Marshall JCM-2000 DSL 50

Not bad, it has what ya need to get almost any job done. 50 watts, 2 EL34's, 4 12ax7's, deep switch (nice), tone shift switch for metal players, crunch and clean switch for the calssic channel, 2 channels (footswitchable), reverb (footswitchable) and an effects loop. What it has that really blows a** is a shared EQ, this sucks and on top of that, it is not very resposive for an EQ. You get a good clean tone dialed in, well as good as you can get with this unresponsive POS, and then you screw up your dirt tone.

Okay, let em start this portion off by saying that I have a review in for this amp already. I have owned it for 3 years now and the first review I gave it, well, I was way out of line and I think I was just more excited that I owned a Marshall half stack then anything else. I can deffinetely say that this amp has lost it's "NEW CAR" appeal. So here it goes.

This sounds like putting your ear up to a freshly opened pop can, nothing but fizz. It does'nt matter what channel you use, classic or ultra, nothing but fizz. I have tried many different techniques to cure the amp of this, but to no avail. I even tried inserting lower gain preamp tubes (12AY7) and this did nothing to cure the fizz, although it did drop my gain considerably, which I enjoyed a lot more. But it was still fizzy lower gain. I switch it to the classic channel and it is still the same crap, fizz. I have played many a Marshall, including vintage and re-issue, and the Marshall site says that this channel was modeled after the 1987, bull sh*t. The 1987 and 1987x re-issue sound awesome, my favorite Marshall, no fizz from them. Nothing but great harmonic overtones, note articulation and classic crunch. They have a great balance of highs, mids and lows and the EQ works, not the greatest but better the this DSL. Nope, the DSL classic channel sounds nothing like any classic amp on the planet let alone a classic Marshall. No deffinition, no crunch, harmonics are drowned out by this fizzy harsh drive, and no matter what I do I just can't EQ this damn thing.

Secondly, the amp seems to be made from 100% pure treble. I can turn the presensce right down to 1 and the treble down to 2 and it is still to ear piercingly painful. I know what everyone is thinking, it is his guitar, we it is not. I have 3 Les Paul's (all Gibson). One is a Classic Gold Top, one is a Swamp Ash Studio and the last is a Double Cut Faded with P-90's, plus I have owned and ran many a Fender through this amp. I have tried all of my guitars through different rigd to determine if it is the guitars and they all sound beautiful, espescially through my buddys JCM 800 2204. So, if it is not the guitars, maybe it is my signal chain? Nope, I unplugged all of my pedals and ran direct and the same garbage tone comes flying out of this overpriced piece of crap. Treble and fizz my friends, treble and fizz. When the deep switch is on, the bass pot is rendered useless. I like the deep switch, but I also like being able to control the bass, and you can't, so you turn it off. Then, all of the sudden you have No bass, no matter how much you turn up the bass.

Also, I switched the tubes right away, because the stock ones sounded even worse then it does now. I put JJ's in it and I like them better, but tubes can only do so much when there is so many other things that need to be changed. I have heard of a lot of mods that can be done to this amp, unfortunately I am no wizz with a soldering iron and I only have so much money I can spend on something before enough is enough, and I am saying enough is enough. I should have saved my money and bought a Ceriatone, Orange or something better then this but hey, it says Marshall and that looks cool, idiot.

The only thing I can say that I like is the classic channel with the gain around 3 and the volume around 2 and a half to 3 with crunch button activated. This is actually pretty nice if you like a little bit of hair on your clean and if you don't, then turn off the cruch button and it will be crystal clean. Shockingly clean for a Marshall, seriously. Very nice. I like it the way I stated earlier though, a little hair on the clean and then I add my Ibanez Tube Screamer (TS-9) to provide my dirt channel. I refuse to use that god awful ultra gain channel, because to me it is just not useable, maybe to a metal guy but not me. I play modern hard rock (www.footsoldierband.com), we need gain but I don't want to sound like this.

Actually, this thing is a tank. I throw it in my car, in the trunk, in the van and I have done countless shows with it without one single issue. Unfortunately, I do gig without a backup and I should'nt but I have never needed one anyways because this thing is a consummate performer. Never even blew a fuse on it. Gotta give it a 10 for 3 years of faithful service to me, espescially the amount of times this amp has had the crap beaten out of it.

????????????????

Very reliable, could be versatile with the right mods and sounds like crap without them. I am not willing to spend the money on modding something that already cost me $1700 (CDN) just to bring it up in t 2000's!!!!! I wich it sounded better. I should have done more homework and compared it to some more amps in the same price range, but I did'nt and now I am paying for it. It it were lost or stolen I would be happy, I would call my insurance company and I would have a different amp. There is not too mcuh I love about this amp and there is too many things to list that I hate, so I will leave you with this. Try it, you may like it, but try other amps as wel, and do your homework. Read up on what other people are using to get the same tones you are after then try those amps as well. Save yourself the headache.

I bought this amp and it is the best one I have ever heard.
It has a really creamy sound all a very deep feel.
I got it today (2009) and I am so happy with it!

Couldn't ask for more!

Amazing

Great!

Got everything!

I am so happy with it!

Two channels. Reverb. Loop. Tubes.

Great sound. I have two, one is the 100 watter. I like this better, still moves air but a bit more power tube sag with the 50 watter. The loops in these are totally usable. Has a switch so you can use PEDALS in the loop. How's that for handy? Rack stuff sounds great too at the line level setting. This thing is fierce, scares little children and pets away. With a Les Paul you can't get any better than this. Really. I have piles of amps in my basement. Old and new. This is my go to when I want to rock. All I do is run an old Alesis microverb in the loop, there you are. Saw Blues Saraceno doing a Marshall clinic years ago, that is exactly the setup he used. Plugged straight in, started to burn, no problem. This is the sound of rock. All you tube amp snobs can piss off, I have em' and I prefer this one. And you can get them CHEAP!!!!!!! Got this used for $375 shipped. Needed some cold solder joints fixed. Sounds like new.

As stated above, they run hot. PCB's expand/contract. Occasionally break solder joints. Any decent tech can remedy it. This one has Drake trannies in it, I believe some of the newer ones are a different mfg' company. This amp kills me how good it sounds.

Find a good tech, they are accross the pond and sell amps for a living. They don't want them to last 40 years like the old ones. Can't blame them.

Every rock guitarist should search one out and buy it. THE SOUND OF ROCK!!

Dual Super Lead 50 watt, 2 channel amp. Made in 1998. More power than I'll ever use. Simple controls and easy to find good sound settings. Channel switching and Reverb on/off can be controlled by optional foot switch. Uses 2 EL34 power tubes and 4 ECC83'S in the pre-amp and phase inverter slots. Classic channel has clean and crunch settings and Ultra channel has high gain Lead 1 and higher gain Lead 2 settings. These settings are chosen by depressing push button on front panel. 4 channel eq, bass, mid, presence and treble, deep button for added bass, and a tone shift button which scoops out the midrange. Separate gain, volume and reverb levels for each channel. Reverb is decent, not great. Good versatility. Can get clean, crunch, or high gain distortion. I have two gripes however. It should have separate eq. controls for each channel and the channel settings should be selectable by footswitch.

Playing a 75 Telecaster with a humbucker in the neck position and slide on a vintage 63 Epiphone Crestwood with mini-humbuckers for slide. Going through a 4X12 slant bottom which has lots of bottom and a huge sound. Using clean channel on crunch setting and switching to overdrive channel lead 1 setting for solos and slide. Lead 2 has too much distortion for my style which is mostly rock and country. Best tone and sustain of any amp I have owned and incredibly responsive to pick attack.

Amp was purchased used in knowingly non-working condition (hence the low purchase price) after being used on a cross country tour. Had it repaired, re-tubed, and biased for $300. Amp had broken solder connections in switching circuit. In its defense, the amp is 11 years old and was subjected to hard use by a touring band, even though it is in very good cosmetic shape because it was kept in a soft case. Now working perfectly.

Amp was purchased used. I am the third owner.

Been playing 40 years. Nothing I have ever played through can even come close to the tone, sustain, and response of this amp. Have always played through combos, Fender Twins, Vox Valvestates, Mesa Boogies, but this is my first Marshall. Have never played through a vintage point to point wired Marshall, so I have no opinion on whether this modern mass produced printed circuit board amp is even close but they are also a fraction of the price. Avoided half stacks because I hate hauling around heavy equipment. Too big for practices and smaller venues so you do need a second amp. An attenuator is also recommended to keep from blowing your band mates off the stage.

Marshall JCM-2000 DSL 100. I bought mine used a couple years ago from a music go-round for I hate to admit $800.00.

This thing kicks major ass when it come to a hard rock sound. Reverb is ok and clean's is ok. This amp is made for hard rock in my opinion and for that it delivers. Both dirty channels kick ass! My band plays AC/DC, Metallica, Buckcherry, Skynyrd, Nugent, STP, Black Crowes, etc. and the sound is great for that music.

POS! That stands for piece of shit. From day 1 I have had the same problem. I wish I would have returned it within my 30 days after purchase. Now I am stuck with it. The very first day I brought it to band rehearsal within a half hour the sound just faded out. I took it back to Music Goround, they kept it and had their tech look at it and he fixed. It then worked great for about 6 months, then channel/footswitch noises started happening, then sound started to fade out again. I have since had this amp in the shop 5 time in the past year, it has died at gigs 4 times, and no one can figure out its problem. I am taking it back in for the 6th time today. If you get this amp you better have a back up if you are gigging.

By the way if anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

none

Sorry Marshall, i love your sound, but I play in working band and need something that I can rely on.

Bought the DSL 50 second hand in immaculate condition from guy who had owned from new and never taken it outside the house. Two channel amp with two modes per channel and footswitch to change between the two channels (although not between modes). Effects loop. Shared EQ between both channels.

Will mark this down for the shared EQ however this is a minor thing and the benefits of the amp outweigh the desirability of the seperate EQ.

I use the DSL-50 to play an eclectic mix of 80's metal such as Megadeth and Metallica as well as rock tones ala AC/DC, Guns n' Roses. Playing both an 81 Les Paul Custom and a Jackson Soloist SL1.

I bought the DSL after owning a Peavey 5150 and a Marshall 900 SLX. The main reason was the 5150 whilst it has it's place is a very one dimensional souless beast and the SLX was an amp I never could quite get what I wanted from it. The DSL50 on the other hand is the best amp I have ever owned and here are the reasons why; after spending an hour of playing with this amp all on the original stock tubes, it sent shivers down my spine with the tones of my favorite songs leaping out. The JCM 800 the Plexi is right here or as near as dammit without the limitations of those amps. It does as others have said introduce a modern take on these classic amps however that is not a bad thing.

This amp can sound really full and warm with creamy thick distortion through to blazing in your face lead tone.

And the clean is the best clean Marshall I have ever heard. Putting the cleans to just on edge of break up and then using an overdrive is pure heaven.

I absolutely love this amp.

Since having the DSL I have had no problems although quickly burnt through the stock power tubes through frequent use. I have replaced all the tubes, using NOS Mullard 12AX7's in V1 and V2 and an EH in V3 with JJ ECC83S balanced in the V4 position. The tube change smoothed out the amp with the mullards sounding typically smooth and organic.

I can't really fairly judge this as owned the amp for around a year but not had any reason to doubt it's reliability, I have played it almost daily since owning it.

Marshall in the past have been fast to respond to my questions and as a company I personally believe they are a safe bet.

Played for 30+ years, in various bands in my youth and through adult hood. Have owned too many guitars and amps to count including a 1959 SLP Plexi and a JCM800, JCM900 SLX, Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier, Peavey 5150, JMP1 amoung others.

My thoughts are the DSL is perfect for me, it gives me enough variation to be able to capture the sounds I want without having to kart around several amps. There is no doubt in my mind that the DSL will achieve similiarly legendary status as the 800's and the Plexi's have, in years to come.

I tried out a JVM in a music store and my mind boggled with all the knobs, etc. This amp is just right. The EQ makes a big difference in tone, the scoop button adds a new set of tones. I leave the bass boost always on. I'm playing a '75 Les Paul Standard with a Dimarzio PAF and a Seymour Duncan pickup and you can actually roll the volume back on the guitar and still get good sounds.

The channel switching is my only complaint. The foot pedal is not electronic and you get a momentary drop off in signal. Not cool live at all. And I wish the clean/crunch option could be switched. Reverb switching is useless.

I love this amp's tones! It goes from clean and warm to nasty and saturated, and everything in between which is really the best thing about this amp. There are many distortion tones that have the whole Marshall range and all are usable. It does the 800 and 900 series tones as well as pretty much eveerything else. Even at bedroom volume it's quite nice and of course after 5 on the voulme it really comes alive. I love the built in compresser that seems to work in the more overdriven settings. You get wonderful sustain; just amazing. Frankly I can't think of anything this amp lacks.

I bought this amp used and so far it's been reliable. The only problem is a vibration that sounds like it's a spring in the reverb tank. It's not in the signal, just in the room. Maybe a broken spring? Should be an easy fix.

I've been playing over 30 years and always had old school tube amps, like a 70's Music Man, the Traynor bass amp that's supposed to be a "poor man's Marshall" and a couple Fenders. I play rock and blues and this amp is perfect for me. You can get all the classic tones as well as create new ones. I love the front panel layout the best. There's enough flexibility to get lots of variety but it's not cluttered and you don't need to read a 50 page manual to figure out how to get good sounds. Plenty of power too; this thing is LOUD, but not at the expense of low volume tone. I will always have a DSL, and for the price I can't see why everyone shouldn't have one.

All the essentials

2 Channels

Clean/Crunch
Gain/Ultra gain
2 Footswitches needed, one for Reverb and one for channels.
Shared EQ
Presence
Deep button for added low end
Tone shift for scooping out the mids

FX Loop

What more would I ask for?

Single footswitch, an EQ per channel but that is about it.

It does clean(ish) tones right through Hendrix, AC/DC, to more hard rock and finally ending off with plenty of gain quite well, I rarely use the Ultra gain switch on the Gain channel, it's just too much IMO.

The amp doesn't start sounding good until the Volume is at about 4 on both channels, that's where I feel it really starts to kick in, its a valve amp, they're meant to be cranked. For those that are wondering if it is 'Loud enough' and whether they should spend another $200/??150 on the 100w version, don't bother, there is less headroom on a 50w but it really will make your head hurt in your bedroom even at half way, in prolonged exposure. I play through a 4x12 1960a cabinet.

The amp is versatile, with intelligent tweaking you can get a fair amount of famous tones without having to use all your foot pedals. Even a modest PLEXI (but not as good as the real thing of course)

If you're looking a Marshall tone, this is the amp. If you're looking a fender tone or w/e else , you have no reason to be reading this.

It does have a bit of harshness in it, but after you play with the amp for a few hours you'll know it's ins and outs tone wise.~ It's simple to program your desired tone, but you might want to find a good setting for the shared EQ

This one was bought summer 2008, it was manufactured in early 1997. Has 1 gig mark on it and the backplate has taken abuse.

It's solid. Stand on it if you like.

The only support they can give me is 'have you heard our new JVM range'

To which I reply 'no thanks'

I would like to replace this amp if stolen

But they are dear as hell brand new and used ones on Ebay are rare.

It just screams marshall, it's one of their best selling amps, if you aren't into this amp you aren't really into marshalls.

Mine is a 2008 model. I play old school heavy metal and bought this amp to gig with as I don't want to take my older Marshalls out too often.

I use Stratocasters with high output single coils and s/c sized humbuckers (Quarter Pounds, Hot Rails, JB Jr etc.). I could never get satisfactory sounds out of the ultra gain channel until I performed a small modification - the removal of capacitor C12 (the treble bleed capacitor). Before this modification, the sound was always too bright, hard-sounding and brittle. Now, the sound is thick, warm and full and much easier to dial in.

The classic gain channel has a very pleasing sound, with an excellent clean sound.

-50 watt head (4 ECC83 preamp valves and 2 EL34 power amp valves)
-2 channels (Classic Gain and Ultra Gain channels both with 2 modes)
-A Deep switch that adds a resonant bass boost for a meatier bottom end, and a Tone Shift that scoops out the mid frequencies
-Reverb
-Effects loop
-Footswitch

I don't have many complaints about this amp but if I could change anything I would have a better footswitch. The one that is included simply changes the channel and it would be nice if it could also turn on/off the reverb or let you turn on/off the 2 "modes" for each channel. This amp has plenty of power and can be very loud if you want it to be. I run it through a 2x12 Marshall 1936 cab. A VERY versatile amp.

I play rock, metal and blues. I play it through a 2x12 Marshall cab. I've owned Fender, Mesa and Peavey tube amps and this amp has the best crunch/gain of any amp I've owned and is very well suited to my particular taste. For blues and rock it has the most amazing tone of any amp I've played. Not harsh like a Mesa. You can get great metal tones as well if you are playing things like Ozzy, Van Halen, 80s metal etc. but if you want Pantera type gain you would have to use something like a Boss Metal Zone which is what I use for over the top metal tone. I keep the Deep Switch on all times on this amp. At lower volumes it makes the amp sound fuller. I don't use the Tone Shift button all that much. The best thing about this amp is that you can get great tone and high gain at reasonable levels, however, tube amps always sound best cranked! As far as "noise" is concerned, as you turn the volume and gain up on any amp there is always increased feedback and noise but I don't believe that this amp is particularly "noisy". In addition, I can get a great clean sound out of this amp by turning the gain down on the first channel. Sounds great with single coils and humbuckers.

I have had this amp for about a year and have had no problems.

I have emailed Marshall with questions about their products via email and they always get back to me with an answer.

I have been playing guitar for about 15 years and have purchased and sold several amps. I feel that I have finally found the sound that works best for me. If this amp were stolen I would replace it with a new one. I love the tone and flexibility of this amp. The only thing I don't like is the limited footswitch. It should at least turn on/off the reverb and perhaps the 2 modes for each channel.
The DSL series is now discontinued.

2006 model I picked up used,you know the features or check out marshall site for them.

I bought this after owning many amps, and many marshalls...sold my jvm410 to pick this up.This has the authentic marshall growl,thats why I bought it and thats what I was looking for.I retubed it with Rubys el34bstr and svetlana 12ax7's.Way better than the stock tubes more low end,and a tighter response.The clean is great,the clean with the drive has plexi written allover it,hit it with a wah and it just shines.I like the distortion channels my setting is Lead one,tone shift out,deep in,Bass 9/mid 4 /treb 8 /pres 8/gain 7.

I rate this on what I wanted and got it.Jvm didnt cut it.

everything breaks sooner or later

Real marshall tone...Marshall attitude and growl all the way.

> Made in 1997, In England. I've had it since it was new.
> All tube amp
> Mine has the nicer Drake transformers. From what I understand, the newer ones have cheaper trannys (but this can be fixed with good aftermarket transformers by Mercury Magnetics or Heyboer)
> Footswitchable Reverb and Channels
> The 2 channels and modes give me all the flexibility I need.
> I've used this amp for 99% of my shows since I've had it. Plenty loud


A 3rd footwsitch jack for selecting the green channel's mode and "deep" mode and this would be perfect. Do I really need it? Nah...
Also missing is a real choke instead of just a resistor. At 25.00 retail, I don't understand why Marshall doesn't put these in. This is a mod that I'll be doing real soon.

Lately, I've been playing this amp with a '74 Gibson LP Custom, a Fender Strat Ultra with the SCN single coils and a jem or two. I use the amp through an Marshall 4x12 with G12T-75s (made in England) or Celestion Centurys.

The one thing I'll say about Marshalls - Make sure they are biased properly. This is crucial. I'm still on the original Svetlana EL-34 tubes (Biased at 70%) which still sound strong. The preamp tubes were replaced with JJs because I'm not a big fan of the stock chinese 12AX7s Marshall uses. Also, the master volume has to be set around the 4 mark for it to really start to sound like a Marshall. Below that value, the feel of the amp goes away. This is loud though. For practicing, I don't mind playing with the master at "1" but if you're going to evaluate the amp, don't do it with the master set to somethig like "2" or "3". A THD hotplate on -4/-8 db attenuation is a nice add-on for this amp so that you can crank it and keep the volume down.

I play 80's metal, classic rock, hard rock, rock/blues. This means Metallica, Maiden, Ozzy, Clapton, Van Halen, Top 40 rock (for the working cover band), Deep Purple, AC/DC, Hendrix, Balck Sabbath... you get the idea.

For all of the styles above, this is the only amp that can cover it all and do a great job at it. Does it sound like a JCM 800 or a plexi? Well.. no, not really, but it has that grind and crunch that gives it the trademark Marshall sound. I love my '82 jcm 800 but its a 1 trick
pony and it hard to play different styles with it. This is where the DSL absolutely shines.

Clean Sounds - Love it. This is the Green channel in mode 1. I set it up just so it on the edge of clipping. Nice jangly clean with a bit of dirt on top. That's the way I like it. You have to know how to tweak the amp's settings for it to sound good. This mode is perfect for stuff like Chili Pepper's Under The Bridge. Just very clear and full.

Crunch Sounds - Green channel in mode 2. You can get nice crunchy sounds at low levels. This is the big AC/DC style crunch sound with the gain dimed and the master past the 4 mark. I can do a lot of the Hendrix style stuff on this channel too (like say, Purple Haze). With a TS-9 in front, the classic rock lead sounds are pretty much where I want them. I'll also use this mode with an SD-1 for stuff like Randy Rhoads or Van Halen. This mode sounds big. With a TS-9, I get an awesome Cream era Clapton sound. My Smoke on the water sound is pretty convincing too (from what fellow guitarists have told me)

Distortion - Lead, Mode 1. This is what I use for playing stuff like Maiden or a lot of the heavier stuff that plays on the radio these days. I'll use this with an overdrive in front for extra kick for solos and real heavy parts like say Enter Sandman (mid scoop switch engaged) or No More Tears (no mid scoop).

Lead mode 2 - I never use it. I just find it too much and it lacks clarity and note definition.

I often get complimented on my sound by the sound engineers at shows. in the 10+ years I've had this amp, I have never grown tired of its sounds. It just suits me really well. I still play my '82 JCM 800 when I can though. The DSL is a different beast and I really appreciate it for what it is.

Other amps have come and gone (Peavey 5150, '64 Fender Bassman, '01 JCM 2000 DSL 100w, '98 JCM 2000 TSL 100w, Marshall JMP-1, Line 6 rack POD, Fender hot rod Deluxe, vintage Marshall 1959, Peavey Classic 50 and others I'm forgetting right now) but this one, along with the JCM 800 are the ones that I've kept after all these years.

I'm a picky guy in terms of tone and I don't give perfect scores easily but this amp deserves it. I don't understand why some people knock these DSLs. I had one guy with a DSL 100w that kept on complaining how bad his DSL was. I had to agree - it was weak sounding, dull and lifeless. I checked the bias, it was way cold. 10ma too cold. set it to the proper value and voila! tone galore. LIke I said at the top of

I've gigged this amp for 11 years. Its still going strong and I have not had a single issue with it... not even a fuse. I take care of it though. I don't bang it around, always set the impedance switch properly etc.
Built to last. The insides do look a little complex compared to the older Marshalls though.

Never really had to deal with the company for the DSL. They're pretty responsive via email when I did have questions.

If it were stolen or lost - I'd try to find a replacement ASAP, hopefully one that has the Drake transformers.

The amp is two channel, with 4 modes. Would be nice to have independent EQ but the two channels are shaped well enough with one.

As a side note. this amp was given to me by Jim Marshall himself. i won it during a competition as i had always wanted this amp but was a poor uni student with no $$$.

The dsl is not necessarily the amp for you if you are a one pickup player who has no idea how to use his hands to control an amp. something like a JVM is better because you have 4 channels opposed to 2.

This amp is a great middle ground for people who like an amp which can change channels but WILL respond well to changing guitar parameters such as volume etc. Additionally this guitar responds incredibly well to your hands. Hit the strings hard and it will respond, hit strings softer and it respond; similar to vintage marshalls.

Not to mention this amp will play chords well during gain settings with all strings being audible. eg ACDC.

Not that i am trying to pick on people, but I have had this amp for many years and people who say it has a bad clean sound obviously have not spent enough time with it. On a les paul of strat i can get a great clean sound.

Quick lesson: Clean channel with crunch button in. Put your volume to 8-10 (gain at 0) and use the gain as the volume: it has a preamp with a tonne of clean headroom which WONT break up (even with humbuckers) and a real fender amp dynamic snap (without being brittle).

I play mine through an american strat and a VOS 59 les paul RI and it works really well with both. This is an amp which will let a guitar breath and show the tone of the guitar too, which i think is very important. So if you have a guitar which is a s close as it comes to a turd, guess what your going to hear coming through.

One last thing with this amp is that this amp sounds great cranked and still very nice at bedroom level (however more trannyish as the valves dont play as big of a role), so you dont need to have a second amp for practicing/gigging.

I call mine "the mule" jam this thing at volume 4 through two quads 3 times per week since 05 and never had an issue.

No idea

i would say this amp is definitely a 9. if you are specifically looking of vintage marshall tone such as ACDC, this wont necessary give it to you perfectly as it has a modern twist on the tone, however it is an incredibly versatile am which doesnt try to fool you with more knobs that a space ship. it is an amp which loves to be controlled and shaped by a good guitar with a good pair of hands behind it.

I love the 50w model, it has more tone than the 100 (and i am not just saying that because i own the 50w model) because the valves get to work hard. I also own 100w marshalls and i will never get 100w heads again, just cost more and are more expensive to change the tubes.....pointless.

I just want to comment that it has a lot of features I was looking for without getting too crazy.

When I got it home and plugged it in I was using my strat and was a little let down that I wasn't knock out by it. It was a bit edgey and a bit thin. I had bought some replacement tubes for it before hand thinking i might need them. I took off the rear panel and measured the bias and it was amazingly low. The one side was set at 34mv and the other side was 8mv. I replaced the tubes and reset the bias to roughly 39mv on both sides and then played my strat through it and it was amazingly better. It doesn't end there, when I played my Les Paul it was instant heaven. The Marshall loves humbucker type pickups and pedals are amazing through it. I have about 7 riggs and the dsl 50 is my favorite at this time.Riggs:Rivera KR55, Holland Bassman, Stiletto MB, Fender Supersonic, Vox AC30CC and a few others.

I haven't gigged with it yet.

This amp is a lot cheaper then most boutique amps out there that cost 2-3 times as much and they're trying to sound like this amp. My opinion is that if you're having trouble with it adjust the bias and change the tubes. These larger companies save a lot of money by cutting the cost of these cheaper tubes.

Made in 2005 and a "as new" store demo unit, it was released from demo service just prior to being discontinued in the USA, as the Vintage Modern and JVM series seem to have replaced it recently. The amp is actually fairly versatile for a two channel amplifier, with channel switching, reverb, effects loop. It comes with a footswitch for channel switching, but it is an option for the second footswitch to turn the reverb on and off. We tend to like simple amps and we also own a couple of Marshall AVTs 50 H and 50HX which are 50 watts as well. This DSL 50 is an all tube 2-EL34 & 4-12ax7 amp where the AVTs have a single 12ax7 preamp tube and are a solid state hybrid. The AVTs are now discontinued in the USA as well. 50 watts is plenty of power for us and 100 watts is just out of the question. The DSL sits atop a 1960BV with 4 Vintage 30s. It does a nice job in a full auditorium without even being turned all the way up and at home at very low volumes. The AVT's are also excellent amplifiers for the home, but the DSL has more of what you need on the big stage. Now discontinued, the JCM 2000 DSL 50 is a very good bargain right now for the prudent shopper. We really like this amp, but don't like giving out 10s either.

In this price range it is a very good deal right now. We use this amp with both single coils and humbucker equipt guitars. Our single coils are Fender Custom 69s, SCN, and American Standard Telecaster, and the Humbuckers are a mix of Tony Iommi and Angus Young Gibsons. Rock, Blues and Metal style, but nothing too crazy and it fits well. Our pedals are a normal grouping, phaser, chorus, Q, distortion, overdrive and they are a bunch of EHs some with 2- 12 ax7s and a Boss Super Shifter. We have a handwired PTP Dr. Z 18 watt Maz Jr. combo too, together with the DSL and the AVTs it covers just about everything we need right now. Marshall tube amps - like Harley Davidson motorcycles are not for everyone. We just happen to love them, but you meet a lot of people who don't appreciate the tone, so you really have to believe in what you are standing for. Many people can't believe that a solid state amp like the AVTs sound great, but they do, just put the right pedals in front of them. The DSL Clean channel is passable, but it is not what it is all about, as it functions more as an older sounding Marshall Plexi type tone from the past and called Classic Gain. It sounds really good, just not like Fendery clean, or boutique. The second channel has rocking heavy distortions called Ultra Gain that they didn't have in the old days and you will not find in the really old models, but more like an 80s model, of course the amps were all hand wired back then and these new ones are circuit board models and a lot like computers. We recently tried the Vintage modern combo (it's a single channel amp) and the 4 channel JVM and preferred the JVM, but it is all personal preference. You really should try it out to see if you like it, before you buy anything. Go to all the guitar stores nearby and sit there trying amps with your own guitars. Unless you plan on playing huge venues 50 watts is really plenty and probably in some sense, overkill as you would be surprized what you can do nowadays with handwired in lower wattages and microphoned with a PA.

Marshall is dependable, no backup, but we have it checked out before a big show, (especially since it was a demo unit). The amp sits very still, with covers on the speaker cab and head until needed. The tubes were replaced and biased immediately with real Svetlana EL34 Winged C. The preamp tubes were replaced as well, with 12ax7EH in 1 & 2 and 12ax7EI in 3 & 4 (Low risk of Microphonics). The service work cost an extra $200 including the tubes, bringing the total cost just over a grand. We record off of this DSL/4x12 cab as well. This amp rips - see it on You Tube!

The company is large and overseas, but have reps in the USA and plenty of service centers and a pretty nice world wide web site. Marshall is one of the largest amp manufacturers, so there is plenty of avenues for support, mods, etc. You can email them with questions and they respond. Service is conducted through one of their service centers locally and I only had to drive a half hour away to get to one.

We don't anticipate replacing it, and probably couldn't easily replace it either, in it's great condition. We may actually replace one of the AVTs soon as the 18 watt Dr. Z combo has moved into it's territory (it has a different, but awesome sound though). Certain Marshall amps have a cool sound that we really love and the DSL is not going anywhere anytime soon! We also like the castors on the cab for moving it around easily. The cab is just a little large and heavy, but it just fits in the car's backseat.

Purchased in 2006. If you are reading this you already know the main features of this amp. Primarily, it is two-channel simplicity with gain variations on each. EQ section is straight ahead with a mid "scoop" button and a bass boost button (my favorite). No degree in engineering required as this is very straight ahead. The new JVM is great, but too many combinations of gain stages, who needs all that?. Simply, this is an all-around performers amplifier that covers all the bases from clean to distortion, great for live and studio and easy to operate; and that's what it's all about.

The 50 watts are just right, great at low volumes too! My set up is simple, Marshall 1960A Cabinet guitar into pedal board with gain pedals going into the input and modulation pedals going through the loop. Guitars: Les Paul, Gibson Spirit II XPL, Music Man Axis. Pedals: EB Volume/Dunlop Cry Baby/Modified Tube Screamer/Fulltone OCD out to input. Modulation: Vis Sound H20/EH chorus/EH small stone phaser (that's it). The clean channel is superb, really it's crystal clear and full of warmth and tone in all setting ranges. I go for low setting and then add pedals to it. The anolog man modified Tube screamer in front of the clean is perfect to give it that added crunch and the OCD gives you bedroom level thump at low volumes. So it gives me all the variety I need of a clean/crunch channel, responds well with all pedals. The Overdrive channel I use all on it's own on the low settings for that "Classic Rock" heaven. Push in the gain button and you are in all the Metal you can handle. No pedals required, just pure Marshall, full of warmth, thump and clarity...YOU come through the amp! Note: The OCD through the clean really gives you the feel and vibe of the new Vintage Modern, it's really worth looking into! Bottom line, Marshall makes everything you add to it sound better.

Marshall, Made in England, used the world over...enough said.

I have never had to call Marshall for any maintenance issues, but my contacts with distributors in the US have been excellent. They stand behind their product.

I've played and recorded for almost 30 years. This 50 watt Marshall just fits. If you want an amplifer that gives you tone, warmth and acts as an extension of what you are "feeling" as a player. This is the amp. The 100 Watt models I find a bit too much, this is just right! As far as pedal set up and the like, throw away the digital modeling units and keep it simple. A guitar, cable and this amplifier are all you need; add pedals to "flavor" it, not hide it. This half stack is easier to move than any lunky 212 Combo out there (I've owned them all too). Trust me I'm 5 ft nothing/100lbs soaking wet and can move this baby! Just get it, your guitar will thank you! At 50 watts, your house will still be left standing...almost. Bottom line...a true tone machine for all styles...Way to Go Marshall

Everyone knows the features. Less is better!!

I Use several Fender Masterbuilt Clapton Strats with Lace Gold Sensors with occasional Crybaby Wah and Boss Chorus Pedals and additioanlly, but rarely, a Vintage Tube Screamer 808. I also use a Framptone amp splitter to A/B the Marshall DSL played through a Marshall Vintage Slanted Cab w/ 25 watt Greenback Celestions and a 65 Fender Blackface Super Reverb 4x10. Style of music is Classic Rock and Blues Style.

I have found my "holy Grail" of amps in the DSL. The sounds I can get from this amp with my setup and unique guitars are amazing. I got rid of many amps once I got the DSL, including a TSL 100 watt head which to my ears, sound sterile compared to the DSL. Don't get me wrong, the TSL is more versatile and has features the DSL doesnt have (Three seperate footswitchable channels, emulated line out, VPR making it a 25 watter, seperate EQ for all three channels, etc....) but comparing the two, the DSL's tone was more to "MY" liking.

Because it's shared, The EQ is fixed as follows: Presence 5, Treble at 8, Bass at 5, Middle at 6 and Clean channel reverb at 6 with the Lead channel reverb on 5.

When I'm not using my Fender for cleans, I use the DSL's crunch channel as my clean channel w/ volume at 4 and gain between 5 & 6 and I can get a really nice clean with just a bit of bite/blues character. With my Clapton midboost at 2, and volume at between 4 and 5 and tone on 10, its clean and creamy in a bluesy way. Roll up the midboost circuit on the Clapton Strat between 6 & 7, Boom!!!! You have a solid crunch that can go from a solid blues crunch to more of a ballsy crunch by putting the guitar volume up between 7 and 10 depending on how hard you dig in with your picking hand.

For Leads, it's all about the Ultra lead channel. For my style of playing (again classic rock/ Blues)I keep the volume between 4 and 5 with the gain on 6 and the guitar volume between 7 and 10 with the guitars midboost on 10 and I get that Clapton/ Buddy Guy like Lead tone. The Ultra lead is just so much better than the classic lead.....more sustain, harmoincs, and just inspirational.

Never had a problem

n/a

This amp was made in 2007. It's very versatile considering that it has a shared eq with the clean and distortion channels. I play alternative rock but I switch between the clean and distortion frequently. The DSL sounds great with both channels. One thing I really like is with the shared eq on both channels sound very balanced. Marshall did a fantastic job calibrating it. Very simplistic...Presence, Treble, Mid, Bass, gain and boost. That's almost as simple as it gets along with reverb. The DSL has your standard effects loop, speaker output and line out. With 50 blistering loud watts this amp can handle any gig! It's equipped with 2 x EL34's from Winged C....Love em! I've tried the JJEL34L's they do sound a bit deeper and robust but the Winged C has better breakup for my taste and it sounds a bit more clear. I've replaced the stock 12ax7a's with NOS Mullard, EI Elite, JAN Philips, Telefunken in V1-V4 in the order.

I use a Gibson Les Paul Classic and ESP EC-1000 both with SD JB/59 pick ups for my style of music. Those pickups sound amazing! I know there are others out there like WCR, Fralin, Tom Holmes and Bare Knuckle that are better but for sheer value and tone The JB sounds great! It does clean and distortion extremely well. I don't have any plans forking out 150-200 bucks per pickup. Not worth IMO if you have alot of dough in hand to spend. The DSL suits my style perfectly. It's a classic amp or will be and it has just great Marshall JCM 800-1959SL tones with more gain! To be honest I have my gain barely on 4 and it's more than enough. This amp is not noisy IMO unless you crank the gain to the max. I have my eq set to presence 7-8, treble 5-6, Mids 10, Bass 5-6 with red channel boosted and gain on 4. I use the green for sparkling cleans only. The Clean sounds are very impressive for a Marshall. It's warm with great clarity. I love it. This amp has solid state diodes.....but I don't care...all it matters to me is the sound! That's the bottom line and the DSL delivers the goods! The sounds are great either low or high volumes the cleans stay clean and focus unless you turn up the gain and the distortion is killer!! You can get metal mayhem to alternative hard rock. It's a Marshall! You know what you're going to get! Great tone! You know what they say...Can't go wrong with a Marshall!

Not sure. It's brand new like and only time will tell. So far it's been very reliable firing it up and rocking out with it!

Never dealt with them.

I got this amp new like in a box with the footswitch and manual. This is by far one of the best amps out there for your dollar..other than a Laney. Laney amps are better value for you buck...both amps are great, I have both the VH100R and DSL and I'm very happy with either one. You'll find better values on the DSL because there are so many of them out there. I've been playing for 12 years and have owned quite a bit of gear over the years like Orange RV50, Rivera K55, Laney AOR 50II, LH50R, and TT50H, Mesa BoogieStiletto and Ace, Marshall 6100 (BLue), Engl Thunder 50, Carvin MTS. There are others I haven't mention or forgot too. I have to say that out of all of them listed here. The DSL is my favorite. It just rocks! And it's so fun to play!

I don't exactly know when this amp was made, but it is sweet. I use this amp for playing mostly original hard rock, modern type of stuff with a good amount of gain. So it suits it very well. it has 2 channels, footswitchable of course, an effects loop and it has multiple switches for changing your tonal charecteristics such as a deep switch and a tone shift to name a couple. I don't think I can really find anything that I would like to change about this amp, or I wish it had. Maybe it could use a lead boost, but then it would be a TSL would'nt it, and thats what I probably would have bought. It is 50 watts, all tube, and it has plenty of power for any venue. I can't really complain about this head, I mean I did trade a 1972 Fender Bassman head for it with an ass load of other stuff. One thing though, the tubes in it suck. They produce a seriusly cold sound and I think alot of these companies should seriously invest in running JJ tubes in there amps. I did it, and it seriously warmed up my overall tone and beefed up the drive in this amp. JJ's are where its at, I run them in every amp I own and so do the other members in the band I play in. So fot the shite tubes I will take away 2 points.

Well, if I still had the original tubes in it, I would probably give it a 7 or an 8. Because they were shrill and cold, but were'nt totally unbearable. I mean the amp still sounded awesome, just not as good as it does with the JJ's that are in it. I play mainly my Gibson Les Paul Studios through it and my Gibson Les Paul Double Cut Faded with P90's. It takes well to the Humbuckers and P90's very well. It can give me a very good modern metal sound and at the same time (on the classic gain channel) it can give you the very same sound found in a ton of classic rock albums such as Led Zepplin and Jimi Hendrix. I use the classic gain channel as my clean channel, it gives me a little bit of dirt so I don't sound too clean. Which in my opinion works well for our style of music. The lead channel is excellent, I don't know why people stick to these "boutique" amps like Mesa, Bogner and other companies for there gain when you can get an excellent and very versatile lead channel from the Marshall JCM2000 amps at about $1000 less. I mean this lead channel has everything any kind of rock guitar player could ever want. It can go from light, smooth and creamy to full on balls to the wall saturation for that Metallica, Soulfly or any other type of high gain metal sound. It can do alot, but I would'nt perscribe it for anyone that plays country (not to sound like an idiot) or Jazz. But pretty much any other style it can do very well, if not perfectly. I run mine through a 4x12 Crate cab that I loaded with Celestion G12T-75's. It is now essentially a Marshall 1960A cab at half the cost. I will give it a 9, because the tubes made it less of a contender but the JJ really made it that much better. Try it.

Hey, Marshalls have never failed me before. They have never failed anyone I know, and they are great pieces of gear that anyone who owns them can swear by. Strong and powerful, and they have always been dependable for me, all the Marshalls I have owned including this one.

I have contacted them previously about my old JCM800 1x12 combo, and they were fast and accurate with the answers to the questions I had asked them.

So, all in all I am extremelly pleased with this amp. I have a great modern rock tone now. People constantly compliment the tone I get from my rig and, you know I have an opinion that your tone is 25% speakers, 25% guitar, 25% tubes and 25% amplifier. If the quality and tone of these 4 work well together, and are of the type and design that you seek, then you will acheive probably the exact tone you want. With all that crap said, I love this amp in conjunction with everything that I use with it. I have an awesome rock tone, and I don't think this amp will ever leave me. If it were lost or stolen I would get another, I have insurance on it so I would be able to get another. I am happy, and you probably will be to. Just try the amp with some JJ tubes, you will love it that much more.

Check out the other reviews for the specs...
2 channels, 3 band eq with presence control. Foot-switch for channels, and fx loop (if you need that) and everything else is standard Marshall.

Nothing I wish it had, It has enough power for practice. I keep it at around 6 for the band, and 2 or 3 for my apartment. I haven't played live yet but when I do I play on cranking this. I've noticed that it sounds better at higher volumes.

I'm giving it a 10 because It has everything I need and Marshall kept it simple. I'm coming from a Fender amp so the "presence" control is a bit foreign to me. With this amp its all about dialing in the eq.

First off, I don't like the clean. I had a fender hot rod deville before this amp and if I wanted to play clean I would switch back. I can hear the difference on recordings between a marshall clean and others now. The marshall has a clean sound of its own and is almost like a very light overdrive. I use it as such and just set the gain higher. With a footswitch it's now a shift between all an out distortion and overdrive.

Now, about the distortion. At first I wasn't to into it. I bought the amp because I was switching genres and I'm in college. Basically I wanted to play in a rock band and went out and bought my marshall. After tweaking the eq the distortion improved and I like it alot but it's not a very modern amp. If you're into ACDC and classic rock this is your sound, if you want to play 90s I might think about a mesa head instead. I still really like the distortion thought, I won't be changing anything soon, and I got this amp used at such a bargin ($1000 even with cab... but okay it was really beat up). I'm looking forward to changing the tubes, I think this will help out the clean.

Oh, I play an SG. I've ran a Strat through this amp alot. I think the muddy gibson sound is better suited for marshalls, though the Strat wasn't bad. I play 90s alternative and grunge.

Solid so far... it's not very noisy and seems easy to keep up. I'll swap the tubes soon to, hopefully, improve the sound. I think the owner never swapped out the originals so I'm expecting this to help out a bit.

I like how simple the amp looks, It's very dependable.

N/A

I got it for a great price. I wanted the look and sound of Marshall and knew I could get a good sound out of it. I think for more modern stuff I would have shopped around more, but my sound is changing all the time and I'm relatively new to guitar (3 years).

I had the fender amp before. I have to give it up to fender for the clean tone, but this Marshall has no pedal awesome distortion. I'm hoping with new tubes the sound will improve, but its great now after I've taken time to get to know the amp.

I chose it because of the deal I got and the name. No regrets, nothing I wish it had. The 50 watts is enough, probably makes it sound better because I can crank the amp more than I would a 100 watt head. I'm sure the higher end models like a jcm 800 would sound better, but for the price I was going for I'm more than satisfied. I'm no rock star and I don't hear an extra thousand dollars worth of tone when I listen to plexi heads. I guest when I hit it big I'll upgrade...

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.

It's a 2006 with stock features 2 channels, 2 modes deep switch etc. It would be nice to be able to switch the modes in each channel as well but I can live with just two channels. I play in a semi-pro covers band gigging on average once a week. We play all sorts from ska to soul to new wave to rock. Venues vary from 100 capacity right up to outdoor events 20,000 (largest audience to date!!) and the 50 is more than loud enough. Also had a TSL100 until recently, I had to sell it as I needed the cash but I prefer the DSL sound it's less harsh.

It's a Marshall! I use a Vox tonelab SE in conjunction with this amp and get some quality tones IMO out of the amp. As mentioned previously I find it slightly warmer than the TSL all the tones are there ie. AC/DC through to some great blues sounds. I've owned plexi's, JCM800's, JCM900 and the TSL100. Its not as nice as the 800, can't remember the plexi's although I remember they were loud, 900 was awfull too fizzy.

Amps been great so far although I'm definately going to get another head soon as a back up and because I want to. Maybe a 1959SLP or a 1987X. The one thing that's not been great is the footswitch it stopped working after 3 months!! I've replaced the cable myself come on Marshall sort them out! Stops it getting a 10.

3 year warranty and I live an 90mins from the factory I'm not worried.

30 years plus playing and owned numerous amps including many Marshalls this ones a cracker. Bought this as a replacment for Vox AC30CC (after the fifth one breaking I lost patience took it back and went for the DSL). This ones a keeper.

Reasonable amount of features for a two channel amp. All the basics plus reverb, effects loop, and some tone adjustment buttons that vary the voicing of each channel (deep and overdrive). I rated the features as a 7 because for this amount of money I feel Marshall should have stepped it up a notch.

Ok, here's the problem. This amp sounds like a marshall and that it. If you want an AC/DC or hendrix sound then by all means this amp is probably for you. The lead channel produces the GnR slash lead tone to a T, and the clean channel is one of the best I have ever heard. Very warm and full. Each channel breaks up with higher volume...including the clean channel. It has great classic rock sounds but thats where the fun ends.
For starters this amp does not produce a decent sound at any volume below 4 or 5. Don't be fooled by the 50 watt rating. 50 watt amps are only about 80 or 90 decibles quieter than 100 watt amps. Trust and believe that a 50 watt amp at 4 or 5 will make you go deff in a hurry. Not to mention really piss of your neighbors or your wife. Also, this amp will not produce any tone other than that classic rock marshall sound. If you are looking for metal/hard rock tone then look else where. This is a very one dimentional amp. I actually took this amp home and played through it both at home and at band rehersals over the course of several weeks and could not find the hard rock tone that I was looking for no matter how much I adjusted the controls (keep in mind that I have been playing seriously for 12 years and know my way around guitar amps). It simply doesn't have that tight chunky bottom end or that clear distorted top end sound (think tone like metallica, disturbed, pantera, breaking benjamin). Like I said, classic rock and thats it. I ended up taking it back to guitar center and buying a peavey JSX head. By the way if you are looking for a new amp, as I suspect you are since you are reading this, then you owe it to yourself to try a JSX. It will nock your socks off!
Anyways, if you want classic rock and a marshall sound, then this amp will probibly work for you. If you need some tonal flexibility and play any other style of music then look elsewhere.

I only owned this amp for a few weeks and never had any probs. After speaking with several amp technicians ever one of them said that maralls are a total nightmare. According to them the craftmenship is just not there and they are plauged with problems. I pulled the back pannel just because I was curious and was not impressed by the quality. It looked second rate, like something you would see in an amp costing a fraction of the price (think crate). Also, the control nobs and buttons were extreamly flimsy. Not very road worthy at all. Just walk up to one and monkey around with it and you will see what I mean.

No dealings with marshall customer support.

I rate this amp at a 5 because of the one dimentional tonal qualities, poor construction quality, and in my opinion serious lack of good sounding high gain distortion. Marshall may have been the best of the best back in the 60's and 70's but times have changed and marshall has not. Have no illusions about these amps, the majority of your hard earned money is paying for the name and not the tone.

This is more of a recap now that I've had the amp for about 2 years now. Please keep in mind that I am NO pro player. I'm just an at home player who's been playing for about 10 years now. While I certainley wouldn't consider myself to be a great player I think I'm a fairly decent player. I guess you can interpet that anyway you see fit because the last thing I want to do is to come across as something I'm not. But I think I know what sounds good and what doesn't. I play the DSL 50 thru a Marshall 1960 BV cabinet with 2, 25 watt Greenbacks and 2, 30 watt Weber Blue Dogs. Guitar is a Les Paul Standard, Seymour Duncan Custom Custom bridge, stock Burst Bucker Pro neck. This is also the first Marshall I've ever owned, played thru and have any experience with.

Okay, in MY basement (drop ceiling, panel walls, carpet on the floor), with MY guitar....and in my VERY humble opinion...it took a while for me to tune it in to my liking. First off, the treble on this amp is very excessive. Of what I gather, Marshalls can be trebley and if true the DSL 50 holds to that claim. I wound up putting a Weber Beam Blocker in front of each speaker and this helped quite a lot in dispursing the high end. I also did a lot of experimenting with differant preamp tubes and the best I found for taming the highs are ECC83S JJ Eurotubes in all 4 preamp positions. The other thing I needed was an attenuator and I settled for a Weber Mass Lite 100. This unit REALLY helped in calming down the high end, thanks to its two dials for attenuation. One for the Lows/Mids and the other for the Mids/Highs. Made an amazing differance. The last thing I did was to take the stock Burst Bucker Pro bridge pickup out and put in the mentioned Duncan pickup. That was the icing on the cake for me, as I found the BB Pro to have too much bite in it for me. Quite a lot, but I did what I felt was needed. But in all fairness the louder you turn the amp up the more it seems to even itself out and a lot of that excessive treble seems to calm down. But it's got to be RIPPING loud and I don't want to go deaf. But even with all of the changes and things I added I found that I cannot turn the treble control past 2 on the dial. Why that much treble is built into an amp is way beyond me.

Even though this amp has two foot switchable channels with an extra mode on each, I still call it a one trick pony. I say that because when going from the Classic to the Ultra channel the EQ doesn't even out at all. The trick for me was in finding "THEE" trick that would work best for what I like to hear. The Ultra channel has more treble response and less bass than the Classic channel, so the two don't even out. I tried everthing I could think off to try and even the channels out too. EQ pedal in the loop and differant combinations of various makes and grades of preamp tubes. For me nothing worked out to my liking. I found that I much prefered the Classic channel over the Ultra, so I don't use the Ultra channel at all. All in all I found it to be way too high gain for my liking. Others may differ and that's fine.

Basically I found two ways to use the Classic channel and both work pretty good. But still, you can only use it one way and not the other. One way is to use the Classic set to clean and use a pedal for your overdriven tone, while the other way is to use the Classic channel with the gain button engaged and use a OD pedal for a bit of extra kick. After all the changes I did I think that the clean channel is actually very good. I get a great clean tone from my LP using either both pickups combined (think rockabilly, CCR, etc.) or by using the neck pickup by itself. Strong, clean and clear. I've tried a few OD pedals and believe it or not I found I like Digitechs Bad Monkey the best! For $40.00 it is a great little pedal and thru the DSL 50 and the 4X12 it works great for things like Van Halen and Led Zeppelin.

Okay, lets say you prefer a tone that's a bit on the gainier side. I also like how the Classic channel sounds with the gain button engaged. I've got the gain set at around a 12:00/1:00 position so it's not too extreame. You can then turn your guitars volume knob down to clean it up a bit (won't be totally clean) and then as mentioned you can also add an OD pedal for a bit extra kick. I recentley bought a ZVEX Box of Rock and in this application it works really well. Outstanding, actually. I don't at all care for the BoR thru a totally clean channel, but with the amp being slightly overdriven and then adding the pedal...wow!! Tonal rock bliss!

So again, it's one way or the other. 1) Clean channel set for clean with a pedal for OD, or, 2) Gain button set for a mild crunch, add an OD pedal for a bit more kick.

As mentioned, I've had the amp for almost 2 years now and so far theres been no reliability issues. But then again it stays put in my basement. The amp works fine and the effects loop works very well also. I use a Boss DD-3 delay pedal and it sounds very clean in the loop.

Basically once you have it seasoned to taste it's a pretty cool amp. It's just a matter of finding what works best for you and of course that differs from person to person because we all hear things bit differantley. I like versatility, and if I was in a cover band I would probably use the amps Classic channel set to clean with a pedal for my overdriven sound. Each of the two ways I mentioned sounds very good but again, it at depends on what works for you. Again, I'm no expert and I know some will differ with what I've had to say and that's fine. I just hope this may be of assistance to someone. Rock on, folks!

I have no idea what year this amp was made. I bought second hand.

Very versatile. I play mainly metal and rock alternative. But occasionally i play pop, a bit jazz tune with it.

It has 2 channels, and total 4 modes. fx loops and no phone jacks.

I WISH THE MODES CAN BE SWITCHED WITH THE PEDAL. Man i wish that can happen, it would be soooo greattt.

You all know marshall's sound right?? yeah, thats the one. crunchy, raw, gritty rock n roll. Also very smooth, if you crank the MASTER volume to 3 - 5. AT first i kinda dissapointed coz the distortion kinda sound bad, but i tried to crank up the vol. until 3 - 4.5 (when i jam with my mates) and then the sound has come to life.

I would say, the distortion is not brutal, it is smooth coz of the 'valves' are el34. If u guys want BRUTAL amo go find rectifier, xxx, 6505 or anything with 6l6 valves. I'd prefer the el34 coz i can get the smooth feeling out of it. really nice IMO

The clean is great for me, i dont know if u compare with fender and such ... but marshall has got its own class.

I use humbuckers with it, and i can get sounds that i want.

I can be noisy in the distortion channel modes 2 but its normal coz of the gain. No drama i just hit my noise suppresor DONE ^_^

Well, i havent really gigged with it yet. But Judging from many famous musicians use this, I think i can depend on it. I.e Trivium (they use dsl 100). But if i ever got a chance to play regular gigs, I would always get backup. At least another marshall dsl's, i just love them.

Been playing for 15 years, but actively playing for 10 years.

I have a variety guitars, godin freeway (w/dimarzio airzone, fasttrack1, tonezone), yamies aes620 (w/ dimarzio evo and megadrive), ibbie sz520 (w/emg's). I play all kind of music.

If its stolen (stupid question!!), I would get another one of the dsl 50 for sure.

Yeah, at first i was comparing with rectifiers (too many knobs and very priceyyy), hughes n kettner trilogy and triamp (sound wise very nice, but still priceyyyy and with all the things that i dont use such as midi gadgets), peavey triplexxx, jsx, classic 50 (they are good products but i need something simple and nice for the price), Laney tt100, vh100r (absolutely nice sound, but for the price nothing can compete marshall)

I wish the modes can be switchable.

Dont get me wrong this is a perfectly good amp. Nothing less than a Marshall. But switching between modes are a drag. The cost of this amp you should be able to switch with a foot controller instead of a button. Such as lead one and lead two and so on. I have been playing for 25 years and I try to use everything an amp can offer. But my hands are full and the only thing open are my feet for feature switch. The eq is easy to work with and like most Marshall amps have to really try to mess up the sound unless you are doing something really stupid.

Sound is nop notch. Like I said nothing less than a marshall. With a hundred watt 4 12 cab and a flat eq and presence and the volume on ten and the pre amp on one or two look out it is pure pleasure. The distortion is smooth and fat with all the low end you could want. I have never had an ear piercing sound come out of this amp. With the right cabinet like the 16 ohm 1960A with 4 15 watt greenbacks you can turn ever eq and presence knob on 10 and face it to the wall and you have the over driven sound that only a marshall can bring you. But I love to play around with the over driven clean channel (what I call the Bad Company sound) The classic 1959 plexi It delivers. I have had this next to a 1959 plexi and with a couple of eq udjustments it sounds very close, just as clean and quiet. I have glossed over a few of the review here and I ahve to say if you buy a Marshall, remember it has bounce it's way all the way from England and if you are a pro you need a tech to look at it befor you play it for any length of time. You can put these amps side by side and both will have slightly differing sound. This is common. My dsl50 sounded muddy out of the box, had it gone through and ended up having new tubes put in at no cost to me. To me the 50 watt is better than the 100 watt as I can get that screamin sound at a lower volume. The 100 watt amps I allways did the AC/DC trick every knob on 10 and face it to the wall.

100 percent!!!!!!!

Never had to deal with them. None of my Marshalls have ever broken down!

As I said I have been playing for 25 years and allwasy give a shout out for Marshall amps. If it were lost and stolen I would buy another one. There are other quality amps out there but I have allways found that you have to go out and spend more money to dial in the tone. Which I call the bbe sonic maximiser trick. With the dsl50 or the 100 all you need is the amp and an ok cabinet with reputable speaker and it will sound better than the really costly stuff. I would suggest a dsl50with a 1960A cab with 15 watt greenbacks if you can find them. I found 4 in england for a 1000.00 bucks on ebay and it is worht it. The sound engineer will love you. So even with the drw back of the button pushing deal I stll give this amp a high 10!!!

Please read other reviews for full features, no point in repeating.
EQ settings are common to both channels i.e lead and rythym, but in practise with this amp it is not the problem you would expect.
Perhaps footswith should control both reverb and channel, the inputs do exist to do this, but Marshall only supply a floor switch for channel selection i.e with one switch. In truth its not important.

With a 1960 2x12 Marshall cab plugged in and the volume above 3 on classic lead channel, the Marshall power and big bottom end sound is there. The clean sound with this cab is amazingly sparkly for a Marshall and is Fenderish in quality helped by full size accutronics reverb unit within the head. Well done Marshall, but it was about time!

If you change power valves (EL34`s) make sure you bias them properly, check out website: Eurotubes.com , this American firm will teach you a lot about biasing and valve tones. He even provides a free video to show all us non-techs how to do the job. Brill! Marshall tech dept was also very helpful and said that Marshall bias at 45mv on DSL50 as they feel its the sweet spot using Svetlana EL34`s. Tone wise this Marshall DSL50 is seen worldwide as one of the best Marshall Valve Amps ever made.

Built well and very good value for money. It will take a lot of hammer providing power valve biasing is done by a pro or properly by the user with a few simple tools. Second hand DSL`s should be checked out for valve types and biasing as soon as bought, if you want the best Marshall sound. As to Marshall reliabilty I own five Marshall amps MG30FX,2 AVT50`s,30 watt Acoustic Amp, a JTM 30 and a DSL50 head and 2 by 12 cab.They have all worked perfectly for years and all have that BIG Marshall soul. The AVT 50 and DSL 50 especially.

Great people to deal with, especially the tech`s no bull just facts and useful advise. They must know their stuff to design amps sounding like the AVT 50 and DSL50.

The JCM 2000 DSL50 set up correctly and matched to a good cab is as good as it gets. A head and cab set up will always have a bigger sound at volume than an open back valve combo. Obviously you have more to cart around, but if a big valve sound is needed at volume, then try a DSL50 with the right cab. All we want now is a 6 to 10 watt Marshall pure valve combo with a closed back cab and matched 12 inch speaker i.e a mini DSL50!

Dual channels with dual modes in each channel. Ability to footswitch between channels, but not between modes. Bass boost switch, mid scoop switch, separate reverbs for each channel. Pretty flexible overall though the ability to footswitch between modes would have been nice.

Prior to a modification I made, I would rate this as an 8, my rating reflects the tone after the mod which I will describe below. Previous to modding the amp, the clean channel was fairly sterile sounding and the distortions had a bit of a grainy sound. I replaced the factory tubes with a set of JJ preamp and power tubes and they made a significant improvement in the tone quality biased to 43ma). The mod I made was to upgrade the output transformer with a Mercury Magnetics Axiom tranny designed for the DSL50. The difference it made was dramatic, it just opened the amp up tonally. The clean channel has a lot of depth and chime now and distortions are fat and thick. The clarity and sustain increased significantly. This mod takes the amp to boutique quality imho. The output tranny is the audio link between the preamp section and the power tubes so it does have a significant impact on tone. I highly recommend this mod, the tranny cost me $150 plus $30 for my amp tech to install.

I usually play an American Deluxe Strat or Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion III and both sound great through this amp. With the mod, the tonal qualities of the individual guitars really shine.

Seems well built, but tube amps can be finicky.

Never dealt with them.

With the modded output tranny, this is a killer amp. Without it, it's a good amp but seems to leave me wanting more. Now it sounds the way I expected it to sound. If you changed the tubes and still weren't happy with the tone, try the OT upgrade. Here's their website: http://www.mercurymagnetics.com

nice and simple
gain, eq, reverb
perfect

the greatest sounding amp i have ever heard period.

don't know, but hope its good
going on three years no problems

very helpful

there is no better sounding amp made!
this is the one!

Features are good,
I think you should be able to switch between modes though.

Heres my review.
The amp had master volumes at noon, a STD Fender USA Strat with stock pickups was used.
The amp was biased to 40ma per tube before hand.

Channel 1, Clean/ I didnt really enjoy playing this channel much, it felt "rubbery" somewhat like the F#%der Hot Rod amps, while some people praise these amps clean characteristics, I do not.
It sounds and feels a little artificial to me.

Channel 1, Mode 2/ crunch, This channel was loud n clean, with gain maxed out there is almost as much as an early non master volume amplifier, it did sound good but again, it did sound artificial.
I believe Marshalls spiel on this channel was to market it as a plexi/800 type of tone.
while it is reminicent of an 800 in EQ, I didnt think there was enough to tie in with that statement.
It sounds like a Marshall ,all Marshalls sound like Marshalls with their larger than life sonic crunch but there is a purity that the early metal face amp has that the DSL just cant reach.

Channel 2, Lead, Mode 1, this was my favourite channel of all,
I was quite happy using this channel for rhythm and lead.
High notes sung for lead work, all notes in a chord came through nicely, BUT.. one thing I just couldnt help but notice was that dry, hollow mid sound that could not be dialled out.
The amp also sounded a bit mushy all round.

Channel 2, lead 2 mode, this was a natural extension of channel 2 mode 1, with more gain on tap.

I didnt find a use for the deep switch, there was plenty of bass with the 4x12 can I used, these resonate low end naturally anyway.

Mid scoop is something I would never use.

Reverb was good, it was a welcome suprise for me because I own all non master amps with no built in reverb.
non as bright as a F#%der style amp, a little darker which I think is voiced well.

I didnt get around to checking out the series FX loop.

Marshall service sucks in Australia,
you could be waiting for a replacent part for a loooong time.
this is a major downer and I am even hesitant to buy any more Marshall stuff for that reason alone.
The amp however is reliable, maybe even more so than the 900's, now thats saying something.
Sure PCB mounted tubes plastic pots [not unlike the hot rod series of amps mind you..]are not the best way to make a roadworthy amplifier but Marshall has always used cheap parts no matter what, as long as they all function correctly and sound good there is no problem,,unless youre a real amp snob.
but those people arent whinging about the vintage 70's Marshalls are they.. these were also made with cheap parts, for instance, carbon comp resistors.. these are not normally used in much these days, known for being unreliable and changing out of spec over time these were technically a design flaw.. not desirable at all, amp snobs are most likely unaware of this fact. off the shelf transformers, although trannies were made bigger and tougher in the day.
tubes, NOS tubes were more reliable than todays specimens. blah blah blah.. its reliable

Not good at all. I dont know if this is Marshall themselves or just Marshall in Australia.
We also only get a 1 year warranty here unlike the 5 year in the States, thats a big gap isnt it?? whats up with that?
F#%der offer a 5 year on their top of the line stuff.

Ive been playing for 28 years, Im now 33.
I play in a rock cover band for the main part and travel sometimes to do other umm..projects :}

I own a few old Marshalls which I love, have never found any other amp that Ive been happy with.

I love amplifiers and have tried most big name brands, most Fenders, all Marshalls, etc etc, I basically cant walk past an amp without plugging in and am always on the hunt for divine tone.
this one has something to be desired but just fell a bit short for me.

This amp is extremely versitile, i can acheive just about any tone i want, from country to metal, you name it, you can dial it in. There are sub-channels within both of the channels that can give you completely different sounds. Channel A (clean) gives you a smooth crisp clean, but with the push of a button you have perfect crunch tones. Channel B (distortion) gives you a nice well rounded distortion along with a full out, balls to the walls, high gain distortion. The presence control can add a lot of life to the amp along with separate reverbs for each channel. Also the tone shift and deep options can help you to perfect that tone that your looking for. Also comes with an effects loop, i've never used it, but i'm sure it works fine. The head can hold up two speaker cabinets with a 4 or 8 ohm switch and one cabinet rated at 16 ohms.

my only problems with the features is the master eq and the inability to switch the sub-channels with a foot pedal. The way this amp is set up, your eq settings are the same for both channels A & B. this could be fixed by buying an eq pedal, but that's too much work onstage. also this amp would be so much better if you could change the sub-channels by foot instead of walking over to your amp and pressing a button.

This amp sounds amazing. Think of a tone, any tone, and you most likely can acheive it. This amp gives you a perfect clean, a crunchy bite, a smooth gain, and an ear-splitting distortion. I would suggest buying a tubescreamer for this head, it will smooth out your distortion and produce perfect harmonics. Marshall prefected the spring reverb for this unit. I keep the head plugged into an 1960's marshall 4x12 cab and a jcm800 2x12 both set to 8 ohms and i can't beleive the power this thing can pump.

my only problem with this head is that i don't particularly love the sound of it when cranked. I think it gives a little too much of a bite and you loose your bottom end. Then again, i always mic my amp at practice and shows so i don't have to deal with it too much.

This head is built to last. I received the head with a loose spring in the reverb, but it doesn't affect my sound in any way. just sounds funny when bumped around.

Haven't had to deal with the customer support, but the website provides manuals which can be handy.

I've been playing this head for 2 years without a single problem. If this head was ever stolen, i wouldn't think twice about buying a new one, i'd be out there right away. My father owns a jcm900 hi-gain combo, and the dsl blows it away. personally i hate the jcm900's but marshall made a huge upgrade 10 years later with the jcm2000 series.

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.

Really only use the crunch channel, the clean is good too. would be great to have separate EQ's for the red and green channels,

Play a custom strat w duncans most of the time I also own a 69 strat which sounds unbelievable thru this thing... this amp can cut thru anything.. but there is a warmth thats missing.. tried an attenuater which helped a lot but still leaves somthing to be desired, as you can tell by now not totally thrilled with overall tone.. I've owned fenders all my life and am about to switch back... great metal amp but not warm and versitile enough for me...

We play every other week... Hendrix.. Doors, J. Winter .. Sabbath
when i first got it I used a thd hot plate.. sounded awesome,
played It -4 db m vol 10 , pre around 4.. But blew a heat fuse..
and had to send it out... tech said tubes biasd to hot, when i got the thing back.. it sounded 100 times better... my advice to anyone buying a marshall is get something older jcm 800 maybe and have a good tech retube it... and check it out, I dont think there is a lot of consistancy with the new heads...

Came from Guitar Center CT... Support was great !!

I quess for me expectations where high, I'm 44 now and playing since 8 th grade.. I bought it cause I could finally afford it after all these years... If your a serious player into tweeking your amp then by all means get it... just remember that all those great marshall tones ie van halen, beck (and i do mean Jeff), zz, aerosmith are the results of modifications... this amp sounds good at the store, but it takes more than the name plate to get those legendary tones..

Its all you need one clean channel and one distortion. I don't like alot of buttons on my amp. Keep it simple.

I have two main guitars i mainly use through this amp, an ESP EC1000(with seymore duncons) and a 1992 Gibson Les Paul Studio. When i play with my ESP i wouldn't trade my amp for anything in the world, but however when i use my Gibson my marshall allways sounds like it has too much treble in it for me. And its not my settings because i have my Pressence at 0, my Bass at 8, my Mid at 7, and my Treble at 2. Its all in the guitar. The clean channel os also good but i lifted my pickups to get more gain so it messes with the sound but i love it.

My amp never messes up.

IDK i got mine off ebay

I have been playing about 2 years. I play in a Post Hardcore/ Screemo band and it works perfectly. If you want this to play metal well then, uh, look at like a mesa/boogie, not this amp. I like this amp alot but i want to see what a 5150 sounds like. Chyea Chyea.

I bought my jcm 2000 in 2005 using only a few pedals, compression, wah, eq and chorus. Am sooo glad i bought the 50 watt head as oppose to the 100 watt. I play in what i consider a loud rock band. i have never had it past 6. So god knows what a 100 watt head would sound like. It does'nt have a contour level like other marshall amps which is a shame as i miss it. Effects sends and recieves are handy for delays and booster pedals (although a little noisey) Its a basic amp.

FIRSTLY - This amp is only good for vintage rock - AC/DC, Hendrix, deep purple or Led Zep fans. You get classic marshall early rock and thats it. So dont buy it for your bedroom or metal band.

If you want distortion this baby only works at gigging volume otherwise the sound you get is really very poor. by gigging volume i mean 4.5 plus this is a marshall and its loud! the valves get better and better from 4.5 onwards. Bearing in mind pub landlords usually start twitching at 4.5 its not ideal for pubs and honestly much past 5.5 you will start twitching. There is a high gain setting but its extremely noisey so noisey that for me it became a problem so i never use it. tho you can get a controlled feedback which is nice think Foxy lady intro.

Clean: The clean sound is pretty good the amp does not need to be cranked up to get a descent sound far from it. At about 1 you can get great tones.

I always use the deep button and tone shift.

I had originally bought a second hand dsl 50 head. Rather stupidly. The reverb was not working but i thought i know some good engineers i'm sure it will not be a problem (thinking this amp had never left the bedroom)Big Mistake!! I had several amp electricians look at it and no one could solve the reverb problem. In the end i took it back to the kid and got my money back and bought a new head with the warranty. The new head has never let me down. Thats more then i can say for other marshall amps!! MG series (crap fans) & mono blocs beautiful but blow fuses not very reliable!
The new head has not been a problem.

never used it.

Good for classic rock and vintage rock sounds only. Not very versitle but then you dont buy these to sound like steve via or george benson! Dont buy unless you gig in a loud rock band or you will never use it and it wont work well for you. Its a basic amp with two sounds. If you are buying it to put a multi effects pedal infront of it shame on you! Go and buy a line6.

This amp is massively versatile. I would suggest extreme metal aint it thing, if you want huge bass chug look to a Mesa or Peavey 5150 or something, but this gives a great sound for everything from clean to heavy metal like Iron Maiden, and also hard rock like Guns n Roses, and this is where it unsurprisingly shines the most. 2 channels but each has a boost on (although it would be nice if this were footswitchable. This amp has plenty of power for me though, and, with my ts808 tube screamer, absoloutely sings!!!

This really is a great sounding amp, however, I will say, to me it sounds best with the standard Marshall 1960 with 75 watt celestions, I tried it through an engl vintage and it sounded fairly harsh when any treble over 2 was dialled in. With g12-75s though, it really does sound great especially for heavy rock. It doesnt quite have the tonal colour of, say, a cornford hellcat, or bad cat amp, but for the money I could not ask for more. People say that it doesnt sound quite as great as the jcm 800, and for heavy rock,but tbh you have to crank an 800 loads for it to acheive that great sound, and it will never be as versatile as this, and this really is a great rock sound in its own right!!! well worth buyin, and better than many other amps I have tried at this price!!!!

only had it a few weeks, nowt wrong so far. I aint had trouble with any of the other 4 marhsalls I have had so hope this is the same!

not had to deal with the company!!!

I have been playing four about 4-5 years, but am really into my gear. I have played many great amps, my favourite being the Cornford Hellcat, and while this amp is not quite a Hellcat, i really is a great amp, especially for the price. I would recommend the Marhsall 1960 cabs for this, They may not work well with some amps but it seems the dsl 50 was designed with it in mind. Definitely try one out and dont be put of by people telling you it isnt as good as a Mesa or Engl. Those amps cost a lot more and for, in my opinion, little gain. I play a schecter c1 blackjack and Tokai MIJ love rock through it , and both sing, but the Tokai is glorious, as was the SG I tried it out with in the shop. It seems that those who say Marshall's and Gibson's go together very are totaly right!

Amp purchased new in 2005. I tend to like simple front panels, so this was perfect. Two channels, two voicings for each plus additional tone controls. 50 watts is pleny of power, especially when coupled with a 4 x 12 cab.

Played with an American Telecaster and a Carvin SC90 (Neck through, fixed bridge, dual humbuckers). Perfect for Led Zeppelin, Foo Fighters, basically everything from classic rock to heavy metal. The head is a natural mate to the 1960 Vintage Series cabinets. I use a 1960AV, which makes for a perfect combination of deep bass and cutting midrange bark. The amp sounds awesome with the very little use of the tone controls. The clean channel is very warm which I tend to prefer over an overly bright/brittle sound.

First amp ordered failed in the store as I was trying it out. Appeared to be a failed tube. Marshall factory replaced the head the following day. No problems now. Seems to be well made. Fit and finish are excellent, head construction is plywood. The black, gold and white makes for a very attactive amp. Very nice overall.

Customer support in the UK is excellent. Have called the Marshall factory on several occassions and always had questions answered by a tech literally within minutes. Specifically I asked about converting the head to US voltage when I return to the states. They said to bring it in, it would cost about 20 pounds and I could tour the factory if I wanted while it was being done. Good people.

I've been playing 15+ years, and have more gear than I care to think about. My practice amp is a Traynor YCV 50 Blue, which is like this amp reduced to a portable size. Same pre-amp tubes, same power tubes, same Celestion Vintage 30 speaker. I bought this amp because after years of buying amps that claim to sound like Marshalls, I thought it was probably best to buy the real thing. No regrets and I'll never sell it.

This is just a slight re-cap here. Thought I'd write to share a few things seeing how I've had the amp for a few months now, minus one more for being in the shop.

This amp is a high gain amp and it has enough treble to rip your ears off. Even when using the Classic channel with the gain button engaged. One thing which helped out considerably was a Beam Blocker from Weber. This helps to dispurse the highs so they're not going straight at you. I would highly recommend trying these if you find the treble hard to control.
I've noticed how the bass differs between the two channels. The bass on the Classic channel can be a bit loose, where the bass on the Ultra channel is nice and tight. When using the Classic channel with the gain engaged I also use an OD pedal set very low. OD pedals have a tendancy to cut bass, and it really helped to tighten up the low end on the Classic channel.

Here's where things went a bit awry. One night while playing at home the amps volume went down by itself then back up. Down and then back up again. I turned the amp off for a while and checked a number of things out, including all of my cords as well as the connections inside my speaker cabinet. Turned it all back on and all for fine for the next hour.
While playing the next night the amp started to hum very, very loudly. I mean LOUD! The hum was'nt coming from the speaker but from the amp head itself. I turned the amp off and took it to a great amp tech that I know the following day. I've read that DSL's can be rather unpredictable and sometimes totally unreliable. With that in mind I told the tech to keep it until it's fixed. He called me up one month later and said dispite all efforts he could not get the amp to act up. He tried it out in 4, 8 and 16 ohm operation, ran effects thru the loop, checked the tubes, the bias, connections, checked this, checked that and in his words, "I ran the shit out of it. I mean, I pushed it hard and nothing. It works fine." Great. All I can say is hopefully it was just one of those things that won't happen again. As of now I'm just playing at home. I would have hated to have been at a gig when it started to act up on me.

I've never dealt directley with Marshall so I can't comment. Anytime I have an amp problem I always take it to the tech that I mentioned.

I'm not dissing Marshall here although it sounds like I am. And I have learned how to get some good sounds from my DSL 50. Some great sounds, actually. But of what I've read (and have experienced for myself) it sounds like the DSL's are a 50/50 proposition. I've read of people who've had nothing but repeated bad luck with them, and I've read of folks who've never had a problem after years of use. I've read of a lot of people complaining how Marshalls quality has taken a real dive by using the cheapest components these days in thier amps. So I guess you just take your chances and hope for the best. Should'nt be that way considering how much you pay for them these days. Hell, I paid $425.00 for my Peavey Classic 30 about 3 years ago and that little amp delivers everytime. Everytime.

Simple features, which was what I wanted. You have a clean sound and a distortion sound. Would be nice to have a lead boost.

I researched every head in the $500 - $1500 category I could find and I tried several of the heads in this price range. All other amps left me a little disappointed. The main thing I was looking for was an excellent distortion sound without any effects required. When I plugged into this head, I knew it was exactly what I was looking for. I play in a pro metal band with a loud drummer and bassist. Turning this thing up to 6 when running through a 4-12 cab, I can destroy them live. The distortion of this thing is absolutely brutal. I get a ton of compliments on my sound. FYI- I use a B52 cab. I compared it side by side with several Marshall cabs and I prefer the B52, and the price cannot be beat.

No problems yet. Marshall has a great rep so I am not worried.

No experience with them.

Marshall is legendary for a reason. I could have saved a few dollars but my sound would have been compromised and that was not acceptable to me. I highly recommend you check out this amp if you are looking for a head in this price range. I found nothing that was even close to as good.

2005 model jcm2000 Dsl 50 has 2 channels individual reverb for each channel. clean channel is bad its always distorted ecc83 preamp valves and el34 power amp valves. for a 50 watt its pretty loud

im using a epiphone g400 with seymour duncan invaders. ive had the dsl for about 8 months. the distortion is crap its pretty disapointing i expected a lot more from a marshall it had no balls
but some parts are ok. i play punk\hardcore and this amp is just totally wrong it would suit 70's and 80' rock good . the jcm900 hi gain amps are supposed to be better

built like a tank. i don't see it breaking down. but still i would
use a backup

Clean and distortion. Both channels share an eq....which sucks.

I was dissappointed. Distortion was ok, but not what you'd expect from the legendary Marshall name. Marshall isn't Marshall anymore.
They are catering to new music...Nu Metal. And this amp isn't even great for that. I played it live and it was just muddy. No balls, no meat. And the channel switching is AWFUL! You can hear like a gap in sound when you switch. How can Marshall do this and sell this for the price they do? Every amp repair guy I've talked to has stated that the new Marshalls are horrid. Cheaply made, sold expensive.
I sold this thing on ebay (I would have gladly traded this for a grilled cheese sandwich), and went back to my JCM800s (I have 4 of them). Those were the last good amps Marshall made. I also have a JMP 100w head. It is interesting to note that whereas I love the 800s, there are guys that grew up before me who dog the 800s as I dog the 2000s! Maybe it is a generation thing. Nah....the 2000s are still just plain hopeless.

Didn't have it long enough. I'm sure it would have broken down.

For some reason Marshall just won't admit that their older amps, the amps that gave them their legendary status, were better amps. They actually feel that the 2000 are the best amps they ever had.
I mean I asked why there is a sound gap when switching channels.
One guy actually said that it was just the way they were designed!
Is that a freaking answer? WHy would you design something like that. And every one of these in every store did this. From what i know, it is just bad/cheap relays. Thanks marshall.

So many amp companies used to try to emulate the Marshall sound. Now marshall is just trying to copy the Boogie Rectifiers (don't even get me started on them! I sold a Rectifier that I hated and replaced it with the 2000....another bad choice). I think it is ok maybe for kids that are just starting out, but then again, the price is ridiculous.

My amp is a 2005 JCM 2000 DSL 50 Head. Bought the DSL 50 because I do not need the extra Power of the DSL 100. Most folks know about the features of the DSL Heads: 2 channels, 2 modes per channel, individual reverb controls per channel, effects send and return, bootom boost and mid cut buttons, footswitch to change the channel. All tube preamp and all tube power amp...another "Marshall Classic". I run the head through a Marshall 1960A Slant Cab.

I added this amp to my rig with an A/B Switch for added tonal felxibility (now this is a Mesa/Peavey/Marshall rig). The two channel/four mode configuration of the DSL 50 is very nice, but it would be cool if Marshall added another button to the footswitch that would let you change modes from clean to crunch in channel one and from lead 1 to lead 2 gain in the lead channel. Other than that, the amp has what I need. The amp has more than enough power for me as I play in a home studio, recording, small clubs and small parties. All tube...tube is the only way to go if you can afford it.

I use a Fender American Deluxe FAT Strat, PRS Custom 24 and a Vintage Les Paul Custom through this amp and all of them sound great thorugh the Marshall...to my hear. I have not had the amp that long, so I'm still tweaking it to get the right mix between the three amp setup I use.

The DSL 50 suites my style well as I play everyhting from soft to hard rock...60's through 90's style. The overdrive tones are nice (maybe not as "sweet" as my Mesa. the Marshall is more "harsh", but I like it) and their is plenty of gain for my needs. Given my style of music (classic rock/soft-hard rock/some country), I do not care much for the mid-cut button, but I'm sure MetalHeads love that feature. For my needs, there are three things I like about this Marshall configuration:
1. I was suprised to find that I really like the clean sound you can get out of channel one. It's very pleasing to my ear...not as harsh as a small combo's clean tone.
2. The bottom boost does just wat it says; it boosts without making things muddy. So you cann really "feel" the music when you want to.
3. The combined sound I get when I use both the Mesa and the Marshall. All I can says is Overdrive Tube Heaven!

The amp is no more noisy than any other amp I have. And I would expect that MetalHeads could get all the overdrive grind they may want. If not, add a Marshall Powerbrake...if you can afford it.

The one complaint I have is that there is a slight delay (somewhat noticeable) when you change from channel one to channel two with the footswitch. not sure what is going on there (Marshall, are you listening?), but many other reveiwers have said the same thing.

To new to judge, so I'll hold off on making a judgement here. Given Marshall's reputation and the fact that they have been around since the 60's, I hope to have no probelms with it. I take good care of my gear, so if if I do have any problems, I hope Marshall steps up to the plate.

I am not sure I will lug this thing around for gigs. Small gigs, no way. But for a larger show, I would bring it. As stated, I have a three tube amp rig now...so I have a backup. I would never gig anywhere except a casual small party without a backup.

Have not had to deal with them yet. I can say that I did try to use their website to get a question answered and their website did not work at all (Marshall, are you listening?)

I'm 45 and have I've been playing guitar (and other instruments) for over 40 years now. I played on a professional basis earlier in life, recorded (2 albums, several singles, etc.) toured, blah blah, but gave up the professional musician career many years ago. Consequently, I own or have owned too much gear over the years to list. Now I just play in a band for fun and I'm constantly searching for the ultimate tone and flexibility in my guitar rig (I guess I'm a gearhead). I own other Marshall stuff and knew what I was getting when I bought this...the Marshall Tube Head/Half Stack Sound...most love it, some hate it, but to most folks, Marshall is the most recognized name and sound in rock music.

I did comapre this to other products (Mesa, Peavey, other Marshall, etc.) but decided to add this to my mix because of the Marshall Sound.

If it were lost or stolen, I hope my insurance company would replace it.

Bottom line, if you like the Marshall all tube/half stack sound, this might be the most flexible and best Marshall ever. It's not a modeling amp...it's a flexible two channel. But do you want to play guitar through a REAL Tube Classic Marshall...or a computer simulation of one? I love it.

This is my first Marshall! How MANLY!!! Bought the amp brand new in late September, 2005. You know the features by now: two channels each with an extra mode, one set of EQ's for each channel to share. Effects loop that works pretty good and each channel has it's own reverb and a pretty nice reverb at that. Might be nice if each channel had it's own set of EQ's but then that might make a mess of things, maybe not. But for my needs and the way I use this amp it works fine. Great, really. I bought this amp for a few differant reasons. Ive always loved the Marshall sound but tried to get that sound "on the cheap" with OD/distortion pedals. Bought some nice pedals but they always left me with the feeling that something was seriously missing. Seems like all pedals have that fuzz (to some degree or another)that permiats the entire sound. What I wanted was that underlying crunch with that crisp top end and while some pedals may be close none are quite there yet. When I bought my last pedal in June of this year I swore it would be my last if it did'nt meet my expectations. It did'nt. Enter the DSL 50. They got pretty good reviews and the price was within reach compared to some other Marshalls. Two weeks after owning my DSL I took out some of my pedals. UGH!!! Can't believe how they all sound like cheap toys to me now. Hey if you want chocolate you buy chocolate, right?

Okay, I'll admit that at first I had my doubts about this amp. When I first tried it out at the music store it seemed to be very treble sensative to me. But I reminded myself that it's a whole new thing and that I just was'nt use to it yet. Besides, I had 10 days to try it out and if I did'nt like it there would be no questions asked. So I got it home and plugged it into a 1X12 cabinet I have with an Eminence Legend V12. (16 ohm operation). Again, even with the treble on 2 it was enough to rip your ears off. Same thing with the mids. Any higher than 3 was total overkill (with the treble on 0) and when you added treble...OWWWWWWWW!!!!! I even tried the bass boost on with the mid scoop swithch engaged and while it helped it still seemed a bit much. Hmmmmm, what to do here?
I finally hooked my Boss GE-7 EQ into the loop and tapered the far right sliders downwards and I'll tell ya, that did the trick! Now I can fine tune the tone using the treble and mid controls because I took all of the "shrill" out with the EQ. The tone is now much, much warmer and more workable.
I found that I prefer using the Ultra channel, but not with the mode switch engaged. I've learned to get a pretty good tone going that has the qualities I was looking for. Like I mentioned, that warm underlying crunch with that crisp top end. Not that damn pedal fuzziness on every frequency. It's a great rock tone that shouts Marshall that I can use for just about anything.
I can't compare this amp with other Marshalls because not only is this my first one but it's really the only Marshall that I've played thru at any great length. Of what I can tell from recordings I've heard throughout the years it's not that "Plexi" type of sound but it's still a very good, very workable sound.
The one bad thing is that clean channel (used clean or with the Classic Crunch engaged) does'nt even up with the Ultra channel. The Clean channel in either mode is much more bass heavy than the Ultra channel and when you switch from one channel to the other the bass response does'nt even out at all. The bass on the clean channel almost seems kinda flubby while the bass response on the Ultra channel is nice and tight. But like I mentioned I prefer the Ultra channel anyway. So far the guitar that seems to sound the best to me is my Peavey Wolfgang Special that has a Dimarzio Air Zone in the bridge position. Just seems to hit the spot perfectley.
I found a way to use the clean channel to my liking with my Rickenbacker 330. I plug the Ric into a Line6 AM4 amp modeler that's set to the Tweed 4X10 setting and use the Line6's tone controls to shape the sound and it works pretty damn good! Gives me a great, workable clean sound.
So my setup is: Wolfgang into the 'A' side of my A/B box.
Ric into the Line6, into the 'B' side of my A/B box.
Line out from A/B box into the Marshalls input.
The EQ on the Marshall is set to use for the Ultra Channel. I use the remote switch that came with the amp to switch from the Ultra to the Clean channel, then I use the Ric thru the Line6 for my clean sounds. Other than the EQ in the loop the only other pedal I use is a Boss DD-3 delay pedal which is also in the loop. For me it all works pretty damn good, too.

Hmmm. I've read the good, the bad and the ugly about this amp and not just on this forun either. No guts no glory, right? It's an imperfect world we live in and there's no guarantees that it's all going to go exactley to our liking. I sure hope the amp does'nt act up on me but if it does I know of a great tech that I can take it to. so I'm not too worried about that.

Same thing. I've read good and bad. So I'll rate this a 5 based on "we'll see."

I'm an older guy (52) and in my younger days use to be a full time bass player. Put down the bass in favor of guitar in 1996. I'm primarily an at home player and progress has been slow due to heavy work hours. (5 night's a week at 12 hours a night=60 hours. But I'm starting to learn how to make a pretty decent noise! My son is grown up and out of the house and I'm divorced and single. So I gotta have something to do, right? I've been working on original material with some other players lately and the DSL 50 has been working out great! Even though I'm older I'm in no way "mellowing out" when it comes to music. I know what I like and I know what I like to hear and I can now finally hear it the way I've been wanting with the Marshall DSL 50.
In researching this amp I came across a lot of guys who really dissed this amp. Maybe some of them had good reason. But then a lot of them are just downright snobs when it comes to certain things. Some are of the type where if you don't have a point-to-point hand-WIRED amp you're not welcome in our little click!! I'll bet that half of them can't even play! You know the type. Ton's of vintage gear, huge stacks behind them to make up for their small.....well, nevermind!
In my very humble opinion this is a great sounding Marshall. I found out that once I took a bit of time to figure this amp out I was able to tame the beast in a way that worked for me. Finally, finally I can now get rid of all of those damn pedals that I've collected throughout the years and play the way I've been wanting to which is guitar, cord and amp! No regrets with my DSL 50. And Jeff Beck uses them too!

Bought it used. It looks brand new, guess it can be 3-5 yrs old. I play metal and classic heavy and it works great for both styles.
It`s got two channels divided in two modes: Classic/Crunch and Ultra gain lead 1 & 2. The other guitarplayer in my band`s got a Marshall JCM 800, 50w and the crunch channel on mine reacts the same way (conserning heavy it might not cover your needs for a 800 if you`re doing something else). It`s got tons of distortion and I`m all set with lead 1 on about 8 on gain and 3-4 on volum, flat eq.
It`s got an fx loop by I haven`t used it.
I wish it had two separate fotswitchable volumsetings for each channel to boost leads. It`s got some eq-colouring knobs which I could`ve done without. Maybe I`ll need `em in the future, who knows...
I`ve played everything from pubs to 1300 venues and 50 watts is all you`ll ever need!
It`ll cost you less to repair/overhaul since it`s only got 2 powertubes.
I sold my Marshall rack setup JMP1 + EL34 to buy this and I`ll never regret it!

I`ve a guitar maniac and use it with several guitars and pickups. Flying V with T500 sounds best I think. Also play with EMG 81/85 which also works fine.
If an amp snare the distorion I need I won`t trust it if it doesn`t hum a little so the noise is ok. I`ve read reviews of it were it says that it quiet on dist settings, I don`t agree, but it`s no problem.
The clean channel is a bit "thin" i think, a little reverb helps. Crunch channel breaks up in a nice overdrive and the lead channels `ve gor tons of dist.

If it breaks down in a consert I`ll find some solution. I live in Norway and bought it used from US. So it`s been "on the road" already. I trust it. If I were to buy a backup amp I guess I would just buy another one just like it.

Mailed Marshall and asked if the amp could be modyfied from 110 volts to 220. They gave quick feedback and Marshall makes just one trafo and it can easily be rewired. It cost me approx 50-60$.
The radio guy had never done something like this so he wouldn`t give any warranty tough.

It looks way better on stage than the old rack!
My band if you like: www.MindGrinder.com

This is your basic rock amp with basic rock amp features. I don't even know why they bothered with the clean channel. I, personally, never use it as I think it sounds somewhat "fake," for lack of a better term.

The distortion channel sounds great if you set it up correctly and can play well. I keep my treble low because I feel that Marshalls are quite brite, and my bass low because it makes my band's mix sound far less muddy.

My settings are approtimately: Presence-0, Treble-3, Mid-2-4, and bass-3. I use OD1 w/o Deep or Mid Shift selected, and gain is set at a little less than half. If you can't make a DSL 50 sound good with these setting (change tubes to JJs also) then it's probably because you're not a very good guitar player or have selected the wrong amp for your style. Everyone from Metal School to Jane's Addiction is using these, and they sound GREAT live.

I blew a transformer because I tried to set the bias myself. If you take care of this amp and have it check out by a tech occasionaly, you should have no trouble.

I'm a big fan of this amp. For the price ($650 used), I don't think I could have done much better.

I've owned a few other amps including a JCM 800 and a Mesa Boogie Nomad 100. The JCM 800 sounds a little better in optimal circumstances (which rarely occur) and the Nomad 100 was good at everything, but great at nothing.

I go see bands play quite often, and I often feel that many players would sound better with the JCM 2000 compared to many more expensive amps. (Especially Boogies, which usually sound like pure mud in a mix.

this thing is only 50 watts of tube power but thats enough to bust a couple skulls. alot of people have the problem with the volume drop going from clean to gain, this is because the tubes arent being driven to hard on the clean and they need time to catch up with how hard there being driven.

the distortion on this is brutal and as i have said before, enough to bust some skulls.i use double humbuckers from my les paul and flying v, no whimpy single coils. i like metal and stuff and this is the perfect amp for that.

ive had this for only about 5-6 months and when i got it, it was used but in very good condition and the store put new tubes in before i got it. i have never neglected this thing, it sits covered with a marshall cover. this thing is very rugged and you can gig with it, just look at anybody's rig and you'll see marshall's everywhere.

there is marshall dealers everywhere for service and such and the marshall has lots of help on there website.

i own a marshall 4x12 and 4x10 and a marshall 8200 valvestate head. i never even considered any other amp but marshall, because marshall rules.

Made sometime in the early 2000s I think. 50 watts of tube power, which is enough to drive a full stack easily. It's got two channels that share an EQ, plus seperate reverb and gain controls. It can carry a 4, 8 or 16 ohm load. It's a fairly simple, but versatile head.

Like most Marshall, it has nice clear cleans, and crisp dirty distortion. I personally pretty much never play clean (only heavy hardcore/punk/metal). I play with a Boss OD/Distortion, Boss EQ, and Digitech effects pedal (basically just as a noise gate though) in front of the clean channel with the gain up half way. It's all the distortion I'd ever need. I can play anything from Black Flag to Slayer and it sounds perfect. At high volumes it sounds phenomenal once the tubes get cooking, especially through a full stack. With this head you can easily get a clear rock tone or a quick metal tone with pretty much no effort.

When I bought this, there was one problem with it. When switching from the clean to gain channel, I get a quick half a second drop in volume before it fades into full volume. It's really small, but it's definitely enough to notice. I never get the same problem going from gain to clean, but it's always been like that (ANYONE WHO HAS SEEN THIS BEFORE, EMAIL WITH SOME FIX IT TIPS, PLEASE!). So, that's the main reason I just stick to the clean channel, because I like molding my sound with pedals anyway. Other than that, it's held up just fine. I transport it at least once a week without a protective case, so the tubes do get rocked around a bit, but when I flip it on it never hestitates to reign brutality upon my ass.

Had difficulty tracking down a customer service number to ask them about my volume drop problem (ANY HELP IS ALSO APPRECIATED - EMAIL ME!). Maybe I'll modify my review when I get a hold of them.

It's a great head if you want something straight forward, or a mainly clean slate to put lots of effects in front of. If it were stolen, I would probably pick up another one. I've always loved Marshalls for their versatility and unique distorted sound. Basically the only thing I don't like about it is that pesky volume drop, but I'm sure that's the fault of the previous owner, since I did get it used.

Bought it second hand in 2004, the amp and speaker cabinet cost 10.000 SEK together. Year of manufacture 1999. The features have been well explained elsewhere so I don't need to go into any detail.

There are two ways of looking at this amp:

(1) There is very little that is switchable: channel and reverb, the rest have to be done by hand. You could look at this being limiting..

(2) On the other hand there are numerous ways of setting up your sound, once you've got it.. its a dream.

I previously owned a VOX AVT120W - the digital modelling thing. I found out that in the end I spent more time tweaking it, going from one setting to the other without actually playing anything! Very frustrating. NOW I've got my sound its just a question of plug in and play.

Summing up it is a very versitile amp to get your "sound", the rest is in your fingers: As Zappa said - "Shut up and play guitar"

I've got two Amercian Series Vintage Strats (a '57 and a '62) plus a Gibson LP standard. Effects wise I use a Marshall Governer to load the pre-amp and a Marshall Supervibe and VOX Wah Wah. I've also a THD HOTPLATE to tame the beast. I play through a Marhall 4x12 with the 70W vintage speakers. Thats it.

The rest up to the amp and my figures.

The clean channel is used in crunch mode, I get nice Hendrix sounds from this, backing off the volume on Strats cleans it up very nicely. Doing this on my LP gives me a nice Zeppelin sound.

The lead channel is used the Lead 1 mode. This gives more than enough distortion for classic rock. Blackmore sounds are not impossible here. Again using volume control on your guitar works wonders.

Kicking in the Govener boost pedal really gets both channels to rock! Its a question of loading the pre-amp to get it working. The THD hotplate allows me to set the power amp halfway. The result is supurb.

For me its a 10! I can to cover most styles. Enough said.

I have had no problems. Its 6 years old now, so what more can I say.

Haven't used it.

Its all in your fingures. Set up your sound and play. This is for the serious musician who knows what he wants, you dial in your sound and go for it! I haven't touched the tone controls for weeks!

2002 model, all tube, 2 channels, 2 modes per channel, one row of knobs, effects loop, reverb, mid scoop and bass boost.

Let me start by saying that if you cannot get a good sound from this then it's not the amps problem: You need to look at what you are doing instead. I play an LP Standard, a Washburn Idol 68, and an LP Custom through this and they all sound amazing. I play alot of hard rock and metal and this amp is just about perfect. It is based on a 59 SLP and a JCM 800. Before you say anything, shut up because NO this will not sound exactly like the amps, but it comes very close without the need for digital modeling. This amp is probably the most versatile thing I've played through. The Classic channel clean setting is amazingly responsive when cranked (the way a good tube amp should) and the crunch setting plays really well with a TS9 in front of it. On the Ultra setting, I can very easily get 800 and 900 type tones, like I said, not perfect, but good enough. Let's put it this way, if you wanted a 1959 Super Lead or a JCM 800 2203, you shoulda bought one. If you want a great Marshall with a vast array of tones, get this.

It's a Marshall, what more can I say?

Don't know

It's a great, no bull amp. I've played and owned just about every Marshall amp head, and this one is up there with the rest of them. Give them about 5 more years and people will be killing each other to own one.

I bought this amp in november 2004.

you know what its got by now lol

at the moment i am mainly using a gibson sg, and a epiphone les apul.

when i first bought the amp head, it sounded a bit harsh, but to fix this problem i bought 2 vintage 30s and 2 class lead 80s) i put the vintage 30s in the bottem because they have tight bass and lots of mids,
i then placed the class lead 80s on the top these speakers are great for the high end....

i also bought 4 high gain jj pre amp tubes, this made a very big difference took away the harsh high end and made it smoother,
i also put 2 jj e34l power tubes in and biased them at 39mv i found if i put it at the 45mv that marshall says, it was to muddy, and any lower than 37 was to thin, at this setting omg the sound is perfect.

ok after all that i now have the perfect amp head for me, its dirty, smooth, soft, harsh, heavy, fat bass or soft bass, it does it all,

i liked the first strum with this amp head thats why i worked with it, before this i bought a mesa boogie single recto but hated the first sound so i didnt waste my time tryin 2 like it,

clean- i find this to be good, can get some great blues,jazz sounds from this, or crank the gain and get that 60s bite,
crunch, well i love this alot, very fun to mess aorund with and put a overdrive pedal in front and boom its heavy metall all the way,

lead 1- this is kinda like what you get with the overdrive pedal in crunch mode but i feel its not as powerfull

lead-2 i use this live it cuts the mix very well, is very fat sounding, i eq it so this sounds smooth and fat and when i use the clean i simply roll my neck pickup bk and select the clean chanel and its perfect.

im giving this a 8 because i had to change speakers and tubes to love it but i did, and i love it

well i havent had any problems with it yet so fingers crossed.

i know 3 ppl who have owned 1 for over 3 years and neve rhad problems, one my them (mike) hasnt changed tubes and it still sounds great lol

well i must say after owning alot of marshalls, about 5 ive never dealt with them lol...

well i must say it doesnt cost alot about #1000 cheaper than the mesa boogie single recto and i love it about 1000 more, (thats for me tho) the reason i bought the mesa is because i liked how it sounded on cds but i couldnt feel it when i was playin,

overall i love this amp, i feel like a little kid when i turn it on and wait for it to warm up.

its like every thing in the world some ppl will gibve a 1 some will give a 10, all i can say is take these reviews with a pintch of salt and try it out ya self

50 watts EL34 powered amp. Awash with useless and pointless features such as tone shift and deep switch , or make that tone robber and one note bass. Its plenty loud indeed but I feel its a one trick pony , versatile ............no.

I used it with my 01 R9 Les Paul thinking it would be excellent....a mistake !! Ive now gotten into real amplification i.e Cornford and the Marshall DSL 50 is just a bad memory. The DSL50 is thin sounding , Classic Channel is passable, Ultra Lead 1 is weedy and Ultra Lead 2 is an illdefined soggy bass heavy mess. Tone controls aint versatile and i found the qmp pretty underwhelming. It is a mass produced low to mid market amp trying to convince buyers its a pro one, well...........it sure as heck aint pro, not by a long long way. For nu metal or stuff like that, why not , for passionate music, forget it.

11 hours use and it sufferred a major malfuntion. you read it right .......11 hours. Marshall 2005 = cheap parts, cheap amps, cheap tones , unreliable amps you can rely upon to let you down. Buy a Cornford, Buy a REAL amp. Marshall should be ashamed filling shops with junk like DSL, TSL, AVT , JCM900, Mode 4 ,real amp building in terms of marshall ceased in 1984.

dont even go there.they couldnt give a rats ass about anything other than your money.

playing for 23 yrs. i rejected my pile of junk 11 hrs old DSL50 that sufferred BIG TIME clap out . Disposable amps made with Disposable parts by folks who couldnt care less. Companies like Cornford, THD , Soldano , THEY know how to make amps , Marshall aint had a clue since 1984. DSL = Junk ................avoid.

Read other columns for more. 2 Channels with verb.

Clean channel is very clean and the highs are a little piercing. I play this through a 2X12 V30 closed back cab.. I find the clean channel works best for reggae. As a matter of fact, it does clean reggae better than any other amp I've used. I can only play a few reggae tunes a night so this doesn't work live.

The dirty channel is quite nasty in a nice way. I tend to be able to use less tecnhique with this amp than others. Smear licks work great and it's very easy to do great SRV and Hendrix tones. This amp goes nowhere near Santana type tone and jazz is not a stregth on either channel.

You've got clean that's ok for ballads and reggae, maybe even some dry funk (then again, the tone doesn't inspire funky double and triple stops). Highs and lows with no mids so bad live as mids is what my band needs as I'm the lone guitarist. This amp doesn't sound near big or warm enough to use live. I've played about five gigs with it and a Fender 2X12 but it was a hassle and the tone never felt comfy. The lead channel is super fun in a good transistor amp kind of way. Great for impressing people with your fancy chops if that's what you want. The tone will NOT impress the girls however!!

Can't use this amp for covering mutliple styles. I used it as a distortion box in my studio and then sold it. It was superb with a '52 tele ReIssue. Fine with hums or single coils. Overall the amp is bright or maybe harsh would be better. It's just ok. I must admit however that the amp is fun for wild ass solos. You'll impress yourself. You'd think that would be enough....well it's not. No warmth, depth or flexibility. Kazoo like sounding...slop sounds cool.

I used this once in a trio gig w/o my trusty key player and it was quite fun. I had a great rhy section that night so I could really ride the waves of dirt. The amp does not belnd well with keyboards or horns. This is all just my opinion as you may love this amp. I would use it again for a trio gig although I own much better amps.

I only put about 100 hours on it and no problems.

I didn't like this amp much and really never trusted it. Seems a little cheap.

The tone is not reliably inspirational unless you're really loaded and want to play acid rock with a power trio. Strat, wah, univibe, delay and your off.

Very few people will pay you for that.

I got this mail order and had no problems.

This amp is fun but really lacks any real beauty in it's tone. Try to play the lines from any Santana tune and you'll see it's not useable as in it's really bad. I've even played those lines through a tele and any other amp and it worked. I could play every tune in my ten sets with it if I had to. I much prefer either a Fender, Boogie or Vox type tone. THIS Marshall was a bummer for me.Channel One no mids in the clean which is great for reggae skronk but who really likes that tone?? The lead is great for anything like Moore, Hendrix, SRV etc. but it never really makes magic. Tone settings are typical Marshall. The distortion may make you sound good but the audience can't hear notes distinctly which is why you might sound better than you are. I like warmth in tone and found this amp less useable than others I've owned. I've owned several and currently like the Boogie Lone Star. This amp would be good for blowing over techno grooves and shit like that I think. Playing the dirty channel is VERY self indulgent.......I think that's a bad thing. Definitely a goof jerk off guitar....

A two channel amp will never have a huge number of features. I'm coming from owning a ADA MP-2, which had way too many options. Now I'm not sure if I have enough. May pick up a separate preamp for a few more options. Most guitarists can get away with one or two channels. Some can't live without dozens (modeling, racks, been there for both). I think once i have about 4 channels to choose from I should be completely happy. But, still, two channels and they share EQ (which sucks) so I gotta give it a 5.

I got Sovtek power tubes and electro harmonix preamp tubes in it right now, by the way.

I'm really liking the high gain sounds of this thing. I think that's where it excels. I'm using a very dark sounding 4x12 with Celestion G12-75t speakers in it.

I don't play death metal, so maybe it doesnt have enough gain for that. I play mostly rock with lots of power chords and solos and some atmospheric stuff just for fun. You can fake a good alternative/atmospheric/shoegaze sound with TONS of reverb and stuff, but thats not its strong point. It gets pretty brutal, I like the second channel. I would say this is primarily just a regular rocker's amp. I find that the crunch sound isn't really as nice. It's cool, but its by no means a JCM 800. I'm completely happy keeping it high gain. In fact, I have the gain around 6 and its still more than enough for me.

You'll never be able to 100% compromise with a shared EQ. I've found something I like: mids up around 9, bass around 6, treble around 3 or 4. Honestly, the amp (like a lot of Marshalls) has kind of a harsh treble. Playing on the high strings on the clean channel, pick lightly or take down your tone knob or you're gonna hurt your friends', bands' and your own ears. Icepick, unfortunately. A separate EQ and a bunch of reverb works nicely with it, but its by no means a great clean channel. Stays pretty clean at high volumes, can crunch up if you attack the strings. But, really just not the most pleasant clean i've heard.

It's a pretty bright amp, so thankfully I have such a dark cab. On all the other amps I've owned I've had the treble almost cranked or close to it. On the DSL 50 i've had it on 0 and it still sounded alright. I found around 4 its just about perfect. Again, another compromise, you get a little more definition with the treble cranked, but to my ears it doesnt sound as nice. I'm gonna have to pick up a boost pedal to compromise.

Like any high gain amp, yeah, noise can be a problem. Get a nice noise gate and you should be fine. It's not anything horrible. I've played a tele through it and didnt have too much of a problem.

Being honest, of course there are nicer sounding amps. This is a great sounding amp for the price I paid. A Super Reverb or AC-30 or some Mesas will have a better clean. The drive channel is great for pretty high gain stuff. I'm sure some Mesa's, Diezel, Bogner, Soldano, Hughes/Kettner, etc would do it better. It's by no means the last amp I'll buy, its not the "be all, end all" tone. It's just a very good gigging amp for working class rockers.

I was having some issues early on with the sound cutting out. Thought it was the amp and got pissed. Realized it was just shitty cables. Silly me. So far so good. I've had it for about a month now. Can't really guage it yet. Maybe I'll report back after I go on tour, but, probably not.

I don't forsee it being a piece of crap.

Like with any tube amp, you're gonna have to replace tubes, just how it is. I could use a case for it. Hearing the tubes bounce around when its sitting in the back of my car isnt too fun.

I don't deal with them. But the guy I bought it from is very nice. If i needed help repairing I'd probably go back to the same guy or bring it to any store that sells Marshalls. Shouldn't be too hard.

I wouldn't have paid any more for it than I did. I got a very nice deal on it from a friend of a friend.

It could be better. Could have 2 more channels. A nicer clean, a better breakup/crunch sound. Could clean up a little better with the volume knob on the guitar.

That said, could be a lot worse. It's got a great high gain sound. I'm sure with a line of EQ pedals you can make it do just about anything you want. Not very handy, but its a two channel amp, what do you expect?

Obviously as I said, wont be the last amp I ever buy. I may buy another 2 channel amp or a separate preamp to use in conjunction with the sound of this amp. Maybe try the clean channel as a crunch in that case (which sounds a bit better than using the crunch on the high gain channel).

Definitely a nice amp to check out if you can get it pretty cheap and dont need a ton of flexibility. Nice for the working class rockers out there.

They're stated many times before, but I'll repeat anyway: 50 watt all-tube head: 2 EL34s, 4 12AX7s. Two channels each with two modes, so four voicings total. Reverb control for both channels. Shared EQ - presence, treble, mid, bass. Mid countour button, Deep Switch button - one scoops the mids, the other adds lots of bass without muddying. Each channel has volume and gain. It's all pretty simple.

This is, of course, a Marshall - and thus has "that Marshall sound." The four voicings are all very different. The clean/clean is the typical Marshall clean channel - not meant for clean at all, that is. The Marshall clean sound is VERY ripe - it sounds at all times like it wants to distort, like it's right on the edge of doing so. Being this way, it's muddy and not glassy like a Fender. That's ok - who is looking for a JCM2000 to sound like a Deluxe Twin Reverb anyway? For what it does, it's actually very good. Turn the gain up and max out the volume and it reproduces a Plexi fairly accurately, while giving it's own sort of inflection to it... staying faithful to the old while advancing a little ways. It shouldn't be used to replace a Plexi by any means, but it's a good way to approach the sound.

The clean/crunch combination is a great one. It sounds almost exactly like a vintage JCM800 2203, which is a good thing. It has a wonderful thickness and richness to it, and the crunch is both solid and pliable - it reacts well to player input, unlike some other major-name amps I've played through, where dynamics didn't really seem to matter. Turn the gain all the way up and you've got some fantastic sounds churning out of this thing.

The ultra gain channel's Lead 1 voice is a favorite. It's what distinguishes the JCM2000 as "not the 900" and "not the 800." That is, it's a very new sound while remaing The Marshall Sound. It's still heavy, full of gain, but still has the Marshall crunch that players everywhere always want... it also has an incredible about of definition. The inbetween settings on a Fender Strat actually come through on this channel despite the huge gain available. Very supple, which is impressive.

The Lead 2 voice has massive amounts of gain involved, and some of the longest sustain I've ever encountered. It's even richer and thicker than Lead 1, but at a trade off of some definition and some clarity.

All four voicings respond very well to EQing... I like having treble and presence dialed in prominantly with mids and bass also at about two o'clock. I tend not to use the Bass switch or the Mid Cut switch... but if needed, I'll use the Bass one in certain situations. I don't ever use the "mid cut" sound, so that one is only for guests to use, or in that rare Slayer mood.

Reverb is surprising. It goes from subtle (2-3 on the dial) to mega-surfer/80s-B-movie superlush (9-10). There is lots of variance. It's not Fender reverb, which is justly huge and spacious while retaining full tone and impact... but it is actually very useful and good sounding.

Amazingly, this amp is dead quiet, even with single coils on the highest gain settings. Cemetary quiet. Library quiet. Until you hit the strings, you would hardly know it was on.

No problems so far.

This amp represents everything that is good about Marshall - faithful to the old sounds while carving out new sounds, all in the same great amp. Great rock tube tone, which is the bottom line.

2000/2001 model. 2-channel EL34 powered amp.

I mainly use humbuckers ('59 Duncans) in the bridge on my Teles and Strats. I play originals in a Classic Rock/Punk/AC/DC/Thin Lizzy/Social Distortion-inspired band. A great amp for the money, however nothing is perfect. I've owned and played through many Marshalls -- it is the best sounding amp I've had the pleasure of playing through. The only thing better might be a Plexi cranked up, but for those of us who actually play clubs (unlike many of the reviewers) you know this is impractical. I stay with the clean channel most of the time (crunch setting) -- this gives a great Young & Young tone. I do agree that channel 2 is a too thin, it could definitely benefit from a second EQ. If I want a little more gain I use a TS-9 in conjuction with channel 1. I will mention that channel 2 does work good for leads as you can really boost the output of the amp (most people running sound could give a shit less to boost the leads for a guitarist -- DO IT YOURSELF!) In my opinion if your switching between channels, channel 2 is really only usable as a lead boost -- its a little rough around the edges in most settings. The main point I will mention is that in order to really make this amp usable you need to run an external EQ (most amps can benefit from this as well.)

This Marshall has been very reliable. Its played outdoor festivals, smokey clubs, and has endured many, many, many drunken loadings into a beat up Econoline. It lives in Wisconsin and has endured some rough winters riding around between shows. It works. I can't say that about all Marshalls, but if you want a Marshall dependability is not always a given. My other Marshalls have not been as reliable as this one.

Never dealt directly with Marshall

I've owned numerous JCMs and JTMs and would definetely rank this the best for my style of music. Very versatile -- take some time adjusting the tone controls and ADD AN EQ PEDAL TO YOUR CHAIN!!! Wish it had a separate EQ for each channel. A very dynamic amp/responsive -- cleans up well by varying picking style/rolling back guitar volume knob.

tube amps are great but very old technology. I bought the line 6 spider II new amp and it's Ok for what it does until I found the tube tone. the tonebone hot british distortion box. here's the trick and this turned my new spider II amp into a marshall tube amp. I use the spider with no digital over-drive (raw) and the TOne bone hot british dist pedal. wa-la...it's all there tube tone . quite amazing and all I have to mantain is one tube in this product . probably comes with a cheap chinese tube so when this oges I'll get a good tubethat I've resarched already. the effect is a little pricy but look at the what you get, tube tone easy maintence (one tube). it's as close as you're going to get . there are a few tube dist pedals out there but this is the best . I hve no use for other pedals, mxr dist +, mxr 10 band EQ, selling them both as the tone bone has 6 knobs and switches to get EQ.

great but the maintenance it horrible. stick to one tube. so easy

as reliable as one tube can be

good but their are better things out there nowadays.

I have had this amp for about five years, so I think I know it's every strength and weakness, at least when it comes to overdriven tones. I play mostly the Ultra 1 channel.

I own lots of other Marshall amps: Silver Jubilee 2550 (1987), JCM 800 2205 (1988), JMP 2203 (1977), JCM 800 2203X Reissue, 50W Super Lead Reissue 1987X (from 1991), TSL 60W combo, and a 100W DSL. I have one slanted cabinet with Celestion 30H reissue speakers (not Vintage 30, I used to haved those but have replaced them) and another straight front with Greenback reissues.

I have recently done some comparisons of my 50W amps. The 50 Watters sound better through the cab with the 30H speakers, whereas the 100W speakers seem to sound better through the Greenbacks. I was comparing the high-gain tones, so the 1987X stayed out of this comparison because it is a totally different animal (it requires at least volume on 6 to sound good and for high gain tones it sounds best with a treble booster through the "normal" low sensitivity input).

I was quite surpised that I kept coming back to the DSL 50, over the Silver Jubilee and the 2205. The only complaint to the DSL may be that it has some extra "fizz/buzz" that the other two don't but in the overall tone and sensitivity it seems to come ahead. I did my comparisons with a 1975 Flying V. I am a Schenker nut and was trying hard to get to like the 2205 better. Now, let me be clear, the Jubilee and the 2205 sound great too but I liked the DSL better. I should point out that, after five years, I have figured out a setup with a very low (or zero) setting on the presence knob which sounds great with how I play.

People know how good the Jubilee and the 2205 are but I don't think everyone who bought the DSL realizes how great an amp it is. There were times in the past five years when I didn't like it either but it was probably because of trying to use different guitars with the same knob settings or not using the best speakers.

Al lower volume my DSL 50 sounds better to me than my DSL 100. At higher volumes the 100 Watter may sound better.

I also like my two 2203 amps a lot. They are totally different animals than the high gain 50 Watters. I have found a few treble booster and overdrive pedals that work great with them. But I would say that it is only at high volume that they sound better than the DSL 50.

I am glad I have been patient with this amp for five years and haven't sold it.

1996 JCM 2000,arrived with incompatible power tubes installed by previous owner, so would make weird whistles for about ten minutes, retubed all, now it's very useable, covers a lot of various styles, I do country to metal, people complain that you can't foot swith between clean and classic overdrive, properly tubed the amp becomes reactive enough that you can use your volume knob to clean up overdrive to get a warm clean with a little edge, I'm right fond of onboard reverb , and the ultra gain channel can be very fat, loads of harmonics, it's true that the shared EQ is not so good , needs tweaked between regular and crunch channels. Mid scoop sorta works, deep works but reEQ again or you'll be muddy.

I use lots of guitars thru this amp, built a V set it up like a hb bridge stat,Dimebag @ bridge,Reflex actives @ mdl and neck, Jackson locking trem) another set up like a Tele(tele hot stack br.,hot stack midl,lil '59 neck), Jackson DK2s Jb hb brdg, Duncan dsign single mdl, sustaniac nk, Epi dot,3 duncan lip sticks wired to any combos are in series, Gibson Les Paul,'59 brg, Slash nk, Stieny Spirit(before it broke) JB hb brg,hot stack mdl, jazz hb nk,Ibanez Destroyer,pearly gates hb brg,chandler rail sc mdle, chandler hb nk Sears Maya LP clone loaded w/ 3 P90's,bridge is duncan stack, mdlr p3, nk Gibson, it works great with 'em all, of course tweek EQ when switching guitars but really that's any amp. I don't notice any xcess noise out of this amp, clean is too clean, but roll vol. off on crunch and warm edgy clean is rite there, can get really metal on ultra channel especially with Dimebag hb, controllable feedback on tap, but this is a Marshaall, it only sounds good turned up no matter what you're playing. Played it outdoors at a good sized show and still had vol to spare, unusable in a small room but most 50 watters are. You can get ultra gain plumb rude. You can do country to metal with this amp.

This amp sucked as received, but was bought used and previous owner had installed incompatibe power tubes. These amps must have low efficiency power tubes in them, that's what they were designed for and there simply is no way to get GT E34LS's or Electro harmonics hot rod el34's to work properly. Good choices are GT R's and GT new 6CA7 power tubes, these work perfectly and you can go from British to early EVH tones without rebiasing if you buy tubes with the same GT# no problemo. Amp hates all PR devices, I've tried GT, THD, and Tone Bones and it hates them all, you have to keep big bottles innit.The preamp wants a different phase inverter tube than stock and also a GT Mullard innit, it's been totally reliable since I did as Groove Tubes suggested, of couse being a GT dealer I'm biased.I would use it sans backup.

No experience, purchased used.

Been playing 30 years,other amps are GT Solo 75,45,Lexicon Signature 284. Favorite amp is Solo 75, main stage amp is Lex 284 coz. only 3 watts, ever since I recorded backing trax for 100 tunes and went one man show I need uber controlable volume and the 3 watt a side 284 gives me that. Got the Marshall for recording purposes, only Marshall sounds like Marshall and properly tubed this thing screams I Be Marshall. If it were lost or stolen I'd find another used one and fix it, they're cheap! I love that it sounds so Marshally, I hate the high volumes neccessary to make it sound great,love the dynamics tho. Not as organic distortion as a JCM 800 but better for Hi gain. Kinda wish it came with a usable on board volume brake.

I bought the DSL recently and its got plenty of enough features, the eq is very good and im very fond of the deep switch. Tone shift is ok. It could do with a master volume though, strange that it doesnt have one.

The clean is the best ive ever heard except maybe for the twin reverb. With the reverb on 4-6 this clean is amazing. The lead is very nice as well, its got a better sound than the dsl 100 cus its got more natural breakup as the tubes are pushed more. To all the twats who go on about how bad the sound of this amp is, what the hell do you expect? This will give a better sound than any current day marshall; ok some vintage ones may have a slightly better sound. If youve got a problem with this youd better expect to be spending 5000 on a SLO 100 or an Uberschal. The sound of the dsl is excellent

Not amaazing; its a tube amp, theyre more delicate and fragile. Its got a nice encouraging weight to it though and i duruable finish (that elephant-arse effect). Its about as reliable as all other tube amps. The lack of reliability compared to solid states is worth it becasue of this things tone

Havnet dealt with them, but my friend has a 1962 bluesbreaker combo where part of the circuitry broke. It was fixed. And i hear marshall are ok to deal with

I think this is an excellent amp. If someones got a problem with it, they are very stingey and should get a soldano SLO-100. This dsl is better than the 100 version and it rules. Best current-day marshall

you know it

Honestly it sounds horrible. It has a very muddy distortion sound. If you like old school rock may be it will make you happy but for metal forget it. It is miles away from sounding tight and if you like fast palm muting an stakato riffing this think will give you a very shitty sound out believe me. So I bought a engl Tube TOner an just used the marshall clean channel it worked good but still not satisfied.

It broke up to times. First time the stand by knop was out of function but the amp worked still. After a year it broke down. The guy in the guitar shop who repaired said that over 1 Amper flowed between the tubes all that time. It was a resistor who broked that caused that the stand by knob didnt work. The second time i mean now a tube has blown away. I hate this think so i will sell it with my tube toner and buy a Triple X

The guy in the guitar shop fixed it well.

Some old school rockers will think i'm a fool to sell it but it sounds for me awfull and i like to play Iced Earth,Slayer style Power Trash Metal. So don't buy it please

Mine was made in 2001. Like so many true 2 channel amps out there today, this one has only 1 eq for both channels.(yuck) Who likes the same eq setting on thier clean channel as thier overdrive? On the other hand I love the separate reverb control for each channel. It has EL 34 type tubes which means you have to work your ass off because they arent reponsive at all. 6L6 would have been much better-they almost make it seem like your pickups are hotter. Everything else as far as features should be a given with a modern amplifier at this price level.(footswitchable reverb, effects loop, etc)

I am using an american Tele with an aftermarket pickup in the bridge postion. I play top 40 country (which calls for clean as well as modern high gain) I use this amp every weekend in class A and B clubs-very large rooms. It is always run through a monster house PA. Thank god because the overdrive channel is thinner than skim milk. I am horrified by the sound of this amp's overdrive. It sounds like a buzz saw and most solid state amps you can buy for under $300 sound about the same. The people here who are giving it 9s and 10s in thier sound rating have no clue about good tone and/or have never played through a great sounding amp. Part of the problem is that when you run one of these through a 412 cab, its only 50 watts and 50 JCM 2000 watts is not the same as a 50 watt marshall made in the 70's. Think I am kidding? Put a 70's-era 50 watt JMP next to a Marhsall Mode Four (I think they clam those things are like 300 watts?) and tell me which has more balls. Imagine if you took a massive front of house PA system and powered it with a NADY 100 watt studio monitor amp. Yeah- it would sound pretty thin. But like I said, the 412 thing is only part of the problem. For the benefit of the doubt, the 100 watt version may sound a little fuller with a 412 cab. With new technologies and cost-cutting endeavers by mass production amp makers, we get left with 50 watt amps that have all the balls of a peavey bandit. The only reason I am still using it is because I dont wanna ab two amps. (I would only truely be satisfied with a boutique amp for overdrive and they are all one channel so I would need a separate clean channel)Its a huge pain in the ass and I have been working for the last year on simplifying my rig. I solo with clean 70% of the time anyway so I just grin and bear it the other 30%. Ahhh, now that I have that off my chest. The clean channel is the best I have ever heard on any amp. Period. No, I dont think you understand. I have an early 70's Bassman and an early 70's Super Reverb which have some of the best clean tones ever created. This amp makes them sound muddy. I am giving it a 4 for that sweet clean channel- the overdrive gets a zero.

Here's the good news: The fine folks at Marshall have built this buzzsaw like a tank and I have been putting it through hell for 3 years. It rides in the belly of an MCI bus with not so much as a dust cover for protection and I am sure it gets bounced around down there all the time. It has never let me down.

I think the warranty is 3 years. I havent had any trouble so I havent had to deal with Marshall.

Overall, its ok for a working musician in my situation that is playing clean most of the time. If you were only using it for clean sounds all the time, you couldnt find a finer sounding amp. But If you are playing classic rock or modern rock for the same price or less, you can get a 70's made Marshall head and have yourself some real overdrive.

i don't know when the amp was built exactly, but the shop i bought it from had it coming straight from the factory so i guess 2004. Got it with a jcm 2000 1960a cab.

I think it has all the features i need in an amp. But i might get an eq pedal to make my clean tone a little more sparkling by getting some of the Bass out and boosting the middle's a bit(I set de middle halfway when using ultra gain).
I use this amp for band practise and when me and the other guitar player (same amp) set the volume a little over halfway we blow away our drummer, and the doesn't play soft you know. So it has enough power to getting hear when gigging, and if it needs to be louder they should put a mic in front of it and use a PA.

I play an Ibanez SZ BBL, my sweet love, it has 2 humbuckers and sound different from most Ibanez guitars i have ever heard. It is way more rock than those RG-types which sound way to metal for me.

The amp it self is really quit when i use it. I use the following settings:

EQ
-presence: 5
-bass: 8
-middle: 5
-treble: 9

REVERD
-channel a: 0
-channel b: 0

ULTRA GAIN
-volume: 6/7
-switch: gain 1
-gain: 9

CLASSIC GAIN:
-volume: 7
-switch: normal
-gain: 5

I play in a punk/hardcore band with on occasion a bit of ska and it gives me the sound that i was looking for... before this one i had a 120 watt Red Bear MKII Full tube lead going into a peavey 412j cab, but that thing would only sound a little good when used with effects. Now i just plug in right into the amp and i get the sound i love so much.

I think the full gain sounds really much less cool when volumes are turned down... but when the volume button turn over 4 it sounds like a beast ready to be unleashed onto the crowd.

If you play punk/rock you really should consider this amps tone... but when you try it out in a show turn up the volume to really get the right tone out of it.

Never had a problem with it but i just have it for 1,5 month. I gig without a backup.. but then again i don't have a backup yet. I trust this thing, but after moving the thing i always am a bit worried if it will still work... but i'm just a big pussy i guess.

haven't called em yet...

I saw in an other review here that someone said that if you are nog playing for at least 5 years, don't get it... That is B*llsh*t. Why should someone that plays for 2 or 3 years not get an amp that gives him/her the tone they have always wanted? I play for 3 years now and since i started i always was looking into tweaking my guitar sound into the sound i wanted, i have bought stupid stuff because of this. Now i have found it and i am the happiest guy i know(small things please a small mind).

If you are looking into an amps with balls but at the same time can be clear as no other, give this thing a try.

and i would replace it if it burns down or something like it... it can't be stolen i'm hugging the damn thing all the time :)

This amps is very versitile, works very well for almost all styles. IT has two channels, an effects loop and simple operation. enough power for doing gigs great tone at all volumes. 9 because I would like swithable effects loops. no big deal.

Im using a jackson soloist with a jb in the bridge and hot rails at the neck. perfect for metal,rock,blues whatever. the clean is great I put mullards in the pre and a mullard 12at7 in the pi slot and wow the clean is even better now. the people who say that channel two is to thin are from a diffrent planet. At first I can see how you might think this playing straight into the amp. This amp needs and eq in the effects loop (mxr 10 band) thats what I use and this thing blows away anything I have heard. I have played mesa boogies no comparison the lead guitarist in my metal band has a 5150 with eq and the whole deal cant even come close. dont let those idiots fool you this thing is sick

Purchased New for Christmas present in 2004 at Guitar Center. I have a son who was playing a full stack (Valvestate 100watt) Marshall but had kind of "outgrown" the mostly solid state head sound. I had given one of his older brothers a DSL 100 watt head and a 1960B cab a couple of years ago and that was the sound that this son wanted too. We live in the Dallas, Texas area and most of the clubs in this town aren't really large enough to get the full effect of a 100 watt tube head (playing on 2 1/2 volume isn't getting the best overdriving of the amp. So for this son I went with the 50 watt head and a JCM 900 1960A cab. The amp is a MARSHALL. It has the MARSHALL sound, that is great for many styles of music and the rock that these two sons play is just right for the MARSHALL sound. Others have listed the features and they haven't changed. GOOD AMP for the money.

MARSHALL amps = ROCK. I've been a musician since the late 50's and when the Marshalls finally hit the beach we started using them. The 60's would have not been the 60's without Marshall Amps. (Ok, so we had some cool Fenders and HiWatts and Kustoms, etc etc etc. but let's talk MARSHALL) This can be a noisy amp with some guitars (Fenders? or other single coils) but still has the classic sound. We use various guitars wirth these two amps: Fender 50th Anniv. Stratocaster w/ rosewood fretboard, Fender MIM Stratocaster w/ Maple Fretboard, Gibson "1960's" Les Paul Standard, several Epiphone Les Paul Classic and Standards, and a few bass guitars and acoustics and stuff.

Do Marshalls break down on you when you really need them? YES<YES<YES<YES -- NEVER gig with only one Marshall head or one day you will be left stranded. It has happened to all of us (if we play long enough) In fairness, most tube amps are fragile and can let you down without notice. Take care of the tubes and remember to warm them up and to let them cool down and try to keep the temperature of the storage area kinda consistant...and it will still break down, but not as often. STILL IT IS A MARSHALL...just keep somekind of "extra" head around for the backup.

When I was young and had records in the "national top ten" Marshall was very, very receptive to any comment or desire we had. Now I'm a nobody (you fickle fans just quit buying the records...or maybe it was your grandparents..but someone stopped buying them!) and that's what Marshall treats us like. There are good warranty locations in Dallas and so we have been able to repair the other Marshalls without much trouble. This "new" DSL 50 has not been a problem yet.

I have played since the late 50's. I have sons that have played between 7 and 10 years. Other guitar amps we own include the above mentioned Valstate head and two cabs and a 1/2 stack "Blue Voodoo" 120watt tube rig. Also assorted bass rigs and small "practice" amps.
If it were lost or stolen...my insurance company would be more upset than I...they would have to replace it. But for this son, I would certainly purchase the same DSL 50 head and cab setup.

Channel switching reverb in a 50 watt EL34 head. How many companies make this combination? Maybe three? (forget about the rediculously high priced bedroom amps)It has more combinations than I wanted, but I am very pleased with the tonal variations available. This one can be used by real working guitarists. I'd rate higher but it doesn't have flashing
lights inside or out.

I use dual humbucking guitars. This amp can make any sound. It has more than enough tone controls to get from bright to deep, from buzz to grind. Throw in a nice clean sound with reverb and it's all there.
I don't like a buzzy sound, but I can get it if I want to. The tone controls are all very responsive, it can get very bassy or very bright, as I have said, it's all there. This is the best amp Marshall makes now, IMHO. I am very pleased I bought it. Those people who say it has no tone or variation of tone must be hard of hearing.
"How brutal is the distortion?" No, brutal isn't the word. This is why I bought an EL34 amp, I wanted the softer, smoother sound. This amp sounds very, very good. Ah.

My other Marshall still works after 1 1/2 years. Otherwise I don't know.

Great! in the UK. I don't know about USA service.

I started playing when the Ventures (late 50's guitar band) came along. I am so old I saw Elvis live on Ed Sullivan. I own about 14 amps, all 100 watt except a couple of 50 watters. I am so old I saw Elvis live on Ed Sullivan. Did I say that? Told you I was old. This Marshall amp is very good. Of all the amps I have, as far as tone, this is tied on top with my best hand wired tube amp. One more thing, this amp has the tone you need and the Marshall name you need. There is a reason Marshall is so hot. Got Marshall? I recommend this amp to anyone who wants a lot of tone and something sh/he doesn't have to apologize for.
I mean hey, people are shallow, it's a Marshall! Until something else comes along, this is it.

Ahh yes the JCM 2000 dsl 50. Two channels(foot switchable), 50 watts (more than enough), reverb, and effects loop. The two things that would make this amp better; seperate EQ's for each channel, and footswitchable effects loop, otherwise the amp is good as far as the features go.

I am using several guitars through this amp. A Gibson Les paul standard with burstbuckers, a Jackson Randy Rhoads with EMG's, a Jackson Pro with a Seymoure Duncan Dimebucker, a Fender standard Tele with a hot rail at the bridge and a vintage noisless at the neck, a Gibson Les Paul special faded with P90's, and an Epiphone Casino. I have been playing guitar for 11 years now and I have owned several amps. I also own a Hot Rod Deville 212 and a Peavey 5150 II.
I am running this head through a Marshall 1960a and a 1960bv cab. I bought this amp because the other guitarist in my band needed a better amp. My band plays metal along the lines of Lamb of God, Slayer, Pantera, Meshuggah, Unearth you get the picture. This amp has a great rhythm sound, with a descent eq pedal you can get some seroius chunk uot of this baby. After about an hour of serious A-B testing between my 5150 II and the DSL50 without using any pedals, I have drawn several conclusions. The DSL50 has a much better clean tone than my 5150II. The DSL50 is very quiet (using monster cables). I cannot get a satisfying lead tone that I like. I really like the tone of this amp for rhythm, but no matter what I do I become frustrated when I play a lead or single note progressions. There are guitar players out there that use this amp for lead work and they love it, not me. The gain on this amp is good the clean is badass, but compared to the 5150II the gain does not hit half as hard. If you are in the market for a classic rock or hard rock amp this is a good choice. There is no doubt that this is a good amp. It is more versatile than my 5150II but not nearly as heavy. If you are into metal then go for a Peavey 5150 or a VHT.

No problems so far.

I work at Musicians Friend and the reps from Marshall are always cool.

I like this amp, If it were stolen or lost I would buy a different amp, probably a VHT pitbull, but only because I am a gear junkie and i like to try everything. I have personally owned many guitars and amps and the Marshall DSL50 is second only to my 5150 II. Overall it deserves a 9. Any questions send me an email.

First year production model DSL 50.
Versatile? Absolutely. I play a mix of modern rock originals and covers, however, it wouldn't matter what style of music I played, this amp would cover it. The only feature I see it lacking is a global master volume. I also never use the reverb, I prefer a slight delay via foot pedal.
I use this amp in small to medium sized venues and the 50 watts of power is plenty.

I use Carvin guitars with their stock pickups (dual and single coil).
As with any tube amp, this thing sounds best at high volume levels and sustains for as long you can shake the strings. Very low noise unless the gain is maxed out. I love the fact that the gain can be adjusted from a light crunch to a heavily saturated bass heavy distortion perfect for modern metal. Forget about mesa boogie's single target market sound. You get that numetal sound plus classic legendary rock sounds and the best crisp and full bodied clean sounds from this very simply layed out format.

There are some reliablity issues with this amp as with any mass production amplifier in todays market. However, I've only had it serviced twice in the six years or so that I've had it. I guess I feel somewhat fortunate compared to some other reviews I've read here. Maybe I expect more than the average performing musician. I never bring along a backup amp, I do however, always keep extra fuses and tubes in my gig bag, even though I've yet to have to pull them out at a gig.

I've never dealt with Marshall directly.
Both times I had it serviced were by authorized service centers/dealers in my area and based on the fact that I had many to choose from, I would have to say that marshall has done well to stand behind their products. Fortunately as well, both services were performed under the five year factory warranty, which has since expired. Crossing fingers.

I've been playing for 27 year, about 22 of those professionaly.
I also own a VHT 50 CL, which has similar distortion tones but it lacks the excellent clean tones the DSL offers up.
I would most certainly replace it with another, I love this amp.
I chose this amp cause I always wanted a Marshall, but could never find one that had the versatility I wanted.

Bought it new in 2003. Go to marshallamps.com or see reviews below for a full breakdown of features. I mostly play radio rock, classic rock, and blues. I love the clean/classic channel. I'd be happy if Marshall removed the lead channel entirely. Great effects loop too. I don't mind the shared EQ as I don't use the second channel. I've used the amp for gigging as well as practice and it has plenty of power for any situation.

I play Fender guitars loaded w/SD Hot Rails bridge pickups. I use a Peavey Triple XXX 4x12 cab or a Marshall TSL 2x12 cabinet with the amp. I've also retubed it with JJs (eurotubes.com). The amp suits my style of music perfectly. I love the clean/classic channel but I think the lead channel is very thin sounding. I'm not so sure the amp would do metal well, but I've never tried cause I don't play that kind of music. I keep the clean channel in crunch mode with gain around 7, keep the treble and presence set low, mids around 5, bass around 7. With Deep and tone switches off - I get a big fat sound!

I've used it for frequents gigs and it has never broken down. As a matter of fact, I've owned a TSL122, JCM800, ValveState combo, and a Mosfet and never had a problem except once when the presence knob on the TSL went out. That's it.

My experiences have been positive.

I've been playing a long time and have owned a lot of amps. This is a great amp. I want to buy another one so I have two.

C'est une tete Marshall DSL 50 watts fabriquee et achetee en 2000(equipee d'origine de lampes Svetlana et transformateurs Dagnall).Elle est branchee a un baffle Marshall 1960 AV equipe de 4 hauts-parleurs Celestion Vintage 30.Je l'utilise pour un repertoire allant du blues (son crunch)au heavy metal et hard(Judas Priest,AC/DC Ted Nugent ...)La tete possede 2 canaux avec reglages de tonalite communs et reglages de gain, volume et reverb separes pour chaque canal.Le canal 1 ,via un switch en facade, offre 2 modes :sons clairs et sons crunch;le canal 2 ,via un autre switch est devolu aux sons satures et tres satures.Il est complete par un autre switch qui creuse les mediums pour des sonorites plus trash.Un dernier switch nomme Deep ,commun aux 2 canaux,permet d'accentuer les basses frequences sans assombrir le son.Les 2 canaux sont commutables au pied via un footswitch (fourni).Une boucle d'effets(cablee en serie,non commutable,avec un switch de selection de niveau d'entree permettant d'acceuillir des pedales ou un systeme en rack)est installee au dos de l'ampli,ainsi que les sorties jack pour les hauts parleurs(1 en 16 Ohms et 2 en 8 Ohms ,un commutateur d'impedance complete le tout.L'ensemble beneficie d'une construction tres soignee qui inspire confiance.

J'utilise la tete DSL 50 avec 3 guitares :1 Washburn Eagle equipee d'EMG 81 et 89,une Gibson Lespaul equipee en Seymour Duncan Distortion et Custom Custom et une Blade avec un Seymour Duncan Hot Rails (chevalet)Je joue sans aucun effet(sauf parfois une wah wah ).L'ampli respecte les personnalites de chaque guitare.Les sons clairs,qui le restent meme avec des micros puissants ,sont assez secs,compares a un ampli tel que le Fender Twin Reverb 65,mais restent musicaux et exploitables (il est vrai que l'on achete generalement pas un Marshall pour jouer en son clair!).Les sons crunch et satures sont fideles a ce que l'on attend d'eux :tres definis,precis,reponse tres rapide(facteur d'amortissement tres court),les harmoniques sifflees sortent tres facilement,la compression varie en fonction du gain mais est beaucoup moins prononcee que sur un Mesa Rectifier.Bref,le son Marshall est bien la.Pour avoir possede une tete 2203(de 1977)et 2 tetes JCM 900(SLX et DUAL Reverb High Gain)je peux vous dire que la DSL 50 leur est bien superieure en sons et en possibilites.Elle n'a pas besoin d'un overdrive pour saturer ,donc plus silencieuse(pas de souffle genere par une pedale de gain)et elle est beaucoup plus polyvalente(elle couvre tous les styles musicaux necessitant un son allant de crunch a heavy/trash ...).Les reglages de tonalite sont differents dans leur action selon les canaux et les modes,il faut donc experimenter.Pour ma part ,voici mes reglages(valables pour mes 3 guitares):Presence 2,5 Aigus 2,5 Mediums 8,Basses 9 canal 2 (sature) sur mode 1 Gain 10 Volume selon local(de 1,5 a 4),canal 1 clair Gain 3 Volume 4,ce qui donne un son de type Marshall 2203 booste,donc un sacre son!Comme toujours,n'oubliez pas que chaque ampli possede sa propre identite sonore ;donc ,le Marshall DSL 50 est tres different d'un Mesa Rectifier :j'ai la chance d'avoir aussi une tete Mesa Single Rectifier Solo Head 50 serie 2.Les deux sont complementaires:le Marshall compresse moins la dynamique,est plus precis ,plus tranchant et defini,plus polyvalent,possede le legendaire son Marshall,le Mesa Single Rectifier a un son plus punchy(compression),plus riche("opulent")plus moderne(moins "roots")affectionne particulierement une main droite puissante pour les riffs trash,accepte un peu mieux que le Marshall les accordages bas(rendu des basses bloquees impressionnant)mais laisse un peu a desirer pour la definition sonore en solo(sauf avec une pedale wah-wah).En resume si vous aimez les sons Marshall et Mesa Rectifier ,achetez les deux!Si vous ne le pouvez pas,achetez celui qui couvre majoritairement(en nombre de morceaux)votre repertoire.

Je l'ai depuis 4 ans ,pas de souci(tout comme les 3 autres Marshall que j'ai eu).

J'ai 45 ans et joue depuis 27 annees.J'ai possede de nombreux amplis(voir l'essai du Fender Twin Reverb 65 Reissue)J'ai actuellement le Marshall DSL 50 avec le baffle 1960 AV,la tete Single Rectifier Solo Head 50(voir essai)et le Twin-Reverb 65 Reissue.Ces 3 amplis sont sont complementaires par leurs sons et registres.Trouver l'ampli omnipotent releve a ce jour de l'utopie.Certes le numerique progresse,mais sa marge de progression reste...importante!Jim Marshall peut encore dormir tranquille,le Marshall DSL 50 reste un ampli de reference.

This is a follow up to my original review of this amp. I started using a Weber MASS-50 for direct recording into my soundcard with the DSL50, and was very pleased and surprised at how good it sounds when the speakers are bypassed. When I started playing through my cab again I did so without the use of the H&K Tubefactor that had been necessary to get an acceptable sound. I started freaking over how bad the head sounded as is, and decided to turn down the bias voltage all the way to see if it would help, and it transformed the head into what I thought I was getting when I first bought it. The factory specs for bias voltage is 45mV, but when turned down, one tube reads 38mV, the other 35mV.

Less voltage really sweetens and fattens up the clean channel. Putting the H&K Tubefactor in front of the clean channel is a very pleasing experience.

The high-gain channels have a little less gain with the bias turned down, but without the mushiness and lack of definition encountered when factory bias settings are used. The sustain and tone on the high-gain channels is helped considerably by reducing the bias voltage.

The brightness and harshness of the head has also vanished with the most recent bias adjustments. I can set the tone controls however I want, and get usable, pleasing sounds.

50 watt marshall head, all tube. has a bass boost and a mid scoop switch but i don't really mess with them.

Do you know what year the amp was made in? nope.

Is the amp versatile enough for you and the styles of music you play? What are those styles? this amp has alot of tones in it and it's more than enough for me. i play mostly grunge/punk but also hard rock and metal kinda like godsmack.

How many channels? Does it have channel switching? Effects loops? Headphone jack? 2 channels (footswitchable), 2 modes each, 4 bases for sounds. clean/crunch and OD1/2. it has an effects loop but i rarely use it.

What features do you wish it had? Why? Are there features you never use? i wish i could switch between OD1/2 with a footswitch. that would be really handy. nothing else bugs me with this amp.

Where do you use this amp? Does it have enough power for you? i use this amp in my practice space and bedroom. it has enough power to get heard and that's all that matters to me.

What guitar and pickup styles are you using it with? i use an epiphone les paul: stock; and an epiphone slasher: stock. why should i change my pickups to sound like someone else when i like how i sound now? i play it with a marshall AV 4x12 cabinet. that's the "guns 'n' roses" cabinet for not that familiar. on the floor i have a jimi hendrix wah and a marshall jackhammer overdrive to kick it up for some parts.

How does it suit your music style (and what is that style)? this amp suits my music style very well, i play grunge/punk and some hard rock/metal. the OD2 channel is really great for chunky balls out heavy rhythms while OD1 can be used for things like pearl jam or modern rock styles. the crunch channel is really good for playing many seattle inspired riffs. it's just so loose and jangly, i love it.

Is it noisy? On what settings, and in what environments? it's noisy if i sit in front of it...um but isn't that every amp?

What kind of sounds can the amp make? How much variety? like i said it has 2 channels with 2 modes each and that is at least 4 sounds. you need to play around with the knobs.

Is the clean channel distorted at high volumes? In what settings? the clean channel breaks up and it sounds great through my marshall AV cab with the celestion 30s.

How brutal is the distortion? the distortion can be sweet and creamy to ball shaking. with the bass boost on it becomes very zakk-ish.

Can you depend on it? Would you use it on a gig without a backup? i depend on this amp alot. i have not used a backup but i should buy an AVT 50 just in case.

Has the amp ever broken down? Because of neglect of
regular servicing (as in tubes), or just plain neglect? not yet but it is due up for new tubes.

never dealt with marshall

How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own? i have been playing for 3-4 years. yea i know but shut up.
i own the following:

marshall DSL50 halfstack with marshall AV cabinet
marshall VS232 2x12 combo
epiphone les paul standard
epiphone les paul slasher
squier strat
takamine acoustic
jimi hendrix fuzz wah
marshall jackhammer OD pedal

If it were stolen or lost, would you buy it again or get something else? if it were stolen or lost i would buy a new one but only if i can't find the guy that took it and beat him to a bloody pulp.

What do you love about it? What do you hate? i love the simple-ness of the amp. i hate the fact that it was produced geared towards nu-metal with the bass and mid switches.

Did you compare it to other products? Which ones? Why did you choose this one? i compared it to a JCM 800/900 and a TSL60/100. this is the one that fit me the best. i needed dual channel capabilities and something affordable. this one was perfect for me.

Anything you wish it had? i wish it had a select between OD1/OD2 but that is nothing that an overdrive pedal cannot fix at times.

Anything else you'd like to share? i would like to add that this amp is all anyone would really need to play. i used to have to run several stompboxes in my old marshall but this one made me get rid of most of what i had on the floor.

PS: the best way to play this amp is with the mids cranked and the bass rolled back with both switches off.

OK, two channels and bought in 2004. bought it new and was skeptical at first. i didn'twant to post a review after i had just bought it so here it is about 6 months later and i have to say i am pleased. good distortion and a good clean very versatile, trust me use a volume pedal (a good one) and you can make this amp work for anything you want to do. also 50watts is perfect you get that good tube saturation when you turn it whereas 100watts is a little to loud when you get that good tube tone, the 50watt head is perfect for tappin into that tone zone.

i would have to give this a rating of 9.5 it is almost pefect. the clean can stay crystal clear and loud and the distortion can be anywhere between bluesy riffage to all out metal assault. humbuckers sound good and get little feed back at a club volume versus a single coil which will always give you more feed back. with a good volume pedal though this is all manageable, so the amp is very effective for many styles.

I have had no problems but i have only played about 10 live shows with this amp amd the rest of the use has been practice. i have not had any problems but i have heard Marshall amps and footswitches especially can break rather easily. good reason to fill out the registration card though. most people who have had to deal with the marshall company directly have had good things to say.

I haven't dealt with the company but i would expect fullsupport from them especially for the price of these amps.

I have been playing for awhile and i have used solid state amps exclusively until recently. i have had several tube amps but have just never found the right one. but i would have to say that i think i have found the right one. i would buy another one because they are flexible and a hell of a lot less than a mesa and i think the tone is every bit as good

50 Watts , But bloody loud!!!

Im using a left handed Prs Custom22 with Mark tremonti pickups and a left handed Gibson Les Paul Studio with stock Pickups, Boss chorus,Boss noise suppressor,Boss delay and Jim Dunlop Dime wah into two Orange quads.
( Beeeewwwwdifull ).
I play in a signed band in Australia, similiarish to Killswitch engage, 36 Crazyfists, Avenged sevenfold e.c.t
This combination isnt noisy at all with the noise suppressor.
Very good Distortion for what i play and a clean tone that will rip your face off.

Never failed me yet, fingers crossed
Built pretty solid.

Havent needed support so far.

Ive been playing for around 12 years, I also own a Line6 flextoneII head,Mesa dual Rectum frier and Hughes and Kettner duotone head.
If it were stolen id steal someone elses.
I love the simplicity of the apparatus, very easy to operate even when extemely wasted.
I love this head better than everything except Bogner Uberschals.
Very affordable amp for its quality, you can pick on up easily for a third of the price used like i did.

I bought my DSL 50 head about 6 months ago. I wanted Vintage tone with modern features and reliability and i think this amp comes close to my ideal setup. It has two footswitchable channels, each with two seperate voicings that can be changed with a button on the front of the amp, and it has an effects loop which i never use. I use this amp with Marshall cabinets and the volume is incredible, i usually gig with the volume on about 4.

I play a Les Paul Standard, mainly for classic rock (Thin Lizzy, Free) and i get the sound i want by turning up the volume on the clean channel until it distorts, which produces thick warm tube overdrive. The distortion channel sounds quite thin by comparsion, and i haven't found a way to balance both channels properly. Its a very bright sounding amp, i turn the presence to 0, treble to 3, and mid to 4 and it still has a very cutting sound. The amp cleans up nicely when you back off the guitars volume, and this sound is just godsent; warm and clear with bell like overtones.

As a rule, I dont trust Marshall equipment, Ive had a lot of it break on me, but ive had no real problems with this amp so far. The reverb tank mysteriously unplugged itself once, but that is the only thing that has ever gone wrong

never dealt with them

It does what i want it to do, and so far i cant fault it for that. Could be better, but for the price, i cant find anything to beat it

Don't know the exact year it was made - bought it used on EBay - it's very pretty - good cosmetically so it must be rather new - Features - channel A - clean - channel B - fuzzy - reverb on both - what more do you want? - onlt one input for your guitar so your "buddy" cannot run through it - YAY - You know it is a big head but does not weigh that much really - very portable - now the speaker cabinet - well that is another review

Strat & Gibson LP
I play Marshal amp music - he he - you know what I mean
It is noisy when I play through it - oh you mean like staticy? - nope it works fine

Has not failed on me once

Amp made in England - I am in the US - not much customer support going to happen in this case.
If it break I will take it to Pro Audio in MD - they fix everything

I have been playing so long - I got blisters on my fingers - I would buy another again - I love it - my first "real" Marshall - has the tone I have always tried to get with other amps. It looks pretty - I feel I play better when I am using it - every rock guitar player would like to have one (come on admit it) I also have a MusicMan 212 65 combo so I have the clean machine and the Marshall sound - best of both worlds!

you already know

it was reliable while i had it

Well i had it for a week and a bit and after a while I just couldn't stand the sound. The distortion was still nice except for one problem....the harsh treble sound that it created. The clean channel is very warm compared to the lead channels. I tried turning the presence, treble, and mids down to the point where it sounded bad. It could just be that my guitar (2000 peavey predator plus) gave the amp that harsh treble but i have rented one before with a mesa recto 4x12 cab and it sounded fine. I'm not saying this is a bad amp, it still has some decent sounds and I like the clean sounds, it's just that for the money paid it wasn't worth it and i was very disappointed so i had to return it. Maybe others may like it and the treble is really good for cutting through the mix. Well just wanted to let everyone know and make sure you try the amp before you buy it.

Mine was made 2001/2002. 2 people had it before me.

The features on here are awesome and all ya need.

I play a Charvel: Model 4 (w/EMG81) and the distortion is awwwesome on this beast. Lots of it.. infact, I play alota' KSE, Chimaira, LOG stuff I only use 7 out of 10 for gain. On Ultra, lead 1.

Lead 1(Ultra) - The best!
Lead 2(Ultra)(Pushed) - .. I never liked it.. its.. I dunno.. someone told me its more for Single coils..
Clean (Classic) - Veeeery nice clean tone!, very warm & extremely bright!
Crunch (Classic) - Once again, very nice; nice light distortion.

Everytime I fire it up after a standby for roughly 2 minutes, I get like a staticy sound for the first 5 minutes but then dies. Might be the tubes, thats my guess.. wa-unno.

I also experienced a small strange Reverb leak odd(Reverb playing with the knobs are set to 0) time-to-time, however no one else experienced it.. ah wells.

But other than those 2 small probs, its built likea' tank!

Never dealt.

Awesome amp!.. but I traded mine back fora' DSL100 for more of the ultimate 'whoomp' sound.

New purchased in July 04. You all know the features. The combined EQ doesn't bother me as I am able to find settings that work well for all channels. Actually, it's hard to dial in a bad setting. It's a very simple head to dial in a good tone. The one thing I don't like is the fact that you can't use the foot switch to move between clean and crunch on channel A. A small price to pay for an otherwise well designed head.

The tones that come out of this head are unbelievable. Channel A takes to from a "country" clean to a classic rock sound. Channel B picks up from there and takes you to an over the top distortion. I generally use the pushed channel A setting and switch to ultra 1 on channel B for a boost. Many reviews here say that channel B is too thin sounding. It is at very low volumes, but when you get above 2 or so it really thickens up. Channel A pushed just plain sounds good at any volume that will move your speakers. Channel A clean tends to stay clean unless you really hit the volume. This is a very loud head for fifty watts and I can't see why anyone would need the 100 watt version short of trying to fill a stadium.

No problems so far but the head is only about a month old. Keeping my fingers crossed. I traded in a troublesome TSL 602 for this head and a 1960 cab.

See above. Contacted Marshall about my TSL and they were very less than helpful. Had the amp for less than a year and it failed three times. The same problem all three times, the bias kept changing and was blowing power tubes. All Marshall would tell me was to take it to a service center for repairs. Three times for the same problem? How about a replacement on an amp less than one year old?

If you're looking for a simple to use head you won't go wrong. You can dial in about any tone you are looking for with this head. More than enough power and more distortion available than I would ever need. No need for a distortion pedal here. Don't think you will come close to the price I paid because my local shop cut me a deal due to the problems I had with my previous amp purchased through them. Even at the regular retail price it's worth every penny.

This is a 2001 model. This being about the 120th review, I imagine you guys get the idea of the features. I use this amp with a 1960Ax cab with Greenback speakers. It was once owned by my bass player and I've been hearing the amp for a good 2 years now, but only actually owning it for about 3 weeks. I bought this amp so I can preserve my hot-rodded 50 watt MK II JMP.

Though you'd think my sound would just scream classic rock, it doesn't at all! I use this set up for a very hard punk/hardcore and Metal band. Think Helmet, the Unsane, Black Flag, Nick Olivari songs from QOTSA.

So my need for channel switching is minimal, and any switching I do goes from the mild overdrive on the clean setting to high gain. So I don't mind the bare nature of this amp. Afterall, I went from a one channel modded Marshall to this as a main amp! So to me, channel switching is almost a new idea in my arsonal!

I mainly play with a guild S-100, and a Shecter Tempest with a JB in the bridge. Both are really solid and hot sounding guitars.

Through the stock tubes the amp does sound very buzzy and at first to my ears very bad (especially with the greenbacks) and it sounded so sterile with the stock 1960 cabs (75 watt celestions.) But the amp was retubed with EH tubes, and it brought out how a Marshall should sound. It gave it the balls and the personality that this amp deserves to have! So I'd highly recomend a re-tube of the amp! I'm sure any different tubes would make it sound better. I'm just a loyal EH user!

The amp can make a variety of sounds due to the deep switch, and tone scouping. I however keep the deep switch in, and the mid switch in, while I keep my presence at about 7, treble at 6, mids at 5, bass at 10 and my gain at about 8 (depending on the mood of the tubes pretty much.)And with the greenbacks, it still has a bit of high end to it, but it still cuts through the mix of the band very well. At first it didn't cut in as well as my JMP, But I just cranked the mids more, and it seems to do the trick real well.

The lead channel is tight and packs great punch. Just make sure you're not scooping your mids, otherwise YES you won't be able to hear yourself in the mix of a band.

The clean/ overdrive setting packs a lot of depth (think the opening chords to Chevelle's "the Red.") Another cool thing to do with the mild gain setting is to put any overdrive in front of it. A big muff is fun and will suit anyones "stoner rock" or Black Sabbath needs.

very solid amp,

I used to work for the store I bought it from. They're great, but you just have to stay on top of them.

I've been playing for about 7 years and have been playing through the JMP for about two. The JMP is completely rocking! But as I said, I want to preserve that amp. And the DSL 50 isn't as balls out 100 percent up to the same level as that amp...but with the sound and the features, it helps give it a run for its money. And will be a great work horse amp for me.

My only complaint however is the channel switching from the clean/od to the ultra channel has a little bit of a delay. But I believe that's from the first few generations of these amps.

I might have looked into a Mesa Boogie Single Rectifier, but the price was right on this one.

i think i bought this amp about 2001. it's versatile enough, i don't mind the shared EQ, and having seperate reverb is a bonus too. like some others have said it would be handy if you could change between clean and cruch with a foot switch, but it's not the end of the world. i would personally choose an amp with limited features over one with hundreds of channels and switches

i pretty much agree with the opinion that the clean channel is great but the distortion leaves a lot to be desired, it's not a bad lead channel, but i've found this amp has days when it sounds wicked and other days when it sounds cheap. i use either a les paul or a tele. the clean channel sounds great with the tele, if you have the gain up full it slightly distorts but i find this a bonus. i also use an orange AD30R and prefer the marshall clean tone to the orange, although the orange cranked up kicks the shit out of this amp, it really dosn't have a very good lead channel in my opinion. i would rate channel one a 10, channel two about 5.

the only troublr i've ever had with this amp was when i put my foot through one of the speakers and smacked the head off with my guitar, although i accept this is not really marshalls fault. on one occasion the bass player in my band threw his bass accross stage and knocked it clean off the stage and it was fine. so you can't say fairer than that.

never dealt with em

if i had to choose between this and my orange combo, the oronge would win hands down, although it did cost considerably more, if it was stolen i wouldn't buy one the same, i would probably buy a plexi of summat a bit more vintage. the clean channel is great though, and it is a nice amp. if you have a nice overdrive peadl you couldn't ask for more.

i use this amp with a 1960AV cab (the one with v30 speakers). It sounds great for the modern rock/ punk/ emo/ hardcore styles that i play. I use a stcok Gibson SG Standard with this amp and cab and i've almost got the perfect sound for my style. My friends are blown away with the sounds i get....way better than the other guitarist in my band who has a jcm 900/1960A set up.

This amp can get really fat, heavy sounds perfect for palm muting and heavy riffs. the clean channel is good too and sounds great with a litlle chorus and delay. i was suprised at how much treble the amp produced. i have to turn the treble down less than half way so it doesn't sound harsh on the the OD channels. Both the cab and amp are new so i might post an update when both have 'broken in' properly.

Due to the 4 modes this amp is really versatile, it can go from mellow indie style overdrives on the classic gain channel to very scooped, brutal distortion on the ultra gain channel. More distortion than most will need, but its always nice to have it there just incase. i highly recommend this amp for modern rock styles.

I intended to get some kinda Mesa Boogie but this amp has so much personality to it and is loads cheaper. It does modern rock sounds very, very well and of course all the classic rock sounds are there too. Great sounds and great value.

Only a few month old so i cant really say.

not had to contact them about this amp though i have about other products and they've been very helpful.

A few notes.... I had the TSL60 for a short while before this and the DSL sounds FAR better than the TSL. People think the TSL is more versatile due to the 3 channels but the DSL has 4 modes and IMO is more versatile. It is widely considered to have far better tone than the TSL. This amp really is great. I can only think the people below giving low marks made a mistake in purchasing a 'Marshall' thats why they gave it low reviews...not because the amp is bad (because they are great...there' a reason the DSL's are Marshall biggest sellers!) but because they weren't after 'the marshall sound'.

Ive always wanted a Mesa Dual Rectifier for that modern high gain rock sound. Now i've got the DSL50 im not bothered for a Mesa at all now. They're about 4 times as much to buy as the DSL and the Marshall does everything i need AND sounds really good....lots of character. This amp is GREAT. I'll probably swap the stock valves to eliminate the slightly high end harshness, but this may dissapear when the amp and cab are broke in. Also, get the 1960AV w/v30 speakers to go with it. Don't just opt for the standard 1960A cab, they dont do the amp justice, making it sound thinner and weaker. The 1960AV makes it shine...fat, rich, warm sounds are got with this cab! I really love this amp and set up.

I use a DSL50 head in my classic rock band & I like the head enough that I bought another for a backup. I like the footswitchable channels, although I wish you could switch between "clean" & "crunch". The clean is the best I've ever heard on a Marshall, & the pushed clean, or crunch, sound is very similar to the old Marshall MKIIs or a hot-rodded Plexi. The lead channel to me leaves something to be desired. It's a bit thin, not nearly as warm as the crunch clean channel. I am not that concerned that both channels share an EQ, I just wish I could switch between clean & crunch. One of my DSL50's has the Chinese preamp tubes which sound good, and the other has Marshall preamp tubes. I don't know if the Chinese tubes came in that head because I bought it used. I've ordered a set of Electro-Harmonix 12AX7EH tubes to experiment with in hopes of achieving a warmer lead channel sound. I do like the Svetlana EL34 power amp tubes these amps come with. All in all the heads have been dependable & I get compliments on my tone. I have 3 cabinets right now but the best sounding one is the 1960AX with the greenback reissues. I have always been a 50-watt user because, in my opinion, the 100-watters have more headroom than I've ever needed. As far as features I never use, I'd say the midrange scoop & the deep switch. Some players might find them useful though...

I use Les Pauls exclusively (a '90 Standard, a '93 Standard & an '87 Custom) and they all sound good paired with the DSL50. About the only time I plug my Strat into it is when we do a Pink Floyd cover. I do have to make a few adjustments to my EQ when switching to the Strat or it will sound pretty shrill (especially the bridge pickup). The combined pickup settings on the Strat (& on the Les Pauls) give by far the best tones. I never turn the gain knob past 6 on either the clean/crunch channel or the lead1/lead2 channel. The head has gain to spare.

My DSL50s so far have both been very dependable, but so has every other Marshall amplifier I've ever owned. I always bring a backup just in case but I've never needed it. Hope I didn't just jinx myself...

I've never had to deal with customer support so I don't yet have an opinion in this category.

I've been playing in front of audiences for 29 years (I'm 44 now) & other than my first amp, a pre-CBS Fender pro reverb, I've been using Marshalls exclusively & they've always given me a nice, rude, useable tone. Again, if I could change anything about the DSL50, it would be to make the clean-to-crunch footswitchable, since those are its most useable sounds. If I liked the lead channel a bit more I would rate this amplifier a perfect "10".