Magnesium Jake

Hi everyone, I am brand new to the forum and not currently a Marshall user. I have been through the ringer when it comes to amps but at long last am looking to find the light so to speak with Marshall. I recently tried out a DSL50 and thought it was pretty cool. I am looking at purchasing a TSL60 though and am looking for insight into the two amps differences, can anyone help me decide?
I am a hard rock player, my band is an original band, and we find our music somewhere in the Alice&Chains meets Janes Addiction meets Tool type of sound. I like a very punchy, tight distortion with some good bottom end but am by no means looking to get a nu metal type of sound. Thanks,

Stretchy

On paper, TSL is more versatile, (T is for triple) than the DSL (D as in double).

I have a DSL 100 that I reallyl love, and it fits the bill for me, I almost exclusively use the Crunch Classic Channel.

One shortcoming of the DSL is that you can switch from Classic Gain to Ultra Gain, but not from Clean to Crunch on the Classic gain. In short, the DSL offers 4 "sounds" but is switchable from only two. With the TSL, their are more options (a 4 swtichs footswitch compare to the single switch on the DSL).

I tend to go the DSL way because it is a "simpler" amp... less things to break. But soundwise they can both sound very similar which in their case... very nice!

If I was to redo it, I would buy a Plexi... it's even simpler.... but the DSL is really nice!

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1987x head with a vintage 1936 cab

steelhorse

+1 Stretchy

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DragonSarc

sweet strechy thats the info ive been waiting for - so the DSL and TSL sound exactly the same then? but just 1 more channel

steelhorse

Not exactly Dragon. I have both and they're different beasts. The VPR also adds another dimension lacking in the DSL. Both great amps, I think the TSL has a different tone especially in the crunch and clean IIRC.

Now that I changed the tubes in the TSL100 to KT77's (and high gain balanced pre amp tubes) there's no comparison although I imagine the DSL would be back in the race with the same treatment.

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Stretchy

They are close sibblings... they are not "alike". I think that as soon as the circuit is just a tad different, the tone can't be the same... But on the case of the DSL/TSL... they are close to each other.

To my ear, DSL can sound very much like a Plexi, but a hardcore Plexi fan would say otherwise. It's very "personal".

Note that DSL is one of the best seller for Marshall, which should say something about the product. You wont be dissapointed if you go the DSL way, neither TSL. I think they both are winners.

You could also check on you tube to see if someone test them side by side!

Good luck my friend!

__________________
Epiphone SG400 with 498t
Epiphone LP Standard with DiMarzio SD
1987x head with a vintage 1936 cab

DragonSarc

sweet thanks Steel and Strechy
waiting for Steel to do a side by side none at youtube ive looked

Magnesium Jake

Well guys I picked up the TSL60 and it should be here on Saturday. I liked having the 3rd channel for leads and just hope to get enough good gain out of the crunch channel for some great straight up rock rythm sounds. Thanks for the responses and if anyone does a formal comparison on the DSL50 vs. the TSL60 I would love to see it.

steelhorse

I guess I'm not ready for that kind of exposure. It's cool that people get a camera setup in their rooms and play for strangers but I'm not that kinda guy.

I like to interact with the audience, I really enjoy that. Sitting in front of a camera alone, I've not wrapped my mind around that concept yet.

* * * * *

Magnesium, that's awesome! Enjoy and be sure to let us know what you think and post pics if you can!

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axe2grind

Congrats! I recently purchased a TSL60. I mean like a week ago. At first I didn't care for it. I'm used to my Laney VC50. I have to say though that the Marshall is growing on me. I have yet to really get it dialed in, but I'm starting to have fun with the amp. I hope you really enjoy yours!!

Magnesium Jake

Well guys I got a chance to work with the TSL60 a bit this weekend and I am seriously impressed. This was a model built in 02' and it still has the original tubes in it. I am a huge fan of the clean channel, which I had always heard Marshall didn't excel at! Anyway it is awesome and I have dialed in a workable crunch setting for rythm's and nailed a serious lead tone. I am extremely happy I went with the TSL at the moment because it appears I need the flexibility of the three channels.
I've got some experimenting to do with the rythm channel to get a bit more bite out of it but all in all this may be a real keeper for Magnesium Jake. The thing I am most impressed with is the workable volume this amp has. Right now I have the channel volumes around the 7 to 8 range and have the master volume set at around 6 and this amp sings with out absolutely blowing you away. There is more there if needed but unlike Mesa's and Rivera's the 60 watts this amp puts out are usable. I will be working on it more over the next few days and have a gig with it the night before thanksgiving so that will be the telling tale right there but so far this amp blows away the Rivera I was playing and seriously crushes the Mesa's I had used (I was a Nomad user for 4 years before going on an amplifier journey of mass proportions). Catch you guys later, and thanks for the posts.

Magnesium Jake