Marshall DBS 7400
The Marshall DBS 7400 (Dynamic Bass System 7400), is a discontinued 400W RMS bass guitar amplifier head. The heads were being produced for about five years in the 90s before being discontinued and were made in both standard/boxed and rack versions. The amps are capable of driving loads down to 2 ohms, which means any possible combination of bass cabs could be attached to them. According to DBS 7400 users, the amps were also really heavy (which is probably one of the reasons why Chris threw them out of his live rig).
Chris used two of these amps live ever since Showbiz all the way through to the end of The Resistance tour, where he ended up using four. In 2012, he switched to Markbass and Kemper ampliers for his live rig. Marshalls have also been used by Chris in the studio since Showbiz, with the exception of Simulation Theory. In the studio, the DBS 7400's are used as two distortion amps (one for Big Muff and another for Animato) and an Ampeg SVT-VR is handling the clean signal. The sound of the amplifiers is regarded as one of Chris's staple sounds.
Wolstenholme usually pairs the amplifiers with Marshall 7410 4x10, Marshall 7215 2x15 and Marshall 7115 1x15 bass cabs.
In the studio, he usually runs two of them at once, providing signals for his two distinct distortion signals. They run in parallel with the Ampeg SVT-VR, which usually provides the clean end. This setup, however, varies from time to time, depending on the song.
Specifications
- 400W RMS 4kW peak
- 12AX7 tube and solid state preamplifier with Bles control
- Built-in compressor with threshold adjust knob
- Solid-state power amp
- Bass & treble shelving filter knobs
- Deep & Bright filter switches
- Active 9-band EQ
- Master volume knob
- Effects loop
- XLR DI output with pre/post EQ switch
- Two SpeakOn speaker outputs
- 20kg of weight
- 3U rack space