Genz Benz El Diablo 60C 112 Combo

Usually I jump the gun and write a review after only a couple of days with an amp, but I put the El Diablo through a months worth of practice and gigs before writing this review.

This is a 2 channel amp, but has 5 (realistically), different tones at the stomp of a button.

I use this amp for my 80s, 90s, and modern rock/pop rock band and then for our original "country style" music and then again in my weekly (mostly) acoustic shows.

The only thing really missing from this amp is an FX loop on/off switch.

As for power, even in the 30 wt mode it's more than powerful enough to hang with my loud drummer.

One thing to remember when getting this amp home is 6L6's!!!! That makes a world of difference (I'll explain more below).

Let me say this first: At first, I loved the cleans, but wasn't too happy or impressed with the distortion and was already looking for my next amp. I then remembered I had a set of new GT 6L6's in my gig box and threw them in and heard a completely different amp that blew my mind!!

I'm giving this a 10 based on the clean channel alone!!! This is the best clean channel I've ever heard on an amp, period! When I got it, it came with Ruby EL34's and the cleans were nice and chimey but the distortion was kind of "fuzzy" and thick sounding. I then threw a set of 6L6's in it and wasn't expecting to hear the big difference I did hear!!

* The cleans went from a nice bright chimey tone to a warmer, thicker Fenderish tone with nice compression and sag.
* The Distortion became tighter and had more of a low mid throaty growl to it.

For a 1x12, this amp has mega low end! More than any other combo I've ever owned and more than my 2x12 Boogie Road King.

With the 30/60 wt switch in the back, you almost have 2 different amps in one..... In 30 wt mode everything is a bit darker, creamier and less agressive, more of a "Vintage" type of amp. In 60 wt mode, the agression is there and the creaminess is toned down but still there.

This amp is really sensitive to what guitar you use and pickups.... I have 2 tele's with Fender Noiseless pickups in it and a stock Peavey Wolfgang and all 3 sound just a bit different, but equally great with this amp.

The distortion remindes me of a Boogie meet a Marshall, it has that throaty growl of a Boogie, but the break-up lead style of a Marshall. It takes the best of both and blends them very nicely (with 6L6's), but is it's own amp and definitly has it's own sound.

I've actually got a sound clip on my web site at www.guitartest.moonfruit.com (6/2006) that'll be there for at least a couple of years (in case you're reading this a few years down the line). I plan on adding more clips later.

No problems yet, seems to be built as good as my past Boogies. If it's anything like the G-Flex cab I had, it'll withstand abuse pretty good. I'll give it a 10, and the owner of the company personally responds to your emails within a day or two... Pretty nice guy.

See above, they seem to be an A+ company with excellent customer support. I've not had any problems, but I've had questions and have emailed CS and got a reply from the owner. Pretty impressive!

I've been playing guitar for 18 years (I'm 34) and play everything from classic and new country to 80s "hair" metal to modern metal and this amp can handle all styles with ease. My Mesa Boogie Road King is currently my main amp, but it gets harder and harder when it's gig time to choose between my Road King and the El Diablo! This is definatley no "one trick" pony.

If this amp were stolen, I'd be in the market for a new one. I think it's the best clean amp out today and the distortion channel is an added bouns that totally rocks too!

Give it a try, and try 6L6's before you give up on it!!

I read another post that said the 6L6's made it a metal monster, but I'll have to disagree with that and agree wtih that at the same time.. It made it a better amp all around, not just for metal - but also for classic rock, jazz, country, and metal (80s hair and modern).

6L6
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Did I mention to try 6L6's?

2004, same features as described elsewhere. This amp has enough power for everything I do and more. Even in 30 watt mode it is loud - I really do not know where folks would play with more volume - I always use a PA - even for small gigs and at practice.

It could really benefit from a switchable effects loop; other than that, this amp is perfect. The speaker screams "rock" - but has enough versatility to cover all ranges - I like to switch sounds from jazz to rock to metal - it take me two clicks on the footswitch.

When I first tried the amp - first note, out of some cheap -in the shop guitar - I was floored. The price on the amp was scary (1400 Can dollars) but I literally dreamed of the amp for 2 weeks - that first note - the sound would not go away. I am hooked.

Okay, I am really writing this review to counter all those that claim they cannot get a "metal" sound with the amp. Yikes! What are you talking about? Even doing tuned down chunk (think c or c#) this amp has more than enough headroom on the gain. Learn how to use the master volume and channel volume/gain to drive the beast. When I talk with other players who are using modelling amps, or never experienced real all-tube amps before, they cannot understand how to work the amp controls. Yes, this is different than simply dialing in a "modern gain" setting on a Valvetronix-spider-pod- and turning everything up to "11" - that just won't give you a useable sound on a real amp. This amp covers everything - one week last month I played a Celtic Folk gig, an alt-country gig and then jammed out with my band doing very heavy metal - I used this amp and one guitar (Godin) for it all.

Now there are 3 things you can count on in life - death, taxes and Genz Benz. No problems - this is great.

I wrote the company, not with a question, but a suggestion - and yes it is true, Jeff the owner wrote me the next day not only to thank me but to explain that the idea had been considered and also to outline why it had not been incorporated into the amp. Above and beyond I would say.

I have been playing 18 years, and I had all kinds of gear. I love this - it is heavy - but similar in weight to the Vox, Ampegs, Marshall and Fender amps of my past.

I would not compare it to any of these amps - yes, they were all good amps - each had something that was great, something that I liked, and also something that I did not like. If you are at the stage where you want one good amp that will cover loads of territory - this is the amp. The only thing it does not excel at is being a light, small practice amp - which it never will be.

When you play with this amp you actually "play" the amp -it responds to how you play, your attack, your pressure and sensitivity. I had to play a solid state Yamaha one night - after playing the Genz Benz - it was like I had forgotten how to play - so much of your sound and playing will become engrained with this amp. This amp is as good as it gets.

As you all know from the previous reviews this amp has loads of great features, almost too many too list. I like having the ability to go to 6L6 tubes in place of the EL34's. I still have the EL's in mine but will in time try the 6L6's just for fun. I run a few effects through the effects loop, DLS chorus, Line 6 Verbzilla, Rocktron Shorttimer delay and a BBE Sonic Stomp. In front of the amp I also like a varity of grinds so I run an Xotic RC booster and an Xotic BB preamp and Fulltone OCD. I will be adding a wah wah pedal soon. I have had this amp about 1 year and use it very seldom. It is always a great pleasure when I do turn it on, sometimes I forget just how good it sounds and although I have a ton of effects going through it I know I can just plug my guitar straight into the front of it and get a great tone, no problem.

The only guitar I have to play through this amp is an old Peavey Predator (strat copy) it has an EMG SA pickup system with mid boost and nice a Carvin neck. I play mostly rock but like to dabble in just about everything. I bought this amp based mostly on reviews in Guitar Player magazine and Guitarist, both were very favorable reviews. The clean channel of this amp is what really sold me, it's a total player. Very nice tone and great articulate feel. I dont know if it sounds like a Fender or a Matchless and I dont care it just sounds damn fine and the notes have feeling when you dig deep. The hot channel is no slouch either but it didn't grab me quite like the clean channel. As time goes on I am learning to like the hot channel more than I did, it has a tone that is all its own and I guess that is what threw me off. It doesn't sound quite like a Marshall and yet it doesn't sound like a Mesa or really anything else for that matter. It has its own tone and its taken me a while to get use to it. With that said I am at this point very happy that it is not just a tone clone of some other amp, it is its own beast and that is about the highest praise I can give anything.

All the while I have owned mine I have had no problems at all. I don't play it much but when I do it works. This amp stays at home and does not get gigged. I will some day be using it for recording after I figure out which mic's will sound best with it.

No idea.

I have been playing 40 years and own other gear, digital this and digital that and everything seems to end up on cd in the end. This is about the only non-digital piece of gear I own and it is a breath of fresh air this amp is an instrument in its own right and one of these days I am going to do right by it and get some songs recorded with it to document it truely outstanding tone.

I bought this amp a few weeks ago and it?s one of the most well-designed amps I?ve come across to date. It features a 2 channels preamp powered by 3 12AX7 preamp tubes. The preamp has an active EQ on each channel, making for interesting tonal combinations. 2 clean and 8 distorted tones can be accessed directly from the foot switch at any time, making this amp very versatile. Has a serial effects loop, a 60 / 30 W (Pentode / Triode) switch. The housing is rugged and solid, made of good ?real? wood. The front grille is made of metal and will keep the speaker safe from even the most demanding road abuse. The reverb tank on this amp is a thing of sonic beauty. The reverb is clear and doesn't overpower the sound. Independent reverb controls on each channel are a VERY well-though out option. Kudos to Jeff Genzler for that idea.
The EL34 / 6L6 tube switch and external bias test points / adjustment screw make this amp a very complete package. I don't know how one could possibly improve on this amp's design except to perhaps include the rest of the features (namely the channel independent serial loops) of the El Diablo 100.

The sound out of this amp is absolutely splendid. With the stock tubes, it can do pretty much any type of music. The warm channel will go from a glassy, transparent clean to a mild blues drive. The clean channel is very articulate and responsive. You can go from a crystally clean to gritty growl by only modifying your pick attack. This is what a clean channel should be like. It has spank and twang that will stand toe-to-toe with any vintage Fender Twin. Plug a Tele into this bugger and you?ll be in twang heaven.

The Hot channel is a bit more complex. With its 8 different settings, you can get a wide range of driven tones. At lighter settings, it will easily do rock or all types. At the higher end of the scale, it will do metal, but it?s not the ideal amp for the sound ? at least with the stock tubes.

I play metal. I was born with the mark of the beast. I live and breathe metal. I play in a Metalilica tribute Internet band project called Sad But True (www.sadbuttrue-band.com) and in a System of a Down cover band. I require tons of chunk and crunch. While the El Diablo will do metal, it will only give you that metal chunk if you?re driving the shit out of the power tubes. And unless you?re playing a medium to large gig, there?s no way you?re ever going to turn this amp up that loud ? even in Triode mode ? unless you have an attenuator of some sort. So the metal sound has tendency to be a little loose and unfocused. Hard rock is probably as heavy as this amp can realistically do with EL34s.

Enter 6L6GC power tubes. DUH!!! While the EL34s don?t quite push the amp into real metal territory, 6L6 will dish it out in droves. I was fully expecting 6L6 tubes to tighten up the low end. However, I wasn?t expecting the explosive chunky crunch that it produced. I traded a Peavey 5150 for this amp, and was missing that chunkiness. With 6L6, the amp is as in your face as you can get it. It?s got a massive, tight low end with brutal attack and awesome pick attack definition. This is the definition of brutality. These tubes truly give the El Diablo the ?voice of Beelzebub? it needs for metal. The voicing seems to sit somewhere between that of a Mesa Mk IV and a Single Rectifier, except with a tighter low end. Even at modest volumes, it produces a thick, chunky tone that will satisfy any metalhead?s need for crunch. If you want to use this amp for metal, 6L6 are MANDATORY.

The down side of 6L6 is that they rob the warm channel of a lot of the shimmery, crystal-clean tone the EL34s produced. The clean channel is still excellent, but not outstanding like it was with the stock tubes. So it's a bit of a trade-off between the distortion and the cleans. This is the reason the it loses 2 points in this category. IMO, Genz Benz should produce a separate 6L6 version of the El Diablo with a modified warm channel.

I've only had the amp a couple of weeks. No problems to date with it.

I haven't had the need to contact Genz Benz about anything to date. But a few people I've spoken to about it have said that if you contact them, company founder Jeff Genzler will most likely be the one responding to your email personally. To me, that's a massive plus.

I've been playing guitar for 18 years now. My current lineup of guitars is a custom shop Lado Earth 2000-3, a custom shop ESP Explorer, an LTD EX-351, and an Agile AL-3000, all equipped with EMG pickups. I?ve owned many guitars, and many amps, along with several tube amps. Since installing the 6L6 tubes, this amp has jumped into first place as the best amp I?ve ever owned, with the runners up being a Mesa Mk III, Peavey 5150, and Marshall JCM 800. I?ve also had the chance to play many other amps over the years. Few can stand up to what the El Diablo has to offer. It gives you excellent balance between features, versatility, and portability. Short of a Mesa Road King, you?re not going to get any other amp with this full feature set and versatility. And you?re not going to find anything comparable anywhere near this price range.

There?s really nothing to dislike about this amp once you?ve got it tubed for your style of music. Unless you have an actual problem with the amp itself (a defect), then this is about as perfect an amp as you can possibly get. It lacks nothing in terms of features, and should anythign happen to this amp, an identical replacement will be taking its place as soon as I can get one ordered.

Really, the only reason this amp isn?t getting a 10 as an overall rating is the fact that you have to choose between the ideal clean tone or the ideal distorted tone (by power tube type) if you?re playing metal. It may sound like I?m ragging on the clean tone with 6L6, but I?m not. It?s just that once you?ve heard the clean tones available with EL34, the 6L6 powered cleans don?t stand out as much.

I bought this amp a year ago. It has a mutitude of features for a 2 channel amp. Penetode/Triode switing, global elements, seperate reverb and eq (active) per channel. A three channel version of this is the only thing I would think is better.

I play country, jazz, blues, classic rock and more modern rock. I do not play metal. The cleans on this amp will do all of this easily. It has a great texas blues sound. It moves into classic rock with easy (AC/DC, ZZ Top, Aerosmith, and can handle the more modern tones as well). The cleans have a Matchless quality to them, with a bit of Fender mixed. It is 60 watt/30 watt switchable.

The speaker compensated line out works well for recording. As it comes after the power amp it brings in the tone from the poweramp and not just the preamp. It sounds very good, though slightly different than the spaker itself.

The contour feature on the dirty channel takes it from dark to bright in character by moving the resonant peak (I believe). This really allows the channel to handle various guitars and drive textures very well.

If you do not like the EL-34 elemtns of your tone, it has the ability to move to 6L6 tubes withe a flip of a switch. Differnt character for those who wish that style.

It is semi-closed back, and has a rock voiced speaker.

I wish it came with a cover (avalible seperately). Oh ... be aware this amp is heavy!

As indicated I play jazz, country, blues, classic rock and some modern rock. The cleans are a cross between Matchless and Fender, and very nice. The dirty channel is also very versitile giving a Marshallesque to Mesa esque tone depending on how it iset up. In a band setting the cleans drop into the mix in an astoundingly fine manner. This thing is VERY articulate. If you are a sloppy player, it will be noticed. It does not forgive in that sense.

It handles speaker cabs well and sounds good withe my semi-closed Cannibis Rex 1x12 and my 2x12 V30 closed back cab equally well. In each case giving a new range of tones one would expect from that speaker.

I have not had any trouble with the amp. It is bult like a tank. It is a very professional desinged amp. I have banged it around a bit, and it was a floor demo. No problems. The tubes are held tight with screw down tube holders.

The warranty is solid. The store that had used it as a demo had messed up the handle. I contacted GB and the man who started the company responded. Handle arrived ina few days. The local store was not able to get a cover for some reason, again Jeff responded by getting me one right away. This company has outstanding support!

This has been my number one amp (I have several very good amps). This amp does it all very well. This one is not the jack-of all trade and master of none. It masters nearly everything.

My amp is brand new and nothing has gone wrong so far. As much as I love to criticise things, I just cant bring myself to criticise this!
Its soo versatile and the low end is incredible for a 1x12.
I am a Texas Bluesyish kinda player and i can get just the right SRV tone with a Strat. Luckily, I am surrounded by the best equiptment all the time at work, so i can fiddle. A Les Paul standard sounds amazingly mellow and punchy at the same time when the gain is turned up on the clean, heavenly chicago blues tone.
When smacked into 'Hot', The beast really does awaken! I personally have not heard the sound of down 'n' dirty rock 'n' roll so faithfully recreated like this before.
The knobs are all knotched and each knotch really makes a hearable difference to the tone.
It needs nothing more added on, the compression is lovely. Any digital effects would spoil it, as digital effects spoil anything in my opinion apart from on acoustic amps.

In terms of power, this is thing is loud and big sounding!!
One of their G-Flex cabs, either a 2x12 or 4x12, make this thing sound absolutely mammoth. The bass response is unmatched by many amps ive heard.

I am using a few strats with varied pickups. one with a set of fender hot noiseless pups, another with bare knuckle irish tour pups (like texas specials but better:D) and another with american standards and a duncan hot rail. Im also using a 335 and the mixture of sounds is absolutely incredible. As i said, i aim for a texas bluesy srv style sound, and get it better than i have with any other amp, and that aint easy! so this rates high on the scale happiness for me, considering ive spent god knows how much money to acheive!
The tones sensitivity is superb, the bass can go right from what i call 'wet fish' through to 'wollop!' and thats what impresses me most about the sound of this amp

its new, and not broken down, and is also built like a good looking bus!

customer support is fantastic, very good experience when dealing with the company itself and also the distributor for this country (Sutherland Trading). Muchos Kudos!

Ive said everything already. Its awesome and comes from a company of people who really bloody know what they are doing, obviously!

If it were lost (dont know how you could lose something this big) or stolen ( i'd like to see the bastard out run me) i would not hesitate in buying another!

I compared this to nearly every amp in the shop (fender custom shop, all the mesa bogie rubbish and the marshall stuff, cornfords, engl's etc) and this amp won hands down.

And as i said, I love to criticise things

2004 Model. I bought this amp fo rits versatility. I play with a Christain rock group and we cover alot of tunes in addition to our originals. I had been using a modeling pedal (genX 1) into a Fender Deville 212, but had to keep adding pedals to get the sounds I wanted. This was my answer to findg a variety of sounds with an amp and a limited number of pedals.
It basically has a clean and overdriven channel with options of (1) more drive (2) compressor (3) global attack. Pickture any combo of these and double it with a master switch from Pentode to Triode modes. On top of that it has a contour knob to shape your overdriven sound. Think "options"!
This amp has plenty of power and a master volume to keep the natural feedback at a level you desire.
All tube (although I replaced my original tubes with sovteks) amp.

I play mostly a Schecter C1 classic (with SD pickups) and an American Deluxe Strat. I like this amp with both single coils and humbuckers. It should suit most styles, although admittedly, I don't have a huge need for a Mesa Boogie sound. Metal is nothing we try to cover. I don't know how it would do here.
Still I think the 60watt channel on more overdirve with the compressor on sounds pretty brutal. This thing is LOUD!! As loud as it gets, the clean channel will not distort unless you crank the gain all the way up and then it gets a Fender Tweed type overdrive kicking.
I should warn you that this amp can be a little noisy on standby. It may be the pedal chain, but I don't think so. It likes to hiss somewhat, but not any more than any other tube amp I have had before.
As best as I can describe, the 30 watt switch gives you a Fender-Peavey blues type sound (clean or overdriven). The 60 watt will get you more Marshall sounds from clean to crunch.
At first I though the sound was a little harsh for my taste, but I keep getting compliments on my tone now. I guess maybe I have been playing through my Deville for too long. You can't beat the Fat Fender sound when you want it. I just don't need it for every song.

I purchased it used. Shortly after receiving it, the tubes went out on me. I found out that they have been damaged during shippind and had been taking in air.
I can't really blame that on the manufacturer. If this thing holds up like it appears to be built (TANK), it should last for years.

Haven't dealt with them.

I have to say that this has answered my need to get rid of my modeling addiction. I now play through a pedal tuner> H2O chorus> Vox wah > BBE Sonic Stomp > Volume pedal. This seems to cover everything I am trying to get. I love the amp now with this pedal configuration. The BBE brings the amp to life. It had a good sound before with a very harmonic feel on all settings, the BBE just brings it up front.

This is a 2005 amp, bought new, owned for about a month. First of all I want to make one thing absolutely clear: this amp is not the greatest choice for metal, despite its name. Essentially what you get here is a clean and a crunch channel. There is no "lead" channel here and you will not get super saturated metal tones like you would get out of a mesa/boogie, or even a modeler amp like a line 6 spider II (which I had before this).

This amp actually has a lot of useful and musical features. The pentode/triode switch actually does make it seem like 2 different amps. The contour control is highly interactive, essentially multiplying what you have dialed in on the tone controls. I find that setting it more than 1 or 2 notches past centre creates too radical a tone curve, its really a great feature.

The way the reverb works with this amp is kind of confusing, but basically there is one global knob, that kind of multiplies the effect of the channel reverb knobs. So if you're hot reverb is at 0, no matter what master reverb is at you will hear 0 reverb. I guess it is made that way so you can set up how much reverb you want on the clean channel with respect to the gain channel, then you adjust the master reverb based on the room you are playing in. Thats probably really confusing, but its difficult to explain :)

The compression/dynamic switch and hot/classic switch basically just step in more gain. This is where I went wrong with this amp. The way they describe it on the website and in reviews, they make it seem like these switches can elevate the amount of gain in this amp to that of a recto if need be, almost like having both engaged kind of creates a third lead channel. They make this thing sound as versatile as a modeler. Let me make this absolutely clear: this is not true. You get a clean channel and a crunch channel, thats it. IMO these channels sound great, and I have always thought that hi-gain metal sounds can be achieved best through pedals anyways, so its not much of an issue for me (I was always very happy with the metal channels on my spider, and I recently borrowed a friends uber metal:a great pedal). Its tough to rate it in this category, because I was very dissapointed with the amount of gain in this amp. However, that was because of they way they advertised the amp, it is not really the amps fault that I expected more gan. The features that are there, however, are well thought out and very musical, so I'll give her a 9.

I play an SG with a SD JB in the bridge and a DiMarzio virtual PAF in the neck, jimmy page wiring. The sound of this amp is designed to be musical. What I mean by that is, although the "active tone network" is designed to provide an extremely flexible tone, the tone shaping is somewhat limited by the amp's design to make the tone sound as good as possible. To this effect, I have noticed that much of the treble response is gone in this amp, and this is to keep the tones from sounding harsh. I think it may also be related to the speaker, which is used in the G-Flex cabinet and is, as I understand, more of a bass heavy speaker. Either way, this amp really does sound great, as long as you give it some volume. The high end frequencies which you may be used to hearing when playing at low volumes sound really cool when played at bedroom volumes, but pump up the decibels and you'll be turning that treble down immediately, especially if you are playing chords... they will make your ear feel like it is about to explode. This amp avoids that effect, and by doing so creates great sounds. Then if you want that really hard slicing effect, just dial in the global attack and let er rip; the audience's ears will be bleeding in no time :)

Seriously though, as long as you are not looking for an ultra-gain tone, this amp sounds great, although I do suggest you take one for a spin before you buy and really take some time with it. It is designed with the capability of great tones, you just gotta work a little to get them because there are so many different factors in how this amp sounds (global attack, pentode/triode, high/classic gain, dynamic/compressed, hot/warm channel, pre-amp etc.). Get a salesperson to help you out, because chances are he has played around with the amp longer than you have and he knows what works well.

One more piece of advice: be patient when dialing in your sound, it is very easy to overdo it with the knobs on this amp, they are very sensitive.

It has worked fine fort me so far, but I havent had it for very long...

Again, I havent had to contact them, apparently they are great though, Jeff Genzler answers emails personally...

I have been playing for a bit over 2 years (I share this amp with my dad who has been playing for 30) but dont take that the wrong way. My dad owns all kinds of vintage gear and he has owned several amps since I started playing, so I have had quite a bit of experience with different guitar tones.

If it were lost or stolen, at this price point I would probably buy another one. I honestly do not think that you can get a better amp for what I payed for mine ($850 US). In reality, however, if it were lost or stolen I would most likely save up for a few more weeks and invest in a lower wattage AC30 with alnico blue speakers, for a few reasons. First of all, Jimmy Page used one on the first zeppelin record and the AC30's historical allure is undeniable. Second of all, the El Diablo turned out to be a lot louder than I expected, even when in triode mode. The lower wattage of an AC30 would be more suitable for our current situation (we live in a town house). Neither of these are complaints on behalf of the El Diablo, however, so don't worry about it.

The tone in this amp is by no means the best I have ever heard, but it is a great amp none the less. If you spend some time with it (and you do not subscribe to revolver magazine) I guarantee you will find a tone that suits you perfectly which you will be completely happy with.

*** for those of you who did not get the revolver magazine joke above, revolver magazine is a heavy metal magazine. Make a long story short: this amp is not for metalheads

made in 2004 or 2005. I've owned it for about 3 months.

The amp is definitely not versatile for all the styles I play (metal, jazz, classic rock, hard rock, funk). But I'm not sure any one is. It does have its own unique sound which is a smooth, extra-sustain distortion with natural harmonic feedback. The clean channel is not really clean. The gain on the preamp channel makes it distort slightly for the clean (warm) channel.

2 channels. would be nice if it had 3 like the TSL's or JSX but not a big deal. no headphone jack. effects loop is there. footswith is pretty cool, it has five buttons on it. However, one of the buttons on mine is having a problem engaging/disengaging. Somes it goes the warm/hot button works, sometimes it doesn't. The attack button is a nice solo feature, it boosts the upper mids to cut thru the mix.

I use this amp at home in the triode mode (30 watts) and in my band practice in 30 or 60 watt modes. It moves a lot of air for a 1X12 combo. I wouldn't say it's loud enough for a metal or hard rock band.

The control knobs click when you turn them a little. I like that feature. A Traynor I had, then returned, had very loose control knobs.

I use primarily 3 guitars: Black Schecter C-1 Artist Limited Edition, Carvin DC127 6-string with active electronics, Epiphone Dot.

The Schecter has Seymour Duncan hot pickups on it, good for metal. The Carvin is good for hard rock or blues. The Dot is for jazz, blues.

The amp does make a lot of extra sound while it's in "idle" so that when you switch channels it doesn't make a typical channel-switching sound. Kind of annoying but no big deal for me really.

This amp is great for doing lead style copy of Coletrane, Davis, or Scofield. I play jazz a lot so it works well for that. The clean channel on this amp is sub-par. Not pristine clean like my Mesa/Boogie Rocket 440.

The other complaint I have with this amp is that it does not respond to the full range of my Dunlop Crybaby wah pedal that my Valvestate Marshall and Boogie Rocket do. It doesn't have the bite that the Marshalls or Boogies have. It has a very long-sustain smooth distortion if you turn the gain all the way to 10. I even tried turning the bass and mids to zero and the treble to 10 on the overdrive channel and it still seemed like there was not enough treble. I guess that's why it has its own sound. I don't care for that though. Metal/distortion needs bite. And how can an amp named "EL DIABLO" not have bite???

The tubes respond well with harmonic feedback if you drive the preamp volume. This amp will cover most classic rock, but I'm not sure I would have named it The Devil (el diablo) because the overdrive channel is not nearly as intimidating as the Boogies. sorry.

I noticed that at a fairly high volume (5 preamp, 5 master) on the overdrive channel in 60W mode, when I equalized mosh/metal style (max bass, zero mids, max treble), the tone was very muddy. My Boogie and valvestate Marshall don't behave like that.

The footswitch had a problem within 2 months. The warm/hot channel switch/button sometimes turns on/off. I emailed tech support at Genz-Benz and got a personal reply from Jeff Genzler. I then talked to a tech and he said that I should take it in to get fixed. What a pain though after only 2 months...

Other than that, it's been reliable after being transported in my trunk to rehearsals.

In contrast, I haven't had one problem with my Valvestate 265R Marshall and I've had that for about 8 years.

Very responsive and good advice/feedback.

I've been playing guitar for about 12 yrs. I played sax for 8 yrs prior. I'm a hardcore music junkie. I know by now (I'm 30 yrs old) that tone and feel are preeminent (just check out John Frusciante of RHCP, John Coletrane and Metallica). If you have an amp with awesome tone then you will feel like playing for a long time each day. Trust me. Solid state sucks.

I'm thinking about selling this amp. I bought a Boogie Rocket 440 on Ebay recently and that thing is badass. Very nice clean and dirty channels. I use a Dunlop wah straight into the input and a MXR Phaser, DOD Delay and DOD Flanger into the effects loop. Great for Floyd, zero 7, Kind of Blue (Davis) any laid back trippy stuff. The Boogie responds very well to my Wah, unlike this Genz-Benz. The clean channel on the Boogie is not distorted like this Genz-Benz. The Boogie's overdrive has more crunch and bite than this combo.

You should try out an amp before you buy. I didn't on this one. I don't think it's a bad amp for my purposes, but I do think that Marshall and Boogie sound better than this combo.

The 30/60 watt switch is nice to have, it makes it sound like 2 completely different amps.

My bandmates said they like the sound of this amp but liked the Boogie better. I don't use an extension cab. That could make a difference in the tone I guess.

If you run more than one amp in your setup (like Dean DeLeo of STP and many others I presume) this may fit in nicely to smooth out your overdrive tone.

If it were stolen I'd be angry that I didn't put it on Ebay first to buy another Boogie.

Very sweet (if you want it sweet) on warm (clean) channel. Distortion (hot) channel will take you from a very good (second) clean to all the distortion you can use and them some. Active tone controls (+/- 15 dB!) that can almost approximate a single coil sound like a hollowbody and conversely. Versatility is the byword.

Excellent footswitch which takes you between warm and hot channels and on hot channel, lets you add in one extra step of grain and/or compression, which adds a little gain and prolongs sustain considerably. Feeds back just fine when you're close (beware of hollowbodies! This amp projects exceedingly well for a 1x12. On the other hand if you're trying o get Nugent effects, this is what you want).

The full range of tones on this amp is useable; there isn't an unmusical setting on it. Whatever style you play it has you covered.

I'm using a strat copy by Peavey, an Ibanez full humbucking hollowbody with floating pickups, a Jackson Soloist, BB King Lucille, Hamer Studio etc. They all work well. The most amazing part is that one guitar can be trimmed with that generous active tone network (separate controls for warm and hot channels) to make the Soloist, which is the most nasal, sound pretty close to the hollowbody. Even the Soloist's notably nasal single coil tones sound very musical, even with the reverbs off (it has per channel reverb plus a master reverb).

I can't get over how the amp sings until the distortion is blown all the way out until there is more distortion than original signal. Even then it sounds damn good.

Dealer support is good. I wrote about this amp two days ago when it had died on me. The problem turned out to be a couple of cables that fell apart on me and developed shorts when re-assembled. Never was a problem with the amp but I heard from the designer, thanking me for feedback, and the store (as most of Genz Benz retailers) was willing to go with me however far it took. So support has been perfect despite me being testy when I thought my new amp had died on me. Longterm reliability is a wait-and-see but I got a look into the amp while we were trying to figure out what could have gone wrong. The tubes all have spring retainers on them, and the construction quality makes me think I'll be long dead before the amp dies.

Flawless. And I did have a beef.

I've been playing off and on since 1980. I understand why I tended to lose interest in guitar after a while. I used to use only solid state and putting the Genz up against Peavey's best solid state, I can see what I was missing. Life is not only too short to spend iwth a crappy guitar; it's too short to spend it with a crappy amp. If you want real, wet, musical tube sounds and only have room for a combo, this thing deserves a listen.

I put this up against a Vetta II and had the same response that I did to the Peavey XXL - yeah, it's nice, and I'm sure it's very good, but it's just not as pleasing to the ear; not musical enough, just sterile sounding.

If this amp was stolen, I'd replace it with another stopping only long enough to see if something ever newer and better (unlikely) had been produced in the meanwhile.

Jeff Genzler is the man who started this company and who still runs it. He's a player and is quality folks putting out a stellar product at a fair price. Before you buy Marshall, Mesa Boogie etc you need to hear this amp. You CAN spend more and get less.

And this amp does High Gain to a fault as well as the stellar clean and mildly dirty tones.

It is also suitable for apartment use as it has a master output level that, with all the other gain and volume pots (one gain/one vol per channel) will let you get real tone at apartment-friendly levels. I'd say the amp will cover most small venues and even most churches.

Fortunately I'm not kicking myself too hard. This amp just came out this year and most of what else they had in the store wasn't nearly as musical.

This amp sings.