6-Year Marshall DSL40CR Review: Is It Still Worth It?
Welcome to my review of the Marshall DSL40CR guitar amplifier. I purchased the Marshall DSL40CR 6 years ago, so consider this my long term review.
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Eminence Texas Heat Speaker
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Video Chapters
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00:00 – Marshall DSL40CR Long Term Review
00:41 – Clean Stratocaster Tones
01:12 – Marshall DSL40CR 40 or 20 Watt Power Switch
01:41 – Two Master Volumes
02:11 – Amazingly Versatile Amplifier
02:35 – Classic Crunch Channel (no pedals)
02:56 – Ultragain Channel
03:09 – Ultragrain Channel (No pedals)
03:28 – Celestion V Type Speaker (and why I changed it)
04:05 – Why I Use an Eminence Texas Heat
04:51 – Included Footswitch
05:20 – FX Loop
05:35 – 4-Channel Foot switch Option
05:52 – How I dial in my amplifier
06:49 – The Lacklustre Reverb
07:32 – Screw Quality on the Back Panel
08:02 – Reliability
09:24 – Pedals & Marshall DSL40CR
10:13 – Crunch Channel & KLON Pedal
10:36 – DSL40CR vs. Other Marshall Amplifiers
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#guitar
#6Year #Marshall #DSL40CR #Review #Worth
Originally posted by UC-oSaKCCEffJph0F7m6_xfA at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YdcLibrd5g
Hi everyone! Thanks for all the great comments so far! This is a 6-year long term review of the Marshall DSL40CR. It's been a great amp overall with very little to complain about. Check it out here
???? Sweetwater – https://imp.i114863.net/MarshallDSL40CR
???? Sky Music – https://bit.ly/3SuJD0k
???? Thomann (Global) – http://bit.ly/2WDpatz
???? Guitar Center – https://guitar-center.pxf.io/GjdVWn
???? Amazon UK – https://amzn.to/34lAfBd
???? Amazon Canada – https://amzn.to/2XfzVlT
Eminence Texas Heat Speaker
???? Sweetwater – https://sweetwater.sjv.io/9gY2Ej
(Affiliate Links)
It's few time I have my first Marshall dsl 40cr, first valve amplifier! The only thing I don't know is if it's right to turn off it with red led!????
How's this amp take pedals?
Over the past five years, I've used a variety of amps. I have several handmade, point-to-point amps with top-of-the-line components. My favorites have been a Matchless Spitfire and Fender Princeton copy. The Marshall copy with the Marvell FX circuitry disappointed me. I've been looking at all these SVs, JTMs, and Silver Jubilees, on and on, and none of them have resonated with me as much as the expression on your face when you use the Marshall DSL 40 CR. If it doesn't live up to my expectations, I'll probably go to Australia and you'll have to buy me a few drinks 🙂 I compose and record music in my home studio, and yet it always looks the same. When inspiration strikes I put a combo into the studio, not a cabinet and head. I like your channel; it's honest, and you don't force your gear on people. Greetings from Poland! 🙂
I might try the Texas Heat or a Celestian V30 vintage
Got one on the way!
Just bought this amp a few weeks ago after seeing your reviews of it. I didn't have much choice to be honest, it was the only tube amp I could find locally but I was floored by how beautiful the clean channel sounds in it (not to mention the crunch and OD1 channels). Coming from a Fender GTX100 modeling amp which has served me well for the past 2 years almost, this amp is just beautiful and took my tones to a whole new level ????
Hi Shane, can you have the footswitch so that it’s turned off on the lead channel but it’s on for the clean channel, essentially remembering those settings as you switch between channels? Thanks
Reliability being mentioned in an amp review is a first for me.
The line out is the worst
I purchased mine about a month ago, I’m 15 and it’s my first tube amp and first piece of equipment I bought with my own money I saved for about a year for it. It’s AMAZING!!
I use a Boss SD-1 to boost it a little bit but if you guys wanna try my tone and settings it’s
SD-1: Level: 12 o’clock, Tone and drive: 9 o’clock
DSL-40CR: Classic Crunch: Gain and Volume: 10
Treble: 6, Mids: 10, Bass: 9, Presence: 3,
Resonance: 10, Reverb: 10 Master 1: 1, High output setting
Guitar: 2021 Gibson SG Standard
Bridge and Neck Volume: 10, Neck Tone: 7 Bridge Tone: 6-7
Sorry for the long message I just want to share my sound and am excited about this amp, reply to my comment with your opinion on the sound!
Have a great day guys and love the video and your channel!
Lots of love!
-Robbie
This amp is everyone's favourite in my jam pad….2nd is the hotrod deville
I have the 20 Watt head and a 2×12“ cabinet with 1 Creamback and 1 Eminence The Wizard in it and I love it ????
Why try to turn a desirable Marshal style amp into a Fender amp when you can just buy a Fender amo???? Kinda like replacing Les Paul Standard/Custom humbuckers with Strat single coil pickups. Who TF would do that?????
I bought a white covered one a few years ago and I loved the sound but then it would cut out and go silent without warning. I had a wedding gig coming up and other gigs so I returned it to Guitar Center in Albuquerque and they were great with me. I ended up getting a Blackstar Club 40 which I still have and am settled in with using my Tele.????
I would like them to 1) improve the lag time when channel switching (no excuse for this in these times) and 2) add a midi learn/store button.
Love mine. It is heavy. But as you stated still easier than moving a head and 4×12 cab. Great vid!
This or a Boss Katana-100 Gen 3 100?
I want to love this amp, but I’m having a real game at getting a good sound in standard form. I just bought one new with V type and I had to rebias the valves as they were out. The drive often sounds very scratchy, thin and fizzy and sustain is lacking. I double it up with either a V30 or eminence private jack cab. I’m starting to get somewhere near a decent sound (to my ears) by turning the presence right down and boosting mids. I’ll keep at it, but I have to say that my Blackstar club 50mk2 is preferable – so far. Perhaps the Texas heat might be the way to go .
DSL= Definitely Sounds Lousy….its a mid/ lower priced entry level tube amp that does nothing well. IMHO there are NO Marshalls that do high gain well. Turn the gain up and it sounds muddy. Want clear high gain? Gibson pickups and Mesa Boogie amplification. Thats why ZERO pros use this amp. The Bugera G5 and G20 are far better for less money. Rember Marshall doesn’t sell amps to famous recording artist. They sell them to kids at music stores on Saturday afternoons
Had one since 2019, great amp sounds but yes, reverb, is junk even on 10. I replaced the V-type speaker with a 12" 16 ohn Creamback also the 6-button floor channel switcher, it really brings the amp alive. I had to replace a couple of tubes but with live use dimed, it stills is the standard for heavy combo amps, get one!
Honest to goodness, a Marshall DSL and an EQ pedal will get you 95% of the way to most tones.
Love my 40 watt so much I went and got a 20 watt
Unfortunatly Shane, im going to have to stop watching and listening to you. You recomended the DSL40CR and I purchased on. Then you recomended the Fender Mustang III Ver 2 and I purchased that. I cant afford any more amps so goodbye Shane.
Lol, in all seriousness, both are awesome amps and for reference i put them up against my Magnatone Twilighter and they both excell. Thanks…
Hey guys, I was thinking of purchasing this amp. Is the reverb really that weak? I don’t use reverb that much but how does it hold up against a fender reverb deluxe on the lowest reverb setting ? Many thanks for the help guys
Loved my DSL40CR when I bought it, but ultimately the power tubes puked out and had to be replaced. Maybe not plug in a big Marshall cab to suck power at 8 OHM? Reverb is a joke. PA guys who ran the few gigs our band played in the past few years couldn't handle the 40W setting, the 20 'low' power setting still provides excellent tone when the power amp is turned up; the the preamp is up to your taste. FYI, do yourselves a favor and get the 6-way footswitch to run all of the amp channel and effects onstage. Pricey but worth it. I liked the V-Type speaker a lot but replaced it with the a Creamback – wow better for 70's metal sound!
So this doesn’t have the stock speaker in it for this review ?
But how does it compare to the Peavey Bandit? ????
Mine started popping then no sound at all, then i switched between crunch and normal a bunch and it started working again. My local store cant find a problem. Should i just buy a different make? Im sick of dragging this marshall POS all over town
Lame
I really liked the sound of this amp when you bought it, its made in Vietnam yes? Certainly brighter and more plexi than my made in England
Tsl 60 combo
I own the 100w head version of this. I run it through a reactive loadbox and then a Marshall 2×12. It sounds great for practice and noodling around.
But my issue with mine is actually the gain amounts. It is waaaaay too gainy for my taste. All of my other amps are single volume knobs for their gain control, so I am very used to just cranking the amp until it feels good and then playing. I then control cleanliness with my attack, my guitar volume, or a boost or fuzz if I need a little more sustain.
The DSL is difficult to get into that state (at least for me). The clean channel doesn’t distort much even with everything cranked all the way up. The crunch channel is too gainy with gain at any point above 2. I don’t even touch the ultra gain channel, unless I want to put reverb and delay and play some legato type stuff (which is very rare).
So the way I set it up is turn the master volumes all the way up. Then turn the channel volume all the way up as well. And at that point the gain knob basically becomes my only volume knob, which is closer to what I am used to.
I know is not the way this amp is intended to use, but it is how it works for me and my play style.
I am after that early breakup JTM 45 type of tone. And this just doesn’t have it.
In fact, I tested a DSL40 and a Bassbreaker 45 back to back and ended up buying the Bassbreaker. I miss that amp!
I wonder if you put a neodymium little Texas with lighten the load and take some of the top end off?
Would you recommend this for Death Metal? I do have a Heavy Menace Distortion Pedal. Also, is it Gig worthy? I see alot of guys playing with a Head & a Cab. Would it be loud enough?
If you use the tone shift button with the clean channel you get cleans just as good as a deluxe reverb because it scoops the mods, which is exactly how fender gets that clean tone!
The V type speaker is great. This guy pushes the Texas heat on almost every video so keep that in mind!
The optional foot switch is actually a 6 button switch
It is definitely not too brite with a Les Paul! Not even close!
When you say 2nd crunch channel, you're talking about the OD1 channel OR using 2 master volumes on the regular crunch channel? Thanks 🙂
What pickups do you have in that strat? Sounds great!
beautiful amp, luv it and unlike a fender, it won't have a myriad of problems
I've played Marshall amps most of my 43 years playing guitar. Never liked Marshall's combos, though. They were always too bright and brittle for my taste no matter what changes were made.
Would live to know how well would it work with g12-65. It can tame jcm800-s so it must be good for this dsl too…
Never heard anyone say ultra high gain, and Carlos Santana, I’m the same sentence. What was that all about ? ????????????????
Great review, good to hear how it's been going strong for many years. Tipped me over the edge and bought one today. Sounds great. One thing I've noticed since getting it home is there is a slight silence in the signal when switching channels. Makes it sound like there's a bit of a pop. Seems it's a common issue with this model, has it been an issue for you? Cheers
Thank you for this excellent and comprehensive video review, its appreciated. I do have one question if I may, is the Texas heat speaker that you installed a 4, 8 or 16 Ohms.
Hi" If you don't mind. I would like to ask you what tube amp you would recommend for blues and funk. I don't like wild loud sounds. This would be strictly for home use. Thanks for any info!
Hi ! Really great demo ! In terms of clean/edge of breakup tones, can the dsl compete with the studio jtm ? I'm really torn between this 2.
I put an old Marshall speaker and it sounds great, I bought 2 of them and run it them together, they sound great. They as good amp that you can buy these days!