Jeff_H
Dean Hardtail Fanologist
Re: Marshall DSL40C
I've had one since early 2016. It's a great little amp and the 1/2 power switch is very usable. Mine came with the C19 mod already done and it came with a Creamback 65. I also bought a Creamback 75 for it, but I think I prefer the 65.
It's a great amp overall. The clean channel is useable, especially if you add a little chorus and reverb to fatten and make it shimmer. It's not a Fender but it's pretty darn good. Crunch on the Green channel is very AC/DC, with the gain most of the way up. Very useable for many classic rock tones. The Red Channel (od-1 is all I use) is also very useable and does all of the higher gain stuff for anything I'd play; I don't play at Slayer levels. It does 80's metal and 90's hard rock very well. The shared EQ isn't ideal, but it is workable.
I find my red channel to sound a bit darker than the green channel, so I set my eq on the green channel with my tone pots rolled off to 6-7. Then when I switch to the red channel a quick turn of the volume knob adds any highs I'm looking for. It's like any other amp.... you get to know its strengths and weaknesses and make adaptations. Different tubes make a difference as well. This amp likes modern tubes, even Chinese, more than I'm used to. My good old NOS tubes don't make as much of a difference as they did in my old JCM 800.
The DSL40 is a great value for what it costs and it gives great Marshall tones, and a better clean channel than older channel switching Marshall's. It's not a Plexi or a Silver Jubilee, but it's a lot of Marshall tone for $300-$400 bucks.
I've had one since early 2016. It's a great little amp and the 1/2 power switch is very usable. Mine came with the C19 mod already done and it came with a Creamback 65. I also bought a Creamback 75 for it, but I think I prefer the 65.
It's a great amp overall. The clean channel is useable, especially if you add a little chorus and reverb to fatten and make it shimmer. It's not a Fender but it's pretty darn good. Crunch on the Green channel is very AC/DC, with the gain most of the way up. Very useable for many classic rock tones. The Red Channel (od-1 is all I use) is also very useable and does all of the higher gain stuff for anything I'd play; I don't play at Slayer levels. It does 80's metal and 90's hard rock very well. The shared EQ isn't ideal, but it is workable.
I find my red channel to sound a bit darker than the green channel, so I set my eq on the green channel with my tone pots rolled off to 6-7. Then when I switch to the red channel a quick turn of the volume knob adds any highs I'm looking for. It's like any other amp.... you get to know its strengths and weaknesses and make adaptations. Different tubes make a difference as well. This amp likes modern tubes, even Chinese, more than I'm used to. My good old NOS tubes don't make as much of a difference as they did in my old JCM 800.
The DSL40 is a great value for what it costs and it gives great Marshall tones, and a better clean channel than older channel switching Marshall's. It's not a Plexi or a Silver Jubilee, but it's a lot of Marshall tone for $300-$400 bucks.
