive been reading alot of peoples reviews and some arent happy becuase the distortion is not "Heavy" Enough. Well, I thought the same thing until i found the best piece of equiment known to man. Its called the BBE Sonic Maximizer. What a gods send! I cant even express to you in words what this did to my sound. The tone went from Apples to oranges. Its totally in your face Tone, Found on million dollar records. You must try this out with the amp, you will not be sorry, I guarntee it.
My axe is a 1960 Gibson Les Paul Classic Reissue. I have in the effects loop the tc Electronic G major> to a BBE Sonic Maximizer 482. In front I use a Dunlop wah. This is the best setup. Ive spent so much money on different pedals, to get a good sound, and im finally happy. Im so anal on tone its not even funny.

Ok, after the first year, the capaciators and alot of other things fried out on me. I was so pissed. Thank god for Marshalls warranty, I didnt have to pay a dime.

When I had the problem with the amp, I found an authorized dealer in my area. Everything was taken care of, no problems.

The other gear I have is a Marshall Zakk Wylde jcm 800 zw2203 Head and cab and a 1961 Gibson Sg Reissue. (Read my review on Zakks head)
Im very happy with this amp now. It just needed alittle bit of a wake up. I dont think I will ever sell this amp. If someone stole it, I would find them and beat them with a stick.

This is my 1 year review after having this amp for quite some time. I'll save the basics since they've already been listed.

Right now I currently own a Budda Superdrive 18, Soldano Astroverb, and have just recently sold a Mesa Boogie Mark IV. This has been my main gigging amp for 13 months now and I must say this has been a pleasure to own after and only after a few things explained later. It's an incredible value for the money

Well, after I purchased this I must say I was not too impressed after being so accustomed to the modded JCM800 sound (Astroverb) that we all have experienced. After about 6 months I replaced the Svetlana tubes with Groove Tubes and it made the difference night and day.
Stock, there is this kindof buzzy sound that I just couldn't seem to EQ out. Now, it's smooth.

Another thing to factor is that this amplifier is a tweaker. All the nimwit players who play with this thing for 30 minutes think it sucks. Take some time, sit down and work with it...it'll be fabulous.
At first I did not like the VPR switch as I believed it killed my tone. Well, after a years worth of gigging in all types of places I have found out that you must tweak for your sound for full-power, and then tweak for the VPR power. This might be a pain in the butt, but it has proven to be well worth the time and effort. Now i'm not killing people and breaking beer-bottles at tables 15 feet in front of me.

I play in 2 bands plus at my church...one (the money maker!) plays blues/classic rock in smokey bars and the other plays all kinds of heavy rock in addition to the clean chimey stuff on Sunday mornings. This is the only amp i've found that can do this. The mesa came close, the Budda definately can but isn't big enough and the soldano cant get clean. I give it a 9 for the sound because I don't give 10's

To spite all the Diezel, ENGL, and Bogner guys...yes I will be joining you someday but I'll never sell this amp...it just rocks

I take care of my gear, new tubes every 6 months, transport in cases, and let cool down before moving. I haven't had a problem at all, have gigged without an amp backup (I have a POD in the bag) but this definately is well built. I did have a problem with the footswitch, but that was easily repaired by myself no problem.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, my 6 year old accidentally knocked it off a table one time and it fired right up. It was a nasty fall onto a hardwood floor and the floor came out worse than the amp did.

Never had to deal with the company. My dealer is cool and has taken care of me before. One of the last guys with service! Yeah, its a little more expensive than other folks but it's worth it for piece of mind.

While there are some better amps out there (for way more money I might add)...I think folks would be hard pressed to find a more versatile and reliable rig ONLY after getting rid of the first set of tubes and sitting with it for awhile. It's a pleasure to play and I can see myself picking up another one and running in stereo. hmmmmm

I use this Tube head for my metal band and punk band. So I need a lot off versatilaty. This amp gives me that up to a certain amount. This amp has three channels but the overdrive and the lead channel are almost the same. But with the deep and tone shift switch it's ok.

It sounds very good for what I need. It blasts away even (in my opinion) a mesa head. It's more raw when I use the switch to go to 25 watts instead of the full 100. In that way I can really put it to 10 without going deaf instantly. The sound also gets much thicker that way. It has the fullest sound I heard with my Jackson KE-2 and Gibson SG-X.

I've done about 200 shows with it the last 2 years and the only problem I had was with the reverbspring that got loose because of the traveling.

Very good. For the reverb it took a week to replace it. VEry fast since it has to go from my dealer to the distributor to the factory and back.
And you can get this sucka everywere

I used it for two years now and I still haven't heared an amp that sounds better for what I use it for.
If I had the money I'd buy 10 of them and go for the Manowar wall of amps.

There are allot of feature on this amp, you guys already have seen them listed above/below so I wont go into them. The features were a BIG selling point for me.

I use this amp with a Epiphone Pual I have customized out the ass. The only thing the same on the guitar is the wood. I also use a American Strat with a Duncan hot rail in the bridge. I have rack mounted and floor effects. My two beefs would be that I can't switch guitars and get the tone I want with out resetting the knob configuration and the audible POP heard when channel switching from clean to either distorted chennel. Other than that this baby ROARS. The sound goes from suprisingly clean to jazzy to Zeppelin to crushingly heavy, almost boogie-like tones. I have been useing the rhythm crunch channel as my clean and it is warm and sweet. The "lead" channel is VERY heavy. No stompboxes needed for the extra push. The sound is tight, hot and precise, exactly what I am looking for. This is NOT an amp to have in an appartment, it sounds so-so at low volumes, it pays the bills when you start raising the volume knobs. The tonal differance is unreal. I play modern rock covers and this thing does every sound I have asked it to do with minimal help from my rack and floor effects.

Just bought, tell you after 20 gigs.

See above.

I really, really love this amp. I have owned many the Fender and didn't think I would change teams but I have. My Fenders were not cutting the mustard when it came to really rocking out. I can sound like who I want to, when I want to. The versatility is just unmatched. You can take those nasty modeling amps and use them as coffee tables as far as I am concerned. What is the point of sacrificing tone for versatility? No need here, thing is a Marshall beast, has very Fender like cleans and ALMOST boogie like crunch (not quite, but close). Great price, Great tone and hell, man, standing in front of a Marshall stack is just cool. Sorry, had to say it.

I have been playing this amp for two years,I am in my late thirties and have owned a pile of amps and played countless gigs,I find the features decent,but that is not why I bought it

I play a Strat,in a band that has a hammond organ and a real 70's vibe and I find all the sounds I want,don't you people realize that for the most part tone is in your fingers,yes a highgain amp can help improve the articulation of the tone but a poor craftsman often blames his tools.In the past I have I have been usinga 5150 and a hiwatt.While both amps are fine I slightly prefer the Marshall tone

I have been gigging with it for two years and my only beef is the damn footswitch,it has broken twice I hate it.there I said it,but I have had no other problems with it.

I am an electronics tech so I repaired the switch myself

I have been playing for 25 years,and own a fair bit of gear: Hiwatt 100,Hiwatt pitbull,Peavey 5150,music man combo,Mesa boogie 4yb 4x12,Fender bassman 2x12,Marshall jcm 800 combo and of course jcm 200 tsl:Guitars: 91 Fender stratocaster,Epihone Les Paul,60,s Rickenbacker450,

I just got this amp like a few weeks ago, and i must say it's all i've been lusting after and more. it's well laid out and well made, though a few of my friends had a hell of a time with the footswitch. so far, not probs, then again it's been a week... and i agree, boosts for each channel would be nice, but then again just get an EQ pedal.

Sounds supurb, even with stock tubes, but i've heard these babies SING with new tubes in it. since i just layed down 1100 to get the fella new, i think i'm gonna have to work a few shows first. I play it thru a Sonic 4x12 with Celestion 75w'ers. it had the most beautiful low end. true, it doesnt scream like a mesa, but it's got a ton of bite.

again, a week, but i'm scared of the F.S.

now on the card, it says "serial number"............................................WHERE IS IT???

overall, thus far and over the past times i've used other ppl's, it is a great amp for someone that wants to ROCK. BUT if you got the 3000 bux, get a Bogner.

you already read the specs

unbelievable

will let you know in 10 years, though the footswitch sucks.

n/a

a couple of comments- 1. does anyone listen to an amp before they buy it? If i read one more " when i got it home it sounded...." it,s not a boogie dummy. I need more of this or that.... didn;t you play through it before you laid out 1500 bucks? If not i,d love to sell you some stuff. 2. turn it up, I hope you didn;t buy a 100 watt amp for your bedroom. The distortion turned up and the volume low is always going to give you a buzzy top end. 3.No, the clean channel isn,t just like a Fender, guess what it,s not a Fender. This amp is fantastic for almost any situation from country to metal( try it with a tele and you,ll see what i,m talking about ) Take some time to master it and you,ll be rewarded. That said my three gripes with the amp are this - the Reverb was an afterthought( use a 63 reissue from fender )the footswitch is poorly built and a boost function for each channel would have been nice ( they could have done that instead of going with the mid scoop function, anyone who knows anything knows the proper amount of mids are the key to great tone )Anyway, it,s the best sounding and versatile Marshall ever made, definetley not a one trick pony..

Read the 189 reviews before me.

For me this is simply the best amp Marshall has made to date. Period.

I've had them all (Plexi, JCM800 2203, JCM900 SLX, JCM 2000 DSL) and sold them all. Instead I got me a second TSL as a backup. The clean channel can be made to sound excactly like the Plexi I've had, Overdrive Channel 1 gives me the sounds of a JCM800 on lower gain settings and will sound like a modded one with the gain set at 1/2 or higher. Last but not least, Channel 3 packs all the high gain sounds my SLX was able to do and then some.
I've had the JCM2000 DSL for a short period of time and while I did like the Clean channel and its modes, I wasn't happy with the Overdrive channel and the shared tone controls. When I got a sound I liked out of the Clean channel, the tone settings wouldn't work with the Overdrive et vice versa.
What can be said about the sounds of the TSL that hasn't already been said. I didn't read all the reviews so maybe you will find this somewhere else too.
1) Although for me the two overdrive channels have each their distinct sound no matter what cabinet, you'll notice the differences the best with at least a 2x12 or 4x12.
2) The amp sounds good at bedroom levels (VPR comes in handy for this)
but sounds better with the volume turned up a notch or two higher.
3) With this amp, you really don't need any pedal to get a great distortion or to push up the gain (something I couldn't say about the JCM800 or the Plexi) and you also don't need to turn the gain full up to get a good sound (both channels).

As for the rest, I guess it has been covered sufficiently
by all the other reviews here.

In terms of guitars I own both a Strat and a Paul and the amp sounds excellent with both guitars. You can pretty much cover all musical styles with it. The amp is not pariculary noisy.

When you push the MidBoost button of the Clean channel there's a rather huge volume increase. If you're a bedroom player, this could be a problem since it doesn't have a master volume for this channel. There's also a slight "pop" when I switch from Clean to Overdrive using the channel selector knob on the front panel, but this "pop" doesn't increase as the volume is turned up and my second TSL has it too.
No big deal though.

I didn't have problems with both amps. Just to make shure when I got them I've played them flat out a couple of times in our rehearsal room (using ear plugs as I don't want to become deaf) and really let those tubes cook for a while. The amp did hold up nicely.
I also didn't have problems with the footswitch. Maybe in the meantime Marshall changed somthing in the design or whatever.

I never had significant problems with my other Marshalls during all the years (except for some scratchy pots from time to time).

don't know

If you like the Marshall sound look no further. This amp has it all - vintage and modern sounds. I sold all my other amps and got me a second one as backup. Need I say more?

2002 JCM TSL100 head. I LOVE THIS Amp!!! I originally purchased a Hughes and Kettner Duotone but after after two weeks I returned it and got the Marshall (Saved $300 too). All 3 Channels are great--I was most impressed with the Clean channel; but the Crunch and the Lead WOW!! One can summon the dead and the other will shake the fillings out of the skulls. CLEAN though...Add the Gain, put the neck pickup in charge and be taken away by the sa-weeeetest blues sound--with plenty of headroom (trust me--try it) All the features are useable: VPR, Mid Boost, Deep, and Mid-Scoop are well done. Power!?...more than I'll ever need. The Cab I use it with is a 1960 Vintage 4x12-- Can't beat a Marshall 1/2 stack....at any price.

And by the way, I have it in my bedroom and I disagree with some of the Horse's asses out there that say it "isn't a bedroom amp". I do own my own home though and can crank it...I find with the gain at 3/4 and the volume at 1/4 it "takes you there".

Ok. I have two American Strats(S/S/S); A Les Paul Classic(496R and 500T); and a PRS Custom 22 (Dragon II PUs). It totally "skates to where the puck is going to be--it follows my playing really well. I don't find it excessively noisy even with the Strats and it is remarkably quiet with the the Humbuckers. The only thing I have between me and the amp/guitar is a G-Major by TC Electronic--it's a 24bit processor that DOES NOT adulterate the sound at all--I can hear some of you now, and I was dubious about this too, but it is the ultimate rack mount processor (they run in at $499, but I got mine through Musician's Friend at $350...they made an error and didn't catch it). People talk of "tone"...Well, I get my tone in any channel...I think that "tone" isn't always contingent solely on an amp--or a guitar for that matter....it transcends that....it's when you can make your statement on ANY setup...an amp...a guitar...is only as good as the chump playing it. My style is this: 3 chords and the truth--Clapton, SRV, Tognoni, Leslie West, Gary Moore...this covers all them all with ease.

Can't really say I've only gigged with it 7 times but it seems sturdy...try lugging the fucker up or down 14 stairs--unforgiving stairs at that. It's all tube...so it's like a tempermental woman.

I called them several times before the swap out of the H&K and they were pretty cool....patient and knowledgeable

Been playing for 15 years. It won't "get lost...and I can't see it being stolen. In any event, I would replace it if it warranted--I love it. It really is a Great Value for an all tube amp touting 3 channels.

I recently bought this amp about 6 months ago. Its 100 Watts of ALL TUBE Marshall Power. Probaly too much power. Definatly, as stated above, not a bedroom amplifier. It is a 3 channel amp. It has 3 completely independent channels with 2 effects loops and Accutronics Spring Reverb. This thing is super versitile, think about the concept; 3 channels, 3 EQ's, although i would like to have a separate presence for the crunch and lead channel. A midboost for the clean channel and tone shifts for each of the OD channels. I give it a 9 though because i do wish it have all separate presences.

My main guitar is a PRS McCarty. and i use a Jackson Soloist on occasion for a little heavier of a feel. I play sort of an array of music,... im one of those guys that are just freaks over tone, when i sat down with this amp in the music store, i played the first note i smiled because it was the tone ive been searching for. I play Vai, Satriani, Hendrix, Zeppelin, Metallica, AC/DC,.. put it this way, i look for a lot of versitility in tone, and i get it. Put it on the lead channel and play one note, it puts out probaly the most clean well rounded lead tone out there. For those of you that post reviews complaining that the lead channel is fuzzy, or buzzes... yeah, at bedroom levels. Let me teach you some magic, turn it up and suddenly, the buzz ::disapears:: All this amp knows is versatility. The clean channel is VERY clean for marshall, it has kindof a sparkle to it. Very clean at All levels. I use my crunch channel for a bad company, hendrix, page, tone. Very nice and velvetly. I use my lead tone for an expression, for something unworldly, its an awesome tone. And even if you wanted a Dimebag Darrell rhythm chop sound,.. its there. Its all there with the marshall tsl100. I hate these immature newbies they say sumtin dumb like the clean channel dosnt have enough head room,.. yeah, it probally dosnt when the gain is one like ONE, turn the gain up to like 7 and you still have a good clean tone.

Hmm,... well i think all marshall TSL100s are coming a little off bias. I have talked to others with this amp and they have all had to get it rebiased like a week after purchase. What happened with me is, i was jamming and all of a sudden BOOM.. my HT fuse blew, so i got a new fuse and took it in to the shop, because fuses just dont blow. Anyways.. result was 2 bad tubes and it was a little off bias. Otherwise this amp is a tank.

Well,.. i have never had to deal with marshall though my music store offers lifetime adjustments and repairs.

Ive been playing about 3 years. On my pedal board i have a 535Q, Digitech WH1(whammy) and tuner, in the effects loop i have a boss OC2, CE5, DD6 and a ElectroHarmix Holygrail. In the rack i have a TC Electronics G.Force, Eventide Harmonizer H3000, Chandler Delay(600-800ms) and a Furman PowerStrip. If this thing were stolen i would track him down and kill him not before i beat him. and chop off his toes and fingers so everyone will know who stole my TSL100, or i will kill all his loved ones and make him live. I played many of the 12 most sought after amps in history and i ended up with this, remember im a tone gurue, and i ended up with this amp. Its awesome, take my word, and kids, dont let some guy that dosnt know what hes talking about writes a bad reviews on this amp and says sumtin like clean channel dont have enough headroom or lead channel is fuzzy. dont let that steer you away from a great amplifier. Go try one out for your self, crank it up. Get some tone.

'99 model
Definitely versatile (no complaints in that dept.) You all know the features. Plenty of power out of this bad boy.

I use this w/ a strat, a paul, and a 88 charvel. Good sounding amp overall. Definitely takes some tweak time to set it up right. It is a bit on the bright side though (I could use a little less treble). Not a noisy amp (even on the high gain channel.) Clean channel is very clean, crunch goes from overdriven to distorted to saturated (its my favorite channel). THe lead channel has LOTS of gain. Its a good channel overall but lacks some of the "meat" of the crunch channel. NICE CLEANS AND BRUTAL DISTORTION ARE ABUNDANT

I give it a 10 because I like its character. It is different from my 5150 or my Laney vh100 (which also sounds killer). I enjoy all of these amps (they each have their own distinct sounds and feel).

now for the negatives. I've had problems w/ the footswitch like many others. Thats not a big deal to me because I've had it rebuilt w/ higher end cable. My current problem is an intermittent one. AT loud volumes the sound just kind of cuts out (fizzles out) for a second and comes back. It hasn't been to the tech yet. I'm hoping its some cold solder joints that can be easily repaired but we'll see.

haven't dealt with them but I may have to because of my current problem. Can't give a rating here.

I've been playing 15 yrs. Other gear that own ...lets see... a peavey 5150, laney gh100l, laney vh100r (awesome), and a Marshall artist 3203 (nice amp too). Overall I'll give it an 8.5 (even though the rating system doesn't offer this option) I really like the amp but until its working again I can't trust it.

Already listed. Handy 3 channel footswitching. (The main reason I bought it) Pretty much a straight out rock sound on the rythym and lead channels, the clean channel is AWESOME. 11 out of 10 for the clean sound.

I used a Floyr Rose Classic Strat through this adbomination.

The 2 distortion channels (lead and rythym), are possessed of a buzzy, loose distortion i compare to a transistor distortion, or even worse, a 5150 distortion. The only thing I could do to "tighten" the distortion was to use a rack chorus unit (nanoverb), which tightened the sound considerably. It also made my sound very "spacey" and "out there". Good one.

The rythym channel wouldn't pick up harmonics very well, nor would the lead for that matter either. I basically always struggled with this amp which is why i sold it!

Soloing was usually a real chore.

As I said b4 the clean sound is amazing though. Slippery, bell like, amazing for funky rythyms, just wicked. I REALLY miss that clean sound! Wouldn't cross the road 4 the distortion sound though.

Some other previewers have said you can get and AC/DC rythym sound. WISHFUL THINKING. There is no way you can get that sound from this thing. Or any other Marshall sound you can think of.

Eric Clapton Bluesbreaker sound? Forget it. Hendrix. NO WAY. Gary MOORE? NOT IN THIS LIFETIME. Iron Maiden, as one other reviewer said. WAKE UP!

I'll admit the sound cuts through though in a live situation. I'll give the Clean channel an 11, the Distortion channels a 0.

I since bought a Trademark 60 by Tech 21, their Marshall setting souhnds MORE like a MArshall than this piece of shit.

There is no real way to shape your sound either. What you hear is what you get.

Pedal broke at a gig. Wouldn't switch between Rythym and Lead. Good one. The bloody multi pin on the plug is too fragile. The pedal for the Trademark 60 I bought uses a JACK plug. How's that for innovation? Why couldn't Marshall do that?

never dealt with them

I've been playing since i was 15, I'm into Iron Maiden and Hendrix mainly.

I was playing with it in a pub band though, playing everything, Rock, Funk, R'n' B, blues, Motown. All the pub standards.

This amp is okay for gigs cause of the footswitching between channels, but the sound is just rubbish. No smooth singing distortion, just harsh buzzy crap. Is this the best modern science can do? Actually no. Have a look at the reviews of the Trademark 60 on Harmony Central and see the difference.

I'm a gigging muso with a good ear for a good sound. This don't have it. I sold it in disgust.

My advice to you is, if you can play well, like if you can do a good solo, improvise, if you feel like there's really nothing u couldn't play if u set your mind to it. (ie, if you're pretty good) then DON"T BUY THIS AMP.

If you're a punk rocker or a death metaller or something then go ahead, you'll probably love this buzzy piece of shit.

It was built in 2000
I play many style from Jazz to Death Metal; so I need an amp that can deliver the tones when I need them...
I play Guitar since 1986.
I use this head with a Marshall Cab 1960B (bottom)
This head is 100w and feature 3 distinct channels switchable via a footswitch (included). The 3 channels are: CLEAN, CRUNCH, and LEAD using their own EQ (Bas, Mid,Treble) Volume and Gain for maximum tone shaping capability. 2 Sections :CLEAN and CRUNCH/LEAD have controls
including: Presence, Deep Switch, Tone Shift, FX/MIX and Reverb. The Clean channel has got a MidBoost switch!
There is also a VPR (Virtual Power Reduction) switch that can take the power from 100w to 25w approx. without losing the Tone (a kind of Pentode thing); very useful in a practice situation.
A very cool switch is also provided: A MUTE!!!!!!!! yes you can mute the sound to the output valves! useful for a recording via the speaker simulation jack (back of the head).
I mainly use the tone shift to "scoope" the mid in order to get that Modern Metal Tone. It can be used also to get a less mid/marshall sound at low volume...
The Presence switch can be used to boost the upperMid/lowerTreble when you have to cut through cymbal but I dont use it since I dislike trebly sound. On the other side I use the Deep switch to gives the tone a more resonant texture to the low frequency in the loudspeakers cabinet. As the they say in the manual its great for filling out the Bottom end at low volume (ex: using VPR) but will also give a resonant but "controlled" growl to the tone at high volumes.
Speaking of High Volume: CAREFUL WITH THE VOLUME ITS A VERY LOUD AMP!!
But we are in marshall mainly for 2 things...TONE AND POWER!!!
The only thing missing...well may be a master volume...but with all those features...

I use a Gibson Lespaul Standard with Stock pick-ups soon to be upgraded with a 500t (bridge). This amp respond marvelously to a high output passive pick-up.
I have 2 Roland JC-120 which are great (by the way) that I use with a GT-5. I wanted a more natural, powerful less processed (more tube)sound; so the Marshall was my logic choice. I will sell one of my JC-120 and A+B the other with my JCM 2000 TSL.
I was amazed by the CLEAN channel on my JCM 2000 (I am a JC-120 user don't forget). Marshall lost his "bad clean" reputation with that baby!
The Clean is clean even at high volume but can break if you set the gain to high (but some people including myself like that...).
For the Crunch channel well,it really delivers a good punchy and thicky sound. If set properly you won't miss your old vintage amp.I like the old overdrived sound a la Robert Fripp (think of RED) but could not afford a Hiwatt...anyway much less versatile.
For the LEAD channel well just raise the gain and you will get a very razor sharp attack (depends on your pick-up) suitable for Metal and very hard rock. If you use the Tone shift and the Deep switch with high gain on this channel prepare for a real headbanging thrash/death assault. But keep in mind one thing: This is MARSHALL tone not Peavey 5150 or Boogie sound...if you want those sounds buy those amps...
For more Tone shaping (for the purist) I suggest to put a Graphic EQ in the Effects Loop like the BOSS GE-7 . I did and it can now produce EVERY sound I need. If you like the Marshall tone you will get plenty of. If you are more into Overoverdrived ultra compressed Tonedeaf 7 strings Rap/Metal stuff (personal opinion here) check somewhere else.
Keep one thing in mind, this amp will sound as good as you are...if you are not confident go to Transistor based or compressed stuff it will cover your misplaying...

Been playing with this amp since 2000 and it rules !
No problem at all...even the so called fragile footswitch keep up the beat.

Never dealt with them

This amp will stay with me it rocks....

3 channels, clean, crunch, lead, reverb, switchable FX loop. It's all covered below and on Marshall's web site.

Versatility...well this is pretty much what the TSL100 is all about. Yeah, its a pretty versatile amp. It's certainly not shy on features (well, tremelo would be nice, but I don't think I'd trust marshall to come up with a good sounding tremelo).

In the power department it's pretty good, but the clean channel is lacking in the headroom department. I find it needs to have it's master volume at around twice what the lead master is at in order to be comparable. At any rate, it's plenty loud!

I'm using the TSL with a peavey wolfgang and Gretsch 6120 and a Korg SDD3000 in the FX loop (shared) and into a Marshall 2X12 (I forget the model #) to do original music in the vein of U2, & Radiohead.

The amp is bright...very bright, make that too bright. In my setup, all the treble knobs are below 5 (clean on 5, lead on 2, crunch somewhere in between). I find the EQ a little weak in the tone shaping department (way different than my boogie MkIII, and also different from Fenders). I wish the presence knob could go below 0 on the lead channel!

Noise...well, it's noisy. Not the noisiest amp I've owned, but it's not quiet thats for sure, and the FX loop only makes it worse. There is a certain level of noise present at any master volume setting, so you need the masters up above 2 or so just to overcome this and get decent signal to noise ratio. This is one reason why this amp is so bad at low volumes. The sound totally changes with volume setting too. At lower settings it's bright and thin, but at higher settings it starts to fill out. I agree with the folks below, this is not a bedroom amp, you will not be happy with it unless you play at rehearsal volume. The VPR function is useless IMO...it robs the sound, and doesn't affect the noise level (so you still can't play it at low volumes).

The clean sound...wow, for a Marshall, you've got to give them credit on this one. My last Marshall was a JCM900 (one with EL34's and no diode clipping)...there was no clean, but the TSL has a pretty respectable clean sound. It's not Fender-y (not as much shimmer or thump), but a different flavour...very useable at any rate. The amp has reverb, but it's more of an afterthought, it sounds thin, almost as if it was just 'added on top' of the signal, and not part of the signal. The clean channel is hard to make very clean with high output pickups, the gain needs to be very low, and the master needs to come up pretty high. Fortunately when the clean channel does distort is still sounds pretty good.

Crunch...I remember it as being okay, but bright. Unfortunately, my foot pedal broke, and I no longer use the crunch channel, so I won't really comment on it.

Lead...way to much available gain! I have the gain on 2 and I still need to roll the volume of my guitar back in order to get a good rythm tone. I can't imagine this thing with the gain on 10. The lead channel is pretty bright, but has pretty good tone to it. Again, the EQ doesn't have a great sound to it. As a side note, this amp is quite different from most marshalls...normally, on a marshall you roll all the EQ knobs to 10 and work backwards, but this one seems to have a sweet spot around 5, and you work around that.

The FX loop, I think is poor...there should be a level control (not a switch), balanced I/O (c'mon it's a solid state FX loop anyways, it's only a few cents to make it balanced), also there is always some bleed thru of the FX no matter how the FX blend knob is set (the loop is a parallel loop with a blend control...I set mine to full wet and control the wet dry from my FX unit). This control should have had a switch to make it a pure serial loop.

Overall, I'm reasonably happy with the sound...it's better than the Boogie mkIII it replaced (esp in the clean department).

Poor....

1 month after purchase my Crunch footswitch got 'crunched'...it started by being intermittent, now it just doesn't function. This is bad... My last Marshall ate tubes fast, so I'm not expecting much from this one either. But so far the amp itself has been reliable.

I never bothered getting the footswitch fixed, as I just used the lead channel with the gain rolled back (and liked it better than crunch). I'll get it fixed eventually...before the warranty runs out.

It's a decent amp, definitely worth a try!

It's a three channel amp.That's what a guy needs right

I have never played on,or let alone heard an amp that sounds this great.Beautiful clean and the nastiest lead channel(bad as you want)! The only thing is the shared reverb and resonance.And no master volume what the hell.Honestly who doesn't put a master volume an an amp nowadays.I cant complain to much it still rocks

dont know yet.But I'm not to excited about the foot switch.Heard bad things

My drummer works as the tech at our music store.Damn better be good

I've only had it one week.But it really blew my 2 channel noisy as all hell 5150 right out of the water

Sometimes I wonder if there are any adults who post reviews here. Too many reviews seem as though they were written by children. I use this database to research features, quality and satisfaction, and reading reviews about how "Mesa sucks" doesn't help.

Marshall TSL100: 100 watts, 3 channels, reverb, dual effects loops (in some ways shared), and some other bells and whisles like "Deep" switches, "Tone Shift" switches, and "VPR" or "Virtual Power Reduction", which changes something with the tubes from triode to pentode operation- this is supposed to be like a half-power switch, reducing the amp's output. The rear of the amp has an ohm switch for 4, 8, or 16 ohm cabinets. Marshall just cannot seem to produce a multi-channel amp without sharing some part of the EQ, and in the case of the TSL100, it's the Presence and reverb controls; one of each for the clean channel, and one of each shared between the two gain channels. The effects loop has some sharing as well, but too complex to explain here. If anyone would like to read the spec's and see the pictures, they can visit the Marshall website and view/download the manual from the "Handbooks" page. I rate 3-channel amp features pretty high since they're usually among the best in features.

I use Les Pauls. I play a lot of different styles like Jazz, Blues, Rock, 80's Metal, NuMetal, etc. My impression is that the TSL covers all of these styles better than any other single amp I've played in 25 years.

The Clean channel is a milestone for Marshall. It sparkles, shines and shimmers. It can achieve a hefty amount of bouncey bottom, and it can get plenty of midrange body. When the mid boost is activated ("in") the mid control is disconnected from the circuit, and the bass and treble controls take on different properties. There is quite a bit of headroom on the clean channel when using the master, and the gain control can produce Plexi-like tones when turning it full-up. I find the controls on the clean channel to be very interactive with each other. I tend to spend some time adjusting my tone here, because there's a bit of variety to be found here.

The Crunch channel produces a number of Classic Marshall gain tones. Many variations are possible between the gain and tone controls, allowing basically everything from Blues rhythms to Soloing. I think this channel sounds better than my JCM800 2210 and 2205 amps' gain channels, and has much more flexibility and tonal possibilities. I use it for Classic Rock rhythms, and it has growl and bite like only Marshalls can produce. I'm very satisfied with this channel.

The Lead channel is just as anyone would expect from Marshall. It produces the highest amounts of gain of all the 3 channels. In my experience, this channel is slightly more compressed compared to the Crunch channel's open-sound. It also seems that the EQ controls are centered around different frequencies than the Crunch channel, perhaps producing lower lows. Where the Crunch channel has sufficient bass at 2:00, the Lead channel may equal that at a wide-open setting. When setting both the Lead and Crunch channels to the same exact settings, the tones will be different, even if the gain is turned up high enough to meet the Lead channel. Anyway, the Lead channel sounds excellent, and produces gain to spare for high-gain rhythm and solo playing. The overall sound of the amp is tight, focused, and clear.

The Tone Shift switches scoop the midrange for the Lead and Crunch channels. I don't find that sound useful, but that's my preference. I do prefer using the Deep switches, because they seem to balance the sound more and reduce the boxiness that the TSL may produce otherwise. The VPR apparently reduces the output of the amp somewhat and allows "high power saturation at lower volumes", but I find it rolls off too much high frequencies for my taste. Last, there's a Mute switch for completely muting the amp's output for situations like late night recording, etc.

I've only had it for a few weeks at this point. I am nervous about the footswitch because I've read some bad reviews. I am told that my amp has a newer footswitch. However, the inside of the housing has a date of 2000. Therefore, I am afraid it's an older, less reliable footswitch. This would present a catastrophy for me in any live performance situation. The individual switches from the inside, look as though they're solid, but not nearly the quality of genuine Switchcraft(TM) parts. It is actually unforgivable that this amp was released with an inferior footswitch that hadn't been properly field tested before the amp's release.

If I have to call them, I'm going to be really pissed off.

So far I feel that this is the most tonally versatile amp I've ever owned, and it has even more tonal flexibility than my Mesa 3 Channel Dual Rectifier. Mesa makes an amplifier of far better quality than Marshall does, and their customer satisfaction policies are the industry standard. Where the TSL uses plastic switches, Mesa amps use metal. I like both amps and manufacturers, and I choose my amplifiers for different things. Liking one brand does not mean we need to hate the others.

Note: The TSL has a Molex connector inside the rear panel which allows the tubes to be biased (though the manual mentions nothing about this and I have no knowledge of it's use voiding the warranty. I recommend servicing by a qualified technician). To my knowledge (and experience) each pair (two) of EL34's needs to be correctly set at 90mV Max (which equals the correct EL34 rating of 45mV Max each individual tube). When I purchased mine, one pair was set at 56mV and the other pair was set at 72mV. Setting the bias to the correct settings noticeably improved the sound.

I dislike the TSL100's plastic switches, shared EQ & Reverb, and interdependant effects loop configuration.

I almost didn't buy the amp because of all the reported failures of the footswitch. That switch is key to performing live with any 3 channel amp.

Bottom line: the TSL100 is a great all-around versatile amp which can cover many styles of music. It's sure to become another classic. I feel that it's Marshall's best work to date!

The amp have an incredible feature: THE VPR (Virtual Power Reduction) option. The amp make incredible sounds in lower volume.

What?! It's a Tube Amp with 8 valves!!!! If you need to make Punk Rock sound, buy it!

I've been playing with it since the last year... I think that this amp is really good!

just ordered 1 and don't have it yet. i know its got 3 channels clean crunch and lead. that's good enough 4 me. its got reverb, seperate 4 clean channel and crunch/lead channels.

fav. is of coarse the gibson les paul studio goth. i've only played one in a music store but anybody knows that u have to know what ur doin w/ the eq b4 any amp will sound good. so all u dip shi!z sayin it sucks, i'm a firm believer in marshall and apparently everybody else is to cuz u c what most of the pros use.

everybody sayz u can depend on it. hell the damn thing w/a full stack has got to b about 250 lbs.

i like it at low volumes hell i'll love the damn thing on 10

This amp is a 2000 model, And is quite versatile For every kind of music that i play ( blues, jazz, funk, metal, progressive) It is a 3 channel head, with a 5 way foot switch, 2 effects loops, no headphone jack! this aint no toy, but if you really needed something like that you could take the direct XLR out into a submixer and mute the output of the head to play through headphones but whatever haha. This amp really covers everything doesn't need anything else in my opinion. i use this amp for home use, Practice , and live. Its a all tube amp, and i love it. Like I said, if you sit and tweak this amp you can get virtually any sound you need.

I play a Fender Mexican Standard Strat, A BC RICH nj series warlock (1983) Nech thru, and a Jackson Dinky reverse all have stock pickups. These guitars are great for all kinds of music. Its noisy if your in front of a computer screen =) The amp can make Blistering metal sounds , to sparkling clean Fender tones, and it has a great Crunch ac/dc like in between. The Clean channel can sound like a Plexi when the gain is cranked, The distortion is brutal, but its not over compressed like other amps, if you are not a good player then dont buy this amp it wont hide your playing.

Definatly dependable, I do gig without a backup with this head. Amp has never broken down on me yet....Ill keep you posted...

I cant say , because in the 10 years i've been playing marshall amps I've never had one break on me sooo, again ill keep you posted....

i've been playing for 10 years, I own A boss gt3 effects board, some other cool effects. If this amp were stolen I'd buy it again definatly, I love the clarity of the marshall, i play next to a mesa boogie dual rectifier and my tone has so much more life. The mesa has a little more gain , but the marshall really does have enough for thrash metal and , beautiful lead solos. I dont hate anything about the amp. Compared this amp to a whole HURD of amps.....Dual Rec, Trip rec, 5150, XXX, Fender amps, vox's, line 6 flextone, ect ect...I chose this one for one simple reason , all those heads above do only some things right , where as this one does them all right all in one package, my second choice would have been a Dual rec, but the clean just doesnt compare im sorry...I can't stress this enough Do not judge this amp from playing it in the store, take this thing home and play with it for hours and you will fall in love.

Features - well, they have been listed above (or below?!). I would give it a 10, but I would like midi-switching like the 6100 had, so I give it a 9.

Man this thing sounds good. No, let me change that, it sounds good at live volumes. As with any tube Marshall the sound at bedroom level really sucks - but you shouldn't have a 100W tube amp in your bedroom! They are meant for on stage. I have had (and still own many of) a bunch of Marshall amps - this one is the best.

No problems at all. Others have bitched about the footswitch - not had anyproblems myself - although I don't actually use the footswitch - I built a midi-switch so my rack controls the system.

Marshall (UK) are very helpfull.

I would buy one of these again in an instant.

Features, wow, this amp is incredible in this field. The amp is rated at 100 watts, but in the manuel it says it can reach 120 watts, my marshall dealer also told me this. Either way, its loud as hell. Im not looking at my amp, but we'll see what i know off by heart.

Channel 1 - Clean:
Bass
Mid
Treble
Mid Boost
Master Volume
Gain
Presence
"deep" switch
Reverb
FX mix

Channel 2 - Crunch
Bass
Mid
Treble
Tone Shift
Master Volume
Gain

----the following are shared with channel 3---
"deep" switch
reverb
Fx mix


channel 3 - Lead
Bass
Mid
Treb
Tone Shift
Master
Gain
(reverb, presence, and fx mix are shared with channel 2)


-----others----
output mute
vpr(cuts power to 25 watts)
4, 8, 16 ohms outputs
XLR slave output
Just look that the list, thats a load of features. Only 1 complaint: no output volume.. It would be great if there was a output control, like on the mesa's, that you could quickly
adjust all 3 channels, but thats about the only thing that mesa beats the marshall in. There is a line out, but i wouldn't recommend using it. Most amps create feedback when wired directly into a console so i would recommend putting a mic on your amp. A good condenser always works great. Other than that, this amp has sweet, well designed features.

WOW! The tones that come from this amp are astonishing. I use a 1968 Gibson SG special, 1999 Gibson Les Paul Classic, and a 2002 Gibson Les Paul Custom with this amp, and it sounds great with all three. I have a strat too, but i really have been a strat type of guy, and gibson is rediculously better anyways. The clean channel is great. The tone is very warm and thick (especially with the bridge pickup). I always crack the preamp and have the adjust the volume. This gives you a very crisp but slightly broken up sound. When I play jazz and blues, and have the preamp about half way and adjust the master. This gives prefectly clear thick warm marshall sound. Even when i crank the master, it stays clear as can be. A bit a reverb goes a long way too. The cruch channel is like my second clean. I keep the preamp at about 9 oclock with the bass half way, the mid at about 6, and the treble at about 7. This gives me a dirty clean sound, but it is still crisp and juicy and you know. The lead channel is amazing, and frightening. Its loud loud loud, but the tone only gets better. I have the bass at 8, mid at 5, tone shift on, treb levels very depending on where im playing. There is plenty of headroom on this channel. I usually play gigs up mic'd, and i never go about 3 on the lead channel. Especially with the les paul classic, i get the famous marshall roar. its absolutely wonderful. This amp does not need any processing. With the right touch, you can make most amps sound half decent(except crates), with the marshall tsl 100, it sounds superb. I dont think that many people appreciate a good amp when they get one. Its a waste of money to run a DOD death metal thru a marshall tsl. There is already plently of versatility there, but if thats your thing, more power to you. For those who can't get teh right sound out of your tsl just play with it. Start with all of the controls down and just work your way on thru, making everything perfect. This is the best amp i have ever played, and it i could, i'd give it a 20, the rating thing only goes to 10, poop.

Never had a problem. I never gig with a back up, why would I? Its a Marshall, not a crate.

My marshall dealer is the coolest guy around, not to mention the best guitar player i've ever heard. I've had questions before and i contacted marshall and got a quick helpful response. this deserves a 10.

10, this is the best sounding amp i've played. simple as that. i get all the sounds i want from it and more. i experience no problems. simply a well-designed, well-made, amp. its a marshall.

It's a 2002 model 3 channel 100watt head with 4 EL34 and 4 ECC83's,Output mute and vpr and two effect's loops and a emulated line out.There's deep and tone shift for the gain channels and a mid boost for the clean.All three channels are footsitchble and also the reverb making with it's 4 way footswitch

I got this as my first tube amp,Order'd a 4x12av to go with it but it whould'nt come in till 3 week's later so the shop gave me a loan of a s/h std marshall 4x12.All sound's on all channel's where so bad i took it back and got another,But it sound'd exactly the same execpt a bit brighter on the lead channel.As i was cursing marshall for three week's a finaly got my 4x12av.It turned out most of the problem was the speaker the shop had lent me,I mean in listening the the head as it is supossed to sound.That's where my really bad disapointment with the amp came as it has horrible hearshness to the dis channels and legato,Frettapping etc is a joke it never come's out.It sound's so bad it is really unrecordble as i bought this amp hoping it to give me pro sound's.Playing along to some satch or vai slash etc the tonally quality is something you'd expect to hear from a #300 combo.As i have bought it i have very rarely used it and i don't even have another amp to play,Even a #300 combo whould give me the insperation to play with it everyday.As this is the second TSL100 i have had and both sound the same there is nothing wrong with the vavles and not a bum one out the factory it's hard to belive they came make such ****.I have heard early versions of this amp and it sound's completely different,Though close to a good sound.Its pretty much useless to use it sound's that horrible,But it's not just the TSL also my previos JCM900 was just as bad witch i have sold and also my most recent marshall a 1987 2205 witch is also getting sold along with my TSL100 soon.Man i have played since i was 11 and and the money i have spent to get a decent tone{i don't ask much:(((}and i still can't get a amp to give me satisfaction of playing has even made me think of giving up{not to much though:)))}.Thinking i'am the most jinked guitarist on the planet because know i don't know what to do in my buying my next amp.For sure i hope none of you ever buy a TSL in future,conserning my other amp's i've talked about maybe it's just because they where old.O and if your thinking of buying one contact the email below and ill be happy to let you hear how it sound's over yahoo etc{as long as i still have it still can't sell the thing:(((}

No pops,no exesse noice nothing!!!

Whould'nt know

Never even think about buying it,guitarist's have it ruff already with expensive instrument's without wasting #700

We all know about the features by now... it pretty much does it all

I play mostly thrash/death metal sounds, and for fun here and there some blues or classic rock sounds also. Anyone who says this amp doesn't have enough gain/distortion either has unrealistic ideas of how distortion works or just plain ISN'T TURNING THE AMP UP LOUD!!!! This IS NOT a bedroom amp. I have it running through a dbx compressor and a dbx eq, and the thing sounds absolutely evil, very low and "chuggy". I have no idea what these people are talking about. When I turn the thing up to 8 it blows my head off! It's sitting on top of a 1960 B straight cab. Also, I run an Ibanez TS9 overdrive pedal through the clean channel with the gain set about 1/2 way and I get the sweetest blues sounds out of it. With the crunch channel and a compressor, you can get the led zep "communication breakdown" sound no problem.

With the exception of the footswitch seeming to have a mind of its own, the amp seems pretty well built. It hasn't gone on the road yet however so I can't give an honest answer. The back is easily removable and the tube biasing seems simple enough.

Haven't had to use it yet.

I love this amp, it seems to do anything a mesa can do 100 times better. Again, this amp is NOT a wimp when it comes to high distortion metal, these kids just don't know how to use it. I HIGHLY recomend running it through an EQ in the loop, it will give you any sound you want.