JCM 2000 Haters

[sakeido]

Dude, the thin finish is considered DESIRABLE! Woodgrain on a guitar is a good thing!

I'm not sure if you are being serious or not? It made it look really cheap, like they had only used one coat of silver, one black for the burst, with no primer.

[darrellm]

I've never spent any time with a DSL or TSL, but I have to say... The best live tones I've heard from local bands around here were from Marshalls, either 800's or DSL's. Maybe they are easier to dial in? Idiot proof? I dunno, but I've heard some great live tones for sure.

I have to agree, but then I play thru one (DSL 50W).

When I was looking for a new amp, for me it was important to be able to dial in a good tone quickly, and you can certainly do that with the Marshall DSL, unlike some other amps.

Here's mine (that's me with the V on the left):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cYEnt-kxCM

BTW, JCM800s were great, but if they were so good, why did we all sell them? For me, it was because they were a 1-trick pony - great if you can switch between mutliple amps and have a roady to lug them around, but if you're in a gigging band dragging the kit yourself and need a versatile sound, I would suggest the JCM is better suited (works for me anyway).

[Robert Burns]

Silicone wires? WTF is that?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I forget the brand name, but their European! So that means something!:ROTF: But the wire is about $24 a foot!

[Robert Burns]

He's a moron then. Any idiot (yes, I'm calling him an idiot if he paid $8k for a freaking JCM800) can spend as much as they like, it doesn't add any value to the debate at hand. I've seen minty JCM800s go for around a grand, sometimes a little more, but nowhere near even 4k.

Pete

************************
I didnt save it, but i just read on some website that Zakk paid $5K or
more for some of his prized JCM 800's! Maybe thats just rock star
overpaying.. and of course i went beyond in that post! :ROTF: I should
have hit the "4" instead of the 8' !

[Twisteramps]

I have to agree, but then I play thru one (DSL 50W).

When I was looking for a new amp, for me it was important to be able to dial in a good tone quickly, and you can certainly do that with the Marshall DSL, unlike some other amps.

Here's mine (that's me with the V on the left):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cYEnt-kxCM

BTW, JCM800s were great, but if they were so good, why did we all sell them? For me, it was because they were a 1-trick pony - great if you can switch between mutliple amps and have a roady to lug them around, but if you're in a gigging band dragging the kit yourself and need a versatile sound, I would suggest the JCM is better suited (works for me anyway).

I could and have gigged with a 2210 with no issues or needs. That's a JCM 800 with 2 channels and fx loop. I got away from Marshall entirely because I needed something more reliable and better sounding (to my ears anyways). Different strokes, different folks and all that. Maybe the DSL is a totally different animal reliability-wise than the TSL, but one of my friends went through THREE TSLs before he got one that was ok. Then later on he had footswitch problems. A fellow JCF'r brought over his TSL for me to check the bias on it and it died when we fired it up. Same friend who got bit 3x by the TSLs bought a DSL40, and it was screwed up after a few weeks. He now owns a JVM and loves it, but if a company goofed FOUR TIMES with me, then it's game over. There are too many other choices for amplification to put up with that. I don't care how good your amp sounds, if it breaks down all the time, then what's the point?

Pete

[hamerguy]

The guitar player in the band I play bass in used a TSL. I think it sounded well with his playing style. I have used the 30th Anniversary for a long time and it did fit my playing style better. But I use a Fender Prosonic nowadays. I checked out a few Mesa Boogies and they didn't sound well for me, though I still want to check out an older Mk IV combo with EV speaker. Rivera also has a few amps I like. I tend to like small combos better these days since I often didn't get the chance to use a top w/4x12" cab properly. There are a few small 50W/100W 1x12" combo amps out there that I like. They work well with me on stage with an added 1x12" closed cab.

[chrisolson]

But I use a Fender Prosonic nowadays.

What do you think of it? Got a mini-review by chance?

[hamerguy]

I have the 2x10" combo version (as the head doesn't have reverb, as usual on Fender heads with a few exceptions). Pro: very good clean sound, the reverb sounds well (as long as you don't get it past 4), a nice hi gain sound (though can sound raspy in extreme settings). The clean sound can give a nice sparkly Fender Strat sound (or Tele) to jazzy with humbuckers, also great for funk sounds. The hi gain sounds are really great which doesn't happen often with Fender amps (haven't heard the Super Sonic yet). But there are things I think that could have been done better. Plop noise happens sometimes when switching channels and the main thing that bugs me is that both channels share the same EQ. But once I dialed in a setting that works for me it is a great amp thoughout. When playing live I usually use the DI out on amps, unfortunately the amp doesn't have a DI out, I haven't tested it with a DI box in the effects loop yet. I am more a "classic rock" kind of guy, I guess the amp wouldn't be the choice of an all-metal kind of guitar guy.

[Leo Chang]

Can't comment much tone-wise as I've never had the pleasure of hearing a high end boutique amp in person (I am not counting concerts), but my DSL 201 (20 watt, 1x12 combo) has been very reliable for the last 5 or 6 years.

And it was the music store's floor model! Got it at a good discount because of that. Once I purchased it, has never given me reliability problems.

But again, I don't gig, so it's always at home and I have no need to move it around, which could be why it's been so trouble-free for me.

[slayer]

My buddy has a TSL 122 60 watt 2x12 combo and it sounds Godly I love the tone, but am afraid of the reliability. I may bite some day for the right price. Jack.

[lynchfan6]

It's a weird animal. I never was very happy with the sound I got gigging with a TSL 100 Marshall head. But one night the soundman recorded our performance, and listening back to that cd from years ago,,,,my sound was pretty good after all. Very good in fact. And I've seen many guitarists make that DSL100 sound great. I'm still convinced that I've never sounded anywhere near what I hear now plugged into my Soldano SLO100, though. End of the road for me.

[darrellm]

Reliability-wise, I've done over 100 gigs with my DSL50 and it's never let me down, though I have to admit that I've had a few problems with the effects loop and had to replace the send/return connectors a few times (bad design, directly mounted onto the PCB, so when you put in a jack with lead the weight stresses the connector/PCB joint).

BTW, found the limit of the DSL the other day, big gig (for us), 400+ people, had the thing wound right up, ears still ringing 4 days later ...should've put more thru the PA.

[jgcable]

Here is what I go by. At many of the rehearsal studios around here there are generally 2 kinds of amps present in almost every room

Peavey's and Marshalls

Most of the Peavey's are XXL's or maybe a 5150 or an XXX or a Transtube Supreme. You get the drift.
Most of the Marshalls are SLX's or DSL/TSL's.

These amps are used and abused on a daily basis. Impedance mismatches and all kinds of horrible things are done to them by musicians who don't know or don't care. These amps continue to work night after night after night.
You can say what you want about build quality but from personal experience.. I have never had any type of Marshall amp crap out on me at any time in the 30 years I have been playing. This includes the times I knew what I was doing and the times I didn't.
The only amps that ever crapped out on me (or a bandmates) live were the REALLY EXPENSIVE ones that everybody says have superior build quality.
Hiwatt.... crapped out
Mesa Boogie... crapped out a few times
Traynor... crapped out
Ampeg... caught on fire and crapped out
Fender... crapped out several times for several types of reasons.
Gallien Krueger... several models crapped out several times

I have never had a Marshall go bad. I have never had a Peavey go bad.
I have never had anything from Line 6 or Behringer or Crate go bad.

[jgcable]

Reliability-wise, I've done over 100 gigs with my DSL50 and it's never let me down, though I have to admit that I've had a few problems with the effects loop and had to replace the send/return connectors a few times (bad design, directly mounted onto the PCB, so when you put in a jack with lead the weight stresses the connector/PCB joint).

BTW, found the limit of the DSL the other day, big gig (for us), 400+ people, had the thing wound right up, ears still ringing 4 days later ...should've put more thru the PA.

Its nice to be able to turn that amp up. Isn't it!!

[Guitardude86]

You have an SLX too? Cool, mind if I ask what settings you use on it, and what you use to play on it? I just crank the gain on mine way up, it's really awesome for 80's thrash sounds IMO..