Played a DSL 401..

[Aceman]

and now I'm gassin'. That little puppy was great. The cleans RULED. I could play blues, rock, even Jazz!!!

Of course, dirty was just great too!!!

Seems like it would be a very flexible and reasonable Marshall. Thanks for the recs guys. I'm seein' them in the 500 range on fleabay.

 

[bloodswords]

Re: Played a DSL 401..

the cleans are definitely superb. wish those aren't EL84s in there...

 

[TimmyPage]

Re: Played a DSL 401..

Hmm, for some reason I haven't really been able to get 'into it' whenever i try it out. Cool that you like it though.

 

[Gunny47]

Re: Played a DSL 401..

When I was looking at Marshalls when I still played mostly Guns N Roses and hard rock stuff (barely any clean or blues, which is what I play almost exclusively now), the DSL401 was always one of my choices for a new amp I would save up for. I thought it sounded great and I liked the clean channel as well. I heard of some reliability issues with them though, so I would do some extra research. But fantastic amp IMO for what it is and I found sounded much better than all of the TSL combos.

 

[Rich_T]

Re: Played a DSL 401..

I got one for sale. I can't get the thickness out of it like my JMP.

 

[thunderlung]

Re: Played a DSL 401..

I have one. Its my second because the first one was a total lemon and had to go back on warranty...this seemed to be a common problem(bad solder joints). I like the clean channel with/without pedals. I will say that this sumnabitch is loud!!!!!!!!!!

 

[suislidE03]

Re: Played a DSL 401..

Stick a good OD pedal like my Spina SD1 and the gain channel is a ripping marshall tone! Ive had that experience a year ago.. hehe. I regret selling that amp.

 

[jmh151]

Re: Played a DSL 401..

My advice is don't buy one on E-bay. I played new ones in the stores and they sounded great, a very nice Guns and Roses tone. I bought a used one, brought it home, and it sounded like it was being played through a thin cheap AM radio. I changed and biased the tubes, it still didn't work... eventually I traded it and a Marshall Valvestate in towards a JCM800 which had the classic Marshall tone I wanted (think Metallica's Kill Em All).

The reliability issues were resolved and they also raised the price once the problems were fixed.

Since you like Ace Frehley, you might want to find a used Marshall Valvestate VS100 or VS100H. I plugged an Epiphone Les Paul into it, put the power dimension button on, kicked in OD2, and nailed Ace Frehley's Kiss Alive tone. They're cheap too and can be had for $200. That amp sounded better than the DSL401. Again, I ended up trading both in for the JCM800.

 

[Whistlepig]

Re: Played a DSL 401..

I've never played the 401. I have a 201 thats in my local store for sale.
It sounds great just need the money. I've heard the 401 sounds really good.

 

[suislidE03]

Re: Played a DSL 401..

My advice is don't buy one on E-bay. I played new ones in the stores and they sounded great, a very nice Guns and Roses tone. I bought a used one, brought it home, and it sounded like it was being played through a thin cheap AM radio. I changed and biased the tubes, it still didn't work... eventually I traded it and a Marshall Valvestate in towards a JCM800 which had the classic Marshall tone I wanted (think Metallica's Kill Em All).

The reliability issues were resolved and they also raised the price once the problems were fixed.

Since you like Ace Frehley, you might want to find a used Marshall Valvestate VS100 or VS100H. I plugged an Epiphone Les Paul into it, put the power dimension button on, kicked in OD2, and nailed Ace Frehley's Kiss Alive tone. They're cheap too and can be had for $200. That amp sounded better than the DSL401. Again, I ended up trading both in for the JCM800.

You obviously played a crapped out one.. dont ever say a valvestate has a better tone than the 401 cause ive played all the valvestates and OWNED a 401 that i bought from the trade center here.

 

[metal]

Re: Played a DSL 401..

i tried a couple and i havent been able to get a good tone out of them! :smack: