TSL 60 sounds dull and lacks volume....... Help please!!

[charvel2]

Hey gang,
I just traded a Egnater Renegade for a Marshall TSL60 and really regret doing it.
The head is in mint condition but unfortunately I used my eye's more than my ears. The TSL sounds dull and lacks volume. I thought it was the dudes cab as
My Egnater didn't sound as good through the cab either. I was going to buy new tubes and will try changing but don't want to put money into till I get some thoughts on the amp. Is it possible to get sone good classic rock tones out of this thing. I didn't realize all the love/hate this amp gets. There are a lot of threads on this amp I realize but wanted some fresh perspective. Makes me sick I was so stupid. The cleans not so bad so worst case could get a "plexi" style
Pedal and try that for a bit. Sounds ok with my OCD through the clean. Any
thoughts would be appreciated.(was trying to trade back but other person not
willing) Just trying see if can make some lemonade out of a lemon. Thanks

 

[RickyLee]

You could try an easy mod of lowering the cathode bypass cap value on the very first gain stage. Lowering it down to 1uF or maybe even .68uF might do the trick for the two Dirt channels.

Bummer with doing that will be it will affect the Clean channel as well and make it a bit weaker in the bass response.

My friend has one that we compared to my TSL100. The TSL 60 series amps do have an awesome Clean channel that takes pedals very well. I heard his TSL60 get an awesome Stevie Ray Vaughan tone goosing the Clean channel. But that huge cap on the first gain stage has to be a good part of the tubby issue for sure.

 

[RickyLee]

I forgot to mention that the amp should be plenty loud. Get the tubes checked as well as the EL34 bias.

 

[mickeydg5]

Which cabinet? Which speakers?
Make sure the impedance of the cabinet measures correctly.
Also check the speaker cable with a meter to make sure it is proper.
Clean jacks and plugs if necessary with an electronics contact cleaner.

 

[charvel2]

Cab is a '92 JCM900 1960A and right now it's loaded with '96 Vintage 30's. I
was thinking of trying the original G12T-75's or doing a X pattern with the 75's
and 30's. I also have some WGS Reaper's & WGS Green Beret's(great speakers by the way) that I could do a X pattern with. The ohm's match(I always check) and cable is Monster cable and is good. The lead channel has to much of that
fizzy gain and is hard to back down. The crunch Channel just seems to have a
odd voicing to me. Thinking of picking up a Ramble FX Marvel Drive and just running the clean channel. It sounds like the FX loop is tied to the tone circuit in
some way. Going to have tubes checked before I buy new ones. Just want to
see if there is a glimmer of hope for this thing

 

[RickyLee]

The cool thing about the TSL60 series amps (well at least I think it is cool ), is that the layout and topology is different than the TSL100/122 amps. This makes them slightly different not to mention the other extra bells and whistles that the TSL100/122 has though. Basically, the TSL60 series amps are not clones of the TSL100/122 minus extra features. They each have their own tone and voicing.

But after I compared schematics between them I realized why I preferred my TSL100 over my buds TSL60. But I give the win for Clean channel to the TSL60 as it uses one less gain stage there vs the TSL100 AND DSL100 Clean channel.

That amp should be workable for you for sure. You need to check the EL34 bias and all tubes. And rolling some 12AX7 experimenting might be the ticket.

T-75/V30 mix is also an excellent speaker blend.

 

[mickeydg5]

Well you mentioned neither amplifier sounds good through the cabinet.

Also mentioned is a weirdness with the effects loop.

Clean and check all jacks and cable plugs.

What is meant by "the ohms match, I always check"?

 

[charvel2]

Quick update. Retuned it with some JJ's and world of difference. It's definitely
Voiced a little different then most Marshall's I've played but it's workable. I really
Like the clean channel and with my OCD it gets a great classic rock tone!! Think I"ll pick up a Ramble FX Marvel drive and just use the clean as a pedal platform.
The amp is absolutely in mint shape so if I decide to sell it down the road I won't be out anything. Thanks to those who responded. I need to utilize this forum more. One Quick question, do you bias JJ E34L's the same as the EL34's? Thanks.

 

[milfwah]

I found the same thing with mine with an OCD AND a Box of rock in front of the clean channel. But also cleaning all the pots and retubing with a brand new set of Ruby BMSTR EL-34s and JJ preamp tubes the OD-1 channel becomes more than usable to the point that I played it for hours and never got around to trying clean or OD-2.

 

[charvel2]

Where did you by the Ruby tubes at? Just curious, would you agree it's voiced a
Little different and that you really need to be patient and seek the good tones out of these amps? I"m running some old English made Vintage 30's. has antibody have experience with this amp running Greenbacks or G12T-75's?

 

[solarburn]

Quick update. Retuned it with some JJ's and world of difference. It's definitely
Voiced a little different then most Marshall's I've played but it's workable. I really
Like the clean channel and with my OCD it gets a great classic rock tone!! Think I"ll pick up a Ramble FX Marvel drive and just use the clean as a pedal platform.
The amp is absolutely in mint shape so if I decide to sell it down the road I won't be out anything. Thanks to those who responded. I need to utilize this forum more. One Quick question, do you bias JJ E34L's the same as the EL34's? Thanks.

Yes on the biasing the 34L's.

 

[mickeydg5]

Good then.
Yes those power tubes bias in the same manner.

 

[milfwah]

Where did you by the Ruby tubes at? Just curious, would you agree it's voiced a
Little different and that you really need to be patient and seek the good tones out of these amps? I"m running some old English made Vintage 30's. has antibody have experience with this amp running Greenbacks or G12T-75's?

I ordered them from Amplified Parts,

 

[charvel2]

Cool, thanks.

 

[charvel2]

Hey Rickylee, do you know what the tube positions are for the TSL60? I'm assuming V1 is closest to the input jack and V4 is the one closest to the power
tubues but just want to be sure. If any one else knows, that's cool to. Curious
why only one tube is shielded.

 

[frankyfal]

My used TSL 60 came with Groove tubes in the preamp and electro harmonix in the power amp

Sounds good to me

 

[Jethro Rocker]

Hey Rickylee, do you know what the tube positions are for the TSL60? I'm assuming V1 is closest to the input jack and V4 is the one closest to the power
tubues but just want to be sure. If any one else knows, that's cool to. Curious
why only one tube is shielded.

Yep, you're right. V1 near input etc. None are shielded on my TSL122, the first tube is usually shielded to keep noise from being amplified by the other tubes inline. That's a whole different thread, just go with it!!