The "Super Lead" mode gives you the great rock sound of a Marshall Super Lead amp with awesome
harmonics, touch sensitivity, cab thumb, and kerrang. Higher gain than the Super Bass mode, Super Lead
mode is perfect for use with humbucker-equipped guitars. It's gain range goes from classic plexi all the way
to modified JCM800 levels. And, just like a great plexi, you can go from clean to scream with just a twist of
your guitar's volume knob. Like a Super Lead, it's voice is all about thump and upper-midrange kerrang. This
is THE rock sound!
The "Super Bass" mode gives you the tone and gain structure of a Marshall Super Bass (which is very similar
to a JTM45, JTM50/100, or very early plexi). This mode was voiced to really hone in on that elusive
in-between "not quite clean, not quite dirty" response that old tube amps were so good at getting. And it
was specifically voiced to make fuzz pedals sound great (especially two-transistor based fuzzes like the fuzz
face). Plug a Strat into a Fuzz Face into the new DLS in SB mode and you'll see what we mean! It's voice is
deeper bass, and an emphasis on the lower midrange band (in contrast to the Super Lead mode's upper mid-
range emphasis) and sounds especially great with Fender style guitars. (And basses too! Go figure!)
The SL/SB mode switch
The voicing mode switch doesn't just add a bit more bass to make it a "super BASS" or something simple like
that. It completely reconfigures the tone stack and key first gain stage parameters to give authentic Super
Lead or Super Bass type response. The treble-middle-bass tone control complement exactly reproduce the
tone stack circuits of the Super Lead and the Super Bass amps. So when you switch from SL to SB mode, the
tone circuit gets reconfigured to the Super Bass circuit. A bit of history - early plexi Marshalls and JTM45s also
had the "Super Bass" tone stack. It was later changed in the Super Lead amps to emphasize the upper mid-
range frequencies since guitarists in the late sixties wanted a more aggressive cutting sound. Compared to
the SL tone circuit, the SB tone circuit shifts the bass response lower and gives a somewhat more "scooped"
sound than the SL mode. It's actually not really much more scooped but the SL mode adds a lot of upper
midrange cut to give that classic Super Lead kerrang response. Both SL and SB voices are compelling so we
wanted to be able to give you access to both!
A Marshall Super Lead's circuit cuts out a lot of low end in the first gain stage, while the Super Bass or older
Super Leads passed a lot of bass through. The reason the Super Lead cuts so much bass is to keep things
tight when the amp is turned up. And that's exactly what the SL mode of the DLS does - it tightens the bass
response at the classic Marshall frequency point and turns up the gain potential to give a hot, fast respond-
ing, gainier sound. It sounds absolutely fantastic with humbuckers but with Fender style guitars a player may
prefer a fuller response…
Enter the Super Bass mode. This mode has full frequency response up front so everything gets through.
What we end up with is a slightly slower response but a nice thick tone that's perfect for those in-between
levels of gain. And this is precisely why it works so great with fuzzes like the fuzz face. Super Leads cut too
much bass right up front and are too gained up so a fuzz face ends up sounding farty and pinched sounding
instead of a huge, full sound. Fuzz Face and Marshall fans will know what we're talking about. Using Marshall
amp-geek language, the difference between the SL and SB mode on the new DLS is akin to split-cathode vs.
shared-cathode configuration on an old Marshall. Split-cathode has a high-pass response starting around
700hz while shared-cathode lets everything through. But the SB mode is not just for single-coils. This is the
mode you want if you're trying to get that classic AC/DC sound - big, open crunch that's not too gained out
sounding. Hendrix fans will love this mode. It was voiced with that sound in mind! Without a fuzz in front of
it, think The Wind Cries Mary. With a fuzz in front of it? Pull out your live Hendrix recordings!
There are a lot of great Marshall tones lurking in this pedal. Enjoy!