The Official Marshall DSL40c Information Thread

[lordquilton]

Well I installed the Creamback 65 in mine the other day, and I was messing with my son's Zoom H2N field recorder this morning. This is the result- dsl 40c + creamback 65 by lordquilton on SoundCloud - Hear the world The audio driver on the Zoom was quite temperamental going into my DAW, and it cut out quite abruptly. Sorry about that. It's crunch channel (backed off on the guitar for clean), and I kick in Ultra 2 near the end. Personally I think the Creamback is a good match for this amp, the cleans are even nicer, and I don't feel like I have to tame the Ultra channel with my guitar's tone knob any more. If I were doing modern metal I might go with a Vintage 30 or similar though.

 

[lordquilton]

Where the **** are my paragraphs?!

 

[solarburn]

Groove tube in V1 sounds like the amp had it's balls removed. I have an EH in V1, the rest are stock.

Haha! I thought changing just V1 rendered a significant change in tone and feel. Now the RFT is nice but causes some changes on my low gain setting on the Lead 2 voicing. Verging on mud. Looser for sure. Kind of a cool sag feel to it. It definitely warmed up the Crunch voicing. It helped Lead 1 though.

That's an issue with this design. What sounds good on one voicing doesn't translate the same on the other voicings. So I pick the voicings I use the most and get them as good as I can. Always a compromise with the DSL but I still enjoy the Marshall tones I get out of it.LOL

I put the stock one back in for now. Brought it right back to baseline...a bit bright but on recording it I liked it.

 

[solarburn]

Well I installed the Creamback 65 in mine the other day, and I was messing with my son's Zoom H2N field recorder this morning. This is the result- dsl 40c + creamback 65 by lordquilton on SoundCloud - Hear the world The audio driver on the Zoom was quite temperamental going into my DAW, and it cut out quite abruptly. Sorry about that. It's crunch channel (backed off on the guitar for clean), and I kick in Ultra 2 near the end. Personally I think the Creamback is a good match for this amp, the cleans are even nicer, and I don't feel like I have to tame the Ultra channel with my guitar's tone knob any more. If I were doing modern metal I might go with a Vintage 30 or similar though.

I like that too. First I was considering getting the Creamback for mine too but I think I still will stick to my plan and put a G12-65 in it. Keep tuning it for what I play. I won't be doing any metal...or modern voiced metal.

Anyways I think the Creamback is a great match that will bring the blues and rock/hard rock right out of this baby. Good demo man.

 

[lordquilton]

Thanks man. So how would you describe the differences between the Creamback and the G12-65?

 

[solarburn]

Thanks man. So how would you describe the differences between the Creamback and the G12-65?

I'm thinking the G12-65 will be a bit darker...more restrained top end and mid emphasized. I haven't looked at the EQ curve yet on both so I'm speculating. I think though that for blues/rock/hard rock these kinds of speakers do it good and a great way to dial in those tones.

I think you made an excellent choice

 

[lordquilton]

Yeah, the 70 Eighty wasn't bad, definitely grew on me when it broke in.
But moving up to the Creamback...god, it's so hard to describe. It's like making beef burgundy from a sachet ("that was satisfactory"), then making it from scratch with good ingredients and stewing it all day ("Goddamn I just wanna eat this every day!")
Just "more", somehow.

 

[solarburn]

Yeah, the 70 Eighty wasn't bad, definitely grew on me when it broke in.
But moving up to the Creamback...god, it's so hard to describe. It's like making beef burgundy from a sachet ("that was satisfactory"), then making it from scratch with good ingredients and stewing it all day ("Goddamn I just wanna eat this every day!")
Just "more", somehow.

Hahaha! That's awesome. Man when you can't leave the amp alone cause its sounds so damn good now you know you made the right mod/upgrade. Way to dial that amp in.

 

[saxon68]

Another clip with the iPhone, red channel 1, gain about 5 with reverb about halfway up just because I see people with questions about the reverb. I've got the master volume a bit low here, but it sounds real nice cranked at these settings.

DSL40C ultra 1 - YouTube

 

[solarburn]

Another clip with the iPhone, red channel 1, gain about 5 with reverb about halfway up just because I see people with questions about the reverb. I've got the master volume a bit low here, but it sounds real nice cranked at these settings.

DSL40C ultra 1 - YouTube

Yeah man...nice! Sounded juicy when you brought guitar volume up and the backed off tone is classic Marshall. Damn fine dialing that Marshall tone up.

Yours is still stock or did you do some tube rolling?

 

[Greatwhitenorth]

Another clip with the iPhone, red channel 1, gain about 5 with reverb about halfway up just because I see people with questions about the reverb. I've got the master volume a bit low here, but it sounds real nice cranked at these settings.

DSL40C ultra 1 - YouTube

Any mods to your DSL? Nice tone by the way.

 

[saxon68]

Mine is all stock, except for a tube that I put in V1 when I got a replacement for the one that died in V2. Originally I got a GT-12AX7-r for free from zzounds, but it was weak anywhere but V4, and then I got an EH, SOV 12AX7EH and put it in V1 and put the tube that was in V1 to V4, the GT is my spare now.

I do plan to buy some NoS from Marty, I was debating the C19 mod and speaker replacement but I decided to wait and give the stock speaker a fair shake. I've been happy with the break in so far. I'll put up another clip of ultra 1 later.

Funny thing, back in the early 90s my buddy had a JCM800 and I always felt it was weak, I had a crate stealth and loved it, his amp put me off wanting a Marshall. If I ever get a half stack again I will certainly go for one if the new DSL 100 heads.

 

[solarburn]

Mine is all stock, except for a tube that I put in V1 when I got a replacement for the one that died in V2. Originally I got a GT-12AX7-r for free from zzounds, but it was weak anywhere but V4, and then I got an EH, SOV 12AX7EH and put it in V1 and put the tube that was in V1 to V4, the GT is my spare now.

I do plan to buy some NoS from Marty, I was debating the C19 mod and speaker replacement but I decided to wait and give the stock speaker a fair shake. I've been happy with the break in so far. I'll put up another clip of ultra 1 later.

Funny thing, back in the early 90s my buddy had a JCM800 and I always felt it was weak, I had a crate stealth and loved it, his amp put me off wanting a Marshall. If I ever get a half stack again I will certainly go for one if the new DSL 100 heads.

DSL on a 412 gets it on. Problem is gigging with it and using house sound systems that awesome thump gets neutered. Oh well. At least at home I can unleash my 100 watter and indulge myself in its glory.

I've been rolling V1 & V2 today and not getting much of a change for anything better. I'm using high dollar ANOS too. I will say the RFT had the biggest impact that was noticeable. I still want to try it in V2.

Speaker change will have a bigger impact. I'd do that before the circuit mod or C19. I will admit clipping C19 is NOT an expense if you do it. I'm afraid of loosing the bite I want mixed in...for a smoother tone. Besides I can get the Crunch and Lead 2 to match volume wise using a pedal to boost the crunch where I like it. I can roll off to cleans using both channels but I'm not covering a bunch of sonic ground either. Mostly rock.

I do understand the C19 mod makes the transition from the crunch to Lead 1 much better. That is a selling point too with that mod.

Anyways I'm going to do a speaker change later but I want to see where the 70/80 goes after broken in. I need to use my ears.

 

[solarburn]

I tried my coveted Telefunken/Raytheon BP in V1 & V2. No magic happened in this DSL which tells me I'm gonna have to approach this version with a clean slate.

I tuned my 50 watter for along time as well had it modded so I gathered a lot of useful info tweaking a DSL circuit. Some of that may help with this amp as it would with any amp in general but this combo is responding differently to tube changes for sure. It's ok cause I like the core tone but I find it funny that it is ignoring my magical tube combinations haha!

 

[Micky]

I think if you play mostly clean/crunch on the Classic channel then V1 & V2 will be the big difference. I suspect that you will stick mostly with the Ultra channel, and then V2 & V3 will make the biggest difference for you.

Anyway, keep those clips coming!

 

[solarburn]

The RFT in V1 warmed everything up. I was really surprised the effect it has compared to the others but it is a darker tube so obviously that translated over. The tubes that are more even are not making much of a difference although I agree more noticeable on the green side. As long as gain is low though on Lead 2 you can make out changes. If gain is up no.

I'll get a clip of the RFT in V1 and see how the change comes over recorded. I really like the mid flavoring and soloing it has a tasty texture to it. Soloing I am happy with it but chording it seems a bit too warm. Maybe not though. See how it sounds recorded.

One thing for sure guys ears can change or fatigue after awhile so its good to go back later and check again after a break.

 

[Pumpkin88]

What does it mean when the power tubes hiss? At first I thought it was the preamp tubes but now I've convinced its the power tubes because thats where I hear the noise. The sound doesn't affect tone but I notice it on the clean channel while ringing out lower notes. The sound is a sssssssssss sort of noise but only when I hit and hold a low note like the low E on the 7th fret. I know the amp is still under warranty I'm thinking of trying different tubes what do you guys think it is?

 

[Micky]

The hiss comes from the speaker?

Try swapping ALL tubes first... Even preamp tubes.

 

[solarburn]

What does it mean when the power tubes hiss? At first I thought it was the preamp tubes but now I've convinced its the power tubes because thats where I hear the noise. The sound doesn't affect tone but I notice it on the clean channel while ringing out lower notes. The sound is a sssssssssss sort of noise but only when I hit and hold a low note like the low E on the 7th fret. I know the amp is still under warranty I'm thinking of trying different tubes what do you guys think it is?

Can you record the sound on your phone?

Usually hissing, static, pops or increased background noise will come from a noisy preamp tube...but not always. When I have had noisy power tubes I got pops or hum but noise from a tube can be different sometimes.

This sounds like its happening when a low note is struck...maybe vibrating a tube into making noise...lower your bass on the amp EQ and play in the same spot. Lower enough to make it less able to vibrate shit. See what happens.

 

[Pumpkin88]

Ok so I took off the back and tapped on all the tubes with a pencil. When I tapped on right power tube it made the noise so I guess I need new power tubes. I was also told the warranty won't cover the tubes. So I guess my next question is where can I find replacements that have the same tone as the stock tubes?