# Marshall DSL 100 for extreme metal?



## Dvaienat (Feb 1, 2011)

I'm planning on getting a 'good' amp soon, since I have a couple of nice guitars and my Line 6 amp does not do them justice. The amp I'm considering is a used Marshall DSL 100 head, along with a 2x12. I mainly play death metal, black metal, and a bit of modern metal/metalcore.
With a boost/OD pedal, would I be able to get good, tight, extreme metal tone? How would it compare to Engl or Peavey (both out of my budget)? Would you recommend a boost pedal or Maxon OD to boost the gain? I know the death metal bands Nile and Grave use DSL100s, and they get great tones. Does anyone know the specific pedals they use?
Thanks.


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## Kryaxysa (Feb 1, 2011)

Wait... how exactly is Peavey out of your budget? the 6505+ costs around the same new IIRC.


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## TMM (Feb 1, 2011)

Nile is a great example of a Marshall being used for extreme metal. So is Berzerker. I'm actually not sure what boost they use, but I believe it's an OD boost, not a clean boost. Nile also uses a Sonic Maximizer in the loop, at least live.

Anyway, yes, a DSL100 with a boost (and possibly a BBE) will slay in an extreme metal arena.

Also, +1 on Peavey not being out of your budget if you're considering a DSL100.

EDIT: wait, just saw where you're from... in that case, Marshall may actually be a little cheaper than Peavey  That said, I was in Cambridge & London a year ago, and you guys get ENGLs for crazy good prices compared to the states. I'd be surprised if you couldn't dig up a decent used ENGL for a good price.


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## Kryaxysa (Feb 1, 2011)

You're right TMM, I didn't realize his location. I was only thinking of that because I'm in the states. But he is right, ENGL's should be more appropriately priced where you are and could be a possibility. But if bands that you are trying to emulate are using the DSL 100, then why not go for it?


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## Dvaienat (Feb 1, 2011)

Kryaxysa said:


> You're right TMM, I didn't realize his location. I was only thinking of that because I'm in the states. But he is right, ENGL's should be more appropriately priced where you are and could be a possibility. But if bands that you are trying to emulate are using the DSL 100, then why not go for it?


 
I was thinking of an Engl Fireball (still slightly out of budget), however the Fireball sound very harsh and scooped to my ear. Higher end Engls like the Savage and the SE, I love their tone. Really brutal, yet punchy and defined. I'll probably go for the Marshall, unless I could find a 6505/5150 used for under £500. I can easily get the Marshall used for £350, I have a very tight budget.


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## groph (Feb 1, 2011)

Yep, Nile is all Marshall, as is some Hate Eternal from what I know, as well as Through The Eyes of the Dead's album Malice. Out of the box you can definitely get metal tones but you'll probably want a boost to push it that little bit further and tighten it a bit. Marshall tones are wonderful for old school sloppy death metal tones. You can definitely get metalcore tones too; Every Time I Die use JCM900's I THINK, and the DSL can probably pull off a pretty good 900-esque tone. You'll get the tone shift knob which basically drops your mids and darkens the amp so you can get the death metal scoop going on. You'll probably want to leave that off, though.

Tone-wise, when I think Marshall I think of roaring mids, a "crushed glass" kind of top end, and a restrained low end. It's pretty "in your face." Describing sound is sort of useless. ENGL's tend to sound like a pissed off duck to me. The upper mids are pretty pronounced and they sound quacky to my ear. A good tone, but not my kind. The 5150/6505 is pretty gritty sounding, "buzzy" describes it well but not buzzy in a cheap solid state amp kind of way. They're just really aggressive with a good helping of low mids. The treble can get way out of control if it's EQ'ed improperly so a 5150 can sound either crushing, or completely fucking terrible. I'm sure the three brands of amps can be made to sound very much alike (especially with the same person playing through them) with proper EQ adjustments so you really just want to find an amp that responds to your playstyle. Still, a DSL100 will definitely cut it for an all around metal amp.

EDIT: I am so envious that you can get a Marshall JCM2000 for that low of a price. Used DSL50's around here (not the 100 watter) go for $1300 in stores, and probably the better part of $2000 brand new.


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## Leuchty (Feb 1, 2011)

I believe Nile were always using Boss SD-1's. could be way wrong though. 

Marshall is always capable of an array of tones. Get a boost and some V30's and you're pretty good to go AND have nice cleans.


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## TMM (Feb 1, 2011)

groph said:


> EDIT: I am so envious that you can get a Marshall JCM2000 for that low of a price. Used DSL50's around here (not the 100 watter) go for $1300 in stores, and probably the better part of $2000 brand new.



Wow, that blows. I see used DSL50s & DSL100s popping up around here on CL regularly for $450-$650 ($USD).

I believe Hate Eternal, at least more recently, is Peavey Triple-X's.

As for speakers, I personally prefer G12T-75s or Greenbacks to V30s for a true DM tone (depending on the amp). If your metal has -core in it, though, the V30s may be better.


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## Dvaienat (Feb 1, 2011)

TMM said:


> Wow, that blows. I see used DSL50s & DSL100s popping up around here on CL regularly for $450-$650 ($USD).
> 
> I believe Hate Eternal, at least more recently, is Peavey Triple-X's.
> 
> As for speakers, I personally prefer G12T-75s or Greenbacks to V30s for a true DM tone (depending on the amp). If your metal has -core in it, though, the V30s may be better.


 
Yeah, are the Marshall cabs with the T-75s any good? I hear they are quite tacky.


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## TMM (Feb 1, 2011)

NatG said:


> Yeah, are the Marshall cabs with the T-75s any good? I hear they are quite tacky.



Yes, they're great cabs, IMO. One of the best live tones I've ever had was an OD boosted (Hermida Mosferatu), JJ-tubed 50w JCM900 --> 1960B cab. I think people rule Marshall cabs out a lot these days in favor of the fad hi-end cab of the day (Orange, Mesa, Zilla, blah blah) because they're so common (relatively speaking), but the famed 'Marshall cab' didn't become a staple in the industry by sucking.


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## budda (Feb 1, 2011)

I had a buddy's DSL50+412 for a month and it did the tight stuff pretty well


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## troyguitar (Feb 1, 2011)

DSL's (and Marshalls in general) sound great at band volumes in a mix. Grab an SD-1 if you need a little extra, but my guess is it won't even be necessary except at bedroom volumes.


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## Eric Christian (Feb 2, 2011)

DSL100 for "Extreme Metal"? are you kidding?... You'd need to stack a couple of overdrive and distortion boxes in front to get that tone. You want an Extreme Marshall head then get a JCM800KK... 

Its all built in, distortion, EQ and noise gate.... plug and play...


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## traditional (Feb 2, 2011)

Going to assume that old mate up here ^^ has never actually played one or heard a Nile recording.
I used to be in a /core band and we used a DSL100 and 6505 for recording, and in my death metal band we used a DSL100 and a Mesa. Both were different sounds but still impressive. Definitely go for it if it's within your pricerange. (Y)


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## CornSyrup (Feb 2, 2011)

I bought a TSL100 (three channel counterpart) as my first tube amp which has been collecting dust for years after moving on to other high gain heads & a rack setup currently. 

The last time I used my TSL was in a death metal context. I was on a mission to replicate the girthy tone I was getting out of my Recto & Uberschall.
I ran an MXR Blood Drive as a clean boost in the front & a Sonic Maximizer in the loop. Now I'm not particularly a fan of Sonic Maximizers when it comes to "enhancing" guitar signals, but running it through the loop of the Marshall yielded in fantastic results. It fills up the sound spectrum nicely, making the amp sound much bigger and adding a nice amount of extended high end content.


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## Dvaienat (Feb 2, 2011)

Ok - thanks guys. I was also thinking of the JCM 900. Could I get similar tones with that? And could you point me in the direction of some metal albums recorded with it?


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## Albionic (Feb 2, 2011)

NatG said:


> Ok - thanks guys. I was also thinking of the JCM 900. Could I get similar tones with that? And could you point me in the direction of some metal albums recorded with it?


 
i believe trey azagthoth uses a jcm 900 with a proco rat and a big rackmount eq


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## Dvaienat (Feb 2, 2011)

Albionic said:


> i believe trey azagthoth uses a jcm 900 with a proco rat and a big rackmount eq


 
Would that be on the early Morbid Angel albums? I quite like the tone on those.


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## Albionic (Feb 2, 2011)

not sure i can find no mention of any other amps trey used so i guess so 
heres an interestin discussion on the 900 with a mod at the end

Some love for my JCM900 4100.......... from a metal guy no less! [Archive] - The Gear Page


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## Kamikaze7 (Feb 2, 2011)

groph said:


> Yep, Nile is all Marshall, as is some Hate Eternal from what I know, as well as Through The Eyes of the Dead's album Malice. Out of the box you can definitely get metal tones but you'll probably want a boost to push it that little bit further and tighten it a bit. Marshall tones are wonderful for old school sloppy death metal tones. You can definitely get metalcore tones too; Every Time I Die use JCM900's I THINK, and the DSL can probably pull off a pretty good 900-esque tone. You'll get the tone shift knob which basically drops your mids and darkens the amp so you can get the death metal scoop going on. You'll probably want to leave that off, though.
> 
> Tone-wise, when I think Marshall I think of roaring mids, a "crushed glass" kind of top end, and a restrained low end. It's pretty "in your face." Still, a DSL100 will definitely cut it for an all around metal amp.
> 
> EDIT: I am so envious that you can get a Marshall JCM2000 for that low of a price. Used DSL50's around here (not the 100 watter) go for $1300 in stores, and probably the better part of $2000 brand new.



Very well said! And as for the pricing on it here in the states, those prices are about right also. And it's a rare occurrance to see one of these new as they've been discontinued for a few years now.



CYBERSYN said:


> I believe Nile were always using Boss SD-1's. could be way wrong though.
> 
> Marshall is always capable of an array of tones. Get a boost and some V30's and you're pretty good to go AND have nice cleans.



I'm not sure of any/all pedals the guys in Nile are using, but I can say for sure that Karl is using 3 (yes, 3!!!) TSL100's for his tone. I had a chance to speak to him and I wanted to know how he got such an awesome tone. He told me, and he said that there were no pedals involved in creating his tone as it all came from the 3 TSL100's. But the DSL50/100 is still an incredible amp. And to help shape the EQ section some,try running something like an MXR 10-band graphic EQ. Or if you really wanna shape your tone, run a Behringer UltraCurve DEQ2496 thru the FX loop. You'll see what I mean when you start playing with the EQ's !!!



NatG said:


> Yeah, are the Marshall cabs with the T-75s any good? I hear they are quite tacky.





TMM said:


> Yes, they're great cabs, IMO. One of the best live tones I've ever had was an OD boosted (Hermida Mosferatu), JJ-tubed 50w JCM900 --> 1960B cab. I think people rule Marshall cabs out a lot these days in favor of the fad hi-end cab of the day (Orange, Mesa, Zilla, blah blah) because they're so common (relatively speaking), but the famed 'Marshall cab' didn't become a staple in the industry by sucking.



Absolutely true. I would say to be sure to get the stereo cabs, as you can connect them at 4, 8, or 16 Ohm and able to run both outs of the head to one cab OR use a single out from the head to the cab at a 16 ohm connection. The power rating at different ohm ratings will give you a difference in tone as well. IMHO, I've always found that running each cab at 4 Ohms, and each head output having it's own cab will make a huge difference in the final tone you'll hear. For an example: My former rig consisted of a Marshall JMP-1 preamp, QSC RMX850 850Watt power amp, and 2X 1960B Marshall strait cabs. The final result of running it at 4 Ohms each cab was floor-shaking - regardless of any volume it was set at.

As for the speakers themselves, it kinda depends on what kind of tone your looking for AND what kind of guitar your playing also. I've found the Greenbacks and the V30's to be not enough and cutting enough. Once I got the 1960B cabs which had the G12T75's in them, it was a night and day difference. The G12T75's are more built and voiced for rock and metal as compared to the Greenbacks and V30's. However - if your playing in lower tunings, using a 7- or an 8-string, then you might wanna consider using the (Celestion) K100's. The K100's are designed, voiced and built for lower tunings, 7 and 8 string guitars because of the much lower frequencies such tunings and such instruments have in comparison to a normal tuning/guitar. The K100's are also a much higher power-rated and power handling speaker. The K100's are 100Watts each! Just keep this in mind as well... But if you were to get a Marshall cab, be sure to get a 1960B strait stereo cab. Strait cabs will give you a more tighter bottom-end as compared to an angled cab which projects more high-end.



Eric Christian said:


> DSL100 for "Extreme Metal"? are you kidding?... You'd need to stack a couple of overdrive and distortion boxes in front to get that tone. You want an Extreme Marshall head then get a JCM800KK...
> 
> Its all built in, distortion, EQ and noise gate.... plug and play...



Good luck trying to find those first off, and secondly it's WAY out of his budget...



Albionic said:


> i believe trey azagthoth uses a jcm 900 with a proco rat and a big rackmount eq





NatG said:


> Would that be on the early Morbid Angel albums? I quite like the tone on those.



No, that'd be on all of the Morbid Angel stuff. If I'm not mistaken, I think Trey is running the JCM800 still. I'm pretty sure that's the amp I've seen in his studio and live pics of his rig. But the Proco Rat and the EQ are right, and I also think he's using something else effects-wise in his rack too, not sure what it is though...

And yes, I've always loved Trey's tone. He has been one of my biggest influences ever since I started playing guitar!

Good luck with the new amp. Let us know how you make out!!!

EDIT: I stand corrected about Trye using the JCM800... Glad to see and hear from someone who actually works on his amps!!! And also good to hear and know about these mods on the JCM900 4100 amps too!!!


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## Acatalepsy (Feb 2, 2011)

The TSL is voiced totally differently to the DSL . It's not the same thing with an extra channel. The DSL is a great amp and can do extreme metal no problem, you can try it with a boost if you need a tighter sound, but the tone it gives by itself is great for old school DM. I hope to pick one of these up soon myself.


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## Kamikaze7 (Feb 2, 2011)

Acatalepsy said:


> The TSL is voiced totally differently to the DSL . It's not the same thing with an extra channel...



Your right, it's not. The DSL vs. the TSL are two entirely different monsters. But both are IMHO 2 of the best amps Marshall has ever created. The tone and growl is unlike any other Marshall made, far more superior. Eventually, I'd like to snag a TSL myself...


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## groph (Feb 2, 2011)

About the JCM900, there are a million different variants of them. I also think Trey's Rat distortion pedal either isn't stock, or it's really old and the ones they make now sound nothing like the ones he uses. His amp appears to be modded as well. You can certainly get great tones from a JCM900 but I think you're safer going with a DSL100. You'll get better tones at low volumes and they are probably higher gain right out of the box.

For the record, I tried out a TSL60 once and it was muddier than anything else I've ever played while the DSL's are much much tighter and more aggressive sounding. It might have just been an EQ issue, and it was years ago so don't take what I just said as biblical in accuracy.


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## TMM (Feb 2, 2011)

It wasn't an EQ issue, the TSLs just don't have the tightness & punch of the DSLs. And if he's boosting anyway, I'd actually go with the JCM900 before the DSL - in my experience, they have better cut, and a better overall tone.


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## Philligan (Feb 2, 2011)

groph said:


> About the JCM900, there are a million different variants of them. I also think Trey's Rat distortion pedal either isn't stock, or it's really old and the ones they make now sound nothing like the ones he uses. His amp appears to be modded as well. You can certainly get great tones from a JCM900 but I think you're safer going with a DSL100. You'll get better tones at low volumes and they are probably higher gain right out of the box.
> 
> For the record, I tried out a TSL60 once and it was muddier than anything else I've ever played while the DSL's are much much tighter and more aggressive sounding. It might have just been an EQ issue, and it was years ago so don't take what I just said as biblical in accuracy.





I almost bought a 900 and a DSL a while back. The 900 has a cool vibe (I love simple amps), but honestly, I liked the DSL more in pretty much every way, other than maybe for an old school thrash tone. It's got a much more usable clean, and more gain on tap.

It's worth looking around for a Vintage Modern, too. I get the hugest boner for that amp - it's potentially my favourite new-ish Marshall.


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## synrgy (Feb 2, 2011)

I'd say yay on the DSL, but nay on the JCM 900.

Have owned both over the years. The JCM was my first tube amp. It was great for 'rock', but not for 'metal'. The DSL is far more versatile, IMHO.


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