DSL40C ?

[motoputz]

I just bought a used 2013 dsl40c for really cheap. It has some issues
1. there is a distinct "tink" sound when initialy turning the amp on
2. the clean channel is very, very, very low in volume when compared to the "crunch" half of the green channel, it's a lot less than half the volume.
3. original tubes(not an issue that I'm aware of, just saying)
4. the red channel sounds like I have a bad or no ground, very noisy and harse. Turning the gain down helps a little but the "ground" sound doesn't go away entirely. I didn't experience this red channel noise when I played a new dsl40 a few years ago?(or I don't remember it?)
I bought this from an older guy(total gear junky) who bought it new, played and gigged it for a little while, then let it sit unused, in his house for 5 years or so (that's the story I got at any rate).

I'm new to this amp and have been lost in dsl40c thread land gleeming the posts for info of which there are 1000's of pages. It's a little overwelming, but, I've have found a few gems.
If anyone could point out some things for me to look at , check for or change entirely and share some of your favorite or most informative threads with me about this amp? I'd appreciate that.





ps - where have all the tube testers gone? ...ebay!

 

[ken361]

Check the bias 32 is the sweet spot imo it smooth out the red channel

 

[Richie612]

I had the same issue with a past Dsl. It was faulty and current Dsl amps have had the fault fixed.
It was a fault with some circuit and I emailed Marshall about it and they admitted the problem.
I can't remember what the circuit was called but if you Google marshall dsl circuit I'm sure it'll come up.

 

[Richie612]

It was the gyrator circuit

 

[Listogast]

If you're talking about that little click that it makes when you turn it on, then I think it's normal. The clean channel is very quiet because it's clean. Think of the crunch mode as being more of a boost mode, although the voicing on it is slightly different. I usually stick to the crunch channel for everything I need. I very rarely play with high gain, and opt for more a broken up clean tone. I never use the lead 2 channel because I think it just adds fizz onto the lead 1 channel.

 

[motoputz]

Thanks for the input
This is my first time owning one of these amps so I appreciate the help.
I found some tubes so I'll be experimenting with those and as I do I'll bias the amp.
I'll have to look into the "gyrator circuit" deal a little more. I found some stuff online for the dsl20 gyrator issue but not the dsl40.
The differance in volume for the green channel between clean and crunch seems abnormally low ...I'll just have to get used to it? I bought this for the crunch channel anyway so the clean is a non factor(although it is a nice sounding clean!) I use a mesa boogie lonestar for my cleans ...it is a sublime clean sounding amp.
For both of these amps I don't like the gain channels very much and use my mesa channel 2 as a clean boost , same setting plus a little more. I've experimented with the dsl's red channel a little, but, it's not saying much to me ...yet?
I want to look into some of the mods, especially taking some of the highs out of the red channel. Any links you could share?

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

To The Forum
I changed out 2 preamp tubes to lower the gain on my red channels and I like the results I got. And as said above there is a volume discrepancy from green to crunch which is normal..
Good luck with your amp , I love mine

 

[motoputz]

To The Forum
I changed out 2 preamp tubes to lower the gain on my red channels and I like the results I got. And as said above there is a volume discrepancy from green to crunch which is normal..
Good luck with your amp , I love mine

Thanks for the welcome
I'm starting to dial in the amp more and more as I play with it ..the green crunch is what I was after anyway.
I put the amp through an AC power conditioner and it just about stopped the nasty red channel "hissing/humming, bad ground sound" but not entirely. When i get in to bias I can look around for bad connections. I'm going to run it through my variac this evening and see what's up.
I found some tubes online and should have them by the weekend. I bought 8 differant 12ax7 types and a matched pair of mullard platinum el34's.

 

[Solid State]

DSL40C is one of the best Marshalls around. I have the tick when turning both of mine on so don't worry about that. It seems like you have some bad preamp tubes. I'd get a whole new set of tubes and have the bias checked.

 

[MarshallDog]

Congrats on your new amp and welcome aboard!!!!

 

[Mitchell Pearrow]

Thanks for the welcome
I'm starting to dial in the amp more and more as I play with it ..the green crunch is what I was after anyway.
I put the amp through an AC power conditioner and it just about stopped the nasty red channel "hissing/humming, bad ground sound" but not entirely. When i get in to bias I can look around for bad connections. I'm going to run it through my variac this evening and see what's up.
I found some tubes online and should have them by the weekend. I bought 8 differant 12ax7 types and a matched pair of mullard platinum el34's.

The tubes I changed were V-2 got a 12AT7
V-4 got a 5751 don’t recall the brand , but I did it on 12-31-19 and it made my red ultra 2 channel far more to my liking, and gain is now on 3 .. all of the clips I have posted since then if they are on the Dsl40c’s, that’s how I have been running them.. plus an SD1 in front set as a clean boost,, that tightens everything up..

Cheers
Mitch

 

[motoputz]

thanks Mitch
I've ordered both of those tubes. I'll give it a go

 

[Leonard Neemoil]

I just got a 2013 a couple of months ago. All stock too.

I was concerned about the "tink" when I turned it on also because my 100 H doesn't do that but was told it's normal. Still not sure why it does it and the 100 doesn't but I play it no lower than 5 on Ultra and 8 on Classic and it's still going so must be normal.


Here are my most used settings:

Reverbs) Off


Resonance) A hair below Noon

Presence) A hair above Noon

Tone shift) Out



Bass) Noon

Middle) Noon

Treble) A hair above Noon



Ultra: Volume) 5

Lead 1/2 button) In

Ultra: Gain) Couple hairs above 3



Channel select) Out but I use the footswitch so I don't know if it matters out or in.



Classic: Volume) 8 or a little more

Clean/Crunch button) In

Classic: Gain) A couple hairs above 2



Sorry it goes from right to left but it's easier to see the dials on my 100 and the control panel is flipped compared to the 40. I use the same settings for both aside from the 2 channel volumes because the 40 needs to be about 1 digit higher to equal the volume of the 100 (the volumes listed are for the 40, those are the only two that I was sure to look at on the 40).

If you still get the bad/no ground sound with those settings something is wrong.

Not sure the style you play but for reference, just tweaking the guitar controls, I play AC/DC, Zep all the way to the latest Megadeth with those settings. Guitars straight in, no pedals anywhere. Guitar volume and tone rolled back (roughly V-5/6, T-8 +/- depending on the guitar) for most stuff other than the heavier stuff like Pantera or new Megadeth where guitar vol goes to maybe 8 or so.

Hope you get it figured out to suit your needs.


Cheers!

 

[KraftyBob]

That ”tink” noise sounds vaguely familiar to tubes heating up. Pull the power tubes and turn the amp on and see if you still hear that noise. You can try the preamp tubes too, but if my memory is correct I’ve only heard it with power tubes.

 

[motoputz]

Thanks All for your input
I have a feeling the tubes may be going. There is an intermitent "bad ground sound" (for lack of a better description) even through an AC power conditioner. It doesn't happen all the time? The amp will be relatively quiet then noisy and annoying? I pulled the power tubes, they look good? There are no tube testers in my neck of the woods that 'm aware of at any rate, so I have to rely on new tubes at this point. That "tink" sound reminded me of a tube as well, but while looking at the amp, the sound happens as the green or red light come on.

 

[KraftyBob]

Thanks All for your input
I have a feeling the tubes may be going. There is an intermitent "bad ground sound" (for lack of a better description) even through an AC power conditioner. It doesn't happen all the time? The amp will be relatively quiet then noisy and annoying? I pulled the power tubes, they look good? There are no tube testers in my neck of the woods that 'm aware of at any rate, so I have to rely on new tubes at this point. That "tink" sound reminded me of a tube as well, but while looking at the amp, the sound happens as the green or red light come on.

When the noise is happening plug an instrument cable into the effects return. This will take the preamp out of the circuit and help narrow down where the problem is coming from. If it's still noisy then the issue is in the power amp section. If it goes away then it's before the loop. If it's in the preamp you can pull one preamp tube at a time to narrow it down even more.

The tube's physical appearance is not a reliable indicator of it's performance. Unless there are pieces loose in the tube, or it turned white (oxygen leak), for example, the tube could look perfectly fine but still be bad. The other thing you can do is while the amp is on, lightly tap each tube with a pencil, chop stick, etc., and listen for it through the speaker. On a normal tube you'll hear a faint tapping noise, but on a microphonic tube you'll really hear it. This applies to both preamp and power tubes.

Tube testers can be helpful but they are not perfect as they don't test at the voltages that your amp runs at. My tube tester is great for identifying tubes that are really bad (shorts, etc.) but if a tube is just starting to go it might pass on the tube tester but fail in circuit. That's why you hear a lot of techs saying the best tube tester is the amp itself. Still nice to have to weed out the bad one's

 

[Leonard Neemoil]

That "tink" sound reminded me of a tube as well, but while looking at the amp, the sound happens as the green or red light come on.

Ok that's different than what I was talking about.

The sound you're hearing is normal, it's just the relay engaging.

 

[MarshallDog]

Ok that's different than what I was talking about.

The sound you're hearing is normal, it's just the relay engaging.

What he said...I remember the one I had did the same thing!

 

[steveb63]

And so it goes...

 

[MarshallDog]

And so it goes...

Saw this many moons ago on the MF Forum but still a laugh!