Marshall DSL: Old vs. New

EET_FUK

EET_FUK

New member
Well it's about time.

I'm gonna buy my first Marshall. I'm pretty much decided on a DSL100h. The new one. However, I don't know how it compares to the old JCM 2000 DSL. I know the new one has a resonance control compared to the original deep switch, digital reverb, and a half power switch, but I don't know if they sound very different from one another.

Anyone who has played through both, how do they compare sound-wise? Is one actually better than the other or are they just different?

Thanks guys.
 
Re: Marshall DSL: Old vs. New

I hope it sounds different from the old DSLs... sorry I have a hatred for that amp.

Bump though because I'm quite interested to see if the new DSL is different
 
Re: Marshall DSL: Old vs. New

Not that I have heard every one.....but I always thought the the DSL was pretty good and the TSL either never sounded as good or had BAD design problems that:
Marshall knew about.
Did NOTHING about.
Were very happy to sell a 200 dollar fix to anybody that asked.

Good luck with your new Marshall. I am sure it will be a great ride.
best
 
Re: Marshall DSL: Old vs. New

I haven't played one of the old DSLs, but I gave one of the 15 watt combos a spin yesterday, with a MIM Strat and an Epi Les Pau Standard. The Classic Gain channel was great. It was a really nice and smooth clean sound. It was great, I'd compare it to the cleans my Hot Rod DeVille has to offer(which I absolutely LOVE). I found that with a Strat it sounded a little on the thin side on the Ultra channel on the bridge pickup. The neck pickup was better though, and it sounded great with the gain backed off. The LP really shined through it though. It sounded great. I found it start getting fizzy/mushy past 12 o clock, but there is still plenty of gain on tap. I was able to get some good, tight palm mutes out of that LP before it started sounding mushy. Overall, it was a great sounding amp.
 
Re: Marshall DSL: Old vs. New

The older DLS heads were very good. The older DSL Combos were EL84 based amps and sounded more like a Vox AC15 than a Marshall in my opinion. They had a great clean channel, but their crunch channels were crap. You really had to tweak the TSL's to get good tone out of them, they needed a new speaker, and the gain knob was not useable past very low settings. That said, I liked them better than the DSL heads. I've still got my TSL combo. Sold my DSL50 head.

I think the new ones may be the best of both worlds, but have not seen one to test drive around here.
 
Re: Marshall DSL: Old vs. New

Haven't tried a new DSLs but my buddy has an old DSL100 and it kills. He's only done a few of the 'simple' common mods found on these too, really brought the amp to life. Sorry I don't have much more to add here, other than an old DSL50 is on my wish list.
 
Re: Marshall DSL: Old vs. New

Just picked up a DSL 100H at the local GC, I'm lovin' the clean channel, and the OD1 just rocks! The OD2 is a little much for my taste, but this amp is pedal-friendly. Dialing in some tones through my Vox Tonelab LE, so far, so good....
 
Re: Marshall DSL: Old vs. New

Finally some real input! hah. I'd look into some simple mods for that OD2 channel, get it workable for you.
 
Re: Marshall DSL: Old vs. New

That's a great idea, the OD2 channel seems a little muddy for me, too fuzzy/buzzy, chords sound indistinct, but I play classic rock, so the crunch I get from OD1 covers all I would play, any ideas or sources where these mods would be available?
 
Re: Marshall DSL: Old vs. New

NOTE: I'm by-passing the amp modeling on the Tonelab, just using it as a multi-effect through the DSL100H, the cleans really shimmer!
 
Re: Marshall DSL: Old vs. New

i found the new DSL's to be a little more fizzy but i still like them... i like my 2000 TSL100 for that Iron Madien tone lust... i find TSL's are close enough to a DSL for me... i've been finding old DSL100's go for much more money used then TSL100's... i've found TSL100's used for $600-$800 in Like New condition...

i don't like any DSL's or TSL's for stock Fender single coil strat/tele tones... i only like them for humbucker higher gain stuff
 
Re: Marshall DSL: Old vs. New

The lead player in one of my old bands had the JCM2000 DSL50, and I just got a new DSL100. Being that I had limited playing time on the older version, and the passage of time, my assessment should be taken with a grain of salt. The bottom line is: the difference is negligible. How does it differ exactly? I couldn't tell you without playing the old one again. But Everything I liked about that JCM version is here in the new DSL. I will say I like the resonance control a lot better than the Deep switch. And the multi wattage switch is great. I vote for the new version. At the very least, they didn't screw up a good thing. In my eyes anyway.
 
Re: Marshall DSL: Old vs. New

The new version has the great marshall gain tone in an Affordable price. Its features are a little more modernized but the tone doesnt suffer for it. Its design has been moded to rid it of some of the old reliability issues of the first DSL like drifting bias and other issues. Alot of guys use this amp as their basic distortion platform becouse its an industry standard for distortion tone. It takes pedals fairly well, most any amp tech can fix them out on the road, and there is always another one if your head transformer goes out. Its a simple amp really with simply good distortion tone. The old ones had reliability issues but sounded great once you got the bugs worked out. I think the cleans on the newer ones sound better. Like Joe Bonnamassa said about the new DSL 40c......I have some DSL amps I use and this sounds almost the same.
 
Re: Marshall DSL: Old vs. New

All I know is that I love my old DSL50. I'd definitely give a newer one a try. Are they still made in England?
 
Re: Marshall DSL: Old vs. New

I've never played through either, but from what I've heard in Youtube clips, the new ones sound thin compared to the JCM2000's
 
Re: Marshall DSL: Old vs. New

I had an original DSL100 and I played it for 3 years. I haved played the new DSL for a short time in Guitar Center. The two sound pretty similar in my opinion. The new DSL has the depth knob and switchable power between 100 and 50 watts. Good features. However, I would try to find a used original DSL. You can get it for cheaper than what a new one cost and you will have an official "Made in England" Marshall that, if you ever want to sell, will hold value better and sell easier. You can pretty much guarantee that you can sell it for what you bought it for. You can find used DSL's for $500-$600 pretty easily. I recently sold mine for $600 and I originally paid $500 at Guitar Center.
 
Re: Marshall DSL: Old vs. New

I tried the new one, having owned and flipped a few older DSL's. I honestly like the new one more, just because they did away with the Deep button which I never liked on the old one. It sounded fine on the gain channel, but bloated the clean channel too much.

The new DSL100H seems a little tighter and gainier. They dialed it in feature and soundwise. I'm not sure about build quality. I'd assume they've cut some corners, and they don't have the Drake transformers the very early DSL's had.
 
Re: Marshall DSL: Old vs. New

Gearjoneser said:
Deep button which... ...sounded fine on the gain channel, but bloated the clean channel too much.
Click to expand...

yes... that deep switch thing (at least for me) really hurt the idea of the original DSL as a "channel switcher".
So the depth control does a better job at evening out the channels even with only a global depth knob? I've got to go try one out and see...
 
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