Genz Benz El Diablo Head

I bought this 3 weeks ago new off of ebay. So far I'm impressed.
Its a 2 channel switchable 100/50 watt tube amp. Each channel has a boost and and comes with a footswitch and padded cover. I've had no promblems like to guy in the previous post. I was looking some something that would be extremely versatile & this amp is fitting the bill. It has an effects loop on eact channel and a global effects loop. The clean channel has a vintage switch that activates a boost on the clean that adds some grind and punch to the clean channel. The hot channel has a high gain switch the basically adds some punch and volume. The tone on the clean is crystal clean but can be driven using the preamp gain to give it a sound that reminds me kinda like 50 watt plexi (I've owned a few) and the hot channel can give me that VHT pittbull sound (I have one of those as well). There are tons of tones you can dial in in between. I do with it had a bypass for each effects loops, that way I could just leave my boxes behind my rig & have my effects preset for each channel and just ust the footswitch. The footswitch is a quality metal case with blue led's that are kinda bright but you'll appreciate this on a stage with lights. The amp is plenty loud. I have 2 g-flex cabs that I've had for a couple of years origionally bought for my soldano & vht, Playing this head out of those cabs make a great match.

Soundwise I couldn't really ask for more. I Use an Ernie Ball Axis, Ernie Ball Petrucci, A hand made Tele and a Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul. Being kind of an amp nut, I can get the sounds of several amps thru this. Warm or Hot. I play mostly classic rock and some shreddy blusey stuff along the line of Gary Moore. I have a few high end amps and the tone this produced with my guitars is right up there. One of the things that attracted me to this amp is I have a lot of amps that give you that trademark tone but thats it, one great tone when its cranked up. This on the otherhand, give me great versatility no matter what I'm playing. Fender clean to Marshall grind to VHT punch. The g-flex cabs provide a pretty heavy, extremely full sound that will make your normal bass played bitch and moan unless they have a decient rig. Effects on the amp need to be put in the loop. I'm not crazy about the reverb, Its good but I really dont care for pan reverb at louder volumes.

No problems, came with a 3 year warranty.

I had an 1160 rack amp I used in the studio from them once and had a question, called them up & they answered my question.

After playing for about 25 years I've had just about everything and just about still do. That includes, Fender, Soldano, Mesa, VHT, Marshall, Ampeg and ENGL. I could have bought just about anything but thought the features looked pretty cool. I'm glad I picked one up. I bought mine without hearing it in a store, figuring if I didnt like it I would do something with it. I know some of the components are made overseas but I look at it more or less as a tool, and if it does the job, that mainly what I'm concerned about. I've paid for hand wired amps, amps made in little shops ect...don't really matter to me. Its all about what works for you. I will say that so far this amp seems to be the most fun I've had with an amp in a long time. It took about a week of playing thru it to figure exactly what I wanted out of it and the nice thing is that it not one of those amps that sounds good one night & crappy the next. Once you play with it its easy to adjust it for exactly what you want, none of this cant find my sound again stuff & dicking around with it for another week. The only effect I use is a digi delay in the global loop (short) for a little reverb effect.

I bought this amd in Feb. of 2004
It is very versitile and you can get many different sounds

sounds good,. seemed kinda flat.. but none the less,.. sounds great.
Very natural sounding amp...
if you have the gain up past 7 and the compreeion switch is on.. the amp makes a loud hiss sound,and the louder you turn it up, the louder the snow is...

I went to the music store to buy this amp,.. and the one that was at the store was not working right,. the drive channel was out. So I figured I'll give it the benifet of the doubt and order a fresh one,...NOPE!... two weeks later the amp went "zap",. and I couldnt get any pwer to the amo,. it wouldnt turn on ,. nothing!!

I barely got my money back after arguing with my salesman, then going over his head and talking w/the owner of the music store....

went through two of these amps in 2 weeks,. and they both broke,.. This is not a gtreat amp,. dont get me wrong , it sound great.. but they are made in Korea, and I would advise caution to anyone looking into this amp,.. if you buy it make sure your dealer has a money back/satisfaction Garauntee

I work in a local musical store in Sandy, Utah by the name of Hyland Music. We sell primarily Crate solidstate amps until we got this satan of a head in. I have played this amp through hollow-bodies, Ibanez RG's, Hamer's, My Schecter C-1 classic, and a few Talmahns.
This amp has alot of shaping tools for me, and I play everything from Jazz to metal, to hardcore. IT comes with a five selector footswitch, with many ways you can shift the settings it has a couple of fun "stoner-tools" as listed.

This amp is one of the best tube amps I've heard since the VHT-Ultra lead, the clean on this *ucker has so much clarity it rivals some of the acoustic amps ive played. I've played tube amps from Re-issue, and original marshalls, to top of the line krank, VHT, ENGL, MESA, PEAVEY, CRATE and DIEZEL, this amp rivals all of them, and beats out many to leave it gasping for air in its rear-view mirror. Best of all its half the price.
On my favorite, high mid, high low's, and neck selected jazz tone, i can get the beefiest clarity while playing jazz, you can feel the bass on your legs, if I could exaggerate the feeling, its like riding on a small harley on the freeway, smooth and ego filling.
On my metal setting, Im usually scooping the mids, for that metal-core sound, (chum-chum) as i like to call it. This thing really is an el diablo, it came out of hell, and we cranked it in the store on its 50 watt setting and I could tell it could drown out drums. The 100 watt setting is a extra ego trip for those stadium players. I really think some people will be dumping their mesa triple's for this one, and use the extra money to buy that extra money to mic their drummer's kit. lol. the distortion on this thing at 3 is so heavy and blisteringly loud, it almost makes you wanna get sick. its so tight together it sounds like you could put it right on a metal, cd.

I have not gigged with it yet, but i would love to.

ive been playing for about 4 years now. I have been wishing for a gigging amp for a while, it was between a peavey 5150 II, and a MESA triple rect. and then i heard this thing, Im thinking im gonna go with this one, what do I hate? that i dont have the money to buy it cuz its hard to get money when your 17 and have only one job, and a car.(damn insurance companies)

I am assuming that my amp was made in 2003. The styles of music I play are pop rock, rock, and the occasional jam band song. The El Diablo has two channels: Warm and Hot. Warm is your clean channel, Hot is your distortion tone. This head has three effects loops: one for each channel and one global effects loop. What really makes me excited about owning this amp is the amount of features included. It has a half power switch taking it from 100 to 50 watts, a boost feature called attack for soloing, reverb on each channel, two types of gain for each channel, the list goes on and on.

My two guitars that I use are a Godin LGX equipped with Seymour Duncans and a Godin Soldiac with Godin designed pickups. These two guitars seem to work very well with my musical style. I was looking for an amp that had channel switching ability, with a great clean and a great distortion. The El Diablo fits the bill. This amp is very quiet, as quiet as the Rivera Knucklehead I used to own. I have tried almost every amp out there: Rivera (great amps), Mesa Boogie, Fender, Carr, Soldano, Budda, and Bogner. I love the Bogner, don't get me wrong, but for $2900.00 I can think of a lot of other things to buy. The El Diablo has the cleanest clean channel I have ever heard. If you turn up the gain it will distort, but almost every amp will. The clean is as good if not better then my Rivera, and is comparable to the clean on the Carr Slant 6V. The reverb is good, but not better then any other amp. As for the distortion, you can get any distortion tone you want, from modern to vintage with the flick of a switch. The amp has classic and hi-gain settings for the Hot channel, as well as a compressed and dynamic setting. What ever your style maybe, this amp can cover that sound. Bround sound to nu-metal, its all here.

Since I have only had this amp for about a month, I cannot yet rate reliability. As far as I'm concerned, Genz Benz's 3 year warranty is good enough for me.

Have not dealt with the company yet, but I hear they are awesome! The warranty is three years, which is better than the one year warranty on my Rivera.

I have been playing for 11 years. Like I said, I have tried about everything out there. To me, this is a great amp. That does not mean you will love it, I am not even shure I love it. But, it does what I want and I like the tones I am able to produce. If it was stolen or lost, I would definetly try to replace it. I compared this amp to a Soldano Lucky 13, Soldano SLO, Budda Superdrive Series II, and a Krank Evolution 1 Head. Those are all great amps, but this is what I felt drawn to. I know I have had several bad cases of GAS. My band is tired of me switching amps every month. Since I am on my 10th amp, I hope this will be a keeper. All I can say is that for right now, I am completely happy with my purchase! I will write again after I have had it for several months.

Features...too numerous to get through. From clean to classic gain to warp drive all a footswitch away. Seperate Reverb controls for each channel. 50/100 watt switchable. Massive tube power! A new adjustment called "attack" that kind of takes a presence and mixes it with a solo switch for a heightened picking attack and volume boost. A tube contour knob that will take you from growl to bite your head off instantly! Built in compressor!! 3 effects loops. Switchable speaker impedance. switchable power voltage. The power is overwhelming! Mesa who??? This is by far the best amp I have ever owned and after having almost every amp imaginable I can honestly say that I truly believe I will play this amp for the rest of my life. 2 word...unbelievable tone!! And last but not least, recessed steel handles for comfortable and safe lifting. This is also the first amp I have ever bought that not only comes with it's footswitch but with a cover also!

I play a Gibson Les Paul with a Dimarzio Tone Zone in the Bridge, the El Diablo head through a Marshall 4-12 cab (though I will be purchasing the Genz-Bens G-Flex 4-12 soon!), a Sabine Pedal tuner and a Ibanez Chorus/Flanger. Thats it, bare bones. You can get any sound you want out of this amp. I play everything from country to blues to hard rock to metal, this amp never fails to give me the tone I am looking for. The Highest gain channel setting has a slight hum, and I mean slight. The distortion can be very warm or like a chainsaw depending on how you set it. I have finally found my tone!

This is a new amp for Genz-Benz so it's hard to say as yet, but everything they have ever made has been very reliable (they make cabs, acoustic amps, and Tube Works products). I never really feel comfortable without a back-up, but with this amp I feel pretty secure.

The amp has a three year warranty. You can download the owners manual and all specs from the Genz-Benz web-site. I have never had to call so I can't say on support. But I have found two service centers in my area and they say that the company stands behind their gear so I guess I'll have to wait and see ( but I'm betting I won't need them this amp is awesome!)

I have been playing about 25 years. I have owned Marshalls, Fenders, Ampegs, Engl's etc., This is by far the best amp out there for this kind of money. The Boogie Road King is the only amp that might possibly contend and it's more than double the price! I love everything about this amp! If you stole it from me, I wouldn't want to be you! Would I replace it? YES Don't buy this amp because I say it's great, find a dealer and try one out, I think you'll be glad you did!