So, What's The Consensus On The Marshall Origin? Owners, Chime In!

[FennRx]

Origin > any non Jcm DSL

 

[solarburn]

I know, I'm a wiener LOL. Sales buddy, warm her up to the DSL100HR at $899, then switch gears to the DSL20CR at $599, $599 wont seem so bad any more, then sell her on saving another 15% off on the holiday sales! Out the door for $524! She will be happy she spent $524 instead of $899 LOL.

fucking genious!

 

[solarburn]

Better yet ($428) :
https://www.musiciansfriend.com/amp...box-marshall-dsl20hr-20w-tube-guitar-amp-head

right on bud! Thanks!

 

[solarburn]

Thats funny when you think of it...LOL...yes, I have had a few beers!

 

[FennRx]

 

[FennRx]

Now with more 1957 Les Paul Custom Reissue

 

[CyrusTheFabulous]

Hello, new member here. I've had my 50w Origin head for about two weeks, owned a jtm45 RI for years, late 90's model with 6l6. So to compare, the origin sounds like it has a more modern front end than the jtm, less bass. Tone stack is modern Marshall mid voicing too, but I modded my jtm for that. The Origin has considerably more 'gain' than the jtm, with master on 10, the Origin is at the edge of breakup with gain set to 3 with a strat, where as my jtm it would be 6. The master volume seems to be pre phase inverter, as you turn it down, the amp cleans up. I'm told a lot of the 'break up' in vintage amps was the pi when most people seem to think it's the power tubes? I dunno but, to get the gain knob on the Origin to behave like the volume knob on my JTM, you either halve the value, or set the master volume to 7. I prefer the sound with the master all the way up, but it gives you less 'play' on the gain setting... I don't need a lot of gain in my amp, but the boost is very cool. When you turn the master down, and the gain up to get the same amount of break up, you get a brighter 'glassier' tone to my ear...

The jtm is stupid loud without an attenuator for my needs, and it needs to be at least on 6 for a bit of grit with a vintage gain strat. The power scaling in the Origin is really great to me, at mid setting, I don't notice much if any tone change at all, and it's quiet enough at the moderate gain settings I use for even night playing where I live (4 apartment building, in the basement).

It doesn't sound a great deal like my jtm, but it actually sounds more 'Marshall' if that makes any sense. The jtm is a more robust sound, but sometimes too muddy, the Origin can easily be too bright. I run into an open back 1x12 cab with a Celestion Gold, and any tilt setting past two is outrageous with a strat. Tilt and presence at 2 mids boosted and treble and bass cut, I can get tones very reminiscent of the jtm, but with a bit more modern 'bite'.

I really like it so far!

 

[CyrusTheFabulous]

Important update! Use the guitar controls, hahahahaha!

I've never gotten consistent results with the "turn it down to clean things up" technique, but it seems all the brightness in these amps is meant to accommodate that! Turn down the volume and dime the tone for clean, dime the volume and roll off the tone for lead. Seems to work pretty great with this amp! Just messed with it a bit this afternoon for the first time, initiall results are promising...

I've been playing all these 50's and 60's style amps for so long, the "Origin" seems like a modern amp to me!

 

[MarshallDog]

Important update! Use the guitar controls, hahahahaha!

I've never gotten consistent results with the "turn it down to clean things up" technique, but it seems all the brightness in these amps is meant to accommodate that! Turn down the volume and dime the tone for clean, dime the volume and roll off the tone for lead. Seems to work pretty great with this amp! Just messed with it a bit this afternoon for the first time, initiall results are promising...

I've been playing all these 50's and 60's style amps for so long, the "Origin" seems like a modern amp to me!

I do this also for cleans and leads.

Put that cap in there and it will sound more old school. Not to mention, I feel the speaker is more modern sounding. Pull that out and put in a Celestion G12M-65 Creamback and look out. More old school sounding to me.

 

[ColonelForbin]

Still waiting! I have bought and returned two Origin heads already; due to the widespread defective speaker jack issue plaguing all Origins sold to date.

I placed my order for #3 and hoping Marshall FINALLY gets this sorted out. Folks who recently received shipments; from Sweetwater, Prymaxe, etc have still been receiving defective units; as recently as shipped yesterday; arrived defective today.

Sweetwater claims their next shipment is arriving tomorrow and should be the corrected / new design.

So far; anyone here who has an Origin has a defective amp. Guaranteed.

Check your back panel. The defective unit's center and right speaker jacks are both labeled 8 ohms and only power one cab at a time.

If you haven't already, contact your retailer and inquire about what they intend to do. They are banking on you not realizing your amp is defective...

New back panel looks like this:

 

[jeffb]

I bit the bullet and ordered a 20w head. Hopefully here Friday. If so, I"ll have several hours on Saturday to run it full-tilt (no pun intended) through the g12ms, maybe lay down a quick noodle clip.

 

[MarshallDog]

I have the 50C combo so I dont give a rats ass...but thanks for the heads up.

 

[Michael Roe]

Still waiting! I have bought and returned two Origin heads already; due to the widespread defective speaker jack issue plaguing all Origins sold to date.

I placed my order for #3 and hoping Marshall FINALLY gets this sorted out. Folks who recently received shipments; from Sweetwater, Prymaxe, etc have still been receiving defective units; as recently as shipped yesterday; arrived defective today.

Sweetwater claims their next shipment is arriving tomorrow and should be the corrected / new design.

So far; anyone here who has an Origin has a defective amp. Guaranteed.

Check your back panel. The defective unit's center and right speaker jacks are both labeled 8 ohms and only power one cab at a time.

If you haven't already, contact your retailer and inquire about what they intend to do. They are banking on you not realizing your amp is defective...

You have a lot of patience! I had the same issue and was probably the first one to ship mine back to Sweetwater. I wasn't too upset about it because I didn't care for the sound of the amp. I was expecting it to sound more like a 1987X I had previously owned some years ago...…...not even close. I can get more 1987X ish tones with my DSLs.
I think the Origin series will go down as the big Marshall let down of 2018. Sounded good on paper but just didn't quite pull it off.

 

[BanditPanda]

You are in the minority ! Most players very much appreciate the Origin for what it does.

 

[jeffb]

Consensus is


DSL for sale.

 

[jeffb]

So..I guess I should elaborate

It came today so I didn't get as much time as I would like to play it and then make a clip.

10 Observations

1) It does not sound like the 1987x I played for over 10 years
2) It's a helluva lot closer to that sound than any new design Marshall has made in the past 3 decades+ except for the Vintage Modern.
3) It is bright in a good way, and has a very "round" sound. Not compressed, just more pleasant than the harder crunch of modern Marshall amps (900 and beyond). More vintagey.
4) It is much more touchy-feely,bouncy, and dynamic than the DSL. Not stiff.
5) The attenuation function is pretty good at the middle setting...low power, eh..neutered as you'd expect, but playable.
6) It is a LOUD 20watts when you get it into the distortion zone.
7) Reacts significantly to pre-amp tube changes. I could get it more modern DSL like with some tung-sol and svetlana pre's. But I didn't like it. Very bright and fizzy with the new sensors. I ended up with just changing out the 83s in V1 for a 83MG.
8) The master needs to be cranked or nearly so for it to get into the classic rock zone. 3 oclock..If you set the master low, it sounds thicker/bigger throttling the pre-amp back some and hitting the boost instead of cranking the pre. Built in boost seems better than hitting the front with my EP booster.
9) Edge of breakup/Malcolm crunch tones are SO MUCH BETTER than the DSL, and pick attack actually does something. Here is where the Tilt really helps. Setting it closer to "low input" on lower gain settings really keeps things a little more girthy and less icepicky than cranking bass (flubby) or reducing treble/presence (muddying up wound strings). A little goes a long way.
10) Unsure about the power tubes. They are standard JJ EL34s. Kinda harsh when full throttled. Will probably try my EL34IIs next time.

 

[BanditPanda]

Excellent review Jeff.
Thanks for that.
BP

 

[solarburn]

So..I guess I should elaborate

It came today so I didn't get as much time as I would like to play it and then make a clip.

10 Observations

1) It does not sound like the 1987x I played for over 10 years
2) It's a helluva lot closer to that sound than any new design Marshall has made in the past 3 decades+ except for the Vintage Modern.
3) It is bright in a good way, and has a very "round" sound. Not compressed, just more pleasant than the harder crunch of modern Marshall amps (900 and beyond). More vintagey.
4) It is much more touchy-feely,bouncy, and dynamic than the DSL. Not stiff.
5) The attenuation function is pretty good at the middle setting...low power, eh..neutered as you'd expect, but playable.
6) It is a LOUD 20watts when you get it into the distortion zone.
7) Reacts significantly to pre-amp tube changes. I could get it more modern DSL like with some tung-sol and svetlana pre's. But I didn't like it. Very bright and fizzy with the new sensors. I ended up with just changing out the 83s in V1 for a 83MG.
8) The master needs to be cranked or nearly so for it to get into the classic rock zone. 3 oclock..If you set the master low, it sounds thicker/bigger throttling the pre-amp back some and hitting the boost instead of cranking the pre. Built in boost seems better than hitting the front with my EP booster.
9) Edge of breakup/Malcolm crunch tones are SO MUCH BETTER than the DSL, and pick attack actually does something. Here is where the Tilt really helps. Setting it closer to "low input" on lower gain settings really keeps things a little more girthy and less icepicky than cranking bass (flubby) or reducing treble/presence (muddying up wound strings). A little goes a long way.
10) Unsure about the power tubes. They are standard JJ EL34s. Kinda harsh when full throttled. Will probably try my EL34IIs next time.

I agree. Good review bud. Thanks!

 

[Tom99SS]

Still waiting! I have bought and returned two Origin heads already; due to the widespread defective speaker jack issue plaguing all Origins sold to date.

I placed my order for #3 and hoping Marshall FINALLY gets this sorted out. Folks who recently received shipments; from Sweetwater, Prymaxe, etc have still been receiving defective units; as recently as shipped yesterday; arrived defective today.

Sweetwater claims their next shipment is arriving tomorrow and should be the corrected / new design.

So far; anyone here who has an Origin has a defective amp. Guaranteed.

Check your back panel. The defective unit's center and right speaker jacks are both labeled 8 ohms and only power one cab at a time.

If you haven't already, contact your retailer and inquire about what they intend to do. They are banking on you not realizing your amp is defective...

New back panel looks like this:

I got mine from Sweetwater about the same time as you. I had my sales rep have them check out that both output jacks would work with 2 16ohms cabs and it did.
Checked it out when it arrived and sure enough 2 16ohm cabs work fine along with single 8ohm cab (2061cx)

Next one make sure Sweetwater checks it out before shipping.

 

[MarshallDog]

So..I guess I should elaborate

It came today so I didn't get as much time as I would like to play it and then make a clip.

10 Observations

1) It does not sound like the 1987x I played for over 10 years
2) It's a helluva lot closer to that sound than any new design Marshall has made in the past 3 decades+ except for the Vintage Modern.
3) It is bright in a good way, and has a very "round" sound. Not compressed, just more pleasant than the harder crunch of modern Marshall amps (900 and beyond). More vintagey.
4) It is much more touchy-feely,bouncy, and dynamic than the DSL. Not stiff.
5) The attenuation function is pretty good at the middle setting...low power, eh..neutered as you'd expect, but playable.
6) It is a LOUD 20watts when you get it into the distortion zone.
7) Reacts significantly to pre-amp tube changes. I could get it more modern DSL like with some tung-sol and svetlana pre's. But I didn't like it. Very bright and fizzy with the new sensors. I ended up with just changing out the 83s in V1 for a 83MG.
8) The master needs to be cranked or nearly so for it to get into the classic rock zone. 3 oclock..If you set the master low, it sounds thicker/bigger throttling the pre-amp back some and hitting the boost instead of cranking the pre. Built in boost seems better than hitting the front with my EP booster.
9) Edge of breakup/Malcolm crunch tones are SO MUCH BETTER than the DSL, and pick attack actually does something. Here is where the Tilt really helps. Setting it closer to "low input" on lower gain settings really keeps things a little more girthy and less icepicky than cranking bass (flubby) or reducing treble/presence (muddying up wound strings). A little goes a long way.
10) Unsure about the power tubes. They are standard JJ EL34s. Kinda harsh when full throttled. Will probably try my EL34IIs next time.

Try Mullard EL34s...they sound rich and not harsh IMO!