Marshal DSL40CR thoughts

[BoneDigger]

What's is the general consensus on this amp? I have read reviews but I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has owned one or tried it out.

[Chickee]

Its beautiful to look at. its heavy for its size. high gain and higher gain are its place in life. Its no fender clean platform. Its a Marshall full stack for apartment dwellers. It roars. I returned it right away even though its so good looking😭

[mistercoffee1]

I've had mine since September 2018. Its both my gigging amp (1-2 gigs/month), as well as my home amp.
I happen to love the mid-gain levels of this amp. It works great with single coil as well as humbuckers, and has some sufficient meat to the sound.
High gain sounds great too, but I don't live there too much these days.
Clean channel is pretty squishy sounding, and will compress. There's not a ton of sparkling Fender-clean headroom there, but it still has a cool vibe going. Its a mid-scooped sounding amp, especially that clean channel. I was pleasantly surprised with the clean side, I do have to say I like it.
Coming from a previous JCM900, this is the first Marshall that I've had where I don't feel the need to use an attenuator. I think it does a very good job even at living-room-TV volumes. And at gigging volumes, its even better.

[Dru Edwards]

Hey Todd, I too have read plenty of reviews over the past year. Unfortunately I haven't played one though. I was actually looking into the 20 watt head but as far as Marshalls go it's a very well received amp.

Are you looking into it for moderate gain?

[BoneDigger]

I am. I have a Princeton Reverb but would like something for overdriven stuff. Nothing too heavy though. Maybe Mark Knopfler type of overdriven sound.

[Dru Edwards]

Hey Todd, Guitar Center has a 15% off President's Day week-end special. Go give one a try. Also try the 20w as well. I've read tons of great reviews on that one (the head).

[BoneDigger]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Hey Todd, Guitar Center has a 15% off President's Day week-end special. Go give one a try. Also try the 20w as well. I've read tons of great reviews on that one (the head).

I may just do that!

[Shades of Blue]

I suggest the DSL20 head or 1x12 combo. I had the DSL40 and it is loud and cuttingly bright. The 20 is still loud and bright, but more manageable. I think that with the treble and presence dialed way back, it really sounds pretty good. The preamp distortion is a little farty, so it needs to have some volume behind it to sound smooth. When you get it dialed in though, it is nice.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by Shades of Blue

I suggest the DSL20 head or 1x12 combo. I had the DSL40 and it is loud and cuttingly bright. The 20 is still loud and bright, but more manageable. I think that with the treble and presence dialed way back, it really sounds pretty good. The preamp distortion is a little farty, so it needs to have some volume behind it to sound smooth. When you get it dialed in though, it is nice.

The DSL20HR (head) sounds like a great amp. It's the head I'll look for.

One difference between the 20w and 40w cab is that the speaker is different, Seventy 80 vs V-Type, with the Seventy 80 being considered an economy speaker.

[mistercoffee1]

Originally Posted by Shades of Blue

I suggest the DSL20 head or 1x12 combo. I had the DSL40 and it is loud and cuttingly bright. The 20 is still loud and bright, but more manageable. I think that with the treble and presence dialed way back, it really sounds pretty good. The preamp distortion is a little farty, so it needs to have some volume behind it to sound smooth. When you get it dialed in though, it is nice.

Not the case with the DSL40CR vs the DSL40C.
They did a great job with the CR where it works great at low volumes, I ditched my attenuator.

[Shades of Blue]

Originally Posted by mistercoffee1

Not the case with the DSL40CR vs the DSL40C.
They did a great job with the CR where it works great at low volumes, I ditched my attenuator.

That's great if you like the DSL40's preamp gain sound. I honestly find it fizzy and prefer a little volume to smooth it out.

[Jaden]

Originally Posted by Shades of Blue

That's great if you like the DSL40's preamp gain sound. I honestly find it fizzy and prefer a little volume to smooth it out.

Fizzy preamp gain reads pretty common - comes with the territory - on the other hand the fat midrange you have described of the Origin is more to my liking, come to think of it, and is shared by the Fender Blues Junior. The Origin reads of the ‘original’ Marshall tweaks to the Bassman which resulted in a bright, colourful and prominent midrange wholly dependent on output power stage (volume) for gain, and not the modern scooped midrange of the DSL. I’m sure I would be happy with the Origin and make it work.