Diezel VH4

another perfect amp, next to my herbert!

again another perfect amp, different than herbert, herbert is meaner with more focus on low mids, vh4 is more on high mids, great marshally tones, 80s stuff, newer metal, ahhh james hetfield, yeah thats what it sounds like!

everything breaks sooner or later

awesome!

oh yeah, hmmmmmm whats goona be next ? how can they top these machines? what ever i am a die hard diezel user!

My DIEZEL is a VH-4 made in 2006. 4 Channels with seperate eq per channel.
1: Clean sound, I dont use clean sounds very often so I dont really know what a clean sound should be like. In fact, I like the sound and with an EMG- Humbucker u can get sum nice crunch sounds here.
2: Amazing, it sounds about 10 times better than my Marshall TSL sound. By putting in sum bass, you can almost cry cause it's so warm and... it sounds like it ****** should sound!
3: This is the best distorted rhythm channel ever. I play sum Punkrock and its just awesome. 2 years ago I went to the next music store to try one and even without using the EQ, it sounds great. I dont need an amp which can get a good tone after 10 hours of trying out, just to realize that it still sucks one day later. I dont wonder why guys like Hetfield or Ian D'Za play this amp without getting paid for using it.
4: High gain channel, perfect for Solo parts and looots of gain.

MIDI: First I thougt: Damn, why dont they make a footswitch like Marshall or Mesa. Finally, I must say, the midi controller offers lots of possiblities you wouldnt have when using a footswitch. I can easily make 8 different sounds just by using the effect loop for every channel, the Amp has more possibilities than I could ever use. And I just need a Midipedal and if it breaks, I simply buy a new one. Its definately very versatile.

I use a Fender USA Deluxe strat with a seymour duncan Hot Rail, a Gibson Les Paul with P100, a Heritage Gary Moore signature with 81 EMGs and a Gibson SG Guitar. It doesnt matter which guitar I use, the Amp always sounds awesome. But never without being "coloured" by the type of guitar I use, it simply does what it has to do and nothing else.
Another advantage towards the other amps I tried is, that you never get sum muddy tone, even if you "overgain" your sound. The chord stays clear and they simply have "big balls". For me it fells like combining the best sounding Marshall with the power of a Mesa Recti. Simply the perfect mixture, a warm and defined sound with lots of power. What else do you want?

Currently there are some problems concerning the tube quality in general. My VH-4 did his job quite well for the last year, but after having changed the tubes he burned. No problem anyways cause Peter Stapfer simply gave me a new VH-4 for the time mine got repaired. But in fact the problem is not the amp but the ****** tubes, they simply cant stand what they should. You cant compare a VH-4 with a Marshall, it's a genius work and build with lots of passion and not screwed together by sum mexican workers. It's build on the limit, every part of it has to give its best to make this sound possible. And the sound is worth it, no doubt. So as you can see, if one part of the system fails, it simply breaks down. Is this Diezels fault? No, they cant build the tubes, they have to buy them. And its a fact that the tubes lost quality, so its simply unfair to blame DIEZEL for this problem most of the high gain amps currently have. And I'm sure this will change soon.
To sum it all up, its a masterpiece of work and if you want to have an amp that never breaks down, just dream on or dont buy a tube amp, every amp I owned (Marshall, ENGL, Mesa) broke down at least once.

If you got any problems with ur Diezel Amp, they repair it for free. They even send another amp if you need one, geat service and all those guys who say they wouldnt take care of their customers simply lie or are not able to write a friendly email. They love their amps and they will always try their best to help you as fast as possible. Just remember, DIEZEL is not a big company. Its Peter Diezel and Peter Stapfer, 2 guys for all the amps around the world and they are here in Germany. They will not visit you in Canada or the USA and they might be very busy sometimes. If you write an email and dont get an answer, write another one or call them. Believe me, they will do their best to help you as they did when my VH-4 burned down. This is the best and friendliest support I ve had in my entire life so dont believe anyone who tells you it sucks, it simply doesnt.

DIEZEL is an impressive company with a great ideology and lots of passion and love for these Amps. The VH-4 is the best amp I have ever played and I tried almost every amp existing. For me it's worth every penny, although I had to save money for about 1 year to afford one. If you are looking for a great and special amp you should try the VH-4, maybe you get the same awesome felling that I got when I first played it. It simply sounds like it has to sound and you dont need to make any tradeoffs.
I thank Peter Diezel and Peter Stapfer a lot for creating this Amp and finish the endless quest of finding the perect sound for me.

Great concept, just unreliable, MIDI channel switching, 4 great metal channels, has potential to be awesome, when they iron out all the bugs..... I have been playing 19 years, so I feel valid to offer this review

Brutal metal sound, perhaps so heavy it may be unusuable when you go through mic preamps on a desk and through a P.A system. Sounds great at bedroom level, again unreliable

Can we go into - numbers here. This unit suck sucks sucks in this area. My chassis got loose from it's housing, and tube failure was unquestionably high. Fuse blew 3 times, LED light flickered on and off. Ok, so I call their distributor, wow, what jerks, they spoke to me like I was a 3 year old. Trying to justify the amp's failure as user error, just stopped short of saying the amp is next to God, and it cannot go wrong. They suggested I email Peter Diezel himself, well now 5 weeks late..no reply.

Read above, terrible, poor, unqualified, and lack of follow up. Only one place to ship this amp to when it goes wrong, and it WILL go wrong... Thats $200 for return shipping, and it will happen more than once...forget about it!!

Exactly as the title says, What a hunk of junk, I would feel more comfortable with a Brujera amp by Behringer, and thats REALLY saying something, as Brujera are well, yeah, you can figure that one out!!

Ok, there seems to be a lot of slagging this amp going on here, and I thought I'd state my personal opinion

I'm pretty sure mine is a 2004 issue VH4, but I'm not 100% on that being that it's at my jam space, and I'm at home.

I play in a hard rock band, and need to have a great variety of tones, almost all of which i get purely from this amp, and my guitars, with occasional use of a few effects.

4 channels - clean, crunch, distortion, crazy, effects loop with two mixing options, no headphone jack, but if you're buying this as a practice amp for low volumes, it's not what you want.

I don't actually have an issue with the midi footswitching, it is very smooth, and very easy to program, and you can get an old midi controller for under $100 on ebay most of the time.

I use the amp in live shows and jamming with a full band, and depending on the size of the room, sometimes I have to run it at 50W instead of 100, it has plenty of power, you'll never be lacking in terms of power.

I have 4 main guitars that I play live and they are as follows:
Gibson Les Paul Custom - 2007 silverburst - stock
Gibson Les Paul BFG - 2008 silverburst limited edition - stock
1990 Fender Telecaster Plus - stock
Fender Stratocaster Frankenstein with many customizations, but the ones that matter here are Tom Anderson soapbar pickups and a solid maple body.

The amp sounds amazing, but one of the keys is to make sure you aren't letting it take control of you, almost every dial on my head lives at 12:00 for settings, I think many people's problems with sound quality are coming from poor settings, this amp is not meant to be dialed to 10 in many (if any) of it's controls, as it's tuned to sound good naturally.

It has almost no noise coming from the amp, and there is plenty of difference in distortion tones. I find with my mostly dark sounding pickups though, that it is important to use the bright switches on channels 1 and 2...

Channel 1 is generally always clean for me, and some of my guitars have very hot pickups...

Channel 2 breaks up a little where i have it set, if you up the gain, you can get a bit more crunch, depending what you're looking for out of this channel

Channel 3 has some very brutal distortion if dialed up, or a wonderfully even tempered sound (best i can put it) where it's always easy to hear your notes, but the gain adds a great touch.

Channel 4 has gobs of gain, just gobs of it, great solo channel i don't use it for much else...

Important to remember if you're looking into this amp is that it doesn't have the most Saturated tone, when i want something really saturated, i'll add some fuzz into my sound ahead of the amp in the chain.

It's never had a problem for me, built like a tank, and holds up like one too.

Peter Diezel and Uwe Salwender (i think that was his name) were very helpful in assisting me when I needed to re-tube the amp and was trying to make sure it was the best compliment to the sound i like out of it.

If it were stolen or lost, I'd probably cry, cause in the 15 years I've been playing, nothing has ever sounded this good, and it would be hard to afford/find a replacement with the rarity of the vh4 in canada.

it sounds like itself, and not really anything else, it's a unique sound, and if you like it, it's all you'll settle for

4 channels, but the channel 3 and 4 were pretty much the same, the channel 4 had a bot more dust noise and slightly more gain, but no bug difference, channel 1, clean, channel 2 crunch, channel 3 and 4 Distortion and lead. t suits for hard rock and metal, I wish channel 4 would be more different, it's almost the same as channel 3.

one of thebest distortion I have heard, it's just flawless, top of the calss in sound. channel 2 is great, you can have classic crunchs and if you crank up the gai you will have a great distortion so you can have a vintage and a moder heavy crunch. Channel 1 sounds as good as as the best Fender amp, its just great.

the worse amp ever! Do not buy this amp if you will use it on tour, This thing blew a fuse right after i opened the box and played for the forst time, them it blew 2 fuses in 3 days. then in a week it blew 2 more. this thing just keeps blowing fuses, and the worse thing is that it blew the first day using it in a room temperature. Simply this thing was build to last nothing. I rate it a Zero! I pay the biggest money you can pay for an amp and I couldn't even use it in a live gig fearing it would blow another fuse! a cheap peavey amp is 100 times more reliable than this chep build piece of crap

Zero, Zero, Zero! I called Diezel, nobody answered the phone when I called Diezel, send an email, nobody respoded, I damn you Diezel! good I still had warranty and got my money back.

This amp produces probably the best sound ever for Rock and Metal, but what is all this great sound for if you cannot even use it in a full gig without blowing a fuse? it's like trying to drive a Ferrari Enzo in a small french town with stone roads and speed bumpers every 100 meters.

As stated hundreds of times here already

Follow up to review below - see below
However, since Peter re tubed the amp, the sound has become more defined, and the cleans sound a lot better. I still need to find a balance between the clean sounding thin, and breaking up a bit too much, but it's getting there.

This is a follow up to my earlier review. I sent the amp off to Diezel, and got it back within two weeks. The repairs did not cost me a thing, and I believe they replaced the circuit board and all the tubes.
The customer service at Diezel is second to none, and although for the price of the amp, I maintain that it should not have had any issues, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the company to others.
Consider this an apology for my hastiness to point out the few negatives of an otherwise fantastic and entirely reliable company.
Also, the warranty on the amps is lifetime. I admit that I was mistaken in believing that it was a one year warranty.
Although the amp did break down within 6 months of ownership, the problem was very quickly and conveniently solved, even with the shipping costs to Germany.

Couldn't have wished for better service from Peter and the team. Best customer support I have ever received. Thank you Peter!

See below - Sounds fantastic. Lets just hope it doesn't break down again!

I've had this amp for a year now, and thought I would be completely honest about it's positives and negatives.
As stated before - 4 channels with Fx loops for each, also a master serial and parralel Fx loop.
Points taken off due to the lack of a simple channel switching device. The amp doesn't come with a footswitch, and only allows midi footswitching. You know what this means?! You have to buy another company's footswitch and hope it works, so you can do somethihng really simple like... urrr... change the channels on a 4 channel amp! Ridiculous. With the price this thing costs, you would think that a simple jack connector would be appropriate, as well as the midi stuff.
I was looking for a simple 4 button midi footswitch for months, until I found that Randall is the only company who makes them. However, Randall have now changed the spec on them so they use 6 pin DIN cables instead of the 5 pin cables, hence, they now don't work with the VH4. I then had to shell out over ??150 for a footcontroller with way more buttons than I will ever use. Sounds daft?! Believe me, I was P1SSED!
Controls on the amp do what they say they do. Prescence and Depth are very handy features.

Good clean sounds. A little dark sounding but very Hi-Fi. Some good tones to be had here, but nothing noteworthy really. 7/10 for clean sounds.
Crunch - Sounds a little flat, but breaks up very nicely. This covers a lot of ground, and although still a little dark sounding, covers early Marshall territory quite nicely. Another 7/10 here
Channel 3 - Great Palm mute sounds here! You can dig into the srtings and the amp sounds like it is crushing under your hand, before blooming into wonderful, pure sounding distortion. Fantastic harmonic overtones and a great clarity and punch to this channel. Not too tight though. 'Machine gun' palm muting isn't quite 'there'... If anything I would want a little more attack on this channel, but each to their own. It does sounds fantastic, and brings a smile to my face when played alone, or in a band situation. Cuts perfectly through the mix. An 8.5/10 here
Channel 4 - More of the same here. Too much gain, less mids, doesn't cut as well as channel 3. I don't use this one too much, as the ammount of gain just gets lost in the mix, and it starts to sound a bit "too much" - even for "TEH BR00TALZ METULZ" Riffs. A bit "Meh" with this channel. 7/10
Very satisfied with the sound. NOT ??2000 satisfied though. I would pay ??1400-1500 for this amp if I was asked to make an offer, but what can I say?! I was irresponsible with my cash!

NO I ABSOLUTELY CANNOT RELY ON IT.
Long story short - I had the amp for about 6 months, when it started having all sorts of weird volume issues. I changed all the tubes to no avail. I took it to a tech, who said there was likely a broken track on the circuit board, and it couldn't be fixed without days worth of work unsoldering everything to get to the underside of it.
For ??2000 this should absolutely not be happening. I paid for a reliable amp, apparently built with "Military Spec Components", and I got a f***ing lemon.
Not happy with this. After 2 months of re soldering all visible connections, changing tubes and getting incredibly frustrated with the amp running at about the level of a quiet radio when completely dimed, I decided that I would have to cave in and pay the huge shipping fees to send it back to Germany.
The amp is with Diezel at the moment, who don't pay any shipping fees, and who intend to charge me for any new tubes they decide to put in the amp.
Go figure...

All the staff are very friendly, and very helpful.
As the previous reviewer stated before, they certainly talk a good game, but let's see how they play it.
5/10 due to prompt replies to questions, but yet more charges for fixing an amp that is broken due to poor manufacturing.
1 Year warranty is a joke for something this expensive.

If it were stolen I would jump for joy, claim the insurance,buy a Marshall JVM or similar workhorse and spend the change on a holiday. The only reason I don't sell this amp is because the sound really is great.
The resale value on these amps is so low (Around ??1300) that if I wanted to get rid of it I would run over it with my car and claim it on insurance.
If it breaks down again, I will probably smash it to pieces and claim insurance. What other choice would I have, except to spend another ??300-400 shipping it and buying new tubes?!
Having ranted on about this, though, it is a great sounding amp. Just not worth the price, the hype or the hassle.
Feel free to email me about any of this, or if you want clips of it working, or clips of it broken.
Gaaaa I can't believe the d**n thing is broken! Look at the Rig-talk forums and see how many other people are having problems with this amp! I am not amused.

This is a follow-up to below: Peter & Uwe came through with a new VH-4 as a replacement for my `02 head;this so I could finish these session dates and still get this head repaired. Now, that's customer service! So, here's an amended review.

As regards features, the one thing that might put the amp over the top, assuming it could be done without messing with the audio path too much, would be the addition of a lush reverb. Of course, reverbs always seem to crap out and go down. So, really, a feature-set at around the 8.5 mark (MIDI with EQ for each channel) is probably as good as any head will get.

Again, and as noted, I rate this at 9. It's balls on,though the clean tones may be a little harder and more harsh than one may want in a perfect world. If you're looking for a `64 VOX-like chime, you're probably not going to get it here. As such, the head, while extremely hip for most styles and tones, isn't going to be a chime or surf machine, per se.

Yeah, the only issue has been this strange problem with how the MIDI board has been receiving voltage. It's a fresh problem and isn't related to durability, per se; as it appears to be a problem that may be rooted in a bad batch of parts Peter received. The build strength and quality of the head itself is high--it weighs a ton relative to many other amps and is solid.

Well, customer support has gone above and beyond the call of duty here; with Peter shipping over a new VH4 as a backup/replacement for my head.

Been playing for quite some time and own quite a few different axes and amps. The VH4 serves me well for a number of reasons. I would venture to say that for 70-80% of the players out there, the VH4 would be anideal amplifier. Of course, for many of the others, the VH4 is simply more amp than they need. And for some they require the specificity of a `65 Twin or really are solidly wed to the tone of their `71 SL-100 or something. But for the mass majority, this one amp would most likely do it all. Of course, it isn't inexpensive, so it cannot be rated a 10--Fantastic Value. But it's close.

Here's a follow-up to the last post: Peter has gone out of his way to ship a new VH-4 to me as a replacement for this head; thus allowing the sessions to continue full speed ahead. As noted, the sound/tone of the VH-4 is very good, and if there was some way to develop a smart chime-like reverb system, the features set would be about as good as it gets, as well.

The sound quality is as noted before: near the manifestation of a Platonic form in the material realm. I've never heard an amp that was a 10--I've had heads that had channels that qualified as 10's, but never an entire head. As such, a rating of 9 is as good as it comes from this player.

My original VH-4 seems to have a very odd and elusive issue. Odd insofar as it has been spot on perfect for years and then just went down.

After a rare problem with the head, and balls-deep in various session projects, Peter has sent me a new VH-4 as a substitute for my injured amp. Now, THAT'S CUSTOMER SUPPORT!

Me? I've been playing since Les Pauls were $500.00 new. The VH-4 is a good fit for my rig insofar as I use it together with an old Bruce Egnater MICA TOL-100 head, each split side to side with a 4x12 & 2x12 cab apiece. Because each head is MIDI, it's a no brainer. So, the VH4 is great because it makes utilizing a deep rack rig easy. It also allows for 4 channels which I find is really important. The clean may be a bit too chrisp for some tastes, but the gain is good and doesn't come off like the buzzy, preamp-driven crap that many builders seem to shoot for these days. Of course, the VH4 is not inexpensive, so the bang for the value ratio may be a subjective element. As far as other gear...I have enough to get the job done.

Amp has crapped out and nobody seems to respond to email; though they have my $4000.00 amp. We'll no longer recommend Diezel products to clients here.

Well, they talk a good game, but over three weeks and no report on the issue with this amp, and a week with no response to email concerning the problem that required the initial repair. At these prices, some word as to a preliminary bench analysis should be forthcoming within 10 days.

Well, anymore, apparently hype trumps reality. It's a George Bush world. But when I shell out serious dough for an instrument, it needs to function as designed. And if not, it needs to be rectified in a timely manner. This head is a large waste of time and money.

The features have been said 50+ times. I will focus on the interaction. It is layed out so good, I can easily dial in tones... I mean more than one! I have the independent controls over each of the four channels and then I adjust the DEEP knob to fill out the low end after I get it where I want it. Man, this is the only amp I will ever need. 4 Channels and.... (see next section)

THEY ALL FU<KING ROCK! I was turned on to this amp by one of the producer's of my album, Kris Singh, and I will never turn back. It has more balls than any Marshall and it always maintains a clarity that can't be messed with. We used it on our recording sessions and we tried hard to beat it. We put up vintage Plexis, Bogners XTC and Ubershall, Engl, Soldano SLO, New Marshalls, Modded JCM 800s, we tried pedals, we tried everything. At the end of the day, NOTHING could touch the Diezel for our sound. We do range from classic Rock, Blues Rock to Classic Punk and Modern Heavy Metal. My band is "Stereo Transmitted Disease." You can hear the Diezel all over our songs at our myspace site:

http://www.myspace.com/stdthebanddotcom

We did not use any pedals for added distortion. All Diezel. Various channels though.


The Bogner Ecstasy was the second best amp for us and we used that a little too.

I had to buy a Diezel after the sessions and I don't regret it. It is my #1 amp! I wish I could rate it higher than "10"!!!

Took it on the road. No problems. It is solid as hell.

Never needed their support, that is the best kind ;-)

Best heavy rock amp I have ever used (and we tried a lot of the top ones next to it in the studio). Great for classic rock, clean, AC/DC on up. It can ever get you that Joe Walsh sound. Amazing. I cannot believe that many sounds are all in one box. My producer called it the swiss army knife of guitar tones. and it is. I am their biggest fan. They brought the sound out of my head, through my fingertips and out the speakers. What more can you ask for???

I hate to give all 10's but this amp earns it.

Mde in 2004. I bought it from someone and traded my brandnew Dual Recto in.
I play metal.
I use a Boss FC50 to switch between channels.
Mine has new JJ EL34L in it, and of course a bias job.

I don't know if the ESP Kamikaze guy was def or just jealous, what a bullsh*t review!!

I play a LTD EC1000 with JB and a Ibanez ICJ100WZ (EMG81, now JB).
Amps i've owned:
Marshall JCM800
Marshall 2550 Jubileum series
Crate Stealth
Mesa Boogie Mark III
Mesa Single Recto
Mesa Boogie Mark IV
Mesa Triple Recto
Engl Powerball
Mesa Dual Recto


I will not review channel 1 and 2, because i don't use them. I'm a redneck metalplayer, sorry.

Channel 3 is why i bought this amp.
The thing with Recto's is that i love the brutal sound, but it needs a tubescreamer/overdrive (with passive pickups)to be tight! And those pedals just eat low end and body. The VH4 is supertight WITHOUT pedals in front!! I now play with JB's cause i love the dynamics of it together with the VH4. Channel 3 has enough gain to be a solochannel.

Channel 4 has more gain, is different voiced and great for solo. It is still very tight and can be used as a rythmchannel. I've had tight palmmute sounds with a dark PAF-like pickup.

When i bought it used there was a single powertube broken. I just noticed this because a led at the back was on. You can still play this amp with one powertube!! Have had the VH4 now for 8 months, being used on stage and rehearsalroom. No problems.

Just check the Diezel forum!!!


You will love the owners.

So i've owned some pretty good amps but would only buy another VH4 if it was stolen. No more pedals in front or recto's lacking tone.
I like Recto's, but the Diezel is just so much better. The Recto distortion is in the highfrequenties section, while the Diezel's is more in the midlow section. Recto's scream like a pig, Diezels bark like a big mad Danish Dog. (my 2 cents)

Mine is made in 2003 and i own it for about three years now, still on the original Ruby's (EL34). My other amps are a Marshall JCM800 2204 and a DSL100 head, which i will mainly be comparing it to in this review. I use a Mesa STD. 412 cab with V30's and Gibson LP's. It doesn't get any more versatile as this, you know the feature's. Parallel AND series loop AND seperate channel insert loops for each 4 channels. WOW. Instead of boring you with how fantastic this amp is (it really is!!!(;), i'll tell you about the things that i less like. First, you can only switch this amp with a MIDI floorboard. Beeing a big fan of analog pedals (and alot of them) it's a mess in front of me with everything connected. I'd wish Diezel would make a compact fitting footswitch for it like the Mesa Recto or Marshall TSL footswitches. Not everyone likes digital rack effects, to my ears they always sound thin and fake, even the real expensive ones. Also, the lack of a spring reverb really dissapoints me. No reverb sounds better as the ones built in Marshall or Fender amps. Therefore i knock 2 points off. (though i can't really justify that with all the other features this amp has)

Channel 1, clean. Reminds me of a Hiwatt 100. VERY clean, personally i prefer the "bell" like "under the bridge/Peppers" cleans of my JCM800 better. It's just a little TOO clean and open sounding for my tastes. But that's just me (:
Channel 2, raw. Great for that breakup sound that goes well with chording alternative/pop/rock music. or with chorus and delay, some pretty nice ambient sounds think U2 or (later)Pink Floyd. With the gain all the way up, it has about the same amount of distortion as a JCM800, the AC/DC territory.
Channel 3. The reason i bought this amp. The massive low end paired with tons of gain without getting brittle and muddy, like all main production high-gain amps do, just made the hairs in my neck rise when i first played it. I knew i had to own this. It "Thumps" like thunder with palm-muted riffs (also due to the deep control), >HINT< Don't place your bottle of beer on top of your amp or anywhere close, also don't play it out loud when you have diarrhea. Brown sound x 2! (;
Channel 4, lead. Great as a solo channel, again it has that "dark brown" vibe goin' on that doesn't pierce your eardrums like main production amps do on high notes. And it's great to have a seperate lead channel with it's own volume/gain control AND channel inserts for some delay/verb. Metal players would like this channel as a "rhytm channel" as it has even more gain as the third channel.

this amp isn't noisey at all compared to my Marshall's or any other amp i owned/played, even with everything past noon (don't try this at home, kiddies(:).
It has that "open, in your face" like vibe to it. That's great on the 3/4 channels, but not (though very good) on the first 2 channels. I like my cleans to be more "organic" (god i hate explaining sound in words) So i would rate channel one at 7, channel two at 9, channel three at 13, and four at 11. (:

I'm sure you can drop it from a 2 story building and it would still work...

BUT...

The metal parts on the housing (corners and handle) are showing rust-speckles. They did so since i hardly owned it a year. I clean all of my stuff reguarly and even my '84 JCM 800 looks brand new and i never even dusted it since the early 90's when i got "mature". Maybe has nothing to do with reliability but still for the price these things go for you might expect something better.

Never tried.

This amp is all about versatility. The third channel is the best crunch channel i have ever heard. I play alot of music varying from rock to grunge to alternative to pop to stoner. This amp delivers in every catagory. If i had it my way it would be a JCM800 as channel one, a Vox AC30 as channel 2, and the Diezel VH4's channels 3/4 for crunch/lead. I don't think i will come any closer to my ever illusive "perfect amp"

2002 model with every feature an amplifier could have. Multiple FX loops, independant channel controls, channel select buttons, mute, 7 Chinese 12AX7's, and TONS os power through 4 6L6's. I use this amp in medium to large venues, and tour with it 7 months out of the year. It's got everything you'd need, except a footswitch.

I use this amp with a variety of Les Pauls, and a Splawn 4x12 cabinet. I tour with a hard rock band, and do lots of studio work. I wanted to get one amp that would "do it all". This is about as close as you can get to the perfect all round amplifier. It is dead quiet on every channel.

Channel 1: Stiff, super clean sound. Almost impossible to break up. I find there is not enough low end on this channel, and it has a very bright tone even without the bright switch on. Sounds incredible with reverb and chorus on it, though.

Channel 2: Nice broken up clean to JCM 800 territory. Sounds great with an overdrive in front. Not my favorite, but very good.

Channel 3: Big, FAT, rhythm sound. Lots of gain, but like channel 1, it feels a bit stiff. I also have a Splawn Quick Rod, and a EL34 modded 5150. Harmonics explode off the fretboard easily with both of those amps, but I just can't get that feeling from this channel. It is great for doing rhythm work, and complex chording, but for super tight "chugging", I prefer the Splawn head.

Channel 4: This channel is incredible. Violin like sustain, and lots of punch. It reminds me of my old Mesa MK-2C+, but way beyond. The gain does not need to go past 11:00 for any reason. I tends to squish a bit past that. This is a tighter channel than channel 3 in my opinion. I like this channel better for tight rhythm work.

I plan on switching the tubes to Ruby EL34B-STR's very soon. I've messed with SEVERAL preamp tubes and combinations, but the stock Chinese 9th generation 12AX7's seem to work the best so far. I grew up playing Marshalls, so I'm used to that tight upper midrange EL34 sound. The 6L6's don't really do it for me, but I've been trying to give them a chance.

One of two Diezel amps I own. They are incredibly well built, and HEAVY. Only problem I've had was a burned out preamp tube. Very dependable.

Salweinder company has been incredibly helpful. The warranty is a bit of a joke to me. A $4000+ amp should have a lifetime warranty. My Soldano SLO has a lifetime transferable warranty. I'd think Diezel could do better than a one year warranty. I've never heard one bad thing about the company's service, and have never heard of any problems with the amps. Hopefully I won't ever need the warranty.

I've been playing for over 20 years, and own MANY boutique amps as well as run of the mill Peaveys, Marshalls, etc. Every amp does something different for me. I can't say one is better than the other, but there are attributes of each one that I prefer. My Splawn and my Diezel Einstein are the ones I enjoy playing the most. The VH4 is a great "all round" amp that does everything very well. I like to use it on the road for that reason, and that it is MIDI controllable. I don't feel that this amp is as "open" sounding as the Einstein, but is close. The Einstein is incredible!

Born in 2006:
This is the amp I have dreamt about having all my life.
It has four channels of diversified flexability and TONE./
No reverb but a Quality pedal should solve this.
I use this amp @ home for practice and gigs.
More than enough power and gain for anyone
Individual channel inserts
Needs to have an external bias adjustment for changing tubes without taking in for service

Clean channel is PRISTINE. The amp harmonicaly changes with tubes used and the variety is outstanding for a tube head. Four channels . Spin the knobs get different characteristics and tones that I could never get with any other head . The gain is unreal , Mad defined and bad to the bone. I have never heard any other amps make this type of growl without the use of effects. No need for a distortion pedals @ all to get high gain . DEFINITION and CLARITY is incredible .Thumbs up for this config. of an amp.I play Gibson les pauls with 12-52's and it is a killer combo. Gibson Gothic

Seems like it is built extremely well and I do gig without a backup.Mine has the ruby red el 34's.

I called Salawender in Cali. and was amazed they had time to talk to me and answer my Questions. I am very satisfied that I was treated so well. You guys are great!!!!!!!!!!!!!A+A+A+A+A+A+A+A+A+A+A+A+

I have been playing for over 20 years and finally decided that it was worth the money to buy this piece of gear. I have had Mesa boogie triple rec solo, Marshall Tsl 100, Peaveys ,Fender. I play alvarez acoustics and mainly Gibson Les Pauls. I wanted an amp that could do it all this is the one. I mainly play alternative rock but this amp will do them all. If someone stold it I would have them on camera @ my house and would handle it myself when I found them. not big on thieves or cheaters. I wish the amp had an external bias so I could change tubes whenever I felt like it . It is very nice to have the best sound out there .Thanks Diezel you rock!!!!!!!!!!!

Just a public service announcement: the Randall 4-button MIDI footswitch (#180290) works great with the Diezel. It is pretty basic (4 channels only), but it is very solid. MF has them for $50; I bought two.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Randall-4Button-MIDI-Footswitch?sku=180290

I use the on my VH4-S, but I have friends who use them on the regular VH4.

All the "nuts and bolts" have been covered already, I think...this head more than easily covers all of the "essential" sounds anyone would want to ever attain from any live rig...scoops out of the head like ice cream...

Ibanez w/buckers
Tele w/ single coils
It fits EVERY- and ANY- THING, just spin the knobs - if there's a bad tone, you need to dig for it. I still haven't found one.
Surprisingly quiet, even on high gain, channel 4.
Overall, it's very smooth. You might wanna pair it with a Marshall cab to sharpen it up. It's SOOOO thick, like a milkshake...damn right, it's better than yours...

I can't imagine that I'll eveer have a mechanical problem with this amp - it's built like a tank! I wish it was slightly smaller and lighter - but I'm willing to trade that for the heavy-duty-quality!

The warranty is 5 years, as far as I can tell. I bought it from Chuck Levin's Washington Music in Wheaton, Maryland, and although the salesman (Bill) treated me quite fine, I kind of expected a a little more service considerering I bought the VH4 off the floor, no box, no warranty, no manual. I carried it out in a Hefty trash bag, which is kind of disgraceful, considering what I paid for it.

I need to add that plugging into this head has been like fucking the prom queen every night since I picked it up, even without effects...it is indeed the shiznit...

Been playing for almost 30 yrs
I've insured it (duh), so I'll never, EVER be without one ever again - it's that good. Don't be afraid - it's the last amp you'll ever need - no need to eff around...
I LOVE that it's tone is 3-dimensional...it's got EVERYTHING (and fellow players will hate you for the tone you have that they can't cop - THICK)
Tried a mess of other heads - Bogner Uber, Shiva (which is great, just diff), Hughes, Duo and Tri-, various Mesa Rectifier dealies, etc...the VH4 is the SHIT. I didn't want to spend this much on an amp head, but I wanted the best I could find - this head was it. Period.

A lot of nice features which you can read about in other reviews posted below or above - so
I'm not gonna bother you......
I got this about 3 weeks ago and I still can't believe how good this amp sounds. I've never really liked these multi channel amps - not because I don't like the concept but because I never really tried a multi channel amp that blew me away on all channels!.....but to my ears this is the best one made so far. That's way I have almost always gone for 1 good basic sound in my amps having a lot a pedals in front them - but I don't need all those pedals anymore. The VH4 does it all!

I play rock n'roll, Rn'B, Blues, Pop, Jazz, Heavy metal etc. - I have owned a lot of high end and vintage stuff like:

1. Fender 1974 deluxe reverb
2. Fender 1965 super reverb
3. Fender blackface 1966 bassman top
4. Fender pro junior
5. Fender tonemaster top
6. Marshall 200 watt KT88 Major 1969
7. Marshall JTM-45 1965 top with kt-66 tubes
8. Marshall acoustic amp
9. Orange OR-80 with matching cab
10. Bogner Metropolis combo
11. SWR California Blonde
12. Mesa Boogie mark IV with matching cab
13. Hugh and Kettner ? Zentera amp
14. Laney 100 watt top
15. Laney 50 watt top

Well....The diezel VH4 has totally blown me away. It does it all very very good. I play in many different bands and this amp simply covers all my needs. Sounds fantastic with the 212 matching diezel cab. Go get it if you want the world most versatile and best sounding amp!

No problems yet. Built like a tank!

I've talked with Peter Stapher quite a few times and he has always been very friendly with me taking his time to answer my questions etc. Probably the best customer support I've tried so far.

I've been playing for over 15 years and I'm very picky about my gear - I want the best and in the Diezel I've found my dream amp!!!
If it was lost I'd had to get another one.

Every feature you'd ever need in an amp, except for a footswitch. That is my only complaint about this amp. At $4200.00, a simple footswitch would be nice. This amp can cover every style of music perfectly, and accomidate every type of pedal or effects unit with excellent clarity. There is tons of volume and headroom in this amp. Cool feature is the individual tube fuses that will keep your amp working if a tube goes out during a show.

I use Les Paul Standards, and PRS Custom 24's through this amp.

Ch. 1- The most magical clean I've ever heard in 20 years of guitar playing. It has exceptional feel, and is so rich that pedals and reverbs are not necessary.

Ch. 2- This can cover blues to 80's hair metal. I use this channel exclusively. I've got it dimed with the bright switch on, and it's more gain than most rockers will ever need. After all that, it cleans up better than most amp's clean channels.

Ch. 3- Massive 3D sound. This amp is VERY bass heavy, and I never turn the bass past 11:00 ever. Gain is insane at 12:00, yet still very refined with excellent harmonics and overtones.

Ch. 4- Almost too much gain. I don't know why anyone will ever need this much gain, but you can hold notes as if you were using an Ebow. Maybe some people like that, but it's not for me. It is not easy to tame this channel. At 10:00, there is already too much going on.

Diezel. German made. Long lasting Ruby tubes. Super sturdy chassis. Tube failure feature. To me, all of these features equal reliability.

Some of the best in the entire amplifier business.

In 20 years of playing, and being an amplifier freak, I think this is in my top 10 of amps. My '79 Plexi is on the top of that list. I also own a Splawn Quick Rod which I think is one of the best sounding amplifiers I've ever heard as far as being a rock/metal amp. The Diezel is definitely a one trick pony that can be used for any type of music, but it's price is the only holdback. Is it worth the $4250? I'd say no, but if you have the cash to burn, and you're a working musician that's playing a variety of music styles, go for it.

4 independent channels, all tube, midi-switchable, each power tube fuse protected, handcrafted, built-like-a-tank amphead. 100 Watts.

There isn't any other head on the market with these features - and its sound ;-)

I'm using all kinds of guitars, LPs, Strats, heavy Strats . . . my style is classic rock - old school heavy metal. Playing over 25 years now.

The amphead fits those styles perfectly.

Ch1: either bright sparkling or fat Hiwattish cleans. The bright switch and the 3 band eq makes it pretty easy to find your sound.

Ch2: a super organic nice - either warm or crisp - full sounding channel, which goes from a light break-up to good crunchy amounts of gain. It makes your style breathe like very few amps out there.

Ch3: the Diezel trademark channel. You need a ultra fat overdriven heavy crunch? Use this. Bites, kicks your belly, shakes the wall. Set the pots to noon and enjoy. A masterpiece, unavailable in other amps. Nothing comes close to this. A neo-classical channel - and the standard for crunch of the new millenium IMO.

Ch4: does either more (DM like) super heavy rythms (dime the gain to 10 o'clock) or creamy singing leads. Think a perfect not oversizzling and unfuzzy SLO ;-). Very adorable IMO.

Its a Diezel. Built like a tank, excellent features to protect the amp and player in all situations . . . never failed of course. I'm running mine with EL34s of course.

Again: its a Diezel. Just contact one of the Diezels (Peter or Peter) via mail or telephone - they will respond or even help you on the fly. Uwe Salwender also is a class act when it comes to service, support and customer relations. The Diezel company is known for their outstanding customer support.

To the previous poster:

If you came here to bash Diezel and recommend your favoured company all I can say that it is childish and ridiculous. It seems that the huge majority of reviewers is seeing things obviously completely different than you and I'm under the impression that "us" are not the guys who are deaf, but you. If you are unable to dial in the right amounts of presence you've either forgot to hook a cab to the amp - or you are deaf and/or dumb.
A simple phone call to Peter would have solved your problem (although I doubt that you ever owned a Diezel, you probably just looked at it in a shop).

My overall rating is pretty simple: One of the best ampheads on the markets, a neo-classic already. Unbeatable when it comes to versatility and options/features, unbeatable when it comes to rock/hard rock sounds. Diezels other heads, Herbert and Einstein, are focussing on different styles and players, but all three share one common thing: very very hard to beat :-)

Others have already listed. (Too many to list.)

I used an ESP Kamakazi custom with Duncan distortion at bridge, Duncan ssl-1 at the neck. My music style is eighties metal/rock. Ibought this amp because of hype and reviews in guitar player magazine.... Now I know (The hard way) not to buy based on these things. The clean was pretty good. Second channel was fat, but dark (I wouldnt say warm) and no presence. The third channel sounded the same, just a bit thinner with a little more gain... Again, no presence. The same goes for the fourth channel. Despite other reviews, this amp has no chance of getting any brown sound! The gain does not even crunch when you mute chords. ( Get an Engl amp if you like this!) very disappointing, and I thought it was way over priced. I had my amp tech check it out, and the first thing he said was, "It's too dark and has no presence." I couldn't help but agree. the more I turned up the treble and presence, it just got harsh.

I din't keep it long enough to have any. But my amp tech says, "The way it is technically built, your looking at serious service problems in the future."

Very helpful and friendly.

If you want alot of presence and crunchy gain, (Think VH-1 or Dokken "Back for the attack", this is so NOT it!.

I read somewhere that this amp was optimized to sound really good at70-90dB. It does. I have played hundreds of small clubs and I have never really been able to turn up loud. I have only ever played one stage that was big enough to really crank a non-master head. We were the ubiquitous "opening act". So once again I stood on my postage stamp with my amp blasting into my pants with a mike on it. The main bill had already sound checked and there was no changing the PA system. So... yep took right in the balls again. My point here is that this amp is really great for a working guy playing small clubs. I, while tempted, did not buy the 4X12. Mostly because I am fairly smart and once I have made a mistake the requisite twenty to one hundred times, I learn. I bought the Diezel 1X12. I was a littly hesitant to spend six bills on a 1X12 but really out of the four cabs I tried it really was the best. The actual features of the amp are listed ad nauseum elsewhere, but I consider the fact that this amp was designed to sound really great at lower volumes is the best feature this amp has.

I considered buying a Komet amp, a JSX Head and 5150 4X12, a Marshall TSL100, and a Flexi 50 from THD. I really liked the JSX but alas the Diezel is way better and WAY more versatile.

I play two strats with humbuckers in the bridge position. I use this amp for blues style music,it's really rock when I play it. I also do classic rock. It does a great AC/DC and Van Halen. Hell I just used the sample sounds page. Classis Aerosmith etc... It really shines at the Texas tone on channel 2. Think "Texas Flood".

I try to write reviews that are actually helpful to a potential buyer. So with that in mind; here goes. This amp is truly like taking four amps to any gig. Doing the blues/rock thing covering Stevie, Jimi, etc... you can get away without bringing a switch and use only channel 2 and your volume pot. The clean channel or channel one is very nice. It is not however, very good for real jazz. That is to say harmonic, improvisational music like Jobim, Kern, Rodgers, Parker, Coltrane et al. In a pinch though it would do.

Great for legato players which is why I bought it specifically. I suck at picking but I can play pretty fast and proficient using legato. There's a sample on the sounds page. I find it works for me but you really need to have right hand muting together.

Buy the way this is a preliminary review I will update this in the future.

Too soon to tell.

Too soon to tell.

I have been playing since I was eleven. I am now forty, didn't get serious till I was nineteen.

I would buy it again if it were lost or stolen.

What I really love about this amp is its versatility. While one could use it as a four channel amp the individual channels are so flexable one could do a whole blues/rock gig with just channels 1 and 2. A classic rock gig channels 2 and 3. Even on channel 4 the amp responds very well to changes at the volume pot on the guitar.

There is nothing I hate about this amp. I am giving it a 7 though because of the price tag. I am not really complaining but for the cost of this amp one could buy two or three amps and a head switcher and a cab and maybe a few pedals to boot. It sure is convenient to only have to carry one head though.

I BOUGHT IT ON JUNE 2002 DIRECTLY FROM PETER DIEZEL; THERE ARE NO OTHER AMP IN THE MARKET WITH SO MANY FEATURES ( SEE OTHER REVIEWS )
NO COIL REVERB OR STANDART FOOTSWITCHES : NOT A BIG DEAL SINCE I PREFER DIGITAL REVERB AND DELAY RACKS ( TC ELECTRONIC ) RATHER THAN COIL REVERBS. ADD A GOOD CHORUS PEDAL IN THE INSERT CHANNELS AND USE A CHEAP MIDI PEDAL TO CHANGE ALL THE PRESETS AND CHANNELS AT THE SAME TIME AVOIDING FLOOR TAP DANCING, NICE FOR LIVE SITUATIONS !

THE VERY FIRST THING YOU WILL NOTICE IS THAT'S NOT ANOTHER MARSHALL, FENDER OR BOOGIE CLONE AMP ( THANKS FOR THAT !). IT'S A DIEZEL AMP, SO ALL YOU WILL HEAR IS A PURE ORIGINAL DIEZEL TONE. YOU HAVE TO TRY IT BY YOURSELF AND MAKE YOUR OWN CONCLUSIONS. I BELIEVE THAT 50% OF THE GUITAR TONE COMES FROM THE FINGERS AND THE OTHER 50% COMES FROM THE AMP AND GUITAR COMBINATION.TONE IS VERY PERSONAL, BUT THE STRONGESTS CHARACTERISTICS IN THIS AMP ARE :TONE CLARITY, TONE ARTICULATION, VERY FAT TONES, VERY SILENT ( NO NEEDS FOR NOISE GATES ), NO MUDDY OR BUZZY TONES ( IN THE DISTORTED CHANNELS )
THE FOURTH CHANNEL CAN GET VERY COMPRESSED WHEN YOU SET THE GAIN KNOB OVER 1:00 O CLOCK, BUT WHO NEEDS SUCH GAIN LEVELS, EVEN ZACK WILD WOULD NOT USE MORE GAIN THAN THIS, I BET ! EVEN FOR THOSE WHO USES GAIN LEVELS ON MAXIMUM IN FOURTH CHANNEL WILL NOT NEED TO USE ANY NOISE GATES, THE TONE WILL NOT BECOME BUZZY OR MUDDY, ONLY OVERCOMPRESSED
THE CLEAN TONES CAN BE USED TO PLAY JAZZ ( A LA BENSON ) OR BLUES ( A LA ROBBEN FORD OR LARRY CARLTON ) WITH NO OVERDRIVE OR BOOSTS PEDALS
I THINK THAT VH4 TONE CLARITY IS THE MAIN CHARACTERISTIC THAT DIFFERS IT FROM OTHER AMPS I HAD TRIED BEFORE !
I USE SEVEN DIFFERENT GUITARS, GIBSON LES PAUL, CUSTOM FENDER, GUILD SEMI HOLLOW BODDY, OLD AMERICAN CUSTOM KRAMER, EPIPHONE JOE PASS, GIBSON CHET ATKINS NYLON STRINGS AND DI CASTELLI'S CUSTOM STRAT ( MADE IN BRAZIL ALL BY HAND BY TOM DI CASTELLI - A MASTERPIECE ! )
I HAVE TRIED SOME PRS CUSTOM GUITARS TOO WITH THE VH4 ( VERY NICE )

THREE YEARS USING IT AND NO PROBLEM UNTIL NOW !

PETER DIEZEL IS A VERY NICE AND FRIENDLY PERSON. I WAS IN MUNICH IN 2002 AND BOUGHT IT DIRECTLY FROM HIM; HE SPEND ABOUT 90 MINUTES WITH ME, MAKING THE LEAST ADJUSTMENTS AND GIVING ME SO MANY TIPS AND EXPLANATIONS ABOUT THE AMP. HIS PARTNER PETER STAPFER EVEN GAVE ME A RIDE BACK TO THE HOTEL LATER ! SOMETIMES I HAVE SOME DIFICULTIES TO GET MY E-MAILS OR FAXES ANSWERED, MAIBE BECAUSE DIEZEL'S COMPANY IS GETTING BIGGER EVERY TIME. ANYWAY I NEVER HAD PROBLEMS WITH MY DIEZEL AMP AS I SAID BEFORE !

DEFINITLY A CLASSIC HEAD, LOTS OF TONE PERSONALITY, NO TONE CLONING, BUILD YOUR OWN TONE ! I STILL HAVE A RIVERA KNUCKLEHEAD 100 WATTS HEAD FOR BACKUP ( VERY GOOD AMP BUT NOT IN THE SAME LEAGUE AS DIEZEL ) I HAVE TRIED : SOLDANO SLO 100 AND HOT ROD 50 XL PLUS HEADS; VHT PITT BULL ULTRA LEAD HEAD ( VERY NICE ), BOOGIE MARK FOUR HEAD; RIVERA KNUCKLEHEAD REVERB 100 HEAD; CUSTOM AUDIO PRE AMP; BOOGIE TRIAXIS PRE AMP; EGNATOR PRE AMP; BOOGIE 2:90 POWER AMP; MARSHALL JMP-1 PRE AMP; TWO MARSHALL JCM 800 REISSUES MODDED BY JOHN SUHR AND HARRY KOLBE ( BOTH NICE FOR HEAVY METAL ); MARSHALL JCM 900 ( AWFULL HEAD ) I'M PLANNING TO SELL MY RIVERA HEAD AND MAYBE BUY A NEW DIEZEL EINSTEIN HEAD

Head with four complete independant channels. ( indep. gain,vol.,treb.,mid.,bass)on each channel and they DO SOMETHING!!
Power section with master and deep switch. A lot of loops on the back
( you can set a loop as second master volume,..great).No reverb.

Main guitars used:Lag Roxanne with Duncans,Gibson Lespaul with Bareknuckle p.u.'s,. Hamer special with P-90's.
channel 1 : sparkling clean with gain low and chorus in the loop.
Very dumble like with gain allmost maxed.
channel 2:Very,very bluesy,reminds me on ROBBEN FORD's tone.I mostly set the gain at 75 %,treble at 4 ,mids6, 6.5 ,bass 4.5, wooaw..
channel 3: very dry ,awesome leadchannel!, i keep the gain at about 6.5 to 7,and it never becomes mushy. Sounds incredible with the P-90's. Screams like Satch .
Channel 4: my favourite!!, fatter than chann. 3,very fluid.Gain at 4 is enough.I use the loop for lead boost.Gambale comes to mind.
I play for allmost 20 years ( am 49,pff),and i think there is no sound you cannot produce with this head.I had an Orange AD 30 -combo that was a little crunchier on lead,but the VH-4 second channel comes very close!I hope that my wife will forgive me to have spent that amount of cash for an amp.It was worth it for shure!!

Seems built like a Benz ,I use a Framus -cobra too,(also great amp!)
Gonna care for it,so we'll see.To new to rate

Great! I have some problems with the foot- switch,and Peter mailed me to send it to him directly.The shop "Feedback" in Rotterdam where helpfull too.I don't think there is a dealer here in Belgium,but Rotterdam is not so far from my place.

I play 20 years,in 3 bands.Mostly technical,fusional to jazzy-blues.
Try to improve myself.You have to work hard to play what comes to mind,but playing through good equipment inspires you.I found my sound in the Diezel.I am not gonna say it is better than,.....,but it surely is more versatile than some 3500-dollar "vintage" amps.
I hope i'll never have to buy it again,...that's gonna cost me a divorce!

This amp has more features than I know what to do with. Four channels of pure bliss to begin with.

Channel one has an amazing clean tone. I don't use it that much, but when I do, I love it. I had a Triple rectifier before and while owning this, and this clean sound is actually clean. Very warm and not a tinny sound like the Mesa seemed to have.

Channel two is great for a warm overdrive tone that I use for blues, or even playing covers of bands like Pearl Jam or Zep. Very warm and thick sounding.

Channel three is where I spend most of my time. It is such a big, thick, mean, raunchy, and I'll say it again, thick sound. Very warm, and yet mean at the same time. Just what I was looking for. BIG BIG BIG! Some of my influences are Tool (reason why I tried Diezel in the first place), The Melvins, Faith No More, Etc. Works great for those types of musical styles.

Channel four is quite the very high gain sound. A bit more punchy, and mid driven than channel three, but it rages with tone and overdriven distortion. I can play things like Slayer or Meshuggah sounding things on this channel. All of that, but not a thin tinny sound, or overcompressed.

As I said I had a Triple rectifier before and for a while after getting the Diezel. I sold it. I just could not compare. It took a little while to get used to justplaying the Diezel, I think because I was used to the Mesa's tone, but after about a week or so, I could not play through the Mesa anymore. Sorry Mesa, you guys do make great cabs though. hard to believe this amp has all of these tones and sounds all in one unit.

Then you have the effect loops that I almost forgot to write about. Each channel has it's own separate loop you can use. Also it has a serial loop and a parallel loop for the amp as well. It ismind blowing what you can do with it. I play around with the loops a lot, and every combination I have used sounds great. Incredibly versitale.

Well, I guess I worte about the soundsunder features. I will learn to follow directions better one of these days. But great for anything from blues, to rock (modern or vintage), to metal, to whatever. I love it.

I use mostly Gibson Les Pauls through it. I have several different models, with several different pickups in each. The 490 and 498 series, '57 classics and classic plus, burstbucker 3's, an origianl PAF, and the 500t ceramic series. They all sound great through it, and each sounds different.

The amp responds well to different pu's and different guitars. Makes it even that much more versitale. The Alnico pickups all sound very warm, and mean and nasty through the channel 3 and 4. The ceramics sound very ballsy, and a bit more compressed in channel three and four. And that is what they are designed for, overdriving amps. They all sound great through it.

Quite reliable. Occasionally I loose my midi presets, but if reboot it, and it works fine. Not sure it is the amp or my Ground Control pro. It could also be me, as this is the first and only midi device I use. Other than that it is great. I give it a ten because like I said, I am not sure the cause. I am guessing it is me.

Had it for 3 or 4 years now, and it still runs great.

Everyone I have dealt with before and after getting the Diezel has been great. Uwe, and his partner out in CA have been quite helpful on the phone. They don't ever sound like you are bothering them, nor do they rush you off the phone. They spend time talking with you about effects advice(not that you really need any with this amp) to tube advice, to whatever you ask them.

I bought it at Motor City Amps in Detroit. I live in Cleveland, so they were the closest. I am glad, because Martin is awesome. His studio was under construction, so he invited me to his house for the demo. He walked me through everything the amp had to offer, and there was no pressure at all. There didn't need to be actually becauseI wasin love from the beginning. And I love it now more than then!

Martin is always quick to reply to e-mails, phone calls, and even stupid questions. The guy is great, and so is the amp. However, great does not even begin to describe either of them!

It has to be a 10 because nothing else I have playedor owned comes close. I have been playing for 20 years or so, and it is the first time I have been 100% satisfied with my sound.

I use a Dunlop 535Q wah, straight into it, and a couple other effects. I fool around with set ups, different loops and such, to try different sounds. they all sound great. It is almost like it has too much stuff, beacauseit makes me want to go out and buy a bunch of different effects to run in all the different loops, just to say I have them all used! Very cool set up!

It is expensive, but worth everypenny. I have insurance on it,and if something happened to it, I would be on the phone with Martin ordering another. One of these days I will get another, well just because. I can keep one at the house, and one with whoever I am jamming with at the time if it is not at my place. Itis hard to play through even small practice amps, because I just always want that Diezel tone and sound.

I have a feeling they don't make many of these which is cool. If you get one you will have a very unique tone. An advantage of it costing a lot and being in small numbers, not everyone has one like a Mesa or a Marshall, or Peavey, or whatever the hell else people are using these days. Makes no matter to me, I have my Diezel!