Opinions on the DSL 50?

Andrew Lamprecht

Andrew Lamprecht

Minion of One
I know there was a huge orgy about them here a year or so ago. You guys all feel the same way?

I'm just wondering if I would like the DSL better than the crunchbox/Bassman right now. I am keeping the Bassman, I love it for blues and with the crunchbox, it sounds great for my stuff I write... but I just wonder if the DSL would be better for my modern rock affairs.
 
Re: Opinions on the DSL 50?

It's solid and simple. Works for many applications. It's almost the vanilla of the rock amp world, if you will.
 
Re: Opinions on the DSL 50?

i like the DSL and TSL heads... 50's and 100's... for me they don't work that great with vintage strat PU's... they seem to like a little higher output PU in the front end... my CS strat now has an SSL-5 in the bridge and it sounds great thru my TSL-100... P-90's work great with these amps... humbuckers are best really...

i'd buy a DSL-50 if i could find a quality used one myself...
 
Re: Opinions on the DSL 50?

I used to own one, and the way that the EL34s crunch in that amp feels great.
Now I own a crunch box and a DRRI and I have to say that I like the way the crunch box does the hot marshall thing, but still the DSL50 had killer midrange that I can't get from what I have now.

The crunch box is easier to use as a "faux channel-switching amp" kind of thing, because with the crunch box I can use the tone knob and presence control to generally match the amp's clean. With the DSL, switching channels always left one channel with too much or too little bass.
Also, while the DSL50 has a lot of presence at low volumes. You have to really crank it to gig levels to thicken up a strat. I never turned the presence on mine past 2 unless the volume was above 4.

The Crucnchbox excels at the higher gain marshall tones (as far as pedals go) but I think the DSL had a much better light crunch tone where you can go from "sweet sparkly barely breaking up" to ac/dc style crunch by really hitting it. Those were my favorite DSL50 tones and the crunch box doesn't have that low-gain to medium-gain thing happening with as much character.
 
Re: Opinions on the DSL 50?

Oh yeah! The DSL50 is incredible. However, it can get even better with a few simple mods like Svetlana tubes and some of the mods Voodoo does. I played a Voodoo basic modded DSL50 and the cleans were much improved, the treble was a little less harsh, and it sounded a bit more defined overall. I typically ignore modifications to amps, but the Voodoo amp mod really does work for the DSL.
 
Re: Opinions on the DSL 50?

the guy who invented fire said:
Cool amp...

Would I take it over a Bassman...no way.
Click to expand...

Totally agree.... Don't sell your Bassman to fund a DSL 50!

I have a DSL 50 and I love the green channel in crunch mode for playing classic rock. I haven't found a tone I like in the red channel yet but I know others love it.

On the positive side, it covers a lot of ground and I believe every guitar player will find at least one tone in it that they love.

On the negative side, the EQ is shared between the channels, which doesn't make it great as a channel switcher IMO.

To offset that negative, there are plenty of mods documented on amp forums. I have long been considering the C12 mod to bring the tone of the red channel more in line with that of the green channel - then I could switch it for rhythm/lead.
 
Re: Opinions on the DSL 50?

gibson175 said:
you need both amps. the fender and the marshall.
Click to expand...

...and they'll sound great when run together IMO. I've always got my favorite tones by using either an Ampeg/Fender, an Ampeg/Marshall, or a Marshall/Fender combined. I always used the jumper cable method, though I hear an ABY box is best.
 
Re: Opinions on the DSL 50?

Since you're keeping the Bassman, get the DSL as well.

Ask yourself this, if you want the Marshall tone why not get a Marshall? Sure a pedal thru a Fender can get you in the ballpark, but it will never truly give you that Marshall tone.

Moreover, the DSL will nail you're modern rock affairs. Sure some other amps my be better suited ala Mesa, Fryette, Splawn, etc but this would certainly do the trick.

From a pure goosing up the front end, I have yet to hear a better amp goosed up than the DSL. I liked it better than my VHT, but with the VHT I don't need it.
 
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Re: Opinions on the DSL 50?

I had three DSL 50's and all had to be returned to Guitar Center within a month.....I loved the amp right up to the point where after playing it for 30 minutes the sound would drop out. I don't know if it was a bad factory batch, something to do with GC, or a design issue that was rectified...but after returning the third one I switched over to a Rivera Knucklehead 55R (which nails the hot rodded Marshall and Fender pretty well and can be had for a great price used).
 
Re: Opinions on the DSL 50?

chcjunior said:
I had three DSL 50's and all had to be returned to Guitar Center within a month.....I loved the amp right up to the point where after playing it for 30 minutes the sound would drop out. I don't know if it was a bad factory batch, something to do with GC, or a design issue that was rectified...but after returning the third one I switched over to a Rivera Knucklehead 55R (which nails the hot rodded Marshall and Fender pretty well and can be had for a great price used).
Click to expand...

Maybe you were running it with the wrong impedance. The only Marshalls I've seen that were broke were the ones that were beat to death. I had 3 DSLs, a JVM, a Plexi, a jcm800 RI, and a Vintage Modern. No problems whatsoever.
 
Re: Opinions on the DSL 50?

chcjunior said:
I had three DSL 50's and all had to be returned to Guitar Center within a month.....I loved the amp right up to the point where after playing it for 30 minutes the sound would drop out. I don't know if it was a bad factory batch, something to do with GC, or a design issue that was rectified...but after returning the third one I switched over to a Rivera Knucklehead 55R (which nails the hot rodded Marshall and Fender pretty well and can be had for a great price used).
Click to expand...

Yeah this seems a bit.. Odd. 1 bad one? Sure I can see that. 2 bad ones? Possible I guess not real likely. 3??? I would start wondering what was up. If you random joe got 3 bad ones in a row from guitar center that had to be a huge batch of bad ones. Wouldnt be suprised if the 3rd bad one you got was the 1st one you had that they had "fixed" supposedly.
 
Re: Opinions on the DSL 50?

The impedance selection is pretty straight forward on that amp, and I was using it with my Avatar cabinet that I always use. The boxes were sealed when they were brought out to me. I can't tell you what the odds are on getting three lemons in a row, but you can probably guage my level of discontent when I got the third one.

I also received a craptastic Heritage H150 from Jay Wolfe that I had to return so it appears I revel in being on the far end of the bell curve...lol.
 
Re: Opinions on the DSL 50?

Still love my DSL50 Head, even though I mess around with overdrives for smaller amps. One thing I've found is that speakers really, really matter...as much as the amp does. I got a quad of Celestion G12-65 (vintage) and it is "that" sound to me (classic rock, though, not a lot of bass to be had). When I had first got my 1960a, it had the stock G12-75s, which were crud.
 
Re: Opinions on the DSL 50?

While I've never owned one, I've used them several times for band practices and gigs. I love them.
 
Re: Opinions on the DSL 50?

chcjunior said:
The impedance selection is pretty straight forward on that amp, and I was using it with my Avatar cabinet that I always use. The boxes were sealed when they were brought out to me. I can't tell you what the odds are on getting three lemons in a row, but you can probably guage my level of discontent when I got the third one.

I also received a craptastic Heritage H150 from Jay Wolfe that I had to return so it appears I revel in being on the far end of the bell curve...lol.
Click to expand...

What ohm was your cab?
 
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