Marshall DSL40CR 1 x 12-inch 40-watt Tube Combo Amp Reviews

This one goes in the "I wasn't really looking for a new amp" file. I saw the price drop and I was shocked at first? But after a call to Richard Grainger and it was on its way. If you're on the fence about the $ or the name,just get you one!

I always wanted a tube driven Marshall amp since I was a kid. I needed an amp for my church band, as I was asked to fill in as a guitarist once in awhile and I needed a guitar amp (I'm primarily the bassist). I decided it was time to finally buy a new amp, since I got rid of my old Crate a decade ago. Are they even around anymore? Anyhow, this amp blew me away with the sheer amount of volume the DSLCR40 produces. The clean tone is great, and thunderous overdrive is a blast! I do pair this with my Head Rush Core that I just purchased; albeit, mixing technology with a Marshall is probably an unforgivable sin in purist circles. I'm just too lazy/cheap to figure out an analog effects board to put together, plus the Head Rush Core works great with my bass. Anyhow, I have zero buyer's remorse with this amp! When I do use this at church, it will be more than ample for that venue; especially, since we have front of house support.

I honestly can't say enough positive things about this amp. With very minimal moddimg it sounds like a beautique amp, and because of the channel layout it has flexibility that makes it second to none. This has become a desert island amp for me. The cleans are very fenderish, the crunch covers classic rock very well, and the ultra gain channel is wonderful for high gain Hendrix tones. The only problem is that the reverb is very mild, but it definitely works to fatten up the tone without being overwhelming.

I'm an at home player, about 2.5 years into electric guitar. I've cycled through a number of guitars and amps and I think I can stop hunting for -the- amp. I'm sure it won't be the last, but the next one won't be because I'm looking for something the last doesn't do well. Fear not 40 watts, I'm in an apartment, and I leave this DSL40 on the 40 watt setting all the time. The tone, clean and crunch especially, even at lower levels, is exceptional. On the classic gain channel I typically keep the master around 10:00 and the volume and gain about noon. With single coils this works out to about 86-87 db peak volume. The ultra gain is pretty good as well but I haven't spent much time there yet.

I will note one reason I leave it on 40 watts is that the 20 watt setting seems to lose a fair amount of tone quality.

The reverb is quite good, though a bit subtle. I leave it all the way up. I was able to dial the presence (noon) and resonance (barely any) in for my space and guitars fairly quickly. The 3-band eq is well graded and you can manage treble, mid and bass quite effectively.

Looks - it looks like a Marshall. To me that means fairly unattractive but at the same time it oozes cool factor.

I like this amp a lot and highly recommend it. Just be aware it has a fairly large footprint for a 1x12 and it is 50 lbs.

Great amp, but even better, excellent service!

I had not bought a new Marshall Amp since 2012, when i bought a Marshall Vintage Modern 50 watt, the Ulimate Giging amp,
I had a Marshall Valvestate, and Marshall Class 5, but i needed a high quality Tube Combo Amp for smaller gigs and
recording. I had a Marshall 401 10 years ago, but i sold it. This DSL40CR is a Whole DIfferent amp than the 401 it
sounds as good as Plexi's in OD1, and the DSL 100 in OD2. I have a new Vintage 30 speaker im putting in for extra
low end and Chunk, although the V Model Speaker is pretty good, im just used to Vintage 30s. No Complaints or problems
its a Wonderful Adition to my Marshall collection.

I've been gigging with a Fender BJ4 for a couple years now. I bought a Marshall DSL40cr and have had one practice with it. It sounds a lot better to my ears and the extra headroom and cab size make my playing much clearer. It's also able to pull of sounding good in an apartment which surprised me. The BJ4 was hard to make sound good at low volumes. I'm waiting on the 6 way footswitch now which will just make me like the amp even more. I did have an issue with the first amp shipped but Sweetwater shipped out another one right away. Great customer service.

Great sounding amp! Works wonderfully paired with my Les Paul standard and Evh overdrive

There isn't much about this amp I can write that others before me haven't already done but one want thing I wanted to call out is practicing at home on low volume as I had some concerns around that / saw different opinions online. With the master volume almost all the way up and controlling output level with the channel volume it sounds amazing, much better than the couple of digital amps I had before this. Also, using 4 cable method with the effects loop for pedals really cuts down on buzz. Very pleased with this amp so far.

I received my Marshall dsl 40 CR a couple weeks ago. I have a 40 w fender HDR. I love that Fender amp. Reverbs awesome really the whole amp is awesome. But I wasn't able to get some of the tones out of my amp that I wanted without using stomp boxes.

This is where my Marshall comes in, with that amp I can achieve those tones. Personally speaking for myself for playing at home. I have 2 amps that covers everything that I would ever want to play. I also purchased a JHS little black anp box. I put it in my effects Loop and I can really crank those tubes and that little black amp box does an awesome job it taming the volume. Awesome setup I'm very very pleased.

Sweetwatwer nailed it for me. big thank you to Stephen! This amp really rocks! The neighbors love it, ha ha. def A great purchase. sweetwater rocks and the delivery was Great!

I've not owned a Marshall since the late 80's and that was just a practice amp. Overall it's a great amp but like other high-class tube amps, if you have the gain up too much the tone gets really muddy. I use to have a Mesa Dual Rectifier head and that was the same way. I have to keep the gain somewhere around 7 for a metal tone (kept the gain on 7 also on the Mesa). When I had the Mesa I also used a G-Major for effects and a BBE Sonic Maximizer for an awesome tone. I don't have that gear any more but I'm sure that the Maximizer would continue to clean up the tone on this. Just like other high gain amps if you crank it up you'll need a Gate. The clean channel is a bit thin but like other amps the EQ applies to all channels, which is the reason I had a G-Major, you could EQ each channel separate. I've not used the FX loop to see how that works.

I had a DSL40C from years ago that needed a few mods to get it where I wanted it to be. This 40CR needs no mods. Great modern Marshall tone with more than enough features.

I bought this being my first Marshall and I am blown away. I have never played threw anything as good and I am so happy with it. Thank you sweetwater and a shout out to Logan Ashman great job man keep up the great work.

I purchased this amp with the intent to jam, practice and perform at
potential future gigs. This amp is fairly portable, yet powerful enough
for my liking. As of yet, I have not used this amp at any gigs yet.

Set this to the 40w setting and was blown away with how loud this amp can be!
Normally, I have been using the 20w setting in both clean and crunch modes.
The send and receive jacks let you separate your pedals from the main
input if you so desire.

This amp is quiet enough at the 20w setting in the clean mode for home practice
without disturbing your neighbors. especially if you live in an apartment.
Also, if you find this still too loud, the emulated output jack is great
for nighttime practice. It lets you plug in headphones in standby mode.

If you are looking for a mid-range a tube amp with some bang, check this
amp out. It is fairly portable. It does weigh 50 lbs but you can save you
back if you wheel it to gigs with a small dolly.

Had this amp for a few years now and have not been disappointed in the least. Great tone whether it's clean or distorted. But I have to say, the best thing you can do is to purchase the 6 way footswitch when you buy this amp. It is an absolute game changer for getting the most out of the DLS40. I find myself using my pedals more for the actual effects and less for trying to squeeze out a sound.

of an amp! I absolutely love the power and tones that come out of this amp. Can't recommend it enough.

The Celestial speaker is clear and even with the gain cranked. It cuts through the mix without making your ears bleed. The tone controls do exactly that - control your tones. Very nice amp

Thank you Ronny Jackson. This combination has made a dream come true. Yours and Sweetwater's work with me on all this was an allsome experience.I want to personally Thank you and the Lutheran for the upgrades. I hope to one day to get to visit Sweetwater and meet you guys personally. Now for the review----only thing to say is that it's Marshall and Gibson----WOW, am I in heaven

This amp slaps harder than the 2022 Academy Awards.

I like that it has many options of tone, distortion and cleans. I have only used it a few times but so far so good. It's lighter than my Fender supersonic 60 by about 20 pounds - and I like that.

I needed something for my home studio and this is a actually more than adequate, sounds fantastic and has plenty of power.

I bought this 40w tube, now I only play at home and wanted something I could really crank, this thing blows my 30 watt solid state amp to pieces, it is SUPER loud and even louder than my 30 watt when set to 20w, nothing like those classic Marshall tones, and there is nothing like playing a Gibson Les Paul through a Marshall, I don't think I will ever need anything else, Logan Kinsey is the man and always delivers, even called me a couple of weeks after the purchase to see how I was liking it and if there was anything he could do for me, Love the Sweetwater team!

Great amp. Can get nice clean tones but also really heavy dirty tones. So many options. Sounds good on 20w setting to for small rooms but can get really loud on 40w for bigger venues. Great with most pedals to so it's hard to go wrong.

Fantastic combo amp that nails all of the classic Marshall tones with unbelievable clarity on every note and nuance . Reverb and Effects loop are the frosting on the cake!
Very versatile and powerful amp. Highly recommend the 6 way footswitch. I love this amp!

I grew up mostly playing acoustic guitar. I've always had an electric but never really messed with it much. Fast forward about 20 years and that all has changed. I went through a number of amps looking for the iconic electric guitar tones I grew up listening to. Then I came across this amp. I actually had the precursor to it and upgraded so I could use the 6 way foot switch. The older model won't accept it. I plug in my Les Paul and WOW. Yup. That's the tone I'm looking for.

The versatility between all the channels gives you everything you need. As others have said, the reverb might as well not even be there because it's so weak. That's the only draw back to this amp. Get a decent pedal and problem fixed. This amp sounds amazing in so many ways that I wouldn't even consider that to be a problem quite honestly. Would it be nice if it were better? Sure. But at this price point for that legendary Marshall tone I'm ok with having plug a pedal in.

As far as tone, it is thick and smooth as glass. Very chunky on the low ends in a beautiful way when using the ultra gain for metal and just syrupy and warm when you dial it back for blues. The clean channel is also nice and sparkly. Some other reviewers said the amp sounded "thin" but that has not been my experience in the least. Run something with a set of humbuckers through it instead of single coils and you won't be disappointed. This amp is a beast, all the way around. It's a perfect one stop shop set up.

I've had this amp only a couple of weeks now, but it is fantastic so far. The cleans are clean and warm and the dirty setting has tons of bite and attitude to make noises similar to all the hard rock bands you adore. The fit and finish is great. The switches and knobs are solid and settings intuative. I keep forgetting it's only 40 watts.

This is my first Tube amp and my first Marshall amp. My only regret is that I waited so long to buy it. If you are on the fence, you won't be disappointed!

Just say Marshall DSL40CR, and you have said it all.
I'm not a professional musician, so I may have bought something that is a bit out of my league, but I don't care. This amplifier does it all, no need for distortion pedals. If you adjust the amp accordingly, it will give you more sound effects than any other amp In its class.
Buying the Marshall DSL40CR from Sweetwater was a dream come true. The price was fabulous and that's the only reason I bought the amp because I never ever seen this dream machine at this low of a cost anywhere, so I had to splurge and buy it. I love it and praise God that I am now the proud owner of this beautiful dream machine.

There are a lot of reviews here so I'm not going to go into great detail. The amp just sounds great. I haven't had any issues with hissing as some reviewers have had. Maybe I just got a good one. My biggest surprise was how much I love the clean channel. If you're looking for a Nashville clean this might not be your first choice but for a bluesy warm smokey clean this is it. I got the 6 button switch. It will give you a functional 3 channel as its very difficult if not impossible to get all 4 volume to play nice with each other but I don't find that a problem. It took me some time and exploration to find the sounds I wanted but the experimenting was worth it. The reverb is subtle. Almost every review mentions this. I concur. I expected this when I purchased. I would think most people attracted to this amp would have a desire for a much more robust reverb than this amp has. I use a walrus fathom pedal (sounds great). I put the reverb and a delay in the loop and all other effects before the amp. I had high expectations for this amp and they were met. Looks great too.

Thaks!i love it!!

This is my 1st Marshall amp and I just love it!! I use it with my 59 Custom Shop LP, my PRS, my Telecaster. Everything sounds great through this amp, IMO.

It's a great amp! Has the Marshall tone you have been seeking. Absolutely love it paired with my Les Paul. The reverb isn't quite what it could be, and it is made in Taiwan but still amazing. Thank you Brandon for all your help, and advice helping me choose this amp

First the cons just to get them out of the way...
No tremolo... but it's not a Fender twin lol
Reverb not too shabby for digital Reverb but falls very short of a lush spring Reverb... old dsl's had spring should have kept them.

Now the good stuff...
The tone is pure Marshall all the way.
Very easy to dial in any sound you want AND stays that way at nearly any volume level... love it
Small in size one 12 inch speaker but this thing can bark. Oh sure if playing a stadium you'll need to mic it but will hold its own on nearly any club small venue stage and still sound sweet in your rehearsal space or living room. Get one you'll love it.

What can I say this Marshall amp is bar none I absolutely satisfied it's
got that classic Marshall sound!!!!!!!!!!

Perfect amp for me. Mostly play/practice in my living room. Amp gets load. Has known Marshall sound. The clean is very clean and the gain gives you the ac/dc sound right off the bat. Easily to sit up. I added the six selection foot pedel, and it was the correct call. As always the sales tech was a pleasure to work with.

I recently bought the DSL 40 watt amp and I'm very impressed by the sound, especially for the price. I started having problems with my very expensive Fender '57 Deluxe reissue after only a year of playing and needed a new amp fast. I have always liked players who use Marshalls but I have heard bad things about the newer ones sometimes and I didn't want to buy a really expensive one to start off with. Now I don't think I even need a more expensive model. This amp sounds great with it without pedals. I wouldn't recommend it for a clean sound.

Had to finally admit that my Marshall code 50 isn't cutting it. Solid state,thin tone and just plain over engineering. So pulled the trigger and bought this killer amp. Does it have the sound of a half stack, no. But for the money you get tube quality sound. If you like yourself some Clapton or some Crowbar you'll be satisfied.

Classic Marshall tones in the only tube amp you can buy for under $2000. It's my go to. Highly recommend it especially for live performance

This thing is an absolute tone beast! I just got this amp. This was an upgrade from a Katana. This is an amazing amp, especially when you crank it up. It has a beautiful, crisp clean tone, and it's great for shredding too! My only suggestion is that if you want some more reverb, pick up a reverb pedal.

I'm impressed with the features in this amp the High/Low switch that also has a stand by option I really like when in the stand-by Turing the amp on and off with out any cracking crunchy sounds. It's a bit heavy for its size to me it just demonstrates the quality inside the cabinet... right. Overall I like the 40

I looked around for an back-up/smaller venue/practice amp for my 100W 2x12 100lb Messy Booger. My previous back-up was a Peavey Classic 30; a really good amp too, but, lacked in the high-gain metal sound. Let me tell you now, the Marshall DSL40CR does it all. All the sounds/tones "are in there" like Prego spaghetti sauce. Clean, crunch, pushed, AC/DC, ballz out Iron Maiden metal this amp does it very well. It has the "Marshall sound." I know this amp is truly a two channel amp, but you can get 4 different levels of gain out of it. The tone stack is shared, repsonsive, and in conjunction with the presence and resonance control, you can dial it right in to where your ear likes it. If you are playing live shows, the Marshall PEDL-91016 6 button switch is a must-have as you can get all 4 sounds with the tap of your foot plus a volume boost and an effects loop on/off. I was never and never will be a pedal guy and this amp doesn't really need it for 95% of rock. I do run a Zoom MS-70CDR in the effects loop for the other 5% of rock. This thing weighs in at 50lbs or 1/2 my other amp so it will not break your back or take you out going up and down stairs. It is plenty loud enough to do sizable rooms un-mic'ed. I did purchase the Marshall MX212R 160-watt 2x12" extension cabinet for larger rooms and man; you get a sweet azz mix of open back sizzle and closed back thud; also recommend. Don't let the lack of a Union Jack on the back of the amp or the MDF construction deter you, it seems to be constructed pretty well and fits my price point. I wasn't in the market for a $2500+ practice amp anyways. The Sweetwater customer service from Austin Zachrich and the crew in Ft. Wayne was top notch and hearkened me back to a day when the customer was actually first. I will definitely shop here again. Summing up: 1st amp, 2nd amp, working amp, practice amp, any genre of rock: the Marshall DSL40CR fits the bill. STOP SEARCHING AND BUY THIS AMP!

Be careful.. buying a Marshall will create a life long addiction. No complaints.

Third amplifier I have owned, and i can say the tone is something totally different from many others, great amp for beginners and pros alike

Get it. It sounds how it looks. Unquestionable. You won't regret this.

I have always been pretty much a Fender Guy when it came to amps, which meant I always had a couple pedals hooked up so I could get overdrive & distortion at a moderate volume. I decided with so many good options available I would treat myself to a High End Boutique Amp of my choosing ! I chose a $2500.00 Dandy !! It screwed up the 3rd time I played it, so heartbroken I returned it!
I bought the Marshall DSL40 CR without even plugging it in... Because you know,...I've played a few Marshall's I knew I would get my overdrive and distortion - pedal free. BUT WHOA !!!!! This ain't your Daddy's Marshall ! They have put in features that make it so easy to sound great at any volume ! Easily set up 2 channels and GO ! I LOVE this amp !
My Gibson's and Fender's both come alive in this amp !
There's a reason THIS amp has 100 + reviews !
Lesson Learned : Don't pass by this amp thinking it's like every other Marshall you've tried !

My new DSL40cr has that sound I've been after for years. This is not my first Marshall. I own four others - a couple of old Valvestates and a couple of newer CODEs. All of the Marshalls I own are great amps and deliver great sound. But none of them quite had the sound I was looking for. My Strats were lacking just that extra bit of sound that good Strats are known for, and my Les Paul just didn't quite have that sound that screams LP to me. I mean, don't get me wrong - my other Marshalls deliver great tone - but it was like 98% of what I was after.

Enter the DSL40cr. Awesome things can come in small (but not light!) packages. This little DSL pushed things across the finish line, in a huge way, delivering everything I was hoping for. My Strats sound like Super Strats and my Les Paul has that great LP character. Doesn't matter if I've set up the amp to play clean, crunch, or overdriven, the tone is there. Wow! I am so stoked!

I do a lot of recording with my home studio. Having the emulation out is a major deal for me because I can feed the signal directly into the software, allowing me maximum control over the amp's output.

Get one. I promise you won't be disappointed.

I've been a "blues clean tone amp" type of guy most of my 20+ years of guitar playing...but have recently started to venture into the 80's/90's hard rock and metal sound arena. The amps I had just couldn't cut the mustard when it came to crunch and high gain rock/metal sounds. I pulled the trigger on this and I'm not disappointed. Clean channels are good as well as the high gain channels. Give it a go if you're hesitating. Shout out to my sales engineer, Tyler Moore, this guy knows his stuff and has been keeping in touch with me for years...that is customer support.

I am a bass player that absolutely loves excellent guitar tones: I tend to be a Strat man, and that's what I play through this wonder.....I have an Ampeg SVT and a Hartke stack (16 x 10) and this little guy will stand proud next to either.....at 40 watts! wow. The sound (tone) is genuine Marshall and that's way cool! I almost went for a Vox combo, but something made me go with the Marshall. Glad I did because I am very happy with th this 50 pound screamer!
Blues Persuasion

This amp is the best sounding, and clearest, I've ever had!!. I'm used to playing from a Fender 20 watt. I just play in my back musicroom, But the CR40 is as loud as I have ever played through, It will blow the neighbors away if I felt like it!.

From the perspective of someone who is into all types of metal genre's this amp lives up to the hype. I tried the DSL20 in a music store and thought it sounded really thin with no low end. I watched a lot of youtube reviews looking at the 15 to 20 watt heads and combos that are out there. Along the way I also learned how much of an effect different speakers can really have and that the 70-80 in the DSL20 is indeed thin with no low end. After all of that 'research' I decided the Marshall 40 was worth trying and it was love at first djent. The 4 different voicings/channels I think cover anything you might want to play. I have no complaints other than as others have said the reverb is a bit underwhelming. Bought a refurb and unfortunately the mid range pot had a bad connection. The people at Sweetwater were great to deal with and sent me out another asap and sent me a label to return the defective one.

I've always wanted a Marshall valve amp, but they were invariably out of reach as far as my bank account was concerned.

Real estate inside my home studio is tighter than a gnat's butt. Although I would have loved to get a half-stack, a combo seemed a much better choice in order to conserve space. But, naturally I didn't want to sacrifice that awesome Marshall sound in doing so.

That said, I did my research and found nothing but rave reviews about this unit all over the web. At a nearly unbelievable low price, I could resist no longer. I pulled the trigger, and man am I ever glad I did!

Using my Strat, the "Classic Gain" channel set to Clean is amazing… What beautiful, warm Marshall tone without a hint of line noise. I'll be using that 99% of the time since I run a lot of outboard pedals, and its effects loop is a huge plus in that regard. Speaking of which, I just added a standard Crybaby wah to the collection, and it's a match made in heaven.

As far as the "Ultra Gain" channel goes, batten down the hatches. I almost blew the windows out since I still had the guitar's volume pretty cranked after checking out the Clean channel. Both OD's are great, the second being not only louder but much more "pronounced" than the first, albeit a little noisier with a some hum. However, nothing I can't live with.

I wasn't expecting much from the emulated output, and to be honest I dislike its sound plugged into the Behringer ADA8200 A/D interface feeding my DAW. No matter, I wouldn't dream of recording this amp using anything other than a mic to capture its true sound anyway. However, it might be useful in combination with a mic to add a little extra "oomph" through a PA in live situations.

In the end, this thing absolutely roars, and for the money it's most definitely a no-brainer purchase. Thanks to my Sales Engineer Aaron Andersen for all his help, Sweetwater rules the Internet for buying gear on-line as far as I'm concerned.

P. S. Warning: Playing a Les Paul with humbuckers through this amp in just about any mode could possibly lead to irreversible brain damage! ;^)

The only problem with the last one was the speaker, for some it was a little bright and brittle, THIS model has fixed that and it sounds sweet. Maybe this will be your first tube amp?, if so, welcome to the milk and honey. This amp will get you the Marshall tone which is what you need for rock, blues and vintage metal. If your playing thrash or death metal you CAN get that tone but you'll need pedals to get you there, including a noise gate. Everything works well. Perfect for home studio. IF you'r going to play this amp with a drummer in a live rehearsal setting.. you may want to get a tried and true 50/100 watt head and cabinet. I tried this amp for a band rehearsal (thrash band) and it was not as quite as loud as I needed. Its LOUD, just not for that band with the one 12" speaker. Ive spoken with others who have plugged this amp into a cabinet like a 2x12 or 4x12, using the 40 watt amp as a head amp and bypassing its own speaker, and they said that made the difference to be able to rehearse with full band. I didn't try it myself but it makes sense to me and wished I had tried that. I have two Marshall 100w heads also now. BUT its a great amp I recommend this one.

This was an upgrade from a starter modeling amp that was long overdue. It took one chord to know it was a worthwhile purchase.

I've had a Vox VTX since picking up 2 years ago after a long hiatus. That was a good option to get started again and to figure out what my preference would be for future investments. As I found that about 90% of what I cover was originally done on a Marshall, this was a logical choice.

There was instant gratification when I turned off my marshall-style gain pedals and intantly found a tone they could never achieve. The presence and sizzle was never there on the Vox or the pedals, and I experienced something altogether new - touch sensitivity.

It is still overpowered for my normal use, but even dialed down, you get that tone and touch sensitivity. You get great Marshall cleans, crunch, and metal.

Great sounding amp clean or distortion. Buy it you won't be sorry

Bought this amp about a year ago and I could not be more happy with the purchase.
Excellent value for the money. I looked at just about every amp on the market. I wanted the classic Marshall sound and this amp delivers!
I have used it as a head for the most part, so I took the V speaker out. I was surprised how good that speaker sounded actually. Real good clean sounds, better than the greenback cab I use. Had that great glassy tone. Didn't buy for the cleans tho!
This amp has a great range of tones! And is very usable by itself without pedals. I use all the channels, awesome sounding cleans, try the tone shift button on yer cleans. The crunch is classic Marshall 800 sounds. Love this channel! Gain around 3/4, creamy deliciousness. Stick your phase 90 in the front and get some brown! The ultra 1 is really great as well, got the hot jcm mod sounds. Got all the Lynch squeals you are looking for. And OD2 is just really over the top. I still find it very usable but it will depend on yer pickups. It is metalicous for sure, but it will also give you the over the top Hendrix fuzz blowin up tone if you feed it a strat. All about the eq. Really like being able to leave the dirt pedals out of the chain for the sake of simplicity. And amp gain sounds better! I lot of people hate the emulated out. I like it, a lot. Really dig the silent output feature. I doesn't sound like a miked speaker. Some say muffled, You need to eq it differently, that's all. I run into an analog board, and get good sounds. I leave the reverb off to help with muddiness and add any effect at the console. The presence and resonance control don't work thru out. They are part of power amp section. I just look at it as a tube powered preamp/DI with 4 gain stages. You basically have to crank the channel pre amp volumes pretty loud to get a hot enough signal. The crunch channel will clip if you spike the volume and gain above 75% thru the line out but not the speaker. That doesn't happen in the other 3 channels. No big deal there is enough signal strength to avoid it, and it may not be a problem if your pickups aren't super hot. I find the effects loop to be decent, I only run a deluxe memory man which is a bit muddy anyway, so it works fine for me. Because of the way the channel and master volumes are set up and assignable, you really have the ability to control this amp. I haven't gigged yet, so I mainly use the 20 watt setting. Fairly certain she would be loud enough for gigs. Got a big sound thru my big stage cab. And plenty of low end even thru my closed back 1/12. Which is perfect for studio and home use. This amp is basically a new version of the jcm 2000 and has the same setup. I prefer a more vintage tone so, swapped the power tubes for the new Mullard 34's and new mullard cv4004's in the v1 & 2. This in addition to the cream back speaker really get me there. I am glad I didn't spend twice as much for one of the studio mini's or 3x's the $ for the jvm. Same circuit board construction after all. (No disrespect, surely they are higher quality, and have better warranty)
This is my first Marshall. Owned a few tube amps in my day. I like this one a lot! It may be one of my favorite. There is a '64 vibroverb sitting next to it, And I'm playing this amp instead. (Okay maybe that's because it's way too loud, but still...and I don't need a bunch of pedals) Just saying for the sake of comparison, this amp is definitely worth checking out. And just cause it's made in the 'Nam instead of Bletchley, don't mean jack.
(No offense to the Union Jack):)

Recently bought the Marshall dsl 40cr. A terrific amplifier. Plenty of headroom at 40 watts. Plenty loud at 20 watts. Especially impressed with the clean channel. Beautiful chiming sounds which compare favorably, at 20 watts, with my Fender blues Jr. lll at 15 watts. Play mostly blues and jazz, and, while this is a true overdrive machine, it handles my needs beautifully. The only issue with this amp is the reverb, which is mediocre at best. Enter the Source collider, which is a perfect complement to this amp. Lush, beautiful reverbs and delays complete the gorgeous tones.
Props to Mason Moss, who is always a pleasure to deal with, and who always steers me in the right direction. Looking forward to many more dealings with him.

If you love Marshall tone, you will not be disappointed with this gem...and the build quality is superb... features like silent recording are just icing on the cake..just a magnificent musical instrument in it's own right..

I have or have used every amp ever made. While Marshall's have always been my go to since the late 70's, I am totally blown away by the amalgamum
of literally every tone from the 1987 50watt I first bought in 1972, thru to the gorgeous Jcm2000 DSL head that I've used as my main amp since 1999.
I almost didn't give the DSL40cr a shot because the early model DSL 40 was absolutely not usable for my studio and live needs. Soooo, to wrap this up, I am absolutely sold on this combo, and will purchase another just to keep at home. Hey guys and gals: get this baby! You will not need to keep searching for the
British tone in your head, cuz whatever era of Marshall sound you're looking for is in the DSL 40cr. Peace out!

Plug a tube screamer in front of this thing paired with my ESP Eclipse w EMG active pickups and it has the best Metal tone ever. Just have to warm up the tubes to get the full effect. Sounds better and better eveytime I play. Must have if u can get your hands on one.

This is the AMP I was looking for! I am very happy with the tones and features the DSL40CR delivers. That classic crunch and hard rock goodness can be had very easily. The reverb is great and not heavy handed. Having a switch to toggle the FX Loop is awesome. Not to mention the speaker is very nice and high quality. The construction and looks are excellent. I absolutely love the fact that the controls are located on the front of the amp making it easier to adjust them. This is a must when your amp is on a stand as the amp will tilt back. I traded a very dark yet shrill sounding HT Series BlackStar for this amp and I could not be happier. This was the

Classic, iconic, legendary...call it what you will, but there is no denying that Marshall sound. This amp has it in spades. Great cleans, and grinding crunches at every level. Being able to switch from 20 to 40 amps is nice, both sound equally excellent. Worth every cent, only wish I had bought one sooner!

I have played through Marshall amps before but never bought one. Not sure why I waited so long now. I have a lot of tube amps, mostly Fenders, some vintage hand wired ones and some newer pcb ones, so I am spoiled with clean tone and good reverb. With this Marshall amp I am able to get a good clean and dirt tone and over the top with the other overdrive and fuzz pedals I have. The reverb is lackluster, but I have pedals for that..

This amp seems to be well built and no problems yet. The effects loop works great, low noise floor, works good at bedroom level with a volume pedal in the fx loop. The speaker sounds pretty good to me, in fact I have a 2x12 ext. cab with two 8ohm Celestion G12V-70 speakers installed.

I am currently playing it in stereo with a Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb, these two amps really sound good together. Sounds good in stereo with an old 80's Fender Super Champ also..

I have tried some of my guitars with humbuckers, P90's and single coils, no issues and sounds great with all of them. The Gilmour wired strat I have really comes alive in that Marshall amp, I have two Dimarzio VV54's and an X2N in the bridge, sustain for days.

The line out tracks good into my DAW, sounds good in the headphones and I can silent record if I want to by switching the amp into standby mode. I cannot do that with most of my Fender tube amps.

This thing is a winner in my studio, great tone once you get it dialed in..

Let's not beat around the bush here and be honest, this is what Willis was talkin bout. Your neighbors might hate you after this purchase but you'll love it.

Roll the masters and gain all the way out, noon everything else, select OD2 and hang on. You put the coals to this thing and it's obnoxiously loud and awesome. You'll find out quick if you have a understanding wife and neighbors or wishing you had signed that prenup and never moved into that HAO.

But on the flip side the cleans out of this thing are rather impressive and don't get the nod it should. Is it fender clean?.... not quite but what more could ask for out of a combo amp? The beauty of this amp is you don't have to crank it to make it sound good/better like some other tube amps out there.

If you're on the fence just go for it!

Been a clean Fender amp user for a while now and I wanted an amp that I didn't need pedals to get a great gain sound. This amp does a great crunch and gain sound, the clean is just ok. It has reverb, but it's also just ok. It is very loud. If you buy this amp get the six button foot switch. (Note: this amp would only get a 4.5 if I didn't have the six button foot switch)

I purchased this amp recently and fell in love with the way it sounds. It has that great classic Marshall distorted tone when pushed, but it will also clean up very nicely. The amp technically has four channels, but only two can be accessed with the foot switch that comes with it. To me it's not a huge deal to switch channels by hand, but the optional 6 button foot switch would be nice to have for ease of use. The clean channel on this amp also sounds really good. It never seems to get any love when this amp is reviewed and I'm not sure why. It has a very nice warm, bright sound, and has a ton of room for adjustment to dial it in how you like it. I use the amp on "half power" mode most of the time as I'm a bedroom player but I don't notice any differences between full and half power. The amp delivers regardless of what wattage is selected. This is the perfect amp for people like me who like to jam in their house but it would also be great for a small/medium sized practice space or venue. I don't have any gripes with the amp whatsoever and I'm glad I decided to purchase one! Thanks to everyone at Sweetwater for the ultra fast shipping and great customer service like always!

I absolutely love this amp. I have been playing off and on for 30 years. i have owned MANY tube and SS amps. ive been through several rigs of clean amps driven by stomp boxes and dirty amps trying to clean up. My favorite tones are classic rock - early Metal. This amp covers all of that perfectly. It can be absolutely brutal sounding or totally pristine clean. i will admit i rarely run it on "clean". Clean for me is OD1 green gain at noon and i back off the guitar volume. For real, i just sold all my stomp boxes as they were all designed to fake these tones. its built like a tank and the stock v-type speaker is great. i mod almost every piece of gear i own so ill likely try different speaker JFTHOI. i have payed way more for far less in an amp so im totally happy with the price. Sweetwater service was 100% as always.

This thing is phenomenal!!!! It's 4 channels, (technically 2) of pure Marshall mojo. Love the 20watt/40 watt option. Assignable master volume is a nice feature. It's articulate through all channels and gains. I shouldn't have waited so long to pull the trigger.

The amp is terrific and the instructional links are a life saver for a novice like me.

Everything I expected and more. Easy to operate and it sounds great. Marshall quality at a fair price.

I've been playing guitar for 30 years. I've always wanted a tube driven Marshall, just never took the plunge and invested in one until now. I have zero regrets, it's everything I hoped it was and then some. Classic tone, distortion for days, and that iconic classic rock look and feel you've always admired from afar. I only wish I could have afforded it sooner.

First, I have to say thank you to the Sweetwater team and Bob for helping me pick out this amp. I'm forever a Sweetwater customer.

Now, the amp. I bought this amp months ago, but I've been waiting to do my review until I could fully teste it out. I am blown away by this baby. This is that beautiful marshall sound, at a reasonable price, and will shake the walls of your house and your neighbors (without even nearing the max volume). If you're thinking about getting the 20w, don't. Get this. If you're thinking about getting this and using the 20w switch, you won't lol. I've used it once, and that was just to try it out. You can use the 40w setting, turn it down (find that balance between, gain, volume and master volume), and is clear on all levels.

There are very few combo amps that come with everything this amp has, plus more. The effects loop and switch are money! The reverb is eh, but I didn't buy it for that. The other controls are absolute money, and very responsive. You can easily dial in the tone you are looking for.

I really love this amp, and so will you

This amp is perfect for rock or blues. Easy to use and sounds amazing. Great for a jam room or a venue.

This my first tube amp, Ive had Fenders, Marhalls, Peaveys and others. I am so glad I bought this one. Even at low volume its still has the bite when you crank it up. I could say so much more but I just be repeating all the great things already said.

Bought this at the start of COVID. My DSL-CR came with a Celestion G-12 70 instead of the Seventy 80. The clean channel was bright and thin. The dirty channel was almost useless. Almost gave up put did some research a speaker change seemed to be worth a shot. I bought a cream back on the advice of a tech from Sweetwater. Now instead of struggling to find a tone I can live with, just about everything sounds fantastic. I find it hard to believe that Marshall would spec this speaker. I gave it 5 stars because it has that Marshall sound albeit the new speaker. Without the upgrade it's a disappointment.

i received it 3 days after ordering it and was extremely impresses by the sound and it was actually i bit larger the i expected but this amp has amazing sound and will not need to be replaced for many years to come. Well worth the money...as soon as i can afford it i will upgrade to the six switch foot peddle it comes with a 2 switch but i believe the 6 switch would be worth it.

This is my first tube amp and it sounds amazing! I bought this amp because the cruch and OD1 and OD2 channels sound so good, you don't have to use pedals. I do use a TC Electronic MojoMojo OD pedal with it, just for fun, but it is not necessary at all. This takes pedals very well, and can get as loud as you could ever need it. It is Rock n Roll!!!!!

I have been playing guitar for over 40 years and normally play through a Fender Super Reverb for clean tones and use overdrive pedals, such as analog man TS9DX 808 silver mod, and King of Tone, for distortion and a biComprosser for compression. I have always been happy with that setup and still have it but the Marshall does all of that as a standalone amp. The clean channel on the green and overdrive on the green, with master volumes all the way up, make it super easy to get clean by rolling off the volume and can go to crunch and overdrive easily. This is definitely a keeper and so happy with my purchase!!

Straight up rock and roll. Very happy with this amp and especially the fact that Marshall made it easy to bias the amp with external bias test points and bias pots. Hard to beat... Wish they made it in a 40 watt head configuration.

The same packs quite a punch. Has all the classic Marshall overdrive tone. And classic clean sounds

Great amp, change speaker for a V30 (bass was chocking) and it is now even greater.

Owned a master volume channel switching JCM 800 from 1986 to 1996. A MG 50 from 1999 and still use it as an at home amp. Own a JVM 410H from 2008 and still own it. But the band days are winding down. My MG 50 solid state is getting tired and never really had the "Tone". I let my cabinet go to my JVM 410H. Weighing my options, Get a 1936 cabinet for the JVM or get this amp? For home use. By the way, Thin Lizzy Rules!

Serious amplification for rock performance! This piece of equipment is everything I expected and more; little need for effects pedals, and with the optional 6-position footswitch, it emulates every Marshall tone. Folks at Sweetwater were very efficient with shipping and technical assistance.

I purchased one earlier this year and ended up not liking it enough. I bought it so I could play with a few of my friends in the basement and we didn't play together often. It was a pain to move around and I realized that I didn't need the volume. Fast forward about ten months. My friends started playing together again, and the small solid-state combo for practice wasn't quite loud enough. I was reluctant to buy the same amp that I had sold, but it was familiar territory. As soon as I got it, I opened up the box and set the knobs roughly, played around with the channels, and boom. Suddenly I became enamored with it again. That big Marshall sound in a portable, but still hefty package.

I play on the Ultra Gain's OD-1 channel, with the gain half-way up and ride the volume knob on my guitar as needed. I can go from a clean (not for long) to a slight breakup, all the way up to a plexi-esque. I run the master volume around halfway and even in the 20 watt power mode, I can get over the drummer. I have tested the 40 watt mode, master cranked, and it rocks. The only difference I could notice if I were in the crowd is it just feeds back more. Personally I like playing with feedback, but to each their own.

All-in-all, I would recommend this amplifier if you're in the market for a decent priced, gig/rehearsal amp. It is versatile, but it can also be a simple one-trick pony if you choose to set it up like that. And of course purchasing through Sweetwater is always a treat. Thanks once again Bryan!

Been Playing for About 45 Years, knee high to a Grasshopper, lol. Play a lot of Amps, from Fender To Cube, to Boss. But This Marshall has it all. One Very Good thing about this Amp is, Output from back of amp, Right Into Mixing Board. You Don't have to Mic it at all. Unless you want too. The Sound is Just Great. You Get Out of the Amp, What You Put Into It. And Better. So Yes, I do Recommend This Little Amp....

Been playing out for 40 years. Only in the last 10 years did I use all tube amps consistently. My last one,
Which I kept was a Rivera Clubster 45. A great all tube amp on the clean channel. The overdrive channel has no bottom end. So I’ve used pedals trutone Jekyll & Hyde, Carl Martin plexi to get the distortion.
Those pedals are now off the board. What a great sound and variety this little (50 lbs) amp has. I also have used a compressor pedal for many years to get my leads to sustain better. No more. The overdrive channels do it with ease.
I have mine set up for the clean channel and then I use the 2 overdrives.
I also purchased the 6 button 91016? Pedal board.
My only complaint is not being a digital type amp, the tone settings will the same for all the channels so if your 2nd over drive is adjusted for less highs it affects all the other channels.
Still love it.

All the hype is true on this one! If your a Marshall fan and your your looking for a smaller package that packs a BIG punch, look no farther! Don"t let the 1x12 fool ya! This amp can go! Thanks Sweetwater!

Just swapped out my entire rig. I had an expensive JVM205C but it's high gain settings are too noisy. Had a PRS SE but it was too boring and generic.

Got this amp and the overdrive is perfect. Got a Schecter Damien Solo Elite with active EMG pickups and the sizzle has me loving my new sound.

I'm not sure how they did it, but this amp is smoother than the last version. I had 2 of the UK-made 50 watt heads a few years ago. I also had the Sweetwater combo special before, loaded with a Celestion Creamback, but this one has the Celestion V-Type and sounds better to my ears. You still get the classic lower gain tones and this amp can go all the way to metal without pedals, but without the shrill highs that you have to dial out. I got the 6-button foot controller (out of stock in US - had to go to the UK) and it works great. I can't say enough good things about this amp - it's even making me put away my beloved Orange!

So, this is my first ever Marshall Amp. When I purchased it, I was on a very limited budget and the price point for this Amp was right on point.

Yes, it (technically) has four channels but there's a trick to getting this to work properly.

1. You have to ditch the 2-button footswitch that comes with the amp and either get the PEDL-91016 (which is next to impossible to find!) or get a budget MIDI controller. I use the TECH-21 MIDI Mongoose with the Rocktron 7-Pin MIDI Cable.

2. Tweak the MASTER Volumes in such a manner that you can control all (4) channel levels with relative ease.

The "Classic Gain" Channel RED is much louder than the GREEN. So I did this:
** Classic Gain Channel GREEN - Assign this to MASTER 1
** Classic Cannel RED - Assign this to MASTER 2

Tweak this channels' volumes FIRST. Get both the GREEN (MASTER 1) and RED (MASTER 2) the same volume

The "Ultra Gain" Channel GREEN and RED are just about the same Volume.
**Assign BOTH GREEN and RED to MASTER 1

Now that the "Classic Gain" is tweaked - and both GREEN and RED on the "Ultra Gain" Channel are assigned...

Use MASTER 1 and MASTER 2 to adjust volume levels on the "Classic Gain" channels.
Use the Channel Volume on the "Ultra Gain" channel to adjust volume levels for both GREEN and RED here.

It's not 100% Perfect, but I find that the Amp is very much gig'able with this configuration.

Give it a shot!!!

What a great amp! The cleans, almost surprisingly, are extremely nice; and the Marshall sounds are perfect. The amp has two channels (clean and OD) and each channel has it's own gain, volume, and voicing button. Resonance and presence controls allow you to tweak the high and low frequency responses. There are also two master volumes so that you can switch between a rhythm level or a lead level. The equalization section includes a button to shift the tone. There are even independent reverbs for each channel. Finally, there is a switchable FX loop. The result is an amp you can use for virtually any style of music. While the amp comes with a 2-button footswitch for changing channels and turning the FX loop on and off, I highly recommend getting the 6-button footswitch (PEDL-91016), which makes gigging an absolute joy and essentially turns the amp into a four-channel machine. The six buttons control 1. clean (clean channel) 2. crunch (clean channel), 3. OD1 (gain channel) 4. OD2 (gain channel), 5. master vol 1/2, and 6. FX loop on/off.
And of course, my long-time Sales Engineer, Brian Kerns, is always knowledgeable, helpful, and takes the time to ensure my musical satisfaction.

This amp is phenomenal! It has THE Marshall tone I've been looking for in a small package. Don't be fooled with 40 watts though, this thing is plenty loud (and I haven't gotten past 9 o'clock on the dial yet!) Which is where this amp shines. The 20 watt setting is great for volume control, but to really hear this amp sing, the 40 watt setting is where you want to be. The clean channel is super clean with a great, glassy sound to it, lots of headroom. From there you can get anything from that Cream, Crossroads tone to AC/DC Back in Black/ Highway to Hell tone, Zeppelin... it's all there. I play Les Paul's and an Epi Dot and they all sound amazing straight in but I have a Boss SD1 and a Joyo Vintage OD for some extra push. The Joyo sounds really good on the clean channel when I want to get that crunchy blues lead tone. The only negative is the foot switch. The one included only changes between classic and ultra gain channels. If you want to switch between the boosts on each channel, you got to fork over another $... for the 6 button foot switch. But given how this amp sounds, I'll pay it. The direct out is ok, a little dark for my taste. I've played through my 5150ii, which I still love, for most of my gigging years, but there's something about this amp that just screams rock n roll. Probably not a metal amp, although it takes pedals well. I'm glad I purchased it and of course, Nick at Sweetwater rocks as well!

Just got this amp about three days ago and haven"t got a chance to really wind it up yet but man this thing sounds awesome. Of course it"s a Marshall and the crunch and overdrive tones are right what you would expect but the freaking clean is not what I expected. You can pull off fender cleans all day with this thing. Man I really am happy so far. Checked the bias right out of the box cause Marshall has put test ports in the back for easy access and both sides were dead on 36mv dc exactly. Great video on YouTube for checking it. I have been able to dial in any sound I have desired so far from Peter green tones to Black Sabbath to pantera . Even at low volumes this thing sounds great cause with the extra masters cranked you can get nice crunch tones at lower volume. Don"t think it"s to big for using in the bedroom also . If you have been holding out on a Marshall tube amp that can darn near do it all this is the one you want in my opinion. The only issue I"ve had is the line out is supposed to be a headphone jack also and is has almost no volume. Gonna try my new audio technica headphone I got comin and see if they were the issue but either way worth every penny. Looking forward to many years of jammin on this thing. It"s not as heavy as everyone says either. I"ve got an old Randall tube combo that weighs twice as much as this guy. Not bad at all.

I just got this so I don"t know how much this bad boy abuses tubes, but do yourself a solid and get this amp! I hardly need pedals because of this monsters tone. I was always staying away from Marshall because I wanted to be on the fringe, but no longer I now understand the power of the Marshall.

So I had iconic Marshall sounds from cleans to metal within 5 minutes of it arriving. You will simply not EVER find a better amp for the money.....EVER. I've been a guitarist 30 years now and I've played every guitar and amp you can possibly think of and to be honest I really don't see where the high end jcm's etc etc sounded any better , as a matter of fact the dsl40cr is better for sound options,,,,im not saying a better amp than the 2000.00 plus models, but sounds just as good with more options.
Mine totally destroyed a buddy's jubilee to the point he was upset about it , and my dsl40cr was just the amp direct to my Gibson SG, he had pedals helping out the jubilee......There you go, proof is in the puddin my friends, best amp buying decision I've ever made. There's a reason why it never gets bad reviews. The reverb does suck but who cares, that's an overdone effect anyway, it has enough to thicken your sound and thats all you need unless your playing 50s surf music. If your teetering on buying one, teeter no more.. Do yourself the favor you won't regret it.

Being a gear snob, I never thought I"d have one of these. I found it used and compared to everything else in the store. I play it more than my Mesa now. I play Primary baritone guitar tuned up to C (26.75 scale). I can get real bluesy with it or go all out djent by dropping the mids and topping out the presants and resonance. It"s very versatile. Add a few of your favorite pedals, your favorite oversized cab and this will be the last amp you buy. It"s not terrible to carry around either.

My new favorite amp. It can do it all! From aggressive metal to clean country & blues sounds! I've been dealing with Sweetwater & Brian Hughes for a year, & they are the only company I will deal with
Brian Hughes is awesome, very knowledgeable and will help you anyway he can. Thanks Brian!

Easy purchasing process. Knowledgeable techs. The best customer service. Fast delivery. Fantastic follow-up! Cannot day enough good about my purchasing experience, not to mention the product!

This amp will blow your mullet off lol. Great sounding cleans and all the gain you need for the hard rock sound. My Epi LesPauls sound great through it. Great amp for the money. Thanks Sweetwater

I just got this app before Christmas and I must say that Santa brought the best darn combo amplifier that I've ever had in my life! The new and improved DSL 40 is way way better than the previous one that I used to have. The two master control knobs work independently for your green channel and your red channel/ selection. I love the 40-watt section because you get more Headroom. But when I wipe section is fine as well don't get me wrong but with the 40-watt section engaged, I can get some amazing tones out of this combo amp. The celestion V type speaker in this amplifier is one of the best I've heard in a long time. This combo also have various impedance input Jacks in the rear of the amp. Therefore, you're able to disconnect the combo speaker and play your favorite 2x12 or 4x12!

I had an old Marshall 50 watter back in the 70's, wish I still had it but that's another story. I decided to try this amp out since it sounded ok in the store but could test it fully. SW sent it right away and unharmed. I plugged it in and very nice sounding amp. I have only had it a week, but its loud and been re-creating sounds from old. I do not have any pedals except a rp1000 so not really tested the effects loop, but getting there. You can not go wrong with this amp. Cleans are great (for a Marshall) and the over drive is fantastic. Only pedals I may need to really get is a delay and tube screamer. but that's later. Sweetwater took care of me immediately and Chris Arnold is the best. thanks again

Have scaled way down in size but wanted the Marshall sound I have loved for over 50 years.... got it.

My Marshall got delivered super fast. Plugged it in and started cranking away. Stuff that I played using other amps sounded so much better on this DSL40CR. My Gibson, Fender and PRS guitars all sound totally amazing, and different using this baby. I like the endless possibilities. Would highly recommend.

Let me start by saying that the first one of these I ordered from Sweetwater came with some noise that the tech and I concluded was some sort of powertube issue. They were quick to ship a completely new amp out to me along with a return label to send the old one back. Pulled new one out of the box and plugged it in, no issues at all.

This amp sounds wonderful. It"s very easy to get great tone out of it without much fiddling required. All channels sound great, definite volume difference between the clean and crunch on the classic channel, but this issue is easily solved via the assignable master volumes. This amp gets really loud but also seems to maintain its composure at lower volumes. Has handled every pedal I"ve put through it quite well also. All in all I"m very satisfied with this amp, capable of doing great cleans all the way up through some very high gain sounds, it"ll be hard to find a combo amp that can beat this one for this price point.

I just got this amp this morning and I"m blown away by it, I can dial in great cleans and anything from blues to metal on this amp. The two master volumes are a great upgrade from the old dsl40,The foot switch is nice bonus too. I"d definitely recommend this amp it"s a monster especially for the price.i was also very impressed as always with the Sweetwater staff these guys and gals are the best in the business.

The previous model of the DSL 40 combo had numerous defective capacitors apparently. Reportedly, Marshall fixed this while adding more features to this new model.

IMO, this is the best you can buy under $1000 for a home practice/recording sound in a tube amp. Because it comes loaded with EL34s, I personally prefer its sound over any amp containing 6L6s so far.

If you're a "modern metal" player, this might not do for you; if you prefer classic death, doom, and black metal, this will serve well.

If you're a newer guitar player who hasn't yet grasped how awful solid state amps are (in this price range), and you want plenty of low end along with the high gain and bite, a Marshall tube amp will give you what you are looking for.

The DSL 40 is an excellent starting point and long-term workhorse for guitarists; try running this amp into external cabinets with other Celestions or Eminence speakers for even more convincing sound.

Before I bought this amp,I read reviews about the reverb being... poor! I have no problem with it,I don't know if people are comparing it to Fenders reverb or they are deaf.I found it just to be the right amount of reverb,I haven't tried the ultra reverb yet(just got it the other day)I haven't really sat down and spent some time with it yet,but great little amp! The price was killer too! My only complaint is it is heavy at 50 lbs.

I purchased the DSL40CR about 2 months ago. I have had many amps, Orange,Vox,BlackStar,Fender Mustang, and GT100 Solid State(Rolland JC40 which I still have). Tube amps,Fender HRD,BJII, BJ Tweed,65DRRI,BlackStar,Marshall DSL40c and (Fender Vibro Champ XD which I still have)
I was looking for that classic rock tones of the late 60's too early 70's, thought I would give Marshall another Chance after reading about all of the upgrade on the DSL40CR,the V-Type speaker, being able to switch the FX Loop on and off, headphone jack,2 master volumes, clean,crunch,great reverb,OD1 and OD2,all completely usable and the best part the EL34's. The most amazing tone from clean to heavy metal. Great with the pedals I use a TS9 and a BD2,sounds amazing, using the amp for home use mostly, low volume on 1 in the 20 watt mode is plenty loud in a10x12 room, using an American Professional Telecaster is my Guitar of choice, sounds great with an SG too, using your volume and tone control on your guitar is key to great tone, tube amps do sound great at low volume.I always go to Sweetwater for all my musical purchases

Originally got the Marshall MG30CFX 30-watt Combo Amp but wasn't thrilled with the solid state sound so I did a little research and decided to change it for this one and OMG am I glad that I did.
2 channels, each having a second channel, so 4 total. Separate volume for both channels as well as separate master volume for each. Reverb, effects loop on back, 12" Celestion speaker, foot switch and the ability to cut the output from 40 watts to 20 and still not lose any of that classic sound. Don't even need a distortion pedal, especially on OD1 or OD2 with the gain cranked. Even at 20 watts, with enough volume you will pretty much aggravate the crap out of your neighbors. So worth the investment.
Thanks again to Kurt for all the help.

This amp is an affordable way to get Marshall Tone but don"t let the price fool you. This is a Marshall and sounds like one. Ad some gain and you have AC/DC. Throw a Wampler Tumnus overdrive in front and you have some serious meaty Metal going on. This amp accepts pedals extremely well but you don"t need them. It"s got gain up the Wazoo! Just remember he Standbye Switch is also a power attenuators so make sure you have it in the right position. I didn"t know that at first and was freaking out because I didn"t have enough power. Once I figured that out all was well in rock n roll land! Do yourself a favor and buy this one.

Been playing since late 70's and I'm originally from the land of Marshall so I know what they have sounded like through the years. This amp is fantastic!! All 4 basic tones, 2 classic and 2 Ultra can sound great. I have heard people knock the reverb, I understand why but turn it up and it sounds more than passable. I really love the tones and power levels this amp offers, very versatile and totally authentic. It even sounds good through the headphone/recording output with speakers muted. I am a huge fan of this amp, way better than their amps of the past few years. This is the real thing, no matter where it was made!

This amp is something that is crafted in your dreams and is almost too good to be true. After getting it dialed in I couldn"t stop playing and was almost in disbelief that my guitar sounded that good!

I was on the fence between the DSL40CR or the DSL20CR, I decided to go with this one and could not be happier. The sound is amazing, the master volume allows you to get that saturated tube sound without having to have the volume cranked up. Speaking of volume, this thing is a monster! You can keep it down low for yourself to practice something new or release the beast and shake the walls of any building.

The EQ and different voicing on the channels give you a lot of room to play with your sound and get exactly what you want. A Les Paul or a Strat both sound different and totally amazing on this amp and you can really get personal with your sound while maximizing the tonality of your chosen guitar. It"s awesome to fire it up, watch the tubes glow and hear that legendary sound tone from your guitar.

If your on the fence like I was, hop down and land on the DSL40CR, you will not be disappointed. I have owned several amps over the years and this is by far the best, most flexible and versatile amp I have ever had. Get it!

A big Texas thank you to Chris Sanders my Sales Engineer, he helped me get off the fence, and I couldn"t be happier. I am a first time customer with Sweetwater and very, very pleased with the level of service I have received. They will certainly be getting more of my money!

I have always loved Marshall amps honestly. This is a stellar tube amp for this amount of money and it can get a huge range of sounds and I've owned it for two years now. Still going with the original tubes.

Can you make it sound like a plexi? You can get very very close. The only channel I honestly use is the OD Green channel...this channel is really where this amp shines especially with an EQ pedal and boost pedal. I have tried multiple speakers in this amp as well. Celestion V-type is what comes with it. I also tried V30, G12T-75 and an Altec Lansing 417. Every speaker I tried honestly sounded great and I had very little issues but I stuck with the Altec Lansing because if you want to have a sound similar to Randy Rhoads...that's the way to go. You cannot get the level of treble response with Celestion speakers for his sound.

I highly recommend buying the bigger footswitch. It's costly but works decent with this amp...there are issues with it that I will list in the cons.

Pros:
Price is great
40 watt/20 watt modes(This is also a con, read further)
Sounds great right out of the box.
In 40 watt mode it's LOUD!
Each Channel and mode is remarkably different sounding.
Tone shift switch to go from Mid heavy to scooped sounds. This really makes the amp two amps in one!
Very good EQ section that has a decent enough wide range.
Excellent for small gigs or if you are ok with a loud bedroom amp!
Biasing this amp is easy and a breeze. It actually has two bias pots on the outside of the Chasis for Biasing and there's 3 holes for probe input 2 Red for each tube side and 1 black which works with both. This is an amazing feature that Marshall should consider on all of their amps.
Sounds great with most pedals.

Cons:
40 watt is where this amp shines. If you want a bedroom volume amp, buy the 20 watt version that cannot be switched to 40 watt. When switching from 40 watt to 20 watt there is a noticeable difference with the EQ. The amp becomes remarkably darker and you cannot EQ it out. The Treble is virtually gone entirely. 20 watt sounds much thinner as well. It just made me appreciate 40 watt mode even more lol. I solely use 40 watt mode.

The larger 6 button footswitch is great and you can really control this amp way better with that footswitch. There are issues I've had with it. I'll switch from OD Green to Clean and it does switch but the pedal still registers as being in OD Green sometimes. This is an intermittent issue I've repeatedly had. It happens with every channel/configuration but doesn't happen every single time. It also does it with the Master Volume and Effects Loop buttons. The footswitch does switch every time I hit a button regardless of what the pedal registers. If I hit what I changed to again, it will finally register on the pedal.

Effects Loop is really good but there's a noticeable slight drop in volume when I turn the Effects loop on. This can be fixed by using the Master volume in conjunction with the FX loop turned on. In other words normally have the master volume 1 set at say 3 o clock and then when switching on FX loop, also switch to Master Volume 2 and have it set slightly higher.

Made in Vietnam instead of England like JVM lines.

Ending comments:

I've had nothing but joy playing through this amp. The pros of this amp FAR outweigh the cons especially for the amount of money. Sweetwater's customer service is also excellent and would only purchase an amp like this or any other through them anyway. I gave it 4 and a half stars only because of the cons I listed.

It's a great combo amp for the Marshall sound. If you want to take it up a notch in tone, I highly recommend swapping out the default speaker to the Celestion G12M-65 Creamback. I swapped out the speaker to the Celestion G12M-65 Creamback and it was definitely a tone upgrade to my ears.

This amp is great. It was given to me as a gift. I am very happy with this amp. It has a JCM/JVM vibe to it. Great for solid rock sounds. This amp does more than that, however. It has a pretty diverse range of tonal characteristics. You're not going to get the sound out of it that you would get from an extremely high end amp like a JVM410, but for $, this amp produces a wide range of amazing tones. The only thing that I would change is that it doesn't really have enough reverb, and I prefer to have reverb built into my amps. Otherwise, it's definitely worth it for a rock guitarist!

When I bought my Marshall it had a seventy 80 Celestion speaker, really wasn't happy but it was ok then I finally ordered a cream back not knowing what to expect but oh my God. After a break in period what a HUGE DIFFERENCE I love my Marshall now. I don't know what they come with now but if you're not happy try this. Make sure you get it from Matthew Lamarch he's a great salesman.

I've owned and played amps since 1965. In those days no amp could push the sounds we get in 2022. Guitarists are blessed with options for every budget. But wife and I downsized to a nice retirement house in Texas and my study - office - music studio - DAW room has a limited amount of space. Bottom line there are only two amps I'll never be without. Any decent Fender solid state modeling amp and this Rolls Royce valve box. Marshall does not attach their name to junk. The 40 is everything a guitarist could ask for. From a mic'd classic nylon to a fat Strat or Taylor 12 the 40 is a perfect choice. If you only have room for two amps this 40 has got to be one of them.

I had tried a lot of boutique amps, modular amps and pedals and realized the sound I was looking for, and everyone else is trying to copy is in this amp. A tube driven Marshall.
The only cons i have is:
- there is only one EQ that applies to all channels, clean, clean crunch, OD1 and OD2 instead of a seperate EQ for the clean and OD sections.
- the clean crunch channel is extremely louder than just the clean. With some inventive Master Volume selection it is possible to raise the volume of only the clean channel by assigning it to it's own Master and assigning ever other channel to the other Master.
Besides that it an awesome amp, loud and proud.

Best amp I've ever played. Tried many others but nothing beats the Marshall tone!!!

I have been using digital to this point my first Tube amp I didn't think there would be much difference.
I was amazed by the sound of this marshall all four modes are fantastic.
Very easy to dial in great tones, with two master volumes you can switch channels with control of the volume change.
The emulated out is very good very underestimated, it is stereo out, I think most are plugged in with a mono jack, makes a big difference.
Overall very pleased with this purchase.

This is an excellent amp for an intermediate player or pro. It would be too much for a beginner. It has a great range of sounds all by itself with no effect boxes added. I have used Fender and Peavey amps but could not find the sound and tonal quality that I was looking for and now have with this Marshall. I highly recommend it.

It has sweet clean channel , my Strat sounds so pristine through this , but of course the OD channels is where it really shines, I've been playing for 40 years now and I've never had a beast like this , buy it you will not be dissatisfied.

A great amp with classic tone although it can get a little noisy at certain settings but the noise is easy to control. As most Marshall amps this one is loud one. Great for classic rock, metal and punk sounds. Thanks to my sales engineer Chris Newman for helping find the sound I was looking for!

Best enhanced 40 marshall amp I have ever used. Skylar at Sweetwater provided all the service I needed to make a fantastic decision on an amp for a small venue hall. Thank you again Skylar Rock on !!!

Rob
Lodi, Ca

I am thoroughly impressed with this amplifier and really digging the tones. Unfortunately, it does not come with a cover and only includes the smaller, limited functionality footswitch. The six button footswitch is a must and worth every penny! If you pull the trigger on this amp, get the big footswitch as well! I recommend MDB Amp Covers for this amp. I purchased the "Joker's Wild" cover... and the material is very nice. I only had two small issues with the amp. Mark Bruhn provided excellent service as always getting me a replacement tube to change out as one of them failed in the first few months. Also, one of the rubber feet pulled off the bottom. I (@MississippiSon) am with the band @BR_385_Band... and we play a lot of Brazilian Rock and Sertanejo as well as Classic Rock ranging from The Beatles to Free. The amp really shines with my semi-hollow body vintage epi but does well with my Fender Telecaster and Bullet as well!

An absolute tonal beast. The half power setting (20w mode) is powerful and wonderful sounding. Full power... Hold on to your hair!

The amp seems built to handle the rigors of the road.

I'm most pleased with how full my favorite Strat sounds through it.

I have owned this amp since March of 2019 and waited until I thought I knew the amp well enough to give an accurate review.

I have been playing guitar since 1990 and have owned a variety of amps over the years. Marshall, Mesa, Fender, among others. My current rig is a (Fryette) VHT Pitbull CLX 100 on a Marshall 1960 4x12. I love that amp but I wanted something easy to grab and go.

I never liked the shared Eq on the previous version of the DSL. I could never get the sound right for both channels. It seemed like I could not get the different voicings of the channels to work with each other. I heard the new DSL had addressed this, and In my opinion is much improved. With only one EQ there will be some compromise, but it works very well for me. I set up my tone for the overdrive/distortion and switch to the clean it always seems to be a very usable and enjoyable sound that works with the other channel and modes.

I wasn"t sure about the stock speaker at first. I was going back and forth with a Marshall 1936 cab with V30"s, my 1960 with 75"s and the V-type. I had just about decided to get a V30, but two things happened. First the stock speaker started to break in and really sweeten up. Second, I started to figure out how interactive the presence and treble are in the EQ. For more of a classic Marshall sound I turn up the mids and presence but turn down the treble to take the harshness off. For a more modern or heavy sound drop the mids and the presence and bring the sparkle back with the treble. I am now very impressed with the V-type stock speaker. I can get a very similar sound to the V30"s I tried with a few Eq tweaks.

Clean gets very clean or can be pushed to get some hair on it. The other three options give varying amounts of gain and different voicings but they all seem to work well together with the shared EQ. The EQ itself is much more effective than most of the Marshalls that I have had experience with and combined with the 4 modes makes for a very versatile amp.

I did get the 6 button footswitch and usually use Clean, OD1 for distortion or overdrive with my volume rolled back a bit on the guitar, and the OD2 heavier tones. These are all assigned to the same master volume. I use the other master volume for lead boost. When I use it this way the Crunch mode is much louder than the clean so I don"t use that setting.

If I want to use all four modes I assign clean, OD1 and OD2 to master volume 1 and then assign crunch to master volume 2 which I can balance to match the other volumes. You can then run an Eq pedal or volume pedal in the loop for lead boosts.

It takes my pedals well and with the six button footswitch I can play everything from Dwight Yoakam to AC/DC and even into old school Metal with pretty convincing tone. I have experimented with more modern metal sounds with an eq in the loop. I thought it sounded good but that is not really my thing so ymmv.

I do have to give it a half point off for the reverb… It"s ok for subtle stuff but I much prefer a reverb pedal in the loop. That"s really the only nit I have to pick with the DSL40CR. Separate Eq would be nice but with the revoicing of the channels not necessary for me.

I am very satisfied with my purchase and think it"s a fantastic sounding versatile amp at a great price point.

Kudo"s to Marshall for a great product. I need to give a shout out to Sweetwater as well. I have had a great experience with every purchase I have made. Thanks guys.

Wow!

I was actually in the market for a Les Paul and just happened to find a discounted 2019 Traditional in stock at a local shop. I plugged that beauty into one of these Marshall DSL40CR combos and instantly fell in love. It has THAT tone that you"ve heard a million times and never grow bored of.

The amp has two channels with two different stages on each. Each one sounds fantastic and is viable in different applications or genres. The built in reverb isn"t Fender, but it"s still very nice, and the dual master volumes is a very convenient feature. The only issue I"ve had so far is that the highest gain setting can get noisy, but it"s nothing worth crying over. The amp is excellent in home, studio, and live settings. Get one!

As with any review I do, a little background....Played in some metal / rock / classic bands in the 80s and 90s. Took a break for 20 years for family. Back in it now. Had a JCM900 100W with a 4x12 cabinet back then. Song list (back then) included AC/DC, Metallica, Bush, Cheap Trick, Ramones, Stone Temple Pilots, etc. You people who give a review that says "Love it! Best amp ever" and that's it...need to just stop.

There is a lot to like with this amp. The clean channel can get pretty clean. Cleaner than what I got with my JCM900. The JCM still had a little "fudge" in clean, but you can get really clean with this if you want to. Not like a Fender Twin clean....that amp owns that. But this is darn good. Basically you have 4 channels: Clean; a little dirt; metal; and holy moly what happened!!!! If I compare it to the JCM 900 I had, I'd say that the JCM had 2 channels..the clean was between the first two on this, and the crunch was about what the 3rd channel is on this. I like the flexibility...which starts the conversation on the foot switch. The 6-button foot switch is MANDATORY. All caps for a reason. I bought the amp through Sweetwater but didn't want to wait for the backordered switch; I bought it from a guitar shop in England. No one else in the United States had it. This amp is just OK without the switch. It is awesome with it. I gave the rating 4.5 stars. The -1/2 star it because Marshall didn't include the foot switch with the amp. That's a poor call. It is sooooooo mandatory. Come on, Marshall. Charge another $100 and throw it in. This amp goes from OK to AMAZING with it. I'm done commenting on the foot switch....but buy it.

The tube sound is great. Almost as good as the Marshall Artist 3203 30W head I had in the 80s (which was stolen, dang it). But that amp was one of the sweetest sounds ever. I think the best sound the DSL has is when in 40W mode and turned up to about half volume (or more). The tube quality seems a little (minimally) compromized at 20W, but I am probably splitting hairs here. It is still good, don't get me wrong. It just sounds better at 40W. I think you need to play around with the "presence" and "resonance"...they are a little hard to figure out at different sound levels, but in the end I just keep them a little lower for my taste (around 1/4 level). LOVE the master volume....but again, you need the (I said I was done) 6-button foot switch to use it without bending over to push the button.

Effects loop: I'm glad that it has it. I regret having given it away to a friend, but I'm going to get another one: BBE Sonic Maximizer. If I have one secret to share with fellow guitarists, it is to spend the $150 and get one. You will thank me forever and tell your friends that some random doofus on a review mentioned it and you took a chance at did it and are glad you did. You will probably tell your kids. They will tell their kids. If I could monetize this recommendation I would. Maybe you can contact my sales person at Sweetwater, Andrew Plasserman, and tell him that you want to send me money. I'm good with that. I have a chorus and digital delay running in the loop now and it sounds good. I am waiting for the BBE Stomp to show up and am hoping for similar results to what I used to get with the JCM900 and the BBE 882. It was simply bangin'. The BBE takes your sound from whatever it was to "better".

I have been playing this in the rehearsal studio with the band. It has plenty of power. I was worried that 40W wouldn't carry the room against the drums and bass, because I've never played in a band with less than 100W. My drummer asked me to turn this down. So I have plenty of power.

Aesthetics: Looks like a Marshall, feels like a Marshall, no complaints.

I hope that helps. I don't think there are any mistakes to be made in buying this amp.

Great little amp so far.It's a Marshall,even if it isn't British made.Still sounds pretty darn good,and a whole lot easier on my back than my Mesa Boogie 2x12 combo that is just more amp than I need or want to pack around.I got the one with the Celestion Creamback and I'll probably re-tube it later.I wish the six way footswitch came with the amp but I'll fork out the extra cha-ching for the convenience of having instant access to all four modes and switching the FX loop in and out. Thank you Cliff Hackleman and Sweetwater.Probably be ready for a new guitar too soon.

bought this amp a few years ago ...... was impressed at first, but later found the heavey distortion channel sounded kinda chincey .... sure it has bite but with to much treble ..... i found that using the clean channel with tube break-up works best, because i need clean, tube break-up with tube screamer pedal, and heavy riff with metal zone pedal .... works awesome ...... but recently while playing ... it started to kut-out ... no-volume, so, banging on the top of amp, it came back on .... being a electronics technician by trade, i realized something must be loose inside the amp .... so i dis-assembled the amp from the cab, re-set all the tubes back in there sockets and applied a small dab of hi-temp silicone glue to help tubes stay tight and for vibration, also put a dab of silicone glue on all push on connections on the pc boards that could possibly loosen during playing/vibration from speaker .... walla .... problem fixed ..... and yes, i would by this amp again .... i liked this amp because you can take it anywhere and practice too ~ effects loop works better with delay pedal than using it coming in in front input .... tubes don't like direct delay .... muddy's up the sound and tube break-up ....

I sold my old Marshall VS65R and moved (up/down/sideways?) to the DSL40CR. I lost the spring reverb and a bit of power but gained all valve rather than valve preamp only. The sound of the DSL40CR seems a bit cleaner and brighter than the VS65R, but you gain a much wider range of tones it's still unmistakably Marshall. I probably just need to live with the amp for a while to figure out how to get the sound I want. You get the wider range of tones because the VS65R had only two channels, but with the DSL40CR you effectively get four channels. The 'Classic Gain' channel has 'Clean' and 'Crunch' settings, and the 'Ultra Gain' channel has 'OD1' and 'OD2' settings, which are effectively sub-channels. It's also nice to have the headphone jack for practicing without annoying my wife, which is something the VS65R had but the older DSL40C's lacked.

The new amp has taken some getting used to. You actually need to read the manual, however skimpy it is. This is because of quirks like the fact that you will still hear the speaker even with the headphones plugged in, unless you set the "Output" switch to standby (STB). There are two master volume pots, but switching between them doesn't switch between channels.I found out that was actually a good idea because the 'green' setting on each channel is much quieter than the 'red' setting and you can associate the 'green' and 'red' master volumes with those settings when you go between Clean and Crunch or OD1 and OD2. But this is way more confusing than any other amp I've ever owned.

If you have the footswitch plugged in, that is the only way to switch between channels. If you don't have the footswitch plugged in, you can switch between channels by hitting the settings button on the inactive channel. Weird but workable.

After a false start got a DSL40CR and loved it. Unfortunately like another reviewer here had issues with noise but thanks to excellent service from Ian Roegels and the service dept who replaced the defective amp now am enjoying the Marshall I have always wanted. Only play at home at lowish volume but link a TM112 H&K cab with internal speaker and this sounds great. Sweetwater's customer service is 2nd to none.

I hated the last version. I love this one. They seemed to have fixed all the annoying stuff with the last one like the fizzy high end you couldn't dial out, bad speaker, volume problems etc. This one is a rocker. Sounds best with both master volumes almost all the way up and then use regular volume to tame it. I'm only taking 1/2 point off because they don't have a workable 6 button foot switch yet. But that has nothing to do with the sound. My tele and les Paul sounds awesome. Actually sound pretty good at low volumes which surprised me, but really shines when you crank it.

Understanding this amp is still a work in progress and no one amp can fulfill all the desired permutations of tone and style, yet there is no denying that this is a very versatile amp, with clarity in its clean channel, Marshall crunch in its gain channels, and decent reverb and tone control. This amp can be loud without losing intonation. Equally important, it takes pedals well. The EL34 power tubes are a nice contrast to 6L6 tube amps.

This amp is a competent workhorse for the serious guitarist, experimental composer, and the working club performer, priced to make this all happen for those emerging artists, who might be more interested in music and less interested in throwing money at an endless asymptotic curve to marketed fantasies of perfection. Probably not for the stadium performer.

I've had this for almost a year now . Honestly I didn't like it at first only recently have I started to really enjoy it . Maybe it had to break in and I had ti figure out the eq . Really getting it away from the wall helped the most . It's loud for sure however I play it in the house at lower volumes most of the time and it's fine Nick was great to deal with and answered all my questions when I purchased it . Great amp for blues , classic rock or probable anything you want really .

This amp is bad *** for the price and is very smooth and cranky at the same time. Pedal works as designed.
Marshall is the bomb!!!!

Ive had this amp for a few months and tried to like it. It was fizzy and unfocused. I did some research and replaced the speaker with a Creamback 65. Its also a must to adjust the bias to 35mv per side, which is super simple to do on this model. The other weakness is the reverb on the distortion channel hardly noticeable. After the upgrade, the amp is truely amazing and louder than I would ever need. The amp as is is 4 stars for me, but with the Creamback 65 upgrade, definitely a 5 star Marshall.

I have always owned solid state amps but I wanted to really dial in my tone . This is way more amp than I will ever use , I play at home and usually at low levels but this amp with the G3 from REVV sound great at low volumes . I run it into the classic gain channel 1 and it has that chunky metal sound I love . I would also like to say a word about Sweetwater's employee's , They are by far the best company I have ever dealt with online or in person . Mark Thompson is amazing , he goes above and beyond to satisfy his customer's needs . He is always available either by phone or email or text . From all the reviews I see it looks like everyone that works at Sweetwater is top notch .It is a pleasure to deal with such a great company who stand behind their products and who's first priority is customer service . Everyone from the shipping dept to the guitar techs to the sales people are great . So thank you again for everything that your wonderful company does , the owner should be proud of himself and his staff , You have a great crew .

This amp wasn't recommended by some on youtube for home use because it is loud. I'm using a Bugera attenuater and though I'm still learning my way around the amp I am digging it,lots of features, the reverb is a little weak to me but I got a pedal for that. If it is trouble free for a few years I wont hesitate to 5 star rate it. It's my first Marshall and I'm already dialing in some very familiar tones. I like it!

Very happy with the amp and it's tones. Just be aware...I think Marshall forgot to actual install the reverb unit. Joking, but the reverb is the absolute most weak thing I have ever heard (even on 10). Not sure how they let that design out the door.

Excellent amp. Nice, wide range of tones. can be VERY present if you need it to be. Only downside is that the reverb is WEAK. i have it cranked all the time and can barely hear it. If you need a lot of reverb, either look into pedals or look at some fenders.

To continue with the review title, the Marshall DSL40CR is good to play "Working Man" on, too!

This is my first tube amp after playing solid state for 30 years or so. I never had a problem back in the day with Fender or Peavey SS equipment going out and didn't want to deal with expensive repairs to heavy yet delicate tube amps (FYI, Marshall's MG analog solid state series are actually very good-sounding, loud metal amps), but for our band's recreations of 70's/80's metal/hard rock sounds I needed to roll the dice and get something like this: a fairly affordable do-all tube combo amp that could excel at several overdrive and distortion settings, as well as provide sensitive responses to feedback and pick attack. The DSL is admittedly excellent at this - it's obviously designed and marketed as a working guitarist's tone machine.

The good on this DSL is very good - great sound from the Celestion "V"-Series speaker, very articulate and bright, yet not counteracting the thunderous Resonance knob. Good EQ and preamp gain, as you'd expect from Marshall. Thing's plenty heavy but built sturdy. I've played several different types of guitars through it and all sound better than I anticipated. I haven't used the effects loop but the in-line chain with all of my pedals has been surprisingly overall much better pronounced.

However, as much as I really enjoy the big-boy tube sound of this non-English made Marshall, here's where I have problems with this amp:

* two channels but the stock footswitch won't let you switch between clean/crunch and then between OD1/OD2; it won't even switch channels without the footswitch being plugged in. Now I've posted several reviews from experience about footswitch problems and lack of controls and logical indicator lights being Marshall's Achilles heel (no, not Achilles Last Stand), and now Sweetwater says they are coming out with a 6-buttom foot controller to do everything. We'll see. Why'd they release the model without including or offering this very important peripheral?
* I'm one of many who have complained about the stock reverb not working - really disappointing. I can use the spring knob, but the plate knob (which I prefer) is dead all the way up. I hear justifications that well, you aren't buying it for the reverb, it's not a Fender amp, etc.; no - I'm paying for a frigging Marshall, so everything should work or be replaced. Like Harley owners, Marshall owners can be a little delusional about brand shortcomings.
* Just an opinion here - why just sell 20/40 watt modes? That's good for practice around the house, and I appreciate really opening up the 20 watt mode for practice, but why not also offer something like a 35/70 combo with 2-12" speakers to bridge the gap to a DSL 100 half stack? That would keep your bass player in line, eh?

Anyway, my always insightful and pragmatic sales engineer Mike Defraties talked me through how to get the best sound from this amp and showed me that I really don't need the 100 watt head and cabinet version (still thinking you need a refrigerator-sized amp to get things done, sorry I'm a little behind the times, man).

Don't get me wrong, overall this is a very satisfying amp for the price and it's selling very well, Marshall should just do better at getting some bugs worked out before they introduce a new or revised model. I heard the previous DLS40 versions had some tube and tone setting issues, this one so far has been a pleasure to play.

I recently purchased this amp. I've always been a Fender amp player and wanted a Marshall for variety and to achieve that "Marshall sound" without the need for pedals. This amp can produce ALL of those great tones that I've heard on countless albums. I can't decide which gain stage I like best. Each one is uniquely Marshall. The classic crunch nails all the classic rock sounds perfectly. The ultra gain channels are fantastic too. This amp is an absolute beast, but can be tamed for home use with the power reduction and master volumes. The clean channel has a nice character. It's no Fender clean, but it sounds good. Honestly, I didn't buy this amp for the clean tone. There is a significant volume difference between the clean channel and the three gain stages. Even on the classic gain channel the crunch is a lot louder than the clean. I compensate for this by programming the clean by itself on master volume 1 and the other three gain channels on master volume 2. The two master volumes are perfect for adjusting for this nuance. Most people don't like the reverb. It is subtle and needs to be turned up most of the way to be noticed. Again, I didn't buy this amp for the reverb. I have Fender amps for that. Also, you could just use a good reverb pedal If you need more. I use the effects loop for a delay pedal. It works great. I have Les Pauls, an SG, strats and teles, all of which sound great on this amp. But of course the humbuckers sound amazing. Shout out to Jimmy Hart at Sweetwater! Thanks for the great customer service and advice for the past few years. Sweatwater is second to none!

This is my first Marshall amp. I bought it to go with a 2018 Les Paul HP. If you want that Marshall sound at an affordable price, this will do the job. Is it the end-all amp? No. The reverb isn't what some will demand, but it's still a great amplifier. The first one I received had a strange background noise. I would NOT describe it as a hiss, more of an unusual blowing sound, and it would increase and decrease in level without any adjustment to the amp. I called Sweetwater tech and that day they shipped me a replacement and picked up the defective unit. The new amp rocks! Sweetwater's customer service is second to none. Shout out to Matt in tech support and my sales rep, David Merkosky. I'm a Sweetwater customer for life.

So I bought this amp sometime around 2017 and used it lightly in my studio for a couple of years. I had put less than 20 hours on the amp over 5 years when one day I turned it on, and it fizzled out. I know a fair amount about tube amps, so I pulled the chassis and found that one of the internal fuses had blown. It blew because the power tubes that came with the amp were not originally biased.

I have since replaced the tubes and re-biased the amp. 10 or so hours later, the amp sounds fantastic. I very much hope that I resolved the issue, but the problem with this amp is that I do not feel like it is reliable enough for a gig without bringing a backup amp. And at 50 pounds, who wants to bring a second amp? Maybe my opinion will change over time, but I feel like this is a REALLY GREAT SOUNDING AMP, but not reliable for gigging. It sounds good enough that I want to gig with it now that I am in a gigging band, but I am not sure that I can depend on it (I own the original DSL40 that suffers from overheating issues, to this day, despite tons of service and mods).

Check your tubes.

I love the Marshall sound, but my Mesa amps have proven to be FAR more reliable.

This is the replacement for the first one they sent me which had no Reverb when you use the Reverb knobs. I had to go through all the hassle of sending back that amp to get another of the same amp and for the first time the other day I tried to use the effects loop which does not work. I spent 11 days waiting for tech support from Sweetwater to call and still no call. By an amp that you can trust and that is reliable especially when you have professional obligations you can't fulfill because of shoddy craftsmanship by Marshall

This amp definitely sounds best to me with some mild compression (MXR Dyna Comp)and pushing the volume. Without the mild compression AND rolling off the guitar's tone it is blisteringly shrill! It gets a little too beefy in the low end with my telecaster (which is what I use most live -it has the tele EMGs in it). I will be buying a Celestion Creamback after I pay off the amp. Then I will do the midi style FS. The reverb SUCKS!! The effects loop is hearty and works well with the reverb and delay I use. Bottom line: even at just over a grand the DSL 40CR is DEFINITELY a money maker. We play a major variety of styles in both the bands I work with. The shows are usually over 4 hours and I like practicing with it.

This amp has overall stellar ratings on this website. There's nothing wrong with this but I find that there's really no reviews that are honest for this amp. I have owned this amp for around Three weeks and it took me quite a bit of time going through the various modes, channels and EQ settings to find something good for me. I am primarily a Metal player. When I mean metal I'm not talking about nu metal. I'm talking about Randy Rhoads or early Metallica.

There are pros and cons to this amp just like any other. This is really where the reviews on this amp are seriously lacking. Every review is "Pro" and none discussing the blaring cons with this amp.

This really is a great amp. Do not get me wrong when I say it has cons. Those can be overlooked for the most part. It's a great "starting" Tube amp and it definitely has that Marshall sound.

Cons:
Lack of independent EQ's.
Max wattage is 40 = Lack of headroom for clean channel

The first of the cons, Lack of independent EQ, can actually be crippling to the player. You have One EQ for 2 channels and 4 modes. Whatever your clean sound is, your Distortion will somewhat suffer because of the one EQ section or vice versa. I am a perfectionist to a degree and this is the worst aspect of this amp. It's extremely frustrating.

Can you find something usable for both channels/4 modes with one EQ? Yes, obviously you can but there's a cost to either channel.

This amp has a 20 watt mode and 40 watt mode. Even in 40 watt mode, headroom is lacking...which is essential for clear clean tone. This amp was very obviously modelled for Distorted modes considering 3 channels are dedicated for breakup/Overdrive/distortion.

Pros:

2 master volumes
2 independent Reverbs....they are weak but if used correctly they're more meant for space and is pretty clear after using them awhile.
12" Celestion G12 V-type = The original Vintage 30! Major plus.
2 independent gains
Two wattage modes
Really insanely good effects loop

Some reviews mention on keeping the two master volumes at max and use the channel volume for turning it up and down. Those that say this have no idea why this has a master volume in the first place and thus do not understand how to use them and why. DO NOT listen to those people!

The channel volumes have a "sweet spot" just like the EQ. Find the sweet spot for each channel volume and then use the master volumes to turn it up or down. I use master 1 for the main up/down volume and master 2 as a boost. In other words there's a reason they're called "master" volumes. They're the overall volume maker. The channel volumes are essentially no different than the EQ section. This is a pro in my opinion and is the most overlooked good thing about this amp.

Overall it was a good buy and I have little to complain about. Sweetwater's correspondence as well as buying and shipping were top notch. That aspect easily gets 6 stars.

MARSHALL should really sincerely consider offering another version of this combo amp with higher wattage and two independent EQ's. There's four modes so two modes would still share an EQ but that pales in comparison to the almost crippling One EQ across two channels/four modes. Just look at the price range of their amps. You have this one under and to get a Marshall with independent EQ's the price jumps. Make a version at like 70 watts/40 watts low power, with two EQ sections for like and I'd buy that in a flash! Guarantee it would your best seller!

After several years I finally gave up on this amp and traded it in. It was so fizzy but when I bought it it checked all the boxes.. the clean was very nice and probably the best part of the amp.. the other channels.. well as much as I tried they just lacked and my ears matured to hear what I hated the most. When the R1 and power tube went I had a new set of tunes and it was better than the original junk tubes. The tech warned about how fragile the pcboard direct mounted switches would likely fail.. and good luck finding the schematics and getting it repaired unless you have a dinasaur friend like me. I bought a PRS Archeon and wow that is the magic. Marshall.. what a legacy but I moved on..

This amp sounds incredible but after about 10 minutes the sound starts coming in and out. I've received 2 amps now both have done the same thing. Not sure why they have this problem. Been reading other reviews of the same issue. Hopefully the next one they send will be good because it is a very good sounding amp when it works. :/

I really like the clean channel, it's nice and warm, reverb is nice. I think it lacks tight distortion for a tube amp. My Boss Cube amp is a solid state with a tighter distortion. I will not use this amp for lead solo's, but will use it for recording clean material.

I've had this amp for four years now. Like it, but..... really only good for distortion. Maybe save your money and buy a good pedal?

Preamp tube failed within 6 months. Replaced it, but still VERY thin sound when you don't crank gain or use ultra-gain channel. Even then, not as advertised. Very likely a complete re-tube may take care of the issue, but not sure I want to spend more money on a so-far, losing proposition. (And yes, I've played my Fender(s), Gibson(s), and PRS instruments through it.)

I have a Fender DeVille, Fender Blues Jr and Vox AC15 that are head and shoulders above this amp.

I have to agree with Tom- the reverb on my DSL40 might as well not be there for all the good it does me. As a lifelong fiend for reverb, this quite sucks. I also did some serious head-scratching over the fact that the mini-manual that came with the unit specifically mentions an optional 6 way pedal that to this point doesn't seem to exist. Huh? What is going on here? Having the two options available per channel isn't as desirable as it would be if all 4 options could be accessed from a pedal, but the one that came with only goes from channel one to channel two and back again. Switching the modes is tedious in rehearsal. I can hardly wait until New Year's Eve to find out how much more so it will be in a performance setting. This is what I get for $...? Come ON, Marshall! You can do better than this!
Okay, now that I have my old man complaining out of the way: This amp is a screamer! I can honestly say it is still worth the money, in a patently annoying manner. If there is anything sweeter than a 1965 Gibson 335 squealing through a Marshall tube amp, I don't know what it is. I am just upset I didn't get Fender quality reverb to make it a perfect package. I have a 70's vintage 30 watt solid state Marshall with much better reverb that cost me $100 in 1995. THAT one also has a 1/4" line out of the front that I run through my Fender Champion 40 watt and it solves the reverb issue quite nicely and creates stereo to boot. I just lose the clean/filthy option I have with the new Marshall. I don't regret the purchase. At the same time, I am far from satisfied. Go figure.
Sorry to come across like an old grouch but at 68 that is my prerogative.

I was a little disappointed when I first fired up my new amp, sound was very thin. . And the reverb is next to none. After replacing the speaker to a vintage 30 and a full set of tubes. The sound quality improved dramaticly. Still lacking in the low end chunk just a bit but nice sound non the less. I don't know if all of these have a week reverb or not. I must have mine dimed to get any reverb so to speak. Over all pretty happy with the sound. Now I just wish I could find the optional 6 button foot switch...

revised review: you might be able to get a good metal tone from this combo amp if you have a good boost pedal and overdrive and an EQ pedal but out of the box it's really just a rocker combo amp

I really like the tone of this amp compared to the DSL40C. No modifications needed.

The only issue is that it pops when the channel or effect loop is changed via the footswitch. That makes it useless for on stage use.

I tried 2 different amp and the same thing. Major design flaw on Marshall's part. Stupid.

Bought mine from Sweetwater 6 years ago. The amp sounded great at first, played a few gigs with it, then back in my studio. Just like a few reviews I read, the amp will play good for about 30 minutes, then would just cut out, no sound. So I turn it on again, works for another 30 minutes or so. It really sucks, cause it's a great sounding amp, but maybe since it's made in China, it's just a POS. I called a repair guy, and he said I'd have to wait, cause he already had 3 in there doing the same thing! My warranty was already up, so Sweetwater couldn't do anything about it.. I have a Carvin Belair that I've had for 23 years, never had a problem with it, and still kicks butt! I upgraded to a Friedman Dirty Shirley and 2x12 cab, and man, what an amp! Don't by this Marshall, it's Junk!

Amp #1 lasted 3 months. Granted, it sounded good. However one day, I power it on and it was dead silent. I changed the tubes and still nothing.

I was lucky enough to have it still covered by warranty. So I just decide to replace it with a brand new one in the box. Amp #2, I literally unbox it, power it up and the SAME thing. This poor amp never produced a single sound.

No one was ever able to give me answer for why this has happened. Guitar techs looked as puzzled as me.

This time around, I move on from Marshall. I get an EVH 5150 for the same price and it sounds even better than this dud ever did.

The third day I had it it turned off by itself and would not turn back on. What else can I say about it.

This is the first decent sized Amp I've ever owned. I treat it well, it's always plugged into grounded power sources, I never set a beer on it, etc. Only 6 months after receiving it I had to take it to the shop with multiple issues. Its been in the shop for a month because Marshall is out of the replacement parts they typically send. Ive lost gigs and money between this and another long delay from Sweetwater. This product gets great reviews and that's why I bought it but be warned, they are shipping duds.

After having this amp for about a year, it started acting up. The sound would just quit and then none of the control buttons would do anything. I could turn it off and back on and it would work again, for a little while but before long it would do it again. Being still under warranty I sent it back to sweetwater for repair. I get it back and it does the same thing. If you get one like this just exchange for a different one or something else. From the research I've done this is not real common but if it happens it's toast.

I purchased a DSL 40CR from Sweetwater in 2016. Put about 30 hours on it over about 15 months and one day it started hissing and popping. Then no audio. This happened intermittently...one day it played great, next day no audio! In early 2018, I sent it back to Sweetwater for warranty repair (cost me $42 to pack it up); they replaced a switch and a tube and sent it back to me! Played 15 minutes and then no audio! Emailed Sweetwater and they suggested I replace the tubes, which I did. Same results! By this time the warranty was up. Took it to a local amp repairman! He couldn"t figure it out! Don"t know if I purchased a lemon or if this is pretty common with these amps! Found others online with the same issue, but couldn"t find anyone with the solution! This amp sounds great when it works...just not very dependable!