Boosted Marshall DSL?

[peterc52]

So I just bought a Marshall JCM2000 DSL for 350 usd.

Gonna have it in a couple of days. What am I going to get? Have a VFE Dragon to boost it with.

Any experiences? Never tried one before. Tried a TSL it was awful.

 

[napalmdeath]

I think they're great amps! Run that boost in front of green crunch. Very JCM800.

 

[bubucci]

King of mediocre amps. It has marshall sound but mostly harsh and thin part of it. On green channel sound like JCM800, but without body and feel. Unfortunately those are things what makes JCM great. Lead channel without mods is fizzy and muddy when gain is past noon. I tried to like it and bought it few times but when You ever played good old Marshall, there is no way to accept what DSL do.

 

[splawner]

King of mediocre amps. It has marshall sound but mostly harsh and thin part of it. On green channel sound like JCM800, but without body and feel. Unfortunately those are things what makes JCM great. Lead channel without mods is fizzy and muddy when gain is past noon. I tried to like it and bought it few times but when You ever played good old Marshall, there is no way to accept what DSL do.

^^^^ ? percent spot on!

 

[stephen sawall]

I've been thinking about picking up a DSL also.

This is interesting....

viewtopic.php?t=40652

 

[napalmdeath]

King of mediocre amps. It has marshall sound but mostly harsh and thin part of it. On green channel sound like JCM800, but without body and feel. Unfortunately those are things what makes JCM great. Lead channel without mods is fizzy and muddy when gain is past noon. I tried to like it and bought it few times but when You ever played good old Marshall, there is no way to accept what DSL do.

User error.. Good tubes, proper bias, and a good boost, they'll roar with the best of them.

However, I do agree with the red channel assessment. But, green channel crunch with a boost is hardly harsh or thin. Could be you played a bad one, or one with shit tubes. Especially in the preamp. A Tungsol in V1, and JJ ECC83S's in 2, 3, and 4 bring it to life. KT77's or 6CA7's do well in the power section.

I've owned 4 DSL's. 3 DSL50's, and a DSL100. Right cocktail of tubes, right boost, and Greenback loaded 4x12 brings the goods, (as well as volume). Yes, lower volumes will sound thinner, but as you crank it, it gets pretty throaty, and beefy, to say the least.

In fact, I've been thinking of picking up another, or a Laney GH50L.

 

[godgrinder]

Yep, boost the green channel:

 

[nigelpkay]

Best amp value for sure. I used to have a UK made DSL 50, wish I had kept it.
You get 2 channels, an excellent clean or crunch channel, and lead 1 with a boost was great, FX loop, easy to try different power tubes as the bias points are right on the chassis. Lead 2 which is usually too muddy and fizzy sounded good with KT77 tubes.
No it won’t crunch like an 800, but close enough.
No it’s high gain isn’t as good as others but close enough.
As someone said earlier it’s the best “average” or “mediocre” amp.

 

[fusedbrain]

King of mediocre amps. It has marshall sound but mostly harsh and thin part of it. On green channel sound like JCM800, but without body and feel. Unfortunately those are things what makes JCM great. Lead channel without mods is fizzy and muddy when gain is past noon. I tried to like it and bought it few times but when You ever played good old Marshall, there is no way to accept what DSL do.

I'm pretty much in this camp on the DSL.
Perfectly service-able amp that can cop a few different tones. Some better than others, and good tubes help quite a bit.
Probably best suited as a gigging / beater amp to haul around when you don't want to / can't take out the good stuff.
They are not terrible by any means, and for $350 - $500, they are decent value.
YMMV

 

[Bad.Seed]

I think these amps are much better than their reputation would lead you to believe. If people feel they are harsh and thin on the red channel, they just aren't dialing them in right, more than likely using their eyes , not their ears. The green channel is fatter and fuller, but I don't care for it when I'm playing thrash metal. Otherwise, the green channel is a great, fat, warm Marshall sound.

I typically play a Splawn Quick Rod live for my bands, where my other guitarist also uses a quick rod. I took my JCM 2000 with me recently to a gig and I was loving it. No problem with the tone sounding harsh or thin. It sound full, and cut well even against the Splawn's notorious mids.

One mode I personally would pursue, is replacing the "Deep" Switch with a variable pot. This just allows you to fine tune the resonance of the amp, and make it even more versatile.

 

[Rick Lee]

I put a ClassicTone OT and choke in my DSL50 and it roars with the best of them. I use green channel only and boost with a Friedman BE-OD Deluxe. Cannot get enough of this amp.

 

[sleewell2]

King of mediocre amps. It has marshall sound but mostly harsh and thin part of it. On green channel sound like JCM800, but without body and feel. Unfortunately those are things what makes JCM great. Lead channel without mods is fizzy and muddy when gain is past noon. I tried to like it and bought it few times but when You ever played good old Marshall, there is no way to accept what DSL do.

user error

amazing amps. if you can't get great tones from a DSL it sucks to admit but its not the amp.

 

[rm5153]

I had one a few years ago. With a boost and some eq'ing you can cop a good tone by boosting the low's and lower mids and taking out some of the upper end fizz. Seems like a cheap touring choice for pro guys like Nuno and Reb Beach, although Nuno and Reb could make a Gorilla amp sound killer!

 

[Beandust]

So boosting the green channel makes it a good amp? WTH? So is the green channel good unboosted? I sure hope so, maybe for a clean platform to boosted? Seems grabbing something where both the channels have a desire to play makes it seem like a better choice. 2205/2210 with a clean channel no one uses * back to the future perhaps. The idea of 100 watt 2 channel amp should be somewhat of the primary focus, maybe the green channel smokes the tones of a SLO and the logic just hasnt been discovered. I tried one a couple times and had no interest to purchase based on how it sounded with a guitar. If I have to buy pedals to convince me I want the amp, I wouldn't..I'd look for another amp. They are cheap, and maybe that's why? 400 bucks for 2 good pedals and 280 for the amp NOPE

 

[Rick Lee]

The green channel on a DSL is great. You push in the boost button, dime the volume and use the gain knob for volume. Or balance the volume and gain knobs out to taste. You can easily get old AC/DC tones that way. Anything heavier, you will need a pedal or to use the red channel. A lot of people think the red channel is kind of fuzzy. There are some mods to tame that, if you want to use that channel a lot. I choose not to and am very happy with green and a pedal.

I used my DSL50 for the first set of my last gig and then used my 1987xl for the second set. I like the 1987xl a bit more, but I have to use a master volume box in the loop to control its insane volume. But for costing a fraction of what the 1987xl costs, the DSL50 is a HUGE bang for the buck.

 

[D-Rock]

Boost it with MXR ZW44 and put an EQ in the loop. That'll give you a pretty killer modern Marshall high gain sound.

 

[skullfxr]

I think that the JCM2000 DSL is a decent as Amp for the price
Tubes cab and OD pedals go a long way for me.

 

[Bad.Seed]

So boosting the green channel makes it a good amp? WTH? So is the green channel good unboosted? I sure hope so, maybe for a clean platform to boosted? Seems grabbing something where both the channels have a desire to play makes it seem like a better choice. 2205/2210 with a clean channel no one uses * back to the future perhaps. The idea of 100 watt 2 channel amp should be somewhat of the primary focus, maybe the green channel smokes the tones of a SLO and the logic just hasnt been discovered. I tried one a couple times and had no interest to purchase based on how it sounded with a guitar. If I have to buy pedals to convince me I want the amp, I wouldn't..I'd look for another amp. They are cheap, and maybe that's why? 400 bucks for 2 good pedals and 280 for the amp NOPE

Cool, that's you, and you're pretty obviously in the minority.

I think most guys on this forum use boosts in front of gain channels on their amps to flavor them the way they like. That doesn't make an amp bad.

Also, you're overpaying for your pedals.

 

[Beandust]

So boosting the green channel makes it a good amp? WTH? So is the green channel good unboosted? I sure hope so, maybe for a clean platform to boosted? Seems grabbing something where both the channels have a desire to play makes it seem like a better choice. 2205/2210 with a clean channel no one uses * back to the future perhaps. The idea of 100 watt 2 channel amp should be somewhat of the primary focus, maybe the green channel smokes the tones of a SLO and the logic just hasnt been discovered. I tried one a couple times and had no interest to purchase based on how it sounded with a guitar. If I have to buy pedals to convince me I want the amp, I wouldn't..I'd look for another amp. They are cheap, and maybe that's why? 400 bucks for 2 good pedals and 280 for the amp NOPE

Cool, that's you, and you're pretty obviously in the minority.

I think most guys on this forum use boosts in front of gain channels on their amps to flavor them the way they like. That doesn't make an amp bad.

Also, you're overpaying for your pedals.

Lol, I definitely like boosting amps, I just said I prefer a good platform to start with. Not much on DSL, love Marshall, dont care for the jvm so much either. If the dsl was happening I'd grab one. It's funny one 30 years older cost 3x as much and sounds 3x better. Doubt I am in a minority on that one. word

 

[peterc52]

Guess we’ll see then

I’ll try to shoot a short video tomorrow