DSL Combos...they make my ears blead

[sinner 13]

I totally agree sinner. I tried 5 amps before I decided witch one to keep and the first time I played the DSL I didn't like it much.
It is pointless isn't it ? It almost seems like a group of young guitarist got together and conspired to Hate this!

Took me a YEAR of pedal swapping and knob twiddling, to learn the intricacies of a split preamp with a shared tone stack, you wouldn't think so...but it did.

not to mention I have Half the freaking knobs a DSL does....
Yet is seems like you guys with DSL's (who have some actually playing time on them), seem to have it easier, especially with all the new bells and whistles making it super easy to dial in tones you want.

Where as a classic layout like the plexi, is a very finesse oriented piece of equipment.
Throw in the pedals and an attenuator.... and LOTS of free time to screw around with it...

 

[solarburn]

Well he specified high gain. I no likey high gain so he may be right.lol

I dig the blues, rock and hard rock shiz in the EL34 driven DSL's.

 

[J.LaGrassa]

Well he specified high gain. I no likey high gain so he may be right.lol

I dig the blues, rock and hard rock shiz in the EL34 driven DSL's.

mostly what I like as well, I use lead 1 at no higher than 6 or 7 on the gain

 

[marshall_law]

I find the newer DSL stuff fizzy as well. THe original jcm 2000 series DSL sounded amazing and is a great amp. I would try messing with the tubes in the newer dsl stuff to try and smooth out the distortion. I think most newer marshall stuff is shipped with JJ tubes and ive never been a huge fan of them. I always put EH preamp tubes in my jcm 2000 heads and i loved them.

Ok guys, not a frequent poster to these forums. But I will tell you that Marshall runs thorugh my heart, soul, chakras, etc, etc. But every time I try out a DSL combo I'm just mortified at how BAD the fizzy crappy just god awful distortion is. Am I missing something? Am I hard of hearing? I had my ears checked out by an ear specialist and he said my hearing is fine. I currently own a JVM 205C and find the tones, even super high gain tones, 10000000 times better than anything I've ever heard on the DSL line. Yet the DSL's seems to have a fanatic following. Please educate me on this.

I've owned Mesas, Fenders, Blackstars, Kemper and Axe FXII and of course Line 6 before all that, and the DSL still remains the WORST high gain amp I have ever played.

Bring it.

 

[ibmorjamn]

the DSL seems to work for this guy.
RazorDave - Fuel My Hunger Guitar Solo ( Black Tora ) Sony HDR-CX330 - YouTube

Black Tora - Born To Play Loud - YouTube

This guy is on here as well as many others , Solar Burn also has some good riffs with this amp.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOGshLHJ8vM]Marshall DSL 40C Demo (with Backing Tracks) - YouTube[/ame]

 

[J.LaGrassa]

I recorded this the other day, just jamming to a backing track. a little sloppy but I think the tone is pretty good and definitely not harsh. Its the DSL40C lead 1 gain on 6 with a Celestion Creamback 65 and my PRS McCarty

[SC]https://soundcloud.com/jlagrassa-1/slow-jam[/SC]

 

[Micky]

Jeez, these are great!
How come you haven't posted all of these in the DSL40 Info thread?

 

[J.LaGrassa]

Jeez, these are great!
How come you haven't posted all of these in the DSL40 Info thread?

i did post my last track in there

 

[ibmorjamn]

Jeez, these are great!
How come you haven't posted all of these in the DSL40 Info thread?

We might need a sub-section for tones in the DSL thread.

 

[bulldozer1984]

I agree with the OP, DSL combos sound like shit at low volume and I feel it is due to the stock speaker. Change the speaker, and crank it up to get some good hearty Marshall tone.

 

[bulldozer1984]

I think i might have asked this before but whats the proper way to judge your tone? Amp directly in front of you 10+ feet way? Ear level or just off the ground a foot or two?

I put my ear to the speaker (so you get an idea of how it will sound close mic'd), and i also stand back a few feet, then a few metres back and to the side.

 

[ibmorjamn]

I just record it. The play back tells all.

 

[RazorDave]

With DSL' any model, there is a few things I have noticed that make or break the sound. Regardless of if you want mild or high gain, dont add to much on the amp. Set the red channel gain at about 12 oclock and if you need more push it with an od. That will keep it super tight and not muddy. Also, I play with almost no treble. The dsl is already treble happy, so any more and its ice pick. Im also a firm believer of setting ur tone at ear level and somewhat far front. Thats where the audience is. Just my thoughts. Oh and Blues, thanks for the shout out bro!

 

[J.LaGrassa]

With DSL' any model, there is a few things I have noticed that make or break the sound. Regardless of if you want mild or high gain, dont add to much on the amp. Set the red channel gain at about 12 oclock and if you need more push it with an od. That will keep it super tight and not muddy. Also, I play with almost no treble. The dsl is already treble happy, so any more and its ice pick. Im also a firm believer of setting ur tone at ear level and somewhat far front. Thats where the audience is. Just my thoughts. Oh and Blues, thanks for the shout out bro!

I'm glad Blues posted those videos, band sounds great. Nice guitar work too!

 

[ibmorjamn]

With DSL' any model, there is a few things I have noticed that make or break the sound. Regardless of if you want mild or high gain, dont add to much on the amp. Set the red channel gain at about 12 oclock and if you need more push it with an od. That will keep it super tight and not muddy. Also, I play with almost no treble. The dsl is already treble happy, so any more and its ice pick. Im also a firm believer of setting ur tone at ear level and somewhat far front. Thats where the audience is. Just my thoughts. Oh and Blues, thanks for the shout out bro!

Spot on Dave , better said by you than me. It took me a while find this out , I started off with a lot of gain and treble.

 

[Fiat Lux]

I recorded this the other day, just jamming to a backing track. a little sloppy but I think the tone is pretty good and definitely not harsh. Its the DSL40C lead 1 gain on 6 with a Celestion Creamback 65 and my PRS McCarty

[SC]https://soundcloud.com/jlagrassa-1/slow-jam[/SC]

Great tone there, man. Love it!

cheers

 

[blues_n_cues]

With DSL' any model, there is a few things I have noticed that make or break the sound. Regardless of if you want mild or high gain, dont add to much on the amp. Set the red channel gain at about 12 oclock and if you need more push it with an od. That will keep it super tight and not muddy. Also, I play with almost no treble. The dsl is already treble happy, so any more and its ice pick. Im also a firm believer of setting ur tone at ear level and somewhat far front. Thats where the audience is. Just my thoughts. Oh and Blues, thanks for the shout out bro!

spot on. I played one recently,a just opened box stock 1/2 stack w/ a Les Paul Studio sitting about 3' out front @ ear level & I swear I got carpel tunnel of the ear w/ everything set @ noon & treble about 7.
gotta dial that treble wayyyy back.

maybe they just need tubes,a bias, & some break-in time.

 

[Marshall_Watts87]

ya, I don't know what the hype of the DSL's are, actually I do, it's the price!

any sound you can get, you can get tenfold better in a JVM. they should cancel the DSL's, lower the price of the JVM 2's and 4's and come out with updated JVM's. boom.

 

[blues_n_cues]

ya, I don't know what the hype of the DSL's are, actually I do, it's the price!

any sound you can get, you can get tenfold better in a JVM. they should cancel the DSL's, lower the price of the JVM 2's and 4's and come out with updated JVM's. boom.

where's your JVM?

 

[Marshall_Watts87]

where's your JVM?

your mama's house