Marshall vs Blackstar

Dane12

New member
2 amps that I'm considering to get is the Marshall DSL or the Blackstar Ht Club 40. Just looking for some opinions on which would be best. Alternative amp suggestions are also helpful. What I want in the amp is a good clean sound and overdrive for rock/blues - not really high gain metal.


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Re: Marshall vs Blackstar

If possible, check out the Orange OR15. Easy to clean up if you pop a couple Mullard EL84's in there (about $35).


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Re: Marshall vs Blackstar

I was looking at the DSL40C and the Blackstar 40. They were both nice, but IMO, the Blackstar edged out the Marshall. (P.S. I ended up with the Carvin Nomad. It's an awesome amp)
 
Re: Marshall vs Blackstar

BenPerkins - Classic Answer. A or B? F!!!

OP - Certainly go play both, I am a fan of the DSL's but dont have experience with that particular model of blackstar. I can tell you the cleans and crunch on the DSL are great, probably has more gain than you want but better be there than not have anough to begin with.
 
Re: Marshall vs Blackstar

IMO Orange does a better Marshall crunch these days than Marshall does
 
Re: Marshall vs Blackstar

I am a Carvin fanboy
I have a Belair and it does what you want and the Nomad is the 1x12 version


Blackstar is a Marshal clone ain't it
 
Re: Marshall vs Blackstar

Want cleans and blues/rock? Neither Blackstar or Marshall would be my recommendation. Cleans and blues/rock is why they make the Vox AC series and the Fender Hot Rod series.
 
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Re: Marshall vs Blackstar

Blackstar Ht Club 40 with a 5751 replacing the 12AX7 in V1 (smoother more controllable gain).
 
Re: Marshall vs Blackstar

Want cleans and blues/rock? Neither Blackstar or Marshall would be my recommendation. Cleans and blues/rock is why they make the Vox AC series and the Fender Hot Rod series.


As a blues/rock player, Blackstar and Marshall are very good choices for those genres. I sold my DSL40, and prefer my Club 40. I'm assuming the cleans you want aren't jangly.
 
Re: Marshall vs Blackstar

I like the Blackstar amps. It seems to be a little darker/warmer sounding to me than most Marshall stuff.
 
Re: Marshall vs Blackstar

Hi Dane12!
The Marshall amps give you a gain control on the Clean channel. IMO this is very important. To get moderate overdrive from the Clean channel of a Blackstar you must use pedals. Both amps respond fairly well to pedals.
Watch out for other subtle differences depending on which model DSL or Blackstar...I find that Blackstar is a bit more conducive to recording, feature wise, but Marshall and Fender are still the "go to" sound a lot of recordings crave.
Play both and see which one floats your boat.

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Re: Marshall vs Blackstar

If you want cleans and crunch, find an old Fender Bassman (there's quite a few different models; the tweed, blackface, and silverface versions are all different. Look and see what you like). Just plug your guitar into a treble booster/fuzz/OD whatnot set fairly bright, plug into input 1 on the bass side, jumper bass 2 and normal 1, dime both volumes to ten, have the normal channels EQ controls set fairly low, and use your guitar's volume to clean up. Works perfectly.
 
Re: Marshall vs Blackstar

If you want cleans and crunch, find an old Fender Bassman (there's quite a few different models; the tweed, blackface, and silverface versions are all different. Look and see what you like). Just plug your guitar into a treble booster/fuzz/OD whatnot set fairly bright, plug into input 1 on the bass side, jumper bass 2 and normal 1, dime both volumes to ten, have the normal channels EQ controls set fairly low, and use your guitar's volume to clean up. Works perfectly.

To take that one step farther, go straight into either channel, then put the od in between the jump to the other channel. This way, no matter how crunchy you run the od, you still have a nice fat cleanish tone to blend in with it.

I found it worked best for me going into the clean side and having the od go into the bass side.
 
Re: Marshall vs Blackstar

I haven't found many modern amps that beat my JVM.
I totally agree. The only thing that I have played (and actually own) that comes close is the Blackstar Series One 104el34. It's a badass amp too.
 
Re: Marshall vs Blackstar

Thanks for the input although the Bassman and Series one are a bit out my price range


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