Diezel Herbert Head

Lots of features, you have read all of them here before.

Awesome sound, great for defined metal tone,but the clean is very good as well.

Here is where Diezel fall down, again..and again...and again...
Just read all the disasters on rig-talk, over and over there is one issue or another peter D. can say it is a tube issue only so many times. Fact is they break down...a LOT. Salwender, the importer? arrogant pigs-yea they will repair it when they are ready (Like 2 months turnaround) Pay $154.00 to ship there and back...ugggh. Interesting to note spoke with a local dealer here in St Louis, MO and they canned their dealer agreement when their cabinet arrived wired wrong, then the VH4 head was noisy, repaired, then an output transformer blew... Yep, big thumbs down in this department. Great tone-when it works.....

Typical arrogance from Salwender.... you have to hound them for support. Don't return phone calls either.

This amp deserves a 10, but because of the severe reliability issues and the arrogant distributor they get a 5. pity, great amp.

Very good features.
3 channels, midcut, switchable loop, volume 2, all midiswitchable
Missing midiswitchable +- switch of channel 2.

I use Ibanez -Custom REG (di marzio picks) to play Rock and Metal with funky and mainstream Influences.
Never heard a more powerful amp.
Channel 1: Clean tone is great for the more aggressive clean things (funk, fast strumming). For the more subtle sounds, there are better amps on earth.
Channel 2: Best channel I've ever heard. Very transparent, dynamic, powerful and fast crunch sound.
Channel 3: For lead Sounds too, there are better amps. Not very rich harmonics, no screaming sound, somewhat cold and compressed distortion. Ch 3 sounds better with the gain knob at low settings.
Mid cut function: Very cool to play hard metal.
Power section: Best Poweramp I've ever heard. Very much low end and frightening power.
Very good amp for moderate output Guitars. For hi output Guitars you will only need half of the gain range.

It's quite new - so I have no experience here.
Very well built. Damn heavy. :)

I've had some problems with my cabinet (Marshall). The Marshall Cabinet was too lazy for the amp resulting in a muddy tone. I can go to the distributor any time and discuss my problems. THX alot.
I'm wating now for an original Diezel Box...

I play now for 15 or 17 years. I owned mesa boogie. Before purchasing it I compared the Herbert with other Amps (Mesa Roadster, Randall RM100, Engl Special Edition, Engl Powerball, Engl Invader, Diezel VH4, Diezel Einstein, Peavey XXX and The Valve). The Herbert is the most powerful amp. Even at low volumes there is an incredible blast and wall of sound.
I love the power and the dynamics of that amp - no other amp can stand a comparison.
Concerning Lead Sounds, the Engls had richer harmonics and were easier to play because the lack of dynamics.
I play 90% power chords so the Herbert was the choice for me.
I give it a 10 because of the best sounding channel 2 and the best sounding poweramp I've ever heard.
Direct comparison to the mentioned amps made clear that the Herbert is the sound direct from my heart. The search for the Ampsound is over now.

I'm a rack effects guy controlled by midi. I don't like stomp boxes due to constant problems that can arrise during a gig. Plus the constant tap dance one has to perform to get from sound to sound. The midi functions were an important feature that led me to buy this amp. The only reason I don't score this category a 10 is that I have fallen in love with the -/+ on channel 2 and find myself constantly running over to my amp and manually flipping it. I wish there were a way to switch it via midi.

I'm pretty much a marshall guy. There is no comparison. I think the other reviews pretty much cover it all. I will say this.. as mentioned by a review I read earlier, I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to run through the proper cab with this amp. I chose the front loaded cab with Diezels custom speakers. A HUGE DIFFERENCE!!! When I run it through a typical Marshall 4/12 the sound is reminisant of a Marshall. Far more mushy and not as "fast" or responsive, especially low tones. Most speaker cabs can't keep up with these amps. This is a difficult phenomenon to digest until experienced. I didn't totally understand it when it was first explained but trust me, if you plan to run this through a regular cab, you're totally missing the Diezel sound. One thing to keep in mind about Diezel is, they are very "fast", not mushy. You can't get away with slopping your way through solos relying on a slow fuzzy tone to cover up. Now if I'm havin a bad nite everyone gets to hear my mistakes! :)

Two years in and no problems

This is where Diezel is second to none. I had a defective preamp tube (no fault of Diezel) that crapped out the 2nd day I had my amp. Which coincidently was a gig nite. I suspected it was a preamp problem but I didn't want to touch anything till I talked to someone. I emailed Diezel and later that same day Peter Stapfer contacted me direclty and helped me solve the problem. I can't say enough about thier support, especially this day and age.

Great amp. I've played for over 25 years. I've played through to much gear to remember but mostly Marshall amps. It's expensive but for me it was worth it.

Features should be known or are available at the producer's hp.

The sound is incredible, I have never played a more powerfull and versatile amp (midi-available versatility with the Diezel is not as good as with the Engl, for obvious reasons. However with your volume poti at the guitar this is way better and versatile than any midi switchable functions at the Engl). I owned an Engl 670 SE EL 34 before, which was also an amazing amp. So this is going to be a bit of a comparison, picking out several points important for me. However, the Diezel stands out against the Engl in my view for various reasons:

- Engl overdid midi switchable functions. This leads to an enormeous versatility of the amp at a step on your floorboard. However playing live/ in a band, you find out that the differences in volume are making you crazy. 1 vlome for each of the 4 channels, 2 master volumes, and a broad range of bright/ lo punch etc switches which slighly but recognisably change volume of your tone. With the Diezel, you have 2 master volumes and 1 volume for each channel.

- The Diezel has no hum, meaning no hum at any gain stage.

- Engl has a noise gate - I had it activated most of the time. I do not play hi gain all the time, but with a certain gain setting you need the noise gate so that when opening your volume at your guitar, you do not have problems with noise. The Diezel simply doesn't neet this. Even with gain cranked up at 5 o'clock this is not a problem at all.

- Power: Engl has power, without a doubt. But the Diezel blew my mind. Not that you would need hi gain to get pressure through your cabinet. It just cuts (esp. in channel 3 and the clean channel) and has so much oomph you need to be careful. And I mean not oomph by adding mid cuts and depth (this however works also with the Diezel), but just as a basic sound. I played both the Engl and the Diezel through a Marshall 1960B and the difference was striking

- Engl has fairly good clean channel. Try the Diezel, it will let the Engl faint. Never had such powerfull and good sounding clean channel. Once more, it kicks and you need to be carefull not to overdo. No problems with distortion whatsoever, just brilliant cutting sound. Add the mid cut will sound not so funky and agressive as normal.

- The pots at the Diezel will react to your twists.

End of my comparison: Engl is very good, but Diezel beats it in any case. Brilliance, powerfulness of sound. It will even make your Mex Strat sound good.

Cannot judge however they seem to be so convinced of their amps that they give lifelong warranty (first owners)

Should not be a problem at all. Check their website and forum, you'll see that they immediately respond to your problems if any should occur

Brilliant. Strong buy. If you look for good sound, really good sound, then it does the trick. I bought the Engl as I play in a rock cover band and I thought I would need the first-sight versatility the Engl offers. It sure has very good versatility no doubt. However you tend to go back to the 5-6 sounds you prefer, and in this case the Diezel offers more tonal quality in my view.

I play the Diezel through a Marshall 1960B, have added a Quadraverb (sufficient I guess) at the parallel loop. Nobels MF1 Midi switcher you don't get this thing broken. Play several Warmoth, esp. Strats with humbuckers. My perfect setup!

2004 model, no mods...non needed, sounds unbeliavable out of the box!!

Blue LED's are notorious for burning out...other than that, it's pretty solid

Haven't dealt with we as of yet, but his rep is very very high for customer support.

I thought I had found the best hi gain amp in my Mesa Road King II, then again with the Bogner Ecstasy...this amp surpasses all of them...big call, but bigger amp.

basically it's 3-channel amplifier.

ch1 for clean, ch2 has -/+ toggle switch
so there's ch2 '-' and ch2'+', ch3 for lead sound.

each channel has channel toggle switch so you can change all the
channels with your finger tip, so don't be afraid if you don't
have money for columbus. :)

1 serial loop, 1 parallel loop, 1 (on/off)switchable loop.

check out diezel's website for more info.

okay, i give it 9 not 10.
i got 3 reasons for this.

1. there's no Perfect amp in the world. so, i never give 10 to anything.
2. i spend sh@t load of money for this baby just like anybody. IMHO, i would be great if it's a stereo amplifier. or make its power section to be switchable so player can choose it's output as stereo or mono. as you know, herbert is 180w monster. man, 180w. that's ridiculous power. mesa x3 recto is 150w and it's already gone far to have it in your room. even a 100w marshall jcm800s are loud enough(yeah, they're really ENOUGH).
many times, i imagine my herbert having switchable powersection so sometimes i'd use it 180w in mono, and sometimes in stereo 90w per channel. isn't it just wonderful?

3. no foot switch included with 4k amplifier. i think it should be included. there's many people who don't need MIDI footswitch. i use eventide efxs and korg sdd3k, ada std-1, lexicon pcms and more only for my guitar, and use tons of other studio gears because i run a professional studio. BUT still don't need to hook my tube amplifier with MIDI cables.

i'm trying to say MIDI footswitch is bad or useless, by the way it's fantastic. what i'm trying to say is, ""HOW ABOUT INCLUDING A STUPID 3 CHANNEL FOOTSWITCH(which we use with fenders, peavey 5150s and many others) FOR FREE."" yeah, including it with amplifier's package. not a $4~500 diezel foot columbus.
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alright. and now this is some great things about herbert.
i experienced almost all kinds of diezel amplfiers. i had vh4, vh4s, herbert mk1, mk2(current), mk2.5 and an einstein. to me the best amplifier from diezel company is VH4S. i don't mean that the vh4s has the best tone.i must say "overall score", including its features and stuff, vh4s is the best - overall. specially if you use it with kt88 tubes.

and Herbert,
CH1 is clean channel which is better than VH4 or VH4s. einstein's clean is very close to herbert. tonal character is different from typical Fender clean. Diezels have their own clean sound and it's very good. herbert's clean is, by the way, the best. amazing headroom and super sparkling and tight and warm bottom.
CH2 - : you can get a FINE hard rock sound with treble booster or overdrive. personally, i use pete cornish tb83and tb83 extra in serial, whatever you guess you'll hear better than that.
CH2 + : the best channel of herbert. brown sound, super marshall, recto killer, you name it.

CH3 : now, this is another story. i hear little difference between ch2+ and ch3, but basically it's just same sound. tons of distortion. (oh, i forgot to mention that i sold every distortion/overdrive/fuzz stuff on ebay since i purchased my first diezel-that was vh4, and still i don't need one with my herbert)
as i told you already i run my studio, and of course i record many rock and roll records tone ranges from led zeps to slipknot. i've used my herbert(mk1,2,3) for more than 2 years for more than 100 songs, but i NEVER needed ch3 with its gain knob passed 12. more than that amount of distortion is not recordable or recognizable. and i believe that any herbert user can get that ch3's serious distortion sound from ch2+. as a result, i don't need and use ch3 of my herby that much.

VH4(and VH4S) has 4channel,i think it's ch4 is different from its ch3 and pretty useful. but channel 3 of herbert, i dissapointed a little bit. it'll be better if herby's ch 2- and ch2+ are seperated into a indivisual channel,like ch2- for ch2, ch2+ for ch3.

The Most wonderful function of herbert is V2 knob. it's volume 2, when it's activated you controll youe master volume with it, and original master volume(vol 1)is deactivated automatically. volume 2 is lot more quieter than volume 1 just like when you use some dummy load or power attenuator, but the tone is 100% untouched.

So you can use your 180w herbert on ch3's gain knob pass over 12 o'clock at your room when your mama is sleep.

Diezel is TANKer than a TANK.

fast reply via hotmail. thanks to stephan.

i don't think a person whose favorite amp is roland micro cube , would buy a diezel.

if someone has a diezel, he or she probably experienced some rectos and marks, may be some bogners and hughes and kettner, or may be some VHTs or framus. just like me.

mentioned above, this amplifer is almost unbeatable.
like VH4.

look on their website.

this is my favorite amp ive ever played,i actually played one by accident at a music store trying out a g system and never got the tone out of my head a year later i bought a brand new one,its so clean,loud or quiet,the tone never changes,love the mid cut section always dump my mids and this is a biggie for me.

no problems yet,but everything breaks now or later.

they are great people,got email the next day from germany!

overall..this is the key to my tone,my secret weapon,if everything else shit the bed,and i had an ax and my herbie,the show would go on,without a problem.if it was stolen,well too bad cuz you would get caught i have lo jack installed in my head,and in minutes you would be arrested and set to prison 4 life!buy one you wont regret it!

Brought mine brand new, has all the features you need and doesn't fool around adding ones you don't. Didn't come with a footswitch but my guitar guy at guitar center recommended the rocktron and set it up and programmed it for me, and it works well. If one is looking at the Herbert to purchase you already know the specs.

Now here where this amp shines brighter than I've ever heard and played. After playing on the circuit with other amps, such as, the Mesa rectifiers, Bogner, Bad Cat, and recently the HK Tri-amp, I was floored when I played thru the Diezel Herbert at a local music store. At first channel 3 reminded me of the live sound that one of my favorite players (Steve Stevens) gets, warm, punchy, hard but musical,and cutt throat. Then channel 2 was as impressive and versatile as I've ever heard goes from blues to nailing that clean and distorted sound that Carlos Santana gets when playing the melodic instrumentals, to Getting the Van Halen brown sound, astonishing. Channel 1 is as clean and powerful as it gets if you played thru other clean channels in the past this one kills them all by a long shot on the headroom alone. these three channels has all the sounds one could ever imagine. Players this IS NOT just a metal amp it is the most versatile amp you will hear.

So far so good on this subject. After reading the previous review I was a little hesitant but he was happy with the service, had the amp about a month practices and live shows with no problem.

Never had to deal with anybody.

I've been playing for 27 years pro and now just clubs. PRS CUSTOM 24 OWNED SINCE 1988, PRS HOLLOWBODY 2 ARTIST(PIEZO), PRS SANTANA BRAZILIAN LIMITED, PRS MODERN EAGLE, PRS guitars sound heavenly thru this amp. If it were stolen I would put a hit out on that person, and buy it again.In short, forget about the other amps Marshall, Bogner, HK, Mesa etc. The herbert sounds incredible it is the only amp I've ever played that made me smile with pleasure and just geeked to play. I play all styles from Zakk Wylde to george Benson to Carlos Santana to Neal Schon, to R&B grooves, all 80's metal to country to Modern Rock to classic Ted Nugent, Steve Stevens, Latin etc. This amp can do it all WELL. Bottom line if you can afford the jack buy the HERBERT. ONE VERY IMPORTANT THING, BUY THE DIEZEL 412R OR F CABINET BECAUSE IT DOES MAKE A SONIC DIFFERENCE, I HAD THE MESA RECTIFIER CAB IT DOESEN'T TOUCH THE DIEZEL cabs. HERBERT HEAD AND DIEZEL CABINET PERFECT DON'T WASTE MONEY BUYING ANOTHER CABINET TO GET BY.

2006. This amp is loaded with versatility. This baby gets every sound known to man. Of course it has 3 channels, effects loop you all know the deal. I play out weekly and it is loaded with power but it also performs at lower levels compared to other amps that don't. Mine is EL34 powered.

I play everything from 60's rock to todays modern rock. Stones -Staind... I have owned just about every high end amp on the planet in the last 2 years. You know the drill the eternal quest for the ultimate tone. I own/owned a Bogner Xtcy, Marshall Jubilee, HK Triamp, Gibson Supergoldtone, Mesa Road King, Fender ToneMaster, Marshall TSL, NONE compare to this monster! I totally love this baby, channel 2 is the best sounding channel I have ever heard you never want to to leave it to be honest. But really, all 3 channels with all the different variations sound awesome. You just need to spend some time with her in the beginning and work on YOUR sounds. Clean channel is big and fills the room big bottom end. I use this with a Bogner 4x12 Cab. My rig is pretty simple: The Herb, wah, chorus, delay and digitech whammy pedal. I use all high end stuff: Suhr Strat, Tom Anderson, Fender Custom shop set-neck strat and Tremonti Tribal. I also own the hard to find footswitch for this, no midi I am old school...

Now here is where my issue begins. Got it on a thursday used it on a Friday channel 1 blew (not cool live believe me). Called the place I bought it from the next day they suggested changing the tubes(didnt sound right) but did it anyway. $58 bucks out of my pocket. Two weeks later same thing live again. Seemed when it heated it just died and wouldnt work (on top of that it killed my footswitch). You can imagine my frustration. I will continue my story on customer service section. The jury is still out on this category. I will update later down the road again.

Dealt with Uwe out in California. Diezel's US distributor (I am in New Jersey). I have to tell you Uwe is the nicest guy in the musical planet, real pleasure to do business with, very genuine guy. I had to ship it to CA $178 because I sent it 3 day I didnt want it sitting with the Gorilla handlers too long before it got to Uwe. He was great on the phone ultimately they had to replace the amp with a brand new one because the problem was so new and never happened that decision was to replace it with another brand new one. My only issue it was almost a 4 week turnaround before I got it back. I owned the amp for 6 weeks 4 of which were in the shop. But again dealing with Uwe made this easier to swallow. I get it back along with the footswitch and the footswitch doesnt work (Can you imagine the blood pressure at this point)$4100 for the head and additional $230 for shipping and tubes I was partially steamed to say the least called Uwe seemed it wasnt programed to the herbert. I asked Uwe about and alternative and he suggested a prostage pedal that he had in stock. Got a decent price but I needed a pedal asap because I was gigging. I received it the next day (I paid for overnight). One of Uwe's guys got on the phone with me the next day and walked me thru the setup of the pedal. (Its awesome really). I am shipping my herbert footswitch to Uwe this week to refix so I thought it would be better to have 2 pedals then one anyway (you never know live). I am sure I was the one of very few who had this issue but all in all Uwe made my time with this more pleasurable. I am still disappointed that I shelled out an additional $230 for shipping and tubes and the store I got it from offered me $50 bucks of a Diezel Cab. I wasnt to happy about that considering another store offered me the same on there cab. I buy really top end stuff and not sure if I will be making a return visit to the store but I will for sure with Diezel. Thanks Uwe.

Been playing for quite some time, own all top end stuff I listed above. If stolen I think I would have to be jailed for the pain I would cause that individual would be very bad for him. I would buy it again because I love the sound nothing better really no BS. The look is killer as well live but really its the tone that matters. Be warned you better be able to play with this amp because everything is heard. You better have you chops down with this baby. I watch at every gig the loaded buttheads who like to peer at my stuff, I make sure they dont touch anything because if this was damaged I would freak. Barring any of the issues with the first head I am keeping my fingers crossed on this one because I love the amp. Hopefully, I just got a bad apple and now this one will give me years of happiness.(Just like a good marriage) :) Also comes with lifetime warranty, can't get better then that. Don't be fooled by all the pretend amps out there pay the big bucks and get this awesome machine you will love it.

Features have been discussed in previous review, so I'm skipping that. :) Mine is a Mk1 Herbert (serial# 001/012), and I had it modded to the current specs last week (thanks Peter!). It has tons of features and it basically suits all my needs. I owned a Mesa Triple Recto Solo head before getting my Herbert and it can do all the Mesa did and much more! MIDI switchability is a good thing. For the price, I'd think they would throw one in, just to get you started...

I use my Herbert with a Brunetti XL cab, loaded with V30's. When I tested it, I ran it through a Bogner V30. I have to say that it really does make a difference. It just sounded more open and fuller to me... So the Bogner is on my wish-list... although it's going to cost me a pretty penny... :) Oh yeah. My guitar is a Fender Strat USA with SD hardware (Pearley Gates+ and '59). Excellent for my needs... It can do everything you want! Beautiful cleans, dirty crunch and mindblowing brutal leads! I have played and owned 3 amps before getting this one(Marshall JCM 2000, ENGL Powerball and Mesa Triple Recto), and I really have to say that it's worth every Euro Diezel is asking for it...

It weighs a ton (27 kg's) and looks like it can stand a whole lot of pain.. :) I'd keep it in a flightcase whenever moving it around. Furthermore it's a tube amp, which means let it cool after playing and don't drop it... :) I haven't had it long enough to know how it holds up with regular gigging, but our other guitarist owns a VH4 and has gigged with it on a weekly basis for about 2 years now.. Never had any trouble with it! :)

Here's the thing that I really love best about Diezel! I bought mine used from some guy that really didn't take god care of this amp. It didn't sound alright.. Tubes that were in it weren't stock (JJ's instead of Ruby's).. Whole lot of stuff. I mailed Peter Diezel about this and got a reply the nex day. He offered to repair and mod the amp to the current specs. Shipping on me, work on him. So now, I have a fully repaired Herbert (with new tubes!!!!) at shipping costs only... I had it back in just a week! If that isn't great customer support, I don't know what is...

I have been playing guitar for about 9 years now. I played Marshall, ENGL and Mesa. All these are great amps, but left me wanting for something I couldn't really describe. I tried Bogner (Shiva and XTC) and liked it! I plugged in to a Diezel Herbert and was absolutely blown away... Very transparant, even when cranking channel 3 with brutal gain. It really makes your guitar come to life. Also (but that's me), I think it really let's your guitar define your tone... Only thing I wish this amp came with, is a footswitch. If it were stolen, I'd save up a lot of cash and get a new one. It's a three channel amp and I really don't think you can compare it to anything else...