Marshall JCM-2000 DSL 50

Two channels, each one has a switch for different gain structures, shared EQ, reverb for each channel. Very straight forward amp.

The stock tubes didn't sound too great IMO so I swapped them out for JJ's and the amp sounded a bit clearer. The clean channel is pretty good for a Marshall, plug in a strat and Hendrix songs sound damn good. The lead channel is AC/DC heaven, but perfect for any kind of classic rock really. I mostly play with Les Paul and you really can't go wrong with this combination. Play along with one of Slash's solos and you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference in tone. The reason why I gave this an 8 is because it isn't as versatile as I would like it to be. It has already been mentioned here but I'll say it once again, you either love that Marshall sound or you don't. If you do love the Marshall sound, you will love this amp. I personally prefer a darker and more modern voicing and something with much more depth. No matter how much I tweaked the DSL I couldn't get the sound that I was looking for. Don't let this steer you away though. This amp has great tone and die hard Marshall fans will definitely love it.

Lots of people say Marshall amps aren't reliable but I've had this amp for quite a while now and haven't had any major problems. The clean/crunch switch on the clean channel does make a weird noise when you press it, but it goes away after a second or two and never affects the tone.

Never had to deal with customer support!

If it was stolen I would buy something else but that's just because I would want to try something different instead of spending all that money on something I've already owned. This is a great amp and for the money it is a really good deal. 50 watts is more than enough for most people so if you don't the extra power of the DSL100 save some money and get this one.

2007 Marshall DSL 50 Head. All the features have been reviewed so lets move on. It fits the bill. Blues based Rock heaven.

After owning a hand-wired SLP, a stock re-issue SLP, the JCM 800, the JCM 900, the DSL 100, a Fender Vibro King, Fender Bassman, Twin, and Super Reverb, and Music Man HD 130 (a very nice amp if you can find one), and a couple of "Botiques, Ive settled on this one. Fact is, having 100 watts is no big deal, and infact, sometimes a liability. Lets face it...today, NO-ONE goes into a club and cranks a 100 watt'er cause theres just no need. Mic'ing has become the standard practice. Sure, you can use a power brake, (if your akin to replacing tubes often...NOT! Marshalls sound their best cranked, and with the 50, you can still be too loud, but the TONE is there at lower volumes as well. While the 50 watt Plexi sounded great, I feel this one is a hell of a lot more versitle.

What can you say? They're not hand-wired like years gone by, but keep in mind, (and this is directed at all you other tone snobs, myself included), I've had or seen plenty of them screw up too!
If you treat the thing with reasonable care I dont see a problem.

Had a letter answered by JIM MARSHALL himself! Nuff Said.

30+ years playing...

To those who sit in the house: You'll love it
To those who are trying to look cool: cant go wrong
To those who play Death Metal: Dont even think about it
and finally, to those who actually gig regularly: NO WORRIES!

Fairly basic amp, two channels with two modes each and a shared EQ. In my opinion, the simpler the amp the better unless you really like having lots of knobs to tweak your tone, this one strikes a good balance between versatility and simplicity.

First off I play through a Les Paul most of the time, occasionally with my strat but they both sound really good through this amp. I almost never play on the clean channel so it wouldn't be fair for me to rate it, but the few times that I have it sounded fine. I didn't buy this amp for the clean channel though, I bought it for that famous Marshall distortion. When I first got it I wasn't that impressed, but as soon as I swapped out the tubes the amp really came to life. I replaced the preamp tubes with JJ ECC83's and the power tubes with JJ E34L's and the amp has much more clarity now. Lead 1 on the Ultra Gain channel will get you an AC/DC crunch perfect for classic rock. Lead 2 is where I spend 99% of my time though. While I wouldn't consider it to be extremely versatile, I can't rave enough about the distortion. It's great for almost any type of rock. With the deep switch in I can get a really thick beefy sound that's great for rhythm and heavy riffs. Don't get me wrong, it's not going to be as heavy as an amp with 6L6's (like my old Mesa Boogie) but it is still quite satisfying. Too much bass is overkill and the sound will just get muddy. I always leave the tone shift out though, when it's pushed in it just completely sucks out all the mids and in my opinion a guitar amp relies on the mids to get a great sound. One of my biggest fears before buying this amp was that it would be really thin sounding because I played a few TSL's and even some Valvestates and I couldn't get a heavy sound out of them. I found the DSL's to be warmer sounding and have that heavy crunch I was looking for. For lead work and solos I turn off the deep switch and turn up the gain pretty high, think Slash and you'll know where I'm going with this. I give it a 9 for overall sound quality because its best characteristic is also one of its few downfalls - it will only sound like a Marshall. If that's the sound you have in your head then you will love this amp, but if you know you want something else or are unsure you should really test it out and see if you like it. Spend plenty of time adjusting the EQ because too much treble and this amp will sound like a buzzsaw, too much bass and it will sound like a farting goose. The mid is the most important aspect of this amp.

I have heard that Marshalls aren't the most reliable amps around but mine has been mostly trouble free, mostly . . . I have had the amp for a year and half now and the only issue is that when I push the Clean/Crunch button on the clean channel it sometimes makes a weird noise and the amp cuts in and out. It's odd. Like I said before though, I rarely use this channel so it's basically a non-issue for me.

I haven been playing guitar for 12 years and I have owned Marshall, Peavey, Mesa, and played dozens of other amps. I would have to say this is my favorite out of all of them. I loved the bone crushing distortion of my Mesa Rectifier but this amp has a sweeter, warmer tone that will make you want to play for hours on end.

I got this amp in 2004 to play in a band that played altenative rock. i used a lot of effects but never touched my reverb pedel. The marshall had seperate reverbs for both channel. Since then it has played classic rock, hard rock, country, and jazz. It has more than enough power to play any venue with out micing the speakers. The reason it does not get a 10 is only having one eq for both channels. All in all this is a very versital amp

Its a marshall. You use a distortion pedal when you want another amp to sound like this. Being only 50 watts, you can get the real tube distortion at lower volumes and not sacrafice tone. The reverb is heavenly and the clean channel has just enough bite to make your guitar sound distinct.

I have had this amp for almost 4 years and never had to make any repairs. I have played in smokey bars, outside, and in dusty garages; suprisingly it works and sounds just as good as the day I got it. ( Cross my fingers)

Never delt with customer support. Thats good.

"Behind every great guitar player is a marshall amp". This quote says it all

Whetever you pay for one of these tube/valve amps it will be worth every penny - classic rich Marshall tone with enough features to keep the beast under control! Volume and variety of tone controls. I had a 1987X head that sounded wild, too wild really for home use but this one can be tamed for home use and let off its "lead" when necessary.

Classic Marshall tone is what you get, volume control and a selection of clean and distorted tones, lots to play with. Plenty of bass, very warm sumptous sound overall and brilliant crystal cleans, and crunch option for extra ooomph if needed. Love reverb on an amp and here it is. My Fender Telecaster even sounds thick and strong using hthis amp with two 1936 8 ohm cabs, the amp set on 4 ohms for two, and 8 ohms for one cab. Distorted tones are amazing, no need gfor pedals - best sound in rock! Worth getting tube amps, they are miles beter than solid state.

Nothing is 100% reliable, problems arise occasionally but Marshall have a great reputation for customer service and have the trust of thousands of pro musos.

In UK never any problem getting spares if in the unlikely event of a breakdown, Marshall are really on the ball with their fast friendly customer service, dealers I know agree.

Wouldn't use anything else, I have a collection of Marshalls, not many would touch a Marshall for quality, price/value.

this amp is not a bogner xtc for features but it shure sounds better then one i know i had one a few months back,,..but hey it as reverb COOLLL.......hey who needs features wen you can get tone to die for.

if there were a 20 it would be here, in the past 3 years iv add them all from peavey 5150 all the way to bogner 100b classic in between there was ,vht,soldano,splawn,randall,egnater,mesa,engl,peavey jsx,demeter,line 6,and im missing a whole bunch now for the fist time a buy a marshall WOW JUST FUCKING WOW this is the shit poeple this is it no other amp can sound like a real marshall i never got myself a marshall before because poeple give them a bad rep for some reason,but mine sounds like a wall of tone better then my bogner xtc ever did even better then my soldano and i really liked that one, for a fraction of the price you can get a marshall and sound better then a soldano or a bogner xtc or anything else on the plannet ,.
clean is just that clean its a good clean for a marshall but thats not what im after..

i run mine in modern mode and its crushes everything else for only 1600$ including cab that is a steal i paid 2800$ for my bogner head only and it never add tone like this i paid 3100$ new for my soldano and it didnt have tone like my marshall as marshall is the best amp for rock and roll metal or hard blues and that is that no one els makes em better so dont even bother buy anything else ever...

never broke yet

for the price and tone you get this amp is out of this world..you canot compare this with nothing bying built now if you want and need tone and you or a tone slut like me be done with it and get a marshall..

Features are well documented below......

At the time of this post, the overall rating for sound quality is only 8.6. I believe this is a completely unjustified number.

If you dont completely love the sound of this amp, and rate the sound quality as a 9 or 10 then there is either:
1. Something wrong with the amp
2. Something wrong with your guitar
3. You just dont like the sound of a Marshall amp


Ive had this amp for about 6 months now, and I cant find anything about the sound that I dont like.

Ive read all the posts here on Harmony Central on most of the good amps over the last several months now, because I finally had the money for an all tube head, and I wanted to get the best sounding amp money could buy.

But Ive taken a realistic approach that im not going to buy a Marshall just because every guitar player I have ever admired has used it, but with an objective opinion guided by the hundreds of real guitarists opinions provided here on Harmony Central.

I knew a Marshall was probably going to fit the bill, but listening is believing.

I decided to get a 50 watt amp because I dont gig anymore,
(I'm 45 and have been playing lead guit in bands for years through a solid state 2x12 amp with good OD and effects, because I couldn't afford a real tube amp until now)
and I wanted an all tube amp that would sound good at non-deafening levels in my basement.

I was worried (due to alot of posts here) that any Marshall you get is going to sound like crap unless you crank it until your ears hurt.
Man was I wrong!

This thing sounds sweet at LOW VOLUME! Yea, there will be some mids and highs that wont be there unless you crank it up to a "mix with drums" level, but even at a tolerable practice volume, this thing sounds like heaven!!

Ive been playing through an *unmentioned* solid state 2x12 combo with good OD and other
affects for (most of my) 30 years experience - yea the money thing - and ive usually been able to get a good sound that was close to a Marshall but never the real deal until now.

I am so impressed with the sound of this amp I could die! It HAS the sound that you would expect from a Marshall without hurting your ears getting it.

This baby should do fine for recording, another thing I was worried about until I heard it with my own ears. Loud amps (100 watters and up) arent easy to record with, because of the sheer volume needed to reach a good "break up", but there's no doubt in my mind that some sweet sounding tracks WILL be recorded with this baby at ear and microphone tolerable levels!!

The thing that irks me about the overall sound quality rating here in this forum is
that there have been a few low ratings from people that play country. - If you play country, buy a clean amp like a Peavey or Fender. Dont buy a Marshall and dont cut down Marshall because it doesnt sound like a country amp, stay out of a Marshall forum, and dont skew the sound quality rating of an amp you dont happen to like by giving it a 4 - prick!

Another sound rating of 1 by someone who had a malfunction - Yea be pissed at the amp and give it a 1 for a sound rating you MORON!!!

Heres a 4:
A complete Idiot wrote :
> Great for impressing people with your fancy chops if that's what you want. The tone
> will NOT impress the girls however!!
Where the hell is this dangle berry coming from - He's obviously not a REAL guitar player!!!

And even more low ratings from people that need that "Brutal", "Over the edge", "Death Metal" sound that completely disguises the true sound of the quitar, covers up SLOP and MISTAKES with enough distortion that only a Mesa with $250 worth of tubes every year or so can possibly deliver. If thats your deal, then get a Mesa, but dont cut down Marshall because thats not what Marshall (and most of the true kick ass guitar players you've ever heard who have lived in the last 40 years) are all about.

With that in mind, even a Mesa needs a boost from an OD when playing a lead in a live performandce e

No problems here, but I only play in my basement - no giging

Never had to deal with it.

If you want a 50 watt head sitting on a 4X12 cab that sounds like heaven at lower volumes, look no further

I got my Marshall DSL and a Marshall 212 cab in 2003 and to be honest I was first swung purely by the looks alone! A Marshall rig looks fantastic set up on stage ready to go and it just screams ' I rock!'. Brilliant!
Generally this is a perfectly good working man's amp but there are a couple of little quirks that should be pointed out.

The factory-fitted EL 84s squashed dramatically on the low notes. Hit a big open 'G' chord and you could physically feel the low 'G' compress almost to nothing. This changed for the better after I fitted a set of Watford Diamond Valves (from Watford Valves in the UK). The amp's tone dramaticaly improved, with less compression and a brighter 'bigger' sound. EL 84s aren't my favourite tubes due to their lower headroom but most typical Marshall users enjoy the lower distortion threshold, so it isn't a fault, just a characteristic of the amp.
Tip: Ditch the standard tubes and fit some good-quality aftermarket
types, you'll feel and hear the difference straight away.

There is a slight time-delay when changing channels using the standard footswitch; with an audible 'sag' as the volume momentarily dips between channels. This isn't good but is typical for a modern Marshall amp. They have a reputation for building top-notch gear but more often than not you'll find quirky and occasionally annoying ticks, such as the weird channel-switching delay.
I will take the amp to a tech to see if we can fix this and I'll update this review when we have had a go at sorting it out.

FX Loop: An FX loop is always useful and welcome but this one does suck the living daylights out of the tone. It always seems to sound 100% better without the FX loop engaged. With the FX engaged, the amp sounds slightly 'damped'. The calibration switch on the back doesn't make much difference, either.

I don't use the built-in reverb because I don't like it, but it does work well and having independent reverb controls on both channels is a great feature.

With a Marshall, you expect a very direct 'square' sounding distortion and indeed, the DSL does convey this at first. However, when your ears adjust, this is a very warm-sounding amp with a fairly versatile range of tones.

Hard rock and metal players will probably appreciate that you can dial-in just about every shade of overdrive you will ever need, with a 'mid-shift' switch and 'Deep' switches adding extra weapons to your armoury.
The 'Deep' switch is basically a simple form of resonnance control that toggles between two presets from the power amp to the speakers.
One setting adds extra low-end by allowing the speakers to flap around inside the cabinet more. The second setting is a tighter sound, with - surprise- no low end boost.
The mid-shift scoops out some of the mid-range, exaggerating the low and high-end; the result is instant thrash.
The standard EQ controls are a bit more flexible than many Marshall's I've used before while retaining the typical treble-biased basic Marshall tone.
However, this is much easier to adjust because the tone controls actually work!
I am currently using the amp as an all-rounder, so I use the Classic Gain channel as my 'clean' although it isn't really clean, more of a soft crunch that I control with my guitar's volume pot.
This set up helps add a bit if character; it's a bit like a Fender Deluxe Reverb wound up quite high, clean when you back off a bit and a nice crunchy edge to help beef up rhythm playing without getting too distorted.
The lead channel is set up with a bluesy overdrive but not distortion in the hard-rock sense, although I do use it in the vein occasionally. If you are into working with feedback, this isn't an easy amp to coax feedback from, funnily enough, because this Marshall doesn't have a lot of natural upper mid-range. If you like to work with feedback, try and outboard EQ in the FX loop and a compressor.
Overall, the DSL is a good, honest working man's amp. Not particularly sophisticated or outstanding but it is reliable and changing the tubes improved the sound no end.
It can be a bit noisy, though. I use a US Std Tele and a Strat and the amp does amplifly the single coil 60-cycle hum quite a bit.
Par for the course, though. I might invest in a noise gate but it's not bad enough to make me consider changing the amp, or my guitars!

I play out with this amp most weeks and it seems very reliable. I look after the tubes and make sure that the amp is cooled down before chucking it into the car but generally I have no complaints, apart from the dodgy channel switching and soggy-sounding FX loop that I mentioned earlier.


Contrary to what the kids say, modern Marshall amps are not built like tanks and you need to treat them with respect.
Look after them and they should be ok, this one hasn't let me down and I'm on my second set of tubes in 4 years. It sounds fine.

Personally I've never had to rely on Marshall customer support for this product but I know from past experience that Marshall UK take this aspect of their business very seriously.

I have been playing for almost 30 years, mainly semi-pro but to a high standard. I know gear and know what does and doesn't work for me.
If this amp were lost or stolen I wouldn't lose any sleep over it -apart from wondering how I could afford to replace it - but nevertheless I enjoy using this Marshall and would recommend the DSL to anybody looking for a good honest amp without too many whistles and bells. In fact, the fewer whitsles and bells, the better it sounds. If you are a straight ahead rock/blues player who doesn't use many effects and likes a nice solid old-school tone, then the DSL is a perfect partner for your Les Paul!
It looks beautiful too!!!

Bought 2007 probably built in '06. With the huge number of reviews you probably know the features already: 2 channels/2 modes each/reverb/FX loop etc. This amp has surprised me with it's versatility but it takes some effort to discover all the possibilities. Like other reviewers I wish you could switch modes on the fly but I use this amp mostly in my studio so it's not too much of a problem. Lots of newer amps have more features so it gets a 7. If great TONE is the most important feature for you then consider it a 10

I'm using the stock 1960A cab with g12t-75's and it sounds very good. Classic channel clean can do country with a Strat or a Tele (even a Les Paul with both P/U's on and the volumes balanced carefully) The brightness that some have complained about lets you dial in shimmer and snap with the presence and treble controls. For Humbucker guitars I've been running the presence @ 2.5-4 and the treble about the same.

Crunch mode on the clean channel is fantastic! With gain @ 5-6 you can find just the right amount of "fur" on the notes with your guitars volume control. Then crank it up for a lead type tone with more grit and sustain. No pedals required.

The Ultra channel has tons of gain in both modes with Lead 2 having a bit more UMMPH!
Just as with the Classic channel if you're testing one of these amps out you have to remember to try each mode with the gain NOT just cranked all the way up. You're missing out on a broad patch of tone landscape if you don't.

A couple of important points:
It's been said before and it's true-Strats sound good but this amp/cab are amazing with a good Les Paul or Humbucker guitar in general. I think my ES335 sounds really good with it too. There is enough top end to make your neck P/U much more usable than with other amps and that's with the Deep switch in.

You NEED to be flexible with your guitars volume and tone controls to find great sounds with this amp. People who have said it's a one trick pony probably expect to just plug in, turn everything up to 10 and blast. OR they may need to invest in a better guitar (or at least better P/U's).

I'm not going to say I've played through or owned every amp out there so take this with a grain of salt but for me the magic of this amp is all in the subtle gain structure. I've found usable tones with my guitar volume down to 2 or 3! Same goes for your tone controls If you switch to the Ultra channel and things seem too bright roll off your tone. Bridge P/U with the tone down to 2 or 3 is a whole other sound to use compared to tone wide open. Other amps I've used weren't capable of bringing out these tones just by way of the guitars controls.

Also you may have noticed some people saying it sounds great quiet and some who say it sucks quiet. My feeling is it can sound very good at relatively low volumes ie:vol@1-3 depending on where the gain knob is set(not whisper levels obviously) IF you either sit right in front of the cab or stand back 6 feet or so. STANDING close enough to touch the amp does put you in an odd tone "Black hole" and I can understand folks who think it sounds buzzy and not great. Get your head in front of the cab either by sitting down (great for studio playing a bit odd for gigs) or stand a bit further away and it sounds great.

I'm impressed with the variety of tones I've been able to get so far and I haven't put a pedal in front of it yet!

I gave it a 9 leaving a 10 for those bootique amps that probably have all the sensitivety of the DSL50 with a few more bells and whistles ie: the ability to swap different tubes etc..

Haven't had it long enough to worry about it

Been playing almost 30 years. Use with an '99 historic R9 59 Les Paul, '95 Dot-neck reissue '59 ES335, 92 Strat Plus w/Gold senors, '02 Custom shop '56 NOS Strat. Amps include Mesa Trem-o-verb 100watt combo, Fender Cyber Twin, Vox AD50VT.
If stolen I'd buy it again in a second. Great Marshall look and sound with more versatility than I expected. If I REALLY wanted to nit-pic I think with all the newer products Marshall has out now this 10 year old head could come down in price a bit but overall very satisfied.

Purchased it about 2 months ago. has 2 channels with 2 modes each and a reverb control for each channel. You can switch channels and control the reverb via footswitch. You'll need to buy a second one for about $30 to be able to do both. Overall, covers the bases from country to blues to classic/hard rock very nicely.

I play a Strt with Lindly Fralins and Les Paul Custom via this amp and an Avatar 212H Special with a Hellahound 60 and 30 (they are just a Celestion Vintage and 12H that have been pre broken in). I do not use any pedals since I try to minimize the impact on my guitar's/amps tone. Kind of a purist in that regard.

I know ther are a tone of amps out there and they all have their strengths and weaknesses but for blues to classic rock this one fit the bill very well.

The clean is really nice as others have mentioned in their reviews. Nice enough for me to Ebay my Fender amp with no regrets.

I have owned a Fender Pro Reverb, Mesa Nomad 45 and Mesa Stiletto and they all worked well for me but sold them all off after I purchased this amp. The clean is great and the distortion range hits all the sounds I need. I think this just provides me the the sounds I hear in my head.

I've read some less than positive stories on Harmony Central about the Marshalls. I actually called Marshall an asked their customer service if they could aleviate my fears. To be honest they were very nice on the phone and said that if I did ever have any problems that they would be there for me. Even gave me their name. I hope that the amp lasts and I don't have to take them up on the offer.

Again, they were nice an reassuring prior to my purchase and basically convinced me that they would be there to assist. That's really all you can ask for in a company.

Overall I could not be happier with the sounds that I am getting. The amp is capable of producing the tones that suit my musical tastes that are primarily blues and classic rock.