yet another DSL 40c review

[otter5555]

i have waited several days to do this review because, quite frankly, i was REALLY unimpressed with the drive sounds of this amp.

i live 150 miles from ANY music store so when i buy gear i have to read every review i can and watch every video i can in order to make a somewhat educated decision.

most reviews were good. even the worst phone videos sounded good so i ordered the amp from zzounds as is my normal method.

the first day i did four, two hour shifts with the amp careful to let my ears rest in between.

the clean sounds are to die for......but i seldom play clean. the clean channel takes ALL my drive pedals wonderfully......but i didnt buy this amp to use drive pedals with it.

the fx loop takes all my time based pedals wonderfully.

the crunch mode disappointed me horribly the first day and still does today. i bought this amp for edge of breakup thru full on crunch.

i guess i'm spoiled. the plexi i bought in the late 60's sets the standard for crunch....but makes my ears bleed doing it

the crunch on MY dsl 40c is dead, dull and lifeless regardless of eq/gain/volume settings. i have modelers that crunch WAYYYY better.

having owned a ton of tube amps (marshall mostly but also fender and boogie) for 51 years (gigging) i have a huge selection of speakers and tubes.

tube and speaker changes did nothing to help the crunch so the oem stuff went back in.

the drive channel was only a little bit more satisfying. flubby low end and way too bright top end (as reported by others) was what i expected and got. od1 was all i used because od2 really, really stunk (yes, i know about the c19 mod but i can eq the brightness down as i please no problem)

i DID eq a decent sound lead tone but higher gain rhythm sounds sucked badly. single note runs were decent but not inspiring. once again, i may be spoiled by my early 80's jcm 800 combo w/ original rat pedal.

i tried my '85 jackson soloist w/ duncans, my prs ce 24, my '80 les paul std, my 67 strat but none of them made much of a difference in the tone quality.

i kept at it logging over 40 hrs practicing my set with backing tracks.

this morning i played an hour and decided to call zzounds to get an RMA. the amp just didnt sound good with any gain.

i wasn't looking forward to paying $60-$80 freight to return the amp.

about 3pm today i plugged my jackson into it once again to practice so satch/vai stuff.

i maxed the gain on od1 (as usual) dialed the harshness out, lowered the bass to 2 to get some of the flubbiness out , put presence on 2 and resonance on 5.

all this i have done several times before.

today was MAGIC.

the lead tone was classic 80's marshall. the hi-gain rhythm was 80's hair band (where i live). all i run in the fx loop is a delay.

the tone was inspiring. i played till my fingers hurt.

i have no idea what changed in the amp but this am it sucked and this pm it was like the videos. all the tubes are seated correctly. all the wiring is connected as it should be (to my eyes).

the crunch is still the dead, lifeless and dull.

the clean is still beautiful

so,

i'm looking for opinions now.

do i keep the amp or do i send it back?

i'll play it for a few days regardless to see if the lead tone holds.

i've owned a couple of marshalls that had radically different sounds from one day to the next and they were both moneypits that i could never get fixed.

all my other amps have been very consistent sounding from day to day unless a tube was headed south.

btw, i play with the volume's at 3.5-4 on both channels. not loud enough to make ears bleed but plenty loud in 20 watt mode.

switching to the 40 watt mode does nothing to my sound, just makes it louder.

i'm done. opinions?

 

[Dogs of Doom]

another DSL40c thread?

JK!

Welcome to the forum. Maybe the speaker is breaking in. One thing, make sure to bias it. There's a DSL40 thread on here, that should set you straight. That's always the 1st thing to do w/ a DSL - bias it....

 

[JEB]

Welcome!

That's a very similar experience to mine (except for the crunch) when I first bought the amp. I had my doubts...OD1 and OD2 were useless, but for me the clean and crunch always sounded fairly good. It got somewhat better as the 70/80 broke in. Got night and day better with a new speaker, tubes and c19 cut.

There is a wealth of good advice in the Official DSL40C thread on this board.

 

[Bloodrock]

If you're maxing the gain on OD1, there's your problem. It's NOT a JCM 800...way too much gain. Keep the gain between 3 & 5 on OD1, keep the presence and treble around 3, mids around noon, bass around 6. Mid shift off. That's a good starting point for these amps. OD2 is pretty much useless, I wouldn't recommend using it at all.

 

[otter5555]

If you're maxing the gain on OD1, there's your problem. It's NOT a JCM 800...way too much gain. Keep the gain between 3 & 5 on OD1, keep the presence and treble around 3, mids around noon, bass around 6. Mid shift off. That's a good starting point for these amps. OD2 is pretty much useless, I wouldn't recommend using it at all.

on this amp ,with od1 gain at 3-5 there's literally not enough gain for a decent solo. sustain is pitiful

8-10 yields decent sustain and solos well

 

[stock_hippie]

id give it back...

 

[otter5555]

id give it back...

i'm pretty much decided to send it back

now, to see if zzounds will pay the return shipping

 

[ken361]

Had no problems setting mine up, changed the preamp tubes right a way, Les Paul in it rocked! great crunch at gain at 7, higher got too fat! doing White Room sounded great. Lead 1 gain 7 bass at 7 trb at 5 rec at 7. 80stuff! dynamic!! got the chills. Ya got to tinker and adjust pup if you need to.

One of best sounding amps I owned and I had lots but no vintage ones! excuse the amature playing
crunch at 5 hours broken in low volumes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKwB5jPGY4Y

Red lead 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_T-HGp8_as

 

[ken361]

lead 2 I keep the gain no really higher then 5 because its plenty! gets muddy after that

 

[OU812]

Otter, try putting the amp on low power, takes away a lot of the high end harshness.

 

[John BNY]

Send it back. Reminds me of a friend many years ago when he'd go on a date, and then wonder if she is pretty or not. He'd say, at some angles, she's beautiful, but then, when the light hits her a little differently, she doesn't look so good. Then he'd ask, hey, you think she is pretty? I'd always say, it really doesn't matter what I think. But, if you have to ask, move on.

You shouldn't have to force yourself to like an amp. If it doesn't do what you want it to do, move on. Life is too short.

 

[Penguinchit]

You shouldn't have to force yourself to like an amp.

That's the golden phrase of the thread. I was really excited when I got mine but when it went into my basement, the tone was too hard to dial in and I just wasn't so pleased. But after a while (I assume after break in), it got more and more to my liking. I also figured that some guitars make a perfect pairing while others are ho-hum. Now, I love it. I've had it for about a year now and won't be getting rid.

I figure the sound has gotten better or Marshall has put some voodoo in there to brainwash me the more I play. Either way, it's a keeper.

 

[ken361]

Might of had a bad bias maybe, there rated at 4.5 to 5 stars for a reason

 

[paul-e-mann]

This review is pretty much dead on what I figured out in 10 minutes playing this amp in the store. I still cant figure out what the good reviews I've read those people are hearing. To the OP, you'd be better off spending the money on a quality attenuator for your plexi.

 

[ken361]

Maybe ya cant dial them in? try it loud at the store it may change your mind, mine did! Jim B. has plexi's and gigs with the 40c and likes it very much and he's a awesome player with great tone!

 

[Jethro Rocker]

To each his own. With a V30, vintage tubes and C19 clip, mine sounds quite close to my TSL and I love the low end push it gives with the Reso control. I'm more of a high gain guy though, about 7 on lead1 is fine.

 

[Dmann]

I liked it after demoing in a store with an off the wall 2015 Les Paul Traditional, and I had the master on 5, but the 40 watt into a single 12 inch wasn't ooomph enough for me and my band, so I returned it and bought the 100H, which is almost identical tone and sound wise except it's 100 watts and has balls to spare. Paired with a stock 1960B it's a beast. Add an EQ and delay in the loop and I can dial in pretty much any marshall tone close enough to satisfy my needs.

 

[ken361]

I wouldnt push mine pass 5, 4 is pretty dam loud and stays focused! I use to have a habit of pushing a amp too far and it sounds like shit. Different speaker yeah prb can push it harder. The clean/crunch side I usually run at 7.

 

[otter5555]

well, the dsl40c is back in the original box and headed back to zzounds. no amount of tube changes or speaker changes made much difference.

also, od1 and od 2 had to be dimed to have any useable sustain. that aint normal. something is wrong with this particular amp and i dont want to get stuck with it.

warmed up the jcm 800 and practiced my set. great tones as always.

fwiw, i've got a tsl 601 and dont like it's tones either.

i figure its just my ears used to hearing a certain sound for half a century

 

[paul-e-mann]

I liked it after demoing in a store with an off the wall 2015 Les Paul Traditional, and I had the master on 5, but the 40 watt into a single 12 inch wasn't ooomph enough for me and my band, so I returned it and bought the 100H, which is almost identical tone and sound wise except it's 100 watts and has balls to spare. Paired with a stock 1960B it's a beast. Add an EQ and delay in the loop and I can dial in pretty much any marshall tone close enough to satisfy my needs.

See I don't agree with this. The 100H is a great sounding amp, the DSL40 is not. They cant possibly be the same thing.