Been a couple years since ive owned one. Forget how truly awesome these amps are. Played my new one @ rehearsal lastnite, "Lead 1" Master & Pre 1/2 way up, hit that w/a boost omfg, JCM-800 on steroids. Truly amazing amps.
I like them too. Only thing the DSL does not do better is the 1987X or 1959. Would be cool if Marshall would remake the DSL but add power amp voicing to it....Vintage/Modern which could be assigned to either channel....then I would sell all my other Marshall amps!
You can't go wrong with a DSL100 of almost any variant. I have a JCM2000 DSL100 and the new DSL100H. Both are great amps. And to be honest, I can barely hear much appreciable difference which has made me question why I keep both. I think mainly that neither are worth mega fortunes used so I'd sooner keep them around because... reasons? Science? Feelings? Many Marshalls are awesome?
I’ve got a DSL100 MLB like the one in the picture and it’s a killer amp. I also have a TSL100 and both amps are running the same pre amp tubes, power tubes, and even the same bias. Opinions may vary but to me those JCM2000 amps are some of the best modern amps I’ve ever heard or played when properly tubed and set up. Boosted with something like a tubescreamer or SD1 they absolutely destroy for metal. Personally I believe they are the best modern amps for metal when boosted. They just have it going on in the best of ways.
Beautiful clean tone that works really well without having to redial the tone controls. Would be nice to be able to just switch between crunch and clean. I’ve seen it modded to do that before. Gain at 3 on the ultra channel gets close enough. I had to change out the epoxy board on my DSL and found one for something silly like $150. The DSL100 is arguably one of the best Marshalls made. Top 3 for me. Maybe the runner up to the 1959. Not in my top 3, but the TSL doesn’t seem to get much love. I’ve run its crunch channel side by side with a 1979 2203. It’s in the ballpark. Nice clean tone either with the fat switch in or out, though I prefer the DSL’s clean. Only thing that really bothered me with the TSL is the FX mix can’t actually hit 100%, IIRC.
100% Agree! My JCM 2000 DSL 100 and DSL 50 heads are always on my cabs and ready to be played. With a boost, they are fat, thick and tight. Superb for metal. The Green Channel alone has beautiful, spankin' cleans. You can't beat the price on these amps for what they deliver. Better than most amps triple their price IMHO.
DSLs sound great. Just take a listen to the following if you're an unbeliever: I tend to use my JVM more because of the extra flexibility, but my DSL f*cking rips!
