The much maligned Marshall TSL

ThePrettyDamned

ICBM said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

TTBZ said:

You can get a great sound out of an MG if you don't over do the gain! Still sounds marshally.

Yeah, I don't mind the mg range. They're perfectly decent for practice and the big one can do some pretty cool sounds. 

The huge mode 4 sounded okay too, but had a tendency to asplode. The cabs were good though. 

Remarkably, I still don't know what the current 'carbon fibre' MG series sounds like - I've never seen a single one for repair, and they've been out for a good few years now.

I have seen the schematics, and it appears that Marshall have learned not to repeat the mistakes of the dreadful MG-DFX series and the AVTs and Mode Fours, with their fan-cooled IC power modules, which are absolutely notorious for failing - the new series use discrete transistors. I can't remember how many MG100DFXs (the most commonly failing model) I've fitted aftermarket power sections to or simply turned away when the owner doesn't like the repair estimate. I will not replace the power module with the factory one, there's a high chance it will come back and I have to replace it again for free. (And I won't work on a Mode Four, ever, for any reason - too risky.)

I'll admit the MG100DFX can sound quite decent if set up right though.

They look crap, but they sound better imo than the mg-dfx (which is what I had - still usable! But yes, it did break). 

There is less gain available on the carbon fibre, and a less nasal midrange sound. It is a decent amp. Overshadowed massively by the orange crush pro, though, which don't sound "good for the money" so much as "really good full stop". They still sound solid state, but in a great way. 

professorben

ThePrettyDamned said:

TTBZ said:

You can get a great sound out of an MG if you don't over do the gain! Still sounds marshally.

Yeah, I don't mind the mg range. They're perfectly decent for practice and the big one can do some pretty cool sounds. 

The huge mode 4 sounded okay too, but had a tendency to asplode. The cabs were good though. 

I have a Mode Four 4x12 which sounds awesome. 

Tbh I used to gig with a guy playing a mode four head and he got a great sound out of it. 

He was using a Les Paul in B tho. 

jeztone2

I gigged a TSL for 11 years.

I liked the 100 watt, but the FX loop is crap on it.

The 60 watt only sounded good at gig level volumes, but had this really transparent FX loop.

Aside from the motherboard issues which I'm sure are well documented. The footswitch was the real issue. I went through 2 a year without fail. 

Its easy for the tech heads on here to knock it. But the head had the same reliability as my Jubilee 2553 combo.

But then I bought a TSL122 combo used that spent its entire life being repaired. So the tech guys have a point.

I guess the JVM is a better option. 

DLM

TimmyO said:

Similarly I got a fab classic rock sound out of a Mode Four half stack. 

UR Alex Skolnick AICM£5!

ICBM

jeztone2 said:

The footswitch was the real issue. I went through 2 a year without fail.

That's because the cable and the moulded DIN plug are utter crap.

Mine was buggered too - I replaced the cable with a much higher quality type and the plug with a metal-cased one. While I was at it I also changed the LEDs for something much more logical than the five reds it comes with - green for clean, orange for crunch like the amp, green for reverb, leaving the reds for lead and FX. Although being able to switch the FX loop on and off is not really a great idea since it causes a volume drop…

I would sell the footswitch if anyone needs an upgraded replacement for less than Marshall want for another crap one.

bingefeller

professorben said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

TTBZ said:

You can get a great sound out of an MG if you don't over do the gain! Still sounds marshally.

Yeah, I don't mind the mg range. They're perfectly decent for practice and the big one can do some pretty cool sounds. 

The huge mode 4 sounded okay too, but had a tendency to asplode. The cabs were good though. 

I have a Mode Four 4x12 which sounds awesome. 

Tbh I used to gig with a guy playing a mode four head and he got a great sound out of it. 

He was using a Les Paul in B tho. 

Akira Takasaki played a Mode Four around 2014 and he sounded as good as always with it.  I also remember seeing one of those Rig Rundowns with Alex Skolnick and he said the Mode Four was the best amp Marshall had ever built.....I don't think he uses them anymore though.

ThePrettyDamned

bingefeller said:

professorben said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

TTBZ said:

You can get a great sound out of an MG if you don't over do the gain! Still sounds marshally.

Yeah, I don't mind the mg range. They're perfectly decent for practice and the big one can do some pretty cool sounds. 

The huge mode 4 sounded okay too, but had a tendency to asplode. The cabs were good though. 

I have a Mode Four 4x12 which sounds awesome. 

Tbh I used to gig with a guy playing a mode four head and he got a great sound out of it. 

He was using a Les Paul in B tho. 

Akira Takasaki played a Mode Four around 2014 and he sounded as good as always with it.  I also remember seeing one of those Rig Rundowns with Alex Skolnick and he said the Mode Four was the best amp Marshall had ever built.....I don't think he uses them anymore though.

It had some great sounds available (lots of bad ones as well!). 

But they very quickly got a reputation for, er, exploding 

Classic

I had a TSL100 head a good few years back. I liked the sound but it had a volume drop and ramp up when switching between clean and a gain channel, then back. It ade it unuseable fort purposes.

ive owned other Marshall models since then.

Bidley

I used to gig a Mode Four. Sounded immense. The only reports I've heard of "a reputation for exploding" are on this forum.

Everyone I've heard gig a DSL or TSL has sounded at least pretty good too.

It just shows that spending too much time on this forum can ruin or deprive you of enjoyment of a lot of gear.

ICBM

Bidley said:

I used to gig a Mode Four. Sounded immense. The only reports I've heard of "a reputation for exploding" are on this forum.

Then you should probably read more widely .

Bidley

ICBM said:

Bidley said:

I used to gig a Mode Four. Sounded immense. The only reports I've heard of "a reputation for exploding" are on this forum.

Then you should probably read more widely .

Not saying there aren't any other reports anywhere else, just pointing out that a lot of 'accepted wisdom' gets parroted. It's an internet thing

ICBM

Bidley said:

Not saying there aren't any other reports anywhere else, just pointing out that a lot of 'accepted wisdom' gets parroted. It's an internet thing

That is true, but when you've actually worked on a couple of Mode Fours - and it is only a couple, because after that I decided never to accept another one for repair under any circumstances - you will see why they have a reputation for blowing up. If yours didn't, you were lucky. If you don't believe me, talk to anyone else who's ever worked on one.

I don't deny that they might sound good to some people (although that's also possibly a minority opinion), but it's actually a good thing if the 'accepted wisdom' is spread far and wide on things like this, since it will save people from spending their hard-earned money on something which then costs a fortune to repair or they end up just writing off.

Marshall stopped making them after only a very short time, and even the bands who endorsed them stopped using them - if something is that unreliable, it isn't even worth having for free. Just an abomination of a design.

jpfamps

I've only had a couple of Mode 4s in for repair, but from memory neither was a cheap repair.

I've repaired a lot of DSL / TSLs.

Regarding internet "wisdom" on amp reliability / build quality, then I suspect that people who repair amps full time for a living are good source of information.

Otherwise we are using the "my grandad smoked 40 a day and lived until 95" type of anecdotal evidence based on an example of one.

DJH83004

I have to concur with both IC and JPF on this one, I have had two on the bench both with one or more output chips blown and one had some nasty burns on the pcb tracks to boot. The problem is you replace them and they can randomly blow again, so offering guarantees on your work is virtually impossible, hence not many people in the industry ( who have dealt with them) will go anywhere near. Not Marshalls finest hour in IMHO

digitalscream

jpfamps said:

Regarding internet "wisdom" on amp reliability / build quality, then I suspect that people who repair amps full time for a living are good source of information.

Indeed. What astonishes me is the ease with which people refuse to buy Bugera amps because a bunch of their first run released the smoke, when they've taken that on board and avoided that design flaw in every amp they've released since...yet the same people resist the notion that a lot of Marshall's amps are unreliable when Marshall know all about the flaws and refuse to fix them.

It's that kind of wilful ignorance and disdain for the customer that would make me refuse to buy a Marshall amp, even if I liked the sound it makes.