Marshall DSL 40 vs Marshall Origin 20 Combo

[TheKman76]

I have a friend who has about 80 guitars

Don't we all?

Thats just not good enough for me lol, I want natural Tube break up

Don't be a 'tube snob' now... play nice with the other kids! I love the glowy/glassy/warm gloriousness as much as the next guy, but the "Boogie Stack" in the Boss GT-1000 is no less epic!

For context, what is your current rig?

 

[fitz]

I have a friend who has ... about 6 really high end amps and he just uses pedals to Drive them. Thats just not good enough for me lol, I want natural Tube break up

He uses pedals because natural tube breakup is loud.
Low power setting on tube amps doesn't sound the same.
Attenuators on amps doesn't sound the same.
Using both to get the volume you want may not be all that different than using a few pedals.

Try before you buy if you can.
Maybe one of these amps will give you the sound you seek, but make sure you're not chasing unicorns for that "natural tube breakup" on attenuated low power.

 

[julian26]

Don't we all?



Don't be a 'tube snob' now... play nice with the other kids! I love the glowy/glassy/warm gloriousness as much as the next guy, but the "Boogie Stack" in the Boss GT-1000 is no less epic!

For context, what is your current rig?

Nah no way man definitely not a tube snob if I'm honest I usually play unplugged, being a shift worker unless its the weekend can't usually crank anything lol. When I do get to plug in usually I plug into my Trusty Roland cube 40XL lol, great amps they are.
I also have a 2 watt Valvetone Tube amp, made by a Australian builder in Sydney, great value aswell 425 AUD shipped to your door for a handmade amp, that goes into a single 1x12 Celestion g12 65. However even tho its 2 watts its bloody loud as lol, guitar wise I switch between a Tokai SG and a cheap Music man style copy guitar.

 

[svinyard]

Nah no way man definitely not a tube snob if I'm honest I usually play unplugged, being a shift worker unless its the weekend can't usually crank anything lol. When I do get to plug in usually I plug into my Trusty Roland cube 40XL lol, great amps they are.
I also have a 2 watt Valvetone Tube amp, made by a Australian builder in Sydney, great value aswell 425 AUD shipped to your door for a handmade amp, that goes into a single 1x12 Celestion g12 65. However even tho its 2 watts its bloody loud as lol, guitar wise I switch between a Tokai SG and a cheap Music man style copy guitar.

Having a bit of a bung on the blue, are we lads?

(I'll see myself out...)

FYI here's the SV20h doing EXACTLY what you want (along with SoloDallas Storm pedal and pickups).


Obviously this greedy bastard has no shortage of sick amps lol. He's got a JMP50 there and said he still uses the SV20h even more than that. As Nicky Cage would say:

 

[Jamil Ecrire]

Hi I had my heart set on the DSL 40 then I read so many forums where the consensus was they can do almost everything except the Plexi tones lol,that killed that for me,

Then I thought the origin series was going to be My Amp, TBH tho there's only video demo where I actually liked the tone's, YouTuber called Brett Kingman, ofcourse with YouTube videos take them with a grain of salt lol.

Whereas the studio vintage 20 every video I've watched sounds killer, this seems to be the ideal Amp for ACDC and 70s classic/hard rock.

I would probably prefer a combo but I think the Head is the way to go, plus some form of attenuation is definitely going to be needed.
The Jhs Volume attenuator is like 50 bucks so thats a cheap option.
I can tell you this im not dropping 2500 on an OX attenuator

The DSL40 can do AC/DC, lol. It's also got a Master Volume, so you don't have to crank it, nor do you need an attenuator.

Get a Plexi Pedal if that's what you want and run the DSL40 clean(ish). There are a plethora of pedals that can get you there.

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Not listed here is the cheapo Nux Plexi Drive, I think I got it for $40 or so, it nails the Plexi sound.

Bugera PS1 Passive 100-watt Power Attenuator will work well for what you need for 5-10% of an Ox (I suggest the Waza one if you're spending that much) if you do want one.

Go play them side by side. I'd have no issues with a DSL40 though, ideally with a Creamback speaker if you can find one fitted with it already.

 

[TheKman76]

@julian26 Do you have a schematic for the Valvetone? It's possible we can plexi the crap out it it!

 

[Denis St Guinefort]

Ha, let me help you. (I’ve just done all this and guys here are laughing at me as we speak from all the questions lol).

First off, an SV20 is it if you can swing it. I just went through this and go some advice from the source of ACDC knowledge for the planet. They were very direct. They’ve spent tons of time with Angus and his amps etc. They made it clear that nothing else is it.

There is no substitute it’s the Sv20 or ST20 or something even more expensive like the real things or SoloDallas amp (even more real). So I was told.

That being said, I have the DSL40CR and just played an Origin50 combo for a long time. Nothing but ACDC. Trying to decide what to get.

The Origin50 was immediately better. But yeah it needs to be Loud to really put that big smile on your face but the 5w setting wasn’t bad either. I liked it and it’s cool to have a clean amp too that takes rowdy pedals really well.

In the end tho, the Origin + Pedals etc was gonna be close enough to a used MINT SV20H I got for 999$ from guitar center. It’s more money but not wildly more if you can find a cheap cab on Craigslist for 100-250$ with a greenback or G12-65 speaker in it. Speakers matter a LOT. I’ve just swapped no less than 6 different speakers in my DSL hunting a more classic tone. They changed the tone a lot but not the amp of you know what I mean.

DSL has a more modern, somewhat compressed sound and is a bit scooped in the mids rather than classic Marshall ringing mids. 3 of its channels or modes are pretty darn good and the 6 button footswitch is rad. I actually really like the OD2 heavy gain channel as it’s very much a Mesa Boogie sorta of darker heavier tone. Classic metal stuff there. It’s very versatile and sounds nice for everything aside from the 70’s stuff/plexi stuff. Even when dimed.

Origin is versatile in a different way tho I’m not big into pedals…but it’s a great pedal platform for changing it even further. Guys on here shred with it and a SD1+Tumnas pedal. But it’s default tone I liked a lot. That vintage twang and spank. As I understand it the volume difference between the 20 and 50 is like 3-4db. The 50 combos are cheap to find and that’s what I’d get. Only 40lb too. That cheap little speaker in there was oddly impressive. You’ll need an attenuator to make the volume usable but with full power to the tubes (which everything for the tone).

DSL doesn’t need attenuation for the most part but sounds better with volume that is still damaging your ears (over 75db). It does have a ton of bass on tap and is overly gainy so you never turn up the gain more than 2 to 6 IME. It sounds pretty great for Metallica etc. it’s super versatile but just not for more classic stuff. Clean is very nice and can be dirtied up too. ACDC tone is on the green with gain like 6 and both volumes around noon at least with bass almost off, treble 6, mids 7, presence noon or more to taste and resonance off. Reverb sucks on it so it’s off.

DSL40 used is like 550$
Origin50c used 550$
SV20h used in USA (cheaper in UK!) is 1000-1200$
SV20 Combo can be had for around 1100-1300$
When it comes to attenuation...its a JohnH one...design is on this forum and highly documented. If you need some help with that, "We know A Guy". PM me if you need some info.

Go play them side by side before buying. If AC/DC is the big push, it’s the Origin with attenuator unless you can get the SV20.

Lots of YouTube videos of guys playing ACDC on the origin. Look at my other threads on here for all the discussion.

Fwiw...having a Les Paul/SG sorta guitar matters. My strat doesn't really cut it. It's the low side where the Gibson has a nice growl but the strat has a quack instead. Horses for courses

I do not play AC/DC songs much however, Angus does have THE sound. I lean much more towards earlier players. DSL, in my opinion, do not work. They, as a series, are aimed at more modern players. I first owned an Origin 5 combo which won't work unless you first have a cab for it with a good 12 (Greenback or Vintage 30), and you can play it full volume. It's a cheap solution if you find a second hand one. The Origin 20 either combo or head, will give you much of an AC/DC sound. But again, you must use it very loud even on low wattage. For home use, you'll need a boost pedal or something else, perhaps an overdrive. The amp's boost at lower volume sounds more like a strict volume increase affair. The 2 pedals I own work differently: the Boss-DS1 isn't ideal; my Danelectro Texas Trouble (more of a boost pedal) works great. I suspect even the cheap EH LPB-1 would work well.

The speaker in the combo is ok. It isn't a Greenback though. Probably the best solution involves getting the combo and later put in a Celestion 10" Greenback. The included speaker works well. It requires breaking in. I suggest you try the amp at the store with different boost pedals until you find the desire sound.

 

[wangchung]

I know this subject has been done before but would be interested to know people's opinions and experiences with these 2 amps.
I mainly play 70s classic rock and alot of ACDC, mainly ACDC if im honest, im aware no Amp or equipment will ever make me sound like Angus lol.
But wondering which amp would be better suited to this type of sound? Also would like to be able to play at lower volumes,I understand origins need to be cranked even on the .5 watt level they are really loud apparently,
Also ill add I mainly like plugging in and playing but have few overdrive pedals that i use occasionally.

thanks in advance for all responses and opinions, appreciate the help.

Hello!
The DSL 40CR is the tits. The circut is different than the DSL 40C. I've run it with a well broken in V30 and a Weber G12H clone. Preamp tube rolling, especially in the V1 hole, can be rewarding. I found the factory V type speaker too bright. I didn't take the time to break it in. I had the other speakers on hand and knew what they'd probably contribute to the tone. I run =C= 34's in it biased kinda soft, which also affects the overall texture and harmonics. I was using a JCM2000 DSL50 on a 1960A cab loaded with G12M's and V30's X mounted in the cab. It has basically the same tube setup with a treble cap mod, i diff. preamp tube and a slightly diff. bias. The DSL 40CR with like tubes, the Weber speaker and the V30 in a 1x12 ext. cab sounds almost identical. The half-stack stays home. And it'll do Angus with the right pickups. He also
uses the preamp from some old tuner. Any Echoplex preamp booster pedal would be worth a try.
I had 2 40c's before they released the 40CR. I don't like them.