Diezel VHX review

  • Thread starter Thread starter Leo Diezel
  • Start date Start date
valve said:
not really deactivated, the tubes are still glowing, though
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Yes but out of the circuit, inactive. Same type of mechanism the Soldano Astra uses. There’s no “power soak” happening in the amp.
 
joafink2 said:
This is why I bought a VHX. I already have an Einstein, but I wanted a VH4 and Herbert as well. Instead, I just bought a VHX.
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Do you still have the VHX? How do you like it? Can you get the Einstein tone with the VHX?
 
Philosophy prof said:
Do you still have the VHX? How do you like it? Can you get the Einstein tone with the VHX?
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I really liked the VHX and the wide variety of tones it offered (not just the Diezel tones). It’s an amazing amp.

That said, I found myself spending more time tweaking settings than actually playing. In the end, I sold it and went back to the simpler format of the Einstein, which just suits me better.
 
joafink2 said:
I really liked the VHX and the wide variety of tones it offered (not just the Diezel tones). It’s an amazing amp.

That said, I found myself spending more time tweaking settings than actually playing. In the end, I sold it and went back to the simpler format of the Einstein, which just suits me better.
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I’m curious about the Einstein. Can the VHX get that tone?
 
Philosophy prof said:
I’m curious about the Einstein. Can the VHX get that tone?
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I owned the VHX when it was just released. I believe they have since updated the software to include some earlier Diezel tones such as Einstein, but I can't really confirm. When I had it, I was not able to get it identical to my Einstein, but that might be a different case now. Best to check directly with Diezel on this one.
 
valve said:
i managed to get rid of the nasty fuzz with my downtuned guitars. this was the only thing that bugged me with this amp lately.
best sounds i ever gotten!!!

i realized that i can tweek every voicing with the PAQ & GEQ to my liking.

So please @Leo Diezel:
Which VHX voicing (vintage, early, classic, modern) has the most SAG? or is the SAG the same for all of them?
So if i want the slowest attack, which voicing?
If i want the fastest, which voicing?
the EQing has also an influence on the perceived attack, so i need some facts/basics or i get lost tweaking (yes this is a real thread with this amp)
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Any tips on how to use and tweak the PAQ and GEQ?
 
Philosophy prof said:
Any tips on how to use and tweak the PAQ and GEQ?
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a lil goes along way!
i use mostly the PEQ. reduce some high bass/low mids (which diezels have a lot) with a bell at around 300 Hz (sweep to find your preference (if you click the pot it's a finer sweep). very cab dependent. -1 goes a long way. i like this with the early&classic voicing. With modern it's not needed imo.
and for more kerrang i push the high mids with a max wide bell at let say 1,7kHz. +1 goes a long way.
you can also replace the midcut this way if you prefer the scoop at a higher frequency, like the mesa mark series at around 725Hz instead of the herbert's 400Hz. if you turn the upper left knob you can turn the effect on and off. good for ABing.

if you want to reduced the fuzzy nature, i recommend a highpass/EQ before the amp.
Edit: not possible with built in Fxs since they are in between Preamp an poweramp
 
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valve said:
a lil goes along way!
i use mostly the PEQ. reduce some high bass/low mids (which diezels have a lot) with a bell at around 300 Hz (sweep to find your preference (if you click the pot it's a finer sweep). very cab dependent. -1 goes a long way. i like this with the early&classic voicing. With modern it's not needed imo.
and for more kerrang i push the high mids with a max wide bell at let say 1,7kHz. +1 goes a long way.
you can also replace the midcut this way if you prefer the scoop at a higher frequency, like the mesa mark series at around 725Hz instead of the herbert's 400Hz. if you turn the upper left knob you can turn the effect on and off. good for ABing.

if you want to reduced the fuzzy nature, i recommend a highpass/EQ before the amp.
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Thank you! Looking forward to trying this. Last question: how do you place the delay in the VHX so it’s like in the loop rather than in front of the amp? Do you know what I mean? Hard to describe without showing you
 
Philosophy prof said:
Thank you! Looking forward to trying this. Last question: how do you place the delay in the VHX so it’s like in the loop rather than in front of the amp? Do you know what I mean? Hard to describe without showing you
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that's automatically the case. the builtin fxs can not be used in front/pre distortion
 
Philosophy prof said:
I find my lower strings (E, B, etc) sound muddy and compressed. I can’t seem to dial that out with the internal parameters. Not sure if the best option is to just get an external pedal and try that way
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yeah the lows need to be removed pre distortion imo to get rid of that.
you can put the external highpass/EQ in the Preloop if you want to retain the full lowend for cleans for example...
 
valve said:
yeah the lows need to be removed pre distortion imo to get rid of that.
you can put the external highpass/EQ in the Preloop if you want to retain the full lowend for cleans for example...
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This was exactly what I was thinking, too. If you put an EQ pedal in the Pre-Loop you should be able to cut the excess Bass out before the distortion. It's actually a super powerful tool because it will reduce the amount of Bass going into the gain stages (which naturally add more bass). You can then dial it back in with Depth in the power amp section, or even with an EQ in the post loop.

My understanding is that this is exactly how a Friedman works: Dave uses an aggressive bass cut early in the circuit, before the gain, then puts the bass back later in the power amp. That's why Friedmans have the tight, punch bass response for which they're known.
 
hellzington said:
This was exactly what I was thinking, too. If you put an EQ pedal in the Pre-Loop you should be able to cut the excess Bass out before the distortion. It's actually a super powerful tool because it will reduce the amount of Bass going into the gain stages (which naturally add more bass). You can then dial it back in with Depth in the power amp section, or even with an EQ in the post loop.

My understanding is that this is exactly how a Friedman works: Dave uses an aggressive bass cut early in the circuit, before the gain, then puts the bass back later in the power amp. That's why Friedmans have the tight, punch bass response for which they're known.
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this, but this is more a marshall "invention" than a friedman thing.
i still have enough bass despite having a 6db/decade low cut up to 720Hz if i up the bass in the preamp.
i like everything better this way: the feel, the gain character, the clearness and the gain range except the later for the clean channel, since i get a lot less clipping overall and higher frequencies than before. i have to move the edge of breakup to the 2nd channel now. before there was quite some dirt on ch1. now not so much. but of course you can boost it to get the same amount of gain as before...
 
valve said:
this, but this is more a marshall "invention" than a friedman thing.
i still have enough bass despite having a 6db/decade low cut up to 720Hz if i up the bass in the preamp.
i like everything better this way: the feel, the gain character, the clearness and the gain range except the later for the clean channel, since i get a lot less clipping overall and higher frequencies than before. i have to move the edge of breakup to the 2nd channel now. before there was quite some dirt on ch1. now not so much. but of course you can boost it to get the same amount of gain as before...
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Gents, many thanks for this. Huge help. I’ve dialed in the tone that I have been chasing for years, thanks in large part to you guys. Much appreciated. I have many amazing tube amps, but once you figured out the small but important details in the VHX, it’s just glorious.
 
Noob question: Have all VHXs shipped with KT77s or have they varied with availability like other Diezel models in recent years?

Looking forward to picking up my first Diezel soon to chase that TOAN. :)
 
J_Rocket said:
Noob question: Have all VHXs shipped with KT77s or have they varied with availability like other Diezel models in recent years?

Looking forward to picking up my first Diezel soon to chase that TOAN. :)
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Mine came with KT77S. But I tried a VHX at Sweetwater that had EL34s. Depends on what they have in stock but I don’t think it makes much of a difference
 
Philosophy prof said:
Mine came with KT77S. But I tried a VHX at Sweetwater that had EL34s. Depends on what they have in stock but I don’t think it makes much of a difference
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Thanks for the reply. Don't want to restart the eternal 'which tubes are better' debate but was curious if it was worth asking sellers what power tubes are installed on used VHX listings. Guess what tubes is less important than how many hours are on the tubes at the end of the day.
 
J_Rocket said:
Thanks for the reply. Don't want to restart the eternal 'which tubes are better' debate but was curious if it was worth asking sellers what power tubes are installed on used VHX listings. Guess what tubes is less important than how many hours are on the tubes at the end of the day.
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I asked a legendary amp guy near where I live. He’s fixed amps I thought were cooked forever. I asked him the same question. He said they make little difference. That was his professional opinion. I couldn’t tell the difference between my VHX and the one at Sweetwater which had different tubes.
 
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