Genz Benz El Diablo...why all the hate?

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mctallica1

mctallica1

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I owned one for a while a couple years ago and thought it was a decent amp and last night I got to play through one again and my opinion didn't change. Still think it is a decent amp.


Seems like a lot of folks trash this amp....just curious what specifically people don't like about it? :confused:
 
I had the 60w combo and thought it was pretty good. Skullcrushing highgain tones, good clean and good crunch.
Seemed real well built and a great value on the used market.
Its a bit weird with the EQ, IIRC its active and small adjustements make big differences.
Only criticism was a bit sterile but a great value in grabn'go.
 
woodwind&brasswind was blowing a eldiablo60 head out for 399 awhile back. might call them and see. it was in their 20th anni catalog. that's where i got my jvm for 1300.
 
mctallica1":7igrzpck said:
I owned one for a while a couple years ago and thought it was a decent amp and last night I got to play through one again and my opinion didn't change. Still think it is a decent amp.


Seems like a lot of folks trash this amp....just curious what specifically people don't like about it? :confused:
Click to expand...

I had one of the very first El Diablo's ever made. Maybe it was because it was so new... but the clean channel had issues. Like diode-clipping issues. Genz Benz wasn't much help when I called them about it. I tried new tubes, different guitars, etc... but nothing would fix the weird staticy distortion when you really abused the strings. The clean channel is supposedly modeled after a Matchless DC30, but it did not have a pleasing breakup to it in the slightest.

The gain channel was good, but it was ultimately too hi-fi and solid-state sounding for me. Almost too "hot", if that makes any sense. It had sick amounts of gain and was great for metal... but not much good for anything else I played. I got tired of it pretty quick and traded it towards the Guytron which I currently own. There was this stiffness you just can't dial out.

I know there are a lot of people that love this amp, but I guess I was going for more of a "boutique-y" sound, you know? ;)

-Russ
 
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