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New Amp day! Marshall JCM2000 TSL122

tbonesullivan

By tbonesullivan
in Amplification and Effects

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tbonesullivan

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So, I was at work when I got word that a "LARGE HEAVY BOX" had arrived at home, and that it was... squishy. It weighed 84 lbs, so I knew the TSL122 had arrived. After the slave drivers at work finally let us go (most businesses didn't even open today in nj) I got home, and found the biggest amp box I'd ever seen. The top was taped thoroughly, so I cut through the tape, found some bubble wrap, and then found the proper "top" to the box. So I then cut through the next layer of tape, opened the box, and found the F/S and the power cable, and under then was ANOTHER box, almost exactly the size of the amp, and the amp inside. So, Dave's guitar once again amazes me with their incredibly thorough packing.

 

So, I got the thing, and the pictures are below. I haven't gotten the chance to crank it yet, as I've been busy using the snow thrower, shoveling, resting, yada yada. Overall, it's in great shape. No gigging damage, no smelliness. Definitely was not a gigging amp, unless the person was super careful. So, I unscrewed the top grate on the back, discovering it was missing two screws, and that the mounting strips on the side were split at the top. It looks like it was originally that way, as apparently marshall uses these really thick screws for the back, but no predrilling? WTF? Also the two grills are screwed in the middle into the middle baffle, which is particle board, so it didn't react too well to the screwing. I ended up gluing/clamping them back together, so hopefully they'll hold. I'm not sure I'm going to put the top grill back on, as it seems to be overkill, and it also rests on the chassis, so I think it might vibrate?

 

So anyway, after taking off the back, I see it's got the expected Marshall-branded celestion Vintage/Heritage H12 combo, 8 ohms wired in series for 16 ohms. The tubes however were a surprise, as the input driver inside the cover is a Gold series JJ ECC83S, and the other 3 preamp tubes are all tung sol reissues. The power tubes are EHX EL34s, the same ones that are in my X-100b reissue. So, whoever owned this amp before me decked it out in some of the best new production tubes. I hope it sounds as good as it looks.

 

Still, When comaring the build quality to carvin, I don't see how anyone could EVER knock carvin's build quality. Their transformers are just as beefy, and they at least predrill the holes. Also the thing, like most Marshalls, came with a wimp 18 Gauge power cord. Why they can't put in the 16 or 14 gauge cord is beyond me. it's like an extra 2 bucks! Anyway, I hope to fire it up tonite after dinner.

 

MarshallTSL122a.jpg

 

MarshallTSL122b.jpg

 

MarshallTSL122c.jpg

 

Here's two other pics showing the back panels on, and the split in the mounting strip

 

Clamping the split

 

back panels on

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tbonesullivan

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thats a 3 channel????
yep! There's a clean (marshall style), OD1(CRUNCH), and OD2(LEAD) channels. Each has Gain, Volume, tone stack. The clean channel has a mid boost switch, and is supposed to go from clean to ac/dc type dirty. The Clean channel also has it's own presence, reverb, and EFX mix control, as well as a "deep" switch that adds more "OOOMPH" in the low end, great at low volumes.

 

The OD1 and OD2 channel share a master section that is the same as the clean, but completely independent. The two channels each have gain, volume, tone stack, and a "tone shift" button that takes it from the mid heavy marshall EQ to more of a mid-scooped metal EQ. The OD2 channel has a bunch more gain than the OD1 channel.

 

As for the overall master controls, there is no overall master volume, but with each channel having a volume and gain control, that would be kind of redundant. There is a VPR switch that does something to make it sound more like a 25 watt amp, and an output mute amp to simply mute the output entirely.

 

Also, there are in fact two effects loops on the amp, and you can either run it as a master loop, or a separate loop for clean and for dirty channels, which have their own mix controls. There's also a line level/instrument level for each loop.

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tbonesullivan

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This just in! I found the 2 missing screws in the box with about a ton of peanuts and bubble wrap. I'll say this: both the guitar and Amp I received were packed to survive war, and were exactly as described. I haven't been disappointed with Dave's guitar yet.

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Well, it definitely is a marshall. The clean channel though is actually usable as a clean channel, which is a definitely plus. The Crunch channel is great, though the lead channel has almost insane levels of overdrive. Above halfway it feeds back all the time. I'll have to mess with it more tonight.

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So, here's the rundown:

 

Clean Channel: Probably the first marshall clean channel i've found that actually is... well.. CLEAN. Clean enough to take pedals and such. Probably would even work with a strat. It's no Fender clean, but it'll do. If you really crank the pre gain, you can get some breakup, but it really IS a clean channel. It also has some mid-boost thing.. which on a humbucker equipped guitar doesn't seem to make any sense. It just made my sound like a huge fat pile of mids. Won't be using that switch.

 

Crunch Channel: This probably has about the gain level of the Carvin X-100B, give or take. Possibly a bit more gain over all, but there is no lead boost function. This gets all of my marshall sounds from AC/DC and up. The "tone shift" makes some metal riffing possible, in conjunction with the EQ and presence. Just a really nice dirty channel. Still, It's unmistakenly Marshall sounding. If you want the Mesa Sound, you need a Mesa, and if you want the marshall sound, this thing has it in spades.

 

Lead channel: HOLY CRAP! The gain/OD level on this seems to start out where the Crunch channel leaves off. Even with the gain at 1 it's still crunch city. Turn it up more and you just get to insane levels of gain. Other than that it's pretty much the same as the crunch channel.. just louder... hotter... etc etc etc.

 

So, at 995, this thing was definitely worth the coin. It's a marshall through and through. Big question now is: what do do with the marshall artist? It also get a great marshall sound, and is a bit smaller size wise, but I got 6 amps now. two qualify as "practice amps", but the rest are 100 watt tube monsters.

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