The Official Marshall DSL40c Information Thread

[HAmmer]

Where did you buy the RFT's? The Tube Store or Ebay? Be careful buying NOS tubes on Ebay. I have received bad tubes from Eastern European sellers who had good ratings. I received a couple today that are most certainly working well.

on Ebay from Germany, They should be ok i hope

 

[ken361]

on Ebay from Germany, They should be ok i hope

Got mine from The Tube Monger

 

[Guitar-Sam]

Try um one slot at a time. I rarely find myself preferring the same brand accross the board. Rfts are great in the right spot though. Almost sure bliss for v1 of Marshall's,but I know they flat out sucked in v2(clean ch) on my 2210.
Also be very carful putting um in and out rfts are known for cracking at the bases between the pins if handled rough

 

[John 14:6]

I recommend trying all four RFT's together before you start with the one at a time stuff. I had them in V1 and V4 until yesterday when I got a couple more and stuck them in V2 and V3 also. The amp is a serous little tone machine and a fire breathing monster especially when goosed with an overdrive pedal. I was so bummed when I first got the amp and four RFT's later along with a little Creamback 65 break in time, I am loving this little sucker. It even does low volume playing great for late night stuff. It sounds really big when it gets cranked up some too.

 

[John 14:6]

You guys probably already saw this, but it was new to me.


[ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGDheLVngPk[/ame]

 

[Bor04]

Hi. New here and I want to say thanks for a great forum. I am happy to see that it is laid out in the same format as another great guitar forum that I am also a member. Also, I have been searching around for the past couple of days trying to find some answers regarding my DSL 40C but haven't been able to get it pin it down.

I apologize if I am posting this question in a more advanced thread, however, this is the only place my searches have taken me where I trust my questions to be answered. I am NOT the "tech-head" as most of these posts have offered and I am certainly NOT about to try any soldering and welding on my amp. But I need to turn to you guys for your expertise for what most of you would probably consider basic stuff.

So, here goes.

1. Is it typical for fuses to blow if power tubes blow or vice versa?

2. When I took it in for repair they said that one of the power tubes was blown and that they needed to swap both at the same time. Is this typical?

3. They said that the original Marshall tubes (00092) Gold logo, would cost $295 each, is that right? That doesn't seem right to me.

4. If they are that expensive, what would be the best tubes to replace these with to get the same result?

5. They have advised me that they have a tube that would be comparable to the factory set and so went ahead and put them in. I receive my amp to find JJ E34L's in them and I am not happy. Totally different and no where near the same amp I got when I bought it. If anyone could please help and guide me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it.

You guys are great! Thank you.

 

[ken361]

power tubes are around 30 to 40 bucks a set! others with the experience will chime in

 

[Micky]

Hi. New here and I want to say thanks for a great forum. I am happy to see that it is laid out in the same format as another great guitar forum that I am also a member. Also, I have been searching around for the past couple of days trying to find some answers regarding my DSL 40C but haven't been able to get it pin it down.

I apologize if I am posting this question in a more advanced thread, however, this is the only place my searches have taken me where I trust my questions to be answered. I am NOT the "tech-head" as most of these posts have offered and I am certainly NOT about to try any soldering and welding on my amp. But I need to turn to you guys for your expertise for what most of you would probably consider basic stuff.

So, here goes.

1. Is it typical for fuses to blow if power tubes blow or vice versa?

2. When I took it in for repair they said that one of the power tubes was blown and that they needed to swap both at the same time. Is this typical?

3. They said that the original Marshall tubes (00092) Gold logo, would cost $295 each, is that right? That doesn't seem right to me.

4. If they are that expensive, what would be the best tubes to replace these with to get the same result?

5. They have advised me that they have a tube that would be comparable to the factory set and so went ahead and put them in. I receive my amp to find JJ E34L's in them and I am not happy. Totally different and no where near the same amp I got when I bought it. If anyone could please help and guide me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it.

You guys are great! Thank you.

1- Yes
2- Yes
3- No. Anywhere between $30-$60 bucks a set of 2
4- TAD EL34 are popular here
5- Yes, they are comparable. Inexpensive

 

[Bor04]

1- Yes
2- Yes
3- No. Anywhere between $30-$60 bucks a set of 2
4- TAD EL34 are popular here
5- Yes, they are comparable. Inexpensive

Thanks Micky! Where would you recommend I buy the original tubes from? I will attempt to replace them myself. I have already been charged $200 for the repair.

 

[Jethro Rocker]

Was 200 for simply cahnging the power tubes, fuse and bias? Biasing goes with changing power tubes BTW. Seems a bit steep to me. Shouldn't hear a big difference between them. I thought the original power tubes were made by JJs, the EL34.

 

[Bor04]

Was 200 for simply cahnging the power tubes, fuse and bias? Biasing goes with changing power tubes BTW. Seems a bit steep to me. Shouldn't hear a big difference between them. I thought the original power tubes were made by JJs, the EL34.

Well, it was $50 for the exam right of the top. Then, after the diagnosis, they told me it would be 295 for each tube. (My amp came with 00092 with the gold Marshall logo) I just don't see how these JJE34L's are supposed to be comparable to these marshall's. The cleans sound pretty good but the dirty channel sounds so muddy and no where near what I was getting when I first got it. (Without pedals)

 

[Jethro Rocker]

Not sure, I could research or let one of the knowledgeable folks chime in but NO current power tube is $295 each. Seriously, what are they doing? You may have had a different bias when it was new to where they set it, if they did. I'm leery when I hear those types of prices thrown around. Marshall pit $600 worth of tubes in a $600 amp??
Should be no big difference, perhaps they changed some preamp tubes as well. Marshall does not make tubes, one of the 5 or 6 tube manufacturers worldwide make all of them with different branding. I thought the stock were JJs, could be wrong. Again, you shouldn't really hear that much of a difference all other things being equal.

 

[Jethro Rocker]

Additional R&D here on the forum shows stock tubes with that label for DSL40C to be Chinese Shuguangs, fairly standard Chinese tubes. Google it. You could take it back or call the repair shop (which to me is REALLY suspect now) and tell 'em you want Shuggys imstead of the JJs. Unless you are really pushing the power section loud, you shouldn't notice a huge difference.
The tube store lists one version of these at $30 per pair, even the fancy pants SED winhed C tubes are only $80 each. Your reapair shop has some 'splaining to do...

 

[ken361]

I can get 2 tungsol el34 at my store i think they were 40 or so and a 10.00 for a bias. Wonder if they set the bias cold on his?
Did you have a warranty? 5 years bro!

 

[mickeydg5]

Well, it was $50 for the exam right of the top. Then, after the diagnosis, they told me it would be 295 for each tube. (My amp came with 00092 with the gold Marshall logo) I just don't see how these JJE34L's are supposed to be comparable to these marshall's. The cleans sound pretty good but the dirty channel sounds so muddy and no where near what I was getting when I first got it. (Without pedals)

Hello Bor04

I think what everyone is telling you in a round about way is that there is nothing special about the power tubes that came with the amplifier. They are just standard grade and purchased by Marshall in bulk for install.

Current manufactured tubes should cost no where near $295 each as everyone has exclaimed. The price on average is about $40 to $50 for a matched pair set.

What I have not read yet is how you are getting jacked by this repair shop. Find another shop with a good technician if possible.

The $50 exam fee should be made part of the bill because it becomes part of the overall service. And $200 for inspection/exam, a fuse, a pair of tubes and bias is way too much.

Add
There are lots of people who like JJ E34L power tubes. They should sound decent with a bit more bottom end. If not then maybe you were sold crappy tubes and then given a crappy bias setup. Again that gets directed back to the repair shop.

You should ask for record of how the bias was setup. What was the plate voltage, control grid voltage and idle current draw on each tube for bias setup?

 

[Bownse]

Like others have said, it seems you got reamed. I'm new-ish to tube maintenance (my last tube amp simply ran all the time and I never thought about it back in the 70s).

Turn around time and shop time motivated me to roll my own tubes and biasing. I reported on my first experience here:

http://www.marshallforum.com/workbench/71742-biasing-dsl40c.html#post1345948

Without this forum, I'd never have had the nerve.

 

[Micky]

You might need to find a new tech...

Here is a deal at the Tube Depot - JJEL34's $11.88:

https://tubedepot.com/products/jj-el34-power-vacuum-tube

 

[Bownse]

Back again.

As mentioned in the 40c Bias thread, I rolled in the following tubes as part of the bias today.

TAD EL34B-STR (new matched pair)
V1-Tung-Sol 12AX7 (new)
V2-Mullard RI 12AX7 (new)
V3-Tung-Sol 12AX7 (new)
V4-Marshall 12AX7 from V3 prior

I have some TAD 7025WA on order as well as another Mullard on hand to roll once I try this for a while.

After a brief breather from cleaning up the kitchen table, I sat down for a run though. A few things I noticed.

1. More head room on the clean/green channel (cooler bias).
2. More melodic (less strident) sound (preamp tubes?).
3. More head room on the clean/red and crunch channels (again, more melodic).

I'm happy! Much broader spectrum to work with than with the JJs at 70+%. I can still dial in the distortion it has before by playing with volume and gain knobs but there's a lot more to work with before stepping into that area.

 

[John 14:6]

Back again.

As mentioned in the 40c Bias thread, I rolled in the following tubes as part of the bias today.

Based on some recommendations (and what preamp tubes I had on hand), I also swapped in the following:

V1-Tung-Sol 12AX7 (new)
V2-Mullard RI 12AX7 (new)
V3-Tung-Sol 12AX7 (new)
V4-Marshall 12AX7 from V3 prior

I have some TAD 7025WA on order as well as another Mullard on hand to roll once I try this for a while.

After a brief breather from cleaning up the kitchen table, I sat down for a run though. A few things I noticed.

1. More head room on the clean/green channel (cooler bias).
2. More melodic (less strident) sound (preamp tubes?).
3. More head room on the clean/red and crunch channels (again, more melodic).

I'm happy! Much broader spectrum to work with than with the JJs at 70+%.

I would try the Marshall (relabeled JJ) in V3 and stick one of your other tubes in V4 the Phase Inverter spot. V1 (first gain stage) and V4 (phase inverter) will have the biggest influence on an amps tone followed by V2 which is the second gain stage.

V3 should be the tone stack and tubes do not seem to have a lot of effect on the tone in the V3 spot.

 

[Grogshla]

the JJ E34L tubes are actually better quality than the stock marshall ones brother!