Guitar Gear Forum

...sort of. 40w combo version I found on FB Marketplace for $100 that the seller claimed turns on but makes no sound and missing the reverb tank.

After I brought it home I found that it had no tubes in it, hence the no sound. Filled it up with glass and now it seems 'fixed'. Having said that, there's not much to write home about these EL84 JCM2000 amps. Sounds better pumping it through my V30 2x12 cab, but the current iteration of 40w DSL amps are what these should have been from Day 1.

I kind of feel bad for easy fixes like this, but I get it if you're not knowledgeable and just want to offload something. Not only that, but the guy is super nice 82 years young going on 30, and has a really cool shop that I'll be visiting a lot more now. He doesn't play guitar, but likes to buy and sell oddball guitars outside of the typical rock 'n roll stuff. Has a guitar tech to do setups and pickup installs, and has another guy that builds guitars he will sell in his shop, but nobody to work on amps.

2 is 1; 1 is none, right?

Yeah these amps and not that great but for $100??? Hell yeah!!!! They actually work well as pedal platforms. Set the green channel on the edge of breakup and push it with a Klone or a Timmy. It sounds really good that way.

I wouldn't pay $100 for a working DSL401. I owned one a long time ago and unfortunately I got a reliable one so I had to hear it.

I mean... congrats? $100 for the amp, $150 in tubes, and $50 for a reverb tank... idk if that's a bangin deal.

Seems decent for $100 but....


Mine lasted 1 day before blowing up. I lucked out that the seller let me return it to him...

Dave wrote:I owned one a long time ago and unfortunately I got a reliable one so I had to hear it.

Yeah I wasn't jazzed about getting a DSL401 either, but also...

STFU Dave

I do plan on flipping it at some point, as I already have too many amps I'm not playing. I may throw a heat sink on the bridge rectifier as a bit of insurance.

The single speaker doesn't help it out at all of course, but pump it through a Greenback 4x12 and it's actually a pretty banging straight up rock tone. OD2 with gain at 3 is pretty easy on the ears.

Yeah I forgot about these el84 combos. I remember the first time crossing paths with one, like Oh cool, this might be fun to have around.. and then ugh… Is it broke?? Lol

But that’s a great price and maybe with some effort I could actually find a good tone In it. But totally agree the current 40w combos are WAY superior. I had one for awhile before I moved up to the head and looking back I really didn’t need to do that. The 40 was right there especially going Thru my 4x12. Cause I guess essentially these were basically just the old 50 watt DSL heads flipped upside down and stuffed into a combo chassis

EndTime wrote:Yeah I forgot about these el84 combos. I remember the first time crossing paths with one, like Oh cool, this might be fun to have around.. and then ugh… Is it broke?? Lol

But that’s a great price and maybe with some effort I could actually find a good tone In it. But totally agree the current 40w combos are WAY superior. I had one for awhile before I moved up to the head and looking back I really didn’t need to do that. The 40 was right there especially going Thru my 4x12. Cause I guess essentially these were basically just the old 50 watt DSL heads flipped upside down and stuffed into a combo chassis

Honestly I'd take this amp over the JTM60 or JCM600 amps on any day that ends in Y...

Dave wrote:I wouldn't pay $100 for a working DSL401. I owned one a long time ago and unfortunately I got a reliable one so I had to hear it.

I mean... congrats? $100 for the amp, $150 in tubes, and $50 for a reverb tank... idk if that's a bangin deal.

LoLoL

I recall trying some of old dsl combos back in the day and found them very boxy sounding as well as something odd in the treble frequencies (maybe speaker not broken in perhaps, to be fair).

I have a dsl50 head which sounds killer though. Only downside on that amp is the shared eq between two channels is not well balanced so generally i use i use use left on one channel. It sounds great with pedals too.