Anyone have a DSL50 Head?? 80's tones

[tgreensl1]

I've nearly owned every amp and I've loved alot of the amps i've had. I've had the Axe Fx II, Boogie Mark V, Splawn modded plexi, Soldano hot rod 50+ just to name a few recent amps. Wish i still had them all but i've sold them for one reason or another. I played a new JVM the other day and liked it but I remember playing a DSL50 a long time ago and i remember it having good tone with plenty of gain.

Anyone have any sound clips playing 80's guitar on one? maybe whitesnake, dio, dokken... I'm thinking of picking one up

[DonP]

Nope, only a DSL100. My #1 amp since 1998, and I have bought others (RM100LB and 10 modules, AOR50, etc).

No sounds clips. Trust me, you don't want them

[chrisolson]

Stick with the JVM. It kills the DSL in every way. As does about every other amp you mentioned above.

[BenoA]

Still have my DSL50 but not using it very much these days. Very nice amp and won't sell it. I also own a Traynor YCV40, Mini Rectifier and Peavey 6505,

Here is an old clip of my band "live". I think for 80s sound, the DSL50 does a fine job.

[DonP]

Stick with the JVM. It kills the DSL in every way. As does about every other amp you mentioned above.

You are likely right. I've dabbled with the JVM410, but it takes me months usually to fall in love with an amp (exception being the Silver Jubilee - love at first hear).

Buying a used DSL is a crap shoot - many people take good tubes out and sell amps with their shittiest sets.

Also, my DSL100 sounded like shit (too harsh) at first until the speakers broke in. After that, it's been fucking awesome since then. I have the AOR50 since the early 90s. It's got my "Old School Marshall 800" tone. The Randall RM100LB was a recent purchase in the past year. I love the flexibility, but still love the tone of the DSL100 more. I only have stock and signature modules - no custom ones yet.

[roodyrocker]

I have two DSL50's in my amp collection. One is loaded with Mercury Magnetics power and output transformers as well as choke. The other is stock. They both sound good and are easy amps for the soundman to work with live. I play in an 80's hard rock cover band and we do Whitesnake, Dokken, etc... as you mentioned. It works fine for that stuff, no problem. There are a couple small reliability mods a friend of mine does on them but they do sound fine stock. The DSL50's break up a bit sooner than the DSL100's and make good live amps for local clubs. They are much cheaper to pick up than the other amps you mentioned too.

[ginsambo]

Reliabillity. They are not built like the JCM800's and JMP's were. Mine is stuck on the least harsh of the red channels, lead 1 I think, reverb circuit not working nor switching nor fx loop, nor the extra buttons (As if I'd ever use them). But then I only have it cranked to 2 or 3 with a strat, or maybe 3 or 4 for JB dokken and EVH stuff. It's a common fault I hear. Why you would want more gain than 5 on the lead 1 channel is beyond me though, as with G12T-75 speakers, of the type you get in 1960 cab, it sounds all boomy and to fizz, scooped and extremely thin and brittle. Which is exactly wrong for high mid '80's metal and much more modern metal if you ask me.

I use mine cranked on about 3 or 4 gain on lead 1, dry with no reverb through an old 70's Marshall cab with bass rolas in it and it sounds good, even if the mids are cranked to eleven for Ratt, EVH and Dokken and it seems to work OK. Better with a Tubescreamer in the fx loop though.

They are very versatile amps and the green channel is ace, but way too much gain and midless, brittle tones on the red channels. Very much unlike a brown sound Marshall IMO. But then, I think alot of this may be because they have too much gain. You don't have to use it as said and you can get some pretty decent tones out of them. Also I suppose tubes make a difference. Some of the best qualities of these amps are actually revealed without hardly any gain, using some SSL-1's or Tex Mex pups in a strat. They do sound beautiful clean.

It took me ages to get used to the lead channels, understand the tone and dial them, as at first it's a wall of fizzy brittleness with no mids or bowl evacuating tones. But the tone is very acheivable. For an amp that sounds so deep and bouncy clean and that breaks up so well with only a little gain it has a world of potential, even if things do start to go wrong when you crank the gain past 4 or 5.

I think they simply have way too much gain and they are not very good at carrying it off in a well rounded fashion. Although, maybe that is the point, with the extra gain they are trying to sound brittle and scooped, in a 'Jack of All Trades' kind of way. Also mine sounds a bit dry and 2 dimensional when the ambient temperature is below around 17C for some reason. But if you stick to what a Marshall can do and take the time to understand them, then they are great amps IMO, if not the most reliable.

Just wish I knew what was wrong with mine, but then I use it like a JMP which suits me fine and I can get Lynch and EVH and Demartini tones all day out of it. lol.

[BenoA]

Good post ginsabo! Mine has the reverb issue but everything else works.

I, too, used mine a lot as a one channel amp. The green channel is perfect for that but you gotta keep the bass low as it's already a very "bassy" channel compared to the red one.

For me, one of the great quality of my DSL is that it cuts through a band mix very easily.

If the OP is able to find one for cheap, the DSL50 is a fun amp. I won't get rid of mine for sure.

[ginsambo]

I think the cap mod on the red channel makes it more similar to the green one in tone and is done a lot as an easy mod. Could be a solder joint on the fx/footswitch panel at the back or worse. Pissed me off that I'd just replaced the reverb tank on it when it went and a bit pissd I can't use my Boss OD on the FX loop. Personally though, the way my amp is busted rocks. It's not too trebly, a bit but it's OK more like a JCM800, maybe not as bassy or growly, although I think if you do the C17 cap mod it becomes more akin to it. Yeah the mix thing, everyone I think agrees about that. I do hate them 75 speakers though that you get in the 1960 cabs these days. Boomy and fizzy with gain. Don't pair up well with the DSL for 80's hairmetal at all I don't reckon.

Minus reverb and back to basics makes you work at it. I moaned at first, although I was never one for delay and tonnes of reverb and loads of gain, but the tone comes from your fingers doesn't it and the DSL rewards you for that, so long as you are not shy about it. I only use three buttons. Stand by, on and volume mostly. The way I like it! lol. I just melt when I play my Strat through it.

Actually of you listen to Lynch and Demartini and earlier hairmetal, there isn't loads of gain about actually, it's their fingers which take it past the classic rock territory.

A great amp, just wish it was a bit more rugged. But channels are for pussies eh!

I got mine for cheap, equivalent of $350 with a 1960A thrown in. The reason I got it actually. Took me a long while to get my head around the fact it wasn't a 2205 and didn't seem to do what the Marshall badge on it implied. But once I did I never looked back. Best amp for cheap ever and you can get the tone. Although I would be arguing with myself if I could talk to my previous self a few years back about that.

So much of it is about expectation and how warm the valves are!

Benoa are the springs in your reverb tank actually still intact if the rest of the circuitry works? I picked up a new reverb tank with a matched code over here on Ebay for like $25 and just plugged it in. The springs were shot in the exiting one, but an easy fix. I gotta take mine apart one day and have a look at the circuitry and maybe blast mysel with a capacitor discharge, but if it ain't broke and all...None of the leds light up up front and none of the Deep and Tone shift buttons work (Thank God). lol.

[roodyrocker]

Its true there are a couple things that need to be addressed as far as reliability with these amps. I'm not a huge fan of the 75w Celestions in the 1960 cabs but they don't sound horrible with this amp. I prefer my Greenbacks with it though. I use mine pretty much as a 1 channel amp too. Roll off the guitar volume and they clean up nice! I don't really use the reverb on mine although its working fine.They sound good live in the mix. Anyway, I found this on Youtube and thought it does 80's tones real well and as a bonus its with a Charvel Pro Mod

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3Rx_GwbbKk

[chrisolson]

Wow...totally effected out, so yeah...80's!!

I prefer Greenbacks with ANYTHING Marshall. Just a great sounding speaker.

[roodyrocker]

Wow...totally effected out, so yeah...80's!!

I prefer Greenbacks with ANYTHING Marshall. Just a great sounding speaker.

Yeah, more effects than I use but even dry the DSL's do 80's well I think. Plus, I thought the guy in the video did a good job of playing 80's style too No complaints from me on Greenbacks. I have them in a Bogner cab and in a Marshall cab