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I would add though that the one I played most recently had EL84 tubes instead of the stock 5188's which I think makes it sound way better & much more punchy & defined.
good cleans and decent drive, I've had loads of them and never suffered any reliability issues.
Tim
The Dual Reverb is much more of a hybrid than the High-Gain Master Volume. Whether it matters is a different question...
The build quality isn't too bad, although the pots are notoriously poor and there are a couple of other minor issues, but they don't have any really serious problems that are hard to fix.
The ones that came stock with 5881s - there were a few years in the 90s when good EL34s were hard to get, in the quantities Marshall use - are easy to convert to EL34s and worth doing.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
It was pretty good if not spectacular and seemed reliable.
I can't help about the shape I'm in, I can't sing I ain't pretty and my legs are thin
But don't ask me what I think of you, I might not give the answer that you want me to
The crackling and popping from mine drove me crazy, nothing I tried seemed to fully cure it either.
The stock ones have a very annoying taper usually, too - most noticeable on the gain and volume where they do nothing from 0 to 2 and then suddenly kick in. Unfortunately you're limited to using a similar type due to the way the PCB is mounted using them, although you can get better-quality ones.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Mine's a 1993 model, with EL34s and after being gigged a few times and rehearsed a lot I had it serviced by Marshall and got all the pots replaced because one went a bit funny and I went for the lot. There might have been the taper thing between 0-2 that @ICBM mentioned but the, I only bought it to play loud in a rock band so that doesn't bother me.
The only time it sounded bad was when I put it through a rehearsal room 4x12 once, but it was fine once I switched back to the internal speaker. I used it regularly from about 2009 to 2012 and it didn't let me down.
When you say they're better than JCM2000 does that apply to both TSL and DSL flavours? I always thought the DSL was a decent amp (not played one but am interested in having one, hence why I ask) by all reviews I've heard/read.
As the OP I wanted something other than a JCM900 but am thinking of settling for one as what I really want (4140) hardly ever come up for sale, and when they do it's always at a time when I'm broke.
Thanks in advance.
There is no 'H' in Aych, you know that don't you? ~ Wife
Turns out there is an H in Haych! ~ Sporky
Bit of trading feedback here.
They are hybrid amps in that some parts are solid-state, mostly IC (integrated circuit).
The circuit stages are as follows -
High Gain Master Volume: valve 1a > gain control > valve 1b > sensitivity control > solid-state diode clipping > valve 2a > valve 2b > tone stack > IC loop driver > FX loop > IC loop recovery > IC switchable master volume controls > valve 3a/b (phase inverter and presence control) > power valves.
On the SLX head version the solid-state diode clipping is replaced by an extra dual valve stage.
Dual Reverb: clean channel - IC-based overdrive circuit using 2 IC stages with diodes in a feedback loop, 'Tube Screamer type'; boost channel - IC-based distortion circuit using 4 IC gain stages with diodes clipping to ground, 'DS-1 type' > valve 1a > valve 1b > tone stack > IC loop driver > FX loop > IC loop recovery > valve 2a (gain stage and presence control) > IC reverb drive and recovery > valve 2b > IC switchable master volume controls > valve 3a/b (phase inverter) > power valves.
So as you should be able to see, the Dual Reverb is a very good definition of a true hybrid amp, with alternating valve and solid-state stages throughout. The main overdrive/distortion circuits are more or less pedals built into the front end of the amp (slightly different in detail, but they work in the same way). The Master Volume models are less so, although it's only the SL-X which does not use solid-state gain or clipping - but is still not strictly all-valve, since the FX loop and MV stages are IC.
The odd position of the presence control in the Dual Reverb may also help to explain its rather flat dynamics, since it's a preamp control rather than a power amp control on this model.
The DSL does sound better, but they share the same build quality and reliability problems - the DSL50, DSL100 and TSL100 (and TSL122 combo) use the same main PCB which is where most of the problems are. The TSL60 is different and equally bad but in different places… but sounds even worse! The DSL201 and 401 combos aren't quite as bad - they still do have well-known problems though, and the 201 has a tendency to blow output transformers.
Hope that isn't too much jargon!
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Wasnt the jubilee similar though? Thought that had some kind of diode clipping, and they're meant to be Marshall holy grail?
There is no 'H' in Aych, you know that don't you? ~ Wife
Turns out there is an H in Haych! ~ Sporky
Bit of trading feedback here.
I'm not quite sure why they're regarded as the 'holy grail' - they're probably the last really well-made Marshalls (apart from the reissues) but I've always found them a bit buzzy.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
The MVs are the same as the classic JMP ones and are all-valve, but the Split-Channels are more complex and use diode clipping. There are also three distinct versions of the Split-Channels, but they look identical from the outside and are hard to tell apart despite sounding (the first version particularly) quite different. They have quite a dated, 80s rather than 'classic Marshall' sound though so you may not be interested anyway!
Like the heads, the last 100W MV models also have a slightly different circuit layout with 'horizontal' rather than 'vertical' input jacks and don't sound quite the same. Confusingly the 50s also changed the jacks, but not the circuit...
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
The later two versions of the Split-Channel amps have a bit more, as do the Jubilees, but even at the time they were thought of as 'not enough' - one of the selling points of the JCM900s were that they were the first Marshalls that had enough gain as stock and didn't need modding or running with a pedal in front. (Cynics would say that's because it was inside the amp!)
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein