DSL 100 users...

[iplayloudly]

Is your amp extremely bright?

I recently bought a DSL 100 head super cheap the other day and I swear its the brightest amp I have ever heard. To the point where I wonder if something is wrong with it. I know I probably sound like a Marshall NOOB but I'm not. I've been playing guitar for 17 years, and played through hundreds of amps in my life. This isn't my first marshall either.

But this is my first DSL and I find the only setting I really like it is:
Presence: 0
Treble: 0
Mid: 8
Bass: 2

If I turn the bass up past 2 or 3 it just gets really boomy. I know on most other amps, these settings would sound you had a blanket over your cab.

But it makes me wonder since I've looked all over the net for typical settings on this amp, and most everyone seems to like all the EQ knobs right in the middle, or close to it. If I do that on mine, it sounds like shrill icepick. Like a SS Crate combo with a 6" speaker. Actually that may sound better...

The amp is only about 2 or 3 years old, and appears to be in mint condition. I play through an avatar 212, same cab I use with my other heads. The cab has a Celestion g12K-85 and an Eminence V12.

edit: I've also recently tried it through a marshall 1960a cab, with the same results.

 

[Axisman]

Try dropping the mids some. That may help with your brightness issue. I play a DSL 50 and usually rin my mids about noon.

 

[tweed]

I have a 50 I gig with and it sounds great. Added a choke and it made a WORLD of difference for me, especially at gig volumes. I use a custom 2x12 with g12h30's. I'm guessing your speakers and/or pickups in your guitar may be causing the brightness.

Are you using HB's in your guitar with ceramic magnets or A8's?...

You can also try throwing a tone sucking pedal in the mix, like an old crybaby, to help things out. ; ) Sometimes having a "tone sucker" in the mix isn't a bad thing.