Marshall DSL 401

[telecaster69]

Anyone have or use a Marshall DSL 401? It's an all Tube Combo 1x12". I'm looking at getting one....

[big jimmy]

my son has the 201, same just 20 watts. replaced speaker and swapped tubes. Has a good marshall tone but not the best. He plays mostly humbuckers thru it and sounds really good cranked. I put a mini mass in the mix to keep wife happy and still sounds good. not the best but for the price used it was good deal.

[telecaster69]

I"m getting one this week because It's an all tube amp and I love Marshall..I think that I will swap the speaker with a Celestion Vintage 30....maybe throw some JJ tubes in eventually....I heard they get hot in the rear panel and some people have to use a fan to keep them cool...is that true?

[Daddy Elmis]

I've had the DSL201 for a few years. I happen to think it's a very good sounding amp. The overdrive channel gets outta hand real quick, but I find that true for my tastes in almost all channel switching amps. I typically use the clean channel, put the Master Vol to 7+, and the gain to 4 or so, so it just has a bit of breakup when the guitar vol is dimed, and cleans up as you back off. My 201 has stock spkr and non-stock tubes.

The 401 initially had a problem with overheating (it's circuit card is virtually identical to the 201, with the addition of 2 more EL84's and this is what caused the problem). I understand Marshall fixed that problem in later versions. Some folks just put a clip-on fan on the back of the amp to cool it off.

Personally, I think the 201/401 is a very nice segment of the Marshall line -- it's a bit more of a "modern" Marshall tone, and of course is EL84 rather than `34, but does a nice job of crunchy/clean, and if you mind the overdrive channel's gain setting and tone controls, you can get into Angus territory.

[bluesfordan]

Had one, early model. I liked it a lot. I used mostly the green channel and the yellow channel. Red was way too over the top for me, gain wise. It got very very hot when run for more than 45 minutes or so. The knob on the treble pot got broken off at the base of the shaft, by a bungee cord when I packed the amp in my car. Took over 3 months for it to come back from the authorized Marshall repair place. Developed a nasty crackle that I could never get rid of. Stupid pots and tube sockets are mounted on the pc boards. Sound great until something needs to be replaced, then it is a crapshoot.

Vastly overpriced, new, you are paying for their legacy, not their quality.

[Veitchy]

Originally Posted by bluesfordan

Vastly overpriced, new, you are paying for their legacy, not their quality.

+1. Ive been looking at some reviews of multi-channel Marshalls on Harmony Central. It would seem that their quality control has gone pacific recently. Apparently their footswitches are pretty week too.

[PlankSpanker]

I got a Marshall DSL-401 this weekend. It's a mixed bag:

Pro:
- Great sound in a portable package
- Cleans are better than you might expect for a Marshall
- You can tweak these amps and make them do things against their will... ;)

Con:
- Way overpriced. @ $1200 retail, I got mine use (mint) for $400. A comparable Fender (Deluxe Reverb lets say) is about twice the amp at half the cost.
- Any 401 made before 2003 (August?) has heating problems and will actually melt the solder on the PCB over the rectifier tube socket. You will need a fan if you get one of these older models.
- There is a distinct drop in bass response on the drive channel. Some people use EQ's to offset this, some people clip a couple of the caps, and some people don't seem to care.
- Stock tubes and speakers are JUNK! I immediately swapped for a Celestion Vintage 30 and JJ tubes across the board and it's a different amp. As a note: not all tubes fit in the sockets, JJ's do. It may not be possible to bias the JJ's to spec; they seem to be more efficient and can't necessarily get up to the 1375 mA Marshall spec. Most people think Marshall runs the amps too hot anyway, so this may not be a problem.
- If you like the amp you will eventually be lusting after a 4x12; that's sort of par for a Marshall.

Verdict:
It's a Marshall; quirky but it has "the sound". A Telecaster is a surprisingly good match for a DSL-401 since they both have passive/aggressive tendencies. I'll probably keep mine for recording; not 100% thrilled but not aware of anything better....

[telecaster69]

I actually have a brand new telecaster so I'm looking forward to hearing it thorugh the marshall dsl 401...I'll have to check the serial number to see when it was made...I think it's only a year old so hopefully it doesn't have the heating problem..can't hurt to get a clip on fan anyways...but I've already planned on getting new JJ tubes and the Vintage 30 speaker....perfect amp for me!!

[t0m]

A friend of mine has a DSL50 head and I dont really like it. The clean/clean crunch is ok but I dislike the distortion channel. I much prefer my Laney GH50L ;)

[FarmerRoy]

I've had mine for almost 3 years. I bought it new at a going out of business sale for $500 and figured if it was a dog I could sell it and maybe make a few bucks. I like it and don't have any intentions of selling it at this point! When they first came out, they sold for under $700, but over the last several years the price has gone sky high.....if they weren't so danged expensive, I think you would see a lot more DSL401s. But used ones can be found for a reasonable price.....just make sure the serial # reads M-2003-18-0000-0 or newer and you'll be good to go with the overheating problem corrections. Anything older and you may want to do a fan mod....do a search, there are several out there. Plus the Vintage 30 speaker swap is a good idea. I put an Emminence Tonker in mine and like it also. The clean channel is very good, takes pedals well if you're so inclined, and turning up the gain yields some great blues. The Overdrive channels can be pretty heavy and loses some bass. If you find that OD1 is too buzzy and OD2 is so over the top as to not be useable......put a 12DW7 tube in V2 (the preamp tube next to the one with the metal cover). I did this and was pleased with the results. The clean channel won't change, but the OD will be tamed and actually sound more like an older Marshall. For under $20 you can decide if you like it or not. Check out this link for more interesting info on the 401...........

http://barney.usu.edu/~davbradshaw/amps/dsl401/

BTW.......it's a surprisingly good amp with most Telecasters.

****When you swap speakers, don't ditch the original one. Buy some Birch plywood, tolex, hardware and speaker cloth, take the dimensions from the amp and build yourself an extension cabinet. It's not a bad speaker and you'll be amazed at how good the 401 sounds as a "mini-stack"! If you can't build it yourself, check the pawn shops for an old 1X12 cabinet and use the speaker that way.****

[Veitchy]

Deleted.