Marshall DSL50

The Jcm 2000 DSL50 is a 50 watt, el34 driven amplifier that really stood apart from the rest of the 2000 series amps alongside its bigger brother the DSL100. The amp feature 2 foot switchable channels that share a global EQ. The amp has a decent number of tone shaping options including a deep switch 2 modes per channel that can be toggled between on the front panel, as well as separate EQ and gain controls for each channel. Effects loop is present on this amp and works pretty decently considering the era and pricing of this amp. The look is typical marshall, but has much less class than the 800 series and other prior models.

UTILIZATION

The DSL 50 and DSL 100 were a departure of sorts from the rest of the 2000 series amplifiers. These two offerings have a much more natural sounding tube distortion to them and are perfectly passable in the professional environment. The abundance of these on the used market for such low prices make them easily replaceable when on the road-- and this reduces anxieties greatly in the touring environment. With that said, the DSL50 had no reliability issues at all for me and sounded great when turned up to gigging volumes, everytime.

SOUNDS

I played through the DSL 50 with a Gibson SG junior. Mesa boogie 4x12. Carbon copy delay in loop.

The amp's clean sounds are not exactly breathtaking, but when paired with the onboard reverb, does the job fine. The ultra channel seemed to have too much gain available and I found myself rolling back the dial to get a tame sound. The crunch setting on channel 1 is a great straight forward marshall tone and when paired with pedals can deliver a lot for the money.

OVERALL OPINION

The Jcm 2000 series has been around the block. Having been the most attainable tube amp to the generation that made pop punk and harcore music a big deal, it's been spotted on a lot of stage and heard in a lot of recordings. It's essentially a working man's solution for getting a useable mid to high gain sound without venturing into the more expensive mesa boogie offerings. When you look at it in this light, the amp is an amazing value. Leave your nitpicks at the door and this could be the perfect amp for you.

Marshall really took a big step up from the JCM 900 series with the JCM 2000. 50 watts and lots of versatility make this a very nice amp for the money.Two winged C EL34 power tubes came stock and all Marshall preamps. Comes with two channels and allows for shimmering clean, ultra gain and classic gain. Reverb controls for both channels and a deep and tone shift button. Series effects loop and footswitch round out the features.

UTILIZATION

As soon as you plug into the DSL50, it becomes clear that this thing can be a beast. The tone shift button takes you into compression heaven and the deep layers huge amounts of bass on as well. The ultra gain setting is just over the top metal madness. When you feel a bit more mellow, the classic gain channel is a bit more tame and you can get a very open sound by limiting the compression with the Tone shift and turning off the deep control.

SOUNDS

The star of this amp for me is the clean channel. I have had two of these DSLs and the clean just does not get any better than this amp. I also like the classic gain channel for exactly that, classic rock tones. The ultra gain channel definately has lots of gain BUT how much is useable? It has a reputation of being very buzzy sounding and that's somewhat true. The dilemma is that the classic gain doesn't go far enough and the ultra is just too much. You can try and presence the ultra channel down a bit and it helps but still a bit buzzy and harsh. I even went so far as to have that channel modded by VooDoo amps and it helped a bit for sure but still not quite to my liking.

OVERALL OPINION

Bottom line is that for the price, you can easily use this as a main amp for gigs to cover just about anything but hardcore metal. Great clean channel, decent classic gain channel and lots of gain in the ultra setting if you can tame it. Very versatile in frequency adjustments with the deep and the tone shift. You can grab one on the used market for around $600 and for that price it's a no brainer. Speaking as a tone snob, a modded JCM 800 has a better gain tone but that's it. This gets you close with many other options, settings, channels and a loop. The price is right for the value it brings.

this head and cabinet were purchased brand new back when the jcm 2ooo unit just hit the market. i scored the head for around 85o bones and the cab for like 5oo or something.

this is a classic example of unparalled marshall tone and versatility. this head features a clean channel (green light) that is literally CRYSTAL clear with a volume and gain knob. there's also a boost that gives it what ill call "classic" overdrive sound (like ac/dc or led zeppelin.)

the overdrive channel (red light) has the same volume and gain features and roars like a mother. it sounds a bit like the jcm 8oo except it has a little more classic crisp and responds warmly to your playing dynamics. the extra boost on the channel is a little bit much for me because i dont like that wack distortion overdose out the ass nu-metal sound. but if thats your bag, than this has it also. it also comes with spring reverb for each individual channel (nice!), bass, treble, middle, presence, and tone shift. in the back you got your effects loops various ohm jacks, extension jacks, foot switch jacks blah blah blah.

the only thing i dont like about the head is how fragile it is. i played out alot and played hard and my spring reverb is busted. it could have been a number of things, but it probably was me being an idiot. the other thing i dont like is the tone shift feature. if you're going to record with this head and the tone shift is on, it will cut all the balls off your amp and give you a half ass solid state sound. it is evil.

the construction of the cab and head are the typical tank style that marshall normally makes. although i ripped a bunch of the tolex over the years the sound is never affected. be careful with the spring reverb and watch your heat because it gets hot inside the head. nice gold paneling on the head and matching gold grill that covers the tubes and guts of the head.

this amp kicks ass 12o% A+++ it's built like a tank and covers every tone marshall has made from the 5o's through today in one head. excellent reverb (when it was alive) and tons of tone to choose from. expensive but guaranteed for life and probably worth good $$$ in 3o years or so.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

I bought this amp in perfect condtion at Guitar Center for $879 used & retailing new at $1050. Not bad eh?
I bought it about a year ago and i wanted to buy a Mesa Boogie Rectifecer and i had only 1100 with me, so I tried the Marshall and the Mesa.

The Marshall sounded superb with its holiness clean channel. The distorion was alright, you had to crank it up to get the good distortion going. I wish it had as much disortion as the Mesa, but the Mesa was difficult to use with too many channels ans shit. Also it had a horrible clean channel. The Marsahll had a more well rounded basis. It still delivered everything thing i needed to play Iron Maiden to Metallica to Jason becker to even the low stuff like Slipknot and Korn. It looks incredible and has brilliant gold finsih to it.

The volume had to be cranked to apprectiae the true Marshall disortion and gain, but i i just use a pedal for lower volumes. I use a Zoom 606 and by the way that is the best $100 for a multi effects pedal EVER!!!! a bit pricy as well, but thats marshall.

Very durable. Its on the heavy side for weight, but there are defintly heavier heads though.

I would say defintly that this is a great amp and Marshall has never made a bad amp ever. If u want a godlike clean and satanlike distortion, here it is. The all tube 50 watts is definlty loud enough for ANY club, gig, show, or venue. if you want a great amp check the DSL50 head out! You won't be disapointed.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com