Diaz P-20

First off, I don't own this amp anymore, but I figured since there isn't a whole lot out there for reviews on this amp, and Diaz is now passed on, i would go ahead and write a review. As a matter of fact, I dwasn't even aware of this website when I owned my P-XX. I bought this amp new in 1998 for $950.00 from Guitar Villa in Nazareth, PA. It was a closeout, and they couldn't seem to sell it.

Typical Fender amp combo features, plus a nice if very wet reverb. Foot-switchable mid boost and bright switch. No mid pot, just a fixed value. 20 watts with a pair of 6L6's and a 10 inch speaker.

I was playing with Les Pauls and a PRS at the time. If had a very Fenderesq distortion quality. I fell in love with it at first, since it was so different. I was used to Marshalls and their like (Soldano, etc).

In my opnion, it sounded best through a 4x12 rather than the internal speaker. Using the internal speaker, there was quite a bit of rattling. Upon inspection, the power tubes were very close to the speaker frame, as stated by a previous reveiwer.

The reverb sounded great just barely cracked open, like on "2" but after that, even Dick Dale would get lost. Just way too wet.

Mid boost really woke this amp up, but the gain sounded best about 5 or 6. After that, would get rather loose on the bass and farty. Kinda like a Neil Young tone. But this amp did sound pretty darned good at higher volume and moderate gain levels.

Very reliable in the bedroom, but it would frequently die on me when jamming with some friends. Would work fine for about 45 minutes or so, then the volume would slowly fade until it was just barely making noise.

I was getting into electronic at the time, and decided to trace out the schematic for this amp. I was really take back when I looked inside the amp. Lots of high quality caps, BUT they were just hanging in there, even the filter caps!!! Holy smokes, better not shake it too hard while your guitar is plugged in, or your in for a shocking experience, literally!!!

I was also really let down looking at the output tranny, it was about the size of a lime, and quite rusted. No wonder it would crap out, the output tranny probably just got too hot. Way undesized. Bad, Mr. Diaz, very bad.

The last problem I had with the design layout, you had to remove the back cover and take out the chasis to change the tubes. Not too bad, except for the fact that the only thing holding the chasis to the cabinet were those 2" black coarse-threaded drywall screws. not very reliable, it you go changing tubes a lot you're going to strip the threads and you will have to repair them with wood putty or drill new holes.

As mentioned above, the tubes would rattle on the speaker frame at higher volumes.

I tried leaving phone messages for Mr. Diaz several times. This was before he got real sick, so I know he was around. I was concerned about my overheating problem. Never got a hold of him after repeated attemps.

Not nearly the kind of quality one would expect from a person with Diaz's credentials. I ended up selling this amp on Ebay for $800 about 3 years ago. Good ridance, I say. Although, I guess if you can find one cheap, it would be a peice of history. good luck, now that Mr. Diaz has passed on, I'm sure the vultures are out in full effect trying to make some dollars off a dead man.

Lastly, I would like to share something I learned after owning this amp. From what I learned, Diaz was not the great guitar amp wizard everybody made him out to be. I was fortunate (or unfortunate) to see a personal amp tech video he made. IMHO, there are so many other boutique amp makers out there (Bogner, Voodoo, Roccaforte, Soldano, VHT) who really know what they are doing. Not Mr. Diaz - his motto was "say whatever you must to get on tour with the big guys" In local settings (NE PA) this was a rather commonly known trait of Caesars. I'm not trying to drag anybody's name in the mud, just want to clarify the "mystique."

My amp, P-20, was made back in late 1994 or early 1995.
The amp is very versatile and has gone with me to hundreds of live gigs as well as recording many different styles of music from swing, R&B, rock n roll, and country. I really love the amp. I changed the pre-amp tube to a 12AY7. The amp was just a little too dirty for rhythm, for me personally. I run it through different speaker configurations for different gigs. 2X12; 4X10; Bulldogs; or Celestions.

Broadcaster, 54 Strat, 57 Les paul, Dotneck 335, and they all sound good. Maybe just a little tweak on the treble for the single coil pick-ups.

Like I said before, I play mostly swing, R&B, rock n roll, and some country-ish stuff. I can get a great Duane Allman sound for slide or a Lowell George, both dirty and clean.

There's only one channel and the distortion depends on how you set the master volume. Of course, if you turn it all of the way up it's going to get dirty because it's only 15 watts.

I have dragged this amp to hundreds of gigs, 2-4 gigs per week, for approximately 6 years and it's never let me down. I've changed the tubes and kept it biased and serviced. No major problems to report.

Anything will break down due to neglect - ask my wife.
I actually liked the amp so much I bought 2.

The company is extremely helpful, but it is a fairly small company and it's sometimes difficult to reach someone immediately. The minor repairs that I've needed over the years have been easily handled locally and there was no need to contact the company. The amp is pretty simple and not too complicated to get repaired. Any competent amp tech should be able to easily handle the repairs.

I have been playing guitar for over 20 years and I've been pretty picky about equipment. I've always preferred vintage stuff and always used Tweed Bassmans, many other tweed amps, basically old Fenders and Marshalls. It's a really versatile little amp and I get a good sound at a pretty low volume. Since, let's face it, most gigs aren't that big, When I play at Madison Square Garden - I'll use both P-20s through 4X12 bottoms! ha. Seriously, it's great for the working musician.

Is a 1994 and is one of the incredible Fender amps I had the chance of playing. Vol/Bass/Treble(+Boost)/Master Vol/Reverb(+headroom boost). 2 inputs; Line out; speaker out (2 to 8 ohms); real small cab and a 1x10" Celestion this was the big mistake that Diaz made, only because it sound good but it sounds much better with 1X12,2X10 or 2X12"with 30 watts.

This amp sounds like early Fender but when it overdrives it as the most beautifull, round, smoth and just like no other amp you ever heard but is just pure 6L6's(6V6's)raw power. Even at low volume sound big, gainy with alot of sustain. You can go from SRV to a Laundau/S.Henderson ripping solo. All I must say is:if you heard this amp just like Diaz built it. You know what I am talking about. But if you have any questions because you just read the previous review, I must tell you either he was looking for a amp to play GRUNGE or HIP HOP or he had to many, because if heard DRZ 38 Studio Deluxe or a SC-30 this the same type of amp but more Fenderish and sounds better at lower volumes and again the ripping round overdrive is an incredible amp , just get a GUITAR SHOP Magazine from August 1996 and L.Sharken describes the amp and gives very high remarks. KILLER AMP great for studio or gig you can drive a 4X12 almost as loud as my SC-30. Is reverb is rich and full (2 spring 3sec delay) and you can surf.

No problems so far. The exterior of the chassis looks like a vintage Fender but the interior is just perfect work, will make class A admires smile. No problem with tubes but like any other amp you need to choose tubes just to get great sounding ones or less microphonics. That will be the only reason is reverb will be microphonic.

So far no need, but I understand unlike Matchless, Bruno, Alessandro or DR Z, CESAR DIAZ is a very busy man and sometimes will take more time till you can reach him. But Still an incredible amp.

I will buy this amp or other models if you can find them. I cannot live without my PXX, SC-30, Chieftain, Bruno Cowtipper 45 and DRZ 38 MAZ. If you are looking for tone look no further. I will chalange any smart ass, to bring down your amp and I will show you how to get the best vintage tones out of this little amp. This a KILLER BLUES MACHINE. This is the real deal, made by one the best in the business.

A 20 watt, 2 5881 amp. One Channel with high and low outputs. No Channel switching. Line out at line level. External speaker jack for 2- 8 ohms. Mid-boost push-pull on on treble pot. Clean sound is best with master maxed and preamp brought up slowly. Headroom is lost very quickly as preamp volume is increased. Mid boost is OK but no footswitch. Best overdrive sound is opposite of clean setting. Pedal, e.g., TS-9 is used with clean setting to simulate channel switching. Wimpy 35 watt 10" celestion which disconnects when external speaker jack is used. Speaker and amp chassis crammed into cabinet. Tubes touch speaker. Must remove chassis to change tubes. Reverb tank not bagged and clanks around when moving amp in addition to being microphonic. Mediocre reverb. Used for recording blues and blues rock with both a 2 10" 4 ohm open back cabinet and a 1 12" closed back cabinet with strat with '54 custom shop pickups. The closed back cabinet sounded the best. Very noisy with mid-boost engaged. Power is OK but could have used a bigger cabinet with a bigger speaker or speakers. A footswitch for midboost would have been nice in addition to a fully fuctional reverb tank. A tube rectifier would have been a nice sonic addition.

Used with a strat with '54 custom shop pickups. Humbuckers on PRS will rattle the cabinet and 10" speaker. It is not as sweet as my tweed deluxe or blackface deluxe reverb. It is noisy in general with an increase in the noise as the mid-boost or preamp and output stages are increased. The amp reminds me of a Peavy classic 20 in many respects in sonic character. My Pro Junior is sweeter. Not for metal heads. OK for blues and blues rock.

The reverb tank went microphonic the first week I had it. It was replaced with an accutronics unit which is still microphonic at high reverb settings (above 8). The amp tech where I purchased it tweaked the reverb circuit back to where it sounds like my deluxe reverb on 2 when it is maxed at 12 and it is not a lush reverb. The mid-boost push-pull switch went bad the second week I had it. It had to be replaced. The bright switch went bad the fourth week I had it. It had to be lubricated. I am waiting for the next problem. With the components crammed into the cabinet, the use of a Princeton output transformer in the 20 watt circuit and the use of two diodes rather than four for the rectifier circuit, and its past history, I don't consider it very reliable.

The customer support stinks. I called them and they never returned my calls. I had the repairs done where I got the amp. I had to take it 30 miles three times and wait a week each time. They told me there was no warranty but repaired the amp each time free, including the reverb tank. The microphonic reverb tank fix resulted in a mediocre reverb which when maxed out is pathetic. The amp was missing a knob for the master volume which the dealer said he would get for me from Diaz. After six months, I got no knob. I called Diaz and also wrote them a letter. Still no response after a year and a half. For an amp that retails for $2100 you would think they could tell me where to get a knob or send me one.

I have been playing for 35 years. I have strats, teles, PRSs and a custom thinline tele with Van Zandts. I own a '53 tweed deluxe, a '51 Supro, '67 bandmaster, a '65 deluxe reverb, a '64 princeton, '58 danelectro, 60'vega, '60 Ampeg rocket,Ampeg Jet Reissue, a Super Reverb, Pro Junior, etc. I would definitely get something else if it were lost or stolen. I am looking to trade it for something more versatile and reliable with some customer support as soon as I can find someone to trade it too. I love very little about it. I had a back problem and traded in some heavy combo amps to get this. In the store it sounded good and was light. After it broke down a few times and I cranked it up and it rattled and sounded lousy with the 10" speaker and I had to go inside it to replace tubes in the quest to fix the microphonic reverb problem with everything crammed together, and Diaz would never return my communications, I concluded that I had made a very bad choice. I did compare it to other amps such as the Penn and Kendrick amps but at the volume I played it at the dealer,it sounded better. I wish it would have been reliable, Diaz would have supported what he hypes so much, the construction had been better, and I could have gotten the damn knob I've been trying to get for a year and a half. I will never get another Diaz product!! It is definitely not worth what I traded for it nor its retail price.