software

If you own or have owned one some opinions please.

Tubes used, preferences, styles, maintenance etc.

I can score some pretty good deals on a 50 or 100 and I am thinking that it might be a pretty good head for me to drag around when need be.

Thanks

Highly recommended!

I have owned the 50 and 100 watt flavor and find them very good. I used them since '98 until '02.

I think the clean channel on those amps is excellent for a Marshall. The red channel can go JCM800 to very, very nasty. They are reliable. I owned the 50 for 4 or 5 years and never replaced any tubes. The 100 got new power tubes after an electrical spike did them in after about 6 months- the new tubes lasted 2 years then I sold it. The reverb is pretty good too.

I really can't say anything bad about them. I prefer the 50 myself. I really am going to regret selling that little sucker I bet. IMO they crush anything Boogie makes.. they don't sound like a 4X12 stuck in someone's nose. I doubt I'd pay $1350 for one at GC... for that kind of money I'd spend a little extra and get a VHT 50 or 100CL. In the $750-1000 price range I think they are an excellent bargain.

I am looking used so the lower side of that price range looks about right for the 50. Seems like a cool amp to me, I liked the sounds but I don't know anyone who has owned one. I have heard some TSL horror stories so I was a bit leery, thanks for the info.

Scott...I have never owned one but I did do a few shows with a 1x12 combo...KILLER amp IMO. I liked it quite a bit. After playing through that one I went looking for one and what I found was a TSL...hated it, not even worth looking to be honest, the DSL on the other hand is a KILLER amp.


Originally Posted by the guy who invented fireScott...I have never owned one but I did do a few shows with a 1x12 combo...KILLER amp IMO. I liked it quite a bit. After playing through that one I went looking for one and what I found was a TSL...hated it, not even worth looking to be honest, the DSL on the other hand is a KILLER amp.

Agreed buddy...The DSL is a great amp and the TSL sucks bad!


Originally Posted by STRATDELUXER97Agreed buddy...The DSL is a great amp and the TSL sucks bad!I knew I wasn't alone!

I played those few shows with that combo (I beliove it was 100 watts and I know it was a 1x12) and was amazed by how cool that amp was...like the guys are saying...great cleans with good reverb, gret crunch tones, easy to use...all in all a great amp. So I went on a hunt...what I found was a TSL head and it sucked rocks.


Originally Posted by the guy who invented fireI knew I wasn't alone!

I played those few shows with that combo (I beliove it was 100 watts and I know it was a 1x12) and was amazed by how cool that amp was...like the guys are saying...great cleans with good reverb, gret crunch tones, easy to use...all in all a great amp. So I went on a hunt...what I found was a TSL head and it sucked rocks.


Too many freakin knobs on the TSL also! Reminds me of the newer Mesa stuff.


Originally Posted by STRATDELUXER97



Too many freakin knobs on the TSL also! Reminds me of the newer Mesa stuff.THAT TOO! I would put up with the NASA launch control IF the tone was good but those amps are hard to figure out and still sound like sh!t!

I just recentley picked up a DSL 50 head-my first Marshall. I really like it a lot but if you're not carefull the treble will slice your ears off. I actually have my EQ pedal in the loop in order to tame some of the brightness. Any other suggestions for taming the treble down?

About two years ago, I got rid of a Mesa Rectoverb and a Peavey 5150, then went and bought a DSL 50. Never been happier. I agree with many that the DSL 50 is the best sounding of the newer DSL/TSL series. I couldn't tell you why it sounds better, but will say it hasn't let me down, always seems to sound good, and gets these sounds pretty easy.

I would buy it again.

What is so bad about the TSL???

Well I've got the DSL401 (1x12 combo) and I think its pretty good for a combo.

Is my amp and the DSL 50 the quot;same ampquot;? If I bypassed the speaker and plugged into a 4x12... would it be essentially the same sound?

I heard there were differences.

great amp but very modern sounding,.. lots of high beam ! keep treble and middle at 3 max ! or you'll kill your audience ! you can put the bass at 9 for having at least some low in your sound ..
it has a great clean !!! but the drive channel should be like the JCM 900 then it would be just perfect, drive channel on the DSL is just to modern ...
but hey who am I, just an personal oppinion

I swapt my dsl 100 for a 30th anniversary ..


Originally Posted by spudsWell I've got the DSL401 (1x12 combo) and I think its pretty good for a combo.

Is my amp and the DSL 50 the quot;same ampquot;? If I bypassed the speaker and plugged into a 4x12... would it be essentially the same sound?

I heard there were differences.the DSL 401 models are 40 watt amps
I tested the DSL 602 combo (60 watt) super combos !!! grear for jamsessions !!

the first time I wanted to move it I thought It wat glued to the ground, heavy combo I was usted to a valvestate 100 combo wich are less back braking

I had the best luck running a 5751/lower gain tube in V1 and/or the PI slot to smooth things out. Also bias it correctly as that makes quite a difference.

I have had a DSL50 for a few years - very, very nice clean channel! Hey, if Henry Garza uses it to do Texas blues, it has to be good!

I found the best way to smooth out the high end was an EH 12AX7 (the new Mullard repro) and then all JJ 12AX7s and EL34s - very thick but lots of presence, no mud at all!

Unfortunately, with a 7-month old kiddo in the house I have not played it in months so it is probably going away to be replaced by a combo of some kind. Just what I need - yet another gear decision to kick myself about down the road...

Dano

I was further experimenting with mine today and found something that I really liked. Okay, the one problem with the amp when going between the two channels is the bass. On the clean channel (with or without the gain button engaged) the bass gets flubby, where the bass on the 2nd channel is tight. The problem is trying to get the bass to even out between the two channels. Using the clean channel with the gain button engaged I hooked up my Barber Direct Drive SS. As I said, the bass on the clean channel is flubby and the Barber takes some of the bass away, regardless of what amp you hook it up to. I kept the gain on the DSL at about a 10:00 position with the volume about halfway up. On the Barber I kept the gain at about 9:00 and cut a bit of bass using the internal trim pot. I'll tell ya what gang, I could'nt believe what I was hearing! I don't pat myself on the back very often but this was a killer tone!! Great for rock rhythm as well as lead. By keeping the bass low on the Barber ( and since the Barber cuts the bass anyway) it took away that flubbiness from the clean channel. Tightened it up great! Then if I want a more agressive lead sound I turn the Barber off and switch to the amps Ultra channel. It took me a while but I'm slowly figuring this amp out. Yeah, this old boy is having some fun!!

I used to fight with the clean channel/bass flubby issue a lot. If I switched to the clean channel at gig volumes with too much bass it would sound like my speakers were going to fart themselves to death. I used to keep the bass pretty low for this reason or I'd just really have the clean channel volume cranked down a lot lower- this was fine becaus we didn't do much clean channel stuff and the cab was mic'd anyway. One other thing.. I think I prefer the DSL line with 12/75 speakers versus Vintage 30s. I admit that I used mainly 12/75s with the DSL heads and may have just gotten used to them together. The treble quot;ice pickquot; is too much for me with Vintage 30s.


Originally Posted by glaciusthe DSL 401 models are 40 watt amps
I tested the DSL 602 combo (60 watt) super combos !!! grear for jamsessions !!

the first time I wanted to move it I thought It wat glued to the ground, heavy combo I was usted to a valvestate 100 combo wich are less back braking

What I meant was besides the wattage differences, are they the same amp? (circuitry etc...)