Marshall DSL 2000 or TSL 2000

[Slobrain]

Well I know there are you marshall users out there that either like or dislike the JCM DSL 2000 or TSL 2000 50 or 100 watt amps.

I wanted to ask what the good and bad points are on these as I'm considering getting one maybe. I seem to liked the DSL 2 channel 100 watt amp head last time I heard one years back but haven't heard one in a while and was curious to see what you all think of these amps?

I did want to get the H&K triamp mk II Alex Lifeson 100 watt amp but at $3400.00 is way too much.

SLO

[Slobrain]

Well I know there are you marshall users out there that either like or dislike the JCM DSL 2000 or TSL 2000 50 or 100 watt amps.

I wanted to ask what the good and bad points are on these as I'm considering getting one maybe. I seem to liked the DSL 2 channel 100 watt amp head last time I heard one years back but haven't heard one in a while and was curious to see what you all think of these amps?

I did want to get the H&K triamp mk II Alex Lifeson 100 watt amp but at $3400.00 is way too much.

SLO

No takers on this??? Man, I thought for sure someone here has played on of these amps but I guess not.


SLO

[walkman]

hi, slobrain

i've spoken to a well respected guitar tech about these amps where i live. A friend of mine owned on and needed to get it repaired a JCM TSL 2000 2x12 combo. He fixed it and adviced was that my friend should get rid of it as soon as possible as he thought the way those models were rubbish .....

well i'd trust this guy's advice upon the number of rare and valuable amps he had there to service, and i'm not being a vintage snobbist, so do some checking up round the net.... buyer beware.

walkman

[Mark Black]

I Think DSL's & TSL's sound pretty good and are pretty versatile.

There are some solder issues to be addressed and some other things that can be done to make them work their best and be most reliable. The shop where I now work figures these at about 3.5-4 hours bench time to get it right, and that seems to be pretty accurate in my experience. The good news is after having those issues addressed the amps should be a pleasure to play for many years with only occasional feeding of tubes and re-biasing...

I've only limited experience with H&K's, but didn't care that much for the sound of the ones I worked on and I suspect many of the same solder issues (at least) apply to those as well.

[Slobrain]

Thanks for the info fellas.

Mark,
What are the mods on these amps that fix the current production problems you have mentioned? I can do the mods if needed.

Yes sometimes companies will cut corners just to save a few bucks on building stuff. Even Marshall does this. Too bad they don't build their amps like the original JCM800 series. Those early ones were built well.

Peavey used to be good at building reliable amps back in the 70's/80's.
I have a SS Renown I got off Ebay in January that was made back in 1981 and all I did electronically to make the amp usable was PS cap job and the amp works great. sounds pretty darn good for a SS amp too when running thru a 4x12 marshall cab.

SLO

[Mark Black]

The very biggest thing (and my most common rant) is to retouch the solders at EVERY PCB-mounted pot, jack, switch, multipin header, fuseholder, LED, and large or heat-producing component, while constantly scanning for and also retouching any joint that looks solder-starved. In fact if it was one I was going to own and gig with I'd probably just nail every joint in the thing 100%. I did that on my (purchased used) Fender Blues DeVille immediately after buying it and other than one failed power tube it has been trouble-free for many years.

Other than that a search of this forum with "JCM2000" will get you a few more tasty treats.

[Shea]

The very biggest thing (and my most common rant) is to retouch the solders at EVERY PCB-mounted pot, jack, switch, multipin header, fuseholder, LED, and large or heat-producing component, while constantly scanning for and also retouching any joint that looks solder-starved. In fact if it was one I was going to own and gig with I'd probably just nail every joint in the thing 100%. I did that on my (purchased used) Fender Blues DeVille immediately after buying it and other than one failed power tube it has been trouble-free for many years.

Other than that a search of this forum with "JCM2000" will get you a few more tasty treats.

There's a ceramic 22 p cap connected between the screen and plate of V8. It's only rated for 500v, which isn't always enough to handle the flyback voltages from the OT. I bought a 100-watt DSL one weekend and fried that cap in less than a minute. Admiral Ballsy (not sure if he uses the same handle here) told me about the problem with that cap, so I opened up the chassis to take a look at it, and sure enough it was a toasty brown and had nearly unsoldered itself from the PCB.

So I took the DSL back, got a TSL, then replaced that cap in the TSL using one rated for 2000V. I haven't had any problems with it since then.

Shea

[Amp Kat]

That's funny Shea you would mention that as I've worked on two and have helped people on the maintenance side fix 3. The cap is a problem and tube shorts are devestating in these. The one I worked on blew the trace into from pin 3 to the other socket. The schematics for the 100 watt DSL on schematic heaven are not the right ones for most for and some 50 watt schemos don't match the 50 watt DSL's but match the 100 watters. I saw one DSL 50 watt that used the 100 watt board and only used two of the sockets for a 50 watter so it is kinda shakey in that respect also. I still don't think that cap will stop tube shorts from frying stuff but diodes may but still good to change it to 2000 volters for sure. The things I do like about it SB, is it bias's up very easily from the outside and has seperate bias pots for each side which in the 50 watt is way cool as you can really do what you want to each tube bias wise to either put them dead spot on or get asymetric with them if you want where as the 100 watter you are tweaking each pair on each side but still have control of each side. The amp has good distortion tone and an ultra switch for added gain but it does get a little more bright and grainy in that mode. I also agree with Mark that if you go thru the amp and touch solder some key joints it will help in the long run as it is a single sided board and the pads ain't too stout. At least not like one of those an SLO boards. I can't recommend it for you SB as the tube short thing is very shaky at least even with the mods Shea and Mark have done. I will say this and I realize I told you before but the Peavey JSX has a nice Marshall tone and the cleans are way better than the 2000 DSL/TSL and you get the best Customer Service in the world with it and only have to go two states over to ship it back if it fails warranty. Where you going to ship that Marshall ? and how long will it take ?

[joedell71]

Hi Shea

I saw your quote about replacing the 22p cap in the marshall DSL 100. I recently blew a tube(I'm Pretty sure thats what it is as I'm really new at amp maintenance/repair but the tube doesn't glow and doesn't get hot so I'm assuming it's blown) and I'd like to check this 22p cap in my amp to see if it's fried. Like I said I'm really new to this kind of repair I'm pretty confident that I can remove and replace the cap but I dont know where to look or what to look for.Is there any way you could describe what this cap is/looks like and where it is.Also is it the type of cap that needs to be discharged before I fool with it to prevent me from getting an afro.Any help with this would be greatly appreciated
Thanks
Joe

[Shea]

Hi Shea

I saw your quote about replacing the 22p cap in the marshall DSL 100. I recently blew a tube(I'm Pretty sure thats what it is as I'm really new at amp maintenance/repair but the tube doesn't glow and doesn't get hot so I'm assuming it's blown) and I'd like to check this 22p cap in my amp to see if it's fried. Like I said I'm really new to this kind of repair I'm pretty confident that I can remove and replace the cap but I dont know where to look or what to look for.Is there any way you could describe what this cap is/looks like and where it is.Also is it the type of cap that needs to be discharged before I fool with it to prevent me from getting an afro.Any help with this would be greatly appreciated
Thanks
Joe

Joe:

If you're new to amp maintenance and repair, then I strongly advise against attempting this job yourself. Although one would think it should be a simple matter to remove and replace one little ceramic capacitor, the layout of a TSL makes it pretty tricky to be able to get to the solder pads of the capacitor, and then remember how to put it all back together when you're done.

If you want to learn and practice some skills, I suggest you either get the cheapest 70's Fender amp you can find and mess around with that, or get an amp kit and put it together, such as one of the Mission Amps kits. I started out by modding a Bandmaster Reverb and a Twin Reverb. But a TSL is just the wrong amp to start out on.

But anyway, the capacitor in question is right next to the tube socket on the end closest to the power transformer (if I recall correctly). I can't remember all the steps I had to go through to be able to get to the solder pads. And despite my best efforts, I ended up breaking the old capacitor into tiny bits as I tried to get it out.

This particular capacitor doesn't need to be discharged, but you should always discharge the filter capacitors before you do any work inside an amp chassis.

Shea

[joedell71]

Hi Shea
Thanks for the reply. My amp is a DSL 100 not the TSL 100 do the same details apply to this amp as well i.e. difficulty of removal and reassembly or are those factors just inherant to the TSL 100.Also Do you know where I can get one of mission amp kits you described and any books about amp building that might be helpful to a novice such as myself
Thanks again
Joe