i never use shape 2 since it gives kind of a raspy quality in the distortion. shape 1 with increased bass sound better to me currently, but i will give shape 2 another try. I can totally see how it works for leads.
I like shape 0 the best but currently play mostly the yellow crunch channel on the bright setting. Enough gain for me.
For low gain i like vintage best, for gain more than around half, everything sounds good (vintage, early, classic, modern). hard to decide. Downside of that amp
I think speaker/cabinet choices, the band mix, and the playing environment itself have a more significant effect on our individual preferences than might be acknowledged when we are talking about shapes and voicing's. I have two different cabinets I play out of: one is an 412 Emperor RS w/ Weber Graywolfs and Silverwolfs. The other is one of those Blue Sparkle Tuck-n'-Roll Kustom 412's (stock Kustom speakers). My house has great acoustics, and the jam space, ironically, does not.
I got a Kustom halfstack for a trade years ago (I thought it looked cool). I keep it over at practice space to save room at my house (and in case any of our rotating cast needs something to play out of). I got tired of moving the Emperor up and down the stairs every time we had practice/jam/not playing by myself, so now I just play the VHX through the Kustom over there. I'm willing to bet it's an atypical cabinet choice for a Diezel, and with the acoustics and band mix, I find my choices are significantly different than my personal/show rig.
Here's my comparison:
Out of the Emperor, I cut the bass
significantly more than with the Kustom.
Channels 1 and 2:
I set it on Vintage nearly exclusively, Bright is set for taste. Tone stack and gain is set all over the place.
Channel 3:
- Rhythm: Early - 0 or 1, occasionally Vintage - 0 and Modern - 0. Gain between 0.35-0.5. Mid push with a slight midcut. Treble higher than bass.
- Lead: Vintage - 2 or Modern - 2. Gain pretty much the same. Similar tonestack, but with slightly more treble.
Channel 4:
Pretty much only for leads, same settings as 3. Occassionally I want to watch the world burn, so I just max out everything to feel it deep down in my soul. At that point I can hardly hear make out anything over the sheer volume, so what is good tone at that point?
The Kustom is pretty flat, and one of my longterm bandmates plays an overdriven baritone uke out of a Fender Blues Jr (Thank god for the attenuator in the VHX). So I'm pretty much the rhythm guy, because his tone is inherently very bright and he can't fill the spectrum like I can.
Channels 1 and 2:
Still Vintage only, but bright is always off. Low mid focus, big cut on the high end, with a semi-bass cut to give room for the bassist. Gain on channel 1 is always below breakup, gain on channel 2 is around 0.35-0.45.
Channel 3:
Early or Classic, set at 1. Gain at 0.4-0.45. Mid focus, presence and treble equal or slightly lower than bass.
Channel 4:
Lol... I never get to use 4.
The main differences between the cabinets is how much bassier the Emperor is compared to the Kustom. My tone settings in the band end up being completely different than my home settings (essentially I can experiment more at home). Along with the drummer, I form the central rhythm of the band: our bassist is good but she's only been playing for two years, and we all have seriously diverse and different musical tastes (not to mention we have a lot of people rotate in to play with us). So I confine myself to the mids with some bass overhang, and focus on a good thick sturdy rhythm tone. I do long for the day I can bust out a guitar solo, but the band falls apart the moment I stop playing chords (it falls apart the moment I stop playing big blocky chords too).
...
*sighs* one day all of our different genre's are going to synthesize into something awesome. But until then...