# NAD. Marshall DSL40 112 combo



## Guest (Feb 16, 2016)

For anyone who's checked out my Fandango Thread, knows that I was looking to downsize (weight). 
I have advanced osteoarthritis in my left knee. The 75lb Rivera is too much to take out of the house. 
Which is a shame because it sounds wonderful to jam with. I came across this Marshall on kijiji and
the seller's 20 mins from me. Traded one of my acoustics plus cash and came home with this puppy.
50 lbs is still a bit, but, a lot easier to carry. Can't wait to jam with it. I had the seller play his guitar
through it (Gibson SG) while I fiddled with the knobs and walked about checking out the sound.
I LIKE!!









40 watt 
4 x ECC83 2 x EL34 tubes
2 channel switchable
Celestion Seventy 80 speaker
Pentode/Triode switch (40/20 w)

random google pics


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## NB_Terry (Feb 2, 2006)

I'd like to try that amp.

There are some mods for that amp if you're interested and a tweaker. 

http://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/new-marshall-dsl-40-and-100-cap-mod.1182093/


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Congrats laristotle!!

Am I losing it? (that is quite possible, BTW) 
Didn't you bring a 1 x 12" Marshall to Gerry's jam in the past? 
It looks similar to this one....maybe it was a SS ?
Is that long gone in the evolution of your gear?

Anyway...ENJOY, my friend!!


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## Guest (Feb 17, 2016)

NB_Terry said:


> There are some mods for that amp if you're interested and a tweaker.


Thanks for the link NB.
Took a while to read it all.
The comments regarding the cap de-solder/clip for keeping the
tone between channel switching sounds like a pleasing mod.
It's too bad that no one produced a sound clip to show the difference.
While reading it, I thought the same thing as only one poster mentioned. A micro-switch.
I'll have to wait till my wife goes out shopping (hopefully for long while) till I can put this through it's paces.



greco said:


> Am I losing it? (that is quite possible, BTW)


No you're not Dave.
I still have that amp (mid 80's SS Reverb 5275). Still love it BTW.
I just wanted a tube in the corral to replace the heavy (for me) Rivera.
It'll be coming up to Gerry's in June, with a guest to use the SS.
I'll take a side by side pic in the morning.


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## astyles (Apr 6, 2009)

Excellent value with the new DSL line, IMO, and the 40c is my favourite of the lot. Good grab ! There's lotsa tone and variations in that amp. The only mod I made was to swap in a V30 - a decent improvement over the stock Seventy 80, I think. It does make it a bit heavier tho ... But overall, sounds great in a jam and/or on stage. Congrats !


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

Congrats Larry!

I think that this is a comparison of those mods, read the description on YT...


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## Budda (May 29, 2007)

I haven't heard the new DSL line really, but I got to borrow a friend's DSL100 halfstack while my rig was at jams back in college - good times. Enjoy!

(and if it starts sounding "meh", speaker swap )


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## Guest (Feb 17, 2016)

sulphur said:


> I think that this is a comparison of those mods, read the description on YT...


Thanks for the vid sulpher.
There's a subtle difference that I can hear. I do like it.
If I do go that route, I'll put a microswitch somewhere (front
or back panel) rather than taking out the cap altogether.
I watched a speaker swap vid afterwards that also made a difference.
I'll wait till my wife goes out to watch them again cranked up.


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## Guest (Feb 17, 2016)

My Marshalls.

Micro
Reverb 75 (SS) 112
DSL 40 (Tube) 112


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

This pic makes it much easier for me to remember...X-Small, Medium and Large.


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## Guest (Feb 17, 2016)

I used to have X-Large as well back in the 80's.
JCM800 half stack.


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## Moosehead (Jan 6, 2011)

Nice grab, never tried a dsl but they get lots of love. 

Looking forward to hearing it in action at RiffWraths jam.


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## Geeetar (Oct 25, 2015)

Was highly considering one of these puppies in my never ending search. Especially due to the 20 watt switch.

Would you reccomend it for a Zeppelin, ACDC and Guns n Roses lover? 

Is there anything you don't like about it thus far?


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## Guest (Feb 18, 2016)

I mucked around with it for 1/2 hr this morning.
Not enough time to really evaluate yet. I will say
though, the mods suggested is something that I
will consider. It is harsh in OD1/2. You pretty
much have to turn the treble right down. Clean is
nice, crunch is nicer (ACDC, Zep, Gn'R territory). 
The Triode (20w) switch works as you expect it to.
Cuts the power in half and keeping the same tone.


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## davetcan (Feb 27, 2006)

Nice amp Larry, congrats.

I'll bet the single biggest upgrade you can make will be the speaker. If you can find a used Scumback or something equivalent kicking around it would be worth a shot. Also take a look at what tubes are in there, might be able to tame some of that harshness.

Do you have a cab with a decent speaker that you can plug in? That's a nice quick way to check speaker impact. If I was a bit closer I'd bring a couple over.


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## Guest (Feb 18, 2016)

Thanks Dave. I could try it with the speaker from the other amp (sidewinder).

Forgot to mention. I don't think much of the reverb.
Which is ok, I don't use it anyway.


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## Guest (Feb 18, 2016)

Came across this demo.
I like the staircase.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Cool staircase for sure!!

Now you know the recommended settings for your new amp "in the heat of battle" 
10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 9.5, 10


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## Guest (Feb 18, 2016)

My wife's going out in around a 1/2 hr.
I'll try it then.


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## tomsy49 (Apr 2, 2015)

I am toying with the idea of a DSL5C. 10" speaker is not my first choice but the demos ive listened to sound pretty good and has everything i want in a combo


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## Guest (Feb 18, 2016)

Geeetar said:


> Was highly considering one of these puppies in my never ending search. Especially due to the 20 watt switch.


Played in this setting today with the volume up.
I found this to be a more pleasing/warmer sound over the Pentode (40w).
Oh .. leaning the amp back makes a big difference too.
I sometimes forget that 'ankles don't have ears'. lol.


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## SG-Rocker (Dec 30, 2007)

I have the DSL100H - picked it up on Kijiji for $450!!

It is the exact same amp internally with the only difference being two extra power tubes and matching transformers.
I'm running it through a 1960a with G12T75 speakers ($350 on Kijiji)
(want to swap over to G12-65's).

I removed the C19 cap after finding the red channels too bright when switching from the green channels.
It made all the difference in the world - a must-do mod in my book.

Some people report that installing a 100pf cap is also good.

For me, changing up the preamp tubes to all Tung Sol took it from a great amp to my #1.

I'm probably going to add a Hammond choke and plexi tranny at some point for shits and giggles.

The green crunch channel is 800 heaven.


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## Scotty (Jan 30, 2013)

Wicked
HNAD


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## Guest (Feb 19, 2016)

SG-Rocker said:


> I removed the C19 cap after finding the red channels too bright when switching from the green channels.
> It made all the difference in the world - a must-do mod in my book.


I may just do this (get a tech to do this, I mean). But, as I mentioned earlier, 
I may put a micro-switch on it instead of taking it out altogether.
Tube swap too, eh!? Hmm.


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## SG-Rocker (Dec 30, 2007)

I was debating getting a DPDT switch and then I could toggle between three positions of no cap, cap#1 and cap #2.
This way I could experiment with different values that I could switch on the fly.
In the end, no cap at all works for me and I'm not ordering 2 or 3 caps from Digikey / Mouser just for that.

The stock preamp tubes are less than optimal, it's a JJ in V1 and Shuguang in V2-4.
Stock power tunes are Shuguang as well.
I'm not sure of the grade, but being stock tubes in Marshall's _budget_ tube amp, I reckon they are not premium.
I'd like to try JJ EL34L's in the power section. I really like the way they tightened the bass up on my YCV50.

From what I can tell, most Marshall combo amps end up on Kijiji because people get frustrated that they do not sound huge as they expect them to.
A very significant part of the Marshall crunch sound is the thump and roar that only a sealed cab can provide.
Heck a Peavey Bandit sounds light years better through a 412 of greenbacks.

I strongly recommend you replace the crappy 70/80 speaker with something better.
Creambacks, Vintage 30's and their alternate brand equivalents seem popular.


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## Guest (Feb 19, 2016)

SG-Rocker said:


> I strongly recommend you replace the crappy 70/80 speaker with something better.
> Creambacks, Vintage 30's and their alternate brand equivalents seem popular.


Been seeing a lot of that in reviews/forum posts. 
So far, a few tweeks here n' there are working for now.
I'll wait till I jam with it first before making any investments in this.

Another thought I had, while in there, snipping the cap, is to change
the reverb footswitch button function to clean/crunch and od1/2 instead.


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## LexxM3 (Oct 12, 2009)

Hopefully this doesn't come across as hijacking your thread, Larry, but ... I just traded for a DSL15C and it screams (pun intended) for a red channel gain reduction mod. I suspect DSL40C is similar -- green channel is glorious and usable (I don't know Marshalls that well yet, but I thought you're not supposed to be able to say that kind of thing about Marshall cleans ), red channel can't turn gain above 2.

For the 15C/H, there is a parallel "not installed" gain pot resistance reduction resistor R82 that people discuss installing, perhaps there is something similarly trivial for 40C/H.

In any case, schematics are always useful for modding and I found this resource: http://www.tangible-technology.com/schematics/. DSL40C schematics are in the DSL15C directory.

UPDATE: I should have looked at DSL40C schematic before posting -- it has a Lead 1/Lead 2 switch that DSL15C lacks and 1/2 of that DP switch more or less just switches in a 150K R32 (equivalent to R82 on 15C) that is installed on DSL40C (and not installed on DSL15C as R82). I'll leave this here for anyone else searching for mods.


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## Guest (Feb 22, 2016)

Thanks Lexx. Informative .. if I knew what you're talking about. lol.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

@laristotle ...this is a link to the schematic of you amp from LexxM3's link. 

You might want to keep a copy of it somewhere on your computer. BTW It can be enlarged to save your eyesight (see lower right corner).

http://www.tangible-technology.com/schematics/marshall/DSL/DSL15C/DSL40C/DSL40-60-02-v02.pdf

You can find resistor #32 (R32) and the switch nearby (SW3B) ...at least that is what I think is being referred to by LexxM3

Cheers

Dave


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## jjpinpin (Aug 5, 2009)

I have had one for months, great amp for the money. I plan on upgrading the speaker to the creamback, supposed to make a big difference. In general with this amp I find you need to turn the treble way down otherwise it's just too harsh, and I don't crank the gain to high either on the gain channels. I suspect with a new speaker and the c19 mod you'd get a more usable range on the gain side of things.


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## astyles (Apr 6, 2009)

LexxM3 said:


> Hopefully this doesn't come across as hijacking your thread, Larry, but ... I just traded for a DSL15C and it screams (pun intended) for a red channel gain reduction mod. I suspect DSL40C is similar -- green channel is glorious and usable (I don't know Marshalls that well yet, but I thought you're not supposed to be able to say that kind of thing about Marshall cleans ), red channel can't turn gain above 2.


Just throwing it out there ... in my experience with my DSL 15H, 40C and even my JCM 2000 DSL 100 (but to a lesser extent), I agree... I've always found the red channel's gain just too much - too muddy when cranked beyond what should be reasonable levels with the guitars I have. However, I usually compensate by adjusting the guitar's volume knob and/or pickup height. Depending on what "sounds" you're trying to achieve, I've always found these to be useful tools in order to achieve them. At worst, it can offer different dynamics in tones and feel...


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## Guest (Feb 23, 2016)

So .. I opened it up this morning to snip C19.
It's already been done!?
Emailed the previous owner about this and any other mods.
He bought it second hand in T.O. this way.
Has no knowledge of any mods (wasn't informed anyway)
and doesn't have any contact info from when he bought it.
Can't recall exactly where it was he picked it up either (2 yrs ago).
C'est la vie.


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