Marshall TSL601 thoughts and considerations.

[Learn Guitars]

Hey Guys, I have had this TSL single 12 combo for about 6 months and have finally found the right tube combo for my tastes. The thing is, the effects loop is nothing near the TSL 100 head that I use to have. I am considering an effects system to throw in front of it and see how it handles time and delay effects. Has anyone used this amp with any effects systems with any luck? I am going to try a Line6 set up in front of it to see if it is up to it.

The amp has great tone and volume. Surprisingly solid bottom and certainly will handle any club here, but my previous pedal board does not work well with it. Just the delay anyways.

[bratfink]

Is it a line level issue? I thought the fx loop circuit was identical between the 2 amps.

[guitarzan_josh]

I've always hated the sound of time based effects in the front of an amp. To me... it just isn't pleasing to the ear as being in the loop.
I'm glad your happy with the amp... I may look into one of those myself if I get some scratch!

[Learn Guitars]

I am not sure Bratfink. But I ran the same effects throught my TSL100 head. The level on the loop seemed to have less gain in the combo amp, but beyond that, it was the way the delay sounded. I have to mess with some stuff a bit. But I picked up a Line6 stompbox modeler. It is a pretty versatile unit. I am going to try a bunch of combinations tonight to see what works best. But this amp with a Tube screamer in front of it, is pretty damn impressive.

[jgcable]

Time based effects can't go in front of an amp unless you like crappy sound or you don't channel switch or use the distortion on the amp itself.
Boss ME50 will work great in the loop.

[bratfink]

I agree, The effects will be better in the loop than up front. The loop is between the preamp and power amp. I honestly believe the loop between the 60 combo and the 100 head should be wired the same (albeit without the twin channel feature), if you have a level issue perhaps there is weak connection somewhere (probably a bad or broken solder on a jack - or maybe even a weak instrument cable). You did try adjusting the loop level on the back panel, right?

The only other option would be to run an enhancer in the loop after the effects to bring the level back up.

As a comparison, I get a level drop across my FX loop in my TSL 100 head as well, but I have some very nasty old effects in it which really suck on tone, so I run an enhancer as well as using an eq box to boost the level back up to the same as the dry.

[VitaminG]

You did try adjusting the loop level on the back panel, right?

I was going to ask the same. Not familiar with the newer Marshalls, but my JCM900 had a loop level screw. No problem running delay and what have you in there.

The only other option would be to run an enhancer in the loop after the effects to bring the level back up.

As a comparison, I get a level drop across my FX loop in my TSL 100 head as well, but I have some very nasty old effects in it which really suck on tone, so I run an enhancer as well as using an eq box to boost the level back up to the same as the dry.

that's not going to help a lot if the delay is clipping in the loop. You'll get the volume back up, but the delay will still be distorting. If the loop level can't be adjusted, an EBTech Line Level Shifter will drop the level down so that you can use pedals in the loop. Alternatively, you could get a delay suited to a line level loop, like a Digitech Hardwire DL-8 or Boss DD-20.

[Learn Guitars]

Thanks for all the input guys. I messed with it for quite some time. I got the Line6 M9 kicking ass. I am really happy with the tone this little amp is throwing out.
I am going to take the amp in and have it looked at. I did get it used. But I replaced all the preamp tubes and may have jacked something then. We will see.

[bratfink]

that's not going to help a lot if the delay is clipping in the loop. You'll get the volume back up, but the delay will still be distorting. If the loop level can't be adjusted, an EBTech Line Level Shifter will drop the level down so that you can use pedals in the loop. Alternatively, you could get a delay suited to a line level loop, like a Digitech Hardwire DL-8 or Boss DD-20.

That's a good point, I don't really run a lot of delay, mostly just modulation, so I might be leading you astray there.

BTW, VitG, you guys dried out down there yet? Friends of ours in Brizzie got real close to getting their feet wet when that flood came through. I haven't been to Toowoomba since '99, hows things down there now?

[VitaminG]

I was disappointed when I discovered that there was no using my old Ibanez delay in the loop of the RM100 when it came home. It worked so well with the JCM900 too. But the Randall loop is line leve, just too hot for a poor old pedal, and the Ibby was distorting like a bitch. Not what you want from a delay

hey brat, we dried out pretty quick in Toowoomba. The damage was fairly localised as the flash flood blew through the main waterways through town. Of course, for the people caught in the middle of it, it was the end of the world. Business were devastated and people lost their lives. It was particularly bad for folks at the bottom of the range. Apparently the lay of the land down side of the range acted like a funnel to focus & concentrate the force of the water and almost blew Murphy's Creek & Grantham off the map. When I was finally able to get out of Brisbane and back to T'ba 5 days after the flood, the creek that runs through Withcott at the foot of the range looked like it had been graded. I actually thought that maybe that was what happened, that someone had come through after the flood and used a dozer or grader to clear debris from around the creek in case the water started rising again. But, no - the flood waters had actually scored the ground bare to dirt either side of the creek all the way through town. 5 months later and it's still a bit haunting travelling through Grantham to see all the gutted houses & shops, bare foundations, and buildings spray painted with "Do Not Enter, Unsafe" signs.

The damage in Brisbane was further reaching but casualties were minimal, due to the slow inundation giving people plenty of time to get to safety. Large areas of the city are pretty much back to normal, but many people lost everything and still have nowhere to live. Volunteer crews are still helping with the cleanup.

Compared to what happened shortly after in South America & Japan, we were all very fortunate. Less than 40 dead in Queensland compared to the hundreds & thousands overseas.