Diezel VH4S

Questa testata mi ha aperto gli occhi su cosa vuol dire avere un bel suono professionale, costituita da 4 valvole di finale 6L6 e da 4 sezioni di preamp indipendenti comandabili via midi. I 4 canali vanno dal suono piu pulito al suono piu grosso. Adatta sia per fusion, rock e metal (io suono metal prog).

Io suono con una ibanez Universe a 7 corde, con pick up di marzio, e sono riuscito ad ottenere suoni motlo caldi e dinamici che erano improponibili con altra amplificazione. Prima utilizzavo una pedaliera con compressore, riverbero, equal...etc.. ora non utilizzo altro che la testata ed ho una distorsione impressionante.

Non ho ricevuto libretto di istruzioni, e le regolazioni via midi sono complicate.

Suono da 9 anni ed ho provato molte soluzioni digitali e alcune valvolari tipo marshall, fender, laney, ma tutto questo risulta come un suono per principianti a confronto del Diezel.

Bought my VH4S in 1998 as replacement of my SLO-100, Hot Rod 50 and a Fender Tonemaster. 4 Channel vs. 5 Channel. One of the most important things to understand is the interaction of Amp and Speaker, especially closed and open back systems. There isn't any Amp around the world which really fits to anybody. It's always like in real life, experience, experience and spending a hell of money.
Conclusion: I'm using open back and closed back cabinets and I get the sound I really want out of a single box driven into different cabinets.

I'm using custom Charvel Tele with Tom Holmes PU's, Music Man Axys,
Hopf 1963. Non Tremolo. Style of music from Funky to Pop and Rock,
sometimes trashy.... The variety of sounds is more the typical british type, but customized in the right direction... no noisy bits..
Clean could be better but thanks god, we have EQ.... therfore oki doki. Distortion - warm, smooth, brutal, vital - whatever you want...

Backup always required. I never had an amp on tour which felt of the rig or broke down. Transportation always kills tubes. With all of my
amps I never had trouble, but my Diezel was the first one who felt of my tower of cabinets and did not stop or broke down.......

If Mr. Diezel would live in the U.S., he would visit you whenever you have a problem with your equipment.... is this common in the U.S. or with the dealers you buy amps ?
My experience; whenever a problem occurs - next day repair !!!!!!!!

...nothing more to say, because we need time to play and enjoy music.......

This is a followup to my last review. Peter Diezel read my review and called me from Germany. He gave me the data I needed to install a bias pot. I now can adjust bias with a turn of a screwdriver. He also had me change a few resistors and caps for channel two. I now have the Keith Richards style overdrive I was looking for in channel two. What more can I ask for! Great!

See previous review

See previous review

See previous

I changed this from 9 to 10 because of the changes I implemented from Peter as I mentioned above.

This amp was made in late 2000 . I have owned another and after selling it regreted it and after a wait of a few months got another. This is the most versatile amp that I have played. Four totally separate channels and since the amp is stereo it has right and left master controls. With 10 speaker outs (5 per side) set up for any ohm config imagineable, the possibilities are unlimited. I have owned a ton of multi channel amps but nothing compares to this in the range of tones to be found. The fact that each channel has gain, volume, mid treble and bass is like four separate amps. The master controls, presence, deep, volume, effects mix are so effective in further tailoring the individual channels that to find your tone is easy. Then add the channel inserts for adding individual effects to each channel , a parallel and series loop and full midi capabilities and you begin to see what the beast is capable of.

Sounds incredible. I use a John Suhr Strat, Callaham Strat, Anderson Hollow Drop top classic and an Anderson Cobra S. Each guitar sounds as individual as it should and the amp shows no prejudice towards single coils or humbuckers. I play hard rock, blues, fusion etc. and this amp easily handles every type of music. The amp is quiet compared to other amps of it's type and yet sounds as good as anything I have ever played but does more. The clean channel is capable of the chime and sparkle found in the finest boutique amps ever built. I run a TC reverb unit in the channel inserts for ch. one and two and access them via midi with a DMC ground control allowing me to select wet or dry settings. I have ab tested the clean channel with great amps and can only say that the clean channel on the Diezel is as good as any, it has a bright switch as does channel two.

Channel two is a great channel and with the gain and mids up is a great sounding blues lead tone. The response from the amp is amazing. This channel can be setup to have any mid gain tone you desire.

Channel three is a blast- has great higher gain tones and again can be setup to be anything from blues to metal.

Channel four can be the most punishing low end driven nastiness or with the gain almost off and the mids up bass and treble down, can even do a dumble type lead tone. I sometimes use channel one with some reverb and delay to get the EJ clean tones and by cranking the gain on #4 and turning the mids up a bit, treble at 12:00, can nail his lead tones. The stereo fatness and tube tweaks that can be had make this amp the best "do it all amp" ever made.

Well, I have had this one 4 weeks, no problem and my last one is still flawless over a year later. I sold it to Matte Henderson who reviewed it last year. These amps are built to last and a peek inside the chassis shows Peter Diezel's genius. The guy built the best swiss army amp ever made and the quality is unbeateable.

I have spoken to Uwe the US distributor and Peter Diezel a few ties and both are extremely helpful. I have had no need for repairs.

I have been through a bunch of amps and love Bogners and lots of others. I owned several Ecstasy's and prefer the 100 series to the 101s but Bogners are great too. I have to say that the Diezel eliminated the need for my Ecstasy's and although the Bogner has great tones th range of great tones in the Diezel is much bigger. The features are amazing. The other amp I currently love is my Two Rock Emerald Pro, major mojo , absolutely killer but the Diezel is still the most feature laden tone machine I have ever played. If you need an amp that does amazing tones in every dept from clean to metal and like having lots of variety, you will not find a better amp.

Jan.2000 4 channel, midi switchable, 2 effects loops,and 4 channel inserts which are Midi programable. I play all styles except jazz and classical with a seven piece band. Stereo all tube 50 watts per side. It has 5 speaker output jacks per side for any combo of 4,8 or 16 ohm cabs. It has more than enough power for my needs

I use a 55 tele, a strat and Tommys Moderne with 2 of the new Bill Lawrence Humbuckers (I love these pickups). The clean channel reminds me of a mixture of a Hiwatt, a Twin, and a Matchless. It stays clean very loud. The other channels get progressively more overdriven. This amp is very quiet. I sometimes wish Channel two was more of a Keith Richards sound rather than a clean AC/DC sound but my solution was to put a Siegmund Micro Tube overdrive in Channel 1 insert and then I have a patch on my Midi controller that uses channel one with the overdrive unit and then I have 5 different sounds.

I've owned this amp since May of 2000 and never had a problem.I gig just about every weekend and more in the summer.

I've spoken with Peter the builder and Ove Salwender the distributer and they are both great guys. My only request is for a complete owners manual but I'm told it should be coming soon! It would be good to have a limited schematic that wouldn't give away trade secrets but could be used for possible repairs by local repairmen. Again this is built so well I don't forsee any breakdown and I've play in very hot weather and last week in a tent on the ice of Lake Winnebago using a generator.

I've been playing over 25 years and I've owned many good amps but I'd be hard pressed to find a more versatile amp. Old school blues players might want something a little more touch sensitive. I own a Warbler Juke 1210 that does that very well. I wish it had an outside adjustable bias but its easy to take out of the cab. It uses resistors for the bias so you have to change those if you radically change power tubes. Peter feels they are more reliable and safer but as technology advances it would be nice to have a good quality adjustable bias control.

Terrible. Died after about a month and could not be repaired. They did provide a new replacement, but that took months to get. I think for $4000 it should work. This amp was not yet gigged, this all happened sitting in my house. You MUST have a back up amp.

While I gave this high marks originally, I must revise. You can not have your amp serviced anywhere but in NYC by Ultra Sound or return it to Salwender in LA. So if you live away from those two cities, you must mail teh amp to CA for repair? They have no service centers otherwise. So using UPS ground, you can expect to be ampless for at least two weeks maybe more. Peter Diezel seems like a nice guy, and Uwe at Salwender was nice as well, but this policy of having to return everything to LA is bullshit. If your amp dies on Thursday and you have a showcase gig on Saturday, forget the Diezel, you'll have to dig out that old Marshall you hopefully didn't sell to help pay for the Diezel to get through the gig.

A great sounding amp that is unreliable, like a Ferrari, it is great when you can get it to start up.

Ok this is an update to my original VH4 review, now that I have had the amp for a while. Four descrete preamp channels, each has it own bass, mid, treble, preamp gain (volume) and master volume. Channels one and two have bright switches. Channels three and four share deep and resonance controls. Stereo output 50 watts per side. Two master stereo effects loops (mono send, stereo returns), one is serial, one is parallel, the late of which has mix function to keep your dry tone away from the digitalizing that effects cause. Each channel has it OWN mono effects loop as well. Five outputs per side for running any type of speaker configuration. Comes w/ 6l6 tubes, but can be changed to EL34s, or 5881s or 6550 or KT66s, if you so desire. Gong to anything other than the EL34 INCREASES the output and thus makes it even LOUDER, so unless you need to play Giants Stadium, not really necessary. Also, while each channel has it's own master volume, the entire amp has two master volumes (left and right) that over ride the channel masters. This is why the clean channel is so clean, run Ch 1's master on 100%, run the amp's masters around noon and then just reduce the diry channel masters to fit the volume of Ch 1.

Fantastic. Ch 1 is the loudest clean channel of any head I have ever heard. You can be super loud and super clean, however you can dial in a good low gain sound here as well, but who needs to with three channels to go? Ch 2 is the SRV zone, Rolling Stones, good old fashioned rock tones. Ch 3 does the Marshall thing, you can get almost any rock sound from the 1970's through 1980's here. Ch 3 sounds like a Marshall but with more bottom. Ch 4 is the VHT Pitbull zone, it can pummel. Scooped out death tones to the most singing Vai type tones imaginable.

Too new to say, but it made it from Germany in a poorly constructed box and worked.

Uwe at Salwender is great. Both Gene at Ultra Sound in NYC and Gary at Splash Sound in LA were very helpful as well. Gene can be reached at 212-967-5626, or Gary at http://www.splashsound.com/ or 818-817-9566.

It is the best amp out there, I have owned them all. Since comes stock with 6L6's, it does not have that upper end chime EL34's have, so Channel 3 suffers about 2% because of that. You can change to EL34's, but what effect that will have on the other channels, I do not know. Like all tube amps, it sounds better louder. Therefore, to get the tone, I have opted to get two THD Hot Plates at 8 ohms a piece to run teh head into so that I can rank the output tubes and get the tone, but use 8db of sound reduction to make the volume less overall. I have a Bogner 4x12 w/ vintage 30's use that I have wired in stereo, into 8 ohm parallel pairs. Still, with the volume reduced, you lose a little bottom since you are not producing enough cabinet volume, so Shawn at Bogner suggested I add an EQ in the effects loop and boost the 100hz to put the ommph back into the quieter cabinet, I have to try this this weekend. If you want the best, this is it. Ferraris cost over a $100,000 new, so if you are wiling to spend 3~4 as much on a car as normal people, then $3900 for an amp should seem reasonable.

The amp which I am reviewing is a 1999 Diezel VH4S head. This is an all tube STEREO, 4 channel head with separate serial and parallel effects loops as well as effects inserts for each channel. All channel switching and loop activation is controllable via internal MIDI switching. This amp has independent volume and tone controls for each channel, as well as having independent bright switches for channels one and two. Channel switching is also enabled from the front panel, via the channel designated LED's.
This amp also has presence and depth controls as well as parallel effects loop controls. The Diezel can run 6L6's, 5881's, EL34's or 6550's. This enables the amp to run at anywhere from 60 watts(EL34's) to 95 watts(6550's) a side.

I am primarily a 7 string player and I am using 2 Stevens LJ 7 string prototypes(see the 7 string LJ review in Harmony Central for more details), one with 2 strat pickups and an Alnico P90 in the bridge. The other LJ has 2 Humbuckers. I also have a 1986 PRS custom and a 1990 PRS studio(S/S/H) for my primary 6 strings. This amp covers more ground than any amp that I have EVER owned and operated. I have never in my life heard an amp that has so much bottom end. Not murky, boomy and undefined, but focused and punishing, like an SVT. This is the first amp that I have owned that amplifies a seven string with clarity, definition, from superclean to way over the top grinding
post industrial mashing DOOM! Each channel has it's own particular voicing. Channel one is somewhere between a Blackface Twin and a Hiwatt. Stunning ping and top end shimmer(via the bright switch), as well as beautiful late "50's fat clean humbucking tones can be found here. Tons of headroom.
Channel two walks the line between SRV/Jimi clean with a little hair to AC/DC crunch. Channel three is capable of picking up where channel two left off and taking crunch to another level. Roll off the guitar volume and the amp cleans up, nicely. Channel four is BRUTAL! This is what I always hoped for and never quite got out of any amp, with the notable exception of some custom built Bogners. This channel is SCREAMING even at low volumes. Controlled feedback is no problem.

All four channels are well voiced and I can't find one thing about this amp, both tonally and in terms of MIDI control, that I don't LOVE. The effects loops and inserts work flawlessly.

I haven't had the amp long enough to encounter any problems so I can't answer this question yet. I will be using this amp without any backup so I'll soon see how reliable the Diezel is. It's overbuilt and seems to be bulletproof.

Salwender is extremely cooperative and I believe that they will stand behind this amp. As I stated previously, I haven't had this amp long enough to have any problems. I don't know how long the warranty is but I know that expired warranties have yet to stop people from buying vintage Fenders, Marshalls, Hiwatts, Voxes, etc.

I've been playing guitar fulltime for 27 years. I have owned a number of amps, from Gibson Falcons, Magnatones, Black face twins, point to point Marshalls, JMI Vox AC 30's to Boogies, VHT's, Soldanos, Bogners, to the Line 6 POD. I have everything from a Univox superfuzz to a cock diesel G3 that functions as my hard disc recorder.

If this amp got vic't, I would replace it in a minute. There is nothing about this amp that isn't stellar! I can't think of any other
stereo tube heads with MIDI switching, so there is no point in comparisons. People WILL compare this amp to the flagship amps built by VHT, Bogner and Boogie.

To me this is the STATE OF THE ART in guitar amplification.

For more info, go to:
www.salwender.com