Diezel VH4 - What are the 4 channels based on?

BatmansRigTalk

BatmansRigTalk

Active member
I one time read how the VH4 based its 4 channels on 4 different types of amps. That it's price point was therefore cheaper than getting those 4 amps separately. Aside from the validity of that statement (I am sure there will be some discussion over how that goes down with the power tubes being KT77s) does anyone know what they are?

I remember reading something like...

1)....
2) Fender Princeton
3) JCM800
4) Some uncommon high gain amp

Maybe it was all nonsense. Maybe not. Does anyone know what the 4 channels are modeled upon?
 
I could maybe see ch 1 being like the Princeton, and ch 2 like the JCM800.
Ch 3 has way more gain and bottom end than an 800.
Ch 4..... who knows????
The amp may have been designed to deliver 4 distinct tone types, but I doubt Peter actually based any of the channels on any particular amp.
 
BatmansRigTalk said:
Maybe it was all nonsense. Maybe not. Does anyone know what the 4 channels are modeled upon?
Click to expand...
I think it's safe to say it's a moot point this far down the road into the VH4's development. Yes, Peter used to mod amps, some of which were Marshalls, but outside of that, I don't think one can trace direct DNA correlations in circuitry or desired signature tones from years/amps gone by. The earliest VH4 was designed to be an "all-in-one" head, that was its primary purpose. But how the signature Diezel tone, the refinements to the tone, the circuit, the architecture of the amp, and all the other amps in the Diezel line-up came to be; I feel it's a personal design and passion - rather than a "let's make it sound like these other amps" approach. Peter has even stated, "it may not be what everyone wanted to hear (at that time) but it was the sound HE wanted to hear" - or something along those lines.

I've got several Diezel, and the one thing I say to anyone who ever asks "what's it similar to, how does it sound compared to" is "Diezel has its own special sauce going on" - and it ain't for everybody. They sound unique, they feel unique, they are unique - and most likely it'll be a love/hate thing; cuz they really are "different" compared to the rest of the herd out there.

Make sense??
Unkle Mo
 
Fusedbrain, the 1 being Princeton, 2 being Plexi or a Hiwatt, 3 being Hot rodded JCM800 and 4 being VHT/Fryette could have been what I read, but don't quote me on this. Maybe it just how different people attempt to describe the channels. This goes to Ventura's point, that a VH4 sounds like none of those in reality. It was just the way I heard the amp was described as an "All in one head" that made me think, oh right, 4 channels, 4 amps, which would have been unusual for the time and made sense as the basis behind designing such an amp in the first place. I get it has evolved into its own thing and sort of cornered that niche as nothing else seems to work there outside of profiling.

I don't own a VH4, but I do own a Diezel VH4 pedal and it is probably my second most expensive pedal next to the Catalinbread Belle Epoch Deluxe. That Diezel pedal sounds totally unlike anything else I have heard. So yeah, that Diezel sound seems pretty unique, and whenever I turn mine on I almost immediately go to playing TOOL riffs because nothing else does that.

I would also be interested in a Herbert pedal one day if I get around to that also.

Anyway thanks for the feedback. Makes sense.
 
The signature tone across the VH4 channels is pretty consistent. There's progressively more gain and compression/aggression as you go up, but the core sound IMHO is there on all four.

So it's pretty seamless as you switch from one channel to another.

Not sure what amp the VH4 could be described as sounding like. I thought it was unique and somewhat unusual. Not super saturated, so wouldn't compare it to a high gain Marshall or Mesa, really.
 
I own a Diezel VH4s, as well as a SLO, and a Boogie MKIII No stripe. Had JCM800 2203's in the past.
The VH4 always struck me as an excellent combination of a SLO and a Boogie Mark, with some extra lower midrange. That's the tone and feel I pull from mine.
 
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