Visited the shop to try high gain heads for my daughter. Left empty-handed!

De_Batz

tekbow said:

Quick question, and I ask sincerely, is your daughter bothered about clean and mid gain sounds?

Sort of. When we were trying out, one of the sounds she was looking for was a kind of sparkle-y clean/crunch, not a million miles away from an idealised bright AC30. Which of course isn't really in the wheelhouse of a lot of these amps, but of the ones we looked at, the Crunch / Green mode of the DSL50 was far-and-away the closest. It's also much closer to the general rock sound she wants through the ultra channel, although the 6505 was closer for out and out metal. 

I do appreciate the warnings about reliability - this is a 15-odd year old amp, and will need treating with respect but if it's been stable up to now, it's likely to be a catastrophic user-related fail rather than a creeping death fail. Which, if I understand correctly, is most likely to be driven by this grounding issue, and we're not using the 4-8 ohm outputs. 

Anyway, it's been going in the house for a week or so, and it both sounds and looks great. If it goes kaboom, as previously mentioned, we'll have learned a valuable collective lesson. It's a heck of a lot more listenable to me (downstairs!) than the previous Squier practice amp, even if it is a fair amount louder. 

De_Batz

The most galling thing about the entire process is the knowledge that she is very soon going to outstrip me as a player, and once that happens I won't be able to justify keeping the Cornford MK50ii which is realistically her ideal amp. Perhaps I'll swap it for the DSL (plus cash, maybe...?).

ICBM

De_Batz said:

The most galling thing about the entire process is the knowledge that she is very soon going to outstrip me as a player, and once that happens I won't be able to justify keeping the Cornford MK50ii which is realistically her ideal amp. Perhaps I'll swap it for the DSL (plus cash, maybe...?).

Just give her the Cornford.

Then buy a more age-appropriate amp for yourself .

grungebob

ICBM said:

grungebob said:

lol enlighten me sir of the error of my ways? 

Teach me how I’ve wronged. 

Well, you did mention lack of robustness! Correctly... especially the odd PCB-mounted output transformer which I've had to change a couple of, and is complete incompatible with any other type. The first wasn't too bad, I got one from Engl for a reasonable price. The second, they wanted silly money for it - this wasn't after Brexit either - so I had to modify the chassis to take a more standard equivalent. (I found a Peavey one that nearly fitted, I think.)

They do sound good - although I thought the 'Screamer' and 'Thunder' model names for the two very similar amps were the wrong way round, so I would probably pick the Screamer for this sound even though you might think it would be the Thunder. Not sure if they're a better bet than a (UK) Marshall DSL or not - probably about the same really, hence the comment .

Cheers @ICBM.
I had heard the horror stories of robustness and of course the weird maybe even proprietary cable for the big Z5 channel pedal but mine did sound good. Never left the house mind and never used in anger. 

De_Batz

An update: no, sorry to disappoint, it hasn't blown up (yet). 

We finally managed to get an afternoon down at the rehearsal studio and we played the DSL alongside my Cornford through a couple of different cabs. The DSL was unacceptably bright through the G12H30s in my Cicognani 4x12, even with the treble and presence controls down a bit. We tried it through a deep 2x12 (made, I think, by Straight Edge for Vonhatski) with 2 V30s, and it sounded huge. Massive chugging bass, not shrill (which it really was through the G12Hs) but also pretty well defined. 

If I was being unkind, I'd say that the DSL lacked a bit of composure and poise next to the MK50ii, but they're in the same ballpark. The Cornford is clearer, with a much tighter response and a more definition on the front of the note. The Marshall had more sizzle and kerrang, although it probably had a fair bit more gain in the settings we were using. Having said that, I note that the Marshall has what appear to be the original valves throughout, so the EL34s may well be a bit tired. I've had a fiddle with the preamp valves today to try to calm the more histrionic side of it, and brought the bias closer to ICBM's recommended 60mV value (actually more like 30mV, because it's one tube per side not two). But I've only had it going at house-friendly volumes since then. 

I tried the DSL50 when they were new-ish over 20 years ago, and remember that it sounded pretty good, especially in the crunch mode. For my own use, I would want the clean and the crunch modes of the Classic channel (only), and don't have much use for the Ultra gain. 

I did also do the mod to make the output ground less likely to kill the amp, so I'm a bit happier using it at different impedances now.

Hootsmon

The small combo Boogie dual rectifier (Rectoverb 25) is KILLING....and the rhythm side is an encyclopedia of old Fender tones. My best amp purchase by far

Hootsmon

ICBM

Hootsmon said:

The small combo Boogie dual rectifier (Rectoverb 25) is KILLING...

I've been tempted by one of those as a carry-able Trem-o-verb substitute. I tried the head version and thought it had a grainy harshness that couldn't be dialled out, which I've noticed before with the smaller Rectifiers - but it may have been the cab, I've never particularly like the Recto cabs.