Dsl 401 Superlead Combo Sounds Thin When Engaging Od1 And Od2

[Fervin]

The clean channel sounds great. However, when I engage thenOD channels the bass falls right off. Is there anything I can do to remedy this problem?

 

[thunderstruck507]

I found the clean channel to have a ton of low end and the OD channels simply do not and what's worse is a lot of what is there is somewhat flabby and unpleasant.

I ran mine into a 4x12 cab with a MXR Classic Overdrive in front used as a clean boost/compressor (this OD has a hidden dip switch inside the case which lets it go between the GT-OD and the Zakk Wylde OD, I set mine to ZW because it keeps more of the lower end) to tighten up the sound.

It seemed to me running the master volume as high as possible in balance with a lower volume on the channel volume helped a little too. I usually had the master volume at 3-6 o'clock and the channel volume around 9-10 o'clock.


Another option would be using the clean channel and then using drive pedals for distortion. I have a MXR Custom Badass '78 Distortion which has some great Marshall rock tones and a Metal Muff which can get some great metal tones (turn the treble nearly all the way down and put the mids and bass at noon and adjust from there). The pedals allow you to keep that low end from the clean channel and put distortion on top of it.


You might not like either of these answers but even with tube changes and speaker changes the DSL401 just doesn't seem to have solid lows on the drive channels. Someone might know of some mods however to correct the problem at its source. Overall I really liked mine, I thought about going to a DSL40C but I already didn't like OD1/OD2 sharing an EQ and really didn't want all 3 channels to end up on the same EQ...ended up buying a TSL100 head and couldn't be happier.

 

[JohnH]

I found an easy fix for thin bass on OD, described here with a few other mods:

http://www.marshallforum.com/threads/dsl401-loop-tone-and-heat-mods.68665/#post-1123005

The OD mod is reversible, easily installed and costs about 20c

If you are not ready to mod the amp, then put an EQ pedal (or processor set as an eq pedal) in the loop. Boost lows and cut all other frequencies, then use the FX knob to dial in as much extra bass as you want.

The tone that it has is designed for very high gain lead tones, but it is a bit thin at lower and medium OD.

 

[Fervin]

I found an easy fix for thin bass on OD, described here with a few other mods:

http://www.marshallforum.com/threads/dsl401-loop-tone-and-heat-mods.68665/#post-1123005

The OD mod is reversible, easily installed and costs about 20c

If you are not ready to mod the amp, then put an EQ pedal (or processor set as an eq pedal) in the loop. Boost lows and cut all other frequencies, then use the FX knob to dial in as much extra bass as you want.

The tone that it has is designed for very high gain lead tones, but it is a bit thin at lower and medium OD.

Thanks "JohnH" for posting your mods. I will try to get them done and will report back. All the best.

 

[Toby Krewbs]

I played mine a bit today through an old Line 2x12( nice cab surprisingly) and just turned the lows down on the clean channel and cranked the lows on the gain channel and it worked well! I like the OD channels on this amp.

I also agree it is a surprising pedal platform using the clean channel.I even run patches from my Boss ME70 for typical cover gigs through it and it is a nice Marshally/ Voxish thing of its own.