Diezel Hagen/Vh4

[Stealthtastic]

Anyone own both? Which do you prefer and why? Which sounds better at lower volumes? Also how do they stack up to the Herbert?

My friend wants to sell them and I kind of want to pick one up to 4 cable with my HD500, but I'm not sure I should because I dont like playing at crazy loud volumes all the time and last time I had a high watt tube amp I barely used it. Also if I buy it reselling it if I dont like it is not an option, he would be hooking me up with a great price and it would be very disrespectful of me to turn around and sell it.

That being said, I think Diezels look badass and sound great too but I have only tried the Herbert. If it matters I spend most of my time playing death metal and aim for tones like Decapitated/Psycroptic, etc...

I would be pairing the amp with a mesa 212 loaded with V30s.

 

[cardinal]

Never played a Hagen, but lots of folks here own/have played both. But I can say the newer VH4 (2007+) sounds awesome at very reasonable TV volumes and it loves the Mesa V30s. Not sure the VH4 is particularly well suited for death metal, though. Hard rock tone to die for, but death metal (not familiar with those bands, but my idea of death metal at least) probably isn't the VH4's comfort zone, although I think it can do it if you get everything dialed in just right.

 

[Stealthtastic]

Well, if I'm 4 cabling it with an HD500 I don't think it would be a huge issue would it? Do they play nicely with boosts and 4 cabling in general?

 

[Stealthtastic]

You want Decapitated tones? I would get a Herbert.
Will your friend give me a good on the Diezels?!

I have a feeling they will be listed as for sale on here soon enough anyways at a good price. I dont necessarily want Decapitated tones but I am shooting for a modern death metal sound, just the same vibe really....I am not huge on trying to nail someone elses tones.

 

[maddnotez]

Bogner and VHT do metal extremely well. For Diezel I'd say Herbert or the new Dmoll would beat the Vh4 or Hagen but so damn expensive.

 

[Stealthtastic]

Well like I said, the only reason I'm considering either is because I can get either/or/both at a chunky discount and Ive kinda wanted a Diezel for a while but they've always been out of my price range. (I cant play standing up anymore due to a back problem so a super awesome rig is kind of wasted one me lol)

Also, can I pull some powertubes to run it at a lower wattage without ruining the sound?

 

[angelspade]

I own a VH4 and Herbert. Death Metal? ...If you are going with a Diezel (not the best choice for DM)....Then go with the Herbert. From what I have heard thus far, the D-Moll may actually be your best choice if you are intending to get a Diezel.

 

[Stealthtastic]

I own a VH4 and Herbert. Death Metal? ...If you are going with a Diezel (not the best choice for DM)....Then go with the Herbert. From what I have heard thus far, the D-Moll may actually be your best choice if you are intending to get a Diezel.

Not an option unfortunately.

 

[mindseye]

My VH4 sounded pretty damn good at low volume IMHO
4CM with my AxeFxII and VH4 was very lackluster and uninspiring to be honest... May have been the Axe's fault rather than the VH4.
After owning both a Herbert and a VH4 I'd have to say the Herbert would be the better of the two for death metal type tones...YMMV

 

[Tone Monster]

If you just have to have a Diezel, go with a Herbert for that type of tone. You can cop that tone for 25% of the Diezel price!

 

[Keyboard Man]

Also how do they stack up to the Herbert?

You'll need a HUGE stack of any guitar amp(s) to stack up to the Diezel Herbert. And that’s just in sheer dB volume; we're not talking about the superior dynamic range of tones you will be able to achieve with a Diezel Herbert. Herbert when you add it all up is simply put technically a seven channel guitar amplifier.

Herbert is Peter Diezel's flagship master peice of all guitar amplification.

 

[tfridgen]

Get the VH4, if it doesn't cop the tones you want, you should have no problem trading for a Herbert round these parts....

 

[Ventura]

Drop tunings go nicely with the Hagen.
VH4 is tighter than a [enter some quirky pseudo sexual analogy here].
Herbert is known to 'do metal' real nice, bear in mind it's very high output (6 powertubes versus 4 in most amps)

D-Moll is a bit of everything thus far - have zero experience playing one yet to date.

 

[mesa50w]

I dont think there is a tone you cant pull out for a herbert but after hearing lasse's clip of a hagan its got me gasN for a Hagan

 

[Adam-12]

 

[cardinal]

Get the VH4, if it doesn't cop the tones you want, you should have no problem trading for a Herbert round these parts....

This sounds like good advice.

 

[Stealthtastic]

Yeah maybe Ill do that. Cheers guys. Do diezels handle 4CM well btw?

 

[guitarobert]

Yeah maybe Ill do that. Cheers guys. Do diezels handle 4CM well btw?

They will handle 4CM fine. Only issue is if the HD500 doesn't support line level signals for the return. I tried an M9 in the loop of my VH4 and it was distorting due to the signal being too hot. But that was fixed with an ebtech line level shifter. So you may have to use one of those depending on what the HD500 supports in terms of level. Otherwise no issues with it.

 

[PBGas]

I had a Herbert. While I liked it, I probably would have rather had the VH-4.

 

[Ventura]

Yeah maybe Ill do that. Cheers guys. Do diezels handle 4CM well btw?

Kinda like asking a girl if she can handle ATM well?