I will go ahead and chime in here...The Diezel is simply a jaw-dropping amp to play. It has the very best cleans of any high-gainer (that I have played) and it does just about everything well. The one area that it falls short is the real "raw" sounding, dirty, high-mid, Marshallesque mid to high gain tones that some favor. From my experience, I believe it to be a nearly perfect amp for the tones that you described.
Here is a link to my original Diezel Herbert review upon acquiring the amp:
REVIEW AFTER 72 HOURS: Diezel Herbert
Well I've had the Herbert since Tuesday evening and been enjoying the hell out of it!!! I'll start off my review with a little story. Yesterday around 8:45pm a friend of mine, who is huge fan of "heavy" music (but NOT a musician) stopped by to drag me out to a local lounge we hang at for a while. About ten minutes after he arrives his girl calls him on his cell phone and he steps in the guest bedroom (my new Diezels are currently in the living room of my condo) to take the call. After he is in there for about 10 minutes talking, I say to myself...I guess I'll plug in and jam at low volumes for a little bit 'til he's done. So I proceed to do just that with my Herbert. He appears in the room about 10 minutes later and says "dude...what the fu*k is that?" I say "what?" he replies "that sound"..."oh, that's my new amp...sorry if you could hear it in the other room while you were on the phone". He then says, "I could kinda hear it...but I could really FEEL it...but now I CAN hear it...sounds huge" "yeah" I say. "turn it up a little and play that riff again" he says...so I do. He just shakes his head and says "that thing is rediculous" and laughs out loud.
Channel one is a fantastic clean channel to my ears...so incredibly simple to get a great clean sound out of it. It really reminds me of a Roland JC...without the effects, really "soft" sounding...but lively, with a nice top end sparke to it. Single notes jump nicely as they represent the outrageous power section punch of this amp. I don't know how Peter got this level sustain happening without the use of gain. And strumming cords is a real pleasure as they ring out so true and clear as a bell...piano like in it's overall response. I don't typically use any effects, but I can imagine that with a touch of chorus/delay, the quality of this sound would be approaching perfection for most. It will "break up" just a hair if you really push the volume and treble, but you really don't want it to. It's obvious, to me at least, that this channel was meant to be lush, chimey and pristine...and it is. This clean sound rivals many amps that were designed specifically for cleans/ dirty cleans. This is the BEST, BAR NONE clean channel on any high gain amplifier that I have played.
Channel two takes you from a fairly convincing "dirty clean" (lower gain on the - position) to an aggressive rock crunch to 5150 gain territory (Gain arround 2:00 o'clock in the + mode) depending completely upon how the gain and +/- switch is dialed in. At very modest gain settings you can get a decent bluesy thing happening as the voicing of this amp has a somewhat more traditional "feel" in terms of "give" and "bloom" when compared to most peoples idea of what a Diezel tone is...if that makes any sense. Without the "Mid Cut" switch activated, it has a super refined Marshall-like quality to it, the lower mids absolutely GRIND..but without that nasally upper mid swell that is typical of some Marshall high gain tones...and it certainly has none of the "overly-grainy" or "buzz saw" response of a Mesa Rectifier either...VERY smooth indeed. This channel is has a very modern hard rock/metal flavor while still retaining most of that "Diezel" clarity, touch sensativity and articulation...you cannot deny the trasparency of it's high gain tones, even as it approaches saturation (around 1:00 o'clock on the gain dial in the gain + mode) Flip the switch on the "Mid Cut" and you are in super MODERN SOUNDING hard rock and metal territory...after dialing a really nice metal rhythm tone WITHOUT the mid cut switch activated, I switched the mid cut switch on for the first time and litterally laughed out loud at how hugely EVIL the amp sounded...l absolutely giggled like a little boy, alone in my living room. Think Metallica Black Album tones after a couple cycles of pharmacutical grade anabolic steriods...yes, really...I just said that and meant it. Even after playing the Bogner Uberschall at some length (which I thought was fantastic...but grainy and a little loose) nothing compares to this sound...that I have heard...It's as modern a voicing as modern metal gets. Guys I could go on and on, but between the sensitive gain and eq dials, the +/- gain structure switch and the availabilty of the mid cut option (not to mention the two seperate master volumes!!!)...There are so many brilliant tones available in channel two of this amplifier it will make your head spin. Really the smartest and most tonally diverse channel of any high gain amplifier I have ever played.
Channel three (like the VH4) is very similar to channel two, without as many tone shaping options. It seems obvious to me that this channel is designed for lead playing, but can be set up for aggressive rythym playing with realitive ease. The primary difference in voicing are: a bit more compression, slightly darker vibe and even more USABLE gain and saturation. Lead players will LOVE (the word "fat" doesn't do it justice) the thickness of the single notes and the incredible sustain. There is never really any good reason that I can see to have the gain dial much past 12:00 o'clock here...and this is comming from a guy who usually has the gain on his 5150 at 6.5 on the lead channel. Having said that, ALL the gain is useable, the amp never really "falls apart"...it simply becomes unreasonably saturated if you crank it (the gain) up too much.
Overall this a great amp. The best way I know how to describe it is this: the overall vibe sounds very "produced". Let me explain: Have you ever been in the studio recording high gain tones with, say...a Peavey 5150 or a Mesa Mark series (fans of either should love this amp) and you are digging the sound as it seems to have been well miced and competently recorded? Then let's suppose Bob Rock shows up and says "thanks guys...I'll take it from here" to you and the engineer. You show up in the mixing room a week later and the tones are much richer, crisper, punchier, well defined and just, well...better. Really pleasing to the musically trained ear. That is what this amp sounds to me...90% "there" plugged straight in and right out of the speakers of your 4x12 cabitet. The label on this amp should read: "studio magic included" or "will save money on plug-ins"...Ha!!! As silly as it seems, I believe this to be an accurate depiction of the vibe of the Diezel Herbert. I have heard people describe this quality as "fake" sounding...or not very "raw" in it's presentation. I would agree that it is probably too refined/sophisticated/complex a sound to be decribed as really "raw" (when comapared to a cranked 5150 or well boosted jcm 800), but it is certainly AGGRESSIVE...And for the record, I would NEVER describe it's distortion as "fake" sounding in any way shape or form!
A few FINAL observations:
1. This amp's tone stack is centered in the low-mids. This , combined with the 180 watt power section accounts for the huge PUNCH and authoritative low-end THUMP associated with it. Because of this, caution should be exercised when dialing in the bass and deep controls...especially when that evil mid cut switch is on. The low end can easily become overbearing and "step on" the rest of the amp's frequencies, thus degrading the tone. Some might say this amp simply has too much bass. At any rate, the tone is very "round", reagrdless of tweaking.
2. It LOVES active pick ups...The EMG 81 seems particularlly favorable.
3. The "mid cut" option is poorly named (sorry Peter). It does not simply suck the mids out of the amp (like most "contour" or "mid notch" enabled amplifiers). Combined with the level and intensity dials, it appears to change the overall voicing, gain structure, ballance and feel of the amp's tone...almost creating two amps in the one headshell. I would have named this option "dynamic voice", "modern shift" (or something similar). To imply that is just "cuts mids", is mis-leading and is an overlly simplified description.
4. Contrary to the descriptions of some, this is NOT a "loose" sounding amplifier to my ears!!! Again...NOT LOOSE. Is it as tight as a VHT Pitbull or my VH4?...no. Is it as loose and "squishy" as a Mesa Rectifier or Bogner Ubershall?...Absolutely not. To me, it's ballanced. It has just enough give to it to be precieved as really BIG, have some "bloom" and "breathe". Frankly, I don't know how Peter designed this amp feel as tight as it does considering it's low mid center, enormous bass response and rediculous gain/saturation capabilities..Players who find this amp to be overlly loose are either partial to very tight sounding amps (VHT, VH4, ect), or need to take a look at the proficiancy of their tecnique...This amp is far more "forgiving" than my Diezel VH4. Just my opinion.
I hope you find this review interesting and informative...Thanks for taking a moment to read. Detailed comparison between my VH4 and Herbert still to come in a seperate thread.
(I know the UK is not in the EU 
