Just what it says... One vs The Other. Anybody have any long term experience? I love certain tones of each one, but I'm leaning more towards the Fender right now. I'll be putting it to work this spring, and have plenty of time to decide for sure. I guess my biggest question is, how does the Fender perform on some hard rock/punk in the gain territory? I haven't been able to open one up. The Marshall, well, it's a Marshall. It does it perfectly. Plug in a P90 and let it rip! What're y'alls thoughts?
Fender HotRod Deluxe vs Marshall DSL40
- Thread starter Lineboat
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gball
Ambassador of Boogie
I've owned the predecessors of both of these - an early HRD (US-made) and a DSL401, but they are close enough to the current models that I think my comments apply.
Depends in large part what kind of requirements you have. You mention rock/punk/gain and that's Marshall's natural habitat: If you need mostly crunch and gain sounds the DSL-40 is hard to beat, plus it has great cleans...provided you are not looking for American/Fender-style scooped-mid glassy clean tones. The Fender of course excels at those, but (even though the newer HRD's have been improved in this department) the gain tones are arguably pretty weak, especially when you start comparing them to the Marshall. They tend to be a bit thin and buzzy sounding, but improve a lot with a good pedal in front of the amp. The Marshall does not need any pedals for dirt - it has as much gain as any reasonable person could ever need.
As far as quality they are pretty much a wash, with similar construction between the two and a proven track record of being solid, giggable amps. My personal leaning would be toward the Marshall because I use higher-gain tones and I find the amp more versatile for the music I play. But if I played more polite music or relied heavily on a pedalboard I'd likely side with the Fender.
Depends in large part what kind of requirements you have. You mention rock/punk/gain and that's Marshall's natural habitat: If you need mostly crunch and gain sounds the DSL-40 is hard to beat, plus it has great cleans...provided you are not looking for American/Fender-style scooped-mid glassy clean tones. The Fender of course excels at those, but (even though the newer HRD's have been improved in this department) the gain tones are arguably pretty weak, especially when you start comparing them to the Marshall. They tend to be a bit thin and buzzy sounding, but improve a lot with a good pedal in front of the amp. The Marshall does not need any pedals for dirt - it has as much gain as any reasonable person could ever need.
As far as quality they are pretty much a wash, with similar construction between the two and a proven track record of being solid, giggable amps. My personal leaning would be toward the Marshall because I use higher-gain tones and I find the amp more versatile for the music I play. But if I played more polite music or relied heavily on a pedalboard I'd likely side with the Fender.
Well, that does help me a lot. I'm no shredder, but I don't need the glassy Fender cleans. 90% of the use it sees will be crunch and heavier gain. Mostly crunch. I'm not a big pedal guy either. So how was the cleans on the older 401? I haven't ruled it out either. Anything I should be cautious of on those?
Kerry Brown
Ambassador of the Great Northern Bar Jams
Haven't played a DSL40 but I do have a Hot Rod Deluxe. The clean channel is spectacular but the drive channel is mediocre at best. You can get a decent crunch with the gain set around 9:00 but anything above that and you're better off with a pedal. This is a really loud amp. Even with a very loud drummer I can't get the power tubes working hard. It does sound great if you play it loud enough to drive the power tubes but you better be wearing ear plugs. It's a great amp for cleans and with pedals it rocks. My main amp is an EL84 based Mesa TA-30 which has a great Marshall voice. I'd be hard pressed to take one over the other but the Mesa gets way more use than the Fender.
How're the cleans on the Mesa?
I'm not ruling anything out, but I don't have access to go play a bunch of amps locally. I went into a big box store last week, and I'll be flip if their Marshall and Hot Rod Deluxe weren't both screwed up. Two of us couldn't get a decent sound out of either one!
Kerry Brown
Ambassador of the Great Northern Bar Jams
The Mesa TA-30 is not your normal Mesa. The clean channel does a better Vox than Vox. It has a normal and top boost voice. I like it so much I sold my AC15. The drive channel has three voices: Tweed, Marshall, and Mesa. I mostly use the Vox normal voice for cleans and the Marshall voice for dirt. It also can switch between 15, 30, and 40 watts. It is the most versatile amp I've used yet it's very easy to dial in. AFAIK the voices are all analog, no digital effects. They quit making them a few years ago and they're hard to find. For me it's the perfect amp for playing live. You can cover most anything. It's reasonably light, lighter than the HRDeluxe. Mesa quality is pretty legendary. It has never let me down. Used if you can find one it will be double the price of the HRDeluxe but worth it in my mind.
Forgot to say all the voices take pedals well. The Tweed voice with a Boss Blues driver and some PAFs is spectacular. It also has a decent reverb.
Kerry Brown
Ambassador of the Great Northern Bar Jams
One thing I really like is that you can switch between normal and top boost with the flick of a switch instead of changing inputs. One thing I don't like is you can only change channels, not voices, with the foot switch. When you use the foot switch you are limited to whichever voice the switch for that channel is set at. To change the voice for the channel you have to use the switch on the amp.
gball
Ambassador of Boogie
I'll concur with Kerry Brown regarding the flexibility of the more recent Mesa offerings: It's really just a choice of flavor, but they are all unbelievably versatile. I basically sold off all my other amps when I got my Mark 5:25. It nails everything from Blackface clean to Marshall crunch to all the classic Mesa uber high gain tones. Really every model they have made in the last decade (I owned some '90's era Mesas that were not all that versatile but sounded fantastic doing their one thing) can cover a huge amount of sonic territory, so even though they are not cheap they are great value, and the cost is a downright bargain compared to "boutique" builders that don't necessarily offer better tone or build quality. And you can find killer deals on slightly used ones.
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gball
Ambassador of Boogie
Cleans on the 401 were nothing to get excited about. A little lifeless if we're being honest, no "bounce" in the tone.
Well, it looks like I'm getting an older DSL401. 2001, made in England, studio use only. It worked out through a little trading on a guitar I'm not using anyway. It'll probably show up AFTER I'm back on the river next week, so I probably won't get to see it until February! DagNammit! Oh well.
I'm gonna give it a shot. Thanks for all the input fellas. I know what I'll try if this one doesn't work out!
I'm gonna give it a shot. Thanks for all the input fellas. I know what I'll try if this one doesn't work out!
gball
Ambassador of Boogie
Good choice brother - the OD/Gain tones in that amp are pretty much textbook Marshall greatness and it'll get loud enough to sterilize you if you wind it up. And I got to say, my own Marshall exeriences lead me to feel that the MIE ones have something just a little bit more special going on that the Vietnamese ones, plus they have the bonus of having real Celestions in them.
I looked these up. Yeah, they're more expensive, but that's a real amplifier. They even look professional! I hope I get the chance to test drive one someday.
gball
Ambassador of Boogie
It's a great feeling when you find it for sure. I have that going on now with my Mesa - it blows my mind every time I power it up.
Catmandue
Well-Known Member
You know I've tried them both and I feel they are both great amps. I lean more to the DSL40 because every time I've played them ( two different ones I've actually tried for the Marshall ) it sounds better every time. I like the way those EL34 power tubes sound on that combo. I like the whole new DSL series. I have a DSL15C and a DSL5C also. I have tried about three or four HRD amps and one was excellent, the others not bad. Only one HRD sounded like it needed TLC and it was a used abused issue.