2005 T S L 100 Clip: Trying For That Magical Plexi Model 1959 Tone

[RickyLee]

Been a lot of talk again lately about people searching for that Plexi tone using their DSL and TSL amps. Here is my take on that one. I think I get a very convincing Plexi tone here with my TSL100 on both the Crunch and Lead channels.

First clip I should have played more rhythm, but was noodling. But the amp as usual did not take too well with my camera phone. Did not have the distorted fizz in person. I even placed the phone farther away from the line of fire of the speaker. 2X12 cab with old G12-65/ new Creamback M65 mix.

Settings: Crunch channel Gain/2.3 Vol/7.2 Treble/5.2 Mid/5 Bass/5.5
Lead channel Gain/1.5 Vol/8.2 Treble/5.7 Mid/6.3 Bass/6 Pesence on 5 both channels.

Bummer as I just noticed I had the Tone Shift function IN/ON for the Lead channel. And that is very surprising to me as it did not sound like it was on at all. But that explains why the Vol was that high on that channel. Would have sounded much better for this tone off.

Also, most of the hiss/noise in the background is my house air conditioner. And I just remembered I had a 22uF cathode bypass cap on the 3rd gain stage on this first clip as I was experimenting a bit. But actually, I removed it for the second clip I will post and it sounds much more clear. This amp does not really need any more bypass caps as it has too much extra gain as is anyway.

 

[RickyLee]

Here is a very short clip playing the opening intro to AC/DC's "Walk All Over You". In person this was very impressive and ballpark close to the tone. Maybe a touch too bright and crisp compared to Angus' original track. I left the settings the same as the post above, this is bridge humbucker into the Red Lead channel. Bummer as I still had not noticed I had the Tone Shift function on for the Lead channel. Oh well. But I should say, that with a biot of fidgeting with the settings, this could have been dialed in to get much closer to Angus tone for sure. This is pushing the TSL100 more into power amp breakup for sure.

Not sounding as good as I hoped from my camera phone. Low frequencies getting distorted. I will check it out on the earbuds in a bit.

Of course, no pedals up front or in the loop. Stock transformers and no choke either.

 

[solarburn]

My mutherfucker? Yeah man. I'll have that plate served piping hot anytime...

Fucking excellent.

 

[solarburn]

.

 

[thunderstruck507]

Sounds fantastic.

TSL's get more shit than they deserve. I almost didn't buy one based on forum reviews of them "sounding shitty" compared to a DSL100H. Glad I decided to try one instead. They are picky about settings but once dialed in it sounds amazing to my ears. Mine has Mullard EL34s and a combo of Sovtec and JJ preamp tubes.

 

[colchar]

I had a TSL122 which sounded good. They do get more crap than they deserve online. I moved mine because I couldn't get it to give me what I wanted (a more experienced player, and Marshall user, would likely have been able to but I couldn't - but that was my failing, not the amp's) and bought a 2266C but I won't slag the TSLs because they are underrated amps.

 

[Dogs of Doom]

Funny, is on the Kemper, one of my favorite of the stock profiles is the TSL100...

There was a local guy, that basically set both his volume & gain to around 5, & adjusted from there & he got that classic sound. I think, you want to keep the mid shift off & it depends on the speakers. Maybe, if you have V30s, you might want the shift on, IDK, haven't tried it w/ V30s. W/ the T75s, it sounds pretty much how you'd want, IMO...

 

[ken361]

]

 

[LPMarshall hack]

I'm of the belief that anyone who thinks the TSL is a piece of shit is a compete idiot.

 

[baconjerky]

Volume at 8.2?! Lol not many people gonna be copying this

 

[Buzzard]

Just scored a 2005 tsl 100 off craigslist for a sweet deal .Sounded awesome for the short time I tried it out for.Footswitch works as well AND the fs looks pretty well used.

 

[RickyLee]

My mutherfucker? Yeah man. I'll have that plate served piping hot anytime...

Fucking excellent.

I have always loved your enthusiasm on this forum brother. I started thinking about how you always let loose and take it deep to the inner depths of nasty on your clips. So that one was for you. I have a hard time playing inspired at home, and actually that has been a bigger issue for me these last few years than before. But my playing usually livens up playing out at gigs and some jams with inspiring players. But those days are slipping away man . . . .

 

[RickyLee]

Sounds fantastic.

TSL's get more shit than they deserve. I almost didn't buy one based on forum reviews of them "sounding shitty" compared to a DSL100H. Glad I decided to try one instead. They are picky about settings but once dialed in it sounds amazing to my ears. Mine has Mullard EL34s and a combo of Sovtec and JJ preamp tubes.

Yeah, they do seemed to get bashed more than any other Marshall tube amp that I have noticed anyway. I am still regretting not buying a few amp deals quite a few years ago as well, just to have for experimentation. The JVM410H is still on my curious list. Then I dragged my feet on a Vintage Modern 100W head for $500 many years ago, still have not tried or been in a room with one yet.

Then the very clean 1990 900 Dual Reverb 4100 of my buddy's that he was going to let me have for $400. I had it at my house for almost two weeks and just could not bond with CH B in the end. It would only sound decent on that channel VERY VERY loud. And also the very odd noise coming from the loop or power amp somewhere bugged me a bit.

I am running new production Chinese 12AX7's in V1 & V2. Then put NOS Sylvania long plate 12AX7's in V3 & V4. Power tubes are the same new production Tung Sol EL34B's that were in the amp when I bought it quite a few years ago. Biased conservatively at around 60%.

 

[RickyLee]

I had a TSL122 which sounded good. They do get more crap than they deserve online. I moved mine because I couldn't get it to give me what I wanted (a more experienced player, and Marshall user, would likely have been able to but I couldn't - but that was my failing, not the amp's) and bought a 2266C but I won't slag the TSLs because they are underrated amps.

You have KT66's in your 2266? I am still curious to hear one of those.

Yeah, I had a 1999 TSL122 many years ago. I was having problems with the tone not being consistent due to a bit of the bias drift issue. Then I went in an upgraded all the bias circuitry components. Then i also upgraded many of the components in the power amp, mainly the 220K grid blockers I lowered to 5.6K. But in the end, it was just the cumbersome heavy combo and my injured lower spine did not get along. I picked up a '98 TSL100 head, then traded the TSL122 for a like a new '05 DSL100 plus I got almost extra $200 in the deal.

 

[RickyLee]

Funny, is on the Kemper, one of my favorite of the stock profiles is the TSL100...

There was a local guy, that basically set both his volume & gain to around 5, & adjusted from there & he got that classic sound. I think, you want to keep the mid shift off & it depends on the speakers. Maybe, if you have V30s, you might want the shift on, IDK, haven't tried it w/ V30s. W/ the T75s, it sounds pretty much how you'd want, IMO...

I never really liked using that Tone Shift circuit until recently. And then I think some of the reason I took interest into trying that function was after understanding a bit more what that circuit was doing in theory, and also realizing it was very close to your standard Blackface Fender tone stack LOL.

I mainly use the Lead channel for just that - leads or soloing. But I did play an entire bar gig once using the TSL100 and stayed on the Crunch channel the entire night. Used my guitar volume rolled back for cleanish stuff. And then had plenty of sweet singing sustain on the Crunch channel with Gain set around 6.

But lately, I have noticed my Lead channel sounds very very sweet with that tone shift on. BUT, I run the Midrange around 6 to 7. But if I want to use Red Lead for solos, then I will take that Tone Shift off.

 

[RickyLee]

I'm of the belief that anyone who thinks the TSL is a piece of shit is a compete idiot.

You were the one that liked the TSL100 back when I posted all those assorted amp model clips.

I just remembered my first TSL100 experience LOL. Back in 1999, I had went out to Hollywood to see a band whose guitarist was an old friend of the singer in my then cover band. They were doing a showcase. Good heavy original material, and the guitar player was using a TSL100 full stack. Great tone that night for sure.

My singer and myself proceeded to get quite lit drinking that night. Oddly enough, I won a new Fender Strat in the raffle. Very strange night as I never win shite. Yeah, it was just an Indonesian Strat. But played great. I still have it, buried away in the gear storage room. Just remembered it tonight LOL.

 

[RickyLee]

Volume at 8.2?! Lol not many people gonna be copying this

You are probably right LOL.

BUT, I was on my neck single coil. And it was actually not as loud as you might think. I had Gain at 0 and started with the Volumes on 10 - just like a non master volume amp. Slowly started bringing up the Gain. But then I turned back the Volume to where it actually knocked down a good bit of signal. Then brought Gain up a bit more and ended up at those settings. I was trying to get a ballpark Plexi tone and it was sounding amazing in my room. So that is why I hastily grabbed my phone to record it. But I listened back to the clips in my earbuds last night and I am not thrilled with the recordings at all.

Now, EQ was set where I had the amp running before, and using it more traditionally with Gain about 5 to 6 and Volume up to match the drummer. So the EQ could have been tweaked a bit to taste for those Gain settings. I was in a rush as I had the house to myself for a short time LOL.

When I switched to my bridge humbucker, yeah it got quite a bit louder for sure LOL. With Gain set that low, the compression factor was hardly there. More raw picking dynamics were then in play for sure.

But I have to say, these amps are very usable set up this way with Gain very low and run the Volumes very high. Yeah, 8 is extreme. 6 to 7 would probably work well for a traditional Plexi type setup. I would have to try it with a drummer to really know where it is at though for sure.

 

[RickyLee]

Just scored a 2005 tsl 100 off craigslist for a sweet deal .Sounded awesome for the short time I tried it out for.Footswitch works as well AND the fs looks pretty well used.

You will not be let down with this amp.

Do you know if yours has an upgraded main board? I can't remember which issue number mine has. Need to check that . . . .

 

[BanditPanda]

I'm of the belief that anyone who thinks the TSL is a piece of shit is a compete idiot.

Well that carries a lot of weight. lmao

 

[Buzzard]

I assumed it had an upgraded board since its a 2005 ,supposedly they corrected the issue by then (I may be wrong) I have a good tech that I need to bring it to just to check it out.I will let you know . I had started a thread recently on the tsl 100 yea or nay and finally took the plunge.After having such good success with almost 10 marshalls used and new I now take what opinions I hear on the intnt with a grain of salt. This amp has so many great features and with used prices what they are ,its a no brainer.