Marshall is easily the most recognizable amplifier in the world. Its use is almost synonymous with rock music itself. On this review I will take a look at some of the features and performance ofMarshall's monster head, the JCM 2000 TSL.

First off, at 100 watts this amplifier is a power hungry monster. Out of the box, Marshall includes the head and their well designed footswitch selector. The footswitch allows for changing between clean, crunch, and lead channels (review continued below...)

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Found a guy on YouTube who shows off the Crunch and Lead channels...of course he recorded them as separate videos so here they are!� First one is Crunch Channel, then lead:

Additionally, you can add reverb or activate auxiliary effects all in this pedal. Simply attach a full rack of effects to your head and activate them from this master switch. One complaint I have found with the footswitch has to do with durability of construction. If you gig often, take good care of the footswitch wire, it tends to breakdown over time, specifically where the wire attaches to the footswitch. After two solid years of use my footswitch needed to be rewired.

The head's power and flexibility lies in being able to tweak and control 3 separate channels. One glimpse at the front of this amp shows extensive knobs and switches for coloring your signal. Marshall addressed complaints with previous heads by offering more customization in order to compete with Mesa Boogie and others who offer almost infinite customization. Each channel features its own volume, gain, and EQ. A master tone switch is also included which gives greater low end response to lower volume signals.

Marshall wanted great sound at even modest levels, and this amp delivers. The spring reverb does a good job of further coloring your signal with lush and spacious echo which sounds natural live or when recorded. Marshall seemed to address their somewhat flabby clean tone with this head. Instead of high treble and thin tones, a guitar with even single coil pickups sounds warmer and can deliver a rich rhythm sound.

You are probably wondering how lead distortion sounds, right? Well have no fear, your solos will leap off the stage and into a listeners ear faster than you can say Freddie Mercury! Lead channel is crisp, distinctive, and has incredible response. I found this channel made me solo faster because of this legendary tone and fast, cutting response.

Whatever style of music you are into, the Marshall JCM 2000 TSL will give you an incredibly powerful sound. Flexibility and customization should allow you to shape your sound for years to come. Stop by your local music store and give this beast a try.

PS - If you have a Gibson Guitar your tone will take on nearly godlike qualities. i.e. Slash!

Features
All valve powered. [4x Svetlana EL34 power valves]

3 independent channels for Clean, Crunch, and Lead

Mid Boost Switch for tonal options on the Clean channel plus Tone Shift on the Crunch and Lead channels

Unique Marshall Deep Switch on the Clean and Crunch/Lead channels adds extra low end resonance when selected

Separate Reverb for Clean and Crunch/Lead channels

Virtual Power Reduction [VPR] gives the extra saturation of a lower powered valve amp being driven hard

Power Amp Mute switch for silent recording

Separate FX Loops with front panel Mix controls and level selection for the Clean and Crunch/Lead channels

D.I. XLR Output with acclaimed Marshall Speaker Emulation

5-way foot controller for switching channels, Reverb and FX Loop on/off

Technical Info
Output power: (typical) 120 watts at 5% THD into 4/8/16 ohms

Mains input: 117V ~ 60Hz or 230V ~ 50Hz (standard) - others to special order (To alter amplifier for different mains voltage specification to that delivered (i.e. 120V to 230V etc), please contact your country's Marshall distributor or main service center.)

Mains power input: 375 watts.

Mains fuse: T4A - 117V or T2A - 230V

HT fuse: T1A

Valve (Tube) complement: 4 x ECC83 (12AX7) - preamp and phase splitter (inverter). 4 x EL34 - output. Marshall - Svetlana fitted as standard.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 18th, 2007 at 8:00 pm and is filed under Amplifier. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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