Marshall DSL Question

[splawner]

Looking to buy a DSL. Is there any difference from the older JCM2000 than the newer ones as far as sounding better?

 

[fek]

Great question. I have a new one so that is where my take is coming from.

The new ones are marketed to be revoiced a little on the gain channel to take away some of the shrill highs and to make the OD2 channel more usable. I think it sounds pretty good. Having dual masters is bonus as well.

Others will say that the early models sound better. Maybe just more familiar to that version? I don't know. Cranky... did a comparison vid of the new vs previous model that should be easy enough to find on Youtube.

 

[misterspockyall]

Spring reverb on the originals as well. Could be a plus or minus depending on your opinion.

 

[splawner]

Great question. I have a new one so that is where my take is coming from.

The new ones are marketed to be revoiced a little on the gain channel to take away some of the shrill highs and to make the OD2 channel more usable. I think it sounds pretty good. Having dual masters is bonus as well.

Others will say that the early models sound better. Maybe just more familiar to that version? I don't know. Cranky... did a comparison vid of the new vs previous model that should be easy enough to find on Youtube.

Ya...I’m curious if anyone here had both and thought they would be able to say which one sounded better

 

[trenolds39]

I have an earlier JCM2000 DSL100 head and can echo Fek's concern about shrillness on the gain channel. I couldn't get rid of the harshness until I ditched my 1960A cab for an Orange 2x12 with V30s. Now I actually enjoy the amp. Running the gain channel on Lead1 with a boost will give you some pretty great tones, IMO. I think the amp takes pedals pretty well and is overall pretty versatile for the money, considering what they go for second hand.

 

[fek]

Great question. I have a new one so that is where my take is coming from.

Cranky... did a comparison vid of the new vs previous model that should be easy enough to find on Youtube.

Ya...I’m curious if anyone here had both and thought they would be able to say which one sounded better

Here is the vid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKDVt1Rj1vo

 

[crankyrayhanky]

Great question. I have a new one so that is where my take is coming from.

The new ones are marketed to be revoiced a little on the gain channel to take away some of the shrill highs and to make the OD2 channel more usable. I think it sounds pretty good. Having dual masters is bonus as well.

Others will say that the early models sound better. Maybe just more familiar to that version? I don't know. Cranky... did a comparison vid of the new vs previous model that should be easy enough to find on Youtube.

Ya...I’m curious if anyone here had both and thought they would be able to say which one sounded better

Yes, I liked the newer HR better and would look for that if possible. But they were close enough that I wouldn't go dump an H for cheap cheap for the upgrade to a new HR. They were very close on the cleans and crunch which is where the amp shines....but for high gain stuff the newer HR had a tighter low end and a slightly smoother high. There's a lot of amp there to be a great gigging workhorse amp.

But yeah, I flipped it lol

 

[Rick Lee]

I had a JCM2000 and 100H, both with choke and tranny upgrade, A/B'ed them for weeks. The 100H won every day, sold the JCM2000. I have not played the very latest version yet.

 

[guitarbilly74]

I like the H version the best, but the 2000 is great too. I did not like the new HR version and returned it within a week. It's a good concept but it was poorly implemented.

 

[splawner]

I like the H version the best, but the 2000 is great too. I did not like the new HR version and returned it within a week. It's a good concept but it was poorly implemented.

So what do you feel the difference was in the both?

 

[splawner]

I had a JCM2000 and 100H, both with choke and tranny upgrade, A/B'ed them for weeks. The 100H won every day, sold the JCM2000. I have not played the very latest version yet.

Do you feel the newer one was tighter in the bass? Did they both have the same amount of gain?

 

[Rick Lee]

I had a JCM2000 and 100H, both with choke and tranny upgrade, A/B'ed them for weeks. The 100H won every day, sold the JCM2000. I have not played the very latest version yet.

Do you feel the newer one was tighter in the bass? Did they both have the same amount of gain?

Yes and yes, thought I don't really use the red channel much. I prefer green with a boost.

 

[splawner]

I had a JCM2000 and 100H, both with choke and tranny upgrade, A/B'ed them for weeks. The 100H won every day, sold the JCM2000. I have not played the very latest version yet.

Do you feel the newer one was tighter in the bass? Did they both have the same amount of gain?

Yes and yes, thought I don't really use the red channel much. I prefer green with a boost.

So if I was buying to boost the green channel would the jcm2000 work as well as the newer ones? Only reason is that I can get a great condition jcm2000 for 500.00 from a local sale...thanks Rick

 

[Rick Lee]

If the JCM2000 is well-sorted with all the fixes, then that's a good price. I got my 100H for $450 delivered and then did the mods. The 100H has none of the issues the JCM2000s had, though most of the JCM2000s that had issues have had them addressed by now. They're getting kind of old. It wasn't a blowout with the 100H, but it always sounded a tad better to me.

At the moment I'm A/B'ing a '79 2203 and '78 2259 and every effing day one sounds better than the other and neither beats the other two days in a row. So maybe it's just me.