I Just Played a Diezel For the First Time...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Rdodson
  • Start date Start date
Rdodson

Rdodson

Well-known member
Actually, two. I first played a VH4 through a matching 4x12 and then played a Hagen through a matching 2x12.

Whoa.

I should have put my phone down and made some clips. Both were incredible. I was expecting not to like them since I've usually been a Marshall offshoot sort and I've thought of these amps as just hi-gain chugga beasts. I don't know why I thought that...both (especially the Hagen) were able to produce touch-sensitive, harmonically rich tones.

Dang. Now I get the love. I really appreciated the ridiculous level of engineering that goes into the touch-and-feel aspect as well.
 
Hagen - not talked about enough.
VH4 - the gold standard
D-Moll - more than meets the eye
Herbert - a real beast
Paul - redefines high-gain + clean tone

Now go try an SLO and report back.
 
I had a wonderful SLO. Loved it. I just couldn't get happy with anything other than THAT one unreal sound. I play Strats and Teles a lot, and I never got comfortable with a tone that made both my single-coil guitars and my humbucker guitars sound the way I wanted them to. I'm still a session guy, so I need some versatility (or a basic foundation that I can layer on top of a la Marshall).

I could see getting everything from Brad Paisley to Eric Johnson to EVH to Allan Holdsworth out of the Hagen. And more.
 
Rdodson":3c37ppla said:
I had a wonderful SLO. Loved it. I just couldn't get happy with anything other than THAT one unreal sound. I play Strats and Teles a lot, and I never got comfortable with a tone that made both my single-coil guitars and my humbucker guitars sound the way I wanted them to. I'm still a session guy, so I need some versatility (or a basic foundation that I can layer on top of a la Marshall).

I could see getting everything from Brad Paisley to Eric Johnson to EVH to Allan Holdsworth out of the Hagen. And more.

Yep, super amp. Diezel has been posting some Peter-Peter demos lately, and they have one on the Hagen. Like I said, it doesn't get talked about enough as far as I'm concerned. I also agree, it's far more versatile but seems to get written off as a metal amp.
 
I've bought a Hagen for 4 years, love it, great amp. I tried naming our dog Hagen, my wifi SID is called Hagen and I'm pretty sure the bad dude in The Walking Dead wanting to be called Hagen instead of Negan.
 
I've played VH4, Herbert, meat the Fokker and D-Moll. The VH4 is the one. One of the best amps ever built.

I'm really liking the new Peter Peter demo videos.
 
Rdodson":8cgrzxoj said:
I had a wonderful SLO. Loved it. I just couldn't get happy with anything other than THAT one unreal sound. I play Strats and Teles a lot, and I never got comfortable with a tone that made both my single-coil guitars and my humbucker guitars sound the way I wanted them to. I'm still a session guy, so I need some versatility (or a basic foundation that I can layer on top of a la Marshall).
I hear ya! That was my finding with the one time I played an SLO as well; the almost 'one trick pony' feel, but oh man, what a feel.

In regards to the Diezels; I like the new demo's too, but something I heard when I played a D-Moll (with money in hand to buy it...left without the amp) I heard in the Paul demo too. It's not quite fuzz-like, but it has this singing, super-saturated low-mids thing, that I couldn't dial out Channel 3 of the D-Moll.
My Invader has this on channel 4 too. While I can understand that low-mid saturation for thickness in lead-tones, to me it's too saturated and almost fuzzy (but more Big Muff than Fuzz Face), I prefer a more Marshall-like openness when it comes to med/high gain lead tones. This is especially clear with Les Paul neck humbuckers (and not the Dimebucker of SH-2 Jazz kind, but more the typical (hotrodded) PAF kind).

I was hoping that the Paul would be more vintage voiced high-gain with more clarity in that regard. In the Peter-Peter demo I heard something similar as what I got from the D-Moll.
I've said it many times, but the D-Moll did have one of the nicest clean tones I ever played in a high gain multichannel head.
 
Speeddemon":fewy8hao said:
Rdodson":fewy8hao said:
I had a wonderful SLO. Loved it. I just couldn't get happy with anything other than THAT one unreal sound. I play Strats and Teles a lot, and I never got comfortable with a tone that made both my single-coil guitars and my humbucker guitars sound the way I wanted them to. I'm still a session guy, so I need some versatility (or a basic foundation that I can layer on top of a la Marshall).
I hear ya! That was my finding with the one time I played an SLO as well; the almost 'one trick pony' feel, but oh man, what a feel.

In regards to the Diezels; I like the new demo's too, but something I heard when I played a D-Moll (with money in hand to buy it...left without the amp) I heard in the Paul demo too. It's not quite fuzz-like, but it has this singing, super-saturated low-mids thing, that I couldn't dial out Channel 3 of the D-Moll.
My Invader has this on channel 4 too. While I can understand that low-mid saturation for thickness in lead-tones, to me it's too saturated and almost fuzzy (but more Big Muff than Fuzz Face), I prefer a more Marshall-like openness when it comes to med/high gain lead tones. This is especially clear with Les Paul neck humbuckers (and not the Dimebucker of SH-2 Jazz kind, but more the typical (hotrodded) PAF kind).

I was hoping that the Paul would be more vintage voiced high-gain with more clarity in that regard. In the Peter-Peter demo I heard something similar as what I got from the D-Moll.
I've said it many times, but the D-Moll did have one of the nicest clean tones I ever played in a high gain multichannel head.

This is exactly why I liked the VH4 over the other Diezels I played. It didn't seem to have that overly thick, almost fuzzy characteristic while the others did. The Herbert was crushing and huge but I didn't like how it responded or felt to play. The VH4 retains a bit of the modded Marshall character while having just enough of the trademark Diezel sound too.
 
Ive been through einstein, vh4, hagen, fokker, dmoll.

Dmoll and einstein stayed. permanently.

Diezel are KING for this type of dark and refined modded marshall sound.

If you want typical marshall cut you dont want a diezel, antithetical.

Peter doesnt like "treble insects piercing the ears..."

neither do I.
 
moltenmetalburn":144tlua6 said:
Peter doesnt like "treble insects piercing the ears..."

neither do I.
:lol: :LOL:

I tend to have an aggressive pick attack which can get piercing if I'm not careful, so the Diezel darkness works really well for me. It's easy to get brighter with pick technique or a mod like Kruse DeK, but really difficult/mpossible to get a bright amp warmer. That characteristic fuzz in the gain is more pronounced at lower volume settings- the more volume the more clarity IME. It sounds great at any level- but as always- Best to blast it :yes:
 
If there was an amp named "hi-gain chugga beasts" I'd be first in line to throw money at it... just saying ;)
 
Not sure where the "fuzz" is coming from, but it's not a Diezel. Probably the cleanest most refined high gain in the bizz.

I love the Herbert, Hagen, and VH4. The Hagen is a really great more "updated" version of the VH4 with some Herbert flavor mixed into it. My personal fav is the Herbert's huge bass and crushing sound and the aggressiveness of the VH4 mixed together in stereo.
 
RJF":1f0284c4 said:
Not sure where the "fuzz" is coming from, but it's not a Diezel. Probably the cleanest most refined high gain in the bizz.

I love the Herbert, Hagen, and VH4. The Hagen is a really great more "updated" version of the VH4 with some Herbert flavor mixed into it. My personal fav is the Herbert's huge bass and crushing sound and the aggressiveness of the VH4 mixed together in stereo.

I don't see or hear the Hagen as an updated VH4 at all... really 2 different amps, that just happen to have 4 channels and a Diezel logo on the front. The Hagen is more open, less compressed, not as tight a bottom end, more mids overall, more upper mids, not as hard/focused sound or feel when playing as a VH4. Not as agressive or direct sounding either. I liked Hagen channel 2 oddly the best. Really versatile and great for Marshally classic rock tones. Best for hard, modern or classic rock IMHO... not my Diezel amp pick for metal.

Herbert is the metal king. Definitely agree.
 
Anyone getting "fuzzy" sounds from a Diezel needs to turn up the volume. Last word that comes to mind when I hear a Diezel is fuzzy.
 
RJF":7fk3ddd8 said:
Not sure where the "fuzz" is coming from, but it's not a Diezel. Probably the cleanest most refined high gain in the bizz.

Wizard of Ozz":7fk3ddd8 said:
Anyone getting "fuzzy" sounds from a Diezel needs to turn up the volume. Last word that comes to mind when I hear a Diezel is fuzzy.

Well, I hear it in the Peter-Peter demo's too, so then they too should've cranked them up. And like I said, it's hard to describe, as it's not really fuzzy-fuzz, but a sort of almost-muddy oversaturation in the low-end.
 
Wizard of Ozz":7o7lz5bj said:
RJF":7o7lz5bj said:
Not sure where the "fuzz" is coming from, but it's not a Diezel. Probably the cleanest most refined high gain in the bizz.

I love the Herbert, Hagen, and VH4. The Hagen is a really great more "updated" version of the VH4 with some Herbert flavor mixed into it. My personal fav is the Herbert's huge bass and crushing sound and the aggressiveness of the VH4 mixed together in stereo.

I don't see or hear the Hagen as an updated VH4 at all... really 2 different amps, that just happen to have 4 channels and a Diezel logo on the front. The Hagen is more open, less compressed, not as tight a bottom end, more mids overall, more upper mids, not as hard/focused sound or feel when playing as a VH4. Not as agressive or direct sounding either. I liked Hagen channel 2 oddly the best. Really versatile and great for Marshally classic rock tones. Best for hard, modern or classic rock IMHO... not my Diezel amp pick for metal.

Herbert is the metal king. Definitely agree.

Soooo.... basically the Hagen sounds like a VH4 with some Herbert mixed into it....

IIRC Peter said the Hagen was supposed to be a more "modern" updated chassis version of a certain amp.

I owned a Hagen for almost 2 years, and it sat next to my VH4 and Herbert. I personally thought that is sounded like a more open, slightly looser, and slightly less aggressive VH4. You can also hear some of that Herbert sub bass in that amp too. I have no idea on ch 2. I never used it. In the end it's why I sold the Hagen, it landed right in the middle of two amps I already had.
 
RJF":1n54uign said:
Wizard of Ozz":1n54uign said:
RJF":1n54uign said:
Not sure where the "fuzz" is coming from, but it's not a Diezel. Probably the cleanest most refined high gain in the bizz.

I love the Herbert, Hagen, and VH4. The Hagen is a really great more "updated" version of the VH4 with some Herbert flavor mixed into it. My personal fav is the Herbert's huge bass and crushing sound and the aggressiveness of the VH4 mixed together in stereo.

I don't see or hear the Hagen as an updated VH4 at all... really 2 different amps, that just happen to have 4 channels and a Diezel logo on the front. The Hagen is more open, less compressed, not as tight a bottom end, more mids overall, more upper mids, not as hard/focused sound or feel when playing as a VH4. Not as agressive or direct sounding either. I liked Hagen channel 2 oddly the best. Really versatile and great for Marshally classic rock tones. Best for hard, modern or classic rock IMHO... not my Diezel amp pick for metal.

Herbert is the metal king. Definitely agree.

Soooo.... basically the Hagen sounds like a VH4 with some Herbert mixed into it....

IIRC Peter said the Hagen was supposed to be a more "modern" updated chassis version of a certain amp.

I owned a Hagen for almost 2 years, and it sat next to my VH4 and Herbert. I personally thought that is sounded like a more open, slightly looser, and slightly less aggressive VH4. You can also hear some of that Herbert sub bass in that amp too. I have no idea on ch 2. I never used it. In the end it's why I sold the Hagen, it landed right in the middle of two amps I already had.

Not really... but I understand what you mean. When I hear someone reference the Herbert, I think of channel 3, midcut on, and cranked. Wall of pain. The Hagen can't do that. It's not that evil or heavy sounding.

Agree with your Hagen to VH4 comparison though. I prefer the VH4.
 
Back
Top