i am waiting on a mercury magnetics ot from weber to get here. I am going to put it in my dsl50. If i like the results i will get one for my dsl100 too..i really like these amps alot stock, but i am just looking for a little more touch-sensitivity, like i get from my 2204's...i will post my findings after i install it....
I got a really good deal on a new dsl100. after having it for a while i really started liking it ALOT! Therefore when i found a steal of a deal on craigslist for a dsl50 i grabbed it fast. I am totally satisfied with my tone after having come full circle back to marshalls. I still prefer my 2204's tonally, but live the dsl's cant be beat.
The only mod I did to my TSL was trade it for the JVM even up with my dealer and couldn't be happier. The JVM is a good all around versitile amp. It isnt my main amp of course but I really like it.
Anyways........
Before I got the JVM I was going to get the tranny replaced.
What started it for me was that my TSL was pretty good for low to medium gain 6 string tones (think AC/DC gain levels and below) or for blusy rock etc but for anything of higher gain, it was just ok for 6 string work, and whenever I plugged a 7 string or a de tuned 6 string it in, well it ranks as one of the worst sounds I have ever heard from a tube amp. I got the TSL because I wanted a good solid versitle head so I didnt have to use my main amps for sessions etc.
So after many conversations with my tech, and after it was investigated by several guys I respect A LOT, I was advised to have the tranny replaced. I believe that would have made a HUGE improvement based on the advice of others who are far more technically savvy than I am when it comes to electronics.
I was on the verge of doing just that right before I traded it.
I clipped the bright cap from my dsl along with trying different nos preamp tubes and speakers before I woke up and realized that the amp wasn't worth owning and traded it.
If I was interested in a modern Marshall amp, I would try the JVM or the other big one that they have out (can't remember the name of it right now) before I would try to mod the DSL or TSL series. Those amps (and many other brands in the Marshall vein) are far superior in tone to the DSL and TSL lines IMO.
I have owned all of the newer marshalls..well 50 and 100 watt vm heads and a jvm head..i liked almost everything about the vm except for its loose bottom end..the jvm was ok too, but the dsl's are more grrunty and old-school marshall sounding.
Cool! Thats what I was looking for. I was think of putting a Mercury output transformer.. I heard thats the key for really opening the tones.. I was taking to my tech and he said the stock output transformer is like having a tiny exhaust system on a huge v8.
Like I said, there is a reason a lot of bigger band are using them??????? Only the DLS, not the TSL
DSL's have a little more orgainic sound to them.
The biggest problem I had was the fact that the bottom end was loose. The choke helped that and made the sound a little smoother. I felt that cleaned the sound up a little bit and really helped the amp greatly. I felt the amp was a little muddy even after doing tube swaps and other stuff with bias. So after talking with some techs they said this mod should help that, and it did.
Most of them recomended a 10H as since this is a high gain amp it is aready an agressive amp and it will help tame that. Others like the amp to be a little more agressive and somewhat looser sounding.
You'll have to decide what you want to do.
I haven't heard the new trannys for the DSL that MM are making now. I had the voodoo one and it is a little better then stock. The mid gain tones are nice and have more definded tone to them. It's not a massive or huge difference in sound.
Before I did this stuff I really loved 80's tone this amp got. High gain stuff I liked as well. Just very minor things I wanted to change about the attack or how the amp responses.