Marshall JCM-2000 DSL 50

The Marshall JCM-2000 DSL 50 is a top notch amp. I bought this amp head used off of ebay and at first I was a little skeptical about how it would sound, but when I plugged it into my Marshall 1960A cab.. I was sold. This amp has 2 channels. Classic gain, which has a really great clean to light crunch sound.. and Ultra gain, for that in your face hard rock sound. Each Channel has 2 seperate modes. On the Ultra gain channel you have lead one and lead 2, and on the classic gain channel you have clean and crunch. Another positive thing about this amp is that it is possible to run an effects loop. If your looking for an amp to play at home, or an amp with built in effects this really isnt the one you want. The amp is very loud, and it is very basic meaning no effects. Those of you who prefer a "back to basics amp" then this is the one for you! Tons of flexibility without having a million knobs and buttons.

The sound quality on this amp is phenominal. You can achieve anything from excellent clean sounds (doesnt happen often in a marshall), to that Aerosmith, Slash, Angus Young style distortion, and even newer music such as Green Day and Billy Talent. Since the ideal sound and tone people look for varies from person to person.. I recommend you go out and try the amp before purshasing it. If your looking for metal stuff like Megadeth, Bullet for my valentine or system of a down, I would really recommend this amp because your not going to achieve that sound without pedals, if at all. Its more of a rock based amp.

Ive never had an issue with the amp breaking down. However I wouldnt play without a backup amp, or at least a spare set of tubes. I bought it used and the previous owner took very good care of it.

Never had to deal with marshall yet. The only thing ive ever taken it in for was replacing tubes, and getting them biased since this was my first tube amp and ive never done it before.

Simply one of the best marshalls out there in my oppinion, next to the JCM800's of course.

2006 Dual Super Lead 50. Other reviewers have already described the features very well. I will say that I had my eye initially on the TSL series Marshalls because the panel layout makes those amps super flexible with individual channel controls for everything. As I found though careful listening, the sound of the DSL was simply better -- and apparently I'm not the only one who feels this way. So compared to the TSL the feature set is a little sparse, with shared EQ on two very different-sounding channels. I'd like more control and the footswitching capability of the TSL, but tone rules.

The power level of the amp is good -- quite useful. Like most tube amps, it likes to be turned up, but 50 watts is better for getting to the "sweet spot" sooner. The amp was designed to sound better at lower volumes, according to designer Steve Grindrod, thus you don't need to crank it to get decent tone.

I had never owned a Marshall before a few months ago when I purchased this amp, and I never owned a stack amplifier -- only combos.

The sound is truly unique. So they're right: Nothing sounds like a Marshall. Though there are some tones it does better than others, the versatility is really top notch compared to the many amps I've owned or played on. What I like is that it has a very nice clean, not totally Fender but awesome for a Marshall stack; it also has a very good blues (lower gain) tone, which is difficult for many amps to get; and it has two FANTASTIC higher-gain modes on the Ultra channel. To top it off, the amp sounds great with distortion pedals, another tough feat for some amps to do well. Overall, I love the sound of this rig. It NAILS my favorite tones: "Stone In Love", "Lucky Ones", "Bridge Of Sighs" and many others like Slash's tone and even modern rock (Mesa) tones.

I use it with a custom Marshall cabinet in which I installed two Celestion Vintage 30's and two Celestion G12H30's (in an X pattern). I didn't like the stock G12T75's, and experimented with sets of the other two Celestions before reaching what I feel is the ultimate combination for this rig. V30's are warm and full, H's are crunchy with more highs & lows. They are not drastically different, and actually compliment one another well. Best of the old, best of the new.

I also changed all the stock tubes to JJ's and rebiased the amp (it had been set cold). Noticeable smoothing and improvement to the tone.

The noise of the amp is fairly low in relation to the amount of gain on the signal. Naturally, the higher-gain stuff is going to be noisier because you're multiplying the noise floor along with your guitar signal when you gain it up. Negligible noise level for a band setting and decent enough for recording, IMO.

Well, for a well-reputed manufacturer like Marshall, the quality control of their amps seems to be lacking somewhat. My first head had a wire sticking right out of the front panel and a broken tube in the chassis! The head I have now seems okay, but has been a little quirky on rare occasion. My advice: Get a good one, don't abuse it and you'll probably be fine for years to come.

N/A

Been playing for 24 years. This is the only guitar amplifier I own, but I have my eye on a Fender (don't tell the wife!)

I sold a Vox AC-30 to buy this. I miss the Vox, but I love the Marshall, so whatever I guess. I compared the DSL to a Mesa Stiletto Ace, a Peavey Valve King and a Line 6 (just for perspective). Wanted to try a Rivera, a Dr. Z and a Peavey JSX also. But perhaps too many choices for me would have been not-so-good. I can get confused about amp comparisons, and the Marshall was had at a great price, so the ending was happy.

I would probably buy it again.

Purchased new in 2006. Dual switchable channels, clean - crunch. Perfect for what I like to play. Marshall supplies a single foot switch to control channel selection. The back panel has a jack for using a seperate reverb footswtch (which I use), but they should of combined them in one housing.
With a little tube upgrade you can take this amp from the bedroom to the stage. See my "Sound Quality" comments. As far as power...more than enough.

This amp is terrible straight out of the box!!! Tooooooo much treble, and the gain settings are muddy. I replaced the stock Marshall/JJ EL34 power tubes with matched JJ KT77's and the stock Marshall/China ECC83 preamp tubes with JJ ECC83S's (balanced phase inverter tube). I adjusted the bias (Eurotubes.com has a video that shows the exact bias setting procedure for the DSL 50/100) to 40mv each tube. This is the sound I was looking for!!!! Pure Marshall tone!!! The presence and treble controls are actually usable now! The Marshall sound at any volume. And using overdrives pedals (in moderation) adds a little extra to an already great sound.
I rate it 5 before the tube replacement, a 10 after.

I would depend on it w/o a backup. If I wasn't confident in it, I wouldn't of purchased it.

Never had to use C.S. w/any Marshall I've had.

I've been playing for almost 30 years - Classical to Metal. I use this amp half-stack with the 1960A cabinet for extra clarity on the clean channel. It's a good combination.
I give this amp a "10" overall! Just plan on spending $60 - $80 for a set of good tubes. And Marshall made setting the bias extremely easy w/o the need to take it to an amp tech. All you need is a $10 DVOM and a small screwdriver. Any questions, contact Bob or Jay at Eurotubes.com. They've got the right tubes at the right price too!!

50 watts, el34 powered Marshall full size amp head. two channels, each with two modes.

classic channel has "clean" and "crunch" with volume and gain knobs.

ultra channel has "lead 1" and "lead 2" with volume and gain knobs.

each channel has it's own reverb setting. the entire amp uses a three band eq (bass, mid, treb) with a presence control. this amp also features a "deep" switch (adds lots of bassy resonance to the sound) and a "tone shift" switch (scoops some of the mids out of the sound). it has an fx loop, and speaker outputs for 4 or 8 ohms (there are two of these outputs, and they are switchable) and a 16 ohm speaker output (non-switchable).

the amp comes with a one button footswitch, but there are two footswitch ports on the back panel, one for channel and one for reverb on/off. it seems kind of silly to me that if i want to be able to switch both channels and reverb i would have to buy ANOTHER one button footswitch. but, i wouldn't change reverb that often anyways so i'm okay with just using the switch to change channels.

i use this amp in a theatre room at my university that seats about 300 people. i use it on a weekly basis. the speaker cabinet i'm using is a Marshall 1936 2x12 cab loaded with Celestion Vintage 30's.

when i take the amp and cab back to my dorm room for safe keeping, i use a PowerSoak to keep the volume levels reasonable and the guys on the hall my friends :)

i give it a nine because the whole footswitch thing baffles me. why not a two button setup? i mean, c'mon.

this amp sounds KILLER!!! i was using a JCM 900 combo through the 1936 cab until i bought the DSL 50 off of my room mate. the sounds it made were MUCH MUCH fuller and richer and basically blew the pants off my JCM 900! my room mate sold the amp because he bought an Orange ADTC 30 combo. personally, i like the way the Marshall sounds. the orange is kind of gritty, and harsh to my ears.

on to sounds.

biggest surprise - the clean channel is REALLY nice! it will stay clean at really high gain settings and volumes, even with my Les Paul which is really hot and pushes amps hard.

favorite sounds - the classic channel set on "crunch". this setting sounds much fuller than the JCM 900's Channel A. with the gain cranked, my les paul sounds great, with lots of touch sensitive dynamics and plenty of drive. my stratocaster sounds really good here too, really nice blues lead sounds...but not near the gain levels that the les paul can achieve.

Ultra channel - this channel sounds much more compressed than the classic channel. it feels like the sound is more reigned in, compared to the raging roar of the classic channel on crunch with the gain cranked. the ultra channel DOES sound really good for true lead work, playing single note lines and patterns high up on the fretboard, and i think it sounds better for a band setting where there is more than one guitar and maybe some keyes and stuff going on too...since it is a more compressed and focused sound compared to the classic channel. i don't use the ultra channel on lead 2 mode...only on lead 1. to my ears, lead 2 mode has less of those classic marshall crunchy mids and sounds a little more muddy and sloppy when playing chords. but...the difference between lead 1 and lead 2 doesn't seem to be all that significant, just small subleties.

when i bought this amp, i was looking for that classic crunchy marshall tone, and it pretty much nails it for me. i don't use the deep switch or the tone shift. i think the amp shines with those disengaged. it is a MARSHALL...and i wouldn't want it to sound nu-metall-y or try and make it be anything that it's not...and somehow i feel like those buttons are trying to get the amp to do just that...be something it's not. it's NOT a drop-tuned rythym chugging amp! you shouldn't buy this amp if that's your gig. Marshalls are famous for their midrange crunch...and this amp has plenty of that.

i should also mention that it's LOUDDD. i really want to meet somebody who can actually use 100 watts of Marshall power, cause the 50 watts sounds PLENTY loud to me! tons louder than the orange and the Classic 30 that i own and keep in the dorm room.

The amp seems like it's built like a tank. no problems yet...and my room mate never had any problems either. but, we take care of it cause i know tube amps are delicate things...but they reward you with awesome TONE

never dealt with Marshall

i also own a Peavey Classic 30...and (of course) the marshall sounds way cooler. the amp really wakes up with a hot guitar plugged in, like my '76 les Paul. i really do think marshalls and gibsons were meant for each other!! the strat sounds good too...but it sounds better with a cleaner amp, like a fender. i've been playing for about seven years...and i've fallen in love with the Marshall sound and the DSL 50. if someone stole this amp....i would definitely get another one. it has great tone! it's a real workhorse of an amp. i love it.

I waited to till I played a gig before posting this...I have allways been a die hard Fender twin fan...they are a great amp. I got my Marshall JCM2000 from the guitar center. The EQ on this amp is very responsive. Unlike other amps way more head room in the EQ. The only thing I would change about this amp is there isnt alot of crunch. But you know what I dont miss it that much anyway the tone makes up for it. Im 42 yrs old and I have been playing since I was 9 yrs old. This amp does it's job, then some. My first gig on this amp was outside at a well known club in Waco Tx. Im the only guitar player in my band. And it was time for the lead, "other amps I have had, Thats when I get nervus about my volume...i allways used a volume pedal to push myself thru the lead...well I forgot my pedal, and with my volume on my guitar aready on 10, I was wondering how or if I would push thru the mix" When I hit my first note, the amp did it's job and my leads pushed right thru the mix...my buddy was there and told me.."welcome to the world of Marshall" I'm now sold on this amp...

I choose the 50 watt head cause it doesnt take that much volume to find the sweet spot on this amp...I recommend if you gig to plug in your head before setting up your eqp..that way the tubes are nice and hot when you go on...the overdrive channel rocks, My band plays Hendrix, Clapton Kenny Wayne Shepard, SRV, and some new stuff...This amp can go from Dimebag to Eric Johnson...who could ask for more?

I got a nice case for the head...the amp is built like brick house

I have never delt with Marshall on customer serv so I have heard the are good

I have been playing a very very long time

2005 DSL50

Very versatile amp for a Marshall. I owned a late 80's Plexi for a couple of years and it sounded great, but I needed more versatility. The cleaner channel with the gain boost on sounds like my Plexi did - I stay there %75 of the time - pedals for drive and it cleans up well. The heavier channel on the lighter mode sounds like a JCM800 - gain and sustain for days. Really aggressive and classic Marshall tone.

I play at one of the largest churches in the country in Atlanta, and we cover everything from Nickel Creek to Nickelback, so versatility is a must. I play an '06 PRS 513, which is also incredibly versatile, an '81 Les Paul custom, a '97 Strat, a '52 Tele reissue,and a '00 Guild Starfire III and this amp sounds great with all of them. The amp is very quiet. I use in-ear monitors in most environments, and I've thought the amp was off at times, but it was ready to go! I turn the presence down to about 3, the treble to around 6, the mids and highs to around 5. I also use a 2x12 Bogner closed back cabinet.

I bought mine at a Guitar Center as a display model. Turns out they had replaced the tubes with lower power ones than recommended, so the output transformer got fried pretty soon. The warranty covered 3 different visits to the shop before finally Marshall just gave me a brand new one in the box - it's still rocking! The 5 year warranty rules.

I've played guitar for well over 20 years, play in studios for a living - I'd buy another one of these amps - wish it were a stereo rig, but I'm considering buy another one so I can do that. Great amp - it rocks - plenty of versatility - classic Marshall tone.

This amp has all the features you would need for a 'classic rock' amp. In its entirety the DSL is a tribute to Marshalls past with some modern gain bells & whistles on top. The clean channel on classic gain is nice and sweet, and on engaging the mode button, you are met with classic ac/dc style rock tones. Alot of people are mentioning the volume difference between the two modes, but as these modes are not used together it isnt really a problem. Ultra channel is higher gain and full of mids. A much darker channel in comparison to the Classic whic is very 'chimey'. Independant volume and reverb for each channel are just what is required for rhythm & lead channels. I understand alot of peoples comments about not having seperate eq for each channel. When switching between the two there is a difference between the very bright classic channel and the very dark ultra channel and some compromise has to be made on your eq so as not to make the contrast so apparent ie classic could do with treble taking out a bit but if you take too much out the ultra channel may sound a bit bassey. Perhaps a couple of push buttons on the classic channel to cut certain frequencies would have been welcome, but I feel that independant eq would over-complicate and add too many buttons & options - this is a plug & go amp. The extras that this amp to cater for varying musical tastes are a great extra.

Playing classic rock - hendrix, clapton, blues stuff. This amp is spot on. I noticed alot of people dissing the sound - some saying too trebly, some saying too mushy. I believe you really need to get to know this amp and make the eq work for you to get the best sound. The eq is 'passive' meaning that it takes away frequencies already there. So by having bass on full, you are not adding more bass but simply leaving the bass as it is. The thing that makes this amp is the 'presence' knob. Which does exactly that. It adds to the treble frequencies to give clarity to your tone and to make you definable in the mix. However the presence knob is located in the power amp section, not in the same place as the bass, mid & treble. The presence allows when turned up will allow you to cut through the mix in a carpeted dull room, whereas having it down will cut out the highs associated with a wooden floor. Presence should be determined by the venue and how hard you are running the amp. If you engage the deep or tone shift buttons it adds bass to your sound. This will make the amp sound quite mushy, but by pushing your presence level up you then sit in the mix nicely. - Its all about interaction of the EQ.

I've tried a few cab configurations. Alot of the people saying this amp is too trebly may have been using a standard marshall 4x12. I noticed when running this at 4ohms, the speakers were not being driven as hard and the treble was greatly reduced compared with 16 ohms. However I now run this though a 4x12 with vintage 30's in and it sound fantastic. But its all in your sytle of music as to what you prefer.

For me I use the classic channel with the gain on about 2-3 o'clock. The manual says this is JCM800 territory. I'm not too familiar with JCM800's but it reminds me of my old JCM900 head - smooth humbucker neck pickup tones to die for that aren't muddy but full of life. Bridge pickup tones are gutsy and jump out of the cab with vigour. The ultra channel I use for lead and rock rhythm with the guitar volume backed off. I use mode one which is 'mid city' Think Gary Moore 'All your love' or Slash on Live & Let Die. The stage compression of this amp is the best I've ever played. Blows my Cornford combo out of the water. Moving from rythm to lead on the same channel without changing volume on the guitar and you still come out over the top of everyone else. I use a prs mccarty as my main guitar, whether set to humbuckers or single coils this amp shines.

I waited until I had done my first gig before sumbitting a review. Nothing is perfect in this world but I know that should anyhting fail Marshall aftersales is second to none. This amp does contain PCB's as opposed to hand wiring. My hand wired cornford packed in when I needed it most so there's no guarantee that even the best quality amps will not fail. With a 3 year warranty on this thing if it does fail, I can be confident that I can send it back without any complaints

Can't be beaten. Marshall have had their quality issues in the past, but the thing about them is they care about what their customers think and listen to their comments

After messing around trying to get the perfect sound by buying a seemingly perfect amp and adding lots of effects to it, I have had an epiphany. Marshall head, 4x12, plug and go - no contest. This is how it was meant to be.

Nothing is perfect in this world, but there are so many options in this amp for classic rock through to more modern styles. This is not a jack of all trades, master of none. Nor is it a one trick pony. It is a master of tone, done in the best way possible.

One EQ - great for me as I use the dials on my instrument (apparently this is a lost art!). Not so good according to the meathead emo-screamo hardcore kids who clutter this place up with terrible reviews.

Anyway, I digress...

This is a very versatile amp and contrary to what all of the vintage tone freaks would say, I think this has got one up on the 800/900 series JCM's. For a start, it's WAY more versatile. You've got pretty much any distortion, crunch sound you'll ever need, with the addition of a clean channel with a lot more depth than many other Marshall amps. I put this under features because tone, after all, is a feature in itself!

Great mix of simplicity and decent design.

Ok, so the clean channel isn't up to HIWATT, Orange or Fender standards... but then again, none of those can boast about their hi-gain sounds so you take the good with the bad.

The overdrive is great. run the gain on the 'crunch' setting on ultra with the master cranked and you'll have something mighty impressive!

I would suggest that you steer clear of the REALLY high gain sounds - for starters, you lose a lot of clarity and it's far less cutting than when it's cranked on a lower gain. [unless you love the compressed, 'nu' gain sound].

Not much else to say. Does two things, quiet clean, and loud gain. What else do you need?!

As a final note - for those guys bitching about the single EQ and 'disappointing distortion... why, oh why didn't you think about trying the amp out before you spent #500 on it?! Anyone with half a brain doesn't just order an amp out of a bloody catalogue! PLEASE: try before you buy! It might reduce the amount of aweful reviews on this otherwise useful site!

Anyway, this review is an opinion, don't just buy it because some other guy likes it - you might find your taste is completely different.

Never broke. Not a great build but it's a cheap valve amp so what do you expect?! If you want an amp with the best ever build quality, best tones and complete control over your sound, you should buy a Matamp. 60 watt head for #936 and you can make it as custom as you want.

Marshalls are great amps. If you don't like it, don't knock it unless there's a valid reason - not just, 'one EQ - that SUCKS!' - Bloody fool.

Nice people, Busy people. Don't forget how large this company is. If you've got a problem, don't email them, phone them... they're usually very helpful and pretty down-to-earth

As above, if it were stolen, I might buy another if I had the spare cash. If not, I'd save and get a Matamp. All in all a decent guitar amp - don't forget, both Jeff Beck and Gary Moore have been known to use these in their live rigs... trust them?

Right, first things first - if you're into running a billion effects into an amp which has flashing lights and tiny buttons that do everything but make dinner... this may not be your cup of tea! The controls are simple, but within simplicity there are a vast array of usable tones... Basic controls as follows:
- Presence
- Bass
- Middle
- Treble
Ultra Gain:
- volume
- gain
- two different voices (revved up crunch and hi-gain)
classic:
- volume
- gain
- two voices (clean and classic crunch)
- deep (adds low end)
- tone shift (scoops middle)
- Master volume

As I said, these heads give you the best of both worlds - usable tone in a tidy package.

The clean channel is as good as you're going to get from a Marshall. I like it, personally. I have wired my humbuckers in parallel and can get a wonderful, glassy sound from this setting. A piece of advice - the EQ is for both channels so set it up for the best gain sound and just use your guitar's tone controls to do the rest. Really, it's a shame people rely so much on pedals and amp EQ to get their sound - use your instrument!!

The gain is extremely versatile - again, use your instrument!! For me, the crunch on the higher gain channel works best. There are similarities between this and older Marshall amps but if you really wanted a JCM800/900 you would've already bought one! Really, I can't see what the fuss is with those amps - the 800's were useless unless you had another few amps onstage for everything else. And the 900's were just a higher gain version of the 800's!

Seriously, if you're looking for an amp that will cater for all your needs and not blow it's top because of some electrical novelty, this is for you - sounds terrific!

Never broke. Grab some matched EL34's from Watford valves and it'll increase it's lifespan. Marshall builds have never been fantastic but I haven't had any problems with this so far (had it about 6 months).

Get a flight case, don't let anyone handle it if you wouldn't trust them opening a can of beans etc... a bit of common sense will make it last forever.

Never dealt with them. What's the point?? Just go find a decent amp shop and let them do the work. It'll be cheaper than sending it to Marshall's factory and at least you know the guy who's working on it!

Sayong that, I did once have a dodgy footswitch and they sent me another...

Great amp - much better than the 100 watter unless you have a weekly slot at Wembley! Plus you can crank it up for a better tone and not split your face in half! You'll get far more out of this amp by improving your technique and using just the amp and your instrument than relying on hundreds of pedals!

i just bought a new marshall dsl 50 watt head. it's perfect for me. i'm from the old school of sound and knobs on amps.( not too may knobs). this is a 2 channel amp. i use the classic gain channel for what i play. i can dial up the gian on that channel 3/4 and volume up 1/2 and it rips. i use strats and teles with emg's. so the pick ups keep it from going overboard. the tone is fat!!!! also, i use a peavey 115e classic cabinet. stock speaker. huge sound!!! the ultra gain is the same as above. the mix between guitar, cabinet, head make this a great combination. i suggest you try it. thanks!

same as above.

don't know yet.

don't know yet.

so far so good. huge tone with the mix as i said above.