DSL Mods?

  • Thread starter Thread starter NowYou'rePlayingWithPower
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NowYou'rePlayingWithPower

NowYou'rePlayingWithPower

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Anyone know of good ones?
Just got a DSL20H (I know y'all are cork sniffing rn, but it was $190 brand new, so I know you would have bought one too :ROFLMAO: ) and it's fine, but I think I want to bypass the reverb if possible and get the red channel gain to be usable after 9o'clock.

Any other mods I should know about or look into to?
Have plenty of tubes to try, but was thinking I would go that route after I get the other issues taken care of.
I remember reading something about getting them closer to studio models too, but can't find it.
 
a 12at7 in one of the preamp spots in the bigger models at least is supposed to help the gain taper on the red, ive not tried it though
 
RaceU4her said:
a 12at7 in one of the preamp spots in the bigger models at least is supposed to help the gain taper on the red, ive not tried it though
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That's the first thing I'm going to do while I see if there are better corrections around as I have it that way in my dsl15, but isn't that more of a cheater mod by just lowering the overall gain? I was just wondering if there's something I can do to get it to not turn into mud going from a vintage crunchy gain ala marshall to the point above that where it gets kind of where I like it, but turns to mud.

RaceU4her said:
and where are they 190 brand new?? ill buy one for that
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They were at proaudiostar last week. I think a few of us bought them. Was posted on the crazy deals thread.
I've seen proaudiostar run out of inventory and then offer the same deal again a few days or weeks later, so it may be worth keeping an eye on. They were sold as "used" but I've ordered used from them before and always got a new or bstock product, same with this one. I'll let you know if I see it come up again.
 
what a great little amp ............... I got one for my son pre covid for 275 used .... post covid ... I've seen them 600 used

the only mod I would suggest is re tolexing it in a electric blue snakeskin .... much clearer and usable tone after I did that for him

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japetus said:
Damn, $190. I would have for sure jumped on that. How much volume can you get out of that? Think it could hang with an average volume drummer?
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probably borderline. I have a DSL40CR with hi-lo switch that drops it down to 20W, and it's loud, but I run the masters at max, and adjust the channels volume and gain from there. 20W vs 40W is about 3 dB difference, and it's noticeable at the 40W setting
 
japetus said:
Damn, $190. I would have for sure jumped on that. How much volume can you get out of that? Think it could hang with an average volume drummer?
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I think it would depend on how much headroom you're expecting. On pure volume it's probably fine, but might start to mush up and sound bad maxing it out. My couple of 20 watters crap out a bit early in that aspect. They're also EL84 where the DSL is EL34. So the DSL could likely be pushed further than what I get out of my amps.
 
MadAsAHatter said:
I think it would depend on how much headroom you're expecting. On pure volume it's probably fine, but might start to mush up and sound bad maxing it out. My couple of 20 watters crap out a bit early in that aspect. They're also EL84 where the DSL is EL34. So the DSL could likely be pushed further than what I get out of my amps.
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IIRC, aren't the Marshall 20W amps designed / intended for home and studio use? Probably fine in a small fusion jazz supper club setting too. :D
 
MadAsAHatter said:
I think it would depend on how much headroom you're expecting. On pure volume it's probably fine, but might start to mush up and sound bad maxing it out. My couple of 20 watters crap out a bit early in that aspect. They're also EL84 where the DSL is EL34. So the DSL could likely be pushed further than what I get out of my amps.
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I would be mainly playing it with a Roland drummer for writing music, but he plays loud through his monitor. So it should be good through a 4x12. I might look out for one if I can find it that inexpensive.
 
rsm said:
IIRC, aren't the Marshall 20W amps designed / intended for home and studio use? Probably fine in a small fusion jazz supper club setting too. :D
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That's my understanding of their intent. Lower watt studio versions so you don't have to crank the big boys for that tone.

japetus said:
I would be mainly playing it with a Roland drummer for writing music, but he plays loud through his monitor. So it should be good through a 4x12. I might look out for one if I can find it that inexpensive.
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Going full tilt with my little 5 watt amp it can push right at 100 dB through a 412 from 6 feet away. The DSL through a 412 going against e-drums through monitors would likely hang well enough. I haven't played through one so take my words with a grain of salt. The only thing that would give me pause would be running out of headroom and going mush.

Maybe if @NowYou'rePlayingWithPower has an opportunity, she can crank hers and tell us how loud it goes before it hits the wall.
 
griff10672 said:
what a great little amp ............... I got one for my son pre covid for 275 used .... post covid ... I've seen them 600 used

the only mod I would suggest is re tolexing it in a electric blue snakeskin .... much clearer and usable tone after I did that for him

View attachment 351599
View attachment 351602
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Nice work!

I haven't tried the Tolex mod yet. Hmmm......
 
MadAsAHatter said:
I was a day late and a dollar short on that deal otherwise I would have snagged one too.
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I will keep an eye out for y'all if I see them pop back up.

japetus said:
Damn, $190. I would have for sure jumped on that. How much volume can you get out of that? Think it could hang with an average volume drummer?
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Haven't messed around with it much tbh, but my dsl15 was okay with my old pearl masters birch set (sans the Z cymbals :ROFLMAO:) and is fine with my digital drums through a keyboard amp. These do have a loop and line out, though. So...

@griff10672 That tolex job on your son's dsl is :love: That is awesome.
 
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