joeytroupe

I play in a three-piece (guitar,drum,bass) blues/Americana/roots rock band with an Epiphone Les Paul Standard with humbuckers. We play mostly small-medium sized bars. The sound I'm trying to achieve is a heavy, overdriven, dirty blues wail reminicient of the Black Keys, Jack White's less eccentric stuff, late 60's blues-rock etc., with thick, nasty bottom end but not so much that I can't co-exist peacefully with my talented bassist. I play both standard tuning and open D, E, G and I'm trying to get a handle on slide.

Right now I run my Marshall JCM 2000 DSL 401 Combo through a Marshall cab that isn't mine but is at our practice space. The cab provides added volume but I primarily use it to get a beefier low-end sound that my 1X12 combo can't give me. I typically play on the clean channel and use the MXR Micro-Amp and USA Big Muff. The tube sound is classic Marshall, and when the tubes are driven to 10, it screams pretty nicely. I can't complain too much about the quality when the amp isn't acting up. Right now, however, its just not the precise sound I'm looking for.

Additionally, the Marshall combo has been a diva lately with the typical overheating issues, and I'm not entirely happy with my current sound. So I'm debating whether to invest the time and money into furnishing this amp into my rig of the future or selling it and try to turn a profit (got it for cheap) and starting over with a new amp. Essentially my choices are:

1) Refurnish my Marshall DSL 401 with a new speaker (Celestion V30 or Hellatone60 have been recommended), spend some money on some cool pedals (possibly an EQ, MXR blue bog, Digitech Whammy, a better Fuzz than the US Big Muff, octaver, etc. etc.), and buy my own cab.

2) Sell my Marshall and buy a new Combo in the $500-800 price range. I'm looking to buy used, and from what I've seen/heard, a Fender Twin Reverb or Blues Deville may work, but Ampeg, Orange, Vox may be too expensive.

Basically, I'm looking for some advice on whether to stick with my Marshall which I got for a pretty good steal and putting money toward pedals/cab/upgrades, or use that good deal to sell the amp and turn it around into something else. Also, I need some advice on what brand of amp and what type of pedals I should be keeping an eye out for. I'm fairly confident/proud with my skills at guitar and have been playing for 6-7 years, but I'm not very knowledgeable at all in terms of how gear works, the quality of brand names, or what gear is best suited for me. I'm a graduate student in dental school, so all my free time not working in people's mouths is devoted to practicing, writing, or performing, not becoming a gear head.

Any suggestions would be awesome.

Marshall Amps

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DragonSarc

you can try a DSL 50/100 or a TSL100 head due to the tubes are better than the 401, the EL34 will give you more definition, thicker and heavier overdrive than the EL84s they go the about the same price as your combo, no more overheating issues

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JVM410H w/ 1960 Vintage A & 1960 Lead B
Valvestate 2000 AVT 100 W/ JJ tesla Hi-Gain Preamp
Gibson LP studio faded mahagony w/ Burstbuckers Pro V
MIJ ESP Edwards Les Paul w/ Duncan JB and 59's
Fender American Strat w/ Noiseless Vintage pups
LTD EC-500
Jackson Stealth Pro MIJ

kevinredSG

i agree with ^^^ that guy but i've tried out the fender twin reverbs and i highly recommend those amps, very good quality and dirty blues tone. My advice is to sell your marshall and buy a fender, not that i prefer fender over marshall, but if your looking for a bluesy, overdrive tone, i would go with fender.

DragonSarc

or try putting an EQ on the loop first it might help another option

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JVM410H w/ 1960 Vintage A & 1960 Lead B
Valvestate 2000 AVT 100 W/ JJ tesla Hi-Gain Preamp
Gibson LP studio faded mahagony w/ Burstbuckers Pro V
MIJ ESP Edwards Les Paul w/ Duncan JB and 59's
Fender American Strat w/ Noiseless Vintage pups
LTD EC-500
Jackson Stealth Pro MIJ

steelhorse

I like the Fender Twin Reverb's alot. The Re-issues are pretty decent too. Yeah the 401 is a tough call. Some here love it, some here don't. For bluesy tones in that price range the Fenders are a definite consideration.

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WrenchDevil6

The type of blues you're looking for? Fender. Nothing against Marshall, but I have my Fenders too, and it really is what you're looking for, and solidly in your price range.

joeytroupe

Thanks a lot for your recommendations. Please keep them coming.

Which Fenders in particular do you think I can get used for under $800? And are there any cool pedals in particular you'd run through the clean channel to get the specific tone I'm looking for?

steelhorse

A used re-issue twin could be had for that and if you get lucky you can score a vintage for close to that. Hunt around craigslist and the local shops and clubs. I got a fender from 67 for 600 bucks because the guy's back gave out and he could no longer haul it around!

fwiw, a modded TS9 or a modded Boss BD2 would sound great, but check it out before buying pedals because you may find you won't need one.

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WrenchDevil6

Blues Deluxe RI or Twin RI Or any vintage tweed that can be got for that money.

joeytroupe

I've received a lot of Fender recommendations, but some people have recommended Peavey Classic 50 410 to me, 1-2 recommended the Radial Plexitube pedal on any decent amp, and also a few have mentioned Laney amps. Any thoughts on these?

joeytroupe

Also I've had a few people mention the Traynor YCS50. I'm completely unfamiliar with this.

kevinredSG

i never really tried out a Randall amp but as for Peavey's, they're more of a thrashy amp, most people i know that use Peavy uses them for harder rock, but that's really all i can say about Peavy.

sojatriani

As you can see in my sig I use a Peavey Classic. It is pretty much a poor mans Twin Reverb...no thrash to that one, just good cleans and good bluesy OD. I use mine a+b'd with my VM for cleans...works great.

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Marshall 92 JCM 900 4101/running thru 1936 212 cab
Marshall 2008 Vintage Modern half stack
1975 VOX AC30 with extension cab
Peavey Classic 50 212 combo
Peavey Triple XXX 212 combo

'85 Les paul
'74 strat
2002 American Deluxe Strat/Fat 50's
2004 Richie Sambora Strat
1997 USA Roadhouse Strat
1992 Ibanez RG 550
1996 ESP Eclipse

btomlinson

I am sitting next to a DSL-401, Vox Ac30 head and a 2x12 Avatar Vintage 30 cab. I have dealt with the same exact issue except for the over heating issue. Mine is a 2008 and does not heat up too much at all. I have a 71 Twin reverb that sounds great with a Fulltone OCD. Sounds just like the DSL-401 on OD1. It's way too heavy for me (hernia). The DSL-401 has a small and boxy sound. I tried a Vintage 30 speaker. Not much difference. I bought a Avatar 2x12 cab with vintage 30s. I will not carry a cab and a combo so i bought a Vox AC30 Head that sounds great with or without the OCD pedal and the cab. I would look into a DSL50, 100 or Vintage Modern. Remember the lower wattage amps cannot push the bass sounds too well. My 2x12 bass gets a bit flubby. I don't know if the 100 watt DSl would fix this. I know my 71 Twin with it's 85 or 100 watts has no bass issues. The only issue I have with most Marshall heads is that they are so damn big. I like to keep a low profile and find most heads just too big. The Vox AC30 is cool but is a little smaller than a Marshall head.

The DSl-401 in my opinion is great in the basement or in a band where everyone else is playing a similar size amp. Just my opinion.

btomlinson

I saw a member here turn his DSl-401 into a head. I think he had the right idea. I don't have a table saw.

btomlinson

I think the Blues Deluxe RI has a very flubby bass.

JohnH

If you are not quite there with the sound of the 401 through a cab, with various stomp boxes, then the last thing to try is some EQ in the loop. Perhaps you can borrow one to try? If you get a sound that you like, then the heat issues can be fixed, most easily with a fan and rebiasing.

Without a cab, the EQ is best used to boost bass and cut everything else. in a parallel loop such as the 401, all the basic sound goes direct, and then the FX control becomes your new low bass knob.

I get my best blues overdrive with a stomp box (a secret home made one, or a Bad Monkey), into the clean channel with gain up to about 6. The stomp box sets up the tone and the DSL smoothes and fattens it out.

But if you are not getting 'the sound', then I reckon sell, and check out a Marshall Vintage Modern, or a Peavey Classic 50.

John

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DSL401
8412 cab
Crate Powerblock
1 x 12 Vintage 30 cab
'76 Shergold Masquerader
'93 Les Paul Studio
'83 Roadstar

riffdrive

Twin Reverb. That's all ya need.

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2001 Marshall DSL 50
2005 Marshall Mode Four
Avatar 2x12 (1x Hellatone 60, 1x Greenback)

Taylor Standard Solidbody
Ibanez RG2EX2

big dooley

the vintage modern combo hasn't been mentioned?

zslane

Care to tell us where he can find a VM combo for $500-800?

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JCM2000 DSL-100 head + 1960A 4x12 cab
30th Anniversary 6100 head
JCM2000 DSL-401 combo
Les Paul Standards ('96 Goldtop, '99 Ebony, '03 Honeyburst)
Les Paul Custom ('04 Alpine White w/ gold hardware)
Les Paul Supreme ('07 Trans Black w/ black hardware)

WrenchDevil6

coldsteal2

The DSL 401 has a Bridge Rectifier mod that needs
to be done by a tech, if you dont have that done it
will overheat, and im sure effects the performance of them.

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btomlinson

You mean the older ones right? I have a 2007 and it is just fine. No over heating at all.

coldsteal2

yea the older ones i think before 05,
mine is as cool or even cooler than my other amps
with that mod, mine is an 01 i think

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TST

Find out what gear the bands you like on the radio are using.

9985

You might want to check out the Randall MTS series as well. I got a RM100 head a few months ago because I am impatient & couldn't wait for my DSL 100 repairs/mods to be finished, and I LOVE it. Unbelievable versatility of tones- the tube preamps are modular and come very close to a bunch of vintage amp tones, including multiple Fender & Marshall tones well suited for the bluesy sound you are looking for. Now, there is no substitute for the originals, my Voodoo DSL100 sounds better than any of the Randall Marshall models for sure, but the Randall modules come close for a tiny fraction of the cost.

For those with short attention spans that want to try new tones frequently, and/or cover bands that need a wide variety of sounds, it's a great alternative to getting new heads all the time. If you have big bucks, Egnater makes upscale versions that sound better but cost about twice as much.