The Official Marshall DSL40c Information Thread

[ken361]

Sorry man trying to explain, the internal against the aftermarket cable

 

[Jethro Rocker]

So you changed out your short internal cable that runs from jack to internal speaker to a PW with a gold plug.... and you hear a difference. ? That will be a placebo effect, as pointed out above, there is virtually zero resistance, it's all the same given that circumstance. When you mention the stock cable being "cheaper sounding" (whatever that means) that will be because it looks so cheap and thin! Don't sweat the cable!!
Tubes, I haven't tried one of my RFT in V1 yet, I have a Mullard there and can't remember the other ones. Good tubes!!

 

[ken361]

So you changed out your short internal cable that runs from jack to internal speaker to a PW with a gold plug.... and you hear a difference. ? That will be a placebo effect, as pointed out above, there is virtually zero resistance, it's all the same given that circumstance. When you mention the stock cable being "cheaper sounding" (whatever that means) that will be because it looks so cheap and thin! Don't sweat the cable!!
Tubes, I haven't tried one of my RFT in V1 yet, I have a Mullard there and can't remember the other ones. Good tubes!!

Yeah the internal cable,there's probably a 10% or alight more

 

[bman]

Right Micky, I like the way the amp is stock, but like I've mentioned, IMHO, it could be better...There's no problem with me snipping a cap or two, or soldering 'em back really, I'm just trying to make sure what each thing I might do to the amp really does beforehand...


Yes it is...

+1,000,000....really subjective man, I went through the tube rolling phase awhile back, but the changes in the tone were so minute that it really didn't make enough difference to me to do it...Granted, this was with the 1w DSL head, & my Egnater Tweaker, but still...Now I'm not saying different tubes won't make a difference in the tone at all, but in the little 1w DSL, I tried some tubes I got from River Rat & Marty, & while it did make a little difference, it really wasn't enough of a difference in that amp to fool with it...BTW, I don't have a great selection of tubes anyway, just a few extras...

My DSL100H is bone stock right now btw...The only thing I've ever done to it is check the bias...Myself, I'd rather be playing too...



Thanks man!!! That's my lowly studio Lester I got for Christmas before last, I know some folks don't like the studios, but I honestly like mine a lot, it plays & sounds great to me, & that's all that really matters, right???


+1,000,000 to this too man...Everybody's opinion/taste/preferences are different, what might sound good to me, could sound like utter shit to you...

I'm about to dive into some pizza, but I may just pull the chassis on the DSL100 & try a couple things, hell, I might even try some different tubes in it, that may be all it'd need for me....

Not much in the caps w/ this amp. Big, big part has to do w/ swapping the speaker for a premium one which stock is not. Don't go drastic before going basic. Remember Carl, " I't ain't got no gas in it"".

 

[Richie Appleseed]

Jethro, Check, check and check. I will have another one delivered Tuesday. Thanks for the info

 

[Dmann]

On the whole speaker cable thing, here is some Wiki, just cause it's easier than typing it all out;

Speaker wire is used to make the electrical connection between loudspeakers and audio amplifiers. Modern speaker wire consists of two or more electrical conductors individually insulated by plastic (such as PVC, PE or Teflon) or, less commonly, rubber. The two wires are electrically identical, but are marked to identify the correct audio signal polarity. Most commonly, speaker wire comes in the form of zip cord.

The effect of speaker wire upon the signal it carries has been a much-debated topic in the audiophile and high fidelity worlds. The accuracy of many advertising claims on these points has been disputed by expert engineers who emphasize that simple electrical resistance is by far the most important characteristic of speaker wire.

An accepted guideline is that the wire impedance should not exceed 5% of the entire circuit. For a given material, resistance is a function of length and thickness (specifically of the ratio of length to cross-sectional area). For this reason, lower impedance speakers require lower resistance speaker wire. Longer cable runs need to be even thicker. Once the 5% guideline is met, thicker wire will not provide any improvement.

Why do you think Marshall gives you a $2 OEM speaker cable when you buy a $3000 amp? Do you really think they are just cutting corners to save a couple dollars? The truth is, they are Electrical Engineers and know the truth, and are instead not wasting money on snakeoil.

 

[minerman]

Not much in the caps w/ this amp. Big, big part has to do w/ swapping the speaker for a premium one which stock is not. Don't go drastic before going basic. Remember Carl, " I't ain't got no gas in it"".

Thanks man, I appreciate the help with the speaker, but that's not my issue with the amp...I don't have the 40w combo, I have the 100w head & a 4x12 cabinet....speakers aren't my issue with this amp....thanks again!!!

 

[Rahlstin]

G12M-65 Creamback works great. Amp tone is rock on. A way sweeter sound than the 70/82. It required a bit of different eq tinkering. A bit more treble, pres and mids. where before the amp at 3 was ripper loud, now I have to turn it up to about 3.5 to get the same volume. I take this is because the Creamback is a bit less sensitive than the 70/80 if I read the specs correctly. Its a keeper for sure.

 

[nopicknick]

Put the C19 back in. Next step is a speaker, but I am in no hurry. Probably go with a WGS of some sort.......invader or et65. I never use a pick so the shrillness people speak of isn't as prominent for me. I just want to cut a tad off the top end.

 

[ken361]

Preamp tubes help a lot if you use the right ones,my lead 1 is thick but dynamic with gain at 7 I like.

 

[minerman]

Ok guys, pulled the chassis & took the plunge today....I did some tube rolling first to see if I could tame the high end a little, & to be honest, I put all the stock tubes back, except for V1, which I put/left a Mullard there I got from Marty a pretty good while back...There was slight difference in the high end with the Mullard in V1, but honestly, not a lot (which I knew it'd probably wouldn't anyway)...

Snipped C15 first, then tried the amp, & I honestly didn't hear much (if any) difference..So, I snipped a leg on C22, & that did seem to change the high end, but just ever so slightly, which is about what I expected...

I'd thought about snipping C19, but from what I've read, you'll either like it, or hate it, & I don't have another cap (lower value like some of you guys have mentioned), so I left it stock...I may experiment with some lower values for C19, but just to be honest, the small amount the tube/caps snipped did for me, I think I'll just leave it as-is for now, do some playing/recording, & compare my clips...I always have the settings saved in my daw's project (guitar, amp settings, pedals (if any are used), speaker, mic, etc), so it's pretty easy for me to go back & find a tone (or pretty damn close anyway) that I'd had before....

So, my DSL100H is no longer stock, which is ok, I didn't buy it for looks, I bought it to use, & the small little mods I did today seemed to have gotten me on the path I wanted...

Thanks for the help/input guys, & if there are any more suggestions, please do post 'em!!!!

 

[Jethro Rocker]

If you cut 1 leg of C19, it's easy go put back and it does tame the high on OD channel but leaves green channel the same. Substantial IMO...

 

[Skylarkpilot]

So, today I took the whole thing apart. Pcb out of the chassis, the works. Cleaned everything, checked both sides of the board for bad or broken joints, cleaned everything, even re-seated the reverb chip.
Still cannot get above 'four' on the volume and gain on 'Lead one' without inducing horrible amounts of feedback.
It sort of sounds as if an overdrive pedal is left on in the effects loop even though I've tried taking the loop out.
It's got me stumped and I'm not sure what could cause this. The Clean and Crunch still sound perfectly good so it must be something in the gain side of things.
Rolled tubes and re-biased and still no difference. I even tried a different speaker just out of desperation.
If there are no suggestions I shall have to try putting it back to standard, although this problem has only just occurred and I haven't modded anything on this for several months.
Any suggestions at all...........?

 

[frankyfal]

The green channel is still great. Put a pedal in front of it and play.

 

[Micky]

So, today I took the whole thing apart. Pcb out of the chassis, the works. Cleaned everything, checked both sides of the board for bad or broken joints, cleaned everything, even re-seated the reverb chip.
Still cannot get above 'four' on the volume and gain on 'Lead one' without inducing horrible amounts of feedback.
It sort of sounds as if an overdrive pedal is left on in the effects loop even though I've tried taking the loop out.
It's got me stumped and I'm not sure what could cause this. The Clean and Crunch still sound perfectly good so it must be something in the gain side of things.
Rolled tubes and re-biased and still no difference. I even tried a different speaker just out of desperation.
If there are no suggestions I shall have to try putting it back to standard, although this problem has only just occurred and I haven't modded anything on this for several months.
Any suggestions at all...........?

Gotta be a tube then...

 

[MarshallDog]

So, today I took the whole thing apart. Pcb out of the chassis, the works. Cleaned everything, checked both sides of the board for bad or broken joints, cleaned everything, even re-seated the reverb chip.
Still cannot get above 'four' on the volume and gain on 'Lead one' without inducing horrible amounts of feedback.
It sort of sounds as if an overdrive pedal is left on in the effects loop even though I've tried taking the loop out.
It's got me stumped and I'm not sure what could cause this. The Clean and Crunch still sound perfectly good so it must be something in the gain side of things.
Rolled tubes and re-biased and still no difference. I even tried a different speaker just out of desperation.
If there are no suggestions I shall have to try putting it back to standard, although this problem has only just occurred and I haven't modded anything on this for several months.
Any suggestions at all...........?

I would try a complete set of new pre-amp tubes. Why, I recently had my 2558 Jubilee 2X12 do what sounds to be the same thing. It was the V1 tube and made the feedback type howl on both channels at low volume settings. If that doesn't work, off to a Tech, Good luck

 

[Skylarkpilot]

I was just thinking.....back a couple of months ago I inadvertently left the 2x12 8 Ohm speaker cab plugged into the 4 Ohm tap of the DSL. I was banging away for a little while with the volume and gain up until there was a kind of squealing noise.
I realised what I'd done and shut it all down and plugged it in properly. I thought I'd got away with it.
I'm wondering now if I've maybe damaged the OT. Anyone know if it's possible to have normal Cleans and messed up Leads from doing that ?

 

[MarshallDog]

I was just thinking.....back a couple of months ago I inadvertently left the 2x12 8 Ohm speaker cab plugged into the 4 Ohm tap of the DSL. I was banging away for a little while with the volume and gain up until there was a kind of squealing noise.
I realised what I'd done and shut it all down and plugged it in properly. I thought I'd got away with it.
I'm wondering now if I've maybe damaged the OT. Anyone know if it's possible to have normal Cleans and messed up Leads from doing that ?

You shouldn't have caused any damage with the amp at 4 and the cab at 8 ohms. Going the other way you probably would have.

 

[MarshallDog]

Seeing as I like the JJ KT77's in my 2558 Jubilee, I am thinking about trying them in my DSL 40C. I know a few of you MFer's have tried them, any thoughts and/or feedback on using them in the DSL 40C?

 

[Swede]

Seeing as I like the JJ KT77's in my 2558 Jubilee, I am thinking about trying them in my DSL 40C. I know a few of you MFer's have tried them, any thoughts and/or feedback on using them in the DSL 40C?

Are you favoring your DSL over all the vintage sick Marshalls you have? Or are those all dialed in a long time ago