Marshall DSL40CR Settings Guide
Dual-channel Marshall: Classic Gain (Plexi/JCM feel) and Ultra Gain (modern high-gain). The gigging standard for British rock.
Used by: Slash, Gary Moore, Zakk Wylde
The best Marshall DSL40CR settings start with: Gain 1 at 5/10, Gain 2 at 6/10, Bass at 5/10, Mid at 6/10, Treble at 6/10, Presence at 5/10, Resonance at 5/10. Adjust from there based on your amp, guitar, and room volume. For Classic Rock: Gain 1 6/10, Bass 5/10, Mid 7/10, Treble 6/10, Presence 5/10.
⚡ Start Here — Recommended Settings
| Control | Starting Position | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Gain 1 | 5/10 | Clean → Crunch |
| Gain 2 | 6/10 | Crunch → Hi-Gain |
| Bass | 5/10 | Thin → Heavy |
| Mid | 6/10 | Scooped → Present |
| Treble | 6/10 | Dark → Bright |
| Presence | 5/10 | Smooth → Aggressive |
| Resonance | 5/10 | Tight → Loose |
These are universal starting points. Adjust based on your amp, guitar, and room. Scroll down for genre-specific settings and artist-documented positions.
What Each Control Does
Recommended Starting Settings
Safe starting positions for any style. Adjust from here based on your amp and room.
All values on a 0–10 scale. These are starting points — fine-tune by ear.
Settings by Genre
Classic Gain channel pushed into crunch — mid-forward Marshall character. Slash, Angus Young, Gary Moore territory: the channel that defined British rock rhythm guitar.
Ultra Gain with tight Resonance to prevent loose low-end — scooped mids for modern metal. Add a noise gate in the effects loop; the Ultra channel produces significant hiss at high gain.
Classic Gain on the clean-crunch edge — lower gain preserves note definition while raised mids add voice character. Push the amp with a Tube Screamer for more sustain without adding fizz.
Classic Gain at near-clean for Telecaster clarity — high Treble for note definition, pulled Bass to prevent muddiness on picked notes. The DSL is not a natural country amp, but at minimum gain it produces a workable clean with the right voicing.
Minimum Gain 1 for maximum headroom on the Classic channel — high mids for chord articulation, lowered Presence prevents upper-harmonic hardness on chord voicings. The DSL is not a jazz amp but can produce a serviceable clean at these settings.
Artist Settings
Documented settings used by professional guitarists on this unit.
Classic Gain channel cranked — mid-heavy voicing with raised Presence for upper-harmonic definition. The DSL reproduces Slash's "Appetite"-era Marshall character with the Classic Gain channel pushed hard; he typically adds a wah (parked or swept) and no pedal drive.
Moore's DSL-era tone used the Classic Gain channel cranked hard for his singing, saturated lead sound — the amp gain does the work, not pedals. High Mids and Presence produce the cutting, harmonically rich lead tone his style requires; the key is the Classic channel at maximum rather than the Ultra channel.
Wylde uses Ultra Gain at maximum for his wall-of-Marshall heavy metal tone — high Presence for searing upper harmonics, Mids above noon for cut through dense rhythm guitar, Treble controlled to prevent harshness. A noise gate is essential at these settings.
Tips & Common Mistakes
- The shared EQ affects both channels — set it for your primary channel, then accept the EQ compromise on the secondary.
- Resonance controls power amp bass — cut it (3-4) for tight modern metal, push it (6-7) for vintage British bloom.
- Presence is the most dramatic EQ knob on this amp — above 7 adds aggressive upper harmonics that can become harsh on the Ultra Gain channel.
- The DSL has a Pentode/Triode switch on the back panel — Triode halves the wattage to 20W and changes the feel (more compressed, slightly darker) without a dramatic volume drop.
- The Classic Gain channel and Ultra Gain channel are voiced very differently — Classic is Plexi/JCM800-adjacent, Ultra is modern high-gain. Don't expect them to share character at the same gain setting.
- Use the channel-switching footswitch with a noise gate in the effects loop (Boss NS-2, ISP Decimator) — the Ultra Gain channel produces significant hiss that a gate eliminates at live volume.
- Stacking a Tube Screamer into the Classic Gain channel on low gain reproduces the SRV/Mayer approach — the TS pushes the clean amp into smooth breakup rather than adding pedal distortion.
- For recording DI: the DSL's emulated output jack provides a speaker-simulated line signal directly to an interface — usable for bedroom tone without miking the cab.
FAQ
Marshall DSL40CR — Common Questions
Best starting settings for Marshall DSL40CR: Gain 1 at 5/10, Gain 2 at 6/10, Bass at 5/10, Mid at 6/10, Treble at 6/10, Presence at 5/10, Resonance at 5/10. Adjust from there based on your guitar, room, and playing style.
For Classic Rock: Gain 1 6/10, Bass 5/10, Mid 7/10, Treble 6/10, Presence 5/10. Classic Gain channel pushed into crunch — mid-forward Marshall character. Slash, Angus Young, Gary Moore territory: the channel that defined British rock rhythm guitar.
For Metal: Gain 2 8/10, Bass 6/10, Mid 5/10, Treble 5/10, Presence 6/10, Resonance 4/10. Ultra Gain with tight Resonance to prevent loose low-end — scooped mids for modern metal. Add a noise gate in the effects loop; the Ultra channel produces significant hiss at high gain.
Gain 1: Classic Gain channel drive — ranges from clean to Plexi-style crunch. (Clean to Crunch). Gain 2: Ultra Gain channel — JCM800 to modern high-gain. (Crunch to Hi-Gain). Bass: Shared EQ across both channels. (Thin to Heavy). Mid: Marshall mid-forward character lives at 6-8. (Scooped to Present). Treble: Cut to 5 on Ultra Gain to prevent harshness. (Dark to Bright). Presence: High-frequency resonance in the power amp — more harmonic edge than Treble. (Smooth to Aggressive). Resonance: Low-frequency response in the power amp — controls bass tightness. (Tight to Loose). Volume 1: Classic Gain channel output. (Silent to Full). Volume 2: Ultra Gain channel output. (Silent to Full). Master: Global output — both channels. (Silent to Full)
The shared EQ affects both channels — set it for your primary channel, then accept the EQ compromise on the secondary. Resonance controls power amp bass — cut it (3-4) for tight modern metal, push it (6-7) for vintage British bloom. Presence is the most dramatic EQ knob on this amp — above 7 adds aggressive upper harmonics that can become harsh on the Ultra Gain channel. The DSL has a Pentode/Triode switch on the back panel — Triode halves the wattage to 20W and changes the feel (more compressed, slightly darker) without a dramatic volume drop. The Classic Gain channel and Ultra Gain channel are voiced very differently — Classic is Plexi/JCM800-adjacent, Ultra is modern high-gain. Don't expect them to share character at the same gain setting. Use the channel-switching footswitch with a noise gate in the effects loop (Boss NS-2, ISP Decimator) — the Ultra Gain channel produces significant hiss that a gate eliminates at live volume. Stacking a Tube Screamer into the Classic Gain channel on low gain reproduces the SRV/Mayer approach — the TS pushes the clean amp into smooth breakup rather than adding pedal distortion. For recording DI: the DSL's emulated output jack provides a speaker-simulated line signal directly to an interface — usable for bedroom tone without miking the cab.
Slash settings: Gain 1 7/10, Bass 5/10, Mid 7/10, Treble 6/10, Presence 6/10. Classic Gain channel cranked — mid-heavy voicing with raised Presence for upper-harmonic definition. The DSL reproduces Slash's "Appetite"-era Marshall character with the Classic Gain channel pushed hard; he typically adds a wah (parked or swept) and no pedal drive.
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