Debate! What Is The Best Combo Amp For The Love Rock?

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vanneste

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I want to hear what you guys have to say - what is the ultimate combo for the Love Rock, lets say for general use with an option for extension cab on live work....Mesa MkIV? Marshall TSL122?. C'mon I have to buy a new amp and I need a shortlist!!

Drool. I'm vibrating with pleasue already :wink:
 
If you want that classic 60's/70's ROCK sound, a Marshall valve amp is your only option!

The JCM2000 DSL's have a more 'classic' tone than the metally TSL's, but they appear to have serious reliability issues.

If you go second hand you can get a great amp for a great price - I got me a 2-channel marshall JCM800 for half the price of a new DSL! I've fitted it with a new speaker and put some new preamp valves in - sounds incredible 8)


Of course, it all depends on what sound you're looking for and how much you want to spend.
 
I'm a tube amp snob old Marshall and Fender kinda guy,but my Love rock sounds great through my fender 2x12 Cyber Twin....

Sure can't beat the overall versatility and plethora of dialed in sounds and my amp sounds pretty darn convincing when we gig out....I've been using mine now going on 2 years with absolutely 0 problems other than tweaking to different preamp tubes...

I also love plugging my Love rock into my 50 watt 73 Marshall 1987 head and then into a Marshall 4x12 vintage 30 cabinet.....Tone heaven but not very practical in a small settings unless you use pedals....


John
 
I will try a Tweed Deluxe kit I am building.I will tell the results.
With a Mesa/Boogie Caliber the pups are a little microphonic,but it sounds very nice,totally LP tone for sure.
 
A bit of a quandry then?

Have you looked in the Amps section? I own a TSL122, and think its a brilliant and incredibly versatile amp.

Many people, especially on various forums, tend to knock the JCM2000 series, and especially the TSL's for various reasons. Mainly the "reliability" issue is the main one, plus they say a lot of tech's won't work on them as they are too complicated etc etc., and that the Channels 2 & 3 employ "diode clipping" to create the distortion/OD.

I think that this is a lot of here say and BS.

I have read elsewhere that the TSL has a true valve signal path, and the Amp Tech at my local music shop was happy to have a look at it when I was having a problem with the DI (Speaker Emulated) output, which turned out to be me using standard a mic XLR to Jack lead, as opposed to using the wiring diagram in the manual.

The footswitch lead could be a bit more robust I guess, but you just have to careful with it. The footswitch itself is a right hefty beast!

Sound wise, with it having 2x12"s it certainly pushes a bit of air, and even on lower volume levels its bloody loud when on the full power setting. With the Virtual Power Reduction on, its still a loud amp (at home I use it on about 2-3 clean, and about 1 on the OD1&2 channels, or else my wife complains bitterly!). But I digress, sound wise, the clean channel runs the whole spectrum of lovely clean-ness to just breaking, where OD1 does the Just breaking up to full on Hi Gain, OD2 does basically the same, but with a bit more oomph (great for leads etc). With each channel having a separate EQ section (and signal path apparently) you can set all EQ's differently for "that sound", but playing with EQ's is a long drawn out process, as you need to search for the sweet spot. This is not a plug and play sweet tone amp.

Horses for courses I guess. Try 'em both back to back, and buy the one that grabs you. I tried a 5150 against the Marshall, and I bought the Marshall.

Sounds great IMO with a Love Rock / GLP, but I would say that. :wink:
 
well my 75q sounds absolutley awesome thru my line 6 vetta stack (not a combo but...hey were all freinds here :lol: ..its the best lp, ive EVER played..only prob i find is the pups, i love the neck, but the bridge :evil: too nasally or me....anyone else find that??
 
My 1985 Love Rock LS-150 Flame Top sounds the best through my 1969 Musicman RD112 Tube Amp. It's a pretty hard-to-find amp, but has incredible options for the year. If you can find an older Musicman in good shape, they're killer, LOUD combos with nice tube overdrive/distortion built in, switchable everything. :p

If mine ever breaks, I'm finding an exact copy - I couldn't do without that one.

Oh yeah, I found that my 2002 LSQ has a really nasal bridge, too. Maybe it has to do with the strings??? But mine has the factory .10s on it :-?
 
Hey thanks for that, I see on Harmony Central the TSL gets marked down on reliability.

Anyone tried a Love Rock through a Cornford Hurricane or an Ashdown Peacemaker? They appear to be the dogs and British. Blimey. I think it'll be tubes whatever happens, but reliability and durability is a factor.

Now for some demos.... :D
 
I have no sharp objects in my house, but my wife saw a show on the Discovery network last week and it showed how guys in prison made a knife out of plexi glass! And know the windshield on my boat is missing!? Eat with your hands! Good Luck
 
vanneste: Almost everybody on HC rated the JCM2000's down on reliability. That doesn't bode well. Also a I know a few people who had lots of trouble with the 2000's.

I was going to buy a JCM2000 DSL, but the front panels on the ones I tried got too hot to touch after about 20mins use - this can't be good for the electrics inside. PCB plastic & solder + long periods of extreme heat = trouble!

My JCM800 combo's front panel feels barely warm after 2 hours' use. I love that amp. Made in '87, still works perfectly, and I got it secondhand for half the price of a new 2000.
 
Yessiree, my JCM800 combo and either my old Love Rock or my Reborn absolutely have won over many a convert :D. Of course, my combo is just slightly goosed, so your milage will vary. A stock Twin Reverb worked well, but needed a little boost. It depends on the LR. I have a few, and a friend has a few as well. When we do 'shoot-outs', mine worked great, while his just sounded 'good'. I'm not completely lucky, 'cause a Gold-Top LR sounded the worst, actually; no real sustain. Maybe the setup/strings/pickups/etc. I don't think you can a detailed picture with such a wide brush, if you know what I mean. If you can set up your LR and tweak the amplifier, you can do wonders with just a simple tube combo. You get classic 70's and 80's tone on a budget.
 
I really liked the DSL201 combo I own, it has a relly nice cleans and the distortions are great. The thing has shitloads of gain. It will definately do metal, although it's more like the classic metal sound. But the thing is, the reliability problems are very much real ;( Actually it's a very well built amp, since it workoed fine as long as the warranty was still valid, but a couple of weeks ago it started cutting out. It plays fine for a couple of minutes, then fades away. Does any one know which is causing this? I don't think it's the tubes since I had it re-tubed properly only a couple of months ago and I really haven't driven the amp to death.
 
I really liked the DSL201 combo I own, it has a relly nice cleans and the distortions are great. The thing has shitloads of gain. It will definately do metal, although it's more like the classic metal sound. But the thing is, the reliability problems are very much real ;( Actually it's a very well built amp, since it workoed fine as long as the warranty was still valid, but a couple of weeks ago it started cutting out. It plays fine for a couple of minutes, then fades away. Does any one know which is causing this? I don't think it's the tubes since I had it re-tubed properly only a couple of months ago and I really haven't driven the amp to death.
 
LondonBarry said:
I've got a few Marshalls, and sort of wanted the 6100 Anniversary for its JTM45->hi gain versatility. But it's even more complicated than the DSLs, so I've not bothered because of reliability and difficulty/cost of out-of-warranty repair.
Barry

I've got one; it's broken. This is the second one. The first one died twice in the first month so I got the store to take it back a give me another one. The power amp and clean channel work ok but both distortion channels are out. I suspect it's the channel switching relay. It's been broken for months. I guess I should fix it but I have other amps so I'm not too motivated.
 
:D Thats why I don't do Marshall anymore! At best every 18 months an overhaul! I still have a couple , but I mostly just look at them. :roll: Don't you just love that Crackeling Sound they make just before they Crap out! If you ever get the chance to play any of the Kendrick amps you'll be hooked, they are pricey but worth it . I have a leather covered Texas Crude that everbody wants, but No Way! :eek:
 
Tokai.....Hey buddy,I've had my 73 Marshall 50 watt head for ions and it never gives me problems....

You need to replace the filter caps and electrolytics around the 10 year point....Marshalls need fresh preamp and output tubes...I'm not speaking about recent Marshall amps as they are buzzy,preamp,mosquito like sounding due to all the preamp gain,bells,swtiches,knobs,etc. they jam into these things! :lol:

One of the biggest problems guys had with the old Marshalls was not matching correctly the impedence loads of speaker to amp...Transformers don't like the mismatch...Nothing in my collection sounds like my old cranked up Marshall on 11 for all out rock and roll music,especially straight in with a Les Paul or an SG....Again I'm speaking about the good ole early amps that were very simplistic and easy to tweak or just plug in and wail and get great tone...Nothing quite has the midrange going like a great old Marshall head... :wink: Only my opinion though....

John
 
The last tme I had my Marshall 1960 combo fixed it was shipped off to Flugerville Tx to Gerald Weber of Kendrick ,it wernt cheap but it's been real good for 31 months and 22 days :eek:
 
The last tme I had my Marshall 1960 combo fixed it was shipped off to Flugerville Tx to Gerald Weber of Kendrick ,it wernt cheap but it's been real good for 31 months and 22 days :eek:
 
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