Marshall jcm vs dsl

Originally launched as a W and 50W head, as the name suggests the Dual Super Lead (DSL) contains two foot-switchable channels; called Classic Gain and Ultra Gain. The Classic Gain has two modes capable of providing classic Marshall tone and high gain modern tones, taking the player from a style clean right through to the snarl of a JCM The Ultra Gain channel on the other hand also features two modes, mimicking the vibe of a hot-rodded or providing even higher gain and a gut-twisting mid-boost, all at the switch of a button.

Powered by EL34s and housing ECC83s, the remarkable versatility marked the DSL out as the first Marshall amp truly capable of playing any style of music, and upon its release was particularly lauded for its clean tones. On top of this the DSL also featured an effects loop and reverb to add even more adaptability.

Due to high demand and a need for a portable alternative, 20W and 40W combo versions of the DSL followed in , named the DSL and DSL The DSL  also featured a power switch to drop the amp’s output by half meaning it was equally at home on stage, in the studio, or at home.

Fast forward to and Marshall looked to revisit the JCM DSL, and build a new series based around it featuring updated technology. This new DSL family featured a DSLH W and a DSL15H 15W head, as well as the DSL40C 40W and DSL15C 15W combo. The modernised DSL range used largely the same components as the originals but also boasted some standout new features, such as a new resonance control, digital reverb, and a two-way footswitch.

I really love the You can get a lot of different kind of sounds from it because of the Classic/Gain channel, and each of those has a 'boost' button. % of the time I play through the 'Clean' channel but press the button to get the boost and work with it from there. It's not that the Gain channel is bad or anything, I just like playing through the boosted Clean channel with my own pedals because I feel I have much more control over the sound and if I need it to get undistorted, I don't have to change channels and instead, it sounds a bit more natural. The clean channel without the boost is also BEAUTIFUL.

Also, even though the amp doesn't sound too bad on low volumes (but you're right, all tube amps definitely lack in that 'register'), once you're passed 4, you hear that noticeable improvement but it really has some bite in the

I haven't played the 50 nearly as much as the (and when I did try it out, it was a while ago) so I probably can't give you the most accurate comparison but I remember liking the natural overdrive much more on the , plus I desperately needed the power. The bassist in my group has a GK 8x12 cab with a watt head and the drummer is just out of his mind so I needed some brute force to hold my own.

Overall, it definitely made a lot of sense for me to get the but I even still have room to be much louder and I like that, and I think it is that principle that would lead me to recommend the It all depends on the venue and I usually average on having it on anywhere from but a few weeks ago, we played inside a lecture hall at my school and I had it on about and it sounded great. I was far from limited in terms of volume but could maintain it fairly low and still have it sound nice.

You can also obviously just crank the amp up and instead utilize the controls on the guitar more to do some extra tweaking.

Again, I can't give you the best comparison to the 50 but I like having the extra firepower on hand. You never know when you will need it. It's not that the 50 is weak by any stretch of the imagination, I just like the ability to really blast it when needed.

Played a DSL head for years, my first "real" half stack, until I realized that dynamics could exist beneath absolutely ear splitting levels in other amps <- the flaw in the DSL not present in every Marshall like amp IMHO.
I don't miss it at all and think we need another high gain marshall not at all, but if someone wants it I won't argue against it, it just didn't have an especially unique character.
Its there if you take any of the other high gain marshalls and compress it a bit IMHO.

Joe can run that thing wide open and that's the one time it shines, but short of an arena like Joe, there is no point in being that loud and I never could keep the vibe with a other stuff in the chain to cut down the dbs (tried the usual stuff from THD and others)

The thing that opened my eyes and changed my playing was the Carvin Legacy (lower gain) and then a VHT Deliverance (high gain and before the Fryette spin off).
What dynamics. What touch response. A totally different character on two levels of course, but with an EQ in the loop of the Legacy and a dirt pedal out front I could do things that were literally impossible with the DSL.

They are all gathering dust or sold. The AF2, a matrix, and an Atomic Wedge replaced them all.

-P

theghostnow wrote:great raw classic sound where legends and their songs were made from.