Marshall DSL 1 Watt Head 

One thing I love about your channel is how simple it is. When you show the tones you don't put double bass blast beats that overwhelm the guitar tone that I came for. You show just simple riffs and licks that show the tone and not some crazy sweep picking bs that just shows your playing and not the amp. Your channel is the best

That clean channel is so bright, it's a felony in 38 states and Puerto Rico to play a Telecaster through that amp.

Your channel is simple, on point, and most importantly, you are humble. Thank you sir.

I had to have the 5c right when it came out ~4 years ago. I love it. It sounds perfect. I just purchased the 20 watt head you are referring to and find it a little fizzy/trebley. I think the difference is that they have presence controls. The thing with Marshall amps (tube) is that they crave volume. Lower treble + volume = good sounding Marshall.

I literally went “Oh!!” when you started playing on the clean channel.

Thank you for always giving no B/S reviews!! After watching your videos I walk away understanding what it is and what it will do. You just give your honest option. I don't feel I can get that anywhere else. I am subscribing today🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

As always, a good video with an honest evaluation and great information. Thank you sir and keep it up

Thank you for this video Phillip! You are the best!

You really weren't lying when you said bright. Yikes

well, i bought one and with a palmer cab with a celestion 12" neo creamback 16ohm 60 watt speaker and it is amazing, not to bright but just right in de clean channel, so the speaker is really important, even the deepswith gives a very nice blues tones for the clean channel, for the gain channel it was even searching for the sweet spot but there also 100% marshall, i recomended this for home use any day for the money

I’ve got the DSL1 Combo, I love it. The clean channel is a bit bright but the guitar you use makes a big difference. My strat sounds amazing in the clean but not so much on the dirty. My DOT and Ibanez jerking (P90’s) sounds really good on the dirty channel especially the humbuckers in the DOT.

I bought this amp and use a 2X12 cab at 16 ohms. I love the sound and play out with it. I just mic it with an SM57. But it is quite loud alone.

I have the DSL 1 combo. I love the clean being as bright as it is if I need it darker i just roll off on the treble.

Yeah i'm with youon this amp Phil, I have had this amp for about 6months as my late nighter, and recently picked up a blackstar ht1r to use instead. If I had to recommend between the two based on tone the blackstar would be my recommendation even though it has no footswitch jack or effects loop. Drive is easy enough to control with guitar volume. That being said tone as you know is subjective.

Thanks for the review Phillip! I am relieved to hear it can be ran through a 2x12. I was afraid to try it. I am in agreement, it's a cool practice amp, all tube Marshall. Exactly what I've been wanting. I don't care for the clean channel either. It's fun on the red channel though.

Love your honesty. It's why Im still here 😉

Ive been gravitating to the Blackstar HT Series. They sound so much better to me. Especially the the HT 5R head. Great review as always Phil. Thank you.

I actually love how bright it sounds. I really like that clean.

I’m a big combo fan, less work, really enjoy your videos thanks, big fan.

I’ve recently bought one of these and I’m very happy with it for home use. I emailed Marshall because the volume on the emulated line out was much lower than the speaker. The replied and said they have an update to the emulated line out and arranged for it to be collected and upgraded FOC. Not sure about it being compatible with an 8 ohm load, both the amp and manual say 16 ohm only, I’m no expert so happy to be corrected on this.

I totally agree with you on the clean on this. Way too thin. The gain channel sounds great though. I opted to go ahead and spend the extra and pre ordered the new PRS MT15 as I really like what I am hearing on both sides of it more than the DSL 20 I have demo'd. We will see when it comes in. Love your channel and reviews as you give us your honest opinions and also why you feel the way you do. Keep it real and rock on!

Thanks for the review! Cool option, but going by the sound clips, I'll stick with my Orange #4 (which sounds awesome through a Suhr reactive loadbox and a Twonotes CAB). Thanks again for the demo!

Love the honesty. Excellent review

Hi Phill, and Thanks Phill.

Yep that amp sounds like it wants an EQ (preferably parametric) in the Loop. It sounds really bright no matter the channel.

Another Gr8 vid Phil. I got the new DSL40CR & the Origin 20 combo. After switching the DSL40CR speaker to a creamback I’m absolutely loving it. The Origin hasn’t supplied yet but I’m worried about the 10” speaker. Kinda wishing I would’ve gotten the head version.

I live in a condo. It's a great amp. 8 out of a 10. And for a tube amp, it won't break you. It's Awesome. Hooked mine up to a 1×12 fender cab. No complaints.

I just got this head and honestly after 3 hours of bedroom play I'm thrilled with it. I have an MX112 box but with a replaced V30 speaker, which I opened just like the SC112 box and it sounds very good. I also want to try it with the V-Type speaker that I have in the shipping package. Or I'll put it in a SJ2525c with a Greenback and I also have a MB Thiele 90 box. I bought it second hand for 70 Euro with 14 months still under warranty.... so much fun for a few bucks....

Being an owner of the original JCM 2000 DSL1 I was curious to hear the differences between the two. Wow! It is bright on the clean channel. I would have to agree with you Phil, to much for my tastes (I use 2 2x12 cabs with Celestion G12 50s) and use the clean channel with a few different dirt pedals (a Timmy and a Keeley Red Dirt mini) and it’s great. Basically making it a four channel amp. Like you though I wish that it had reverb as well. I’ve been using a MXR Carbon Copy delay in the effects loop to get a slight echo that seems to work well for my needs. The dirty channel still sounds pretty much like the original. I run mine with the gain backed down to about 10oclock, everything else around noon. Most of my guitars have low to medium output humbuckers, so this seems to work quite well for a nice dirty sound and cleans up fairly good when rolling the volume off on the guitar. I use the deep switch and run the mid cut switch in. I’ve notice that I get a pretty good jump in volume when I disengage the mid cut switch, I don’t know if this is due to the cut in the mid frequency or just inherent to the amp itself. This is my main amp that I play with at home at night on the .1 watt setting as it’s not to loud to be offensive to the family and still gives me a nice tone. Something I’m unable to do with my higher wattage amps. Thanks for the review Phil! As always good and to the point.

I have the anniversary made in UK one, it's really great

Quick question, would this amp paired with a 2x12 cabinet be loud enough to play in a band with?

Best review off this amp by far. I agree 100℅

I tried and really liked the DSL 20HR except for the fx loop that radically changed levels when using a looper! If I tracked a clean phrase and then switched over to the hot channel to lead out, the looping phrase dropped in volume. If I looped a hot phrase and switched to the clean channel the looping phrase was way too loud. For this reason I returned the amp, which was really too bad cuz I did like the tones I was getting. Got the Rebel 30 Mkii instead and am very happy.

i love small amps , after 20 years of using my fender hot rod , i bought a marshall sl5 and a vox lil nightrain . cant be hapier and end up playing a lot more

Based on your demo I would recommend anybody interested in an amp like this to look toward trying to find a used Vox Lil NightTrain. It does clean and dirt both very well and you can get a really Marshall’s tone. No on board reverb though. You can usually find one used for around $150.

Hi Phillip, thanks for the review. Could you elaborate a little on the impedance issue. I would love to be able to transport only one 4 x 12 cabinet running two of these heads into it in order to maintain the stereo spectrum of my effects through a single cab. But according to the backside of my speaker cabinet, the impedance in this configuration is 8 ohms per side (otherwise it's either 16 or 4 ohms MONO and I'd still have to carry two cabs out). On the backside of the amp head, I only saw wording that specified "1 x 16 Ohm" output jack impedance. I assumed this meant 16 ohms was the minimum impedance. Are you saying this amp can adjust to match different speaker impedances?

Hi Phillip, maybe the question has been raised already but in the manual it is written "1x16 ohm" only, not "8 ohm minimum " ! Are you sure 8ohm load is safe with Dsl1HR ?

I liked this video, it was nice and informative. I tried the 20w combo at my local store, and thought it was a bit boring. I was interested in the 1w head because I thought it may be easier to crank that clean channel for some old school Marshall tones. But I think even at the low power mode, it may be a bit too loud to crank in my tiny apartment. I have a Vox AC4 that I loved when I cranked it at the store, but it is way too thin and boring at home.

Dang you weren’t lying when you said bright

Off topic, is that a Breedlove acoustic on the wall? Import or USA? Thoughts either way appreciated.

I have the combo version of this amp and mine sounds great, nothing like this vid. Not sure if it is just sounding different through the recording?

I have the 5 watt combo and its great for late night jamming of the Sunset Strip tone.

What low wattage amps would you recommend for a pedal platform? I actually thought this amp would be good for it!!

Phillip, I am looking at the manual and on the head itself and it seems to only ever mention supporting a 16 ohm load. Where did you see that mentioned? If only a 16 ohm load is supported, how might that have affected your tone tests with 8 ohm loads?

My DSL 1 HR is definitely not to bright, using a Vintage Modern 425 Cab. Changing the Stock Tubes to old NOS Telefunken did A LOT to improve the sound. You can hear the amp in my videos

Thanks for the review Phil. I was thinking you might regret not getting the 20 watt but I waited to see what you actually thought. I just got the Peavey Valveking 20MH, for a can't refuse price, and I'm still working with it to get it to sound like I want but may still go after the DSL20HR also. What do you think about the Hughes & Kettner Tubemiester 18?

I know this really doesn't apply but i just bought the new dsl 40cr and was very impressed with the clean chanle.

Any idea if it has a tube cathode follower stage like the DSL20HR or not? There's one ECC83 less. Cathode follower adds to sustain and compression. Solid state phase inverter likely as well. Thanks.

Hi Phil, great video as usual, love u man! Do you suggest me to get one of this Lil baby or it's a better choice to take a bugera g5 instead, for only home using? I like blues and love rock like acdc, but i need some good and quiet valves. Thank you :)

What about using the guitar tone knob to adjust for the clean?

I wish the DSL20 was available before I bought my DSL15. As I’ve learned signal chain as my pedal board grew I really came to regret not having an effects loop. However, it takes pedals very nicely in the clean channel and has enough headroom to not get ugly when hitting it with a Red Rox and Soul Food.

As always, great info Phillip!! Quick Question, What is the "Blue to White fade" finished, double cutaway guitar above his left shoulder,(his right side for us viewers)? I thought PRS, but it appears to have Gibson trapezoids on the rosewood neck. Whatever it is, it looks sick!!! #I wanna know your gear:)

Dunno if you are still interested Phil but I have the DSL20HR. Its ok as a bedroom amp, but as soon as you crank the volume it becomes a weapon! The only thing the DSL20 lacks that the more revered DSL40C has, is a dedicated crunch channel. I overcame this putting an MI Audio Blues-Pro pedal in front of the clean channel. Now I have it all - sparkling cleans, melodic blues, hard rock sizzle and (with my boost pedal engaged) face searing metal gain.

Good stuff as always Phil

Great review as usual but glad I didn’t pull the trigger when it just came out. Will wait to see the origin series I think it will more my kind of amp than the DSL

5watts is too loud for bedroom use. I have a 7w non-MV Matamp (Matamp built all the early Oranges) with a power scaling valve - and even at 10% (ie 0.7w), it's way too loud cranked into a 1x12 Celestion G30M Greenback cab. I use it with a Hotplate attenuator for home use. Hearing is logarithmic - to double the perceived loudness, you need to increase amp power by 4 - 5-fold. So a 5w amp is half as loud as a 25w amp, and a quarter as loud as a 100w.

Great review. Saw your review on the Blackstar HT-1R as well. Curious on your thoughts comparing these two. Out of state for a project for a couple years and moved from house into an apt. Didn't bring amps and need something I can play without disturbing wife/neighbors, likely through headphones most of the time, ideally with a line-in I could play along with. Would like to connect pedalboard as well. Haven't had a chance to play this, but played the Blackstar through headphones this week at the store and was impressed with the tone I was able to get from it. Thanks for any input.

Really good review, I think a good EQ pedal could fatten up the clean channel possibly. I think the dirt channel has that classic Marshall sort of compressed drive which could be only enhanced with the right pedal. For home use it's pretty good at that price IMHO

Thanks for the review I was thinking to buy this amp, I almost gave up now ;). It seems it is not in par with 50th anniversary series. One thing to remember though is 50th anniversary series had 5 tubes, this one has 3 tubes only. That might explain the sound quality difference.

Phil i was contemplating adding it to my 4 well researched no regrets amp collection. I appreciate your non biased reviews! Thanks always! Great work! I recently received your know your gear just w the guitar shirt. So cool!

DId you have a chance to compare the new DSL to the Origin at NAMM? How does this compare to the origin 20 with their new attenuation? Thanks Phil, great video.

What's the main differences in preference between an amp with reverb, and just running a reverb pedal?

Can you do a video on low volume tube amps. Pros and cons?

so Phil how does this amp measure up to the blackstar HT-1R? and would the Dsl5cr be a better purchase ($200 more) than the dsl1cr

Nice review (as always) this amp piqued my interest quite a bit but until now all the reviews were the sponsored ones and not an objective opinions. Always nice to see an honest review.

I've recently purchased a Randall rd40c for a bargain price and believe it or not that has a great clean and spring reverb and a footswitch. Oh and the gain yes there is plenty of that. It seems to be a very much overlooked amp but worth checking out.

Having this amp also, but on the green channel as I roll the treble all the way down, the volume increases, sounds like a gain boost knob when rolling off. On the red channel the treble knob behaves just normal as it is expected. Do you experience this also?

Great video I bought a dsl40cr for playing in the bedroom lol and I can’t really get that quiet enough with still keeping the tone and distortion so was thinking maybe add the 1 amp head on to it but think I’ll look at the 5 now unless you can recommend some others cheers

OMG< that thing triggered my tinnitus like no other...ouch. Agree with your overall assessment wholeheartedly.

I really like that clean 🤗

Correct me if I’m wrong Phillip, but didn’t Marshall market these as not having a clean channel but a crunch channel that can be cleaned up a little. I bought mine with that understanding and just set my classic crunch channel to the gain setting I wanted and just roll the volume back on the guitar which seems to tame that high end quite a bit. Anyway, yeah I think you’ll be much happier with the DSL20h . I bought both when they came out and the 20 watter definitely has the dna from the JCM2000 series for sure . It can get loud as a mother trucker too! Thanks for posting up another great video!

Great review Phil!,I hope you will review the dsl 20 head

Pushing that clean a lil more into breakup, neck pickup on a strat =😍

I own one of these now for years. It is my home amp full stop. It does everything I want it to. I especially love the clean channel. I like that it is so clear. And it takes pedals really well. Its just a small Marshall. Just don't buy the combo, which is true for most of the small amps.

tell me if you know about it.. can i turn on the dsl without speaker? i have a power valve amp, i use preamp section of dsl1 and send the signal using the "send" in back of amp..tanks!

Thanks for the honest review. I find most amps that are hyped and on the cheaper side (under $500 made in china) to be uninspiring after a short time.They may sound good and entertaining the first couple of times but soon fades,.... kind of like a pop song ;). I hate to say it but it seems you get what you pay for in guitars and amps. Have you come across a reasonably priced, pro sounding, low wattage, Marshall/Classic rock amp for home use? Does it exist under $1000??? Thanks! MIles V

I have that same amp. I don't really use the clean channel so I have no comment on that. I did however switch it to an 8ohm load by unplugging the lead from op transformer going to circuit board and plugging in the lead that the factory has tied off. I have the amp plugged into a silver jubilee 212 horizontal cab. Sounds great for a $300 Marshall.

You said you prefer darker amps. I always find myself turning treble down on amps and pedals. What are some good low watt darker amps to check out?

Thanks for the great review. I was thinking of this for home and because it had reverb, but honestly that reverb is pretty poor and that thin clean tone is NOT for me.

Thanks for doing this video. Was interested in that little guy just for kicks, but no way is that tone worth the money. I hope you return it and get the 20 watter. Are you looking into the Origin series at all? They seem like a decent (ie, cheap) alternative to a 2061x. Thanks again Phil, and keep up the great work!

Didn't take long to decide I don't like it. Thanks for the vid.

What is your opinion on a good low power pedal platform with fx loop?

I just bought one of these for £140 and its the sickest thing I've ever bought. I'm blown away.

I have one of the JCM1 anniversary mini stacks, and it sounds awesome. Nice and full sound, and more than loud enough to where i usually have it on the .1w setting. This sounds way too bright and harsh. I like trying out low watt tube stuff, but this one i havent seen a review that made me want it.

Is it normal for the volume to stay on with the gain knob turned up even though the volume knob is all the way off on the ultra gain channel?

it has 2 12ax7 tubes. basically pre-amp tubes to power the amp

I got one last week and love it ..horses for causes..

One doubt, how many ohms are the horns? How many are and how are they connected in parallel or in series?

i have the 50th anniversary jvm1h and its just amazing

Nice Review Phillip! I'm really interested in your thoughts on the New DSL-20H. I'd like to know if you feel it's a Gigable Amp? Thank You Sir. Please keep up the Good Work, I look forward to your Reviews and Videos!!

Hey Phillip, I really enjoy your gear and info vids :) I know that you prefer amps with great clean channels (and reverb...can't forget the reverb) to put pedals in front of. Totally valid. But as someone that prefers to get the tone from the amp, this looks like a winner. All the reviews I found were 5 stars. And as far as the brightness on clean, it probably fattens right up with the gain that most people who buy it are looking for. I had a Class 5 and I had to turn the bass all the way off when it was dimed. Maybe if you just turn the treble down a little you'll prefer it. I have one of these delivering tomorrow so I'll know better soon.

It could be purposely bright to help offset the low volume being played at. I found the tone on the 5 watt to be very nice clean... Going to demo the the 1 watt combo tonight. Fingers crossed, as 5 is too loud. Looking for tv volume or slightly louder, apartment friendly amp.

I just bought a used demo version for less. Immediately after trying it out I opened up the cabinet and pulled the chassis out to investigate. There is a white wire tie wrapped insides coming from the output transformer. Thinking it has to be 8 Ohms. I will be installing another jack next to the original 16 ohm. This new version amp has both high voltage and output transformers mounted on the exterior of the chassis like full size Marshall’s do. The 50th anniversary models had everything mounted internally and output transformer was mounted on the PCB. Going to be modding this and start selling modded DSL1 amp on eBay and Reverb. Gain is too compressed, needs to be modded like my DSL15 needed.

Phil, are you gonna check the new Origin series?

Hey Philip, want to buy this amp, plus harley benton vintage 2x12 combo. Do you know is it ok to use that combo, even though it is different oms? Cheers.

What speakers are in the cab? Ceramic Celestions im guessing.

Hi! great video & review! What other 1W tube platforms do you recommend? I actually love the silent emulated output on this one. But you just changed my mind! Thanks!

Sounds better than the clean on my Marshall 8020 open back

Ive had this amp for a year. Ive had the blackstar 1w for 3 years. If your after a 1w amp you probablly cant play at the loudest volumes but want that tube sound which is why your here. Well i wouldnt be able to play the marshall at volume 1 out of 10. Its that loud. Yes you can drop it to .1 w but it also sounds like its ina fishtank. Im sure it sounds great loud bit it is far to loud to be played at home. The blackstar on volume 5 or 6 is the same as volume 1 on the marshall. Clean channel on the marshall is woeful. Sold the marshall and kept the blackstar

So what would be some better options for low-wattage heads?