NAD: Marshall DSL40C

[Deadpool_25]

Saw this locally and decided to pick it up because…well…just because, I guess.

This one is in phenomenal condition and it came with a Creamback 65, a cover, and the footswitch.

I’d always heard reports of how good the DSL40C was but never owned one. A few years ago I tried a DSL40CR (the newer version) and wasn’t impressed. It just didn’t sound good to me.

Anyway, I brought this one home and it sounds really good. A lot of people do the C19 mod to smooth out the high end. This one doesn’t seem very fizzy to me so I was wondering if it had that mod already, if maybe the speaker was cutting the highs a bit, or if I just wasn’t hearing it like many others do. I opened it up and it doesn’t have the C19 mod so maybe the speaker is helping.

It does everything from very nice cleans to classic metal easily. And it gets very loud. I’m not sure you’d want to play a metalcore show with one but I wouldn’t completely dismiss the possibility—it gets pretty metal-ish with a boost (so far I’ve tried the Precision Drive and an SD-1). It doesn’t have the biggest bottom end but it has more than one might expect from a 1x12 combo. Maybe I’ll run it through my Mesa Traditional 4x12 and see what that’s like.

Here are a few pics.

 

[MatrixClaw]

Great amps. My 40C could do metalcore without a boost, but I also had a V30 in it, so it was probably considerably more aggressive than the Creamback.

 

[sevenfoxes]

Awesome! Congrats!

It’s kinda funny, I have experience with a ton of different amps, but for whatever reason, i think I’ve only played one or two Marshalls in my entire life. The opportunities have been slim, i guess.

Regardless, very cool find!

 

[Kosthrash]

Perfect match with your Gibson!!!
I boost my DSL1C with an Arion SOD-1 overdrive (Japan made) to make it more tight, never need to turn the Gain past 12" o' clock in the Ultra Gain channel... These DSLs are high gain beasts!!!

However, 40w should be pretty loud for home usage

 

[WarMachine]

Awesome! Congrats!

It’s kinda funny, I have experience with a ton of different amps, but for whatever reason, i think I’ve only played one or two Marshalls in my entire life. The opportunities have been slim, i guess.

Regardless, very cool find!

Same. I've played on maybe 4 different Marshall amps. The most underwhelming (and disappointing) was a JCM800.
Seriously. Could've needed a retube, could've been a bad speaker pairing. But it was just like playing a cranked fender. And this was with an OD out in front. And it also could be because I've been using a 5150 since 2002. I've always wanted to give a DSL a fair shot tho.

 

[guitar_player4_2_0]

I have a 15h and atm it’s my only amp. Had it for a little over 5 years, kinda love hate with it. I clipped a few parts inside, C75, C76, and I think r34. It def took the high end way down but I think maybe a bit too much. If I run a precision drive out front I can get it to do metal, but I’m not sure if I want to leave it or try playing around more. Seems like what most people try to do is get it to be like the lead channel on yours, for some reason they voice the small ones to only have the red channel that everyone seems to hate. Does the 40c have the two modes on each channel like the 100? Looks good, and congrats!

You’re not gonna flip that neck humbucker around lol?

 

[maggotspawn]

Congrats. Great grab and go.

 

[wakjob]

Nice.

Everyone should own at least one decent Marshall

 

[TedEH]

if maybe the speaker was cutting the highs a bit

I'd be willing to bet the speaker is making a big difference. I had the CR for a short while, with the v-type speaker in it, and it was pretty fizzy - but if I ran it through any of my other cabs it sounded quite a bit better.

I ended up selling it, 'cause while it sounds pretty good, it doesn't do anything for me that other gear doesn't do better.

I don't know how true it is, but I've heard people say that the DSLs are sort of inconsistent, so some are great and some are less great. Could just be that you got a good one.

 

[Deadpool_25]

I have a 15h and atm it’s my only amp. Had it for a little over 5 years, kinda love hate with it. I clipped a few parts inside, C75, C76, and I think r34. It def took the high end way down but I think maybe a bit too much. If I run a precision drive out front I can get it to do metal, but I’m not sure if I want to leave it or try playing around more. Seems like what most people try to do is get it to be like the lead channel on yours, for some reason they voice the small ones to only have the red channel that everyone seems to hate. Does the 40c have the two modes on each channel like the 100? Looks good, and congrats!

You’re not gonna flip that neck humbucker around lol?

Yeah this does have two modes on each channel.

No I’m not flipping the neck pickup! Lol. Maybe. I honestly don’t even know what the point is. I guess I should look into it just so I know.

 

[CanserDYI]

Yeah this does have two modes on each channel.

No I’m not flipping the neck pickup! Lol. Maybe. I honestly don’t even know what the point is. I guess I should look into it just so I know.

Adam Jones my guy, Adam Jones.

 

[Deadpool_25]

Adam Jones my guy, Adam Jones.

Yeah I know for sure. I’m a huge Tool fan. I’m just not sure why he has it flipped.

 

[Deadpool_25]

Awesome! Congrats!

It’s kinda funny, I have experience with a ton of different amps, but for whatever reason, i think I’ve only played one or two Marshalls in my entire life. The opportunities have been slim, i guess.

Regardless, very cool find!

If I don’t count the DSL40CR I only had for like a day, this is my 2nd. The first was a JVM410H. I liked it IIRC but there was something I didn’t like and I can’t remember what that was.

 

[Kosthrash]

I'd be willing to bet the speaker is making a big difference. I had the CR for a short while, with the v-type speaker in it, and it was pretty fizzy - but if I ran it through any of my other cabs it sounded quite a bit better.

I ended up selling it, 'cause while it sounds pretty good, it doesn't do anything for me that other gear doesn't do better.

I don't know how true it is, but I've heard people say that the DSLs are sort of inconsistent, so some are great and some are less great. Could just be that you got a good one.

Maybe it's the case some people forget how important the speaker is to the final tone and replace the (brand new) speaker with other type (or end up selling the amp) before the original speaker breaks in (after a few hours of play) and show thus the full amp's potential I guess...

 

[TedEH]

I don't think any amount of "breaking in" the speaker could have helped with this combo in particular - it's a bright amp through a bright speaker in a pretty light cabinet, and mine saw enough play time at a loud enough volume that it shouldn't have been a thing. While I don't really doubt the merits of breaking in a speaker overall, that's a pretty subtle effect compared to how changing the speaker out completely or using another cab, for me at least, was a pretty dramatic change.

 

[guitar_player4_2_0]

You know, I usually overlook combos but this has me kind of intrigued. I’m browsing reverb and you can get some pretty good deals on these, plus it has everything I wish the head version had. Apparently they came stock with a Seventy 80. I’d really be interested to hear a comparison between that, the creamback, and a V30 in this. I played a DSL100 about 10 years ago in GC and I remember really liking it, can’t recall the cab though. I’ve never been able to get my head to sound exactly the same as the big version, talking fundamental tone and not low end and such.

 

[youngthrasher9]

I actually hadn’t tried one of these at any decent volume before today, and I liked it a lot more than I expected. I might have to pick up a DSL20HR now.

 

[Deadpool_25]

Maybe it's the case some people forget how important the speaker is to the final tone and replace the (brand new) speaker with other type (or end up selling the amp) before the original speaker breaks in (after a few hours of play) and show thus the full amp's potential I guess...

Or maybe the 70/80 just doesn’t sound very good to some (a lot of) people. Regardless, if it sounds kinda bad until it breaks in, who wants to just suffer through that when you can just put a new speaker in it and go from happy to happier as the new speaker breaks in?

You know, I usually overlook combos but this has me kind of intrigued. I’m browsing reverb and you can get some pretty good deals on these, plus it has everything I wish the head version had. Apparently they came stock with a Seventy 80. I’d really be interested to hear a comparison between that, the creamback, and a V30 in this. I played a DSL100 about 10 years ago in GC and I remember really liking it, can’t recall the cab though. I’ve never been able to get my head to sound exactly the same as the big version, talking fundamental tone and not low end and such.

Yeah they aren’t too expensive even in the current market. I’m not gonna lie, I really don’t feel like swapping a V30 out of one of my other cabs and into this. Just seems too much like manual labor lol. Maybe someday. I don’t have a 70/80 but I have the Creamback, Mesa V30s, and DV-77s.

 

[guitar_player4_2_0]

Seventy 80s get a lot of shit but I really think they aren’t that bad. That being said I’m sure the Creamback is a huge upgrade. I have been dying to try a DV77 irl.