Any TSL and DSL Owners?

[GuitarGuy503]

Does anyone here currently own both the TSL and DSL? Or even used to own both? I've honestly never played a TSL but wonder why most seem to prefer the DSL over the TSL. Can anyone explain the difference in terms of tone? Also, does their tone differ significantly or just slightly? I just read the "best clean" thread and do have to agree that the shared eq on the DSL is a bummer because I tend to like a middy clean and a presencey distortion. Any input on this? Thanks...

 

[diesect20022000]

I've owned both and prefer the DSL100MLB. It's tighter and richer and has better lows (to me). as for the TSL i liked it but, it just seemed to be missing something i couldn't put my finger on. The bias point is a BIG factor in these two amps tone as well. I found that on the TSL60 i had i liked the bias at 40ma but, on this DSL i like it at exactly 42.3ma per side.
Anway, the bass was loose on the TSL and it had a very grainy and fizzy sound to me plus the clean side was bone dry and flat sounding to me. The cleans on this amp are very lively and can actualy BE clean. the volume dropped significantly on the TSL when switching channels too between the clean and the OD's. I would own a TSL again though all that being said and i don't know if my DSL100MLB is "Special" but, it's a HUGE sounding amp. it does anything i want it to other than blow me or grant wishes

In general the DSL sounds and FEELS much better to me. I can get any tone i want from it mod free and the TSL always fell short. I could APPROXIMATE sounds but, it never really seemed like a tube amp to me. I gave it 6 months of continuously dialing it in differently daily before i traded it. The DSL sounded good from day 1 and sounds better every day. I did have to burn the tubes in on it since it sat unused for a year other than 6 hours of play time though but, it STILL sounded good.

 

[chuckharmonjr]

Never owned a TSL...but Ive owned a JCM800 and currently own a DSL. I loved both to pieces....the TSL just has too damned many knobs....lol....simple is better.

 

[diesect20022000]

the DSL has a fuller richer tone with better mid range. the cleans are lievely and have sparkle and it has MASSIVE punch where the TSL on the gain side had a splatter to the tone. worked alright for single note passages but, that was it. I thought well maybe i'm spoiled on the 5150 and rect-o-verb as far as gain goes but, no, the DSL is just hands down a better amp to me and actualy does metal as well as both the other two and the cleans are better on top of being WAY more versatile. I didn't have a TSL100 though so as far as the EQ thing goes it bothered me on that amp but, the DSL sounds and feels so good to me that i hadn't even thought about it 'till now.The 5150 does have alright cleans because of the bias mod and tube swap and the Mesa has great cleans for a hi gain head. I am unsure of wether they're better than the DSL though as i still haven't gotten to crank them A/B'd on the clean sides yet but, i have with the OD sides.

 

[GuitarGuy503]

the TSL just has too damned many knobs....lol....simple is better.

I hear ya. The TSL's front panel overwhelms me when I look at it. I also prefer simple.

 

[GuitarGuy503]

Thanks to all who have posted so far. I actually just looked up some TSL Videos on youtube and can totally understand all of points that have been made so far. Feel free to keep the input coming yall...

 

[GuitarGuy503]

The TSL sounds very thin from what I can tell.....

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip6X5E8KpZs[/ame]

 

[GuitarGuy503]

the DSL has a fuller richer tone with better mid range. the cleans are lievely and have sparkle and it has MASSIVE punch where the TSL on the gain side had a splatter to the tone.

I agree..... As to where the TSL sounds thin, lacks body/punch, and is very loose sounding.

 

[thetragichero]

I tend to like a middy clean and a presencey distortion.

i actually prefer the opposite...
in love with my dsl regardless of the shared tone controls

 

[Bluemoon78]

The TSL sounds very thin from what I can tell.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip6X5E8KpZs

This sounds like it was recorded through a crappy webcam mic and just isn't a true representation of how the amp sounds. The same can be said of a lot of amp demo's on youtube.

 

[Bieling3]

With 7-3-7 on the eq the TSL 100 + Boss SD-1 with tone shift in and deep switch on is instant Metallica. It can be a little tubby/flubby without the SD-1 there to tighten it up. With the tone shift out and the deep switch off it gets rather thin and you can do more of that brittle vintage JCM 800 thing.

I've played a Vintage Modern quite a few times at the store, learned how to dial that difficult beast in to my satisfaction, and it'd be a toss up if you asked me which had the better cleans. They're both absolutely beautiful. NOT flat at all.

If you experiment with the bias, and have fresh, tasty tubes, the TSL 100 will keep up with any Marshall that's come before it. I for one am glad I didn't listen to all the nay sayers on this amp.

 

[jcmjmp]

Anway, the bass was loose on the TSL and it had a very grainy and fizzy sound to me plus the clean side was bone dry and flat sounding to me. The cleans on this amp are very lively and can actualy BE clean. the volume dropped significantly on the TSL when switching channels too between the clean and the OD's. I would own a TSL again though all that being said and i don't know if my DSL100MLB is "Special" but, it's a HUGE sounding amp. it does anything i want it to other than blow me or grant wishes

In general the DSL sounds and FEELS much better to me. I can get any tone i want from it mod free and the TSL always fell short. I could APPROXIMATE sounds but, it never really seemed like a tube amp to me. I gave it 6 months of continuously dialing it in differently daily before i traded it. The DSL sounded good from day 1 and sounds better every day. I did have to burn the tubes in on it since it sat unused for a year other than 6 hours of play time though but, it STILL sounded good.

I've had both and prefer the DSL. The shared EQ has never been a problem for me. They seem to be nicely balanced between the different modes and channels.

The TSL I had just didn't do it for me. Some people like 'em but I just could not get it to sound good to my ears. There was always something I was trying to either dial in or out on that amp. In saying that, I played one a couple of months ago and it had a better clean tone than I remembered.

I like the relative simplicity of the DSL and with the clean/crunch channel switching mod, its a monster amp.

 

[Mike M.]

I've also had both and much prefer the DSL. I've actually had two TSL100s. I bought the first one and thought it sounded grainy and fizzy, so I sold it and bought a second one thinking I got a dud. But the second one was the same. I just didn't like that graininess, plus the clean channel was kind of sterile and lifeless. I could get an OK sound out of the crunch channel, but nothing like what can be gotten with the DSL's crunch channel, in my opinion. To be fair, the DSL is voiced a bit differently than the TSL, more like a plexi/JCM 800, which is the tone I want to hear. The clean channel sounds more lively to me on the DSL also.

The shared EQ isn't that bad. You just have to spend a little time experimenting with each channel. But that's half the fun isn't it?

 

[Bieling3]

Grainy and fizzy are the two descriptions I hear used most for the TSL. They're also the last two descriptions I'd use for this much maligned amp. I mean, I've had Valveking I would describe as fizzy, a 6505 I'd describe as mushy, and a JCM 800 that could be quite grainy depending on how you dialed it in.

I did begin to hear a bit of fizzyness with the TSL when I biased it at 80 mv per side. Brought it back up to the recommended 90 mv and that went away. I think you just have to know a little bit about tube amps and what it takes to get them sounding right. When I first started playing them I went and bought brand new ones and expected them to be perfect out of the box, lol. Live and learn.

 

[RickyLee]

I have some some crappy clips recorded with a crappy camcorder mic, with a bit of room ambience, for the DSL100 Crunch and Lead1 channels & the TSL100 Crunch and Lead channels, if you would like to give them a listen?

The thing with both of these amps is they have to be cranked a bit to get them to open up and get into that sweet spot as well as get a bit of clarity to the tone. BUT, the TSL is more prone to this than the DSL to my ears. I noticed I was able to get a better low volume tone for bar gigs using the DSL. But if you are able to open the throttle up on both these amps, it is hard to pick the better tone.

Maybe I have my TSL dialed in with tubes and such a bit better than some?? I did do a few tweaks and mods to my TSL100 on the bias circuit and replaced the wrong vlaued grid stoppers on the power tubes with the correct value.

Here is one for you: The reason I have this DSL100 is I found a fella that had a DSL100 that wanted to trade for a TSL. I actually had a TSL122 as well. The guy came over to my house to check out my TSL122 and for me to check out the DSL100. I let him plug into the TSL122 and have his way with it for a few minutes. The amp was sounding so good I almost did not want to go through with the trade. What it was mostly was the volume - he cranked that baby up pretty good, maybe had it cranked louder than I ever did, and with his guitar pickups I would imagine helping out, that thing was sounding incredible. And that was playing it through it's two internal open back speakers as well.

Anyway, we made the trade. I got a DSL100 + $100 plus all new quality tubes in the DSL and he even gave me a few spare new preamp tubes. And I still have my TSL100 head of course.

 

[diesect20022000]

I've had both and prefer the DSL. The shared EQ has never been a problem for me. They seem to be nicely balanced between the different modes and channels.

The TSL I had just didn't do it for me. Some people like 'em but I just could not get it to sound good to my ears. There was always something I was trying to either dial in or out on that amp. In saying that, I played one a couple of months ago and it had a better clean tone than I remembered.

I like the relative simplicity of the DSL and with the clean/crunch channel switching mod, its a monster amp.

Yeah that's EXACTLY how it was for me too. It's not a bad amp per se but, the DSL man....all i need's my guitar,a cord,picks and i'm good. The TSL i kept trying different "boosts" and EQ's and shortening the sig path, different cables etc and it was always the same for me too. I was always trying to dial something etheral in or OUT of the thing. I still liked it i just didn't love it and it paled next to my 5150 and rect-o-verb heads but, my DSL holds firm ground next to those two and does all the other things i want it to that those amps can't. I guess the TSL tone makes sense for some though. I know alot of "old school" hardcore bands swear by them. If i had a TSL again it would be a backup. Chances are i will have one eventualy. The other issue i noticed was how quiet it was for a 60watt amp. I know power doesn't necessarily equal volume but, it just really got left behond next to my other amps.

 

[diesect20022000]

I have some some crappy clips recorded with a crappy camcorder mic, with a bit of room ambience, for the DSL100 Crunch and Lead1 channels & the TSL100 Crunch and Lead channels, if you would like to give them a listen?

The thing with both of these amps is they have to be cranked a bit to get them to open up and get into that sweet spot as well as get a bit of clarity to the tone. BUT, the TSL is more prone to this than the DSL to my ears. I noticed I was able to get a better low volume tone for bar gigs using the DSL. But if you are able to open the throttle up on both these amps, it is hard to pick the better tone.

Maybe I have my TSL dialed in with tubes and such a bit better than some?? I did do a few tweaks and mods to my TSL100 on the bias circuit and replaced the wrong vlaued grid stoppers on the power tubes with the correct value.

Here is one for you: The reason I have this DSL100 is I found a fella that had a DSL100 that wanted to trade for a TSL. I actually had a TSL122 as well. The guy came over to my house to check out my TSL122 and for me to check out the DSL100. I let him plug into the TSL122 and have his way with it for a few minutes. The amp was sounding so good I almost did not want to go through with the trade. What it was mostly was the volume - he cranked that baby up pretty good, maybe had it cranked louder than I ever did, and with his guitar pickups I would imagine helping out, that thing was sounding incredible. And that was playing it through it's two internal open back speakers as well.

Anyway, we made the trade. I got a DSL100 + $100 plus all new quality tubes in the DSL and he even gave me a few spare new preamp tubes. And I still have my TSL100 head of course.

W3RD homie. I get a great tone at all levels with the DSL but, it still opens up and so fourth but, my TSL took more push to get there than my DSL.

 

[Mike M.]

Great point guys about having to have both cranked up and spending time biasing and experimenting with tubes. Rare is the time you find the perfect tone right out of the box, with any amp. And yes, they're definitely both better-sounding amps when cranked, like all good tube amps.

I spent quite awhile biasing my second TSL but still couldn't get the tone I wanted. It was definitely better, but not quite "there." I also re-tubed it but still wasn't completely happy. Then I got the DSL and heard what I wanted. So the DSL worked for me, but the TSL may work just fine for others.

 

[diesect20022000]

Grainy and fizzy are the two descriptions I hear used most for the TSL. They're also the last two descriptions I'd use for this much maligned amp. I mean, I've had Valveking I would describe as fizzy, a 6505 I'd describe as mushy, and a JCM 800 that could be quite grainy depending on how you dialed it in.

I did begin to hear a bit of fizzyness with the TSL when I biased it at 80 mv per side. Brought it back up to the recommended 90 mv and that went away. I think you just have to know a little bit about tube amps and what it takes to get them sounding right. When I first started playing them I went and bought brand new ones and expected them to be perfect out of the box, lol. Live and learn.

I ran the gamut with mine. I tried multiple bias points,at LEAST 6 pairs of power tubes and 30 or so preamp tubes in varying positions PLUS numerous guitars,speakers,cab types,strings and everything else under the sun. I ABSOLUTELY NEVER pass judgement in the negative on an amp i purcheased until i exhaust the possibilities. Not saying it was a bad amp, it was a GOOD amp but, my DSL is a GREAT amp. I don't have to do anything to it to sound good. i can dial it in anyway i want and use that tone for some genre which i couldn't with the TSL and i don't have to swap tubes or use a boost or anything else. I did set the bias on it at 42.3ma per side though and to me for that amp it's the "sweet spot" as far as bias points go.

 

[diesect20022000]

The TSL sounds very thin from what I can tell.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip6X5E8KpZs

why can't people on boobtube tune their instruments?lol. Exluding this forums users. I didn't hear any tuning issues so far here anyway.Does seem like every guy on boobtube needs a slap in the face and taught how to set their guitars up so they're in tune (as much as they can be anyway)