DSL40CR- Help dialing the amp in - Tone questions

[tincbtrar]

Marshall told 'someone' that 35mv was optimal. If plate voltages are similar across all of the amps (they should be, its a mass produced amp made in Vietnam) then you would be at 60%. You may like that, you may not.

So I just got a multimemter in and biased my amp. I can't play right now becasue my daughter is asleep but both inputs read 40 and 41 MV when the optimum number is 35. What effect will this have on my amp now that I have it in the correct range. Thank you!

 

[curt miller]

Welcome to the MF @Whizzinby

I have a DSL40CR and I can throw in my 2 cents (for what it's worth).

1. Probably best to just post a pic of my current knob settings:

View attachment 75106

The caveat is that I run the 40CR in MIDI controlled 4CM with a Boss GT-100, so there is some external EQ'ing going on (but not much).

BTW I don't play live. These are bedroom volume settings. Plus, I have changed the speaker to a G12 Century Vintage and run the V-Type in a 112 cab under the DSL.​

2. See above.

3. In general terms (and I know I will get shouted at) the channel Gain sets the amount of distortion, channel Volume sets the channel volume (!) and is used to balance the relative volumes of the Classic and Ultra channels.
Master Volumes actually choke the preamp volume before it gets to the power amp.
To make a DSL40CR into a non-MV amp simply turn the Masters to 10.
The 2 Master Volumes can be used to create a level boost (Solo) for the amp, or to balance the inherent volume discrepancy between the Classic Clean and Classic Crunch channels (i.e. assign MV1 to Classic Clean and MV2 to Classic Crunch and the Ultras).
I think the general consensus is that the volume discrepancy is more marked with lower gain settings on the Classic channels.
I still find I can get a clean enough tone for my needs with the Classic Gain at 10 (clean up further with guitar volume knob).
At 10 I get the Crunch I like without an additional OD (and with!).

4. Pres and Res I know little about, but what I have gathered is that they are negative feedback circuits. So as you turn either one up you are actually reducing the negative feedback at either high or low frequencies (I think). Reducing negative feedback allows a frequency to stand out more (negative feedback supresses).
Some prefer to use Pres instead of Treble to control the high frequencies (i.e. Treble @ 0). Play around with the two!
Also, I think that whilst noon is generally the neutral setting for EQ knobs, for Pres and Res 0 is the neutral setting.
There is a lot more to it though.
Try reading this: http://blog.hughes-and-kettner.com/presence-resonance-and-eq-settings-for-a-great-live-guitar-tone/

5. I don't use the Tone Shift. I have read that some use it for Single Coil guitars.

One thing about the high gain setting of the 40CR (in my experience) is that the Ultras (esp. OD2) seem to mush up and compress (volume dips) with the Gain set above 6-7. To get a better 'articulated' high gain tone I use an OD (from the GT-100) in front of the preamp.
I can get higher gain tones I like with lower amp gain, and pushing the preamp with a neutral OD (and I love my high gain).

We are all different and tone is subjective.
Play with your knobs and have fun

Thanks. I ordered one of these amps yesterday. Can't wait for it to arrive.

I read your post. You mentioned turning the MVs to 10, however yours are not set at 10.
Did I misunderstand your intent?
Thanks

 

[SkyMonkey]

Thanks. I ordered one of these amps yesterday. Can't wait for it to arrive.

I read your post. You mentioned turning the MVs to 10, however yours are not set at 10.
Did I misunderstand your intent?
Thanks

I meant that some like the sound better if the MVs are set higher with lower Channel Volume. I think it just sounded noisy so I don't do it.
The DSL40C has no global MVs, which would be the same as setting the DSL40CR MVs to 10 and adjusting volume using the Channel Volumes.

 

[gregr]

On the CR it also looks like you load the tone stack down as you increase the channel volume; more so on the classic channel than the ultra channel. This reduces bass. That said, I don’t think it will be all that significant.

 

[s76yu12]

I bought a Marshall DSL40CR about a month ago, was looking for some advice on dialing it in and some answers to how each knob/switch impacts tone. TBH I can get an ok clean tone, which I’m then using as a pedal platform, but I cannot get a high gain distortion tone I like with any of the higher gain channels (Clean Crunch, OD1, or OD2) OD2 provides plenty of saturation but no clarity or articulation, and the other channels a bit too mid-rangy and not enough bite. Anyways would love some feedback...

1. For those that have the amp, what settings do you use for the various EQ’s and switches
2. For those that don’t, what is your general method of dialing in a Marshall amp?
3. Channel volume vs Master Volume, what are they affecting within the amp? I’ve operated under the assumption the channel volume would be driving the preamp and master would be power amp. Trying to determine where best to set these.
4. Presence and Resonance. I get that these are tone settings at the power amp stage, unlike the three band eq which is done at the preamp stage. But, generally speaking how are these used? Let’s say you have too much bass, would you first back off the Bass knob or the Resonance? Let’s say you want more treble or high end, would you start with Presence or the Treble knob? Also, is noon the “neutral” setting for these, or are they cumulative, meaning at zero they aren’t affecting tone from the preamp eq and turning them up only adds to the tone?
5. Tone shift button. The manual states selecting this reconfigures the preamp EQ to add new tone shaping. Also they note for Mids, controls are accentuated with tone shift enabled. To my ears enabling tone shift slightly scoops and compressed the overall sound. Which I find oddly improves the tone somewhat on higher gain channels, even though I hate scooped sounds. What accentuation is occurring with the mid knob with tone shift enabled?

I originally bought my dsl40cr because I'm most familiar with Marshall's to begin with and secondly, I really wanted something more like a Randy Rhoads live tone. I should note that I also use an MXR Distortion Plus as a boost as well as an MXR 10 band eq. The biggest problem I've had with this amp is Bass. It's entirely too beefy for my liking. These are my settings for Rhoads and it sounds pretty accurate:

OD Channel Green.
Gain: 12 o clock
Channel Volume: I set this up high. The reason is because Randy used a lot of mids and treble and very little bass. I discovered with this amp that when the master is cranked and the channel volume low, the bass is too much....even when set low. However, when I turned the Channel volume up and the master down the bass became a lot less noticeable. Mine is currently around 2-3 o clock.
Bass: 9 o clock
Mids: 12:30 Essentially between 5 and 6 on the dial.
Treble: They say Randy's amp always had treble at 2 o clock and presence at noon. That doesn't work on this amp. I ended up having Treble at 3 o clock.
Presence: Like the treble, the presence is also turned up but not as much. I have it at 2 o clock.
Resonance: 0 because of the aforementioned bass issue.

I have the master for more bedroom like volume at around noon or 1 o clock.

They say that Randy's amp was mostly output tube distortion. This isn't true at all. His amp was a 1959SLP. It had two channels but he only used 1 channel. This particular amp got it's sound from both preamp tubes and output tubes working in tandem. Those amps didn't have a master volume. They only have channel volumes. The louder the amp was the more each set of tubes were cooking and I guarantee the preamp tubes were cooking the most and the power amp tubes a bit less...but they were still cooking.

MXR Distortion + is set like this:
Volume: maxed
Distortion 2 o clock

The 10 band is a little more difficult to articulate but essentially the bass is lower, the mids are bumped way up and the treble is bumped up higher than the 0 points.

Without the Distortion plus and 10 band I could not get this amp to sound even remotely like Randy's live sound. They are both a necessity for his sound. I even tried one or the other and still couldn't get it. The EQ, even with volume and gain set to the 0 points, still adds gain. Essentially you would be gain stacking.

I tested the plate voltage on my particular DSL40cr and found the plate voltage was way way low. It's around 428v. Usually tube amps, especially 50-100 watt ones are around 450-500mv. You'd have to run the bias at like 42mv just to get 70% dissipation which is crazy. I settled on 38mv. The plate voltage is a consistent 428v every time I've checked.

I'm guessing that when you say "High gain" you are referring to modern metal. This is an assumption though...for all I know you use high gain for blues lol. I've found letting this amp warm up in standby for at least 20-40 minutes absolutely helps. I tried 10 mins, 1 minute and found the amp's gain suffered tremendously. The longer you warm up in standby the better it'll sound when you do play. This is also very consistent.