What is the best upgrade for my dsl?

[guitargoalie]

I plan on making a few upgrades to my dsl50, because as picky as I am, I want the tone to be a bit darker and warmer (yes jubilee like). I find it a bit fizzy and bright atm, note I can't crank the amp at home, but still wouldn't mind improving the tone a bit. I would like to
1. change the pre tubes (current china 12ax7)
2. change the power tubes (current marshall stock svetlana)
3. add another, darker speaker (current 1x12 v30)
4. buy a boost pedal green channel (probably sd-1)
5. Get a tech to do the joey mods

Which would make the biggest impact on tone? The amp is from 2007, so I dont think the tubes are too old. What are good cp tubes pre and power to darken the tone, as for a speaker, i'm thinking an avatar 2x12 cab with my current v30 and a g12h30. I'm not crazy about boost/overdrive pedals, because I prefer the amps tone, but I want more from the green channel, and the sd-1 is cheap. Lastly, the mods seem pretty recommended around here, so maybe when the warranty is up I'll bring it to a tech.

can someone tell me what I should make my first priority for my tone goals? thanks

 

[diesect20022000]

speakers then mods.

 

[IbanezMark]

How loud are you able to play it?

I don't even bother playing my 100 watter if I can't turn the master over 5. It doesn't do the amp any justice at all.

You can sink all kinds of money/time into it, but if you can't make those power tubes work...then there's not much to be gained IMO.

 

[DSL100 Dude]

Both excellent points.

The single BIGGEST DRASTIC change you can make is speakers. Mods and tubes are "fine tuning" touches but different speakers will give you a completely different sound.

I use my DSL on a few things where the master volume is more in the 2-3 range and yeah, it works but I don't like it as much. Getting the master on up a bit really brings the amp to life.

 

[guitargoalie]

hmm ok, the problem is, most of my playing is at home right now. The most i can crank it is 2.5, the sound gets a bit better, but its still very bright. As soon as I start gigging, i will get the 2x12 with a gh30. For my home playing I think an sd-1 on the green channel would be cool to experiment with. The tubes will be changed as needed, and the mods only last if I still cant get what I what, thanks guys

 

[Ken]

h The most i can crank it is 2.5, the sound gets a bit better, but its still very bright.

When I first got my DSL I thought at home the brightness was a bit much, but the first time I brought it to band practice I "got it": it sounds much more at home with a band! The brightness fits right in with the bass, drums and vocals.

That being said, you can tweak it for home use. Use the deep button and don't put the mids past about 4. After that, speakers, mods...lots of options.

Ken

 

[bulldozer1984]

How loud are you able to play it?

I don't even bother playing my 100 watter if I can't turn the master over 5. It doesn't do the amp any justice at all.

You can sink all kinds of money/time into it, but if you can't make those power tubes work...then there's not much to be gained IMO.

Mate, this is exactly the point here. If your not cranking the amp you'll never get rid of the fizzies. My JVM is the same down low.. But when you crank it it fuckin rips !

 

[Username2]

I plan on making a few upgrades to my dsl50, because as picky as I am, I want the tone to be a bit darker and warmer (yes jubilee like). I find it a bit fizzy and bright atm, note I can't crank the amp at home, but still wouldn't mind improving the tone a bit. I would like to
1. change the pre tubes (current china 12ax7)
2. change the power tubes (current marshall stock svetlana)
3. add another, darker speaker (current 1x12 v30)
4. buy a boost pedal green channel (probably sd-1)
5. Get a tech to do the joey mods

Which would make the biggest impact on tone? The amp is from 2007, so I dont think the tubes are too old. What are good cp tubes pre and power to darken the tone, as for a speaker, i'm thinking an avatar 2x12 cab with my current v30 and a g12h30. I'm not crazy about boost/overdrive pedals, because I prefer the amps tone, but I want more from the green channel, and the sd-1 is cheap. Lastly, the mods seem pretty recommended around here, so maybe when the warranty is up I'll bring it to a tech.

can someone tell me what I should make my first priority for my tone goals? thanks

Like others have said, speakers first. If you still find that the DSL is not delivering for you then IMO its time to start trying other amps. Sometimes the mods work out but IMO most of the time guys regret them after the honeymoon and end up selling the amp. While we all love Marshal here you have to accept that another brand may be in the cards for you for a certain tone. I use ENGL for all my real heavy stuff because it is voiced very different then my Marshall's.

Your tube amp should be doing 100% of your distortion on its own. I never understand why guys pay the money they do for tube amps then throw a digital distortion pedal in front. There are plenty of Marshall's that will give you more then enough gain. You want a good clean boost or overdrive OK but stay away from distortion pedals.

Remember do not get into the bad habit of using loads of gain/pedals to cover up for suspect technique. Players with great technique go guitar straight into a plexi without pedals, its the hammer of the gods if you have the chops. What is it specifically the DSL is not doing?

 

[guitargoalie]

I am entirely satisfied with my dsl. I play on lead 1 most of the time. My only complaints would be the fizzy and brightness, but I guess thats more of a speaker and volume issue. I think the sd-1 would be a useful boost to get the crunch mode a bit more gain, since I love that tone but theres not enough at 10. I can't afford another amp, nor is it worth it to sell this and look for a jubilee at the moment, i'm just looking to get the best tone I can with my current set up atm

 

[Jason77]

If you think lead 1 is too bright, you can just clip one leg of c12 on the pot board. That's the bright cap for the red channel. Snipping one leg will take it out and darken the red channel a bit.

 

[paul-e-mann]

Do what Ken says.

Also a Bad Monkey will do what you need at lower volume, it has totally tweakable high and low eq knobs and keeps a big sound. SD-1 doesnt give you the bass response at low volume and its bright in my experience. I only use my SD-1 to brighten humbucker neck pickups.

Dont mod the amp.

 

[RickyLee]

If you will be primarily using the amp as stated above, I would go for a couple simple and easy mods first. Then keep an eye out for a good deal on a G12-65 speaker to replace the V30 for the time being. If you ever pick up an empty 2X12 cab, those two speakers will be an decent mix to hold you over for awhile.

First, if you want to help the amps fizz at the lower volumes, snip one leg of the bright cap C12 for the Red channel. This is a very small ceramic disk cap on the front control PCB. You only need some small cutters and do not need to pull the PCB out. If you are on Lead 1 most of the time, this might be all you need to get you by for quite some time. If you run the Red channel Gain at 7 - 10, then there's no need to remove it. But if you would like to run the Gain at lower settings but without the spikey treble, then removing this cap or lowering it to something like 100pF is a good move.

For the Green channel Crunch mode, lower the bright cap value of C6 from 1000pF to something in the range of 200pF to 470pF. This will help out with the brightness on this Crunch mode as well.

After those couple of simple mods, go for the speaker change. But I am thinking those two mods will get you by for quite some time until you decide to undertake the more invasive Joey Mods.

Also, going to the G12-65 speaker in place of the V30 will allow you to get the Volumes up just a touch higher as the G12-65 is 3 dB less efficient.

 

[chrispunx]

JJ tubes are known for there dark tone. Start there. It might be just simple case of tubes needing to be changed. Have you put new tubes in since you got it? Eurotubes sells full refube kits. Check em out.

 

[DSL 50]

DSL's are bright amps.

Keep the treble and Presence below (5) and even better at around (3).
These amps hit their sweet spot with the master volume at around (4) or above.

Replace the Power tubes with "JJ's"
These help to tame some of the harsh high end.

https://ssl.eurotubes.com/cart/index.php?page=view_products&category_id=9&sub_category_id=44

I really dislike GT-75's with this amp, and find V-30's much better and Greenback types ideal.

Add an EQ pedal into the loop for further tone shaping.

I also highly reccomend a boost type pedal with this amp.
A tube screamer/bad monkey type.
Not to add more gain, but the pedal will tighten up and improve the picking dynamics of the amp. (Set level to "5" or so and gain "0-2" on pedal)
I know your somewhat opossed to a pedal, but if it sounds better in the end, why not. (Bad monkeys are around $40 new)

 

[BOZ]

I had the C12 mod done on my DSL50,much better now for me,i like the darker sound.

 

[IbanezMark]

If it's too bright at low volumes, you can make it less bright.

Push in the deep switch and roll back on the treble, presence, and mids.

 

[Rahlstin]

My best 1st mod on DSL100 was putting a choke in it, my next best mod was buying a JVM410H.

 

[diesect20022000]

also nothing wrong with a boost man. Don't let the box's fool you, you can dime the volume and dial the gain completely out on those boost pedals man that's wht i do.

I felt the same way you did and went back and fourth for a long time (being that i've not been playing exceptionaly long,lol) but, anyway yeah a good CLEAN boost can do wonders too.

 

[JohnH]

How about an EQ pedal in the loop? Also, some form of beam blocker in front of your speaker

 

[Mike dsl100]

If you will be primarily using the amp as stated above, I would go for a couple simple and easy mods first. Then keep an eye out for a good deal on a G12-65 speaker to replace the V30 for the time being. If you ever pick up an empty 2X12 cab, those two speakers will be an decent mix to hold you over for awhile.

First, if you want to help the amps fizz at the lower volumes, snip one leg of the bright cap C12 for the Red channel. This is a very small ceramic disk cap on the front control PCB. You only need some small cutters and do not need to pull the PCB out. If you are on Lead 1 most of the time, this might be all you need to get you by for quite some time. If you run the Red channel Gain at 7 - 10, then there's no need to remove it. But if you would like to run the Gain at lower settings but without the spikey treble, then removing this cap or lowering it to something like 100pF is a good move.

For the Green channel Crunch mode, lower the bright cap value of C6 from 1000pF to something in the range of 200pF to 470pF. This will help out with the brightness on this Crunch mode as well.

After those couple of simple mods, go for the speaker change. But I am thinking those two mods will get you by for quite some time until you decide to undertake the more invasive Joey Mods.

Also, going to the G12-65 speaker in place of the V30 will allow you get the Volumes up just a touch higher as the G12-65 is 3 dB less efficient.

Man that really helped me understand how the speaker and the power section relate to one another.Less efficient speaker means cranking it more thus getting more power tube saturation equaling better tone.Thanks man I never thought of it that way.