need opinions on the dsl 100

Posted: Tue Mar 05, 2013 9:17 pm

i getting a new dsl100 i hope

tell me what u can bout thesee amps

i like alot of boottom end

Posted: Tue Mar 05, 2013 9:28 pm

more info i play metal i love heavy muting botttom end keep my mids around 4

i dont know whatelse to say im wanting a marshall but i dont want alot of mids

Joined: 31 Mar 2006 Posts: 2018

The high gain channel on the Dsl is pretty flubby and muddy with the deep switch engaged. I much prefer my valvestate 8100 for metal tones. Much tighter and brutal. Plus it has the mid contour control which helps eq in more metal type tones.

Posted: Tue Mar 05, 2013 10:59 pm

cantt you run the 10band eq on the dsl

Joined: 30 Nov 2003 Posts: 10593 Location: Canada

The DSL was more of a killer high gain hard rock tone then modern metal tone... I really liked them.

Joined: 21 Sep 2010 Posts: 447

buy a 5150 save yourself the letdown.

Posted: Tue Mar 05, 2013 11:36 pm

Garbage... might as well start beating your head against the wall now!!! Laughing

5150, Mesa Rectifryer or something of the sort

Joined: 04 Jun 2012 Posts: 350 Location: South-West Ohio

The original DSL's were really good I thought.The problem is that now theya re all made in Vietnam and I can notice a sound differance. I cant; explain why but it is there. I use dto havea TSL and played metal with it and loved it [though some people did have some reliability problems with TSL's - I never did... lucky?].

I agree with those above - for a new DSL I'd skip and buy the 5150 II or 6505+ as I know you like the extreme metal stuff - very scooped mids and ultra high gain.

Joined: 31 Mar 2006 Posts: 2018

revolutionman wrote:

cantt you run the 10band eq on the dsl

Yeah you can use an eq, but for some reason they still dont do metal that well. I love mine for hot rodded rock tones, but I could never get a good tight punchy high gain tone from it. Like Randy said, a 5150 would be a much better choice around the same price.

Joined: 21 Sep 2010 Posts: 447

Marshalls are great amps. In my opinion not great metal amps. When I see you worried about "marshally midrange" that should be a good indicator that you won't like them. Shoot man, almost every guitar center in the us has a dsl in stock. Go play one and you be the judge. If you want tonal heaven, save up and buy a bogner uberschall. They kind of have a Marshall type od but total different tonal capabilities. But in the 6-700 dollar range, a 5150 for metal is really really hard to beat. You get up higher in the 1k-15k range, you have some more options. The new reborn triple recs kill. 5150III, Uberschall, Dual/Triple rec, splawn nitro, etc are all some great choices for metal. I am so glad I saved for my uber. I have played everything and owned about 50 different amps, and it's my favorite by far.

Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 12:32 am

what bout 6505

Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 1:27 am

revolutionman wrote:

what bout 6505

same as the 5150

Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 1:39 am

good imma try to get one

Joined: 20 Aug 2008 Posts: 2182 Location: New York City

If you're looking for a budget metal amp - Bugera 333xl

If you have a fair few dollars to spend - Peavey 6505+

If you have a lot of money to burn - ENGL Powerball II

If you're rich - Axe FX II Ultra or newest Kemper Profiling Amp.

But if you're a home guitarist and won't crank the volume knob on these tube amps, get a low wattage amp. I'm getting rid of my Bugera 6262 because I can't get the best tone out of it with low volume (didn't do my research) so I spoke to Lanning and am probably gonna get a Hughes and Kettner Tubemeister 36 or 18 and leave it at 5 or 1 watt and crank that volume knob up to get some tube saturation.

Joined: 20 Mar 2007 Posts: 2472 Location: Ontario, Canada

I have one of the new DSL 100's and love it!
Keep in mind though that I don't play any metal, just rock.

When I was out testing amps, Dennis and I tried the 5150 (50w) and I thought it sounded like s#it. It sounded ok I suppose, but it definitely seemed like a one trick pony as far as might tastes go. Definitely not worth the price.

You're best off trying out several amps to see which "you" prefer the most.

Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Posts: 824

shorty85 wrote:

I have one of the new DSL 100's and love it!
Keep in mind though that I don't play any metal, just rock.

When I was out testing amps, Dennis and I tried the 5150 (50w) and I thought it sounded like s#it. It sounded ok I suppose, but it definitely seemed like a one trick pony as far as might tastes go. Definitely not worth the price.

You're best off trying out several amps to see which "you" prefer the most.

The whole recto thing gets lame QUICK. I had a single and it sounded good low vol but had no balls and tone would change way to much as vol went up. same with the duel ... sound great with od808 but as soon as vol go up .. Hope you like tweaking man

Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Posts: 824

I would take a 5150 over a dsl or tsl any day of the week ... hellbound is right those 8100 heads sound great for short money. Im looking for one now

Joined: 10 Feb 2006 Posts: 1373 Location: Lutz, Fl.

I think it was about 2 years ago I suggested you try out a Genz Benz El Diablo. For me it was a Marshall killer. Think about this. It's an El-34 based amp, but you can put 6L6's in it. You just throw a switch. It is a 4 channel amp. Four! Channels. It has a super wide EQ, so you can have a lot of mids, or you can scoop the crap out of them. When the amp first came out it was running $1100 to $1400. Now I've seen them go used for $500 just because people don't know what they are. It does take a while to get them dialed in, but once you do they are great. I will admit though, I do not like the Genz Benz speakers. I use my Marshall cab with Celestion 75's, and it just sounds fantastic. If you see one somewhere, do yourself a favor and try it out. It will change the way you think about playing guitar. (Ok, I apologize for that overly dramatic statement.) But I think you will like it. And for what they are running used, you can get a lot more amp for less than what other amps are running.

Edit: Here's a pretty good demo of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHs9rL48ASk

Joined: 13 Feb 2004 Posts: 5603 Location: phoenix az.

alot said here well first off they are right if ur looking for plug and play hot metal sound the distortion channels suck.All i use are dsl marshalls.But dont let these guys steer u into buying a peavey just yet because i gotta tell u with my amptweaker tight metal into the clean channel i get the most brutal crunchy bassy tone around!Very tight with tons of low end i set all my levels at 12oclock all the way across gain and all with bass boost on.My amp slays peaveys all day long
heres a video check it out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AmsRp9GOLw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVI76cVIiIM
and in my other band for an even more bassy tone i use a line 6 m13 with line 6 drive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qeAlDbJsi7o#!

or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gPpYzDsOS4

if ur not afraid of a pedal these amps have more low end than any other amp ive used and they can take a major beating ive been gigging mine for years.

im tellin ya preamp the clean channel and u can get crunch from hell

or buy a peavey and have paper tone ur choice.

To be fair ive owned a mesa road king and a 6505 and i ended up with the marshall.dont have pedal phobia!

if ur not into major midrange avoid the 6505 and the mesa if u want low end these amps have it if u want plug and play crunch with low end check out the new Randall stuff its really great the thrasher and the new rg thing are impressive!Orange amps with the sweep frequency knob has some great tone to i liked them.

Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 8:13 am

My take, I like it. Try the old English versions up against the new ones from Charlie land. Maybe you'll save a few bucks too. I see the used ones going for as little a $600. I used one that my other guitarist let me use, because I didn't want to run my MKIIC+s against his JCM 2000. It just wouldn't have sounded right. It's a killer amp in the right hands. I know of guys that can make a rectifier, 6505, 5150 sound like poop. Gary Moore made a JCM2000 sound great. Go listen to the Monsters of Rock DVD. Rob is another that makes the DSL sound great.

Oh, and I never pressed the ultra gain button on. It sounded too muddy to me.

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

revolutionman wrote:

i like alot of boottom end

Buy a Dual Rectifier and matching cab. Then you can shake your bowels out of your anus with all the low end. The 6505 doesn't have a lot of low end. It's more of a mid heavy amp. Even with the resonance cranked it's more of a low mid then a deep low. You can spend $1550 though and get a Splawn Supercomp. (Single Channel Nitro). That amp will wreck you for just about anything else you will find in that price range. It doesn't need any pedals and will play anything from gritty rock to the heaviest death metal.

Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 11:32 am

I have the 50 watt British-made version. The 50 sounds slightly different to the 100, but they're good amps nonetheless. Like others have said, it depends on what you plan on using it for.

Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 1:04 pm

I loved my UK made DSL100

The last thing you want to buy is a Marshall if your worried about mids

That said, I have a USA 6505 2x12 combo that I would trade straight up for a DSL100 if someone has one. I like mids, they keep you honest, you can't be a sloppy player and have a Marshall because it will show

and mids are where the angry lives as my buddy Brandon is fond saying Cool

Joined: 21 Sep 2010 Posts: 447

If your using a pedal to drive the clean channel of a marshall, then in my opinion you just bought a really expensive power amp. I want my gain from the gain channel in the head, through its preamp tubes. Rob your tone does sound good as heck though, and I'm not taking a stab at you at all. Just when I'm buying an amp for its own individual tone I want it to make it happen on it's own. The rectifiers have way more bass response than the 5150 does. But theres a big price gap between the two. For under 700 bucks, there isn't a better metal amp than the 6505/5150. Just look at every rig that every new metal band has and what will you find? And I don't hate Marshalls. For a slower more open metal theyre good but for tight and percussive metal they are a little flubby for me personally.

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 2131

RobBouchardDeanml wrote:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AmsRp9GOLw

Sweet! Killer song

Joined: 03 May 2008 Posts: 6629 Location: Minnesota

Get a Line 6 Spider XXIV. It has Brutal Metal Tonez.

Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Posts: 824

RobBouchardDeanml wrote:

alot said here well first off they are right if ur looking for plug and play hot metal sound the distortion channels suck.All i use are dsl marshalls.But dont let these guys steer u into buying a peavey just yet because i gotta tell u with my amptweaker tight metal into the clean channel i get the most brutal crunchy bassy tone around!Very tight with tons of low end i set all my levels at 12oclock all the way across gain and all with bass boost on.My amp slays peaveys all day long
heres a video check it out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AmsRp9GOLw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVI76cVIiIM
and in my other band for an even more bassy tone i use a line 6 m13 with line 6 drive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qeAlDbJsi7o#!

or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gPpYzDsOS4

if ur not afraid of a pedal these amps have more low end than any other amp ive used and they can take a major beating ive been gigging mine for years.

im tellin ya preamp the clean channel and u can get crunch from hell

or buy a peavey and have paper tone ur choice.

To be fair ive owned a mesa road king and a 6505 and i ended up with the marshall.dont have pedal phobia!

if ur not into major midrange avoid the 6505 and the mesa if u want low end these amps have it if u want plug and play crunch with low end check out the new Randall stuff its really great the thrasher and the new rg thing are impressive!Orange amps with the sweep frequency knob has some great tone to i liked them.

Major midrange with a rectifier ?? mmm maybe my two are broke. If you like that killswitch engage tone get a rectifier and boost it with a maxon od808.. the end. but again they can be a pain in the ass at some time if you dont no how to use the eq as mesa wants.

Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Posts: 824

Lanning is Killdozer wrote:

revolutionman wrote:

i like alot of boottom end

Buy a Dual Rectifier and matching cab. Then you can shake your bowels out of your anus with all the low end. The 6505 doesn't have a lot of low end. It's more of a mid heavy amp. Even with the resonance cranked it's more of a low mid then a deep low. You can spend $1550 though and get a Splawn Supercomp. (Single Channel Nitro). That amp will wreck you for just about anything else you will find in that price range. It doesn't need any pedals and will play anything from gritty rock to the heaviest death metal.

This is great info in my book. who ever says a duel rec has no low end is a retard Laughing

I have matching cabs for mine . I have tried a lead marshall cab and it sucked with the rec. Its the last amp i would say has a STRONG mid voice.

Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Posts: 824

koury73 wrote:

If your using a pedal to drive the clean channel of a marshall, then in my opinion you just bought a really expensive power amp. I want my gain from the gain channel in the head, through its preamp tubes. Rob your tone does sound good as heck though, and I'm not taking a stab at you at all. Just when I'm buying an amp for its own individual tone I want it to make it happen on it's own. The rectifiers have way more bass response than the 5150 does. But theres a big price gap between the two. For under 700 bucks, there isn't a better metal amp than the 6505/5150. Just look at every rig that every new metal band has and what will you find? And I don't hate Marshalls. For a slower more open metal theyre good but for tight and percussive metal they are a little flubby for me personally.

another +1

Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 4:57 pm

I, too, have a DSL100, and I like it. I have no problems at all with any 'muddy' sound, unless the guitar has crappy pups. The deep end boost will make any pickups sound more full, and my pickups range from cheap Squier Jaguar (with 1m pot - very bright) to JB). Basically, any pickup that sounds bad on my DSL100 would sound bad on any amplifier, IMHO!

I also have a Peavey Windsor head (100W tube) that almost sounds as good, but only has one channel and no reverb (not bad for $250, new - gotta love MF closeouts).

Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Posts: 824

60srocker wrote:

I, too, have a DSL100, and I like it. I have no problems at all with any 'muddy' sound, unless the guitar has crappy pups. The deep end boost will make any pickups sound more full, and my pickups range from cheap Squier Jaguar (with 1m pot - very bright) to JB). Basically, any pickup that sounds bad on my DSL100 would sound bad on any amplifier, IMHO!

I also have a Peavey Windsor head (100W tube) that almost sounds as good, but only has one channel and no reverb (not bad for $250, new - gotta love MF closeouts).

We are talking about heavy metal palm mute tight chugging here not 60's to 80's music. the dsl by it self cant hang in that would to me buts that's my opinion . I had a dsl100 and a tsl100 both sounded ok with a od808 up front. They do 70' to 80's type rock great. I would call it a rock amp .

Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Posts: 824

A friend of mine has a jcm900 that he boost with a maxon od808 up front and it sounds bad ass. those can be had used for $500 or so. think disturbed sound

Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 8:55 pm

AhsanU wrote:

If you're looking for a budget metal amp - Bugera 333xl

If you have a fair few dollars to spend - Peavey 6505+

If you have a lot of money to burn - ENGL Powerball II

If you're rich - Axe FX II Ultra or newest Kemper Profiling Amp.

But if you're a home guitarist and won't crank the volume knob on these tube amps, get a low wattage amp. I'm getting rid of my Bugera 6262 because I can't get the best tone out of it with low volume (didn't do my research) so I spoke to Lanning and am probably gonna get a Hughes and Kettner Tubemeister 36 or 18 and leave it at 5 or 1 watt and crank that volume knob up to get some tube saturation.

That Hughes and Kettner Tubemeister looks nice. I wish it was USA made but it has great features. Anyone here have one already want to chime in on the tones you can get?

Joined: 13 Feb 2004 Posts: 5603 Location: phoenix az.

koury73 wrote:

If your using a pedal to drive the clean channel of a marshall, then in my opinion you just bought a really expensive power amp. I want my gain from the gain channel in the head, through its preamp tubes. Rob your tone does sound good as heck though, and I'm not taking a stab at you at all. Just when I'm buying an amp for its own individual tone I want it to make it happen on it's own. The rectifiers have way more bass response than the 5150 does. But theres a big price gap between the two. For under 700 bucks, there isn't a better metal amp than the 6505/5150. Just look at every rig that every new metal band has and what will you find? And I don't hate Marshalls. For a slower more open metal theyre good but for tight and percussive metal they are a little flubby for me personally.

Like i said the distortion channels do suck for metal especially the ultra gain button.the bass button will muddy ur tone for shure.the first stage gain is very sweet with the bass boost though but rock at best.But I preamp my amp with pedals and the bass boost on(and never the mid scoop) the clean channel gives a massive deep tone to it.and with the clean channel doesnt muddy the tone at all.I love the mix of my solid state distortion mixed with the tubes its very tight and crunchy.
Although i can understand that some people have to have plug and play which is cool but i really dont see the difference in turning on my pedal or hitting a footswitch to switch channels?its just one extra pedal on my board.I still try out new amps when I can but I yet to find an amp that gives me the low end,crunch and fullness im getting now.I like alot of crunch,mids and low end beef probably more than most care for.If I could find an amp to give me what I got plug and play id buy it.
I agree this can be made to be a metal beast, but by itself its rock at best without some doing.You might be better off buying something more metal from the git go.ive really been digging the new Randall stuff you might wana check it out.

Or get a amptweaker tight metal and the dsl and have bottom for days!....oh yeah did i mention i use mode four cabs to handle the thunderous low end?Ill say this though the quality of the marshall has been tough as nails like a frickin timex.
iTS REALLY THE BASS BOOST ON THE DSL that I love disengage that and there goes the deep tone out the door.that and the way the amp sounds better the louder i crank it the better it sounds.

Joined: 13 Feb 2004 Posts: 5603 Location: phoenix az.

koury73 wrote:

If your using a pedal to drive the clean channel of a marshall, then in my opinion you just bought a really expensive power amp. I want my gain from the gain channel in the head, through its preamp tubes. Rob your tone does sound good as heck though, and I'm not taking a stab at you at all. Just when I'm buying an amp for its own individual tone I want it to make it happen on it's own. The rectifiers have way more bass response than the 5150 does. But theres a big price gap between the two. For under 700 bucks, there isn't a better metal amp than the 6505/5150. Just look at every rig that every new metal band has and what will you find? And I don't hate Marshalls. For a slower more open metal theyre good but for tight and percussive metal they are a little flubby for me personally.

I owned a 6505 I hated it made my jcm900 cab sound like it was made of cardboard I bought a 6505 and a dual rec cab as a pair and it sounded really fizzy through that.took them back the same day. but in a 2 guitar band ive heard them sound pretty good its not a very broad spectrum amp in my opinion.in a 1 guitar band u have to have deep lows and crispy mids and highs or its going to sound week in the mix of course ive never been a fan of peavy distortion funny though cause my dist is made by james brown.but through a marshall it doesnt sound like a peavey dist if that makes any sence lolTook me a while to land my tone i believe if it aint broke dont fix it.it is possible someday i may sway from marshall dsls but for now ill stick with it.

Joined: 13 Feb 2004 Posts: 5603 Location: phoenix az.

sounds like muddy fizzy crap to me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVGyMh8Qts8

Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Posts: 824

RobBouchardDeanml wrote:

sounds like muddy fizzy crap to me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVGyMh8Qts8

such a waist of money lol

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

jd267 wrote:

RobBouchardDeanml wrote:

sounds like muddy fizzy crap to me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVGyMh8Qts8

such a waist of money lol

Mine sounds NOTHING like that. That's the error of the dude recording. Muddy, fizzy crap, yes... Not the fault of the amp. You'll hear mine and think EXACLY the opposite. Any idiot can turn knobs and hit record. That video sounds like complete crap, I agree. That's not what the amp sounds like. I think you can make any amp sound like sh1t if you try.

Joined: 03 May 2008 Posts: 6629 Location: Minnesota

This thread is beyond ridiculous.

If it was a Pantera album, it would be Far Beyond Ridiculous.

Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Posts: 824

Graunke wrote:

This thread is beyond ridiculous.

If it was a Pantera album, it would be Far Beyond Ridiculous.

haaaa that was funny dude.. Just herd a bad ass clip from a friend of his tubemeister.. Sounded great mic'd up

Joined: 10 Feb 2006 Posts: 1373 Location: Lutz, Fl.

Graunke wrote:

This thread is beyond ridiculous.

If it was a Pantera album, it would be Far Beyond Ridiculous.

This should be in your signature at the bottom of your posts. That would truly be hilarious.

Joined: 13 Feb 2004 Posts: 5603 Location: phoenix az.

I shot ths video today so u could really hear what my tone is with my dsl setup with cactus chainsaw.I have practice tomarrow with throw the switch ill make another video of that tone tomarrow so u can hear the difference
http://youtu.be/d3ZDdP1eOmc

Joined: 09 Jul 2007 Posts: 340 Location: cali.

I have a DSL40c and it does rock but not metal. They are very similar to the DSL 100.Mustsine uses a JVM 410
I played a EVH 5150 3 and they are nice.
But go listen to the Mesa Mark 5 on their site and or try one.

Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 9:38 am

Northwinds wrote:

I loved my UK made DSL100

you can't be a sloppy player and have a Marshall because it will show

Oh I don't know about that Ron. I got accused in my early days of playing that "I tuned my Marshall up to 10 to cover my mistakes."

Laughing

Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 11:46 am

ML Tib wrote:

Northwinds wrote:

I loved my UK made DSL100

you can't be a sloppy player and have a Marshall because it will show

Oh I don't know about that Ron. I got accused in my early days of playing that "I tuned my Marshall up to 10 to cover my mistakes."

Laughing

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

I think the consensus is or should be that anyone can make an amp sound amazing or like total horse sh1t and it's totally dependant on the player, the settings and the method of recording/presentation.

YouTube is one of the single worst things for gauging an amp's tone. You have guys like Ola making Orange Micro Terror's and Line 6 Spiders sound like amazing tone machines and other guys making 5150s, H&Ks and Mesas sound like a car battery hooked up to a blown driver mic'ed by two tin cans connected by string. There is just no way to gauge what's good and what's not good anymore unless you go listen for yourself.

If you base your opinion on some stranger's video then you could be cheating yourself out of a great amp.

Joined: 21 Sep 2010 Posts: 447

RobBouchardDeanml wrote:

I shot ths video today so u could really hear what my tone is with my dsl setup with cactus chainsaw.I have practice tomarrow with throw the switch ill make another video of that tone tomarrow so u can hear the difference
http://youtu.be/d3ZDdP1eOmc

sounds sweet man!! I do dig the hell out of your tone. I just came across a mode four yesterday in a trade and it's pretty spiffy too. I heard a bunch of people knock on it, but I think I'm gonna keep it cause it sounds good and different to me. I don't blame you at all for using your setup. You've got it tweeked to perfection. BTW, your new tunes sound killer dude!

But back to the subject, RevMan should know that a DSL out of the box aint gonna sound like that though. And Lanning is right, the only way to tell if your gonna like an amp is to try it yourself and see how your ears hears it. If there was one best amp out there, we'd all have the same rig.

Joined: 21 Sep 2010 Posts: 447

RobBouchardDeanml wrote:

koury73 wrote:

If your using a pedal to drive the clean channel of a marshall, then in my opinion you just bought a really expensive power amp. I want my gain from the gain channel in the head, through its preamp tubes. Rob your tone does sound good as heck though, and I'm not taking a stab at you at all. Just when I'm buying an amp for its own individual tone I want it to make it happen on it's own. The rectifiers have way more bass response than the 5150 does. But theres a big price gap between the two. For under 700 bucks, there isn't a better metal amp than the 6505/5150. Just look at every rig that every new metal band has and what will you find? And I don't hate Marshalls. For a slower more open metal theyre good but for tight and percussive metal they are a little flubby for me personally.

Like i said the distortion channels do suck for metal especially the ultra gain button.the bass button will muddy ur tone for shure.the first stage gain is very sweet with the bass boost though but rock at best.But I preamp my amp with pedals and the bass boost on(and never the mid scoop) the clean channel gives a massive deep tone to it.and with the clean channel doesnt muddy the tone at all.I love the mix of my solid state distortion mixed with the tubes its very tight and crunchy.
Although i can understand that some people have to have plug and play which is cool but i really dont see the difference in turning on my pedal or hitting a footswitch to switch channels?its just one extra pedal on my board.I still try out new amps when I can but I yet to find an amp that gives me the low end,crunch and fullness im getting now.I like alot of crunch,mids and low end beef probably more than most care for.If I could find an amp to give me what I got plug and play id buy it.
I agree this can be made to be a metal beast, but by itself its rock at best without some doing.You might be better off buying something more metal from the git go.ive really been digging the new Randall stuff you might wana check it out.

Or get a amptweaker tight metal and the dsl and have bottom for days!....oh yeah did i mention i use mode four cabs to handle the thunderous low end?Ill say this though the quality of the marshall has been tough as nails like a frickin timex.
iTS REALLY THE BASS BOOST ON THE DSL that I love disengage that and there goes the deep tone out the door.that and the way the amp sounds better the louder i crank it the better it sounds.

I pondered on this subject for a while too Rob. Have you ever seen Zakk Wyldes SD-1 settings. I'd be willing to bet that 60-70% of his drive comes from that pedal.

Joined: 15 Dec 2008 Posts: 4253 Location: Derry, N Ireland

Amp shopping is fun, getting out and trying the amp, trying different cabs etc.

I don't know why so many people base their choices on what other people say...

Go out, try amps you think you will like, and more importantly try amps you think you may not like. If you do this, you will soon know which one is right for you.

Joined: 13 Feb 2004 Posts: 5603 Location: phoenix az.

koury73 wrote:

RobBouchardDeanml wrote:

koury73 wrote:

If your using a pedal to drive the clean channel of a marshall, then in my opinion you just bought a really expensive power amp. I want my gain from the gain channel in the head, through its preamp tubes. Rob your tone does sound good as heck though, and I'm not taking a stab at you at all. Just when I'm buying an amp for its own individual tone I want it to make it happen on it's own. The rectifiers have way more bass response than the 5150 does. But theres a big price gap between the two. For under 700 bucks, there isn't a better metal amp than the 6505/5150. Just look at every rig that every new metal band has and what will you find? And I don't hate Marshalls. For a slower more open metal theyre good but for tight and percussive metal they are a little flubby for me personally.

Like i said the distortion channels do suck for metal especially the ultra gain button.the bass button will muddy ur tone for shure.the first stage gain is very sweet with the bass boost though but rock at best.But I preamp my amp with pedals and the bass boost on(and never the mid scoop) the clean channel gives a massive deep tone to it.and with the clean channel doesnt muddy the tone at all.I love the mix of my solid state distortion mixed with the tubes its very tight and crunchy.
Although i can understand that some people have to have plug and play which is cool but i really dont see the difference in turning on my pedal or hitting a footswitch to switch channels?its just one extra pedal on my board.I still try out new amps when I can but I yet to find an amp that gives me the low end,crunch and fullness im getting now.I like alot of crunch,mids and low end beef probably more than most care for.If I could find an amp to give me what I got plug and play id buy it.
I agree this can be made to be a metal beast, but by itself its rock at best without some doing.You might be better off buying something more metal from the git go.ive really been digging the new Randall stuff you might wana check it out.

Or get a amptweaker tight metal and the dsl and have bottom for days!....oh yeah did i mention i use mode four cabs to handle the thunderous low end?Ill say this though the quality of the marshall has been tough as nails like a frickin timex.
iTS REALLY THE BASS BOOST ON THE DSL that I love disengage that and there goes the deep tone out the door.that and the way the amp sounds better the louder i crank it the better it sounds.

I pondered on this subject for a while too Rob. Have you ever seen Zakk Wyldes SD-1 settings. I'd be willing to bet that 60-70% of his drive comes from that pedal.

probably right there!Marshalls work well with pedals.

Joined: 13 Feb 2004 Posts: 5603 Location: phoenix az.

koury73 wrote:

RobBouchardDeanml wrote:

I shot ths video today so u could really hear what my tone is with my dsl setup with cactus chainsaw.I have practice tomarrow with throw the switch ill make another video of that tone tomarrow so u can hear the difference
http://youtu.be/d3ZDdP1eOmc

sounds sweet man!! I do dig the hell out of your tone. I just came across a mode four yesterday in a trade and it's pretty spiffy too. I heard a bunch of people knock on it, but I think I'm gonna keep it cause it sounds good and different to me. I don't blame you at all for using your setup. You've got it tweeked to perfection. BTW, your new tunes sound killer dude!

But back to the subject, RevMan should know that a DSL out of the box aint gonna sound like that though. And Lanning is right, the only way to tell if your gonna like an amp is to try it yourself and see how your ears hears it. If there was one best amp out there, we'd all have the same rig.

very true! and mine are the old original jcm 2000 dsl not sure what the new ones sound like.I also agree that alot of ones tone comes from the fingers and playing style as well as the amp.It took me a while to find the tone I was looking for.

Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 9:02 pm

jd267 wrote:

60srocker wrote:

I, too, have a DSL100, and I like it. I have no problems at all with any 'muddy' sound, unless the guitar has crappy pups. The deep end boost will make any pickups sound more full, and my pickups range from cheap Squier Jaguar (with 1m pot - very bright) to JB). Basically, any pickup that sounds bad on my DSL100 would sound bad on any amplifier, IMHO!

I also have a Peavey Windsor head (100W tube) that almost sounds as good, but only has one channel and no reverb (not bad for $250, new - gotta love MF closeouts).

We are talking about heavy metal palm mute tight chugging here not 60's to 80's music. the dsl by it self cant hang in that would to me buts that's my opinion . I had a dsl100 and a tsl100 both sounded ok with a od808 up front. They do 70' to 80's type rock great. I would call it a rock amp .

I can honestly say that I've never met anyone, Dean forum members excepted, that actually liked the "heavy metal palm mute tight chugging" stuff (I certainly don't), but I do know that my DSL100 will sound just like that (I never use it that way!).

Perhaps it comes down to individual amps or users of amps?

Joined: 13 Feb 2004 Posts: 5603 Location: phoenix az.

my amp set up with my thrash band
http://youtu.be/GqnsZqHnf7g

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 12255 Location: PEORIA ILLINOIS

RobBouchardDeanml wrote:

koury73 wrote:

If your using a pedal to drive the clean channel of a marshall, then in my opinion you just bought a really expensive power amp. I want my gain from the gain channel in the head, through its preamp tubes. Rob your tone does sound good as heck though, and I'm not taking a stab at you at all. Just when I'm buying an amp for its own individual tone I want it to make it happen on it's own. The rectifiers have way more bass response than the 5150 does. But theres a big price gap between the two. For under 700 bucks, there isn't a better metal amp than the 6505/5150. Just look at every rig that every new metal band has and what will you find? And I don't hate Marshalls. For a slower more open metal theyre good but for tight and percussive metal they are a little flubby for me personally.

I owned a 6505 I hated it made my jcm900 cab sound like it was made of cardboard I bought a 6505 and a dual rec cab as a pair and it sounded really fizzy through that.took them back the same day. but in a 2 guitar band ive heard them sound pretty good its not a very broad spectrum amp in my opinion.in a 1 guitar band u have to have deep lows and crispy mids and highs or its going to sound week in the mix of course ive never been a fan of peavy distortion funny though cause my dist is made by james brown.but through a marshall it doesnt sound like a peavey dist if that makes any sence lolTook me a while to land my tone i believe if it aint broke dont fix it.it is possible someday i may sway from marshall dsls but for now ill stick with it.

it was only fizzy cause you had the presence past 7. Id bet money. I know you will say different but that is the only way it can sound fizzy. plus jcm900 cabinets are aweful for anything other than rock. they sound great for gnr sounding stuff but not metal. you have to work extra hard to make a mesa cab sound fizzy. but you like metalzone tone through an expensive poweramp so id bet money you were trying to dial the 6505 with tons of highs to sound solid state and ended up with fizz. its a noob to tube thing that lots of guys go through. they dont know how to dial a tube amp. they always want it to sound like their pedals. I honestly dont know why you boast about being a marshall guy. you really arent. you are a metalzome guy. and if you dig it that is fine. a true marshall guy would use the marshall preamp. the power amp section on your marshall is pretty much the same exact one on any peavey tube amp or mesa dual rectifier Smile

. they all came from the orginal fender design, its the preamp sound that seperates most tube amp companies.

Joined: 13 Feb 2004 Posts: 5603 Location: phoenix az.

No chris that amp sounded like paper crap.the eq on those hardly changes any of the basic tone.actually sounded better through the marshall cab but still crap. sounded like ass through the mesa.Sounded like crap through both cabs.My amp sounds great through my jcm 900 cab so did my Randall and many other amps.I know u like peavey but I dont.I think peavey distortion sucks but thats my opinion.Just cause an amp has tubes doesnt mean its great and just cause an amp is solid state doesnt mean it sucks.I personally think ss distortion into a tube amp can give a much better tighter crunch sometimes its king and sometime its not depends on how u do it.what u think all those great thrash tones from the 80s early 90s were not tube amps preamped by ss pedals?Most of them were marshalls or mesas preamped with an overdrive.Just cause somethings modern doesnt make it better.

How many people are using axe effects and kemper and programs now to record?wheres the tubes in guitar rig or any other modeling program do these all suck?Im using what sounds good to me I could care less what I got to run if im getting the tone I want.If someones biggest concern is it has to be plug and play then good luck finding a original tone that everyone else with that amp has.I guess some people are like sounds good enough I personally cant settle for that.
as far as my being a marshall guy, I am!I play Marshalls just cause I dont use the preamp section doesnt mean I dont like Marshalls.They are a great basic sound to start with.Yeah my amptweaker pedal i use in one of my bands is made by james brown and sounds great through my marshall.trust me if a peavey sounded like that id now be a peavey guy!But it dont not even close.My tones great im happy with it thats all I need.

nice metalzone comment i dont even own a metal zone my amp tones are all crunchy mids theres no scooping going on at all my mids are on 8 and mid boosted with an mxr after my pedal.cuts through a mix like no other.
No reason to be offended I know u like 5150s and such just not my thing.This whole thread is about dsl heads Im just showing Rev how to get a tight thrash sound out of them since i own a couple.

I mean really if I was going to buy all over again id buy a Marshall all tube poweramp to go with my rackmount jmp-1 marshall preamp like i have in my studio rig that thing is crunchy as hell!Probably switch to that in the future.

Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Posts: 824

so revolutionman did you figure out what amp you want Laughing

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 12255 Location: PEORIA ILLINOIS

RobBouchardDeanml wrote:

No chris that amp sounded like paper crap.the eq on those hardly changes any of the basic tone.actually sounded better through the marshall cab but still crap. sounded like ass through the mesa.Sounded like crap through both cabs.My amp sounds great through my jcm 900 cab so did my Randall and many other amps.I know u like peavey but I dont.I think peavey distortion sucks but thats my opinion.Just cause an amp has tubes doesnt mean its great and just cause an amp is solid state doesnt mean it sucks.I personally think ss distortion into a tube amp can give a much better tighter crunch sometimes its king and sometime its not depends on how u do it.what u think all those great thrash tones from the 80s early 90s were not tube amps preamped by ss pedals?Most of them were marshalls or mesas preamped with an overdrive.Just cause somethings modern doesnt make it better.

How many people are using axe effects and kemper and programs now to record?wheres the tubes in guitar rig or any other modeling program do these all suck?Im using what sounds good to me I could care less what I got to run if im getting the tone I want.If someones biggest concern is it has to be plug and play then good luck finding a original tone that everyone else with that amp has.I guess some people are like sounds good enough I personally cant settle for that.
as far as my being a marshall guy, I am!I play Marshalls just cause I dont use the preamp section doesnt mean I dont like Marshalls.They are a great basic sound to start with.Yeah my amptweaker pedal i use in one of my bands is made by james brown and sounds great through my marshall.trust me if a peavey sounded like that id now be a peavey guy!But it dont not even close.My tones great im happy with it thats all I need.

nice metalzone comment i dont even own a metal zone my amp tones are all crunchy mids theres no scooping going on at all my mids are on 8 and mid boosted with an mxr after my pedal.cuts through a mix like no other.
No reason to be offended I know u like 5150s and such just not my thing.This whole thread is about dsl heads Im just showing Rev how to get a tight thrash sound out of them since i own a couple.

oh i wasnt offended at all. nor was i trying to offend you. i guess we all get a bit passionate about our opinions sometimes. really thought you used a metalzone. I thought you said that is what you were using at one point. I know the early days were pedals. I always say each to their own. with all gear there are good bad, some is good with one guy and bad with the other. for example i like my powerball for live but despise it to record with. i hate my savage for pretty much everything. I dont like my 5150 except for rock stuff live gut it records well. I dont like my xxx ecept to record solos with. there is a place for everything. ive owned tons of gear that ive liked or hated. some guys get same gear to sound good for them. i was joining in on the fun. I dont really care what other people use. as far as digital shitboxes. more power to those guys. I would love to simplify my live rig to one box but i just cant do it. i have heard way too many terrible youtube clips to spend the money to just try one and be disappointed and have to sell it. im in the stage of my career where I need to be selling off a bunch of gear instead of acquiring more.

Joined: 13 Feb 2004 Posts: 5603 Location: phoenix az.

no offence taken .no in the beginning of the vid i show u my pedalboard im using an amptweaker tight metal.my tones all mids its just really crunchy.i use more mids than most people but I cut through the mix like a chainsaw.get it cactus chainsaw lol

Joined: 22 Feb 2008 Posts: 824

Graunke wrote:

This thread is beyond ridiculous.

If it was a Pantera album, it would be Far Beyond Ridiculous.

I HAD TO !!! Laughing

This is great graunke!!

Joined: 29 Nov 2003 Posts: 12255 Location: PEORIA ILLINOIS

RobBouchardDeanml wrote:

no offence taken .no in the beginning of the vid i show u my pedalboard im using an amptweaker tight metal.my tones all mids its just really crunchy.i use more mids than most people but I cut through the mix like a chainsaw.get it cactus chainsaw lol

oh didnt see the video post. ill check it out.

Joined: 05 Dec 2008 Posts: 909

For the money, 2 heads stand out.
As mentioned, the Genz Benz El Diablo is a WAY under rated amp!
Also the Carvin V3 is a KILLER amp, it's what I use now, and have NO desire for a new head....havent for years now!
2 things I did change on mine. Swapped out the EL34s for some 6L6GCs and swapped out one of the 12AX7s for a JJ ECC83S.
The 6L6GCs give a better low end punch, and the JJ ECC83S cuts a little of the super highs out. Running a Peavy 4x12 loaded with Eminence Swamp Thangs and Wizards. It is the best tone I have ever heard! Of course everyone has their own opinions about tone, but this this is SO versatile you can get the sound in your head if your willing to take the time to dial it in. 3 fully independent channels, 2 programable FX loops, GLOBAL EQ, programable boost, and now they come with Reverb as well.
Oh yeah, each of the 3 channels also have a 3 way voicing switch. for distortion channel, the 3 voicings are classic, thick and intense....or as I like to describe them, Marshal, Mesa, and 5150.
Built in the USA and all that for UNDER $1000 to your door...very hard to touch much less beat.

Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 9:53 am

Lanning is Killdozer wrote:

YouTube is one of the single worst things for gauging an amp's tone.

If you base your opinion on some stranger's video then you could be cheating yourself out of a great amp.

Oh I don't know about that Lanning. YouTube help me decide that I wanted the Rocktron Piranha. If one thing turned me off to that amp, it was the Owens Era Priest records.

Joined: 11 Mar 2011 Posts: 342

"My amp is great for rock but not for metal! What do I do?"

Pedals were created to save the world lots and lots of money on new amps.

Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 2:54 pm

Anybody that has a 5150/6505 and turns the gain much past 5 is already making a mistake, you enter the mud zone after that point. The EQ section is fine but you need to fine tune it with the Resonance and Presence controls. I run my mid at 11-12 o'clock, treble at 8-9 o'clock and the bass at 2-4 o'clock. You need at least 30w speakers in a 4x12 cab for one. The Framus cab I have handles the 6505 well up to a point then I need to back the Resonance control down because it has 25w greenbacks

Joined: 04 Jun 2012 Posts: 350 Location: South-West Ohio

In a totally [tonally?] differant direction, I used to own a Marshall TSL [the three channel version of the 2 channel DSL] and Ithink that is the head that gave me permanant DWI - "dick with it" disease - always dicking with my EQ controls.

Now I use a blackstar, and while I still ahve teh urge to constantly dick with it, I find that the tones I'm getting are always way more interesting and vibrant than what I got out of my Marshall. Now I oved my MArshall, but it was realisticlly a fairly one trick pony. I could play clean, and then go to mildly diorted or heavily distorted. that was it. How it sounded basically HAD to be in your fingers [and to some extent that is still true]. but now I can dial up all kinds of wierd sounds - extreme death/black metal, to frnder stlye blues, to calssic amrshall plexi to modern rock to.... you get the point.

I guess I run more mids than just about anybody other than rob - I've rolled essentially all "presnce" off [it works slightly differantly on my amp - I have a ISF control, but works pretty similar], lows on 4, mids on 5, highs on 6, maybe 6.5. Those mids being up truly is where the crunch is.

I'm using 30 watt Celestions/hellatones so that makes THE biggest differance in sound after teh amp head itself - good lord bad speakers can make anything sound bad.

Whats interesting about the blackstar is that it is a hybrid amp -a mix of old and new. Think of it like a JCM 800 marshall wiht a built in jump circuit [sort of like setting up a tubescreamer for volume jump but no distortion - it drives the input/tubes harder] and an EQ that actually works.it is a PC board mounted amp, with tubes, that essentially mixes the SS and tube together. Its fantastic combination,a dn you can use one side more than the other, or blend the two together in sound.

A lot of people haven't heard them or tried them, but the few people who've tried my blackstar have liked it -we've been able to dial them in a great tone in a minute or two, literally. I foy can, try one.

The tubemeister is also a VERY good amp that I like. I came "C" hair away from getting that, but in the end I like dthe blackstar just a touch better.

My extra two kopecks - for what its worth.

Joined: 09 Jul 2007 Posts: 340 Location: cali.

nomadic wrote:

"My amp is great for rock but not for metal! What do I do?"

Pedals were created to save the world lots and lots of money on new amps.

I have a 40w DSL combo and you can put any pedal you want in front of it and it still does flubby in the chug department. However I put a pod 2 in rectifier mode on the classic gain channel with the gain down and it can work but it is really a band aid.
I like the 6505 but If I could afford a mesa right now the mark 5 would be the one.
The new DSL's have tons of built in distortion but none of it makes for any use with overdrive it sounds like a beehive. They do 70's rock well.

Joined: 27 Feb 2012 Posts: 1242 Location: New York, NY

AhsanU wrote:

am probably gonna get a Hughes and Kettner Tubemeister 36 or 18 and leave it at 5 or 1 watt and crank that volume knob up to get some tube saturation.

I've got the 36.... I love that amp. Best purchase I've made in a long time.

Joined: 04 Jun 2012 Posts: 350 Location: South-West Ohio

AhsanU wrote:

probably gonna get a Hughes and Kettner Tubemeister 36 or 18 and leave it at 5 or 1 watt and crank that volume knob up to get some tube saturation.

That is EXACTlY what I would recomend - put it on 1 watt and burn those tubes - sounds awesome.

Joined: 09 Jul 2007 Posts: 340 Location: cali.

I had a Tubemeister 18w for about a week. I miss that little bugger.
It did get about fizzy when cranked but I had read a tube change helps as well as the right speakers.

By the way the Vietnam DSL 100 and 40 are very close the 100 gets another power tube and pre-amp tube. not sure on the numbers but it has triode mode just like the 40w -20w, 100w-50w. Not sure how many tubes it takes but those are the major differences.

Joined: 27 Feb 2006 Posts: 13396 Location: Earth

pariah2 wrote:

AhsanU wrote:

probably gonna get a Hughes and Kettner Tubemeister 36 or 18 and leave it at 5 or 1 watt and crank that volume knob up to get some tube saturation.

That is EXACTlY what I would recomend - put it on 1 watt and burn those tubes - sounds awesome.

Just don't get too crazy with the gain knob on the lead channel. I never turned mine over noon. We were doing pre-production tracking with it and we used the gain on the lead channel at about 11 O Clock on the dial and it was perfect for the heavy stuff. Your milage may vary depending on your pickups and right hand technique but it sounds great.