The Official Marshall DSL40c Information Thread

[Coronado]

Finally got my 40 back (was in the shop for 2 weeks). Tech was pretty sure that "baaaawwww - baaaaawwww" sound I hear on the clean channel was a bad power tube. He put a couple JJ EL34s in it, said he turned it on and left it on for several hours, tested it again, over and over, and it sounded "as good as new". Couldnt wait to get it home. I even left work early that day so I could beat the lady home from work and test out the new amp.

Plugged it in, sounds okay... turn it up just a tad.. "BAAAAWWWW - BAAAAWWWW":... Crap. It actually somehow sounds worse than it did before. So it must not be the tubes. I ordered a Greenback and a V30, so I'll try one of those and see if its the speaker?

Even the wife commented on the poor quality of sound. Just a real heavy buzz at the end of a strum or pluck of a string. Is that the speaker? Transformer?

I've been having trouble with this amp for a while now (spending an awful lot of time in the shop). Reverb didnt work, chord had short, all power and preamp tubes have been replaced (still has funky fuzz sound...), and now for some reason it sounds even worse? I cant figure this amp out. I record with this amp, and I dont gig with it, so its not like it gets moved around. odd...

 

[solarburn]

Is there something in the room that could be vibrating while you're playing? My baseboard heaters do and make this weird ass noise. Just a thought. I wonder why the tech didn't notice it...yet as soon as you get it fired up and playing its right there? Weird.

Is there a certain volume level it does it at? You said you turned it up and it made that sound as opposed to not making it while the volume was lowered.

 

[MarshallDog]

Great info. Funny, I just left a message at Amp Parts Direct asking them to call me back in regards their Classic Tone OT for a Marshall DSL40C. I wonder what they will say???

I spoke with Jim at Amp Parts Direct and he confirmed they do not make an OT specifically for the DSL40C. He said you could use the standard Marshall 50W OT but he said you would need to verify fitment and it may give you more headroom and less compression. Anyone check into Mercury Magnetics yet

 

[DSMer]

I spoke with Jim at Amp Parts Direct and he confirmed they do not make an OT specifically for the DSL40C. He said you could use the standard Marshall 50W OT but he said you would need to verify fitment and it may give you more headroom and less compression. Anyone check into Mercury Magnetics yet

That's what I used, a[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif] 40-18025[/FONT] 50W (Plex, JMP. JCM800) OT. I had to drill new holes for the installation... no biggie. I have the same OT in my JMD501. Also, I have the [FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]ClassicTone # 40-18026[/FONT] 100W version in my EL34 converted 6100LM. I will post some pics soon.

 

[MarshallDog]

That's what I used, a[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif] 40-18025[/FONT] 50W (Plex, JMP. JCM800) OT. I had to drill new holes for the installation... no biggie. I have the same OT in my JMD501. Also, I have the [FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]ClassicTone # 40-18026[/FONT] 100W version in my EL34 converted 6100LM. I will post some pics soon.

I know it is a tough thing to describe, but in your opinion, how if any do you think it affected the tone?

 

[Micky]

Also, what is the difference in size, especially height?

 

[Pumpkin88]

Finally got my 40 back (was in the shop for 2 weeks). Tech was pretty sure that "baaaawwww - baaaaawwww" sound I hear on the clean channel was a bad power tube. He put a couple JJ EL34s in it, said he turned it on and left it on for several hours, tested it again, over and over, and it sounded "as good as new". Couldnt wait to get it home. I even left work early that day so I could beat the lady home from work and test out the new amp.

Plugged it in, sounds okay... turn it up just a tad.. "BAAAAWWWW - BAAAAWWWW":... Crap. It actually somehow sounds worse than it did before. So it must not be the tubes. I ordered a Greenback and a V30, so I'll try one of those and see if its the speaker?

Even the wife commented on the poor quality of sound. Just a real heavy buzz at the end of a strum or pluck of a string. Is that the speaker? Transformer?

I've been having trouble with this amp for a while now (spending an awful lot of time in the shop). Reverb didnt work, chord had short, all power and preamp tubes have been replaced (still has funky fuzz sound...), and now for some reason it sounds even worse? I cant figure this amp out. I record with this amp, and I dont gig with it, so its not like it gets moved around. odd...

That doesn't sound too good I think I would send it back if its still within the return date. My amp has been working great *knock on wood* other than some "mechanical noise" from factory power tubes but I ordered some dampeners that should address that. After reading some of the posts on here about issues people are having I think I'm just going to leave everything as is, not going to **** with it. I honestly don't mind the stock tubes nor the stock speaker so I think I'm just going to leave it. As the saying goes if it ain't broke don't fix it haha.

 

[solarburn]

That doesn't sound too good I think I would send it back if its still within the return date. My amp has been working great *knock on wood* other than some "mechanical noise" from factory power tubes but I ordered some dampeners that should address that. After reading some of the posts on here about issues people are having I think I'm just going to leave everything as is, not going to **** with it. I honestly don't mind the stock tubes nor the stock speaker so I think I'm just going to leave it. As the saying goes if it ain't broke don't fix it haha.

Don't mess with it. If you like how it sounds leave it be.

I wouldn't mind changing the OT and putting a choke in not for tone improvements but to make it more durable while playing at volume or long periods of time and have it stay responsive.

I think I get good sounds from it as is too.

I played one at GC today that I swear had the C19 mod. Lead one was not cutting at all. Thing is they had it listed for $699 so they were selling it as new. It sounded good mind you but I'm pretty sure it wasn't stock. I had the gain down low on lead 1 and the EQ set evenly...it should have been biting me in the face not warm like it sounded.

 

[Skylarkpilot]

This is going to sound dumb but I'll ask anyway.
I'm just about to do the Classic Tone choke mod. I know Marshall use lead free solder. As I've never had any experience with lead free, is there any issue with using regular leaded solder for putting the new choke in ?

 

[MarshallDog]

This is going to sound dumb but I'll ask anyway.
I'm just about to do the Classic Tone choke mod. I know Marshall use lead free solder. As I've never had any experience with lead free, is there any issue with using regular leaded solder for putting the new choke in ?

Nope...

 

[Skylarkpilot]

Thanks for that. I had assumed it was fine but.......

 

[snshami]

Hi, is there any way of increasing the amount of reverb one hears on this amp. Like others I have to really strain to hear it. Having two knobs on the amp that do nothing at all is pretty pointless.

 

[solarburn]

Well I stuffed the JJ34L's in mine and got ready to bias them up. Looked at the MM and they were at 36.2/36.5 with a PV of 464V. Man I could have left them just like that and not even touched the bias adjust. Great matching from Doug's Tubes. I set bias a bit lower at 35mv. 65%=34mv so 35mv is right there.

Results? Tightened up the lows and added some, still great mids and the highs were warmer. I could adjust the treble higher and presence. Mids I left where they were as they seemed to be in a good spot still.

Is this a much better presentation over the stock power tubes? Nah. The stock ones with the stock 70/80 sound fine and mine have been matched and stable. Solid sounding power tubes.

There are 2 more power tubes I want to demo. KT-77's and the TAD BSTR's. I had some KT-77's but they were drifting way too much and I don't even know why I kept them around in my tube box. I remember them being a problematic set. They would smell like they were burning too even though I saw no evidence of red plating.

All these tube rolling results could change though once I put in a Creamback or G12-65 Heritage.LOL

 

[solarburn]

Hi, is there any way of increasing the amount of reverb one hears on this amp. Like others I have to really strain to hear it. Having two knobs on the amp that do nothing at all is pretty pointless.

Mine seem strong enough but I have to admit they go unused. I prefer delay in the loop over reverb plus if I ever want reverb I have a pedal that pretty much goes unused.LOL

So those knobs for me are wasted.

 

[solarburn]

Here is a vid of the 70/80 compared to the G12-65 in an open back 112 using a Marshall amp. What Marshall I don't know. Excellent vid using parts of songs we all know to orientate from.

Let's hear which speaker tone/character you like best...

[ame=http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=avwZ4OEF25g]Guitar Speakers comparison - Celestion: Seventy 80 vs G12-65 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[solarburn]

Just one more comparison and I'm only doing these cause I want to use them in the combo and present a good example of how the speakers perform covering some sonic territory.

Whatcha think?

[ame=http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=du5sn1wtZWA]Celestion Creamback G12M-65 & G12H-75 - A/B Comparison - YouTube[/ame]

 

[lordquilton]

I watched that Creamback comparison a fair few times. At first I agreed with what seemed to be the Youtoob consensus- 75 kicks 65's ass. But I kept reading from people who have owned both, and my theory is that the 65 didn't get a fair shake with microphone placement in that particular video.
You almost have to imagine away the grittiness to get an idea of what the Creamback is actually like.

For my purposes (taming the DSL 40C's highs amongst other things), I concluded that the 65 was the way to go, but damn I wish I had the bread to spank that big-ass 75 magnet too! "Grrr, baby! Very grrr!"

There's something about the Seventy80's open mid range that is appealing, and the bass almost gets like a Classic Lead 80 (which I reckon is a good thing). But the price seems to be a lot of brittleness in the highs, and on Back In Black it almost sounds "smeared" compared to the G12, if you know what I mean.

It's always a bit of a mind-**** with these vs. things- I seem to find things I like in whatever gets played FIRST, so when the next example comes along, it's like WTF?! But I am going to assert that if the G12-65 had gone first, the Seventy80 would have come off as more trashy.

And I know folk's are striving for objectivity, but in the real world (wherever that is), you would eq different speakers to taste, so no speaker really sounds as good as it can in the average "shootout".

(I'm sorry stock speaker owners, don't listen to me, I'm just some wanker on the internet, your DSL 40C sounds great!)

Seventy80 might be a good one to start mixing speakers with, say if you've got something with some fuller bass that's a little dark maybe?

 

[solarburn]

For my purposes (taming the DSL 40C's highs amongst other things), I concluded that the 65 was the way to go, but damn I wish I had the bread to spank that big-ass 75 magnet too! "Grrr, baby! Very grrr!"

This is my goal and even though the 75 was more present/open the 65 had that smoothness that would help a bright amp. That's why I like the Creamback and the Heritage 65.

The DSL40's inherent brightness needs to be factored in and how the 70/80 translates the top end of the amp. Nothing's perfect and always a bit of compromise somewhere with this Marshall.LOL

Now the first vid where the 70/80 sounds good through each session I actually enjoyed the wooliness of the 65 even though it sounded less refined. Also I liked how the soloing sounded on the 65 better. Having said that the 70/80 is a viable speaker. I've become impressed with it. Except for that brittleness that comes along with the highs.

Of course the need for speaker changes are going to change if the DSL circuit is modded like the C19 mod. This makes the circuit warmer across the red channel resulting in the need to tame the previous brightness of the amp.

Plus for me I'm a fan of GB speakers. I have 2 412's with them.

 

[lordquilton]

I had the C19 done, had my guy put in 100pf. On red 2 I still wanna back off my guitars tone to 5 for chords, single notes sound fine. Bite on green crunch just equals too harsh on red for me. Using a Monte Allums Blues Driver on green to get more gain for hard rock, it's working fairly well.

I PMed Marty about some tubes, but I thought I might throw it open on the preamp tubes thread to take advantage of the group wisdom, if you wanna come over.

 

[Micky]

I have a set from Marty in mine, and haven't looked back.
They sound awesome.
Mullard NOS in V1, black plate in V2, etc. It is outlined earlier in this thread...