In 1962, after listening to the demands of young guitarists in his London music store, Jim Marshall assembled a small team together to build what would’ve been the world’s first rock ‘n’ roll valve guitar amp, the JTM 45. The new JTM 45’s dynamic response and sheer volume paved the way for Marshall’s signature sound that would go on to shape popular music for years to come. Decades later and Marshall is still building world-class amps the same exact way: by listening to their customers.
Since the first Marshall amp was crafted over 60 years ago, each of their products has been proudly designed or built in the United Kingdom. From sanding cabinets to hand-soldering vital parts and attaching the all-important Marshall script logo.
With that, let’s take a quick look at two popular amps from Marshall, the DSL20CR and the DSL40CR.
| Features: | Marshall DSL20CR | Marshall DSL40CR |
|---|---|---|
| Price: | £419 | £649 |
| Max Wattage: | 20W | 40W |
| Weight: | 16.3kg | 22.86kg |
Marshall DSL20C
Marshall’s DSL20 is a versatile two-channel all-tube combo amp that delivers various flavors of classic, coveted Marshall tones, while still being priced low enough for beginners to consider as their first amp. The DSL20 doesn’t skimp on features either, making it ideal for more experienced players who are looking for more Marshall magic in their studio arsenal without clearing their bank.
Design
Marshall’s DSL20C is a 20-watt amp with an all-tube circuit that features 2x EL34 power amp tubes and 3x ECC83 preamp tubes. A single Celestion Seventy 80 12-inch speaker that has 80 watts at 16 ohms is housed in the cabinet, which has a semi-open-back design with ports that keep bass frequencies focused and tight. The amp provides two individually voiced channels— Ultra and Classic—each of which has its own Volume and Gain controls and shares a single set of EQ controls (treble, middle, bass, presence and resonance) along with a reverb level control. The amps EQ section also features a Tone Shift button that reconfigures the midrange frequencies. It has two power options, the full- (20-watt) and half-power (10-watt) settings are selected via the standby rocker switch, and a Channel Select switch which lets users manually change channels when the footswitch controller isn’t connected.
The rear-panel features ¼-inch Send and Return jacks for the FX loop, a ¼-inch jack for the included footswitch, a 1/8-inch audio input, a 1/8-inch emulated output jack for sending audio to a recording interface or mixer and three ¼-inch speaker output jacks (a single 16-ohm output and one pair of outputs for 1×8-ohm speaker or 2×16-ohm speakers). The footswitch allows the user to switch channels and engage or disengage the FX loop. This is all housed in a sturdy, roadworthy enclosure covered in textured black Tolex and features the classic Marshall aesthetics like the white Marshall logo, gold control panel and knobs, white piping and black woven speaker grill cloth.
Sound Quality
Many guitarists have a pretty good idea of what a classic Marshall tone sounds like. The DSL20C delivers exactly that. While the classic Marshall tone is actually a variety of tones, from crisp, snappy clean and percussive overdrive with just a hint of hair to roaring distortion with fat, punchy midrange and beefy, ballsy bass. The Classic channel of the DSL20C delivers the former.
Its Ultra channel straddles a fine line between the most beloved Marshall tones of the late 70s and 80s along with more modern high-gain textures. While both channels share the same EQ controls, their basic tonal character is similar enough, so that they sound great no matter where the EQ is set; the difference between each channel is more of a matter of gain. What impresses many is how big the bass sounds and how the overall tone has a refined studio-like quality.
Marshall DSL40CR
If there’s any amplifier company that’s an iconic part of rock and blues history, it’s Marshall. Even non-musicians can recognize the white script logo against a black background and associate it with those loud, powerful guitar sounds. While Marshall’s classic 4×12 stack helped define rock and blues guitar, it’s not always the most practical solution, even for a lot of gigging guitarists. Thankfully, Marshall had recognized this and has long made more portable combo amps that balance size, weight, power, and – in the case of the DSL series – versatility.
Design
Marshall’s DSL40CR is a 40W all-tube combo amp with 4x 12AX7 preamp tubes and 2x EL34 power amp tubes. It’s a two-channel single input amp with “Classica Gain” and “Ultra Gain” channels. The speaker is a 1×12″ Celestion V-Type. Marshall decided to go for a built-in digital reverb rather than a traditional reverb tank, and the amp features a Softube emulated output (1/4″). The rear of the amp has numerous speak output options as well as an effects loop, footswitch jack, MIDI in, and a 1/8″ audio in jack. The DSL40CR also has a two-button footswitch.
Knowing the amp’s front panel controls will help to give you a sense of the versatility of this combo. From left to right are the classic gain channel (gain, volume, clean/crunch switch), ultra gain channel (gain, volume, OD1/OD2 switch), treble, middle, bass, tone shift switch, presence, resonance, reverb (classic gain channel), reverb (ultra gain channel), master select switch, master volume I, master volume II, loop on/off switch, power output switch, and power switch. Although the amp includes a two-button switch, along with Marshall’s 6-button switch (the 91016) you can access all four different tones (Clean, Crunch, OD1, & OD2).
Sound Quality
The clean sounds in the DSL40CR are great. We’re not talking about Roland JC-120 tones, and no one will confuse this with a vintage Deluxe Reverb, but its clean tones are really good. It’s possibly the most “pedal-friendly” Marshall combo that you’ll come across. The cleans are clear and have a great depth. With the DSL40CR’s dedicated master volume knobs for each channel, so you can dial in just the right amount of balance between the clean and overdrive channels.
The overdrive channel is a typical Marshall – classic rock, metal, and blues tones are produced well here. From its classic overdrive to its more modern high gain, the sounds available on the ultra gain channel are all high quality, full of depth, and actually usable. While the amp takes pedals really well, you could easily leave your distortion and overdrive pedals at home. Given the versatile sounds of the amp, it’s not unrealistic to say that this amp is sort of an all-in-one homage to many Marshall sounds. Marshall has made it easy to go from 40W to 20W, so you can maintain that “cranked” sound without disturbing the neighbors (or the club owner).
The reverb on the DSL40CR is pretty subtle. You really have to crank it to get much of an effect, however, it sounds good and is quiet.
Conclusion
While both of these Marshall amps are good, the DSL40CR would be the better option as it has a better crunch mode. With the DSL40CR you also get two more voicings as well as more clean headroom.