Can You Guys Tell Me A Little About The Marshall JCM 2000 DSL?

  • Thread starter Thread starter angelspade
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Solid amps but unfortunately could never get them to work for me.

My last DSL foray got jettisoned for my JVM which to me is just a whole other level of amp "to me". Again though the caveat is up to the player. I mean is anyone arguing with Nuno? It boils down to what works for you. I'd never say one is better than the other because it's up to the player.

Now one thing that has me interested in checking out another DSL is running one with the Mr.Scary Mods. I'd like to hear that.
 
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I’ll add green channel boosted. had a 2203 reissue and dsl at the same time, green channel boosted had as much ooomph as the 2203, they just had slightly different voicings
 
I think I'm going to pull the trigger. Again, surprised how positively this amp is viewed here at the board. I haven't owned a Marshall in a long time and I miss the that ripping / grindy upper-mid thing that they do. I have the "modern" high gain tones pretty much covered for now with the Koch and Diezel. I think it will be fun to add this Marshall along with a boost (which I never use with my other amps) to the pack for some flavor.
 
dstroud said:
I’ll add green channel boosted. had a 2203 reissue and dsl at the same time, green channel boosted had as much ooomph as the 2203, they just had slightly different voicings
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I personally found it to sound identical to an 800, but MORE oomph on green crunch. Maybe a hair more low mids? I don't know, but it's fat sounding.
 
angelspade said:
I think I'm going to pull the trigger. Again, surprised how positively this amp is viewed here at the board. I haven't owned a Marshall in a long time and I miss the that ripping / grindy upper-mid thing that they do. I have the "modern" high gain tones pretty much covered for now with the Koch and Diezel. I think it will be fun to add this Marshall along with a boost (which I never use with my other amps) to the pack for some flavor.
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Definitely worth having one, the 100H you can find for $500, it’s really silly not to have one at that price
 
Geo said:
Not sure why you wouldn't just use the red channel.
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Because the red sucks. It’s like a piss poor attempt at a modern Recto type thing.

Green/boosted is far better. But any pre 1990 Marshall smokes the DSL. For 500, it is a good buy however. I have heard some modded DSLs; they sound killer. I think they have an upgraded OT, and mods to lower the compression.

DSLs and the EVH Iconic are the 2 best deals under 1k; along with a vintage Bassman + pedals.
 
I had a DSL100 and DSL50 back when they were current. I gigged with them alot and used to sing their praises online. They were both from '98 or '99 and the bias drift issue wasn't a known thing yet. I didn't have any problems with them at all. I guess I was lucky?

Just recently, I ran across a '98 DSL50 in great condition that sounded killer. I bought it mostly because I regretted not keeping one when I had them. I've biased it up and left it run for a while, played for a while, etc... and the bias didn't drift. But that wasn't during real hard use, so who knows.

I recorded an all original CD with a DSL50 cranked into a 1960AX cab with Greenbacks and the tone is perfect.
 
Racerxrated said:
Because the red sucks. It’s like a piss poor attempt at a modern Recto type thing.

Green/boosted is far better. But any pre 1990 Marshall smokes the DSL. For 500, it is a good buy however. I have heard some modded DSLs; they sound killer. I think they have an upgraded OT, and mods to lower the compression.

DSLs and the EVH Iconic are the 2 best deals under 1k; along with a vintage Bassman + pedals.
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I enjoyed the red channel, to each his own I guess.
 
SgtThump said:
I had a DSL100 and DSL50 back when they were current. I gigged with them alot and used to sing their praises online. They were both from '98 or '99 and the bias drift issue wasn't a known thing yet. I didn't have any problems with them at all. I guess I was lucky?

Just recently, I ran across a '98 DSL50 in great condition that sounded killer. I bought it mostly because I regretted not keeping one when I had them. I've biased it up and left it run for a while, played for a while, etc... and the bias didn't drift. But that wasn't during real hard use, so who knows.

I recorded an all original CD with a DSL50 cranked into a 1960AX cab with Greenbacks and the tone is perfect.
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The DSL 5o I owned was a 90's model as well.

I put lots of hours on that thing and never a problem. In fact, one of my buddies bought one at the same time and it's still going.
 
Geo said:
The DSL 5o I owned was a 90's model as well.

I put lots of hours on that thing and never a problem. In fact, one of my buddies bought one at the same time and it's still going.
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I'm a skeptic of everything, so part of me wonders if it's just internet hype that grew and grew over the years. But I dunno. Tons and tons of people say it's real? Guess we're just lucky?

Weird. I probably won't gig this '98 DSL50 I bought a few months ago, so I may never find out.
 
SgtThump said:
I'm a skeptic of everything, so part of me wonders if it's just internet hype that grew and grew over the years. But I dunno. Tons and tons of people say it's real? Guess we're just lucky?

Weird. I probably won't gig this '98 DSL50 I bought a few months ago, so I may never find out.
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I would jump at the chance to grab one now as well.

I am not a guy who uses pedals, for me the amp has to do everything I need it to.

My one exception to that may be reverb. If the amp doesn't already have it, I run through my Z-Verb first.
 
SgtThump said:
I'm a skeptic of everything, so part of me wonders if it's just internet hype that grew and grew over the years. But I dunno. Tons and tons of people say it's real? Guess we're just lucky?

Weird. I probably won't gig this '98 DSL50 I bought a few months ago, so I may never find out.
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Alton, IL..like 15 years ago. That place off Fosterberg rd. A night to remember BUT the DSL that night sounded killer.
 
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