Marshall DSL 401 vs Blackstar HT40 vs ?6505+ vs ??

[Aceman]

Tell me why I don't want a MArshall DSL 401 vs the Blackstar or Peavey 6505+, whatever else is in that class of amp.

I'm thinking of "putting the band back together" and I'd like something sporty, cob/gigable, can take a pedal OD or whatever, with tubes. And lets face it - I'm a MArshall kind of guy. I like combos, I like simple. I like flexible.

 

[OsvyRock]

Re: Marshall DSL 401 vs Blackstar HT40 vs ?6505+ vs ??

All those amps are really great. I own a Blackstar HT-40, tried out a Peavey 6505 combo, and heard good things of the DSL 401.
What type(s) of music are you aiming for?

 

[JeffB]

Re: Marshall DSL 401 vs Blackstar HT40 vs ?6505+ vs ??

I do not like the lower end Blackstars..40, 20, 5, 1.they sound like tube powered rockmans.they do have lots of good features for the $.

That said I do not like the old 40w dsl w/ el84s. The new DSLs sound much better from what I can tell.

 

[Rockstar216]

Re: Marshall DSL 401 vs Blackstar HT40 vs ?6505+ vs ??

I own a Blackstar 40 and they wont let you down. Very giggable although I put some casters on mine. Very versatile and have a wide range of tones. Plus you can either mic the speaker or use the emulated out to run to the PA if ever needed or just crank it up. I will say as good as the HT line is the series one stuff is awesome. Go try on if you can or look at the demos on youtube.

 

[Rockstar216]

Re: Marshall DSL 401 vs Blackstar HT40 vs ?6505+ vs ??

 

[Rockstar216]

Re: Marshall DSL 401 vs Blackstar HT40 vs ?6505+ vs ??

Start at 3:25

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Marshall DSL 401 vs Blackstar HT40 vs ?6505+ vs ??

sorry did you mean DSL401 or DSL40C?
I wouldn't recommend the old el84 401 (blurry flubby) combo but the new el34 combo is pretty much the same preamp as the old 50 and 100W DSL heads. It has much more traditional marshall roar than the 401.

If you want a marshall, get a marshall! The blackstar would be my second choice but the clean sounds rather thin and peaky compared to the rounder deeper green channel on the Marshall.

 

[Adieu]

Re: Marshall DSL 401 vs Blackstar HT40 vs ?6505+ vs ??

5150/6505s are very gain-oriented overpriced one-trick ponies. They also don't take well to certain guitars. JCM DSL's are entirely different beasts, which can give you some pretty mellow single-coil or acoustic-ey sounds at will and take to a variety of axes and pickups well. Blackstar - don't know, haven't tried.

Are you looking for a specific size/wattage, or for a specific price point? If you can find one that isn't priced like a MESA (also yuck...ymmv), maybe try a PRS 30? Totally unexpected versatile all-around jem, although if you think about PRS trying to build guitars that can do anything and everything well, I guess it comes as less of a surprise... Bloody AWESOME amp, takes anything from classic-style SSS strats for poprock tones to super 70s-equipped vintage hardrock tone monsters, even does convincing and rich modern metal tones with an EMG-loaded ESP Eclipse II... frickin AMAZING amp, such a pity about that 4-digit price tag (although various retailers seem to be deeply confused whether it ought to be $1k with tax or $2200 without, so definitely shop around).

PS as to volume, the PRS pumps enough air through its stock speaker that Guitar Center starts *****in to turn it down at master volumes 1-2.5, full gain (nice crunch without getting too insane on the distortion channel, very useable... light rock tones on the clean) - somewhat depending on the output of the guitar, but mostly on their mood and whether they think you might actually buy something you're trying (always use it to test guitars there, all their other amps either can't hold a candle to it, or colour the sound so much you don't have much tone left from the guitar itself). At full, should do small maybe medium clubs even on its own, and really doubt you'll ever need more punch if you run it into a decent 4x12

 

[DankStar]

Re: Marshall DSL 401 vs Blackstar HT40 vs ?6505+ vs ??

Jtm60. Get it biased right and you're good to go.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Marshall DSL 401 vs Blackstar HT40 vs ?6505+ vs ??

Jtm60. Get it biased right and you're good to go.

I spent a few minutes looking up a few JTM60 demos. IMO you can get most of those sounds with a DSL40, all on the green channel, especially that clean sound, and a pedal can get the DSL green channel to match the highest gain tones of the JTM60. though with the DSL you get basically a second whole amp in the red channel, with plenty of thick modded-800 sounds with more gain than you probably need.

The cool thing about the JTM 60 looked to be the parallel fx loop that you can dial in from the front. Also, switching the DSL green channel gain modes is impossible without a mod so the JTM60 looks better as a channel switcher.

 

[LReese]

Re: Marshall DSL 401 vs Blackstar HT40 vs ?6505+ vs ??

Can't comment on any of those amps. But if you have a fairly loud and good sounding clean platform already, an appropriate pedal could get you there at less than the cost of a new amp. Maybe not sporty, but you can consider it stealth.

I do likes me some Marshall goodness though.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Marshall DSL 401 vs Blackstar HT40 vs ?6505+ vs ??

I owned a JTM60 when they first came out. Good sounds, liked it better than the 900s, but they are notoriously unreliable because of wher ethe tubes are located on the chassis (600s,.were the revamped cured version). My 60 crapped the bed after several months. I replaced it with a more reliable Marshall.

I would take a DSL circuit (barring the el84 versions) over the JTM60 without question for a gigging amp. It can do pretty much anything the 60 can, and more,and no worries about frying out whenever it feels like it.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Marshall DSL 401 vs Blackstar HT40 vs ?6505+ vs ??

I spent a few minutes looking up a few JTM60 demos. IMO you can get most of those sounds with a DSL40, all on the green channel, especially that clean sound, and a pedal can get the DSL green channel to match the highest gain tones of the JTM60. though with the DSL you get basically a second whole amp in the red channel, with plenty of thick modded-800 sounds with more gain than you probably need.

The cool thing about the JTM 60 looked to be the parallel fx loop that you can dial in from the front. Also, switching the DSL green channel gain modes is impossible without a mod so the JTM60 looks better as a channel switcher.

See - this makes me think it's time to re-investigate the MArshall.

I'd like a solid clean that is very flexible, a mega-gain (akin to the 6505) and a channel that can take my durt box of choice - which the clean apparently can...

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Marshall DSL 401 vs Blackstar HT40 vs ?6505+ vs ??

Yeah the DSL is worth a shot if that's what you want.

just remember that the amp is NOT a channel switcher in the traditional sense. I think if it as 2 amps. the shared EQ is tough to dial in to get enough bass on the green channel without flubbing the red channel. I dunno if they fixed this by using the 2 resonance controls instead of a single deep switch. I bet it makes a difference. Switching channels sounded like crap on one channel or the other especially when trying to go from really clean to really dirty, well at least in my house it sounded like crap. Maybe it's somehow better in a band context.

Different but related quirk: the amp can be pretty bright and cutting. With a stock strat I had to run the presence at 1 and the treble at like 2, which felt weird but I've since learned to trust my ears not my eyes.

the reverb is digital and not all that great (sounds kinda like a plate reverb, but an awful one). It also needs to be loud; the bedroom tones are thin and the EL34s are CRUCIAL to the DSL's sound.

If it still sounds like a winner then go for it. Try before you buy yada yada

 

[Ball&Chain]

Re: Marshall DSL 401 vs Blackstar HT40 vs ?6505+ vs ??

I dont know that any of those are necessarily better than a DSL 401. I played several of them a few months back when amp shopping. The DSL has a pretty nasty mid range bite to it in a typical really good Marshall way that the others dont have. I do recall reading somewhere that those DSL amps are similar to Blackstar in that the preamp is a hybrid. Not saying its fact, but something to look into if that kinda thing bothers you.

 

[FuseG4]

Re: Marshall DSL 401 vs Blackstar HT40 vs ?6505+ vs ??

dunnno about the 401 but the DSL 40C, and the 50 and 100 heads both old and new, are all-valve distortion.

 

[Adieu]

Re: Marshall DSL 401 vs Blackstar HT40 vs ?6505+ vs ??

Yeah the DSL is worth a shot if that's what you want.

just remember that the amp is NOT a channel switcher in the traditional sense. I think if it as 2 amps. the shared EQ is tough to dial in to get enough bass on the green channel without flubbing the red channel. I dunno if they fixed this by using the 2 resonance controls instead of a single deep switch. I bet it makes a difference. Switching channels sounded like crap on one channel or the other especially when trying to go from really clean to really dirty, well at least in my house it sounded like crap. Maybe it's somehow better in a band context.

Different but related quirk: the amp can be pretty bright and cutting. With a stock strat I had to run the presence at 1 and the treble at like 2, which felt weird but I've since learned to trust my ears not my eyes.

the reverb is digital and not all that great (sounds kinda like a plate reverb, but an awful one). It also needs to be loud; the bedroom tones are thin and the EL34s are CRUCIAL to the DSL's sound.

If it still sounds like a winner then go for it. Try before you buy yada yada

I seem to recall indepent EQs on a TSL100 that passed through my hands (wasn't the owner, just picked it up from a reasonable seller in Cali, changed a couple wires over to different positions to turn it into a 240V / 50Hz model, and shipped it to a different continent - which, despite the blistering $283 shipping tag, still made it far more affordable for that acquaintance abroad than buying locally).

I've heard people claim that a TSL isn't EXACTLY a DSL+1, but afaik it's pretty darn close enough, and at a $0 - 100 used price point diffference for a half-stack (most of which might just be more advanced cabs and speakers, too), TSL seems a better pick.

 

[richard parker]

Re: Marshall DSL 401 vs Blackstar HT40 vs ?6505+ vs ??

From what I've heard the Blackstars have okay cleans and high gain sounds but don't do too well in that middle crunch territory which is the Marshall forte. The new DSL combo is an amp I'd definitely be keen to try if I was in the market. But - I'd wait a while to see how they fare in the reliability stakes.

 

[larryguitar]

Re: Marshall DSL 401 vs Blackstar HT40 vs ?6505+ vs ??

Unless you need real volume, you should also consider the new Jet City 20 amp channel switcher; modded Marshall tones on the cheap, IMHO.

Larry

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Marshall DSL 401 vs Blackstar HT40 vs ?6505+ vs ??

i'd consider the tweaker 40 as well. i like their setup using two identical channels. and they sound good imho...and quite versatile. my band mate uses one as his main amp now, instead of his jtm 2x12. the only drawback to my mind is the shared e.q., but a switcher that engages an outboard e.q. automatically when you switch channels would do the trick.

in the spendier realm, i think the mesa express plus 5-50 is the king of that sort of amp [40-50 watt channel switching combo]. they have an outstanding balance of versatility and simplicity. i.e. they are packed with features, but they are very easy to dial in and operate. they can be 50w class ab, 25w class a push/pull, or 5w class a single ended. independent e.q., footswitchable graphic e.q. [manual or preset, or manual on one channel and preset on the other], footswitchable flat-e.q. boost, effects loop, healthy reverb, two gain modes for each channel [not footswitchable]. if you use flat boost, treble boost, reverb, or e.q. pedals, they are no longer needed with these amps, which can really help to streamline your rig.

as far as marshall small combos go, the haze 40 has my favorite tone.