Metal with the Marshall DSL... is it possible?

[jdejong]

Ive tried getting alot of diffrent metal sounds from my DSL but i can only really ever get a 'hard' rock sound from it.. im totally useless with EQ etc so i was wondering if anyone here could tell me how to get a kick ass metal tone out my DSL or just tell me if it isnt possible.. i dont want to use any pedals for now even though i do have them i just wanted to see if it was possible to get a metal tone out of the amp itself without using ne FX.. If you can help me it would be greatly appreciated the type of metal tone im looking for is good chug tone like killswitch engage, trivium, bleeding through etc

 

all help appreciated

 

PS yes i am aware that the bands i listed dont use Marshalls but if you could tell me how to get a tone similair to theres its more than enough also if its nt possible fair enough bt just tell me so i know

[fishfartz]

im not sure about exact settings but if your amp is not giving you the amount of chug and crunch you are wanting then you may need to run an OD pedal in front. this is different than using a distortion pedal on the clean channel -

 

what you do is use a good OD pedal, and go guitar>pedal>amp. on the OD pedal turn the level (volume) up all the way but keep the drive knob down low, this is pushing your amp with a hotter signal and usually sounds great with alot of amps.

[CM1000]

you can get a metal sound out of it, ive seen death metal bands use dsl's. they are quite a bit heavier than what you listed, turn on the deep switch, and then tone switch. turn the presence up. turnbass/treble up, and the mid a little over half way. of course turn the gain up plentiful. and you have a metal tone, on your guitar use a humbucker in the bridge. of course many people will say different things, but try to use that as your starting point and go from there. its a pretty basic metal setup. let me know how it works out.

[SkyhighRocks]

an EQ in the loop will do wonders...

[BOOGIE666]

dude the JCM-2000 is a killer metal amp, you can get everything from thrash metal, nu-metal, and death metal from that amp.

I also own a dual recto and a mark IV and it holds up well against those two for any type of metal.

[jdejong]

ok cheers guys

[Knut E Evenmo]

A boss sd-1 in front, with lots of level and low on drive, and some kind of EQ in the loop, should give you what you look for, like others have said. I have a Behringer parametric, cheap as heck, and does a great job You could look for one of those,.

[P90DSL]

Which DSL model are you talking about?

[Knut E Evenmo]

 

Originally posted by P90DSL Which DSL model are you talking about?

 

 

lol, very good question. I automatically assume that it is a 100 watt head and a 4x12 cab

[joeyinflames]

dsls are very good from my experience with metal.

[ToneGrail]

What kind of guitar are you using? I've heard this complaint from so many guys that are using single-coil pickups or really low-output humbuckers. To get the full metal effect of the DSL, you need really hot distortion-class humbuckers. You also need to set them close to the strings. With my DiMarzio Super Distortion pickup setup, I can get a brutal metal tone just using the crunch channel on my DSL for rhythm and the lead channel for leads.

[P90DSL]

 

Originally posted by Knut E Evenmo lol, very good question. I automatically assume that it is a 100 watt head and a 4x12 cab

 

 

Yup ... like with a combo you have a hard time getting that low end ... I think for hair metal the DSL-head will work pretty good ... not first choise for new metal stuff and so ... if you try getting the sound without a pedal.

[jdejong]

its a dsl50 running thru 1936 guitar is Gibson LP double cutaway with standard gibson humbuckers...

[men's pants]

Scoop the mids, turn up the contour, blasts the bass and treble, get gain, put some more gain on through an overdrive pedal. One last thing to do, crank it! My experiences with the DSL50 is limited to weekends at a friends, but one thing I have learnt is that you're gonna also have to get power tube saturation to get more out of that amp.

[Knut E Evenmo]

In that case the overdirve/EQ solution should work well

[P90DSL]

There is no contour on the DSL50. So if you have a 1936(that's the 2x12 with G1275's???) you should use the bass shift on cause than you are using the resonace frequencies at 80 hz that your speakers can produce. EQ in the loop works very well with the DSL50/100 and maybe try an compresion pedal.

[travis bickle]

the dsl can certainly handle the metal without a boost, easily. set your dials to 12:00, engage the deep button, and leave the tone shift button disengaged. use this as a starting point and season your eq to taste. everybody's technique is different, so specific settings won't work for everybody.

[onehourburn]

How do you have your EQ set??? Man you should have no problem at all getting metal tones from a DSL... I would use a boss sd-1 as a boost to get a more metal sound if needed.

 

 

 

onehourburn

[travis bickle]

Originally posted by onehourburn How do you have your EQ set??? Man you should have no problem at all getting metal tones from a DSL... I would use a boss sd-1 as a boost to get a more metal sound if needed. onehourburn

 

exactly what i was thinking. its quite easy to dial in a brutal metal tone on this beast. its why i own one myself.

[Exocaster]

The JCM 2000s can get plenty heavy on their own. A boost pedal isn't really a necessity, unless you're going for JCM 800 type tones on the crunch channel, or you need to tighten the bottom end a bit.

 

Both the DSL and TSL have plenty of gain on tap; with my TSL, I usually ran the gain at about 6 on the lead channel for gigging. Turn up the mids and bass (I'm not a fan of the scooped sound myself, but were I to use it, Marshall would probably be my last choice; they get too thin without the mids) and turn up as loud as your drummer/stage size allows. That's the key to Marshalls, really- drive them hard. They really lose something at lower volumes.

 

It's all in your settings and playing style, really. If there's enough gain on tap to get a saturated distortion, it'll get heavy. I use less gain than most, and I had no problems with the JCM 2000. It's all useable gain, too- something you can't really say about the 5150 or Dual Recto.

[NashSG]

There is a whole lot more preamp gain on my TSL100 than my JCM800 combo. I've like this setting for the crunch channel and find it works with both a 1936 and 1960vintage cab. It works with both of my main guitars from a Gib SG and Gib Explorer (sometimes drop the highs a notch with the Exp).

 

Prescence - 7 to 10, depending on room

Low - 7

Mid - 4

High -7

Gain -7

 

I think it sounds pretty good with the master volume on 3 or 4, but really sounds good with the master volume at 6, but that is really, really loud. It also works with the VPR switched in and the master volume between 6 to 8. I don't use the mid shift at all, but the deep button works ok with the 1936 on stage as I don't really need it with the 1960v.

[Astynax]

DSL can certainly do metal and all types - from hair metal to death metal to black metal. Don't expect it to sound like one of these over-processed, super-tight/scooped tones you get on most modern metal CDs though - the DSL has a unique, organic high-mid 'roar'. It is also very responsive to playing styles as well - as someone mentioned earlier, if you want it to sound heavy, PLAY it heavy.

 

I think it's great for metal and highly underrated. Stick with it

[Sick Michael]

A boss SD-1 is the way to go. Forget about an external EQ, IMO, it will not improve the tone of that amp, only degrade it.

 

Turn the amp up, and apply liberal settings with the Boss pedal.

 

Metal tones should be closeby.

 

Cab is going to be a factor too BTW.

[Exocaster]

 

Originally posted by Astynax DSL can certainly do metal and all types - from hair metal to death metal to black metal. Don't expect it to sound like one of these over-processed, super-tight/scooped tones you get on most modern metal CDs though - the DSL has a unique, organic high-mid 'roar'. It is also very responsive to playing styles as well - as someone mentioned earlier, if you want it to sound heavy, PLAY it heavy. I think it's great for metal and highly underrated. Stick with it

 

 

Agreed; I think the Marshall voicing is actually very conducive to heavy tones if it's dialed in right. They can get a great percussive "chunk" to them, and they have plenty of high mids and treble that provide clarity even with the amp dialed in fairly dark. (I used to gig with my treble on 4 and presence between 0-2 and I cut through just fine.) Because of the voicing, they don't really do the scooped thing very well; they thin out too much, but for midrangey tones, they excel. They're at their best not with super-saturated preamp gain, but turned up very loud.

 

As far as playing styles go, I tune fairly low (ESP Eclipse with Custom 5 in the bridge, tuned to C#) and really dig in with the pick- no cranking the gain and just brushing over the strings- and I was able to get convincingly heavy with the gain just over half. (Albeit up stupid loud...) I got compliments on my tone every show with that rig, so they're more than capable.

[Ryan Turner]

Originally posted by jdejong Ive tried getting alot of diffrent metal sounds from my DSL but i can only really ever get a 'hard' rock sound from it.. im totally useless with EQ etc so i was wondering if anyone here could tell me how to get a kick ass metal tone out my DSL or just tell me if it isnt possible.. i dont want to use any pedals for now even though i do have them i just wanted to see if it was possible to get a metal tone out of the amp itself without using ne FX.. If you can help me it would be greatly appreciated the type of metal tone im looking for is good chug tone like killswitch engage, trivium, bleeding through etc all help appreciated PS yes i am aware that the bands i listed dont use Marshalls but if you could tell me how to get a tone similair to theres its more than enough also if its nt possible fair enough bt just tell me so i know

 

It is possible to get tones like that out of a DSL. Alot of it is going to depend on the guitar and speakers your using with it. You can get close with the EQ section on the amp, but you will doo better with an EQ pedal of some sort in the FX loop. This will allow you to tighten up the amp. Also, a boost from some sort of an OD pedal in front of the amp with do it to, it will add more gain with it as well.

 

For newer styles of metal, I usually have the gain around 3 on the OD2 with the EQs at; bass-7, mids-5, high-3.5, pres-3.5 and deep switch on (do not use the tone shift). Then I slam the front of it with a Boss SD-1 set to; level-max, tone-1 oclock, gain-8 oclock. And the sometimes I add a little chorus with my FX unit. This gives me some very heavy tone. THe setting may work different for you because you may not be using the same guitars and speakers as me.