Diezel Herbert or ENGL SE

[gargamelesp]

Hi guys, the time has come for me to have a new head. i had an Invader 150 but the tones didnt really do it for me, sounded a bit too "organic" and it wasnt really my cup of tea. I also have a Vht Sig X and again its giving me this super hot rodded marshall tone which ill probably be keeping

I didnt post this in the diezel forum cause i know what the answer will be but i want an amp that can be really brutal and give the low end thunk for metal, yet have great clarity and separation for complex chords. Cleans are not of much importance to me on this amp.

Pricing wise: i can get both at exactly the same price so it isnt an issue.
Tech support wise: i feel a little more confident about diezel having their own tech support and peter answers pms and mails pretty fast compared to the horror stories i have heard about engl so i guess its a plus to diezel for this one.

Finally, tone wise, i wish to have sounds in the vein of Nevermore, Arch enemy, newer megadeth and in flames with a bit of dream theater thrown in.

Ill be pairing this with a Mills acoustics 412b cab with X pattern of G100s and V30s.

Fire away with suggestions!

 

[Les Zombie]

I owned both at the same time for over a year and at the time i needed cash and had to choose one to keep and i chose the engl se but im my heart i knew i should keep the diezel instead, it was a hard choice at the time because i really liked both.
about 6 months later the engl brokedown on me and it was a bitch to get fixed and the engl service center never even worked on that amp before, engl only comes with a 1yr warranty and my amp was over a year old i had to pay for it myself. i was really bummed and i knew i made a mistake not keeping my herbert. if i had the choice again i would take the diezel over it.

4000.00 dollar amps should be built better than my engl se and should come with atleast 5 yrs warranty. i bought my amp brand new. i finally got the amp fixed and play it for anothe rmonth and everything was working great and i got the urge for a different amp and i traded it but that guy didnt really like it and sold it to somebody else i know and they had issues with it too.

it wasnt the first time i had a brand new engl with issues either, i have had about 10 engls and 3 had probs over the years. none of the issues was tube probs either. i sent engl 5 emails and never got a responce.

i took a break form engl amps for a while and not too long ago i got a great deal i couldnt refuse on a blackmore and i bought it and so far its pretty cool, from now on im not buying their amps new since they are a bitch to work on and their service sucks. if i own anything engl i want it to be something simple like the blackmore and ill just buy used.


now diezel is another story, peter is very helpful and stand behind his products and trys to help as much as he can, you can feel and see the build quality is better than anything engl makes. someday i plan on getting another herbert.

 

[chunktone]

I would take a Herbert over any other high gain switcher.

 

[gargamelesp]

service wise im pretty sure diezel wins hands down. there isnt an engl service centre in my country and a big concern is that if the amp breaks, no one will know how to fix it since it is so complicated with all the midi components so what you said makes sense.. for the engl tone maybe choose a simpler head like maybe the savage or powerball 2 so at least if it requires repairs it would be easier on the techs end

now on to the most important thing-- the tone!

 

[killertone]

I prefer the more aggressive tone of the SE (EL34 version) over the darker and thicker Herbert tone. Zombieland makes a great point, though. a 1 year warranty is absolutely ridiculous on an amp like the SE.

edit: I have owned a Blackmore for almost 4 years. I have gigged it hard and it has taken some pretty harsh abuse and has never had a single problem. I also like the Blackmore's tone better than the SE, so what do I know!

 

[moltenmetalburn]

I prefer the more aggressive tone of the SE (EL34 version) over the darker and thicker Herbert tone. Zombieland makes a great point, though. a 1 year warranty is absolutely ridiculous on an amp like the SE.

edit: I have owned a Blackmore for almost 4 years. I have gigged it hard and it has taken some pretty harsh abuse and has never had a single problem. I also like the Blackmore's tone better than the SE, so what do I know!

Did you ever try the herbert with el34's?

 

[killertone]

I prefer the more aggressive tone of the SE (EL34 version) over the darker and thicker Herbert tone. Zombieland makes a great point, though. a 1 year warranty is absolutely ridiculous on an amp like the SE.

edit: I have owned a Blackmore for almost 4 years. I have gigged it hard and it has taken some pretty harsh abuse and has never had a single problem. I also like the Blackmore's tone better than the SE, so what do I know!

Did you ever try the herbert with el34's?

Yeah, twice. That being said, once was at the NAMM show and the other was at an ampfest so not the best places to do it. I would like to play a Herbert again definitely.

 

[prsdiezel]

Avatar pic says it all.

I also own a Engl Savage 120 (5yrs). Killer amp sounds better than the SE.

But the Diezel Herbert just smokes it!!! When I A/B the two amps. I can dial the Diezel to sound 90% like the Engl Savage with the mid cut option. That's how versitle the Herbert is. It really just does everything better than the Savage IMO.

The Engl has some killer tone jcm800 hot rodded on the crunch ch. The lead ch. is really heavy and tight as hell, shredders dream. Has a really nice Clean ch thats better than 98% of multichannel heads. Over all you can't go wrong with the Savage either.

Thing about it is the Diezel cost twice as much as the Engl Savage does so......

The Engl Savage is a beast also, amazing amp that does more than just metal. It was my favorite amp until I got the Diezel.


I am getting some GAS to mod my original JCM800 with a Fortin HULK mod I'd love to A/B it with the ENGL.

 

[glassjaw7]

Of those two, I would pick the Herbert for many of the reasons listed above. Have you considered an Uber TJ?

 

[thiswaythatway]

I am getting some GAS to mod my original JCM800 with a Fortin HULK mod I'd love to A/B it with the ENGL.

Do that and you'll never plug into your Engl or Diezel ever again.

 

[killertone]

I am getting some GAS to mod my original JCM800 with a Fortin HULK mod I'd love to A/B it with the ENGL.

Do that and you'll never plug into your Engl or Diezel ever again.

TRUTH. Ask me how many times I have plugged in to the Blackmore since I got the Hulk...

 

[thiswaythatway]

I am getting some GAS to mod my original JCM800 with a Fortin HULK mod I'd love to A/B it with the ENGL.

Do that and you'll never plug into your Engl or Diezel ever again.

TRUTH. Ask me how many times I have plugged in to the Blackmore since I got the Hulk...

And why hasn't Diezelmonster changed his screen name?

 

[jcj]

I'd go with the Herbert. I've had both, and couldn't get rid of the SE (34's) fast enough. Just wasn't for me.

 

[prsdiezel]

I am getting some GAS to mod my original JCM800 with a Fortin HULK mod I'd love to A/B it with the ENGL.

Do that and you'll never plug into your Engl or Diezel ever again.

TRUTH. Ask me how many times I have plugged in to the Blackmore since I got the Hulk...

GAS is getting too much for me.....help

Mike Fortin I have bad GAS help

 

[RedB4Black]

check out this picture...

That's the Herbert, SE and a Mills with v30s/GK100s. To me, the Herbert is the best all around. The SE is the best for straight-up brootz tones. I wouldn't pay $4k for an SE, but I most certainly would (and did) for a Herbert.

 

[gargamelesp]

thx mhenson.. as i posted before, it is indeed a pretty scary thought not know what will happen if your 4k amp decides to crap out on you and the tech support is left wanting. problem is that all my favourite tones (on recordings at least) have been played on a SE -- and im wondering if the herbert can cover those tones as well or are they 2 different amps

 

[Digital Jams]

I am getting some GAS to mod my original JCM800 with a Fortin HULK mod I'd love to A/B it with the ENGL.

Do that and you'll never plug into your Engl or Diezel ever again.

TRUTH. Ask me how many times I have plugged in to the Blackmore since I got the Hulk...

I told you.........................

I played my 1527 for the first time with the Cali Fortin and could not believe how tight that amp stayed with straight up low B hammer mutes, I do not test amps by mutes as some do but holy shit it was stupd tight.

To the OP Herbert for me as I like the whole package and not just ch3.

 

[gargamelesp]

in case you guys havent seen this yet, this is the sort of rhythm tone i want to nail-- can herbie do this?

 

[ke2]

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=61369