I would send you here: www.hotroxuk.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=tsl100 but it looks he's out of stock. Ask them and they might have some answer.... hope it helps and man those have gone up since I did mine... Thanks for watching.
@@tonymckenzieofficialThanks Tony. I've asked everywhere. No more being made and everyone is sold out. I have the Dr. Tube little bias board kit coming and hopefully that'll work a treat.
@@MagicTwangerPlunker Sad that they are in the position they are in. I really like Marshall - were always a no BS company and always very helpful. If ever I find one I'll let you know... and thanks for the post.
I just had my board switched after it turned my amp into an additional heating device. Today I will pick it up from the store and I am over the moon to get it back. I love this amp and used it a lot for gigs and practice.
The right revision board will fix it for good. This amp as you saw was the same, but I had one back in 2004 and created an album or two on it then silly me sold it. This is the replacement and I still have it. They can sound great when just so in a recording... thanks.
Tony - You're the man. Bought a used TSL100H (good deal!) and had the clean channel HUM and runaway BIAS issues. Bought the REV. 20 main board and installed it. Now my amp sounds "GREAT!". Thanks for a heads-up on the fix.
Those are great heads and I still have mine as in the video. Yes the board fixes it all and you will have an amp that will last a very long time. Don't forget that mod for the 16 ohm output socket... it can take out the OT if you don't do that some say. Great to know it helped you so the video is worth making :) Thanks for letting me know...
The JCM2000 TSL100 can be a brilliantly sounding amp; Search for a track I wrote called 'Metropolis' on album called 'Eniac' (on streaming) and that tone was with just one mic in to the desk - it was pretty awesome tone. Get a board and fit it and you'll never look back. Thanks...
Awesome video ! this is how i found your channel and web site mate . This is how i now have my beloved 2003 TSL 100 upgraded and fantastic again , Output jack ,Rev 20 motherboard was fitted , and bias balance . I knew virtually nowt about amps , maybe just fixing dry joints and sockets . After a few of your videos , i feel ( with the addition of a DECENT soldering bolt ) i could build my self a Ceriatone . Thank again Tony . Gona wrap mine in leather i think :D
Well owning a TSL100 can be a great thing no matter what some might say. That amp with a 1960a cab can give you an incredible sound. I used mine in 2005/6 to create an album called Eniac and some of those tracks had incredible tones on there. I later sold the amp (never had any trouble with it) and flipped to Engl and many other amps. However, like all good things, eventually I missed it and decided to buy another. This is where this amp comes in. I bought it for literally just a few hundred pounds off eBay. It had been knocked around a bit on the road gigging by someone so I thought what a great amp to recover. Except that I had only ever recovered one amp! So, I bought the glue from TAD, bought the red tolex that Marshall used and other bits for the case and recovered it. What you saw in the recovering video is exactly what I did no more and no less. Later I learned about the board failures that are common place on TSL100 amps (and DSL100) so I set about picking up as much info as I could. The result of that was this video. I had seen guys trying to fix something that is basically not worth the effort in time alone, and so I bit the bullet and bought a board and then made the video. As you know, anyone with a TSL 100 should really replace the board for a revision 20 main board and fix that questionable 16 Ohm connector. Other than that you can have a brilliant amp afterwards that will never give you that problem again. Changing the board is fiddly but not really that hard to do and you already know the results. BTW was that capacitor fried on your old board like mine was? Seems it was underspecified and they doubled the voltage on the replacement board. I'm glad that this video helped if only even a little. That's why I made it... every TSL100 needs that mod and sooner or later there will be trouble of major failure if it's not done. But glad to know you were successful. Ha Croc here we come :) Stay safe and also be careful about those voltages!
@@tonymckenzieofficial Thanks Tony , As you say these are great versatile amps that can be picked up cheaply .The mods are doable by the amateur , guys like myself ( who have learned the hard way ,ouch .) Discharge yer big capacitors guys :D . Mine was a 2002-3 motherboard , it was still working ( said cap looked ok ) but replaced on your advise . I shall be checking out more of your music ,and web site , very impressed ! i Love the same tones as yourself , i keep it simple . I have the 1960A cab , came with the amp ! ( £420 , thankyaverymuch :) ) keeping a beady eye out for a 1960B cab to go with it ( when i get back to work of course ) I`m happy with my guitar straight in to the amp , no fuss as i`m just a Loud backing track 20min geetar soloing workshop/living room Rock God ! :D:D Hahahaha i`d shit myself if i had to do it in front of a crowd Hahaha :D. i`ll stay as safe as i can mate , you too ! I make Neon signs and Neon artwork up here in Edinburgh ,so i`m no stranger to the odd High tension shock , lol , it`s nae fun :) Thank`s again Tony :)
Ah the 1960a cab... let me tell you. I have at least three of those and a vintage/modern one and a 1960 TV (hand wired with I think 25's in there). The 1960a is really in my opinion one of the best all round cabs you can get. They have 75 watt Celestion's in there and sound great with ANY amp out there and that's why I have them. I've tried many other cabs but in general overpriced, too big, bad sounding, not flexible springs to mind on most of them. You can't go wrong with the 1960a cab... but you will know that most likely. Ha over the years I did do lot's of guitar related stuff and I'm certainly no 'real' musician :) (or am I who knows) but I think it's all about firstly a great pass-time and hobby, but also because it's all fun and changes all the time. Others might disagree (they would) but as Metallica said 'Nothing Else Matters'. I don't really use many pedals and things like that and always just had a reverb and delay and sometimes a chorus... and the trusty Wah. Anything else is usually hiding less than perfect tones I always think. Nothing wrong with backing tracks and I use them all the time especially on here because when I put my released music on the videos they pick up a copyright infringement on my channel! even though I own the copyright :) so I'm currently editing all the uploaded videos to remove my tracks from the end of the videos to solve that. If you would like a copy of my last CD go to my website and fill in the form and I can send you a download code... :) then sit there and practise that :) On being frightened with being on the stage: I went to the Victoria Hall near here when Queen were on their first tour in the early 70's I think it was. The time when Brian May wore a sort of white cape (you can see it on the internet if you look) and I was right in front of him by the stage. I was extremely surprised as I watched him. Between each thing they played, Brian May was actually shaking intensely - I could see his hands shaking right across the stage. Fancy that! So I always thought about him whenever I was in a band in front of people. But I have not been in bands for some time and would not really want to go back to that - it won't be easier than when I was in a band, but now much harder with venues for bands being now much fewer.
Bought one for 250 us and I am going to put mother board in had one of these and sold because of all the hate one of the best sounding amps I ever had excellent at low volume. Try your amp with greenbacks it really opens this amp up
Exactly. A very low priced amp (likely because the TSL does have a board thing going on) but a great amp also. I have used many Marshall cabs on mine and to be honest, its hard to get a bad sound from it. With a board its pretty bombproof but also check that 16 Ohms speaker out as I showed at the end of the video. Thanks and stay safe.
Tony, thanks so much for spending some time with this amp. Your reviews are always excellent. I have a 2004 that I bought new and it wasn't cheap back then. All of these years there's not been much said on the Internet that is positive about this amp. Never had trouble until May, 2017, which was about a year after I just had it all re-tubed/serviced. $400 later it's ok now, but I didn't get a new board. This is very good to know because I don't want to part with this amp. In fact, I've thought about obtaining another one. Come back to Florida so you can refurbish mine.
:) Get the board and it makes the amp incredibly good. My old board worked, but to be honest by the time you faff around with engineers etc. trying to 'fix' something that is plainly wrong in my opinion that is false economy. Many people slag these amps but I often wonder what exactly they have? Even this one with the original board worked fine (except maybe that 16 ohm aggro and the capacitor. These amps are the best value on the net and this one, fair enough I spent about £80 ($110) or so on the covering etc. when I did that and bought this board and tubes... but now its pretty much like new and sounds as good as anything in that room where it is. Ha no doubt I will be going back to Florida - its a great place for sure.. I might be going a few places this year and Florida is absolutely on the cards. Thanks for the info and for watching.
False economy is a valid point. It looks like a decent used TSL100 commands in the vicinity of $700 now. The issue 20 board, if I'm shopping correctly, will run around $250 plus there is a cost incurred for me to get it installed. So I figure I'll probably spend $400+ to change the board. That's far less than a new Marshall JVM head, of course, but now if I do this, I've got over $1000 invested in repairs for this 14-year old amp over the past 2-3 years. I was not having any problems, but I decided to have the power tubes changed in late 2015 (yes, I ashamed to admit the original power tubes were present) in search of better tone. Then, a year later, it's blowing fuses and burning power tubes and crashing. That cost me $400 to correct last May. But I had many years of care free playing. You've given me something to think about and I'm just thankful for your positive comments. Hold off Florida for a while. 29-degrees F outside my door as I type this.
No you can get that board for much less. Probably £100 ($130) from hotroxuk. The TSL here I bought for less than £400 (if I remember it was £350 or so ($425)). Honestly, the TSL I bought here is a really great amp and you can hear it here: th-cam.com/video/nWt6hq706q8/w-d-xo.htmlm13s that sound (its mixed slightly low sorry) is really not easily achievable on anything else I have and in the room it's exactly like the sound on the released record from back in 2006. Stay with it... and it's worth every cent (in your case - penny in mine) to grab a board. One day they won't be there to grab ;-) Ha my son went there one year at Christmas some while ago... he had the shorts etc. and it was running at 58 deg F. He had to go and buy clothes which always made me smile... fur coats in Florida. I know that it can get cold there at Christmas time or thereabouts but thanks for the update on that.
Thx, Tony. You're right. Just trying to find out now if my local tech will tackle this. I don't want to ship my amp around. I'll try hotruxuk for the board once I find an installer and I saw a comment somewhere that shipment was 8-days from UK to US. Again, thx for devoting your time to this amp as I've always felt like a 2nd-class citizen for owning/using this amp. You know what, too, is that the orange and red channels have always sounded fizzy. Maybe the new board will help that. Swapping preamp tubes never has. I have those dreaded JJ's you don't care for - both in the preamp and power. Back to 70F today! Probably will be mowing the lawn this weekend.
Don't in any way feel left out with that amp. Honestly, when I say it is the best sounding amp I ever achieved I don't just say it. The amp had a bad name for reliability in my opinion, but my recordings of 2006 by way of tone I have never actually got any better tones from any of the amps. It CAN be fizzy and a bit 'tinny' sounding if you overdo it on the drive so that can make things not great but careful with that and I can tell you it records like no other amp I have. To me, the new board made the amp exactly as I recorded it back in 2006 when my original TSL100 was about 18 months old. I did have a TSL60 before that amp but there really is no comparison. It might take a while to have the board shipped as you say, but I have heard tales of over $249 for the same board there as you say... so it is probably worth the effort. JJ like other tubes are OK I guess if they are properly selected and properly matched but unfortunately sometimes that does not happen. The way I view those is that SOMEONE has to get the bad ones right? I have recently bought some! Under advice from GC (a guy on here) to try in the Dumble Ceriatone... we shall see. 70 degrees... you hot dog! :) I'm here with 1 degree (33) today and its absolutely freezing. Do let me know how it all goes on that amp and don't let guys sway you too much... you know what some can be like right?
I purchased my TSL in the late 90’s....and I couldn’t agree more....ace sounding amp until.... This review is so true. I had a revision 20 board installed last year and boom...it was back. All the channels are so useable both cranked and....the low power button enables home use, indeed I run mine low power live. The heads up re the 16 ohm output is a real help and should be done as Toni suggests. I checked mine and indeed it was starting to show signs of a potential issue....solder away and problem solved. Thanks for this really informative video. Would be ace to see a video of your work flow with Dante by the way Toni.....all the best and keep on TSL
Hi Mark, I had my original in the early 2000's and never had a problem with it. I used it on an album called 'Eniac' and those sounds remain incredibly good. So a year or so ago I bought this amp and recovered it. The board really makes this amp one of the best buys out there at any price... even if it needs a board its not that heavy on price. Yes that 16 ohm speaker switch can zap the output transformer and I was surprised when I noticed mine had gone 'grey' basically failing. The other connectors were bright and shiny. Well I am going to go further in the control room and in more depth when I get a chance - its all very time consuming but ot will be here some time. Thanks for watching and have a great new year... your info was very useful too.
Just order my new board, I have the tsl 100 and have been having issues with the bias going out of whack and actually had a tube go bad on me. I am so looking forward to resolving this problem because the tsl 100 is a great amp!! Thanks for the video it was very informative and enjoyed watching!!
With that new board the amp is honestly brilliant... but don't forget that speaker connector mod or at some stage it could zap the OT. Thanks for those kind words and for watching.
tonymckenziecom just got my new board delivered and installed yesterday!! Sounds amazing as it should. I can put my mind at ease knowing this is fixed! Thanks again for the video it really did help a lot!!
Thanks for your great video Tony I got an issue 20 board from hotrox for £116.50 and fitted it, Abit fiddly but not too bad, and the amp now works a treat!! I'm going to do your speaker socket mod next and do the bias, many thanks!
It makes the amp be what it always was before any aggro... one of the best around if you tame it right :) Yes do the speaker mod or you can lose the board around that cap that burned on my old board as shown.... Yes it is a little fiddly but you just go steady and its not too bad... I bet it biased up perfectly! Thanks for the info its very useful for other guys too... and thanks for watching.
Hi Tony, Thanks for this video. I have owned a TSL for 15 years.. it has been pretty good but I have taken the opportunity to order issue/ version 20. Hopefully I'll manage the upgrade ok.. oh and your TSL head looks awesome in orange. Cheers cliff
The TSL100 contrary to some opinions is a great amp... I know that too :) Version 20 board solves it all and most likely the previous version amps are for sale really cheap... a great reason to buy them :) You should be able to change that but just make sure there is no voltage in the PCB before you start!.... Thanks for watching.
Tony I appreciate this TSL-100 tutorial. I purchased 2 TSL-100's back in 2005 & only experienced an issue with the DIN connector on the amp's back that the foot switch connects too. Not sure as to what version motherboard PCB I have but if I have issues I will replace with the issue 20. Again thanks for sharing this. All the best to you & yours & stay well !!!
Hi Stan, if they are 2005 they will probably be issue 7 or prior and those all seemed to suffer with the bias problem, some wrong components on some issues, and that burn out capacitor I showed and the 16 Ohm (I think it was) connector and how its set up (but the mod can fix that on the socket). Yes issue 20 absolutely does fix it all. It's a bit fiddly to change and I recommend you photograph the connectors before you start if you can do it... if not put it to a tech. I love the TSL-100 recording tones and some of the best I ever got hence my reason for keeping this amp. Thanks for watching... and for the post.
Yes great sound and great guitar playing ! 25:50 I have original TSL 100 and it has actually been a very great amp. It runs very hot so I always run a fan on it..
Thanks... and for watching too. I agree... I never really got that sound (was recorded here in the studio) from any other amp ever. I used a Ibanez 7VWH original Japanese one from about 2000 era... and that sound just flowed. I used that amp and guitar for a whole album bar a couple of tracks. They can get hot of course... and BTW the 60w sounds very different - I had one later after completing the album at the time and it was not good so I sold that. Bought this one eBay just a few years back but it had the problems you see. Fixed now though. Thanks...
I really like the sounds of the TSL100 (the TSL60 was not the same - I upgraded to the 100 after a friend pointed that out) amp and wanted to get another. As you might know I recovered it in a different video but it needed this board doing really. So I made the video :) Honestly it's not that hard really if you are very careful... I'm still alive and did not die in the process! But I have to say it is better to do for guys that have some sort of electronics background. Thanks for watching and have a great new year.
Glad to see your comments recently. I was worried about you since you haven't done any vid's in a while. I haven't changed my board yet, but I purchased a JHS Angry Charlie which I am liking with the TSL clean channel. However, I got a big surprise. I've been using a Crybaby 535Q for years and the on/off switch was not working correctly. I would turn on the wah & it would sometimes sound very tinny or brittle or not come on at all. I took it completely out of my effects chain - haven't ever done that - and my amp came back to life. I couldn't believe it. So, all the amp knob tweaking and amp cursing and pedal swapping and tonal frustration wasn't the TSL's fault. I almost cried as I've gotten rid of quite a few pedals recently thinking they were hopeless. It was the Crybaby all along. It made me a crybaby in the end.
About 7 weeks in fact, but I had a stonking bad chest and cold... it has been bad, but I am past that now and I appreciate your concern. Ha brilliant answer on the wah pedal... I would not have believed it either but sometimes strange stuff happens :) Keep the TSL it's honestly a great amp (you probably know that though) and why I bought another and fitted the board. Thanks for watching...
Happy New Year Tony. My mean machine is from 2004, and I had to do the same thing. I got the new board from HotRoxUK and saved over $100 by not going through a distributor in the US. I labeled each of the connectors AND took pictures. Lots of pictures. Nice playing on your album by the way.
You are exactly right on the way to get a board. I have other routes to getting a board that most people would not have, but I also saw the boards at Hot Rox too and that is probably the way to go if you're in the USA as an example. The connectors are absolutely multiple so what you did is similar to what I did. And the other issue was those connectors that are only there on the new issue 20 board... there was nothing on the internet about those so hopefully I addressed that. Thanks for the info on yours and for the kind words on the Gravity Waves album. Actually presently we're giving away about 200 of the album for free. Watch for the video... and have a great new year.
You've just described all the issues that I've had with mine! Had mine since 2001. Long story short I sent it to Marshall who did what you did, swapped the board. It now seems great. Doesn't smell like it's going to set the amp on fire! I bet if you opened up a JVM it has probably used a lot of the lessons learned from this amp. Marshall probably had to rename it to get away from its bad rep. I agree with you though that, once fixed, it will sounds great. Marshall charged me £110 and pickup and delivery so not even expensive.
Yes I have been there too! Wow they did a great job for that money! You can pay that just for a board from some suppliers. The board fixes it all! The JVM is reviewed here inside and out: tonymckenzie.com/marshall_jvm410h_review.htm but the better amp (trust me on this) is the JVM410HJS Satriani model and as you will see on this other inside and out review that the board is very different: th-cam.com/video/va-dOzTtq3k/w-d-xo.html Take a look at those two and even the JVM410HJS is also reviewed on my website and that throws a different light on the amp compared to the video review. Great to know that Marshall helped you there... and rest assured the amp is a really great amp when fixed. Stay safe.
YES! Well the other ohm connectors are routed through the 16 Ohm one! hence the posting of that section... if the 16 Ohm loses the connection the amp goes to no load! It's worth checking and look for grey on the connector - seems that can happen as it did on mine. Stay safe.
@@tonymckenzieofficial okay I looked at the schematic and watched the video a few more times. It is very clear now what I need to do! Thank you! I also agree that these are great sounding amps and worth fixing with a motherboard swap if needed. I love the tone!
As with any thing, the more features it has, the more things that can go wrong. I bought a used Marshall Combo amp a G80 something, something. I saw it languish in a Pawn Shop for years. They had $300 written on the tag. I finally walked up, told them I'd pay $125 for it. They hesitated, I said Man she's sat in that corner collecting dust, I've got the cash now. Well they let me have it for $135. It weighs a ton, but it's solid state. It actually sounds great on the Boost channel. I read nothing positive about it on the internet, in the chat rooms, etc. My only problem is the input Jack is connected to the board, so I'm careful when plugging in. I've had it since 2008 no problems. I think the major amp companies made a mistake by placing the tubes, switches, etc, directly on the circuit boards. I know it's "cost effective", saving a few pennies, but I like the old method. Jimmy Page didn't do so bad with his Supra, did he? Any way, I'm into watching the amp repair guys now. There's a cat called Uncle Doug, if you haven't seen him check him out. He reminds me of a school teacher, but he has dry humor. Thanks again, I enjoyed the video.
Interesting about the amp :) a great $135 if you ask me! Tone is subjective anyway, what's good for one guy the next might not like. Agreed on the PCB and power tubes in particular. I had a Peavey MACE head back in the day and it burned the PCB badly because of that - tubes upside down heating the PCB. I know of Uncle Doug of course. I also like Guitologist but only the repair videos - the other stuff is not for me. They are both very good at what they do. Stay safe.
Hi Tony I did try to contact you on your website but no luck so I will try again through TH-cam. I have 2 TSL122'S both of which had to be heavily played with by Marshall to get them working right. The first is from 2004 and the second from 2005 and its a good thing it was done under warrenty. Now the first question I have for you is where did you get your replacement main board from as Marshall are refusing to supply spares for their amps and secondly do you remember now much it was. They are now doing boards at £70+vat, labour £40+vat and pickup charge £24+vat plus any extras they may find, this is for one amp so when you double it you get £321.00 or £168 for the boards with the vat. They are available from the States but myou are looking at over £200 each plus postage and import tax which is 20%. So to the question have you got any bright ideas where I can get two boards with out been taken for a ride????!!!!! Best wishes Owen
Sorry I missed the question before... Well, the boards are not hyper cheap I have to say and since 2020 they have increased also... I know they are for sale at www.hotroxuk.com/marshall-tsl100-main-board.html and their price used to be about £110 + VAT which at the time was reasonable. But as you see currently that board is around £175 inc. VAT which IMO is high in my opinion but everything in the UK has soared over these recent times. Fitting the board is not that difficult but without experience probably not a good idea. Current boards are Issue 20 and that does fix the amp - my amp has been solid ever since the board upgrade. The TSL100 JCM2000 amp is a very good amp and was marred by the bad board situation sadly. I created an album called 'Eniac' on mine back in 2006/7 and to be honest those tones remain some of the best recorded tones that I have got from ANY Marshall amp. Many would tell me I'm nuts... but the guys that know the amp properly will know how good it can be. Me? I would have grabbed them boards at that price especially if you love the amp. Marshall only supply spares to authorised resellers and repairers that are registered with Marshall so I'm not surprised they won't supply the boards. Probably a safety thing. From my experience EVERYTHING Marshall costs more in the USA - and I mean a lot more. Hope this helps (its based on what I know) and if you love the TSL100 its not the worth of the amp, but the value of those tones that made me fix mine. Thanks for watching and do let me know how it all goes...
I ended up getting tired of doing math on amps during biasing and built a small arduino-powered box that uses "Bias Scout" probes to read off the voltages in mV and calculate the idle dissipation. Combined with an internal catalog of popular tube types, and I can dial two tubes independently for the exact % I want without having to run the numbers!
@@tonymckenzieofficial Cheers - I really need to spend some time explaining the wiring for it, but it's fairly straightforward. This was filmed before some improvements made the display less flickery: th-cam.com/video/cJV6CalyffQ/w-d-xo.html Oh, and some footage of the breadboarded prototype here: th-cam.com/video/aYZNA7LpDL0/w-d-xo.html
Yes I took a look - very clever from an Arduino for sure. :) You should make a 4 tube one and get it exactly right and I'm sure you could sell those...
@@tonymckenzieofficial Thanks :D The real bugger is that it relies on all 4 tubes sharing a ground reference, which is a bit concerning if your amplifier has a wiring fault. Doubling up the ADCs and moving to a differential amplifier would help address that, but that leads to the other issue - the utter lack of HV protection circuitry on the meter. So that's something I'd have to deal with - perhaps with some Zener diodes and fusing.
I don't have one and could care less...and I still watched it...been missing you! I'm so sick of paid BS reviews...but have lots of space for your honesty! I see a Univalve in the back...I use mine daily. Have you looked at the mods available for it? Easy to find at google. I'd love to have a 'follow along' vid, like this awesome one, before I try it myself! Very nice playing, by the way.
Hi Dogpa... nice to hear you too! I have some more videos to put here presently too. I too grew tired of those sort of reviews some years ago and decided to show a different view of the stuff I reviewed. Some of those videos you talk about are clearly incorrect about the products they talk about. Hey I have not checked any modding for the THD but that's an interesting point that I will follow up on. Its a pretty simple amp and I'm sure you're right that could have lots of mods... I just never checked. Maybe I could do that re the video. Good idea... it wont be on here tomorrow but I will do that. The track is from my 'Eniac' album of some years ago called Lightpipe AI. I used the original backing on here but replayed the track... not perfect and slightly low in the mix but its near enough :) Thanks for watching and have a great new year!
:) Actually this was a track from my 'Eniac' cd from back in 2006 with the backing off the CD. I had to learn a few bits here and there but I thought it came out well bearing in mind I had not played that for over ten years :) The original really rocks. Thanks for watching...
Yes I really like this amp and now that the board really is solid it won't be going anywhere now :) Yes have a great new year there too for you and your family.
I used to have the 2x12 combo version of this amp. Best sounding amp I ever owned......why oh why did I get rid of it? Great video Tony. Happy New year. ( eBay....TSL....) 😇
See, selling the TSL's of this world are a mistake and one I have made myself. Did I get it from you? (I forget) and if I did you should have kept it :) The amp did not really need the board, but it makes a very useful video and I really enjoyed making this one. Thanks for watching and have a great new year.
I understand that of course. My original never let me down and to be honest this one had not actually failed save for the little cap and that speaker mod that did need doing... but the fix shown here solves it all and the amp becomes really good. For the cost these days it ends up being a really great amp... thanks for the info and for watching.
Well, you see that many guys knock the TSL amps. I think really that relates to the reliability of the PCB and bias. This amp I did update, but back in about 96/97 I had the original board in one and recorded some really great tones - honestly, they were some of the best tones I have ever recorded... so I bought this amp you see for a few hundred pounds and replaced the board in this video. I still have the amp and it works perfectly with 'that' tone. I did have a 60 some years before that but it was slightly different and a friend advised the 100w. So I bought that and basically have had one since. Hang on to the TSL if yours is fine... thanks and thanks for watching.
Hi Tony! I recently changed the mainboard of my JCM2000 TSL100 by JCM2 60 00 REV20. I noticed that it has two new ports CON.CON15 and CON16. Supposedly the connections would be Con15 to con21 lead board Con 16 to con 22 lead board.. But on the LEAD board the last pore is the CON20 Could you explain to me why and what these new CON15 and 16 ports are for? Since I have nowhere to connect them in the LEad circuit. Thank you for your attention and all the information in the video. congratulations for the work and for your music. Really appreciated
I did cover that in the video somewhere (I think towards the end). for the ports that you don't have the wires for you don't fit anything... look closer and they are replications of other connectors that you use. If I remember one related to a bias thing (been a long time since I did it) but none of them matter. I was in a similar dilemma at the time until I looked at the schematic :) Let me know if this answer does not hack it for you and then I'll dig to find the answer I posted on my channel... and thanks for watching. These JCM2000 are actually a good amp that was spoiled a little with the earlier revision board but this one does fix it all. Thanks
@@tonymckenzieofficial This TSL JCM 200 head (my is 2003)I believe is one of the best ever made by Marshall. has this clinical problem of bias drifting but everything seems to be solved with this new main board. Since my amp started to give a problem only now, and it took a lot of road in several shows all over the country. THX Tony for a long attention !!! Best Regards
This is a track I wrote on an album back in 2006 called Lightpipe AI from my Eniac album... there are a few like this on there and I loved the sound I got at the time in the studio with just this amp and a wah pedal :). Thanks for the kind words and stay safe.
You get a 'colder' tone and the tubes will last longer. Over bias a 'hotter' tone maybe more distortion from power tubes and shorter life for the tubes. Thanks.
Thanks Tony you saved my TSL from the skip!! Changed the board myself and biased as you did, it's like a new amp now, the boards become conductive over time apparently. Underrated amp, I gigged mine for six years before this happened Mine started red plating tubes Then went pop when I turned it on and two valves wouldn't even warmup. Sad news I've recently seen a video of the JVM starting to suffer the same fate, and the power transistor boards of the solid state Marshalls the Guitologist does a video on these solid states I've started leaving my valve amps at home, I use a boss katana head Now it's very good maybe not as good but plenty good enough And very rewarding and enjoyable to play in a band mix , plenty loud enough on the 50watt setting. I'm Hoping Boss didn't get their boards from Marshalls supplier I've seen a wazzacraft head and cab for sale for £1000 ex demo Mmm
Well done - the TSL100 is a very under rated amp and I made my 'Eniac' album on that amp back in 2006 - it still sounds so good on those tracks. Did you also do the output mod on the 16 Ohm connector - its in the video. Katana works and that's a fact. Ha I doubt Boss even talk to Marshall :) I own a Wazza Head (the 150 watt) and a 2x12 cab... Ormskirk? that is where mine came from. If it is there they are pretty perfect gear and I still have that head. Very well made... a bit toppy maybe but you can get good tones from it. Did you see my review? Here: th-cam.com/video/fHKQMHFV63o/w-d-xo.html Well saved on the TSL. Thanks for watching and Stay safe.
I need zero converting :) Recorded on the TSL100: th-cam.com/video/P_kLLgOGP-A/w-d-xo.html and : th-cam.com/video/AqV74q1lLUk/w-d-xo.html a great amp and worth keeping. Brilliant for recording tones. Stay safe.
Yep the screen grid pin is right next to the control grid pin (3 or 4 mm distance) which has the negative bias on it which is being dragged more positive by the 400 or so volts on the neighbouring screen grid pin via the board material. this in turn biases the valve further into conduction which makes things hotter and the run away condition it created. remember valves are a high impedance device so grid bias can be changed with very little current...
Thanks for the info Terry. I have seen guys do the cut out mod on the board etc. but I just changed the board and that solves things forever :) but thanks for the posting as all info is good. Thanks for watching too.
Not the best idea having power valves sockets soldered to PCB's. I believe Marshell has fixed this issue once and for all with the current or latest version of the DSL100 and no longer has the EL34 sockets mounted on the board and also uses a digital reverb cct in it instead of the spring.
I have not checked them. But some while ago I did have a comment to Santiago Alvarez (designer of the 410H head among others) and he commented that the sockets on the board were 'no problem' or words to that effect here: tonymckenzie.com/afd100_review.htm and he specifically said 'The transmission of heat by conduction through the pins is not too big as the pins are relatively small. Main heat source is convected and radiated, blocked by the chassis in a combo. In a head the heat tends to go up away, so the PCB would run quite cool and definitely much lower than the temperature it could withstand' so that was the official answer from the designers. Not a DSL of course but an interesting review with designer comments on there.
As long as the board does not demonstrate a PTC effect from any heat that does transfer down from the pins their shouldn't be a problem. From what i can tell the original boards in the DSL's must have been fine also when new, ..but over the course of time the board material they were using must deteriorate. The DSL I repaired a few years back for a guitarist friend of mine was a very sick animal indeed. Everything was getting really hot and and the o/p valves were redplating. The bias was impossible to adjust and it was going into an out of control thermal runnaway condition which i'm sure would have resulted in the HT fuse blowing had i left it running for any extended time. At the time a replacement main board was just too expensive to have shipped to Australia via the local marshall dealer. So i etched a separate circuit board to contain the bias cct, signal coupling and grid blockers and drilled out all four the G1 connections out of the main board. (good old air insulation!! ) Big modification I know but the results were favourable and way cheaper. Since doing that the amplifier has been running fine biased to around 75mV per side, way cooler !! I have suggested to him to get the new issue 20 board If he does plan on keeping it. :)
You describe exactly the TSL100 board problems too - just reading around on the net there have been so many problems with the early boards. So from your experience I would say they were all the same thing basically. Ha I watched various mods but decided that because I live in the UK it was easier to get the board. I did have a way of getting it less than the sort of street price here though. Overall whatever works I guess is fine and I can tell you have been around the boards :) probably far more practise than me :) Fitting the board is not that hard though so for me that was the best answer. I can recommend the board it fixes everything and the amp sounds just like when I first bought it. Thanks for all this info.. over time loads of guys read what's on here and it all helps in general I guess.
Those boards it seems are now hard to find :( hotrox in the UK had them but seem now to be short on supply. Anyone know of a source for these boards? Post it here - and thanks for watching.
I never did the biasing on the Hagen although the video shows the area. you have to go inside but it might be worth a go. I'm pretty confident I will survive.. even on a Hagen :) Have a great new year and thanks for watching.
@@tonymckenzieofficial I isolated the no 5 pin on tubes V5 thru V8 with a dremel plenty of air now around pin and ran a bypass to resistor on old board .. now when amp heats up bios is stable sounds a 100 times better and put a new set of Groove tube EL34M medium tubes i will use it like that for now and see how it works until I can get a ver 20 board .. you can do that too the board you took out will fix bios issues Thanks Ben
I have seen similar before Ben... but thanks for the posting. Check the 16 Ohms speaker out and link it as I showed in the end of the video... it loads the cap up as I showed and can zap the PT. Hope it helps... and thanks for the info. Stay safe.
@@tonymckenzieofficial Tony I did not buy a new board for mine . I did isolate the pins but it was mainly that 16ohm plug , crazy what a poor design ... but I do put a turbo fan blowing at the back of my amp . I will buy the Dr. tube bias kit too isolate the bios board and capacitors for $50 USD they say eventually those Ver 20 boards do the something on the tracking . try setting at 90mv for the bios it sounds so much better thats what this amp is design for with Marshall the hotter the tubes the better they sound .. my friend had an early 70s Marshall head you could cook an egg on top but it sounded incredible that thick brown sound
Well thank you Joseph.... I did not quite get the mix right on this recording but if you watch here: th-cam.com/video/C4WLh0vYaIs/w-d-xo.html where I get it exactly as the record :) and thanks for watching.
Check this one (in UK) but you can order them from Marshall dealers. Thanks: www.hotroxuk.com/marshall-tsl100-main-board.html they have screwed the price high IMO, but you can buy them there. Thanks.
Tony. I had several of these over an 11 year period. Only one gave me a problem. I gigged these and made an album with them in 2008. (Comfort In Fear by Heroes Of Switzerland). What shocked me about the TSL series is that the 100 watt was quite a good amp. But the FX loop was terrible. Whereas the TSL60 has a superior FX loop. Although I had this weird method of running the 60 at 4 O Clock on the master volume while keeping the gain and Chanel volumes at 12 O Clock. The other major issue is that footswitch. I used to go through two a year without fail.
A great sounding amp that I too used on an album from 2006 and some in 2008 also. The 60 sounded weird to me though so I flipped and stayed with the 100 but never used the loop really... Thanks for the info Sebastian about these TSL amps - mine never did fail, but I did find problems lurking on the motherboard - which I changed out as you saw here. I still have that amp, but I never had any other problem - but mine was studio based and you're out there - and that's a massive difference. All good stuff... and thanks for watching.
Hello Mate, thanks for the video!!! I got this amp and gain is so weak, gain is almost 9 on the crucnh channel but there is no gain at least, preamp tubes also new.. but result is same i wonder that have you any video that kind of problem? By the way i faced same issue with all channels , clean-crunch and lead😢
Put a signal in to the return of the loop and see if you can get any volume... maybe by using a preamp of another amp... send out from other amp loop and in to return on this amp. If its OK then, there's a preamp problem, and if not OK power amp trouble... you did not say whether the 'clean' volume can go loud or not?
Well 2006 is at the end of the 'bad' earlier boards from what I believe. I think that in 2007 the newer revision came out. But maybe if you call Marshall and ask which revision board is in there it might be the answer... Thanks for watching.
great vid Tony very informative, I have a dsl 100 head, its bias was crazy runaway, got newer board from marshall and fitted slowly but surely but now is ROCK steady and bias is solid, will prob keep now great amp and gets great gary moore tones using crunch on classic gain with an overdrive pedal. jeff beck also uses but bet his techs have long replaced the board revision
Yes they are great amps once you do it all. My original had no issues back in 2006 when I did the recording but I guess by this time it might have now wherever it is. Thanks for the info and for watching.
Great Video, thanks you a lot, that guided me to change the board of my TSL 100 with the issue 20, but unfortunately i still have the same issue, bias drift even with the new board, so be careful with yours
Hmm I would go and look again at your amp. Every guy I have spoken with when fitting the rev board I showed has not had that problem since? It is difficult to advise you other than you go back and take a look. If that is a new board, I would also call Marshall because you have warranty and support for it that should cost you little or nothing to get the answers that you need if that is persisting. Do let me know what happens... thanks. Stay safe.
@@tonymckenzieofficial thanks you so much, I wrote a message to Hot Rox UK, i buyed it there, waiting the answer. The board is new and i'm 100% sure i didn't made conexion mistakes, but perhaps i had a problem coming from another part of the amp. Have a nice day :-)
I would not mess about with them... contact Marshall amps in Milton Keynes... their support is good. There has to be something going on there somehow... I can't really advise myself, but honestly contact Marshall in the UK. Here's the number: +44(0)1908 375411 and I hope it helps. If you don't get anywhere come back to me... thanks and stay safe.
@@tonymckenzieofficial thanks you tony, i finally bring it for repair and that was what i suspected, the bias card, the solderings where cracked, so there was no conduction. Now the amp works very well. I'm happy 😁😊 I buyed a torpedo x and it works very well with another amp a custom made in france amp, but don't sound as good with the Marshall, the Marshall sounds better with the speaker than the loadbox IR. I will work with speakers and micking ;-) Have a nice day And stay safe.
You mean that little board... they can give trouble for sure. Well the Marshall should sound OK? Try some different IR's etc. there are a few 'free' sample ones on the celestion site... good to know you got there in the end anyway. These are really cool amps. Stay safe.
I don't know where you are based but ANY Marshall authorized dealer can order them. I also know these guys in the UK have them: www.hotroxuk.com/marshall-tsl100-main-board.html seems his price has increased a bit but it's still a pretty good deal if you have board problems on the TSL100 - mine is perfect these days. Hope it helps and thanks for watching . Stay safe.
Originally I was a mechanical engineer until I reached 20... then moved in to far more specialised things. Later still I started in computing in around 1980. I learned a lot in that next decade with involvement with Singaporean manufacturing of PC's. The next decade I worked in networking and from 2000 RF technologies. However, over the years I have built amplifiers and learned a lot the hard way, but I'm no expert on tube amps and you have to be careful with all that internal power. I also in the early 90's became a class 1 radio amateur and learned a lot about electronics getting that license which I found very interesting to complete - in those days you had to also pass the Morse code test which I learned and passed in three months with the help of an Atari computer :) The Eniac album was written really a number of years after I decided to never bother with a true band situation on the road so to speak. I had enough of whiners, no commitment from others, I was always paying... well many guys will know the sort of thing that made me not bother. In some ways after about 2000 I started to focus on changing the way I played and I spent a long time figuring out how to create a tapping style that was played differently than all the others out there. I did get to grips with that, and the Eniac album (here: itunes.apple.com/gb/album/eniac/id213841144 ) (at least the tracks that are not fillers - mainly the first 70% of tracks) was the result. If you listen to some of that - tracks like 'Takedown' are riddled with that style I developed and the track 'Lightpipe AI' also showed it off. Alan Bruce was vocals and Bass on that album, but by 2008 we had developed an altogether different style in an album called 'Berner Street'.. (Here: itunes.apple.com/us/album/berner-street/313642615 ) much darker as it was written about Jack the Ripper and we spent eons doing the research. Gravity Waves (Here: itunes.apple.com/gb/album/gravity-waves/1140579625 ) was scheduled to come out in 2013-14 but prostate cancer put me back a number of years and that was completed in 2016, but again that album was actually more diverse than the Eniac album I originally wrote those years before. Your one line question actually has a myriad of answers that I could actually fill a page replying to :) Thanks for watching and glad you liked it.
You can buy it in England if you're here... from here: www.hotroxuk.com/marshall-tsl100-main-board.html but if you are not in the UK then ask any main Marshall dealer and they can order it. BTW That board on the link seems to have increased in price quite a lot... I don't necessarily recommend anything except that is where I have seen them for sale. Seems a bit high on price. Thanks.
Not sure where you are based but if the UK here: www.hotroxuk.com/marshall-tsl100-main-board.html and USA (I think) here: britishaudio.com/products/marshall-tsl100-main-pcb-board-rev-20 the board solved it all for me and others I have spoken to... hope it helps and thanks for watching.
No I don't believe the TSL60 suffers from the bias problem that the early TSL100's did. I did have a TSL60 at one stage but it did sound a little different too than the TSL100 IMO. Thanks.
Did you mic up the amp or use the direct emulated output? I'm goin to change the board on mine as two middle valves have stopped heating up but the fuses haven't blown in the heater curcuit Great video
Some times I mic it up and others DI... but on this video I specifically used an AKG microphone in to a desk then mixed to the video camera... always watch my videos and if you see a mic in front of the cab on video its likely that I used it. Yes sounds like you have issues there, but it really is worth the effort of replacing that board... just make sure the connectors are put back in the right place (it is fiddly) and you will be fine. It biased up after the board replacement perfectly and sounded great. Thanks for watching.
Side note: if you want a more tidy bypass on the 16 ohm jack, it's pretty quick to pop the rear board out and flip it over to solder a wire across the two pins underneath the jack.
I got a 100w jcm2000 dsl new in 2006 it wss my road dog for 10 years i had it serviced every 6 months it never let me down im retired now but its still going i guess ive been luckey good info thanks cheers j w
I do believe the DSL did have similar issues (but I have never experienced it with DSL) - in any case the board fixes it all and the amp is really good now... great recording tones for sure... thanks for watching.
Mr. McKenzie. Important question...First, AWESOME video. I have been fortunate enough to pick up a JCM2000 DSL100. Luckily, it was made in 2009 and to my relief, the main board is Issue number 20!! Woo Hoo!! My question is, my cabinet is a 16 ohm cab. As long as I continue to use that cabinet, can I put off doing the 16 ohm speaker jack fix until I decide to use an 8 ohm cabinet. As long as I have that 16 ohm jack plugged in, will it ground properly? I hope you see this question and give me the sage advice you are known for. Thank you sir for all your awesome videos!
Hi, It should ground OK as long as you are using the 16 Ohms speaker out. The 16 ohm grounding is carried forward to the other two speaker outs... and what happens is that when the 16 ohm ground fails (it will) then you are left without an ground to the other two outs... basically leaving the amp with no load on the output. This is why its so critical to stop that. Obviously if you're using the 16 ohm that will be OK. Good question thanks.
tonymckenziecom Thank you for the reply! That is exactly as I thought. That if I ever switched to a different ohm rated cab, being that the 16 ohm jack works as the only ground for all the jacks, that if the “spring action” fails on that jack, bye bye output transformer. I may do the fix anyway soon just to be safe. Cheers!
Speedforhire The first lettter is M which means made in England, the number right after the M is definitely 2009. Much like vehicles, if it is made in November, they consider it the NEXT year. So mine was probably made in November 2008 but they consider it a 2009 model. Plus it has Made In England on the back of my amp. Also the front says JCM2000 on the left and in very small letters on the right just underneath the input it says DSL 100. When they outsourced them to Korea they stopped using JCM2000 I believe. I think it was January of 2009 they outsourced production to Korea.
Has it been proven that the PCBs are conductive? Or is this just a theory? I have two TSL60s and they're my favorite amps. I'd also like to have a Marshall DSL50. I just love the distortion sound they make. Personally I think they made these amps too complicated. For example I wish they just had the lead channel. No Effects loop. No Deep or Tone Shift. And no reverb. Didn't Steve Grindrod design these amps? Anyway I can't help but think that maybe Marshall used some cheap resistors, capacitors or maybe the wrong value bridge rectifier.
Not by me... but that is what I heard. You will note that the TSL100 and the DSL100 both have the same issue... except for the later issue 20 boards. Yes I think the TSL100 when set up 'just right' sounds incredible and I used mine back in 2006 for a whole album - I never beat those recorded tones with any amp really. They DID mod the board - that issue 20 is different enough to stop the problems once and for all from my experience. On the earlier boards they had different resistors, there's a cap that burns (its in this video) and that cap then burns the board etc. If you love the amp (and I get your points on those 'extras' that I don't use either) it's probably worth the investment... and check that 16 Ohm speaker connector for sure. I think Steve might have designed this amp - but I can't be sure - I never checked that. BTW I never saw any of the internet 'fixes' for the bias runaway really solve it all once and for all... they spent a long time messing around (some guys even drilled the boards) with some incredible and technical fixes when the issue 20 board solves it all quicker and it just works. Thanks John and stay safe.
Yes John, Steve Grinrod designed the DSL100... it was the last amp he designed for Marshall before he left to start his Albion brand amplifiers. The DSL was a rush-job design to complete with the Mesa Dual Rectifier, but the PCB (G10/FR4) used in the earlier amps had some sort of organic material in the board that caused them to be conductive at higher temperatures, especially where there is a large voltage difference. Unfortunately, most of the replacement boards suffer from the same issue as the earlier boards (I can't speak for the newer 20 series). To combat the problem, you can basically isolate the output tube grid pins from the PCB. The output tube screen pins (#4) are at around +450v and the input grid pins (#5) are at -55v. When the amp gets warm, the-55v creeps back towards 0v. This causes the bias to be so high that I've actually seen the glass actually melted. With the grid pins are completely isolated, there is no chance for them to be pulled high by the higher voltage pins around them. I know Steve was upset that these amps weren't really given the usual time to work out any bugs in the design, which is normal R&D protocol, as Marshall were in a hurry to get these amps to market. It could have been one of the reasons why he split from Marshall. Steve also designed the 2203/2204 two-input Master Volume models in 1976 if you weren't aware of that already. Hope this has been helpful. Regards 🎸
Hello Tony , thanks for all your good work . Don't you agree that Marshall , knowing all their early mother-boards were sub standard , should supply "goods of a merchantable quality" free of charge ?
That's a good point and manufacturers should stand behind their products of course. But there has to be a limit of time? right? Think of it this way, Marshall Amplification is a business. Their liability (based on UK and European law) is for a 'reasonable period', but if you could prove that the product has an inherent fault then in law you have a case for redress. The problem of course though is really that after period X then really the user has the responsibility of pursuing the claim for redress. For example if the board was proven to be a bad design. What do I think personally? Well, I am a business guy and I tend to think that bearing in mind my amp was made in 2004 and has never actually failed in nearly 14 years I don't really mind buying a board. It puts my mind at rest about what could happen having read what's on the internet. I don't really have the time (or inclination) to even bother Marshall for the cost of the board (in my case it was less than some might buy them) and I turned the 'problem' in to a case for helping others by making a video of how to do it which I feel is a good thing to do. If someone really wanted to go through the rigmarole of pursuit of a replacement board then I am sure that Marshall would take each case on its merits and act accordingly - I have never found them to be negative in any of my communications with them about anything. This was a good question because it actually has many answers... under law, reasonableness, what someone expects, warranty and much more. Remember that many of these very amps are working out there still without ANY real issues that are discernible but that could change of course and certainly would have if the amp was used in arena's every day. Have a great new year and thanks for watching.
I had the 40w JCM2000 DSL401 C combo and I loved the boost gain channel. I believe this is just a triple channel version of the same amp circuit right Tony? If it wasn't for me getting my Silver Jubilee, I would had kept hold of it. Bloody brilliant sounding amp for the harder rock gain sound. I love what you've done to this one and it sounded brilliant. Quick question Tony dude, would you be able to do a guitar update video as I know you've got some beauties I would love to see in greater depth. I've still got that LP Classic Custom that I put the gold hardware and 490/498 humbuckers in that I showed you about a year ago. I actually weighed it and it came in at 10.4lb's
Cant be sure Dan I have not seen inside a DSL40.. but probably at least a similar board. The TSL60 was not as good as the TSL100 (I had a 60 before my original 100). The amps drive well I think too. Indeed, I intend to make a video of the whole caboodle soon... watch for it and I'll go through them all :) 490 and 498 are really classic pickups that will give you that Gibson sound for sure I like those actually... not too toppy and a REAL Les Paul tone. 10.4 lbs is about right if its not been lightened inside (I'm not sure about that for the model). Use a wide strap and its all good :)... Thanks Dan and good to hear you.
I have a few questions regarding power tubes for this amp. 1) will it adversely affect it's operation to replace the tubes with two matched pairs rather than a quad (splitting the pairs opposite the phases from each other to keep the overall gain balanced)? 2) would using 6L6s instead of EL34s cause any harmful issues? I plan on using EL34s and bias to 90mV, but I was just curious...
I would not be too worried about two matched pairs as long as they stay 'matched' in their respective places. But don't just put 6L6 tubes in this amp... I certainly don't recommend that unless some tech has worked on the amp to make that acceptable... and then you would see 6L6 in there. The EL34 IMO has probably the Marshall sound that most people could think as a Marshall 'sound' too so best kept that way. Just fitting 6L6 will cause aggro if fitted in to an unmodified amp I believe. The 90mv seems about right although I tend to look towards 70-75mv so there is a bit of leeway. Hope it helps and thanks for the post.
@@tonymckenzieofficial thank you so much! Your videos are a delight to watch, and so informative. While I'm not a qualified or licensed guitar amp technician, I know enough about electronics having been an avionics technician for 20 years. I understand and respect the dangers of working with high voltage circuits. Id figure i would have to rebias per spec for 6L6s, if those were to be tried. I've heard those have a more "American" or "Modern" sound, as they are often used in Mesa and Peavey amps. I just ordered some NIB Marshall-branded (JJ) matched quad EL34s. Hopefully I'll be up and running soon! Thanks again! Cheers!
Just an update: I changed my tubes (EHX) with some Marshall branded JJ's, biased to 90mV. Sounded great. I then did some redecorating, replacing the front with an aluminum honeycomb grill and classic block letter "Marshall" badge (wanting to show off the glow of the tubes, and make it my own). I'm very careful with electronics; I never touch components, leads, or solder joints, unless ESD strapped to ground. I've worked on aircract avionics and electronics for over 20 years. I take as much care as possible handling the tubes. So, imagine my surprise and horror when my speakers begin crackling and popping as two of my newly purchased tubes' shields start glowing and arching! I suspect redplating and runaway bias, but have yet had time to inspect it for damage to the boards. The model was made in 2006, but I can't find a revision number. The motherboard seems to be an updated opaque, all green version. Please, let me know your thoughts. Thanks again! Love your videos!
I think I made mine to about 70mV at the time (forgot its been a while), and it could be the problematic biasing... my amp was I think 2005/6 or something around there look for issue 20 - if its issue 5/6/7 then likely a problem. Also examine that capacitor I mention in here that was burned off my board - that also is trouble and I did show how to solve that cause. Honestly, I dislike JJ tubes and that is the ONLY brand I ever have had trouble with since 1971. Marshall use them currently in new amps too. They stopped using Svetlana some while back. You will find the issue number on the board as I showed in this video. If it is an old one then check that bias again now and see what it is. If its way out and the tubes are gone because of the bias then I would get a board. My amp has been perfect ever since and without issue. The TSL100 (JCM2000) is a great amp that some don't like, but usually because of that bias problem... once you solve it that amp works brilliantly and probably won't give you any trouble then. Hope it helps and do let me know what you find... thanks.
@@tonymckenzieofficial thank you so much for taking the time and offering your experience and expertise. This Amp has been both a blessing and a curse lately. She will be named "The Diva" henceforth. I will be replacing the board with the Rev 20. I'll take the tubes to a tech to see if they're still usable... if not, I'm going to have to settle with what I can find on a budget. That board will set me back about $200 (approx 175 pounds). It's an investment, I know. Thanks again!
Oh Christ. I have this amp and I love it so much! :D I've tear it apart probably 10 times to the last screw. I've done probably 20 mods to it. Great great amp :) Mine is from 04.2006 (newer PCBs) My Mainboard is ISS 10. Issue 10 doesn't have the bias drift trouble :)
Be careful... I believe there is an issue 5, 6 and 7 and then a jump to issue 20 of the board as shown on the schematics I used. You just might be correct... but I think that there is no issue 10? You have to check very carefully. Mine was a 2004 amp and it had an issue 6 (if I remember)... but fitting the issue 20 board solves near enough everything except that cap blow and I show in the video how to solve that... thanks for watching and do let me know about that board...
I'm 100% positive it's issue 10. I will send you images of my amp and insides. Tony, you have to put choke in there. R71 on the mainboard. I have 10H choke. Waaay better power supply now. I know there was ISS 3 and 4 too :)
Well if it is I would like to get a picture of the main board issue number printed on there so I can add to this... you can contact me via tonymckenzie.com/contact.htm and then send me a pic... but don't go to great lengths to do it... just when you have time etc. and thanks for the info. I have not seen issue 3 or 4 either and I only had the diagram you see on there. I have fitted chokes to the JVM410H historically and for that amp it was hardly noticeable... indeed on that amp I never got a good sound. Thanks for the info and have a great new year.
Mine has a serial number from 2005 and also shows what looks like Issue 10. I don't use the amp too much but when I have it's been stable. My 2002 JCM 2000 DSL 100 on the other hand... bias drift was very real there. I replaced that one (also Issue 20) and it's been great.
Thanks for this video, it helped me a lot already. I still have a question, the TAD website recommends to use only winged C tubes on this amp because the heater current at start up is supposed to blow a fuse when used with JJ or mullard stlyle el34s and the winged C is supposed to be less "picky" about the placement of components on the board where other tubes could start to oscillate. i do have a rather late model (built in 2006) do you recon they fixed this issue in the newer boards or do i have to get the 200 quid svetlana tubes? kind regards
I did not see that comment before... and I have personally never really had any issues with the TSL100 but as the video mentions thousands have. Maybe that applies to earlier boards? But the issue 20 seems perfect to me. Do you know what revision board is in the amp? Anything lower than issue 20 might be a problem... but as I said, even on the board I pulled out I never really saw any tube problems personally. As you will have seen though, that capacitor was burned because the 500v max voltage on the component is too low. The 1000v on the new board fixed that. Hope it helps. Thanks.
@@tonymckenzieofficial thanks! maybe your cooler bias might have done the trick, i think the factory recommendation is 90mv per pair which seems rather hot to me. i've seen the placement of components on issue 20 is a little different from the '98 specs. Probably fixed those issues. I didn't find any data on which issue was implemented from which year on so i won't get around screwing it open to check. Yeah i'll change c46 for a 1000V one and try a quartett of TAD el34b STR which i really enjoyed in 800s and plexis. maybe at around 80mV.
@@niklasoswald7937 I never set any of it up to 90mv and I do think that's too far... but what do I know. I think the place in the video is where to be... and on my plexi video (measured differently) I think that was about 37 per tube...
Scarily.... I DID buy a little board from a USA company many years ago to make the BIAS adjustable. I 'found' it much later just in a drawer in the studio, so decided to check back with that company but they no longer made it. Somewhere here I have it... if I get chance to dig it out maybe I'll show it and show the method of conversion etc... works on a number of Boogie amps... strangely I never did fit it though (probably too idle for the 'gains' achievable so never bothered) and I guess they probably did not sell many so they stopped making the kit. It was not expensive and you did not actually need the kit to do a conversion to being adjustable. I think mine was for a triple recto at the time... but they are likely 'similar'. In any case I'll take a look and if I find it (who knows) then I'll make a quick video - biut won't be fitting it, just showing what to do. Thanks and great question...
I really liked your video, thank you so much it was very helpful and very informative. I have a TSL100 and I been having some problems with noise on the FX loop and it has small drop in volume !!!! which its very common in these amps I was wondering if you had these any problems on the old PCB or the new one because I think the FX loop its not on the mainboard, but i dont know maybe you can tell us a little more about the FX loop. Another think that I wanted to ask you is: Did you feel that with new board change your tone ,more headroom maybe or more punch ?? does it feel more quiet , less hiss , more bottom end ?? no change at all? whatever you feel please let us know!!! by the way you tone on that album my god its really good I love it !!!!!! I think the same the Marshall TSL100 its the best amp if it works right !!! and last but not least maybe you can talk about more mods I been thinking about those mods that are very common like the change of transformer , the choke or any other mod that you like!!! thank you so much and keep Rocking!!!
I hate to say this... but I personally don't use the loop. Years ago I did but I have long forgotten about how it was exactly. The new board sounded exactly like the old board but it has no technical issues with bias. Gravity Waves album used many amps, guitars and guitars to achieve the mix of sounds throughout the album. Every track is actually different and as much as anything those tracks were written around the different tones and 'feel' that each combination offered me. Its one reason why I really like many amps. The best two tracks from this amp are here: th-cam.com/video/P_kLLgOGP-A/w-d-xo.html in the form of Lightpipe AI... and here: th-cam.com/video/AqV74q1lLUk/w-d-xo.html in the form of Metropolis. The TSL100 JCM2000 is shown with IMO incredible tones and that's why I bought this one again (I sold the original years ago) and fixed it all up... they are incredible guitar amps and those tracks show that tone off I think. I have changed transformers on Marshall amps but never really noticed any discernible tone difference. Same with choke's in particular on the 410H. Listen to the tones above on these tracks and tell me those are not incredible tone... to my ears they are... all from an unmodified TSL100! :) Hope you like the sound and do come and let me know.
It seems impossible, i' ve searched everywhere at marshall firm too nothing to do, maybe i will save the ot trafo power unit and tubes and i will build a jcm 800 clone
Hey Tony, I loved your video, Mucho appreciated. Any way you could give out complete Part # . If you already have, My apologies but I didn't catch it. In process of locating 2 for purchase and I want to make sure I'm getting the correct boards.
Tony, glad your back. i missed your videos. I love my DSL100 and wanted to know if anybody makes a DSL clone or equivalent? The DSL I have is the original JCM 2000 version and have been looking something newer. I appreciate your help in advance.
I have been here all the time :) Actually I don't know of anyone making a clone of the DSL. Ceriatone don't make one. BTW the TSL board is the same one fitted to the DSL and you could update the board if you wanted to as this video shows. Remember my comments about the TSL... 'it remains the best amp I have ever used'. Have a wonderful new year and thanks for watching.
Great video I've been lookng for this infomation for long time, but i have some questios: Its the same for the DSL ? And did marshall correct this desing in some later version of the JCM 2000 ? I want to buy a 2000 and the first thing I am going to chek is the motherboard, thank you.
I believe the REPLACEMENT board is the same as the DSL but don't quote me. I can advise on the original DSL board... not seen one. The JCM2000 (TSL100 same amp) has boards prior to 2007 generally as problematic. Hence I changed this for revision 20. Thanks for watching.
Let's get one thing clear.... NO ONE offers anything to me for free... I went out after watching bodge after bodge on forums, the internet and other places and bought a board. There are MANY forums that 'blame' the material as there is a clear difference between the old and the new boards re materials. Subsequently, this video is the result of me solving the problem in a way that banishes the issue forever. Whatever anyone might say with fix this or fix that - none of it works! Watch this video and the singular answer you need is called issue 20!
@@tonymckenzieofficial But in your opinion shouldn't Marshall replace all the motherboards for free or almost free? It's the user or second hand user that should spend more money to fix a problem that should never ever happen? Because if the amp isn't repair the amp will not be 100% tone wise and will only will cause more problems and make the amp user spend more money.
No I don't think so. My board was dated 2004 (or something like that) and I changed it out at the date of this video way beyond any warranty periods or indeed any period that could ever be deemed as reasonable. At something like 10 years of age would you really consider that Marshall has any liability? Clearly had it failed within the warranty periods - which are generous (at least in the UK) then I am absolutely convinced that Marshall would have stood by their products and repaired or replaced the amp. Here's a question, if you bought a car and it worked fine until ten years later, then you noticed the trunk did not quite close properly would you really insist the maker has a liability for that? Ha after looking in to some 'major player' amps recently I'll stick with Marshall - at least I know where they come from and I'm not somehow given the 'assembled in' argument to chew over. And from what I see of some of the insides some of that stuff is actually worse (yes really) made with problems I would have never have thought reasonable than Chinese made products - but at three or four times the price. Bearing in mind the age of these amps getting over 15 to 18 years old it did not bother me at all to buy a replacement board. Here's to another 20 years... :)
@@tonymckenzieofficial No the problem here is that 15 years ago you didnt have all the information acess that you have now, and there was a time delay until this problem start to happen and be dicovered, maybe 3 years, the warranty period. But Im shure that if the first amp owner knew about this problem at the time he would claim that in the warranty period. Im sure that someone during this period of time of warranty of 3 years complaint about this problem to Marshall, and Marshall realized the problem but kept quiet and ignored this issue for all other users. The cost to change alot of main boards, would be huge for Marshall.
The thing is Roderigo, that is pure conjecture and we will never know the exact 'facts' regarding this board. You CANNOT be 'sure' that someone during the warranty period complained about this issue? But in any case, what I can say to you, is that I have seen high flyer 'manufacturers' recently with an internal board that would turn your stomach if you knew what they let through their 'quality' checks on brand new recently released tube amplifiers. I don't really think Marshall are within a 1000 years of the extremely bad stuff I have seen recently... Indeed I could show you on here... but if I did that 'brand' might have a problem so better that I don't. Thanks...
I love my TSL100s. I've owned it about 11 or 12 times and currently have three taking up space. Two of them had the bias drift issues and I replaced the board too. The third is a 1999 and weirdly seems to be perfectly fine. I have a new board in the cupboard though should it ever go wrong or I get a few hours free to get into it. Seriously one of my favourite amps.
Thanks for the info Jon... its my favourite amp too and can create some incredible tones. I originally sold the original but bought this about a year ago. The TSL60 I had briefly never did sound like the 100 watt either. Thanks and gave a great new year.
Does the effects loop have problems Tony? I heard it effects tone and volume when engaged! Also if your just using 16ohm connection it shouldn’t be a problem, is that correct?
I have not seen problems on the effects loop. For my use to be honest I rarely use the loop for what I do, I mic it all up and apply effects later on the desk. If you're using just the 16 Ohm connector you 'might' be OK... but to be honest if the 16 Ohm does fail (they go a sort of grey colour on the ground strip) then the amp would be in a bad way. I highlighted this because it's simple enough to fix. Good point on the Loop. Thanks for watching.
haha.... Wish I had this video a while ago. I clipped C46 and isolated the pins on the tube sockets from the board and changed the 220k resistors to 5k6. I believe theres 4. Been a year or two. 65mv per side is what I was able to do. It stayed consistent and sounds great.
Well reading it and actually having to do it are two different things. Listening to people that have NOT completed the update really can make guys do things that are not really necessary. I have not had a single issue since changing the board so in many ways this issue 20 in reality has fixed any need to start drilling stuff. Everyone has their own ideas of course, but had I followed some of the hair brained ideas posted online it could well have taken up tens of hours for a 'fix' that is really a bodge rather than a fix. People drilling issue 20 should look elsewhere as to problems maybe. Issue 5 WILL get that problem - and maybe the 16 Ohm problem too. Look for the grey colour on the 16 Ohm connector, seems a sure fire way of knowing there is a problem. Thanks for the info Tim and stay safe.
Check the serial number firstly which tells you... this one was 2004 but I would not guarantee that any particular year prior to 2006 or thereabouts could not have the v6 or v7 board in there... I don't think there is a 'for sure' way of telling other than looking inside really. 2004 did have v6 as this one does but there was a v7 and some say later boards... thanks for watching and have a great new year.
Good afternoon. Can you tell me if this problem with the motherboard concerns the marshall TSL 60 amplifier or is it a problem only with TSL 100 and TSL 122? Thank you, have a nice day
This is a great question. I have not seen reports myself re the 60 watt amp. But they might exist? I did have a 60w years ago and never had any problem, but it's worth checking also the posts on this video. Sorry I cant offer more info... and thanks for watching.
Hey Tony, try to get your hands on a Diamond amp! I bought a Diamond Phantom a few months ago, and it is bar far the best sounding, most well built amp I have ever seen and played. 100% American made boutique built to last.
Thanks for the lowdown on Diamond. I have heard of them and seen but not played through them. I will bear that in mind as you never know I might come across one at some stage. If I do I'll review it of course and my story is that YOU will be the cause :). Have a wonderful new year.
Hello Tony,,,,,I am wondering how one orders a new Ver 20 main PCB for the amp. Been on the Marshall Web site etc, but don't seem to be able to find a place to get one. Any ideas? Oh, I live in Canada. Don't mind paying shipping costs, although I think with the exchange rate it's going to be a few more "quid" across the pond here.
Marshall don't sell to you unless you are an authorised repairer.... instead go to here: www.hotroxuk.com/marshall-tsl100-main-board.html where they will sell you one.. that's a UK supplier, but he does have them and will ship anywhere... hope it helps... thanks for watching.
I did own a green DSL at one stage but it did not really give me what I wanted - more of a classic amp I thought. It still had drive but I never really hit it off with the one I had. Mine was made in the UK at the time and I believe later stuff is non-UK. Yours might be UK check the back...
Hotrox UK do new boards but don't State it's issue 20 looking at their photo of the board it does have the little relay you pointed out so it must be the latest version??
Actually I believe they can only buy issue 20 boards... I can't guarantee that, but from what I see issue 20 is the one at Marshall and I do know that Hotrox does sell those so he's likely turning over his stock. Hope it helps and thanks for watching.
@tonymckeniecom do you know when they released rev. 20? I just replaced the Mainboard in 2015 and lord that was board number 3 at that point ( I've owned it since 2007 ).
I was under the impression that board was released some time around 2007. You don't say which year your amp is, but if its 3 then that was probably 2003-04 or so IMO. The last revision of the board (issue 20) is the only one available today. The older boards can be a real pain and there are so many out there showing 'fixes' for the bias runaway problems. After careful consideration I chose to replace the board. Also remember that speaker output mod I showed at the end of the video because if you do change ohms to different cabs it could (not necessarily would) blow the output transformer. Good question.... and thanks for watching.
I think I must have spoke incorrectly. I meant to say that I replaced the mainboard in 2015 and it was the 3rd time it's been replace, not 3rd.version of the board or rev 3....I was complaining about how many times I've had to replace it. So I wondered when rev20 was released. I am getting information from part suppliers that rev20 was released in late 2017/early 2018? so sorry to be confusing, hope you can tell me something
Hmmm I'm not entirely convinced that they are correct re the release date of the issue 20 board. The 2018 date CANNOT be correct as I converted mine in December 2017 and I bought the board before that date. However, I believe that board had been available for some while. Did you check which boards you pulled out of your amp as faulty? Personally I believe this issue 20 board had been available for a while. Did those guys sell you an older board which then failed again? Hard for me to know, but my impression of the issue 20 board is more like years old. Correct me if I'm wrong. BTW I originally learned about the new board at the time I reviewed the Hughes & Kettner Triamp VIII which was around 7th August 2017 And I can guess September before I was advised.
Maybe I just not entirely sold on the idea that that TSL 122 combo will ever sound as good as it should....I did do the job in 2015 so if they re-released another version I wouldn't know as I thought it was the final version. See the one's I took out of there previous weren't the nice green boards you show in those pics (they were beige with horrible sodering work. So that tells me that there were several versions with the nice crisp green boards. Anyhow The shop I working through said they just got these boards 2 months ago from Marshall fresh, but gave me their contact info so I can inquire directly. I am going to look inside my amp, see what I can see, and call Marshall and see what they say. I wonder if i need to go another step and replace the speakers that came with the combo (a lot of people don't like the split color of the Heritage speakers) maybe throw some vintage 30's in there...I have wanted to give up on that amp a dozen times since 2007 but it does record and play well from time to time..lol...I'll let you know what I hear from Marshall
I have only used the head version. And that only with 1960A cab which sounds really good to me and especially when recording. From what I understand (and I did ask at the time of ordering) the board went to issue 7 then jumped to issue 20. The issue 7 was around 2007. I would persevere with the amp though and the speakers will change the sound. But do let me know what you find out and post it on here as that's all useful... and thanks for the info.
Hi Tony and everyone. Thank for this useful and helpful review about this mainboard and the output speakers modd. Owner of a tsl 100 for not long I decided to change the board to prevent the bias drift problem. I received it and changed it, not a big deal for me but I have problem with leakage / bleeding signal. When volume 0 and play guitar, sound pass to the speakers... Not loud but strange. No info on the net about so I ask if someone has the same problem or have some knowledge from and about. Nevertheless, it seems to work fine and this amp matches with the music style I'm playing. In future I will try to install the drtube biais mod on the old board just for my entertainment. Best regards from France.
If you plug in a guitar lead to the effects return (a or b) does the sound then stop? sometimes there are problems on the loop sockets? The loop is also parallel. I do know that on some Marshall amps there is NEVER a full cut off of the through signal on the parallel loop and some have been known to convert those to serial loop which is the usual type of loop found on most gear I reckon. Anyone else? Do let me know what you find as its always interesting to know. A great amp very underestimated in my opinion! Thanks.
Thanks for your answer Tony, I will dig that way this week. One thing I will also do is to check all components 's soldering cause I read that if there is some too close it could happen. I will let you know. In all case I'm agree with you, this amp is underestimated, very polyvalent and great sounding. Keep rocking as you did at the and of this review.
@@Дидьеоваль Yes and please do let me know what you find. The track at the end is called 'Lightpipe AI' from an album I released back in 2006 called 'Eniac' and its a very good track on the album. It was played originally on the TSL100 and a Ibanez JEM 7VWH and a Cry Baby Way... that was it, and I swear I have never achieved a 'better' tone on any amp and I still own over 20 different brand amps. Here's the track provided by CDbaby in all of it's original glory... and watch where the wah kicks in :) one of my favourite pieces. : th-cam.com/video/P_kLLgOGP-A/w-d-xo.html Thanks.
@@tonymckenzieofficial Hi Tony, I'm back to explain what whas the result of your test. So, I plugged my guitar into the return and no sound until I turn the fx pot as a volume's pot. Until here normal except that there is a "pop" when I start turn the knob. No "pop" if i select crunch/lead and use the fx pot of this section. It does normal. I imagine that it comes from the clean section. I will search deeper in this way. Salutations.
@@Дидьеоваль I still think some sort of problem on the loop. Hard from here to advise but parallel loop on Marshall (some of them) are known to 'pass' sound even when turned off... yes do let me know on here if you find it because it will help other guys too. Thanks.
Great tone on that track they have such a bad reputation according to Marshall the tsl 60 didn’t have that problem...... the jcm 2000 DSL series heads are just as bad for bias drift yet they are revered for their amazing tone all the while the TSL series sound amazing although they can take a little bit to get them set up and I find that if you keep the presence really low the fizz that everyone keeps complaining about on the forums .... I’ve had a tsl60 head since 2003 that I bought brand new and aside from the reverb tank letting go it’s always worked for me and I’ve boosted it with an MXR distortion + and now a fultone OCD and I’ve always gotten compliments on my tones.... I’ve recently retired the old girl and switched to the line 6 HX Stomp and I’m shocked at how good the tones on that are!
Correct IMO the TSL60 does not have the issue - I had one of those in about 2003 or thereabouts. Later I 'upgraded' to the TSL100. The main board certainly does have the problem, but if changed it works perfect IMO these days. It's a good way though to get a TSL100 very cheap... as indeed I did. The pedals do work as you say, and I'm always using wah pedals too which also work fine. I look at many simulators both in and out of reviews also and they have improved of course. What I find is that the 'feel' though is not quite right, but still useable of course. The simulators will continue to move forward over time. But here's a thought about them. If I take my Kemper amp bought in January 2012 and pick an amp simulation, you know what, those simulations are as good today as they were then, but they are really still the same. There has not been any 'golden bullet' that has 'clinched' the whole amp simulators to being 'the same' as the real amps. Just an opinion of course... but for the money the simulators are pretty good. I have Line6 also (Helix) and other brands and the Line6 with this V3 has again improved overall but the tones as I said are still the same. How they improve it I can't tell you but surely an interesting subject. Maybe I'll create another video on that subject.... stay safe and thanks for the info and watching.
I am looking now to a Tsl 602 that the only solution was to put a fan inside the combo cabinet. This solved the bias runaway problem. I had to choose a a very low noise fan. Now I removed the board and doing some heavy mods, the bias circuit is completely mounted out of board, the trimpot had to be replaced by a small pot upside down, with a adapter . So much work to solve it
Sounds like hard work for sure. It seems currently that the boards are not available... I checked just here in UK: www.hotroxuk.com/marshall-tsl100-main-board.html and they are 'out of stock'. :( Overall with the board it solves everything. Without the board is a lot of hard work from what I see. Hey do come back and let me know how you go with it all... thanks for your post and for watching.
@@tonymckenzieofficial the "floating" bias circuit seems to work. I played for more than 2 hours without any important bias change. Only few millivolts up and down , normal with unstable mains source. I started the circuit at output terminal of 470r resistor, jointed with zener negative. I put these components vertically and sent a cable to near adjust trimpot. At this time things are a little more difficult. You have to remove the trimpot, the 220k bias resistors, the negative side of second bias cap, the 5k6 grid resistors , and out pin of both caps that come from inverter tube. I put these caps vertically with some silicon glue. Pin 5 on power tubes must be completely isolated from board. I did it with a dremmell but it is easier if you get a hollow drill bit , I think 5mm . The floating connections must be isolated with thermal shrinking or tape for safety. Really, this prove that the board becomes conductive after certain high temperature. I also found this effect on a tube pedal. It seems it is worse on wet places and more aged gear.
Great info @gugafittipaldi2737 and sincerely thanks for posting it - I'm sure there will be many that can gain from it. You should create a video because as those boards are now getting hard to find it would be useful and certainly would get views. I have seen the 'isolated' pin mods before but not some of the other stuff... Well that Issue 20 does solve it all, but guys ask me all the time these days - where to get a board, and seems like they have dried up :(. But this mod might be the last resort answer. Thanks for the post and if you create a video I'll certainly link to it... and thanks for watching.
Hey I just bought a revision 20 board, getting ready to install it and the bias pot PCB (connector 1) is hard wired to my old Revision 2 board. Seeing how these are defective I dont want to use it on my new revision 20 board. Trouble is, I cannot seem to find a replacement part. My new board requires a connector, the revision 2 is soldered directly without a pigtail harness connector. Do you know where i can get these parts to fit my revision 20 board?
Not sure where you're based? If you're in the UK then there are a number of dealers that can order the parts for you.... if you're in the USA I can't advise :( Hot Rx or Strings Direct are two that spring to mind in the UK and I'm confident that Marshall will have those available. Hope it helps and let me know if you can't find them...
@David Neris If there is no fault there would be no point. I have not really heard of too many DSL50 boards in trouble... but if there were repetitive stuff like on this amp certainly this board fixes the tsl… sorry I can't say more on the dsl.
Thank god I have a JCM-2000 DSL50 from 2001 that doesn't have this problem! I've used it at home for practice and at numerous gigs turned up for many hours and never had any problems other than standard tube replacement (including many travels in a bouncy environment to and from gigs without a road case). I've also done extensive research on the Internet, and this problem with the mother boards seems to be isolated to the 100w models. Funny how there was no mention of that in your video? Many rock players think 50w is more than enough power when playing live or in the studio, but if you are into playing metal at ear splitting volumes in stadiums, more power to you (pun intended). I can't imagine why someone would want a 100w head in a recording setting, only to 'pad' the volume down. I completely understand the difference between a 100w head and a 50w head for tonal purposes, but not unless you are cranking them up through cabinets that can handle that kind of power and volume, what's the point (thus the defeat with the power soak/attenuators)? I still love your expertise and videos, just an observation........ All the best.
The JCM-2000 was never a 50 watt. It was a 60 watt :) I used to have one. Because I never had an issue personally with that (except the sound was not good) I never even considered mentioning that aspect. From my experience particularly with the JCM-2000 TSL series the TSL-60 does not sound the same as the TSL-100 no matter what you do. I tried for about a year and sold the TSL-60, bought the TSL-100 and never looked back. For me it was not actually a volume demon mode :) but more of a really brilliant lead guitar tone. Listen to Lightpipe AI on this link and that was recorded on the TSL-100 - one of the best tones for how I play that there is: www.amazon.co.uk/Eniac-Tony-Mckenzie/dp/B002IU9NOY particularly towards the end of what you can play is that tone. Never possible with the TSL-60. Interestingly, the board I fitted (issue 20) they tell me is the same board fitted to the DSL of today. I can't be sure of that but that's the info I have. No problem on the comments, I find them all interesting generally. I did have a DSL too (a green one at one stage) but that did not so it for me either - each to his own of course. Likely I never get above about 1:00 on the volume stuff either but that's pretty loud. For the TSL I don't drop it to 50w and just leave it at 100 with a very simple feed from guitar to wah and in to the amp. delays and reverbs (almost all I ever use) are added on the desk. Thanks for watching.
tonymckenziecom Tony, I have a JCM2000 DSL50, are you saying they never made these? I can send you a picture of the back with the original serial number.
No Jeff you misunderstand me. The JCM-2000 TSL (not DSL as you mention) was released in 60w and 100w only. The DSL indeed was a 50 and 100w version. Ha no, I have owned a green 50w DSL... and you are right in pointing out that the DSL you have WAS made in England - hang on to it because they are now made in Korea (last time I checked).
Great video! I know you love this amp so money isn't an issue but if you pay the ~£400 for one of these used, another £80 to retolex it, another £100 for the replacement PCB, another £150 for new tubes.. At what point are you just better off buying a better amp? :)
It is a great point - and one that no one else posted so far. I think it all depends on the person and their situation. I had one of these and recorded a complete album back in 2006. I have always had many tube amps since a long time. But the tones on that album I never did better (for those styles played) with any of the over 20 amps I own. Hard to believe but trust me on this. For me there had to be only one answer... and that was as you describe. Some guys would not do this. But if you have a TSL2000 and love it, then buying and fitting the board is not a bad option - its positively essential. Simply because this amp had trouble there are few if any other proper solutions that work. The board solves it all. So for me thinking about my Eniac album there is no 'better' option... only the TSL2000 creates the tones I recorded with a JEM 7VWH. I tried many times to replicate it but never could without the amp. That's my 'excuse' :) But you made a good point where some guys might well 'throw in the towel' because of the costs. Stay safe!
Thanks for the helpful info! I just got an issue 20 board from Hot Rox and went through the all of the effort to reconnect everything and it appears that connector W4 is missing! Has anyone ran into this problem? Looking at the issue 5 schematic it indicates that this is one of the output transformer legs which is necessary. I don’t have the issue 20 schematic but the board looks extremely similar in that area. Does anyone have the issue 20 board schematic that they can share? Can anyone verify that W4 is populated on their issue 20 board? If so I can remove the connector from my old board if need be. Thanks!
Tony, have you ever messed around with stereo or wet/dry amp setups? I'm thinking about getting another TSL. Crazy. I've lived with my TSL for going on 15 years. The only thing I've ever had longer than that is my wife. Lately, digging the mid-boost switch on the clean channel. Always have avoided it in the past You know, the TSL is like the Christmas animation flick Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys. The TSL is like a misfit valve amplifier. No one uses them. I'm thinking if there was a way to do a TSL challenge via all the TH-cam guitar gods - who can get the best monster tone with a TSL - the value of these amps would increase and my ego would be boosted and I'd no longer feel like a misfit toy.
Ha... come on you have to be wrong with this :) Actually they tend to lose money and have few users because of exactly the reasons in this video... and that issue 20 board fixes it all really well forever. The good thing about it really is that it allows you to buy a TSL for peanuts. Admittedly you probably need a board, but they are available for not that much money and easy enough to fit. BTW that 16 ohm speaker connector mod is essential. I hate to say this - but the TSL guitar tones I achieved on my 'Eniac' album from back in 2006/7 were some of the best sounds I have ever achieved in the studio. It all came down to right speakers, right amount of drive and a really good guitar (I used an Ibanez 7VWH Jap) and those audio tracks were incredible. Here's a short example from the Eniac recordings from another video: th-cam.com/video/GhIht3xl--4/w-d-xo.htmlm8s and that guitar really did scream. So ha never be afraid to tell the world you have a TSL - but make sure its the 100 watter as the 60 is pale in comparison. Indeed I used to have a Triaxis and a 2:90 amp through a stereo setup (early 90's) but it was not really a wet/dry setup... I just wanted to get those effects out in stereo and with the right rack gear that was what worked for me for some time. I eventually moved on after many years and have not been back to the two amp or wet/dry amp setups. No particular reason really. Is your TSL a 100 or a 60. I used to own a 60 but never got a very good tone, but the 100 is a different story. That's the reason why I bought another and made the video where I covered it in red tolex. Mine did not have a particularly failed board (one cap was toast as you can see but that's really the 16 ohm speaker connector issue) but after the upgrade the amp really is like new... so doing it all you will go AT LEAST another 15 years :) Bargain!
Again, Tony, thanks for taking the time to discuss this amp in depth. I've checked a lot of forums and you're the only person that seems to genuinely care. I do have the 100W. As for the board, my problem is finding someone to install it. I've talked about the replacement board with a local amp tech that has worked on my amp a couple of times. I can tell his heart just doesn't seem to be in it. He even seemed surprised such a board is even available. No excitement whatsoever. Too much looking down at the floor when talking. So..... He says he will do it if I want to invest in the amp. I will definitely have him watch your video in advance if I do this. There's another firm here that does Marshall repairs, but I don't know anything about them. Don't want to roll the dice with them yet. This is my only amplifier. My ignorance, but I use 2 Marshall 4x12 1960 cabinets, so I'm not using the 16 ohm connector on the amp head. Maybe the same issue is present in the other speaker cab inputs?
Actually fitting that board is relatively easy... that's why I did the video really. No more than about 1 to 1 1/2 hours work at tops. They would not be repairing the amp really but replacing the amp (there's not much else left when you change the board). You misunderstand on the 16 ohm speaker out. EVERY output 8 and 4 ohm depends on the 16 ohm connector to never fail... but what happens is that it tends to get overloaded when NOT being used and the others outputs get their load via the 16 Ohm... this means that if the ground on the 16 Ohm connector fails (they do - or they zap that little capacitor I talked about) then you will likely lose the output transformer. That is the main reason to solder the connector as I showed. Or it can be soldered from under the board but that takes longer without any real difference. The hardest bit about exchanging the board is to ensure that you mark all the connectors BEFORE you start and then it becomes very easy to do. If they are charging you over $125 to fit that board they are likely nuts... Never mind the forums - mostly those are guys that have had problems with the TSL amp but most likely rarely do they even know there's an issue 20 board that fixes it all. I looked through forums before I started and saw all the stuff on there - guys with heat guns, guys drilling the board claiming this or that - honestly... the fix IS issue 20 board and anything else is a half baked excuse of a bodge likely because that is the only answer they had. Remember this - many guys say the TSL sounds bad also, but in reality that amp is actually one of the best I have... I put it all down to maybe their old amps have simply got issues or they don't really know how to drive it properly - or have dodgy speaker cabs. Mine sounds as good as the day it was made and its used through a 1960a cab. I'll never sell mine this time around most likely there for the duration :)
Thanks, Tony. Great information. I knew I was blowing smoke up my own rear end with the speaker outs. Owner of little mom & pop music store, who's been around 30+ years where I live, says my TSL is a better amp than the newer stuff. So that's 2 witnesses including you. I'm just a "bedroom player" and I don't know how many years I've got left in my 60-year old fingers. Like you said, you want quality. Me too. Just trying to learn more. So much I want to understand. And try. My TSL experience has just been frustrating and I went through about a 3-year period where I wouldn't even turn the thing on. Just a fizzy, tinny mess no matter what I did. It has always sounded like crap compared to what I see/hear elsewhere. I've always wondered why/how would Marshall produce an amp like this after their history, which is why I bought it to begin with. At the same time, I've held out hope that this amp is an underdog. I always like the underdog. This topic is how I came across your channel. Very glad I found you. You've instilled some hope.
Ha I'm now nearly 65! Ready for the 'knackers yard' some might say and it won't be that long before I'm an official 'pensioner'... according to the records :) But you know what... I'll NEVR be a pensioner in the true sense.. and I won't give up on anything that I do - good or bad makes no difference... because I did it. And I think that's an important thing in life - it can be 'easy' just to say 'oh I've had enough' of something but that's not really me - more like the 'snowflakes' around these days. That's what they do.... Those 1960a Cabs are great and those are almost all I use for every amp I have. The amp CAN be a bit tinny if you go to extremes with the eq's etc., but careful dialling should do the trick. It sounds best I think when the 1/2 power button is not used also. Stick with it.
Absolutely not. I have to pay the same as everyone else... but I don't always like disclosing information online as to the why's and wherefores' of any given video. I did buy it here in the UK though I can confirm that. The diagram was off the internet. Thanks for watching.
I thought maybe Marshall would cover their shit boards with free updates, considering the high prices of their crap new. Too much to expect I guess? 🎵🎸
I know what you mean and those early boards were not good by any standards. But Marshall gear varies in price depending on where you are (as indeed does Mesa stuff) and for example I bought a 2555X 100 watt amp for less than $1000 (about £800 or so). Its a fair comment about the TSL100 quality and there is no doubt that those early boards were bad stuff. But that's the gain in buying a TSL100 really... buy the board and you have an amp that cost less than most but with the board is probably one of the best buys out there. I doubt Marshall would start replacing boards from 2006 and prior under warranty or even as a gesture the newest affected is likely 12 years old and the oldest affected is likely 16 years old or more. I don't really relate to the amps of recent times that I have carried out the Inside & Out reviews on as being poor quality? Maybe some of the non UK built ones which I have not looked at, but amps like the YJM100, AFGD100, JVM410HJS, 1987X and the 2555X are all pretty spot on with quality? Have you checked my reviews? Here's a link to the amp reviews playlist: th-cam.com/play/PL764D9C7505FDEC8D.html and I do show lots of other amp reviews in there also that might be interesting to you including Bogner, Mesa Boogie, Diezel and many more.
Have you heard of the Blackstar Anniversary AE-10 with a KT-88 power tube? These tubes are supposed to be rare and expensive, with a great tone. Andertons did a review on the 3 version line up and really liked the KT-88 version. They sell for around $450 US. I would like to hear someone else's opinion just on that power tube version.🎵🎸
A matched pair of KT-88's are £70 ($95) for two so not really any different than 6L6 or EL34's on pricing I guess. Think of the KT-88's as being a bit like loud bottom end and loud top end... and a louder tube overall compared to 6L6 or EL34. The KT-88 has less distortion in the power tube than those other two and is a favourite among HI-Fi audiophiles for their amps for some reason. I think I had just one amp that took those some years ago and that was a metal type of amp with a big fat preamp with lots of preamp tubes for the drive. I likened it to being very useful for dropped tuning because of the bottom end. I have not tried those tubes in other amps though. Thanks for watching.
STEVE ROBERTS: Hey Steve you gave me an email that bounces. Go back to my site and fill the form again with the correct email and I'll reply and help you... Tony
Hey Tony thanks for this video. I love all your vids but need some help. I bought a tSL 122 pretty cheap knowing I'd prob need to change the board. It's a project for now but I want to use and keep it forever. Cover it white change the speaker etc. Anyway how do I know what revision board I have? It sounds pretty amazing right now at low volumes but damn it gets hot quickly. I'll prob change the board but not sure I should on my own I have no experience really in Messing with amps. If appreciate some advice. I can email some pics of the inside and talk in email if easier. Thanks Gareth 🤘
Hi Gareth... TSL122 is the combo I believe. Go to my website, fill in the form then we can communicate... I can't put my email on here for obvious reasons... but I have an image that shows exactly where to check on the boards... thanks... stay safe.
I'm having no luck finding an Issue 20 mother board. Anybody know where I can get one?
I would send you here: www.hotroxuk.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=tsl100 but it looks he's out of stock. Ask them and they might have some answer.... hope it helps and man those have gone up since I did mine... Thanks for watching.
@@tonymckenzieofficialThanks Tony. I've asked everywhere. No more being made and everyone is sold out. I have the Dr. Tube little bias board kit coming and hopefully that'll work a treat.
@@MagicTwangerPlunker Sad that they are in the position they are in. I really like Marshall - were always a no BS company and always very helpful. If ever I find one I'll let you know... and thanks for the post.
I just had my board switched after it turned my amp into an additional heating device.
Today I will pick it up from the store and I am over the moon to get it back. I love this amp and used it a lot for gigs and practice.
The right revision board will fix it for good. This amp as you saw was the same, but I had one back in 2004 and created an album or two on it then silly me sold it. This is the replacement and I still have it. They can sound great when just so in a recording... thanks.
Tony - You're the man. Bought a used TSL100H (good deal!) and had the clean channel HUM and runaway BIAS issues.
Bought the REV. 20 main board and installed it. Now my amp sounds "GREAT!". Thanks for a heads-up on the fix.
Those are great heads and I still have mine as in the video. Yes the board fixes it all and you will have an amp that will last a very long time. Don't forget that mod for the 16 ohm output socket... it can take out the OT if you don't do that some say. Great to know it helped you so the video is worth making :) Thanks for letting me know...
con 15 and con 16 if the old board does not have what do you plug into there
Great video Tony! I've been looking into one of these and never got one because of the mentioned issues. But I might look into one now! Thank you!
The JCM2000 TSL100 can be a brilliantly sounding amp; Search for a track I wrote called 'Metropolis' on album called 'Eniac' (on streaming) and that tone was with just one mic in to the desk - it was pretty awesome tone. Get a board and fit it and you'll never look back. Thanks...
Awesome video ! this is how i found your channel and web site mate . This is how i now have my beloved 2003 TSL 100 upgraded and fantastic again , Output jack ,Rev 20 motherboard was fitted , and bias balance . I knew virtually nowt about amps , maybe just fixing dry joints and sockets . After a few of your videos , i feel ( with the addition of a DECENT soldering bolt ) i could build my self a Ceriatone . Thank again Tony . Gona wrap mine in leather i think :D
Well owning a TSL100 can be a great thing no matter what some might say. That amp with a 1960a cab can give you an incredible sound. I used mine in 2005/6 to create an album called Eniac and some of those tracks had incredible tones on there. I later sold the amp (never had any trouble with it) and flipped to Engl and many other amps. However, like all good things, eventually I missed it and decided to buy another. This is where this amp comes in.
I bought it for literally just a few hundred pounds off eBay. It had been knocked around a bit on the road gigging by someone so I thought what a great amp to recover. Except that I had only ever recovered one amp! So, I bought the glue from TAD, bought the red tolex that Marshall used and other bits for the case and recovered it. What you saw in the recovering video is exactly what I did no more and no less.
Later I learned about the board failures that are common place on TSL100 amps (and DSL100) so I set about picking up as much info as I could. The result of that was this video. I had seen guys trying to fix something that is basically not worth the effort in time alone, and so I bit the bullet and bought a board and then made the video. As you know, anyone with a TSL 100 should really replace the board for a revision 20 main board and fix that questionable 16 Ohm connector. Other than that you can have a brilliant amp afterwards that will never give you that problem again. Changing the board is fiddly but not really that hard to do and you already know the results. BTW was that capacitor fried on your old board like mine was? Seems it was underspecified and they doubled the voltage on the replacement board.
I'm glad that this video helped if only even a little. That's why I made it... every TSL100 needs that mod and sooner or later there will be trouble of major failure if it's not done. But glad to know you were successful. Ha Croc here we come :) Stay safe and also be careful about those voltages!
@@tonymckenzieofficial Thanks Tony , As you say these are great versatile amps that can be picked up cheaply .The mods are doable by the amateur , guys like myself ( who have learned the hard way ,ouch .) Discharge yer big capacitors guys :D . Mine was a 2002-3 motherboard , it was still working ( said cap looked ok ) but replaced on your advise . I shall be checking out more of your music ,and web site , very impressed ! i Love the same tones as yourself , i keep it simple . I have the 1960A cab , came with the amp ! ( £420 , thankyaverymuch :) ) keeping a beady eye out for a 1960B cab to go with it ( when i get back to work of course ) I`m happy with my guitar straight in to the amp , no fuss as i`m just a Loud backing track 20min geetar soloing workshop/living room Rock God ! :D:D Hahahaha i`d shit myself if i had to do it in front of a crowd Hahaha :D.
i`ll stay as safe as i can mate , you too !
I make Neon signs and Neon artwork up here in Edinburgh ,so i`m no stranger to the odd High tension shock , lol , it`s nae fun :) Thank`s again Tony :)
Ah the 1960a cab... let me tell you. I have at least three of those and a vintage/modern one and a 1960 TV (hand wired with I think 25's in there). The 1960a is really in my opinion one of the best all round cabs you can get. They have 75 watt Celestion's in there and sound great with ANY amp out there and that's why I have them. I've tried many other cabs but in general overpriced, too big, bad sounding, not flexible springs to mind on most of them. You can't go wrong with the 1960a cab... but you will know that most likely. Ha over the years I did do lot's of guitar related stuff and I'm certainly no 'real' musician :) (or am I who knows) but I think it's all about firstly a great pass-time and hobby, but also because it's all fun and changes all the time. Others might disagree (they would) but as Metallica said 'Nothing Else Matters'. I don't really use many pedals and things like that and always just had a reverb and delay and sometimes a chorus... and the trusty Wah. Anything else is usually hiding less than perfect tones I always think. Nothing wrong with backing tracks and I use them all the time especially on here because when I put my released music on the videos they pick up a copyright infringement on my channel! even though I own the copyright :) so I'm currently editing all the uploaded videos to remove my tracks from the end of the videos to solve that.
If you would like a copy of my last CD go to my website and fill in the form and I can send you a download code... :) then sit there and practise that :) On being frightened with being on the stage: I went to the Victoria Hall near here when Queen were on their first tour in the early 70's I think it was. The time when Brian May wore a sort of white cape (you can see it on the internet if you look) and I was right in front of him by the stage. I was extremely surprised as I watched him. Between each thing they played, Brian May was actually shaking intensely - I could see his hands shaking right across the stage. Fancy that! So I always thought about him whenever I was in a band in front of people. But I have not been in bands for some time and would not really want to go back to that - it won't be easier than when I was in a band, but now much harder with venues for bands being now much fewer.
Bought one for 250 us and I am going to put mother board in had one of these and sold because of all the hate one of the best sounding amps I ever had excellent at low volume. Try your amp with greenbacks it really opens this amp up
Exactly. A very low priced amp (likely because the TSL does have a board thing going on) but a great amp also. I have used many Marshall cabs on mine and to be honest, its hard to get a bad sound from it. With a board its pretty bombproof but also check that 16 Ohms speaker out as I showed at the end of the video. Thanks and stay safe.
Tony, thanks so much for spending some time with this amp. Your reviews are always excellent. I have a 2004 that I bought new and it wasn't cheap back then. All of these years there's not been much said on the Internet that is positive about this amp. Never had trouble until May, 2017, which was about a year after I just had it all re-tubed/serviced. $400 later it's ok now, but I didn't get a new board. This is very good to know because I don't want to part with this amp. In fact, I've thought about obtaining another one.
Come back to Florida so you can refurbish mine.
:) Get the board and it makes the amp incredibly good. My old board worked, but to be honest by the time you faff around with engineers etc. trying to 'fix' something that is plainly wrong in my opinion that is false economy. Many people slag these amps but I often wonder what exactly they have? Even this one with the original board worked fine (except maybe that 16 ohm aggro and the capacitor. These amps are the best value on the net and this one, fair enough I spent about £80 ($110) or so on the covering etc. when I did that and bought this board and tubes... but now its pretty much like new and sounds as good as anything in that room where it is. Ha no doubt I will be going back to Florida - its a great place for sure.. I might be going a few places this year and Florida is absolutely on the cards. Thanks for the info and for watching.
False economy is a valid point. It looks like a decent used TSL100 commands in the vicinity of $700 now. The issue 20 board, if I'm shopping correctly, will run around $250 plus there is a cost incurred for me to get it installed. So I figure I'll probably spend $400+ to change the board. That's far less than a new Marshall JVM head, of course, but now if I do this, I've got over $1000 invested in repairs for this 14-year old amp over the past 2-3 years. I was not having any problems, but I decided to have the power tubes changed in late 2015 (yes, I ashamed to admit the original power tubes were present) in search of better tone. Then, a year later, it's blowing fuses and burning power tubes and crashing. That cost me $400 to correct last May. But I had many years of care free playing. You've given me something to think about and I'm just thankful for your positive comments.
Hold off Florida for a while. 29-degrees F outside my door as I type this.
No you can get that board for much less. Probably £100 ($130) from hotroxuk. The TSL here I bought for less than £400 (if I remember it was £350 or so ($425)). Honestly, the TSL I bought here is a really great amp and you can hear it here: th-cam.com/video/nWt6hq706q8/w-d-xo.htmlm13s that sound (its mixed slightly low sorry) is really not easily achievable on anything else I have and in the room it's exactly like the sound on the released record from back in 2006. Stay with it... and it's worth every cent (in your case - penny in mine) to grab a board. One day they won't be there to grab ;-)
Ha my son went there one year at Christmas some while ago... he had the shorts etc. and it was running at 58 deg F. He had to go and buy clothes which always made me smile... fur coats in Florida. I know that it can get cold there at Christmas time or thereabouts but thanks for the update on that.
Thx, Tony. You're right. Just trying to find out now if my local tech will tackle this. I don't want to ship my amp around. I'll try hotruxuk for the board once I find an installer and I saw a comment somewhere that shipment was 8-days from UK to US. Again, thx for devoting your time to this amp as I've always felt like a 2nd-class citizen for owning/using this amp.
You know what, too, is that the orange and red channels have always sounded fizzy. Maybe the new board will help that. Swapping preamp tubes never has. I have those dreaded JJ's you don't care for - both in the preamp and power.
Back to 70F today! Probably will be mowing the lawn this weekend.
Don't in any way feel left out with that amp. Honestly, when I say it is the best sounding amp I ever achieved I don't just say it. The amp had a bad name for reliability in my opinion, but my recordings of 2006 by way of tone I have never actually got any better tones from any of the amps. It CAN be fizzy and a bit 'tinny' sounding if you overdo it on the drive so that can make things not great but careful with that and I can tell you it records like no other amp I have. To me, the new board made the amp exactly as I recorded it back in 2006 when my original TSL100 was about 18 months old. I did have a TSL60 before that amp but there really is no comparison.
It might take a while to have the board shipped as you say, but I have heard tales of over $249 for the same board there as you say... so it is probably worth the effort. JJ like other tubes are OK I guess if they are properly selected and properly matched but unfortunately sometimes that does not happen. The way I view those is that SOMEONE has to get the bad ones right?
I have recently bought some! Under advice from GC (a guy on here) to try in the Dumble Ceriatone... we shall see.
70 degrees... you hot dog! :) I'm here with 1 degree (33) today and its absolutely freezing. Do let me know how it all goes on that amp and don't let guys sway you too much... you know what some can be like right?
I purchased my TSL in the late 90’s....and I couldn’t agree more....ace sounding amp until....
This review is so true. I had a revision 20 board installed last year and boom...it was back. All the channels are so useable both cranked and....the low power button enables home use, indeed I run mine low power live.
The heads up re the 16 ohm output is a real help and should be done as Toni suggests. I checked mine and indeed it was starting to show signs of a potential issue....solder away and problem solved.
Thanks for this really informative video. Would be ace to see a video of your work flow with Dante by the way Toni.....all the best and keep on TSL
Hi Mark, I had my original in the early 2000's and never had a problem with it. I used it on an album called 'Eniac' and those sounds remain incredibly good. So a year or so ago I bought this amp and recovered it. The board really makes this amp one of the best buys out there at any price... even if it needs a board its not that heavy on price. Yes that 16 ohm speaker switch can zap the output transformer and I was surprised when I noticed mine had gone 'grey' basically failing. The other connectors were bright and shiny.
Well I am going to go further in the control room and in more depth when I get a chance - its all very time consuming but ot will be here some time. Thanks for watching and have a great new year... your info was very useful too.
Mark Burrows do you know the effects loop trick where you can use it as another volume control??
Just order my new board, I have the tsl 100 and have been having issues with the bias going out of whack and actually had a tube go bad on me. I am so looking forward to resolving this problem because the tsl 100 is a great amp!! Thanks for the video it was very informative and enjoyed watching!!
With that new board the amp is honestly brilliant... but don't forget that speaker connector mod or at some stage it could zap the OT. Thanks for those kind words and for watching.
tonymckenziecom just got my new board delivered and installed yesterday!! Sounds amazing as it should. I can put my mind at ease knowing this is fixed! Thanks again for the video it really did help a lot!!
Perfect! Well done... and that upgrade will make your amp last for years. Best thing I ever found :)... and really glad it helped you. Thanks.
Awesome video, I ended up sending my question through your website. Thanks.
I saw it and I trust my answer was OK.... thanks for watching and stay safe.
TONY!!! Good to see you back brother!
I have been working hard on videos there are 6 or 7 to post in total and it has taken forever! Happy new year and thanks.
tonymckenziecom looking forward to them.. Thank you for what you do for us.. Its really cool for us gearnuts..
I really like messing about :) I always learn from what I do so I'll probably always do it. Thanks for the kind words and have a great new year.
Thanks for your great video Tony
I got an issue 20 board from hotrox for £116.50 and fitted it, Abit fiddly but not too bad, and the amp now works a treat!! I'm going to do your speaker socket mod next and do the bias, many thanks!
It makes the amp be what it always was before any aggro... one of the best around if you tame it right :) Yes do the speaker mod or you can lose the board around that cap that burned on my old board as shown.... Yes it is a little fiddly but you just go steady and its not too bad... I bet it biased up perfectly! Thanks for the info its very useful for other guys too... and thanks for watching.
Hi Tony,
Thanks for this video. I have owned a TSL for 15 years.. it has been pretty good but I have taken the opportunity to order issue/ version 20. Hopefully I'll manage the upgrade ok.. oh and your TSL head looks awesome in orange. Cheers cliff
The TSL100 contrary to some opinions is a great amp... I know that too :) Version 20 board solves it all and most likely the previous version amps are for sale really cheap... a great reason to buy them :) You should be able to change that but just make sure there is no voltage in the PCB before you start!.... Thanks for watching.
Tony I appreciate this TSL-100 tutorial. I purchased 2 TSL-100's back in 2005 & only experienced an issue with the DIN connector on the amp's back that the foot switch connects too. Not sure as to what version motherboard PCB I have but if I have issues I will replace with the issue 20. Again thanks for sharing this. All the best to you & yours & stay well !!!
Hi Stan, if they are 2005 they will probably be issue 7 or prior and those all seemed to suffer with the bias problem, some wrong components on some issues, and that burn out capacitor I showed and the 16 Ohm (I think it was) connector and how its set up (but the mod can fix that on the socket). Yes issue 20 absolutely does fix it all. It's a bit fiddly to change and I recommend you photograph the connectors before you start if you can do it... if not put it to a tech. I love the TSL-100 recording tones and some of the best I ever got hence my reason for keeping this amp. Thanks for watching... and for the post.
Yes great sound and great guitar playing ! 25:50
I have original TSL 100 and it has actually been a very great amp.
It runs very hot so I always run a fan on it..
Thanks... and for watching too. I agree... I never really got that sound (was recorded here in the studio) from any other amp ever. I used a Ibanez 7VWH original Japanese one from about 2000 era... and that sound just flowed. I used that amp and guitar for a whole album bar a couple of tracks. They can get hot of course... and BTW the 60w sounds very different - I had one later after completing the album at the time and it was not good so I sold that. Bought this one eBay just a few years back but it had the problems you see. Fixed now though. Thanks...
Hey Tony! Happy new year, and thanks for the post! I love how you make complicated stuff seem so easy! You’re one of a kind! Be well.
I really like the sounds of the TSL100 (the TSL60 was not the same - I upgraded to the 100 after a friend pointed that out) amp and wanted to get another. As you might know I recovered it in a different video but it needed this board doing really. So I made the video :) Honestly it's not that hard really if you are very careful... I'm still alive and did not die in the process! But I have to say it is better to do for guys that have some sort of electronics background. Thanks for watching and have a great new year.
Glad to see your comments recently. I was worried about you since you haven't done any vid's in a while. I haven't changed my board yet, but I purchased a JHS Angry Charlie which I am liking with the TSL clean channel. However, I got a big surprise. I've been using a Crybaby 535Q for years and the on/off switch was not working correctly. I would turn on the wah & it would sometimes sound very tinny or brittle or not come on at all. I took it completely out of my effects chain - haven't ever done that - and my amp came back to life. I couldn't believe it. So, all the amp knob tweaking and amp cursing and pedal swapping and tonal frustration wasn't the TSL's fault. I almost cried as I've gotten rid of quite a few pedals recently thinking they were hopeless. It was the Crybaby all along. It made me a crybaby in the end.
About 7 weeks in fact, but I had a stonking bad chest and cold... it has been bad, but I am past that now and I appreciate your concern. Ha brilliant answer on the wah pedal... I would not have believed it either but sometimes strange stuff happens :) Keep the TSL it's honestly a great amp (you probably know that though) and why I bought another and fitted the board. Thanks for watching...
Happy New Year Tony. My mean machine is from 2004, and I had to do the same thing. I got the new board from HotRoxUK and saved over $100 by not going through a distributor in the US. I labeled each of the connectors AND took pictures. Lots of pictures. Nice playing on your album by the way.
You are exactly right on the way to get a board. I have other routes to getting a board that most people would not have, but I also saw the boards at Hot Rox too and that is probably the way to go if you're in the USA as an example. The connectors are absolutely multiple so what you did is similar to what I did. And the other issue was those connectors that are only there on the new issue 20 board... there was nothing on the internet about those so hopefully I addressed that. Thanks for the info on yours and for the kind words on the Gravity Waves album.
Actually presently we're giving away about 200 of the album for free. Watch for the video... and have a great new year.
You've just described all the issues that I've had with mine! Had mine since 2001. Long story short I sent it to Marshall who did what you did, swapped the board. It now seems great. Doesn't smell like it's going to set the amp on fire! I bet if you opened up a JVM it has probably used a lot of the lessons learned from this amp. Marshall probably had to rename it to get away from its bad rep. I agree with you though that, once fixed, it will sounds great.
Marshall charged me £110 and pickup and delivery so not even expensive.
Yes I have been there too! Wow they did a great job for that money! You can pay that just for a board from some suppliers. The board fixes it all! The JVM is reviewed here inside and out: tonymckenzie.com/marshall_jvm410h_review.htm but the better amp (trust me on this) is the JVM410HJS Satriani model and as you will see on this other inside and out review that the board is very different: th-cam.com/video/va-dOzTtq3k/w-d-xo.html
Take a look at those two and even the JVM410HJS is also reviewed on my website and that throws a different light on the amp compared to the video review. Great to know that Marshall helped you there... and rest assured the amp is a really great amp when fixed. Stay safe.
Wouldn't you have to discharge the filter caps before doing the board swap?
Of course. But for anyone contemplating this work they should be aware of what they are doing. Thanks.
I only use 8 ohm cabinets. Do I need to worry about fixing the 16 ohm output jack? That part of the video, wasn't clear to me. Thanks for your advice!
YES! Well the other ohm connectors are routed through the 16 Ohm one! hence the posting of that section... if the 16 Ohm loses the connection the amp goes to no load! It's worth checking and look for grey on the connector - seems that can happen as it did on mine. Stay safe.
@@tonymckenzieofficial okay I looked at the schematic and watched the video a few more times. It is very clear now what I need to do! Thank you! I also agree that these are great sounding amps and worth fixing with a motherboard swap if needed. I love the tone!
Yes it's not too hard to complete and if you want it cleaner you can do it from under the board but then you have to remove it to get there. Thanks.
Thanks Tony!
Any time... and mine is still going strong :). Thanks for watching.
Great info and video!
Thank you for watching.... and stay safe.
As with any thing, the more features it has, the more things that can go wrong. I bought a used Marshall Combo amp a G80 something, something. I saw it languish in a Pawn Shop for years. They had $300 written on the tag. I finally walked up, told them I'd pay $125 for it. They hesitated, I said Man she's sat in that corner collecting dust, I've got the cash now. Well they let me have it for $135. It weighs a ton, but it's solid state. It actually sounds great on the Boost channel. I read nothing positive about it on the internet, in the chat rooms, etc. My only problem is the input Jack is connected to the board, so I'm careful when plugging in. I've had it since 2008 no problems. I think the major amp companies made a mistake by placing the tubes, switches, etc, directly on the circuit boards. I know it's "cost effective", saving a few pennies, but I like the old method. Jimmy Page didn't do so bad with his Supra, did he? Any way, I'm into watching the amp repair guys now. There's a cat called Uncle Doug, if you haven't seen him check him out. He reminds me of a school teacher, but he has dry humor. Thanks again, I enjoyed the video.
Interesting about the amp :) a great $135 if you ask me! Tone is subjective anyway, what's good for one guy the next might not like. Agreed on the PCB and power tubes in particular. I had a Peavey MACE head back in the day and it burned the PCB badly because of that - tubes upside down heating the PCB. I know of Uncle Doug of course. I also like Guitologist but only the repair videos - the other stuff is not for me. They are both very good at what they do. Stay safe.
Hi Tony I did try to contact you on your website but no luck so I will try again through TH-cam. I have 2 TSL122'S both of which had to be heavily played with by Marshall to get them working right. The first is from 2004 and the second from 2005 and its a good thing it was done under warrenty. Now the first question I have for you is where did you get your replacement main board from as Marshall are refusing to supply spares for their amps and secondly do you remember now much it was. They are now doing boards at £70+vat, labour £40+vat and pickup charge £24+vat plus any extras they may find, this is for one amp so when you double it you get £321.00 or £168 for the boards with the vat. They are available from the States but myou are looking at over £200 each plus postage and import tax which is 20%. So to the question have you got any bright ideas where I can get two boards with out been taken for a ride????!!!!! Best wishes Owen
Sorry I missed the question before... Well, the boards are not hyper cheap I have to say and since 2020 they have increased also... I know they are for sale at www.hotroxuk.com/marshall-tsl100-main-board.html and their price used to be about £110 + VAT which at the time was reasonable. But as you see currently that board is around £175 inc. VAT which IMO is high in my opinion but everything in the UK has soared over these recent times. Fitting the board is not that difficult but without experience probably not a good idea. Current boards are Issue 20 and that does fix the amp - my amp has been solid ever since the board upgrade. The TSL100 JCM2000 amp is a very good amp and was marred by the bad board situation sadly. I created an album called 'Eniac' on mine back in 2006/7 and to be honest those tones remain some of the best recorded tones that I have got from ANY Marshall amp. Many would tell me I'm nuts... but the guys that know the amp properly will know how good it can be. Me? I would have grabbed them boards at that price especially if you love the amp. Marshall only supply spares to authorised resellers and repairers that are registered with Marshall so I'm not surprised they won't supply the boards. Probably a safety thing. From my experience EVERYTHING Marshall costs more in the USA - and I mean a lot more. Hope this helps (its based on what I know) and if you love the TSL100 its not the worth of the amp, but the value of those tones that made me fix mine. Thanks for watching and do let me know how it all goes...
I ended up getting tired of doing math on amps during biasing and built a small arduino-powered box that uses "Bias Scout" probes to read off the voltages in mV and calculate the idle dissipation. Combined with an internal catalog of popular tube types, and I can dial two tubes independently for the exact % I want without having to run the numbers!
Sounds like a good little project to me... you should put it on TH-cam and I'm sure loads of guys would be interested in that. Stay safe.
@@tonymckenzieofficial Cheers - I really need to spend some time explaining the wiring for it, but it's fairly straightforward. This was filmed before some improvements made the display less flickery: th-cam.com/video/cJV6CalyffQ/w-d-xo.html
Oh, and some footage of the breadboarded prototype here: th-cam.com/video/aYZNA7LpDL0/w-d-xo.html
Hey thanks for this stuff... appreciated. Ill take a look. Stay safe.
Yes I took a look - very clever from an Arduino for sure. :) You should make a 4 tube one and get it exactly right and I'm sure you could sell those...
@@tonymckenzieofficial Thanks :D The real bugger is that it relies on all 4 tubes sharing a ground reference, which is a bit concerning if your amplifier has a wiring fault. Doubling up the ADCs and moving to a differential amplifier would help address that, but that leads to the other issue - the utter lack of HV protection circuitry on the meter. So that's something I'd have to deal with - perhaps with some Zener diodes and fusing.
I don't have one and could care less...and I still watched it...been missing you! I'm so sick of paid BS reviews...but have lots of space for your honesty! I see a Univalve in the back...I use mine daily. Have you looked at the mods available for it? Easy to find at google. I'd love to have a 'follow along' vid, like this awesome one, before I try it myself! Very nice playing, by the way.
Hi Dogpa... nice to hear you too! I have some more videos to put here presently too. I too grew tired of those sort of reviews some years ago and decided to show a different view of the stuff I reviewed. Some of those videos you talk about are clearly incorrect about the products they talk about.
Hey I have not checked any modding for the THD but that's an interesting point that I will follow up on. Its a pretty simple amp and I'm sure you're right that could have lots of mods... I just never checked. Maybe I could do that re the video. Good idea... it wont be on here tomorrow but I will do that.
The track is from my 'Eniac' album of some years ago called Lightpipe AI. I used the original backing on here but replayed the track... not perfect and slightly low in the mix but its near enough :) Thanks for watching and have a great new year!
Jam in Tony. Another great vid.
:) Actually this was a track from my 'Eniac' cd from back in 2006 with the backing off the CD. I had to learn a few bits here and there but I thought it came out well bearing in mind I had not played that for over ten years :) The original really rocks. Thanks for watching...
Sounds Mega Tony, Happy New Year to you & yours!
Yes I really like this amp and now that the board really is solid it won't be going anywhere now :) Yes have a great new year there too for you and your family.
The engeneers couldn't believe how well my AC30 used to behave, in the studio!, and those were analog, not digital days!
Ah but I bet that was a 'real' AC30 :) Many say they don't make them like they used to. Stay safe.
I used to have the 2x12 combo version of this amp. Best sounding amp I ever owned......why oh why did I get rid of it? Great video Tony. Happy New year. ( eBay....TSL....) 😇
See, selling the TSL's of this world are a mistake and one I have made myself. Did I get it from you? (I forget) and if I did you should have kept it :) The amp did not really need the board, but it makes a very useful video and I really enjoyed making this one. Thanks for watching and have a great new year.
I also owned one and couldnt get rid of it quickly enough. A great sound.......when it worked , but the most unreliable amp I have ever owned.
I understand that of course. My original never let me down and to be honest this one had not actually failed save for the little cap and that speaker mod that did need doing... but the fix shown here solves it all and the amp becomes really good. For the cost these days it ends up being a really great amp... thanks for the info and for watching.
I wonder if the new board changes the tone
I noticed no difference except it works! Boards are now (it seems) rare and difficult to get... Thanks for watching.
@@tonymckenzieofficial no worries. I just got a tsl60 and im absolutely obsessed with it. Such an amazing piece of equipment and the sound
Well, you see that many guys knock the TSL amps. I think really that relates to the reliability of the PCB and bias. This amp I did update, but back in about 96/97 I had the original board in one and recorded some really great tones - honestly, they were some of the best tones I have ever recorded... so I bought this amp you see for a few hundred pounds and replaced the board in this video. I still have the amp and it works perfectly with 'that' tone. I did have a 60 some years before that but it was slightly different and a friend advised the 100w. So I bought that and basically have had one since. Hang on to the TSL if yours is fine... thanks and thanks for watching.
Hi Tony!
I recently changed the mainboard of my JCM2000 TSL100
by JCM2 60 00 REV20. I noticed that it has two new ports CON.CON15 and CON16. Supposedly the connections would be
Con15 to con21 lead board
Con 16 to con 22 lead board..
But on the LEAD board the last pore is the CON20
Could you explain to me why and what these new CON15 and 16 ports are for? Since I have nowhere to connect them in the LEad circuit.
Thank you for your attention and all the information in the video. congratulations for the work and for your music. Really appreciated
I did cover that in the video somewhere (I think towards the end). for the ports that you don't have the wires for you don't fit anything... look closer and they are replications of other connectors that you use. If I remember one related to a bias thing (been a long time since I did it) but none of them matter. I was in a similar dilemma at the time until I looked at the schematic :) Let me know if this answer does not hack it for you and then I'll dig to find the answer I posted on my channel... and thanks for watching. These JCM2000 are actually a good amp that was spoiled a little with the earlier revision board but this one does fix it all. Thanks
@@tonymckenzieofficial
This TSL JCM 200 head (my is 2003)I believe is one of the best ever made by Marshall. has this clinical problem of bias drifting but everything seems to be solved with this new main board. Since my amp started to give a problem only now, and it took a lot of road in several shows all over the country.
THX Tony for a long attention !!!
Best Regards
Get those new board in it and it will last a very long time... Thanks.
Very good track! Congratulations on your art! 🙏🙏🙏
This is a track I wrote on an album back in 2006 called Lightpipe AI from my Eniac album... there are a few like this on there and I loved the sound I got at the time in the studio with just this amp and a wah pedal :). Thanks for the kind words and stay safe.
What would be the advantage of under biasing the tubes. Do you get a cleaner tone?
You get a 'colder' tone and the tubes will last longer. Over bias a 'hotter' tone maybe more distortion from power tubes and shorter life for the tubes. Thanks.
HI Tony. Great video. TY. Do you have an addy for the replacement board? I would like to order one.
Well there is here: www.hotroxuk.com/marshall-tsl100-main-board.html but to be honest that's a bit expensive from what I see...
@@tonymckenzieofficial Thanx Tony.
Thanks Tony you saved my TSL from the skip!! Changed the board myself and biased as you did, it's like a new amp now, the boards become conductive over time apparently.
Underrated amp, I gigged mine for six years before this happened
Mine started red plating tubes
Then went pop when I turned it on and two valves wouldn't even warmup. Sad news I've recently seen a video of the JVM starting to suffer the same fate, and the power transistor boards of the solid state Marshalls the Guitologist does a video on these solid states I've started leaving my valve amps at home, I use a boss katana head
Now it's very good maybe not as good but plenty good enough
And very rewarding and enjoyable to play in a band mix , plenty loud enough on the 50watt setting. I'm
Hoping Boss didn't get their boards from Marshalls supplier
I've seen a wazzacraft head and cab for sale for £1000 ex demo
Mmm
Well done - the TSL100 is a very under rated amp and I made my 'Eniac' album on that amp back in 2006 - it still sounds so good on those tracks. Did you also do the output mod on the 16 Ohm connector - its in the video. Katana works and that's a fact. Ha I doubt Boss even talk to Marshall :) I own a Wazza Head (the 150 watt) and a 2x12 cab... Ormskirk? that is where mine came from. If it is there they are pretty perfect gear and I still have that head. Very well made... a bit toppy maybe but you can get good tones from it. Did you see my review? Here: th-cam.com/video/fHKQMHFV63o/w-d-xo.html Well saved on the TSL. Thanks for watching and Stay safe.
Your'e Back! happy new year Tony
I have been working hard on videos there are 6 or 7 to post in total and it has taken forever! Happy new year and thanks.
The JCM2000 series amps are great amps.
I need zero converting :) Recorded on the TSL100: th-cam.com/video/P_kLLgOGP-A/w-d-xo.html and : th-cam.com/video/AqV74q1lLUk/w-d-xo.html a great amp and worth keeping. Brilliant for recording tones. Stay safe.
@@tonymckenzieofficial BRAVO
Yep the screen grid pin is right next to the control grid pin (3 or 4 mm distance) which has the negative bias on it which is being dragged more positive by the 400 or so volts on the neighbouring screen grid pin via the board material. this in turn biases the valve further into conduction which makes things hotter and the run away condition it created. remember valves are a high impedance device so grid bias can be changed with very little current...
Thanks for the info Terry. I have seen guys do the cut out mod on the board etc. but I just changed the board and that solves things forever :) but thanks for the posting as all info is good. Thanks for watching too.
Not the best idea having power valves sockets soldered to PCB's. I believe Marshell has fixed this issue once and for all with the current or latest version of the DSL100 and no longer has the EL34 sockets mounted on the board and also uses a digital reverb cct in it instead of the spring.
I have not checked them. But some while ago I did have a comment to Santiago Alvarez (designer of the 410H head among others) and he commented that the sockets on the board were 'no problem' or words to that effect here: tonymckenzie.com/afd100_review.htm and he specifically said 'The transmission of heat by conduction through the pins is not too big as the pins are relatively small. Main heat source is convected and radiated, blocked by the chassis in a combo. In a head the heat tends to go up away, so the PCB would run quite cool and definitely much lower than the temperature it could withstand' so that was the official answer from the designers.
Not a DSL of course but an interesting review with designer comments on there.
As long as the board does not demonstrate a PTC effect from any heat that does transfer down from the pins their shouldn't be a problem. From what i can tell the original boards in the DSL's must have been fine also when new, ..but over the course of time the board material they were using must deteriorate. The DSL I repaired a few years back for a guitarist friend of mine was a very sick animal indeed. Everything was getting really hot and and the o/p valves were redplating. The bias was impossible to adjust and it was going into an out of control thermal runnaway condition which i'm sure would have resulted in the HT fuse blowing had i left it running for any extended time. At the time a replacement main board was just too expensive to have shipped to Australia via the local marshall dealer. So i etched a separate circuit board to contain the bias cct, signal coupling and grid blockers and drilled out all four the G1 connections out of the main board. (good old air insulation!! ) Big modification I know but the results were favourable and way cheaper. Since doing that the amplifier has been running fine biased to around 75mV per side, way cooler !! I have suggested to him to get the new issue 20 board If he does plan on keeping it. :)
You describe exactly the TSL100 board problems too - just reading around on the net there have been so many problems with the early boards. So from your experience I would say they were all the same thing basically. Ha I watched various mods but decided that because I live in the UK it was easier to get the board. I did have a way of getting it less than the sort of street price here though. Overall whatever works I guess is fine and I can tell you have been around the boards :) probably far more practise than me :) Fitting the board is not that hard though so for me that was the best answer. I can recommend the board it fixes everything and the amp sounds just like when I first bought it.
Thanks for all this info.. over time loads of guys read what's on here and it all helps in general I guess.
hello thank you for the video, where i can find the mother board of DSL 100 1998 series?
Those boards it seems are now hard to find :( hotrox in the UK had them but seem now to be short on supply. Anyone know of a source for these boards? Post it here - and thanks for watching.
Hey Tony, glad to see you back! can you make a video for biasing/switching tubes for the Hagen without dying? ahah happy new year! all the best
I never did the biasing on the Hagen although the video shows the area. you have to go inside but it might be worth a go. I'm pretty confident I will survive.. even on a Hagen :) Have a great new year and thanks for watching.
con 15 and con 16 , if the old board does not have what do you plug into there
Leave them empty they are discussed at the end of my video somewhere... thanks.
@@tonymckenzieofficial I isolated the no 5 pin on tubes V5 thru V8 with a dremel plenty of air now around pin and ran a bypass to resistor on old board .. now when amp heats up bios is stable sounds a 100 times better and put a new set of Groove tube EL34M medium tubes i will use it like that for now and see how it works until I can get a ver 20 board .. you can do that too the board you took out will fix bios issues Thanks Ben
I have seen similar before Ben... but thanks for the posting. Check the 16 Ohms speaker out and link it as I showed in the end of the video... it loads the cap up as I showed and can zap the PT. Hope it helps... and thanks for the info. Stay safe.
@@tonymckenzieofficial These are my favorite amps , been using one since they came out th-cam.com/video/XfF5MT4L2nk/w-d-xo.html
@@tonymckenzieofficial Tony I did not buy a new board for mine . I did isolate the pins but it was mainly that 16ohm plug , crazy what a poor design ... but I do put a turbo fan blowing at the back of my amp . I will buy the Dr. tube bias kit too isolate the bios board and capacitors for $50 USD they say eventually those Ver 20 boards do the something on the tracking . try setting at 90mv for the bios it sounds so much better thats what this amp is design for with Marshall the hotter the tubes the better they sound .. my friend had an early 70s Marshall head you could cook an egg on top but it sounded incredible that thick brown sound
Excellent Guitar playing Sir !!!!!
Well thank you Joseph.... I did not quite get the mix right on this recording but if you watch here: th-cam.com/video/C4WLh0vYaIs/w-d-xo.html where I get it exactly as the record :) and thanks for watching.
tonymckenziecom You’re very welcome Sir 😀 It’s always a pleasure watching and learning from your videos!!!!!! 🍻 Cheers Sir !
Tony, where can I get the issue 20 board?
Check this one (in UK) but you can order them from Marshall dealers. Thanks: www.hotroxuk.com/marshall-tsl100-main-board.html they have screwed the price high IMO, but you can buy them there. Thanks.
Tony.
I had several of these over an 11 year period. Only one gave me a problem.
I gigged these and made an album with them in 2008. (Comfort In Fear by Heroes Of Switzerland). What shocked me about the TSL series is that the 100 watt was quite a good amp. But the FX loop was terrible. Whereas the TSL60 has a superior FX loop. Although I had this weird method of running the 60 at 4 O Clock on the master volume while keeping the gain and Chanel volumes at 12 O Clock.
The other major issue is that footswitch. I used to go through two a year without fail.
A great sounding amp that I too used on an album from 2006 and some in 2008 also. The 60 sounded weird to me though so I flipped and stayed with the 100 but never used the loop really... Thanks for the info Sebastian about these TSL amps - mine never did fail, but I did find problems lurking on the motherboard - which I changed out as you saw here. I still have that amp, but I never had any other problem - but mine was studio based and you're out there - and that's a massive difference. All good stuff... and thanks for watching.
Hello Mate, thanks for the video!!! I got this amp and gain is so weak, gain is almost 9 on the crucnh channel but there is no gain at least, preamp tubes also new.. but result is same i wonder that have you any video that kind of problem? By the way i faced same issue with all channels , clean-crunch and lead😢
Put a signal in to the return of the loop and see if you can get any volume... maybe by using a preamp of another amp... send out from other amp loop and in to return on this amp. If its OK then, there's a preamp problem, and if not OK power amp trouble... you did not say whether the 'clean' volume can go loud or not?
Is there away to check the board versions without opening it up? I have a 2006 model ( M-2006-18-1011-A )
Well 2006 is at the end of the 'bad' earlier boards from what I believe. I think that in 2007 the newer revision came out. But maybe if you call Marshall and ask which revision board is in there it might be the answer... Thanks for watching.
great vid Tony very informative, I have a dsl 100 head, its bias was crazy runaway, got newer board from marshall and fitted slowly but surely but now is ROCK steady and bias is solid, will prob keep now great amp and gets great gary moore tones using crunch on classic gain with an overdrive pedal. jeff beck also uses but bet his techs have long replaced the board revision
Yes they are great amps once you do it all. My original had no issues back in 2006 when I did the recording but I guess by this time it might have now wherever it is. Thanks for the info and for watching.
Any board changes for the DSL 100 ?
I thought the same board... but I could be wrong on that... anyone know?
Great Video, thanks you a lot, that guided me to change the board of my TSL 100 with the issue 20, but unfortunately i still have the same issue, bias drift even with the new board, so
be careful with yours
Hmm I would go and look again at your amp. Every guy I have spoken with when fitting the rev board I showed has not had that problem since? It is difficult to advise you other than you go back and take a look. If that is a new board, I would also call Marshall because you have warranty and support for it that should cost you little or nothing to get the answers that you need if that is persisting. Do let me know what happens... thanks. Stay safe.
@@tonymckenzieofficial thanks you so much,
I wrote a message to Hot Rox UK, i buyed it there, waiting the answer. The board is new and i'm 100% sure i didn't made conexion mistakes, but perhaps i had a problem coming from another part of the amp.
Have a nice day :-)
I would not mess about with them... contact Marshall amps in Milton Keynes... their support is good. There has to be something going on there somehow... I can't really advise myself, but honestly contact Marshall in the UK. Here's the number: +44(0)1908 375411 and I hope it helps. If you don't get anywhere come back to me... thanks and stay safe.
@@tonymckenzieofficial thanks you tony, i finally bring it for repair and that was what i suspected, the bias card, the solderings where cracked, so there was no conduction.
Now the amp works very well.
I'm happy 😁😊
I buyed a torpedo x and it works very well with another amp a custom made in france amp, but don't sound as good with the Marshall, the Marshall sounds better with the speaker than the loadbox IR.
I will work with speakers and micking ;-)
Have a nice day
And stay safe.
You mean that little board... they can give trouble for sure. Well the Marshall should sound OK? Try some different IR's etc. there are a few 'free' sample ones on the celestion site... good to know you got there in the end anyway. These are really cool amps. Stay safe.
where can you get the motherboards?
I don't know where you are based but ANY Marshall authorized dealer can order them. I also know these guys in the UK have them: www.hotroxuk.com/marshall-tsl100-main-board.html seems his price has increased a bit but it's still a pretty good deal if you have board problems on the TSL100 - mine is perfect these days. Hope it helps and thanks for watching . Stay safe.
Very interesting stuff Tony. Where did you learn all of your electronics? Nice jam at the end. I really like the Eniac album.
Originally I was a mechanical engineer until I reached 20... then moved in to far more specialised things. Later still I started in computing in around 1980. I learned a lot in that next decade with involvement with Singaporean manufacturing of PC's. The next decade I worked in networking and from 2000 RF technologies. However, over the years I have built amplifiers and learned a lot the hard way, but I'm no expert on tube amps and you have to be careful with all that internal power. I also in the early 90's became a class 1 radio amateur and learned a lot about electronics getting that license which I found very interesting to complete - in those days you had to also pass the Morse code test which I learned and passed in three months with the help of an Atari computer :)
The Eniac album was written really a number of years after I decided to never bother with a true band situation on the road so to speak. I had enough of whiners, no commitment from others, I was always paying... well many guys will know the sort of thing that made me not bother. In some ways after about 2000 I started to focus on changing the way I played and I spent a long time figuring out how to create a tapping style that was played differently than all the others out there. I did get to grips with that, and the Eniac album (here: itunes.apple.com/gb/album/eniac/id213841144 ) (at least the tracks that are not fillers - mainly the first 70% of tracks) was the result. If you listen to some of that - tracks like 'Takedown' are riddled with that style I developed and the track 'Lightpipe AI' also showed it off. Alan Bruce was vocals and Bass on that album, but by 2008 we had developed an altogether different style in an album called 'Berner Street'.. (Here: itunes.apple.com/us/album/berner-street/313642615 ) much darker as it was written about Jack the Ripper and we spent eons doing the research.
Gravity Waves (Here: itunes.apple.com/gb/album/gravity-waves/1140579625 ) was scheduled to come out in 2013-14 but prostate cancer put me back a number of years and that was completed in 2016, but again that album was actually more diverse than the Eniac album I originally wrote those years before.
Your one line question actually has a myriad of answers that I could actually fill a page replying to :) Thanks for watching and glad you liked it.
You're welcome Tony. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience.
Where can I buy the board? do you have any links? thank you.
You can buy it in England if you're here... from here: www.hotroxuk.com/marshall-tsl100-main-board.html but if you are not in the UK then ask any main Marshall dealer and they can order it. BTW That board on the link seems to have increased in price quite a lot... I don't necessarily recommend anything except that is where I have seen them for sale. Seems a bit high on price. Thanks.
Where can I get issue 20 board?
Not sure where you are based but if the UK here: www.hotroxuk.com/marshall-tsl100-main-board.html and USA (I think) here: britishaudio.com/products/marshall-tsl100-main-pcb-board-rev-20 the board solved it all for me and others I have spoken to... hope it helps and thanks for watching.
Does the tsl60 had those issues also?
No I don't believe the TSL60 suffers from the bias problem that the early TSL100's did. I did have a TSL60 at one stage but it did sound a little different too than the TSL100 IMO. Thanks.
what series board is for the JCM2000 dsl100 ?
I believe the issue 20 board is the current one... thanks.
Happy New Year!
Yes you and your family have a really good one too... Thanks Tom... T
Did you mic up the amp or use the direct emulated output? I'm goin to change the board on mine as two middle valves have stopped heating up but the fuses haven't blown in the heater curcuit
Great video
Some times I mic it up and others DI... but on this video I specifically used an AKG microphone in to a desk then mixed to the video camera... always watch my videos and if you see a mic in front of the cab on video its likely that I used it. Yes sounds like you have issues there, but it really is worth the effort of replacing that board... just make sure the connectors are put back in the right place (it is fiddly) and you will be fine. It biased up after the board replacement perfectly and sounded great. Thanks for watching.
Side note: if you want a more tidy bypass on the 16 ohm jack, it's pretty quick to pop the rear board out and flip it over to solder a wire across the two pins underneath the jack.
I know that one but was 'idle' at the time :) But others might not know that so posting is always a good thing... thanks for that.
I got a 100w jcm2000 dsl new in 2006 it wss my road dog for 10 years i had it serviced every 6 months it never let me down im retired now but its still going i guess ive been luckey good info thanks cheers j w
I do believe the DSL did have similar issues (but I have never experienced it with DSL) - in any case the board fixes it all and the amp is really good now... great recording tones for sure... thanks for watching.
Mr. McKenzie. Important question...First, AWESOME video. I have been fortunate enough to pick up a JCM2000 DSL100. Luckily, it was made in 2009 and to my relief, the main board is Issue number 20!! Woo Hoo!! My question is, my cabinet is a 16 ohm cab. As long as I continue to use that cabinet, can I put off doing the 16 ohm speaker jack fix until I decide to use an 8 ohm cabinet. As long as I have that 16 ohm jack plugged in, will it ground properly? I hope you see this question and give me the sage advice you are known for. Thank you sir for all your awesome videos!
Hi, It should ground OK as long as you are using the 16 Ohms speaker out. The 16 ohm grounding is carried forward to the other two speaker outs... and what happens is that when the 16 ohm ground fails (it will) then you are left without an ground to the other two outs... basically leaving the amp with no load on the output. This is why its so critical to stop that. Obviously if you're using the 16 ohm that will be OK. Good question thanks.
tonymckenziecom Thank you for the reply! That is exactly as I thought. That if I ever switched to a different ohm rated cab, being that the 16 ohm jack works as the only ground for all the jacks, that if the “spring action” fails on that jack, bye bye output transformer. I may do the fix anyway soon just to be safe. Cheers!
Correct... but the DSL is made after that? right? flipped to India or somewhere? The DSL board might be different?
Speedforhire The first lettter is M which means made in England, the number right after the M is definitely 2009. Much like vehicles, if it is made in November, they consider it the NEXT year. So mine was probably made in November 2008 but they consider it a 2009 model. Plus it has Made In England on the back of my amp. Also the front says JCM2000 on the left and in very small letters on the right just underneath the input it says DSL 100. When they outsourced them to Korea they stopped using JCM2000 I believe. I think it was January of 2009 they outsourced production to Korea.
Has it been proven that the PCBs are conductive? Or is this just a theory? I have two TSL60s and they're my favorite amps. I'd also like to have a Marshall DSL50. I just love the distortion sound they make. Personally I think they made these amps too complicated. For example I wish they just had the lead channel. No Effects loop. No Deep or Tone Shift. And no reverb. Didn't Steve Grindrod design these amps? Anyway I can't help but think that maybe Marshall used some cheap resistors, capacitors or maybe the wrong value bridge rectifier.
Not by me... but that is what I heard. You will note that the TSL100 and the DSL100 both have the same issue... except for the later issue 20 boards. Yes I think the TSL100 when set up 'just right' sounds incredible and I used mine back in 2006 for a whole album - I never beat those recorded tones with any amp really. They DID mod the board - that issue 20 is different enough to stop the problems once and for all from my experience. On the earlier boards they had different resistors, there's a cap that burns (its in this video) and that cap then burns the board etc. If you love the amp (and I get your points on those 'extras' that I don't use either) it's probably worth the investment... and check that 16 Ohm speaker connector for sure. I think Steve might have designed this amp - but I can't be sure - I never checked that. BTW I never saw any of the internet 'fixes' for the bias runaway really solve it all once and for all... they spent a long time messing around (some guys even drilled the boards) with some incredible and technical fixes when the issue 20 board solves it all quicker and it just works. Thanks John and stay safe.
Yes John, Steve Grinrod designed the DSL100... it was the last amp he designed for Marshall before he left to start his Albion brand amplifiers. The DSL was a rush-job design to complete with the Mesa Dual Rectifier, but the PCB (G10/FR4) used in the earlier amps had some sort of organic material in the board that caused them to be conductive at higher temperatures, especially where there is a large voltage difference. Unfortunately, most of the replacement boards suffer from the same issue as the earlier boards (I can't speak for the newer 20 series). To combat the problem, you can basically isolate the output tube grid pins from the PCB. The output tube screen pins (#4) are at around +450v and the input grid pins (#5) are at -55v. When the amp gets warm, the-55v creeps back towards 0v. This causes the bias to be so high that I've actually seen the glass actually melted. With the grid pins are completely isolated, there is no chance for them to be pulled high by the higher voltage pins around them. I know Steve was upset that these amps weren't really given the usual time to work out any bugs in the design, which is normal R&D protocol, as Marshall were in a hurry to get these amps to market. It could have been one of the reasons why he split from Marshall. Steve also designed the 2203/2204 two-input Master Volume models in 1976 if you weren't aware of that already. Hope this has been helpful.
Regards 🎸
Hello Tony , thanks for all your good work . Don't you agree that Marshall , knowing all their early mother-boards were sub standard , should supply "goods of a merchantable quality" free of charge ?
That's a good point and manufacturers should stand behind their products of course. But there has to be a limit of time? right? Think of it this way, Marshall Amplification is a business. Their liability (based on UK and European law) is for a 'reasonable period', but if you could prove that the product has an inherent fault then in law you have a case for redress. The problem of course though is really that after period X then really the user has the responsibility of pursuing the claim for redress. For example if the board was proven to be a bad design.
What do I think personally? Well, I am a business guy and I tend to think that bearing in mind my amp was made in 2004 and has never actually failed in nearly 14 years I don't really mind buying a board. It puts my mind at rest about what could happen having read what's on the internet.
I don't really have the time (or inclination) to even bother Marshall for the cost of the board (in my case it was less than some might buy them) and I turned the 'problem' in to a case for helping others by making a video of how to do it which I feel is a good thing to do. If someone really wanted to go through the rigmarole of pursuit of a replacement board then I am sure that Marshall would take each case on its merits and act accordingly - I have never found them to be negative in any of my communications with them about anything.
This was a good question because it actually has many answers... under law, reasonableness, what someone expects, warranty and much more. Remember that many of these very amps are working out there still without ANY real issues that are discernible but that could change of course and certainly would have if the amp was used in arena's every day. Have a great new year and thanks for watching.
I had the 40w JCM2000 DSL401 C combo and I loved the boost gain channel. I believe this is just a triple channel version of the same amp circuit right Tony? If it wasn't for me getting my Silver Jubilee, I would had kept hold of it.
Bloody brilliant sounding amp for the harder rock gain sound. I love what you've done to this one and it sounded brilliant.
Quick question Tony dude, would you be able to do a guitar update video as I know you've got some beauties I would love to see in greater depth. I've still got that LP Classic Custom that I put the gold hardware and 490/498 humbuckers in that I showed you about a year ago. I actually weighed it and it came in at 10.4lb's
Cant be sure Dan I have not seen inside a DSL40.. but probably at least a similar board. The TSL60 was not as good as the TSL100 (I had a 60 before my original 100). The amps drive well I think too. Indeed, I intend to make a video of the whole caboodle soon... watch for it and I'll go through them all :) 490 and 498 are really classic pickups that will give you that Gibson sound for sure I like those actually... not too toppy and a REAL Les Paul tone. 10.4 lbs is about right if its not been lightened inside (I'm not sure about that for the model). Use a wide strap and its all good :)... Thanks Dan and good to hear you.
I have a few questions regarding power tubes for this amp. 1) will it adversely affect it's operation to replace the tubes with two matched pairs rather than a quad (splitting the pairs opposite the phases from each other to keep the overall gain balanced)? 2) would using 6L6s instead of EL34s cause any harmful issues? I plan on using EL34s and bias to 90mV, but I was just curious...
I would not be too worried about two matched pairs as long as they stay 'matched' in their respective places. But don't just put 6L6 tubes in this amp... I certainly don't recommend that unless some tech has worked on the amp to make that acceptable... and then you would see 6L6 in there. The EL34 IMO has probably the Marshall sound that most people could think as a Marshall 'sound' too so best kept that way. Just fitting 6L6 will cause aggro if fitted in to an unmodified amp I believe. The 90mv seems about right although I tend to look towards 70-75mv so there is a bit of leeway. Hope it helps and thanks for the post.
@@tonymckenzieofficial thank you so much! Your videos are a delight to watch, and so informative. While I'm not a qualified or licensed guitar amp technician, I know enough about electronics having been an avionics technician for 20 years. I understand and respect the dangers of working with high voltage circuits.
Id figure i would have to rebias per spec for 6L6s, if those were to be tried. I've heard those have a more "American" or "Modern" sound, as they are often used in Mesa and Peavey amps.
I just ordered some NIB Marshall-branded (JJ) matched quad EL34s. Hopefully I'll be up and running soon! Thanks again! Cheers!
Just an update: I changed my tubes (EHX) with some Marshall branded JJ's, biased to 90mV. Sounded great. I then did some redecorating, replacing the front with an aluminum honeycomb grill and classic block letter "Marshall" badge (wanting to show off the glow of the tubes, and make it my own).
I'm very careful with electronics; I never touch components, leads, or solder joints, unless ESD strapped to ground. I've worked on aircract avionics and electronics for over 20 years. I take as much care as possible handling the tubes.
So, imagine my surprise and horror when my speakers begin crackling and popping as two of my newly purchased tubes' shields start glowing and arching! I suspect redplating and runaway bias, but have yet had time to inspect it for damage to the boards. The model was made in 2006, but I can't find a revision number. The motherboard seems to be an updated opaque, all green version.
Please, let me know your thoughts. Thanks again! Love your videos!
I think I made mine to about 70mV at the time (forgot its been a while), and it could be the problematic biasing... my amp was I think 2005/6 or something around there look for issue 20 - if its issue 5/6/7 then likely a problem. Also examine that capacitor I mention in here that was burned off my board - that also is trouble and I did show how to solve that cause. Honestly, I dislike JJ tubes and that is the ONLY brand I ever have had trouble with since 1971. Marshall use them currently in new amps too. They stopped using Svetlana some while back. You will find the issue number on the board as I showed in this video. If it is an old one then check that bias again now and see what it is. If its way out and the tubes are gone because of the bias then I would get a board. My amp has been perfect ever since and without issue. The TSL100 (JCM2000) is a great amp that some don't like, but usually because of that bias problem... once you solve it that amp works brilliantly and probably won't give you any trouble then. Hope it helps and do let me know what you find... thanks.
@@tonymckenzieofficial thank you so much for taking the time and offering your experience and expertise. This Amp has been both a blessing and a curse lately. She will be named "The Diva" henceforth.
I will be replacing the board with the Rev 20. I'll take the tubes to a tech to see if they're still usable... if not, I'm going to have to settle with what I can find on a budget. That board will set me back about $200 (approx 175 pounds). It's an investment, I know. Thanks again!
Oh Christ. I have this amp and I love it so much! :D I've tear it apart probably 10 times to the last screw. I've done probably 20 mods to it. Great great amp :) Mine is from 04.2006 (newer PCBs)
My Mainboard is ISS 10. Issue 10 doesn't have the bias drift trouble :)
Be careful... I believe there is an issue 5, 6 and 7 and then a jump to issue 20 of the board as shown on the schematics I used. You just might be correct... but I think that there is no issue 10? You have to check very carefully. Mine was a 2004 amp and it had an issue 6 (if I remember)... but fitting the issue 20 board solves near enough everything except that cap blow and I show in the video how to solve that... thanks for watching and do let me know about that board...
I'm 100% positive it's issue 10. I will send you images of my amp and insides.
Tony, you have to put choke in there. R71 on the mainboard. I have 10H choke. Waaay better power supply now.
I know there was ISS 3 and 4 too :)
Well if it is I would like to get a picture of the main board issue number printed on there so I can add to this... you can contact me via tonymckenzie.com/contact.htm and then send me a pic... but don't go to great lengths to do it... just when you have time etc. and thanks for the info. I have not seen issue 3 or 4 either and I only had the diagram you see on there. I have fitted chokes to the JVM410H historically and for that amp it was hardly noticeable... indeed on that amp I never got a good sound. Thanks for the info and have a great new year.
Mine has a serial number from 2005 and also shows what looks like Issue 10. I don't use the amp too much but when I have it's been stable. My 2002 JCM 2000 DSL 100 on the other hand... bias drift was very real there. I replaced that one (also Issue 20) and it's been great.
Thanks for this video, it helped me a lot already. I still have a question, the TAD website recommends to use only winged C tubes on this amp because the heater current at start up is supposed to blow a fuse when used with JJ or mullard stlyle el34s and the winged C is supposed to be less "picky" about the placement of components on the board where other tubes could start to oscillate. i do have a rather late model (built in 2006) do you recon they fixed this issue in the newer boards or do i have to get the 200 quid svetlana tubes? kind regards
I did not see that comment before... and I have personally never really had any issues with the TSL100 but as the video mentions thousands have. Maybe that applies to earlier boards? But the issue 20 seems perfect to me. Do you know what revision board is in the amp? Anything lower than issue 20 might be a problem... but as I said, even on the board I pulled out I never really saw any tube problems personally. As you will have seen though, that capacitor was burned because the 500v max voltage on the component is too low. The 1000v on the new board fixed that. Hope it helps. Thanks.
@@tonymckenzieofficial thanks! maybe your cooler bias might have done the trick, i think the factory recommendation is 90mv per pair which seems rather hot to me. i've seen the placement of components on issue 20 is a little different from the '98 specs. Probably fixed those issues. I didn't find any data on which issue was implemented from which year on so i won't get around screwing it open to check. Yeah i'll change c46 for a 1000V one and try a quartett of TAD el34b STR which i really enjoyed in 800s and plexis. maybe at around 80mV.
@@niklasoswald7937 I never set any of it up to 90mv and I do think that's too far... but what do I know. I think the place in the video is where to be... and on my plexi video (measured differently) I think that was about 37 per tube...
Hey Tony! Have you ever done a bias mod to one of your Mesa amps? Thinking about doing one to my Mark III but not sure its worth the hassle.
Scarily.... I DID buy a little board from a USA company many years ago to make the BIAS adjustable. I 'found' it much later just in a drawer in the studio, so decided to check back with that company but they no longer made it. Somewhere here I have it... if I get chance to dig it out maybe I'll show it and show the method of conversion etc... works on a number of Boogie amps... strangely I never did fit it though (probably too idle for the 'gains' achievable so never bothered) and I guess they probably did not sell many so they stopped making the kit. It was not expensive and you did not actually need the kit to do a conversion to being adjustable. I think mine was for a triple recto at the time... but they are likely 'similar'.
In any case I'll take a look and if I find it (who knows) then I'll make a quick video - biut won't be fitting it, just showing what to do. Thanks and great question...
I really liked your video, thank you so much it was very helpful and very informative. I have a TSL100 and I been having some problems with noise on the FX loop and it has small drop in volume !!!! which its very common in these amps I was wondering if you had these any problems on the old PCB or the new one because I think the FX loop its not on the mainboard, but i dont know maybe you can tell us a little more about the FX loop.
Another think that I wanted to ask you is:
Did you feel that with new board change your tone ,more headroom maybe or more punch ??
does it feel more quiet , less hiss , more bottom end ?? no change at all? whatever you feel please let us know!!!
by the way you tone on that album my god its really good I love it !!!!!!
I think the same the Marshall TSL100 its the best amp if it works right !!!
and last but not least maybe you can talk about more mods I been thinking about those mods that are very common like the change of transformer , the choke or any other mod that you like!!!
thank you so much and keep Rocking!!!
I hate to say this... but I personally don't use the loop. Years ago I did but I have long forgotten about how it was exactly.
The new board sounded exactly like the old board but it has no technical issues with bias. Gravity Waves album used many amps, guitars and guitars to achieve the mix of sounds throughout the album. Every track is actually different and as much as anything those tracks were written around the different tones and 'feel' that each combination offered me. Its one reason why I really like many amps. The best two tracks from this amp are here: th-cam.com/video/P_kLLgOGP-A/w-d-xo.html in the form of Lightpipe AI... and here: th-cam.com/video/AqV74q1lLUk/w-d-xo.html in the form of Metropolis.
The TSL100 JCM2000 is shown with IMO incredible tones and that's why I bought this one again (I sold the original years ago) and fixed it all up... they are incredible guitar amps and those tracks show that tone off I think.
I have changed transformers on Marshall amps but never really noticed any discernible tone difference. Same with choke's in particular on the 410H. Listen to the tones above on these tracks and tell me those are not incredible tone... to my ears they are... all from an unmodified TSL100! :)
Hope you like the sound and do come and let me know.
It seems impossible, i' ve searched everywhere at marshall firm too nothing to do, maybe i will save the ot trafo power unit and tubes and i will build a jcm 800 clone
Maybe I'll ask them and see what they say, but it does look not good. Thanks for watching.
@@tonymckenzieofficial thank you very much for reading and answer my post
Hope to solve this issue
Have you a good time
Hey Tony, I loved your video, Mucho appreciated. Any way you could give out complete Part # . If you already have, My apologies but I didn't catch it. In process of locating 2 for purchase and I want to make sure I'm getting the correct boards.
Its this one: www.hotroxuk.com/marshall-tsl100-main-board.html and I don't think I remember the PN. Hope it helps.
Tony, glad your back. i missed your videos. I love my DSL100 and wanted to know if anybody makes a DSL clone or equivalent? The DSL I have is the original JCM 2000 version and have been looking something newer. I appreciate your help in advance.
I have been here all the time :) Actually I don't know of anyone making a clone of the DSL. Ceriatone don't make one. BTW the TSL board is the same one fitted to the DSL and you could update the board if you wanted to as this video shows. Remember my comments about the TSL... 'it remains the best amp I have ever used'. Have a wonderful new year and thanks for watching.
Marshall released a new version called a DSL100h. It doesnt sound as good to me though.
DSL is now made outside of the UK... the TSL100 was from Milton Keynes...
Great video I've been lookng for this infomation for long time, but i have some questios: Its the same for the DSL ? And did marshall correct this desing in some later version of the JCM 2000 ? I want to buy a 2000 and the first thing I am going to chek is the motherboard, thank you.
I believe the REPLACEMENT board is the same as the DSL but don't quote me. I can advise on the original DSL board... not seen one. The JCM2000 (TSL100 same amp) has boards prior to 2007 generally as problematic. Hence I changed this for revision 20. Thanks for watching.
You didnt mention what Marshall answer to you about the pcb problems, im curious, did Marshall offer you for free the main pcb?
Let's get one thing clear.... NO ONE offers anything to me for free... I went out after watching bodge after bodge on forums, the internet and other places and bought a board. There are MANY forums that 'blame' the material as there is a clear difference between the old and the new boards re materials. Subsequently, this video is the result of me solving the problem in a way that banishes the issue forever. Whatever anyone might say with fix this or fix that - none of it works! Watch this video and the singular answer you need is called issue 20!
@@tonymckenzieofficial
But in your opinion shouldn't Marshall replace all the motherboards for free or almost free? It's the user or second hand user that should spend more money to fix a problem that should never ever happen?
Because if the amp isn't repair the amp will not be 100% tone wise and will only will cause more problems and make the amp user spend more money.
No I don't think so. My board was dated 2004 (or something like that) and I changed it out at the date of this video way beyond any warranty periods or indeed any period that could ever be deemed as reasonable. At something like 10 years of age would you really consider that Marshall has any liability? Clearly had it failed within the warranty periods - which are generous (at least in the UK) then I am absolutely convinced that Marshall would have stood by their products and repaired or replaced the amp. Here's a question, if you bought a car and it worked fine until ten years later, then you noticed the trunk did not quite close properly would you really insist the maker has a liability for that?
Ha after looking in to some 'major player' amps recently I'll stick with Marshall - at least I know where they come from and I'm not somehow given the 'assembled in' argument to chew over. And from what I see of some of the insides some of that stuff is actually worse (yes really) made with problems I would have never have thought reasonable than Chinese made products - but at three or four times the price. Bearing in mind the age of these amps getting over 15 to 18 years old it did not bother me at all to buy a replacement board. Here's to another 20 years... :)
@@tonymckenzieofficial No the problem here is that 15 years ago you didnt have all the information acess that you have now, and there was a time delay until this problem start to happen and be dicovered, maybe 3 years, the warranty period. But Im shure that if the first amp owner knew about this problem at the time he would claim that in the warranty period.
Im sure that someone during this period of time of warranty of 3 years complaint about this problem to Marshall, and Marshall realized the problem but kept quiet and ignored this issue for all other users. The cost to change alot of main boards, would be huge for Marshall.
The thing is Roderigo, that is pure conjecture and we will never know the exact 'facts' regarding this board. You CANNOT be 'sure' that someone during the warranty period complained about this issue? But in any case, what I can say to you, is that I have seen high flyer 'manufacturers' recently with an internal board that would turn your stomach if you knew what they let through their 'quality' checks on brand new recently released tube amplifiers. I don't really think Marshall are within a 1000 years of the extremely bad stuff I have seen recently... Indeed I could show you on here... but if I did that 'brand' might have a problem so better that I don't. Thanks...
I love my TSL100s. I've owned it about 11 or 12 times and currently have three taking up space. Two of them had the bias drift issues and I replaced the board too. The third is a 1999 and weirdly seems to be perfectly fine. I have a new board in the cupboard though should it ever go wrong or I get a few hours free to get into it. Seriously one of my favourite amps.
Thanks for the info Jon... its my favourite amp too and can create some incredible tones. I originally sold the original but bought this about a year ago. The TSL60 I had briefly never did sound like the 100 watt either. Thanks and gave a great new year.
Does the effects loop have problems Tony? I heard it effects tone and volume when engaged! Also if your just using 16ohm connection it shouldn’t be a problem, is that correct?
I have not seen problems on the effects loop. For my use to be honest I rarely use the loop for what I do, I mic it all up and apply effects later on the desk. If you're using just the 16 Ohm connector you 'might' be OK... but to be honest if the 16 Ohm does fail (they go a sort of grey colour on the ground strip) then the amp would be in a bad way. I highlighted this because it's simple enough to fix. Good point on the Loop. Thanks for watching.
haha.... Wish I had this video a while ago.
I clipped C46 and isolated the pins on the tube sockets from the board and changed the 220k resistors to 5k6. I believe theres 4. Been a year or two. 65mv per side is what I was able to do. It stayed consistent and sounds great.
Ha that's the hard way :) in any case well done for the efforts. I did look at it all but easier to flip the board :) Thanks for watching.
Well reading it and actually having to do it are two different things. Listening to people that have NOT completed the update really can make guys do things that are not really necessary. I have not had a single issue since changing the board so in many ways this issue 20 in reality has fixed any need to start drilling stuff. Everyone has their own ideas of course, but had I followed some of the hair brained ideas posted online it could well have taken up tens of hours for a 'fix' that is really a bodge rather than a fix. People drilling issue 20 should look elsewhere as to problems maybe. Issue 5 WILL get that problem - and maybe the 16 Ohm problem too. Look for the grey colour on the 16 Ohm connector, seems a sure fire way of knowing there is a problem. Thanks for the info Tim and stay safe.
Just ordered a issue 20 for my jcm dsl50
It will be worth it for sure!. Thanks.
Hay how do you know for sure which year the JCM2000 was made before you buy it? I heard 2004 and before are the culprits. Especially the 100 versions.
Check the serial number firstly which tells you... this one was 2004 but I would not guarantee that any particular year prior to 2006 or thereabouts could not have the v6 or v7 board in there... I don't think there is a 'for sure' way of telling other than looking inside really. 2004 did have v6 as this one does but there was a v7 and some say later boards... thanks for watching and have a great new year.
Good afternoon. Can you tell me if this problem with the motherboard concerns the marshall TSL 60 amplifier or is it a problem only with TSL 100 and TSL 122? Thank you, have a nice day
This is a great question. I have not seen reports myself re the 60 watt amp. But they might exist? I did have a 60w years ago and never had any problem, but it's worth checking also the posts on this video. Sorry I cant offer more info... and thanks for watching.
Hey Tony, try to get your hands on a Diamond amp! I bought a Diamond Phantom a few months ago, and it is bar far the best sounding, most well built amp I have ever seen and played. 100% American made boutique built to last.
Thanks for the lowdown on Diamond. I have heard of them and seen but not played through them. I will bear that in mind as you never know I might come across one at some stage. If I do I'll review it of course and my story is that YOU will be the cause :). Have a wonderful new year.
Well if you come across one, just buy it, no questions asked. Happy new year man!
Well it has to be reasonable condition... other than that maybe! Thanks.
Hello Tony,,,,,I am wondering how one orders a new Ver 20 main PCB for the amp. Been on the Marshall Web site etc, but don't seem to be able to find a place to get one. Any ideas? Oh, I live in Canada. Don't mind paying shipping costs, although I think with the exchange rate it's going to be a few more "quid" across the pond here.
Marshall don't sell to you unless you are an authorised repairer.... instead go to here: www.hotroxuk.com/marshall-tsl100-main-board.html where they will sell you one.. that's a UK supplier, but he does have them and will ship anywhere... hope it helps... thanks for watching.
Thanks a bunch. I also have a 1998 JCM 2000 DSL 50 watt 'er which I'm quite fond of as well. Do you have any experience with the DSL 50's? Thoughts?
I did own a green DSL at one stage but it did not really give me what I wanted - more of a classic amp I thought. It still had drive but I never really hit it off with the one I had. Mine was made in the UK at the time and I believe later stuff is non-UK. Yours might be UK check the back...
Hotrox UK do new boards but don't
State it's issue 20 looking at their photo of the board it does have the little relay you pointed out so it must be the latest version??
Actually I believe they can only buy issue 20 boards... I can't guarantee that, but from what I see issue 20 is the one at Marshall and I do know that Hotrox does sell those so he's likely turning over his stock. Hope it helps and thanks for watching.
tonymckenziecom thanks very much love the red vinyl
@tonymckeniecom do you know when they released rev. 20? I just replaced the Mainboard in 2015 and lord that was board number 3 at that point ( I've owned it since 2007 ).
I was under the impression that board was released some time around 2007. You don't say which year your amp is, but if its 3 then that was probably 2003-04 or so IMO. The last revision of the board (issue 20) is the only one available today. The older boards can be a real pain and there are so many out there showing 'fixes' for the bias runaway problems. After careful consideration I chose to replace the board. Also remember that speaker output mod I showed at the end of the video because if you do change ohms to different cabs it could (not necessarily would) blow the output transformer.
Good question.... and thanks for watching.
I think I must have spoke incorrectly. I meant to say that I replaced the mainboard in 2015 and it was the 3rd time it's been replace, not 3rd.version of the board or rev 3....I was complaining about how many times I've had to replace it. So I wondered when rev20 was released. I am getting information from part suppliers that rev20 was released in late 2017/early 2018? so sorry to be confusing, hope you can tell me something
Hmmm I'm not entirely convinced that they are correct re the release date of the issue 20 board. The 2018 date CANNOT be correct as I converted mine in December 2017 and I bought the board before that date. However, I believe that board had been available for some while. Did you check which boards you pulled out of your amp as faulty? Personally I believe this issue 20 board had been available for a while. Did those guys sell you an older board which then failed again? Hard for me to know, but my impression of the issue 20 board is more like years old. Correct me if I'm wrong. BTW I originally learned about the new board at the time I reviewed the Hughes & Kettner Triamp VIII which was around 7th August 2017 And I can guess September before I was advised.
Maybe I just not entirely sold on the idea that that TSL 122 combo will ever sound as good as it should....I did do the job in 2015 so if they re-released another version I wouldn't know as I thought it was the final version. See the one's I took out of there previous weren't the nice green boards you show in those pics (they were beige with horrible sodering work. So that tells me that there were several versions with the nice crisp green boards. Anyhow The shop I working through said they just got these boards 2 months ago from Marshall fresh, but gave me their contact info so I can inquire directly. I am going to look inside my amp, see what I can see, and call Marshall and see what they say. I wonder if i need to go another step and replace the speakers that came with the combo (a lot of people don't like the split color of the Heritage speakers) maybe throw some vintage 30's in there...I have wanted to give up on that amp a dozen times since 2007 but it does record and play well from time to time..lol...I'll let you know what I hear from Marshall
I have only used the head version. And that only with 1960A cab which sounds really good to me and especially when recording. From what I understand (and I did ask at the time of ordering) the board went to issue 7 then jumped to issue 20. The issue 7 was around 2007.
I would persevere with the amp though and the speakers will change the sound. But do let me know what you find out and post it on here as that's all useful... and thanks for the info.
Hi Tony and everyone. Thank for this useful and helpful review about this mainboard and the output speakers modd.
Owner of a tsl 100 for not long I decided to change the board to prevent the bias drift problem.
I received it and changed it, not a big deal for me but I have problem with leakage / bleeding signal. When volume 0 and play guitar, sound pass to the speakers... Not loud but strange.
No info on the net about so I ask if someone has the same problem or have some knowledge from and about.
Nevertheless, it seems to work fine and this amp matches with the music style I'm playing.
In future I will try to install the drtube biais mod on the old board just for my entertainment.
Best regards from France.
If you plug in a guitar lead to the effects return (a or b) does the sound then stop? sometimes there are problems on the loop sockets? The loop is also parallel. I do know that on some Marshall amps there is NEVER a full cut off of the through signal on the parallel loop and some have been known to convert those to serial loop which is the usual type of loop found on most gear I reckon.
Anyone else? Do let me know what you find as its always interesting to know. A great amp very underestimated in my opinion! Thanks.
Thanks for your answer Tony, I will dig that way this week.
One thing I will also do is to check all components 's soldering cause I read that if there is some too close it could happen.
I will let you know.
In all case I'm agree with you, this amp is underestimated, very polyvalent and great sounding.
Keep rocking as you did at the and of this review.
@@Дидьеоваль Yes and please do let me know what you find. The track at the end is called 'Lightpipe AI' from an album I released back in 2006 called 'Eniac' and its a very good track on the album. It was played originally on the TSL100 and a Ibanez JEM 7VWH and a Cry Baby Way... that was it, and I swear I have never achieved a 'better' tone on any amp and I still own over 20 different brand amps. Here's the track provided by CDbaby in all of it's original glory... and watch where the wah kicks in :) one of my favourite pieces. : th-cam.com/video/P_kLLgOGP-A/w-d-xo.html Thanks.
@@tonymckenzieofficial Hi Tony, I'm back to explain what whas the result of your test. So, I plugged my guitar into the return and no sound until I turn the fx pot as a volume's pot. Until here normal except that there is a "pop" when I start turn the knob. No "pop" if i select crunch/lead and use the fx pot of this section. It does normal. I imagine that it comes from the clean section.
I will search deeper in this way.
Salutations.
@@Дидьеоваль I still think some sort of problem on the loop. Hard from here to advise but parallel loop on Marshall (some of them) are known to 'pass' sound even when turned off... yes do let me know on here if you find it because it will help other guys too. Thanks.
Great tone on that track they have such a bad reputation according to Marshall the tsl 60 didn’t have that problem...... the jcm 2000 DSL series heads are just as bad for bias drift yet they are revered for their amazing tone all the while the TSL series sound amazing although they can take a little bit to get them set up and I find that if you keep the presence really low the fizz that everyone keeps complaining about on the forums .... I’ve had a tsl60 head since 2003 that I bought brand new and aside from the reverb tank letting go it’s always worked for me and I’ve boosted it with an MXR distortion + and now a fultone OCD and I’ve always gotten compliments on my tones.... I’ve recently retired the old girl and switched to the line 6 HX Stomp and I’m shocked at how good the tones on that are!
Correct IMO the TSL60 does not have the issue - I had one of those in about 2003 or thereabouts. Later I 'upgraded' to the TSL100. The main board certainly does have the problem, but if changed it works perfect IMO these days. It's a good way though to get a TSL100 very cheap... as indeed I did. The pedals do work as you say, and I'm always using wah pedals too which also work fine. I look at many simulators both in and out of reviews also and they have improved of course. What I find is that the 'feel' though is not quite right, but still useable of course. The simulators will continue to move forward over time. But here's a thought about them. If I take my Kemper amp bought in January 2012 and pick an amp simulation, you know what, those simulations are as good today as they were then, but they are really still the same. There has not been any 'golden bullet' that has 'clinched' the whole amp simulators to being 'the same' as the real amps. Just an opinion of course... but for the money the simulators are pretty good. I have Line6 also (Helix) and other brands and the Line6 with this V3 has again improved overall but the tones as I said are still the same. How they improve it I can't tell you but surely an interesting subject. Maybe I'll create another video on that subject.... stay safe and thanks for the info and watching.
I am looking now to a Tsl 602 that the only solution was to put a fan inside the combo cabinet. This solved the bias runaway problem. I had to choose a a very low noise fan. Now I removed the board and doing some heavy mods, the bias circuit is completely mounted out of board, the trimpot had to be replaced by a small pot upside down, with a adapter . So much work to solve it
Sounds like hard work for sure. It seems currently that the boards are not available... I checked just here in UK: www.hotroxuk.com/marshall-tsl100-main-board.html and they are 'out of stock'. :( Overall with the board it solves everything. Without the board is a lot of hard work from what I see. Hey do come back and let me know how you go with it all... thanks for your post and for watching.
@@tonymckenzieofficial the "floating" bias circuit seems to work. I played for more than 2 hours without any important bias change. Only few millivolts up and down , normal with unstable mains source. I started the circuit at output terminal of 470r resistor, jointed with zener negative. I put these components vertically and sent a cable to near adjust trimpot. At this time things are a little more difficult. You have to remove the trimpot, the 220k bias resistors, the negative side of second bias cap, the 5k6 grid resistors , and out pin of both caps that come from inverter tube. I put these caps vertically with some silicon glue. Pin 5 on power tubes must be completely isolated from board. I did it with a dremmell but it is easier if you get a hollow drill bit , I think 5mm . The floating connections must be isolated with thermal shrinking or tape for safety. Really, this prove that the board becomes conductive after certain high temperature. I also found this effect on a tube pedal. It seems it is worse on wet places and more aged gear.
Great info @gugafittipaldi2737 and sincerely thanks for posting it - I'm sure there will be many that can gain from it. You should create a video because as those boards are now getting hard to find it would be useful and certainly would get views. I have seen the 'isolated' pin mods before but not some of the other stuff... Well that Issue 20 does solve it all, but guys ask me all the time these days - where to get a board, and seems like they have dried up :(. But this mod might be the last resort answer. Thanks for the post and if you create a video I'll certainly link to it... and thanks for watching.
What year did the issue 20 board come about?
Hi Danny good to see you... the issue 20 came out (I believe) in about 2008.... near end of production.
Thanks Tony! I’m in the process of obtaining a nice 2005 TSL. Do you have a link for the schematic? My searching has done no better than issue 7.
I recently emailed you a comment Danny.
Yes, I recieved it. I fully understand. Thank you for the response. I’ll make do. This marvelous video answers my questions!
Where did you get you board??
I can't really disclose that... but it was not Hotrox!
Hey I just bought a revision 20 board, getting ready to install it and the bias pot PCB (connector 1) is hard wired to my old Revision 2 board. Seeing how these are defective I dont want to use it on my new revision 20 board.
Trouble is, I cannot seem to find a replacement part. My new board requires a connector, the revision 2 is soldered directly without a pigtail harness connector.
Do you know where i can get these parts to fit my revision 20 board?
Not sure where you're based? If you're in the UK then there are a number of dealers that can order the parts for you.... if you're in the USA I can't advise :( Hot Rx or Strings Direct are two that spring to mind in the UK and I'm confident that Marshall will have those available. Hope it helps and let me know if you can't find them...
@David Neris If there is no fault there would be no point. I have not really heard of too many DSL50 boards in trouble... but if there were repetitive stuff like on this amp certainly this board fixes the tsl… sorry I can't say more on the dsl.
Thank god I have a JCM-2000 DSL50 from 2001 that doesn't have this problem! I've used it at home for practice and at numerous gigs turned up for many hours and never had any problems other than standard tube replacement (including many travels in a bouncy environment to and from gigs without a road case). I've also done extensive research on the Internet, and this problem with the mother boards seems to be isolated to the 100w models. Funny how there was no mention of that in your video? Many rock players think 50w is more than enough power when playing live or in the studio, but if you are into playing metal at ear splitting volumes in stadiums, more power to you (pun intended). I can't imagine why someone would want a 100w head in a recording setting, only to 'pad' the volume down. I completely understand the difference between a 100w head and a 50w head for tonal purposes, but not unless you are cranking them up through cabinets that can handle that kind of power and volume, what's the point (thus the defeat with the power soak/attenuators)? I still love your expertise and videos, just an observation........ All the best.
The JCM-2000 was never a 50 watt. It was a 60 watt :) I used to have one. Because I never had an issue personally with that (except the sound was not good) I never even considered mentioning that aspect. From my experience particularly with the JCM-2000 TSL series the TSL-60 does not sound the same as the TSL-100 no matter what you do. I tried for about a year and sold the TSL-60, bought the TSL-100 and never looked back. For me it was not actually a volume demon mode :) but more of a really brilliant lead guitar tone. Listen to Lightpipe AI on this link and that was recorded on the TSL-100 - one of the best tones for how I play that there is: www.amazon.co.uk/Eniac-Tony-Mckenzie/dp/B002IU9NOY particularly towards the end of what you can play is that tone. Never possible with the TSL-60.
Interestingly, the board I fitted (issue 20) they tell me is the same board fitted to the DSL of today. I can't be sure of that but that's the info I have.
No problem on the comments, I find them all interesting generally. I did have a DSL too (a green one at one stage) but that did not so it for me either - each to his own of course. Likely I never get above about 1:00 on the volume stuff either but that's pretty loud. For the TSL I don't drop it to 50w and just leave it at 100 with a very simple feed from guitar to wah and in to the amp. delays and reverbs (almost all I ever use) are added on the desk.
Thanks for watching.
tonymckenziecom Tony, I have a JCM2000 DSL50, are you saying they never made these? I can send you a picture of the back with the original serial number.
No Jeff you misunderstand me. The JCM-2000 TSL (not DSL as you mention) was released in 60w and 100w only. The DSL indeed was a 50 and 100w version. Ha no, I have owned a green 50w DSL... and you are right in pointing out that the DSL you have WAS made in England - hang on to it because they are now made in Korea (last time I checked).
DSL = Dual Super Lead... and TSL Triple Super Lead... 2 or 3 channels... but the amps are different inside (or were).
Tony, also it was manufactured in England.
:) I know!
Great video! I know you love this amp so money isn't an issue but if you pay the ~£400 for one of these used, another £80 to retolex it, another £100 for the replacement PCB, another £150 for new tubes..
At what point are you just better off buying a better amp? :)
It is a great point - and one that no one else posted so far. I think it all depends on the person and their situation. I had one of these and recorded a complete album back in 2006. I have always had many tube amps since a long time. But the tones on that album I never did better (for those styles played) with any of the over 20 amps I own. Hard to believe but trust me on this. For me there had to be only one answer... and that was as you describe. Some guys would not do this. But if you have a TSL2000 and love it, then buying and fitting the board is not a bad option - its positively essential. Simply because this amp had trouble there are few if any other proper solutions that work. The board solves it all. So for me thinking about my Eniac album there is no 'better' option... only the TSL2000 creates the tones I recorded with a JEM 7VWH. I tried many times to replicate it but never could without the amp. That's my 'excuse' :) But you made a good point where some guys might well 'throw in the towel' because of the costs. Stay safe!
Thanks for the helpful info! I just got an issue 20 board from Hot Rox and went through the all of the effort to reconnect everything and it appears that connector W4 is missing! Has anyone ran into this problem? Looking at the issue 5 schematic it indicates that this is one of the output transformer legs which is necessary. I don’t have the issue 20 schematic but the board looks extremely similar in that area. Does anyone have the issue 20 board schematic that they can share? Can anyone verify that W4 is populated on their issue 20 board? If so I can remove the connector from my old board if need be. Thanks!
Contact me from tonymckenzie.com contact form and I can probably help you. Thanks.
BTW the new board is shown full on here: th-cam.com/video/RtFhvYcI6x4/w-d-xo.htmlm22s
It definitely looks present on your board.
Thanks! I’ll contact you.
Indeed it WAS present on my board.
Tony, have you ever messed around with stereo or wet/dry amp setups? I'm thinking about getting another TSL. Crazy.
I've lived with my TSL for going on 15 years. The only thing I've ever had longer than that is my wife. Lately, digging the mid-boost switch on the clean channel. Always have avoided it in the past
You know, the TSL is like the Christmas animation flick Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys. The TSL is like a misfit valve amplifier. No one uses them. I'm thinking if there was a way to do a TSL challenge via all the TH-cam guitar gods - who can get the best monster tone with a TSL - the value of these amps would increase and my ego would be boosted and I'd no longer feel like a misfit toy.
Ha... come on you have to be wrong with this :) Actually they tend to lose money and have few users because of exactly the reasons in this video... and that issue 20 board fixes it all really well forever. The good thing about it really is that it allows you to buy a TSL for peanuts. Admittedly you probably need a board, but they are available for not that much money and easy enough to fit. BTW that 16 ohm speaker connector mod is essential.
I hate to say this - but the TSL guitar tones I achieved on my 'Eniac' album from back in 2006/7 were some of the best sounds I have ever achieved in the studio. It all came down to right speakers, right amount of drive and a really good guitar (I used an Ibanez 7VWH Jap) and those audio tracks were incredible. Here's a short example from the Eniac recordings from another video: th-cam.com/video/GhIht3xl--4/w-d-xo.htmlm8s and that guitar really did scream. So ha never be afraid to tell the world you have a TSL - but make sure its the 100 watter as the 60 is pale in comparison.
Indeed I used to have a Triaxis and a 2:90 amp through a stereo setup (early 90's) but it was not really a wet/dry setup... I just wanted to get those effects out in stereo and with the right rack gear that was what worked for me for some time. I eventually moved on after many years and have not been back to the two amp or wet/dry amp setups. No particular reason really.
Is your TSL a 100 or a 60. I used to own a 60 but never got a very good tone, but the 100 is a different story. That's the reason why I bought another and made the video where I covered it in red tolex. Mine did not have a particularly failed board (one cap was toast as you can see but that's really the 16 ohm speaker connector issue) but after the upgrade the amp really is like new... so doing it all you will go AT LEAST another 15 years :) Bargain!
Again, Tony, thanks for taking the time to discuss this amp in depth. I've checked a lot of forums and you're the only person that seems to genuinely care. I do have the 100W. As for the board, my problem is finding someone to install it. I've talked about the replacement board with a local amp tech that has worked on my amp a couple of times. I can tell his heart just doesn't seem to be in it. He even seemed surprised such a board is even available. No excitement whatsoever. Too much looking down at the floor when talking. So.....
He says he will do it if I want to invest in the amp. I will definitely have him watch your video in advance if I do this.
There's another firm here that does Marshall repairs, but I don't know anything about them. Don't want to roll the dice with them yet. This is my only amplifier.
My ignorance, but I use 2 Marshall 4x12 1960 cabinets, so I'm not using the 16 ohm connector on the amp head. Maybe the same issue is present in the other speaker cab inputs?
Actually fitting that board is relatively easy... that's why I did the video really. No more than about 1 to 1 1/2 hours work at tops. They would not be repairing the amp really but replacing the amp (there's not much else left when you change the board).
You misunderstand on the 16 ohm speaker out. EVERY output 8 and 4 ohm depends on the 16 ohm connector to never fail... but what happens is that it tends to get overloaded when NOT being used and the others outputs get their load via the 16 Ohm... this means that if the ground on the 16 Ohm connector fails (they do - or they zap that little capacitor I talked about) then you will likely lose the output transformer. That is the main reason to solder the connector as I showed. Or it can be soldered from under the board but that takes longer without any real difference.
The hardest bit about exchanging the board is to ensure that you mark all the connectors BEFORE you start and then it becomes very easy to do.
If they are charging you over $125 to fit that board they are likely nuts...
Never mind the forums - mostly those are guys that have had problems with the TSL amp but most likely rarely do they even know there's an issue 20 board that fixes it all. I looked through forums before I started and saw all the stuff on there - guys with heat guns, guys drilling the board claiming this or that - honestly... the fix IS issue 20 board and anything else is a half baked excuse of a bodge likely because that is the only answer they had.
Remember this - many guys say the TSL sounds bad also, but in reality that amp is actually one of the best I have... I put it all down to maybe their old amps have simply got issues or they don't really know how to drive it properly - or have dodgy speaker cabs. Mine sounds as good as the day it was made and its used through a 1960a cab.
I'll never sell mine this time around most likely there for the duration :)
Thanks, Tony. Great information. I knew I was blowing smoke up my own rear end with the speaker outs. Owner of little mom & pop music store, who's been around 30+ years where I live, says my TSL is a better amp than the newer stuff. So that's 2 witnesses including you. I'm just a "bedroom player" and I don't know how many years I've got left in my 60-year old fingers. Like you said, you want quality. Me too. Just trying to learn more. So much I want to understand. And try. My TSL experience has just been frustrating and I went through about a 3-year period where I wouldn't even turn the thing on. Just a fizzy, tinny mess no matter what I did. It has always sounded like crap compared to what I see/hear elsewhere. I've always wondered why/how would Marshall produce an amp like this after their history, which is why I bought it to begin with. At the same time, I've held out hope that this amp is an underdog. I always like the underdog. This topic is how I came across your channel. Very glad I found you. You've instilled some hope.
Ha I'm now nearly 65! Ready for the 'knackers yard' some might say and it won't be that long before I'm an official 'pensioner'... according to the records :) But you know what... I'll NEVR be a pensioner in the true sense.. and I won't give up on anything that I do - good or bad makes no difference... because I did it. And I think that's an important thing in life - it can be 'easy' just to say 'oh I've had enough' of something but that's not really me - more like the 'snowflakes' around these days. That's what they do....
Those 1960a Cabs are great and those are almost all I use for every amp I have. The amp CAN be a bit tinny if you go to extremes with the eq's etc., but careful dialling should do the trick. It sounds best I think when the 1/2 power button is not used also. Stick with it.
So was that new board free? 🎵🎸
Absolutely not. I have to pay the same as everyone else... but I don't always like disclosing information online as to the why's and wherefores' of any given video. I did buy it here in the UK though I can confirm that. The diagram was off the internet. Thanks for watching.
I thought maybe Marshall would cover their shit boards with free updates, considering the high prices of their crap new. Too much to expect I guess? 🎵🎸
I know what you mean and those early boards were not good by any standards. But Marshall gear varies in price depending on where you are (as indeed does Mesa stuff) and for example I bought a 2555X 100 watt amp for less than $1000 (about £800 or so). Its a fair comment about the TSL100 quality and there is no doubt that those early boards were bad stuff. But that's the gain in buying a TSL100 really... buy the board and you have an amp that cost less than most but with the board is probably one of the best buys out there.
I doubt Marshall would start replacing boards from 2006 and prior under warranty or even as a gesture the newest affected is likely 12 years old and the oldest affected is likely 16 years old or more.
I don't really relate to the amps of recent times that I have carried out the Inside & Out reviews on as being poor quality? Maybe some of the non UK built ones which I have not looked at, but amps like the YJM100, AFGD100, JVM410HJS, 1987X and the 2555X are all pretty spot on with quality? Have you checked my reviews? Here's a link to the amp reviews playlist: th-cam.com/play/PL764D9C7505FDEC8D.html and I do show lots of other amp reviews in there also that might be interesting to you including Bogner, Mesa Boogie, Diezel and many more.
Have you heard of the Blackstar Anniversary AE-10 with a KT-88 power tube? These tubes are supposed to be rare and expensive, with a great tone. Andertons did a review on the 3 version line up and really liked the KT-88 version. They sell for around $450 US. I would like to hear someone else's opinion just on that power tube version.🎵🎸
A matched pair of KT-88's are £70 ($95) for two so not really any different than 6L6 or EL34's on pricing I guess. Think of the KT-88's as being a bit like loud bottom end and loud top end... and a louder tube overall compared to 6L6 or EL34. The KT-88 has less distortion in the power tube than those other two and is a favourite among HI-Fi audiophiles for their amps for some reason. I think I had just one amp that took those some years ago and that was a metal type of amp with a big fat preamp with lots of preamp tubes for the drive. I likened it to being very useful for dropped tuning because of the bottom end. I have not tried those tubes in other amps though. Thanks for watching.
Use silver solder when resoldering jacks such as foot switch socket. Silver solder is more rugged.
Good point... and one I have never mentioned. I try and find lead solder myself as it works really well with the flow etc. T.
Tony, I’ve been searching for that issue 20 schematic, but I’ve not had any luck. Would you mind sharing that link, please?
Can't do that I'm afraid... but I did send you a different one... remember what I said in the email and please don't repeat that on here.
I bought the issue 20 board from Hot Roxx UK. $153USD delivered airmail to US.
That's about right and worth every penny. Mine still rocks and you'll hear it presently on an Epiphone comparison to a Gibson Jimmy Page Les Paul...
Thats going to be a cool video! For the TSL, I also bought a Mercury Magnetics choke that they make specifically for the JCM 2000 100watt amp.
Danny Birge how long did it take to be delivered?
STEVE ROBERTS: Hey Steve you gave me an email that bounces. Go back to my site and fill the form again with the correct email and I'll reply and help you... Tony
Hey Tony thanks for this video. I love all your vids but need some help. I bought a tSL 122 pretty cheap knowing I'd prob need to change the board. It's a project for now but I want to use and keep it forever. Cover it white change the speaker etc. Anyway how do I know what revision board I have? It sounds pretty amazing right now at low volumes but damn it gets hot quickly. I'll prob change the board but not sure I should on my own I have no experience really in Messing with amps. If appreciate some advice. I can email some pics of the inside and talk in email if easier. Thanks Gareth 🤘
Hi Gareth... TSL122 is the combo I believe. Go to my website, fill in the form then we can communicate... I can't put my email on here for obvious reasons... but I have an image that shows exactly where to check on the boards... thanks... stay safe.
@@tonymckenzieofficial great thanks Tony I will do that now. Yes it is the combo :)