First, I concur with what people have already said about this amp. In my opinion, Diezel hits it out of the ballpark every single time. There isn't a single channel on any Diezel that I don't like. The Lil Fokker is an amazing amp. I have played a Herbert, VH4, Hagen, Einstein, and D-Moll, and I must say that there is something a little different and special about the Lil Fokker.
Maybe it's the reduced circuitry that makes it sound so good and feel so right to play. I've always ripped out all the extra circuitry in my Fender strats because I believe that it sounds better with less electronics, and maybe that's the kind of advantage the Lil Fokker has. It seems like most people who have commented on it so far think it sounds a lot like the VH4, but I think it has more Herbert going on. Well, the Herbert that I used to play on had EL34's, but the Fokker reminds me a lot of it for some reason.
I recently had a D-Moll which I really, really liked. In contrast, the Lil Fokker, at least to me, sounds more classic. It's less hi-fi and more organic. My D-Moll was a little squishy, but the Fokker I think is a little spongier. The clean channel goes from crystaline to a nice blues and classic rock kind of breakup. I thought the D-Moll cleans were fantastic but the Fokker is little better. The gain channel pretty much starts from there but a little more compressed. it's reaches JCM800 amount of gain probably around 11:00, and about 1:00 is liquid solo territory. Beyond 1:00, it still has a lot of gain on tap. It's very versatile. Between the two channels, you can get a lot of the D-Moll range of sounds. The EQ is very versatile with only the bass, middle, treble, presence, depth.
The Fokker doesn't have the ridiculous amount of low end the D-Moll seemed to have. It's kind of more classic midrange amp style, but once the depth knob gets up around 1:00, it start getting a lot more low end. It's not lacking any low end so it can be plenty for thrash and all, but it's more manageable. I had to keep the depth fairly low on the D-Moll because the low end was really strong on recordings and with closed back cabs.
If I wanted to pick a Diezel for brootz, the Fokker would not be my choice. I'm not saying that it can't hang with any brutal amp out there, but it's got more going on than the hi-fi, low end, gain machine thing. I think it's very versatile because of that.
I don't any complaints. There are a few minor little things I would like to improve, but as far as what it offers tonally, there is nothing that can be improved. Like I said, these are insignificant little things I noted:
- I wish the loop could be turned on/off with the foot switch.
- The foot switch disables the manual channel switch (that's typical I think, but some amps still allow the on-board switching to work)
- The front panel is recessed a little deep which makes it hard to read the control lables when you look down at the amp. If it's sitting on a full stack no problem.
- The FX loop seems just a tiny little bit darker when the amp is at low volumes, but seems to open up more once you get to a volume that's about as high as a fairly loud television.
It seems like people are disappointed with the look of the Lil Fokker and because it doesn't have the metal grill option. However, I think it looks cool. Also, the blue panel with white text makes it easy to read when you're playing in a dark club.
One thing I can say pretty definitively right now is that if someone is concerned that the Lil Fokker is "stripped down," then they shouldn't worry about that at all because this amp is VERY versatile. It has everything you need except for MIDI. The FX loop works awesome. There's really nothing else necessary. I think that people who want a really good, versatile clean sound should consider this amp even if they don't need much from the drive channel. The clean channel is impressive.
Well that's all for now. I only spent 2 hours playing it so I need more time to formulate a better opinion.
Maybe it's the reduced circuitry that makes it sound so good and feel so right to play. I've always ripped out all the extra circuitry in my Fender strats because I believe that it sounds better with less electronics, and maybe that's the kind of advantage the Lil Fokker has. It seems like most people who have commented on it so far think it sounds a lot like the VH4, but I think it has more Herbert going on. Well, the Herbert that I used to play on had EL34's, but the Fokker reminds me a lot of it for some reason.
I recently had a D-Moll which I really, really liked. In contrast, the Lil Fokker, at least to me, sounds more classic. It's less hi-fi and more organic. My D-Moll was a little squishy, but the Fokker I think is a little spongier. The clean channel goes from crystaline to a nice blues and classic rock kind of breakup. I thought the D-Moll cleans were fantastic but the Fokker is little better. The gain channel pretty much starts from there but a little more compressed. it's reaches JCM800 amount of gain probably around 11:00, and about 1:00 is liquid solo territory. Beyond 1:00, it still has a lot of gain on tap. It's very versatile. Between the two channels, you can get a lot of the D-Moll range of sounds. The EQ is very versatile with only the bass, middle, treble, presence, depth.
The Fokker doesn't have the ridiculous amount of low end the D-Moll seemed to have. It's kind of more classic midrange amp style, but once the depth knob gets up around 1:00, it start getting a lot more low end. It's not lacking any low end so it can be plenty for thrash and all, but it's more manageable. I had to keep the depth fairly low on the D-Moll because the low end was really strong on recordings and with closed back cabs.
If I wanted to pick a Diezel for brootz, the Fokker would not be my choice. I'm not saying that it can't hang with any brutal amp out there, but it's got more going on than the hi-fi, low end, gain machine thing. I think it's very versatile because of that.
I don't any complaints. There are a few minor little things I would like to improve, but as far as what it offers tonally, there is nothing that can be improved. Like I said, these are insignificant little things I noted:
- I wish the loop could be turned on/off with the foot switch.
- The foot switch disables the manual channel switch (that's typical I think, but some amps still allow the on-board switching to work)
- The front panel is recessed a little deep which makes it hard to read the control lables when you look down at the amp. If it's sitting on a full stack no problem.
- The FX loop seems just a tiny little bit darker when the amp is at low volumes, but seems to open up more once you get to a volume that's about as high as a fairly loud television.
It seems like people are disappointed with the look of the Lil Fokker and because it doesn't have the metal grill option. However, I think it looks cool. Also, the blue panel with white text makes it easy to read when you're playing in a dark club.
One thing I can say pretty definitively right now is that if someone is concerned that the Lil Fokker is "stripped down," then they shouldn't worry about that at all because this amp is VERY versatile. It has everything you need except for MIDI. The FX loop works awesome. There's really nothing else necessary. I think that people who want a really good, versatile clean sound should consider this amp even if they don't need much from the drive channel. The clean channel is impressive.
Well that's all for now. I only spent 2 hours playing it so I need more time to formulate a better opinion.
