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I've been scouting around looking for an amp to replace the Vox VT120+ I've been using since getting home from Afghanistan last October. The Vox is a cool practice amp, but I really only noodled around on two settings and never liked the lack of dynamics in the distortion tones. Part of the trade off of solid state/modeling, I suppose.
Anyway, I had tried a whole bunch of different amps locally after getting here to Bragg and scouted pawn shops and guitar stores like crazy. I found this DSL401 with Vintage 30 tucked away at a pawn shop and tried it out. Even with the master at 3, I was liking what I was hearing enough to walk out with it. After taking it home, I have to say that I'm liking it more and more. I think the hidden gem of this amp is the green channel boosted...it sounds fuckin sick with my Hardwire OD up front. The onboard spring reverb is actually good...so long as it's kept below 3. Anything higher and it swallows the sound. Also, even with EL84's, this amp is kicking some major ass. It NAILS that raunchy mid-range grit that I love from Marshall's. Without a boost, it can cover a lot of ground. Boosting it won't get you to brutal metal like some might want to believe, but it will really thicken up and tighten the low end to give really punchy palm muting.
It is a pretty brittle sounding amp below 2 on the MV, but for some reason...after it hits 3 it warms up a LOT and really fills out. And 3 isn't obnoxiously loud, either. I would say this is a safe-for-home-practice amp up to around 5 on the MV. I have a jam session with some guys in my Platoon soon and I'll let you guys know how it sits in a mix.
I've also never been a fan of the Vin30, but it seems to work in this amp. I'm really interested in swapping in a Celestion Lynchback to see how that affects the tone.
I'm happy with it. If you can find one of these for sale used, pick one up and give it a shot. It's a lot more volume friendly than the big-brother DSL's but doesn't compromise on tone. I plan to drop a good analog delay, chorus, and a Sonic Stomp in the loop and call it good.
Anyway, I had tried a whole bunch of different amps locally after getting here to Bragg and scouted pawn shops and guitar stores like crazy. I found this DSL401 with Vintage 30 tucked away at a pawn shop and tried it out. Even with the master at 3, I was liking what I was hearing enough to walk out with it. After taking it home, I have to say that I'm liking it more and more. I think the hidden gem of this amp is the green channel boosted...it sounds fuckin sick with my Hardwire OD up front. The onboard spring reverb is actually good...so long as it's kept below 3. Anything higher and it swallows the sound. Also, even with EL84's, this amp is kicking some major ass. It NAILS that raunchy mid-range grit that I love from Marshall's. Without a boost, it can cover a lot of ground. Boosting it won't get you to brutal metal like some might want to believe, but it will really thicken up and tighten the low end to give really punchy palm muting.
It is a pretty brittle sounding amp below 2 on the MV, but for some reason...after it hits 3 it warms up a LOT and really fills out. And 3 isn't obnoxiously loud, either. I would say this is a safe-for-home-practice amp up to around 5 on the MV. I have a jam session with some guys in my Platoon soon and I'll let you guys know how it sits in a mix.
I've also never been a fan of the Vin30, but it seems to work in this amp. I'm really interested in swapping in a Celestion Lynchback to see how that affects the tone.
I'm happy with it. If you can find one of these for sale used, pick one up and give it a shot. It's a lot more volume friendly than the big-brother DSL's but doesn't compromise on tone. I plan to drop a good analog delay, chorus, and a Sonic Stomp in the loop and call it good.
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