I made an interesting video comparison: '69 Plexi vs DSL 15 green channel. Which do you prefer?

[the passenger]

In the following video I compare two amps that I think can sound surprisingly close to each other despite being in a very different league, but you decide.

- My 1969 JMP 50 is my treasure. I have it for 10 years now. It's a beautiful amp inside and outside, it motivates me to play non-stop. It has all original (or NOS) caps and resistors. It's point-to-point Mustard goodness. The amp is currently wired in a 2204 fashion so that I can have a master volume (it's a half an hour mod - 1987 and 2204 amps have almost exactly the same basic construction).

- I purchased the DSL 15 about 7 years ago and I've been using that one too extensively. I find it incredible that such a cheap small amp can sound so good even compared to its legendary big brother. I did some small mods to the red channel (snipped two caps if I remember correctly) but the green channel is untouched. The green is the "plexi" channel, so you have to set it up like a plexi when it is fully cranked: Bass at 0, Treble, Mid, Presence at 10. The strange thing is that I don't like DSL amps, but the 15W version is unique - it runs on 6V6 tubes and even fully cranked, the lows won't get flabby and loose.

- This is not a professional recording, I used a cheap dynamic mic placed almost center to the speaker so the sounds you hear are overly trebly and have not much to do with the real thing that I hear in the room (much more bass, mids and overall punch in person). I adjusted the volume of the two amps in the mixing software to be equal. I wanted to mix in the camera's room audio to make the sound a little more like in person but for some reason I couldn't pair the tracks precisely and I was in a hurry. I play on a Gibson LP.

Tell me guys which one you prefer. I find them incredibly similar especially from 4:10 with the heavier drop-C riff.

 

[cybermgk]

In the video, oddly, it was the drop C riffs that made them seperate to my ears. Up till then, yep remarkably similar/same. The drop C stuff the DSL sounded a little darker, a little more compressed, and a tiny less upper frequencies. Not that it sounded bad, cause it didn't

 

[the passenger]

In the video, oddly, it was the drop C riffs that made them seperate to my ears. Up till then, yep remarkably similar/same. The drop C stuff the DSL sounded a little darker, a little more compressed, and a tiny less upper frequencies. Not that it sounded bad, cause it didn't

You're description is spot-on about the small difference in tone (DSL being a tiny bit more compressed and darker). I was in a hurry, so I basically just plugged-in, played and recorded them. I think I could have get them even closer with some additional tinkering which to me is incredible from such a small cheap amp.

In the room in front of the huge wall of sound I don't really hear two different models. The difference I hear is more like comparing a Super Lead to a Super Bass or two JMPs from different years, they are so close (and the fully cranked 15W in reality is not much quieter than 50W through the same cab).

In my experience nobody uses the DSL 15 this way, as a small plexi. What I also like about it is I can take it home with me, connect it to a smaller cab and an attenuator and get a full-blown cranked plexi sound at TV volumes. The real deal. I just can't bond with all the modeler stuff so this is how I roll.

 

[cmjohnson]

For me, the big iron plexi wins all around. Its sound is more complex, more three dimensional, while the DSL sound comparatively flat, less complex. I get a lot more of the feeling that the plexi is really moving the air in the room in a way no smaller amp can match, even at low volume. And it's not a matter of EQ differences. There's just more going on in the tone of the plexi.

That's really what I love most about my Superleads. That depth and complexity is sublime and very addictive.

 

[68 Greenback]

Another great video. Your playing and tone are among my favourites.

 

[ARandall]

I too felt like the plexi had more authority in the lower end. And I guess that is what the bigger OT does.

 

[Mr French]

Both sound great. What speakers?

 

[the passenger]

Both sound great. What speakers?

The speakers are pretty rare 90s Greenbacks that have the 6402 cone codes. These are said by many to be the closest ever to original Pulsonics who made comparisons. I had old Blackbacks and even older Creambacks but sold them when I got this set of Greenbacks by accident in a 90s cab that I traded-in. These 6402's just sounded overall much better.

The cab is a '74 one. I recently replaced the stock plastic handles to metal ones and took the chance to inspect the cab's construction. It's really noticeable how harder the plywood on this '74 cab compared to newer cabs with the same 15mm construction.

So I have everything covered to have a great recorded tone, the problem is that I use a very crappy $30 budget mic that do no favor to capture these amps' robust tone. They sound much larger and punchier in person so I will finally buy an SM-57 to make proper recordings.

 

[the passenger]

Another great video. Your playing and tone are among my favourites.

Thanks very much. As I said in my previous post, I will finally upgrade my cheap mic to be able to capture the sound I hear in person in better quality. I hope I will be able to show realistically how these amps sound because they are much more robust and punchier in person.

 

[the passenger]

For me, the big iron plexi wins all around. Its sound is more complex, more three dimensional, while the DSL sound comparatively flat, less complex. I get a lot more of the feeling that the plexi is really moving the air in the room in a way no smaller amp can match, even at low volume. And it's not a matter of EQ differences. There's just more going on in the tone of the plexi.

That's really what I love most about my Superleads. That depth and complexity is sublime and very addictive.

Yeah, the JMP wins overall. Although you would be really surprised how huge this tiny 15W head can sound in person cranked to 10 as in the video. Stays tight despite the small irons. I thought that the bottom-end would get flabby and fall apart with the clean channel completely dimed, but none of that happening (maybe it's because of the 6V6 power tubes that is unique to this amp)

The JMP is a beast. And opening up that amp, seeing the point-to-point masterful construction, those sweet Mustard caps adds a heartwarming feeling. It's incredible that a 54 year-old amp can still function perfectly (I also have to mention that it's totally noise-free, even less than the DSL).

On the other hand, having a small backup amp that is capable of producing 95% of the tone of the original king of amps is unbelievable. I don't feel the urge to buy the new 20 W Plexi and JCM 800 line up if this DSL can do all this. Taking it home with me and attenuating it to TV volumes while hearing that plexi power amp saturation just gets me high as a kite. The faces I make gets the wife jealous.