Peters or VHT UL?

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Intimidator333

Member
I've been driving myself crazy and am really stressing myself out over what amp to purchase. I have money saved. It's just a matter of choosing the right one. I've talked to many of you on here about previous amps I've owned. What I like and don't like.
I've narrowed it down between getting the new modern high gain design from Peters or the VHT UL.
I have a friend with a UL and I love it.
I have never played a Peters but for some reason I think I would really like them. Talked to James a bunch through email. He has a new design that is supposed to be even more aggressive and tighter than the FSM and says it will suit the Fear Factory and Strapping Young Lad styles that I'm after. My main hesitation with Peters is it will be the more expensive option for an amp I've never played.
Those of you that have experience with Peters other designs and the VHT UL can you give me your opinions between the 2?
Also, I really don't dig the whole mass produced in China thing but the Randall 667 really has my interest as well and could get one used fairly cheap. Wish I could afford a legit Fortin.
 
I have a 2014 Peters FSM/Halo. It's a great sounding amp, but it took me awhile to get it where I wanted it. It doesn't have that ultra tight feeling like a Fortin. I also have a Randall Satan and I love the damn thing. I know it's made in China, but Fortin and Ola would not put their name on a crap product. If you want the best Metal amp on the planet, save for a Fortin or try the 667. I also want the 667 or the KH103. The Peters sounds great with a boost up front for tight and down tuned stuff. Maybe look at a used Thrasher? Dino from Fear Factory uses a Thrasher. Good luck and enjoy the New Amp Journey.
 
tstern66":3nicykbf said:
I have a 2014 Peters FSM/Halo. It's a great sounding amp, but it took me awhile to get it where I wanted it. It doesn't have that ultra tight feeling like a Fortin. I also have a Randall Satan and I love the damn thing. I know it's made in China, but Fortin and Ola would not put their name on a crap product. If you want the best Metal amp on the planet, save for a Fortin or try the 667. I also want the 667 or the KH103. The Peters sounds great with a boost up front for tight and down tuned stuff. Maybe look at a used Thrasher? Dino from Fear Factory uses a Thrasher. Good luck and enjoy the New Amp Journey.
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Thanks for the input. I saw Dino has a Thrasher. It's somehow modded by Mike. Not sure what? Maybe 6550's instead of stock 6L6? I follow Mike on FB and I know he was very involved in the quality control of those amps and made several trips to the shop in China.
Have you tried the 667? Curious how it compares to the Satan? Also have you tried the VHT?
 
I haven't tried the 667 or a VHT. All I know is that, I have had a lot of amps and the Fortin type sound is what I'm after. The clean channel on the Thrasher and Satan is also amazing. I don't use any pedals with the Satan. Simply, plug in and go. I've heard great things about the VHT too.
 
Do you have the Fortin Grind pedal? That will give the Fortin type attack to any amp. It sounds great with my Peters.
 
tstern66":1l2117qk said:
Do you have the Fortin Grind pedal? That will give the Fortin type attack to any amp. It sounds great with my Peters.
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No I don't. That would be the pedal I would get though if I got the VHT to give it a bit more saturation. I usually prefer to not use/need a boost though. So you think the Peters needs a pedal in front to tighten it up properly?
 
For tight and focussed metal, I prefer a boost in front with the Peters. I don't play with a shit ton of gain, but I like the boosted sound and feel. I also like the clean on the Satan more than the Peters Halo.
 
I have a Peters and had a VHT UL before they became Fryette. I didn't have them at the same time. Both amps are great. The VHT is a little dryer and grainy to my ears. It is crisp and tight and can cover a lot of ground just like the Peters. I wouldn't mind having a UL again or a CLX just to have one. I rarely use a boost pedal and like to plug in direct and both amps satisfied my needs for high gain heavy tones. The UL seemed a bit tighter to me on the real quick stop and go stuff but the Peters by no means falls apart or flubs out on that type of chug so don't worry there. Some people get frustrated with the UL graphic EQ as it can be touchy but I didn't find it to be a big deal. I could pretty easily find a great tone and set it and forget it. Both amps are built well, both amps are versatile in the sounds they produce. Like anything, it will come down to your root tone preference type. Let me know if you have any further questions and I will try to help.
 
RockyStar":29cxcl1w said:
I have a Peters and had a VHT UL before they became Fryette. I didn't have them at the same time. Both amps are great. The VHT is a little dryer and grainy to my ears. It is crisp and tight and can cover a lot of ground just like the Peters. I wouldn't mind having a UL again or a CLX just to have one. I rarely use a boost pedal and like to plug in direct and both amps satisfied my needs for high gain heavy tones. The UL seemed a bit tighter to me on the real quick stop and go stuff but the Peters by no means falls apart or flubs out on that type of chug so don't worry there. Some people get frustrated with the UL graphic EQ as it can be touchy but I didn't find it to be a big deal. I could pretty easily find a great tone and set it and forget it. Both amps are built well, both amps are versatile in the sounds they produce. Like anything, it will come down to your root tone preference type. Let me know if you have any further questions and I will try to help.
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UL uses KT88, right? Have you tried those in your Peters for comparison?
 
FourT6and2":2823ci1p said:
RockyStar":2823ci1p said:
I have a Peters and had a VHT UL before they became Fryette. I didn't have them at the same time. Both amps are great. The VHT is a little dryer and grainy to my ears. It is crisp and tight and can cover a lot of ground just like the Peters. I wouldn't mind having a UL again or a CLX just to have one. I rarely use a boost pedal and like to plug in direct and both amps satisfied my needs for high gain heavy tones. The UL seemed a bit tighter to me on the real quick stop and go stuff but the Peters by no means falls apart or flubs out on that type of chug so don't worry there. Some people get frustrated with the UL graphic EQ as it can be touchy but I didn't find it to be a big deal. I could pretty easily find a great tone and set it and forget it. Both amps are built well, both amps are versatile in the sounds they produce. Like anything, it will come down to your root tone preference type. Let me know if you have any further questions and I will try to help.
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UL uses KT88, right? Have you tried those in your Peters for comparison?
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Yes and my Peters has 88's as well.
 
bulletride":1o315zol said:
How's the peters compared to herbert?
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Nothing touches the Herbert power section opened up IMO. For the money on the used market it is tough to beat a Herbert for all it offers and what you get in the 3 channels. Also it is a great low volume amp as well believe it or not. The Herbert has more Girth, Gain and saturation than my Peters. I use the Peters for more rock stuff and non brutal metal. The Herbert I would use for heavier tone chasing though it can do the rock and clean thing really well. That being said, I don't put them in the same category really. The Peters cleans up beautifully, the gain is punchy and articulate and the half power is nice. The Peters does the ac/dc type thing great with the gain rolled back. Its a really cool amp. I really enjoy it.
 
i have a UL and a peters FSM. I have had a hydra and a vega/gryphon too.

the UL is not for eveyone. if you are sloppy,everyone will know it. its kinda demoralizing to some who may not have their technique down tight. but when you are on,it rewards you bigtime. one of my top five amps in my room for sure.

i have found anything made by james peters much more easy to play and enjoy,with any tube in the power section. i prefer kt88s,but they love el34s. my fsm is also in my top five.

IMO you cant go wrong with either. herbert is a great choice too,another top five choice.
 
I heard the Satan live and it was amazing. I had a first run UL and a 100CL, I absolutely loved the CL and I want another.

I played a Herbert at a store not through my cab and it was crushing but sounded too compressed for me.

If it were me I would get the new Peters just because lol. BUT I think you'd be happy with any of them.
 
what I would do is buy a used UL since you already know you like it. If you end up not liking it you can sell it and not lose any money if you bought a new UL.

I'm a big VHT fan, have 50CL and a FB 4x12 but they are not for everyone. I personally like the clarity so if you mask poor technique with gain it will be exposed.
 
Shawn Lutz":3enxsh3l said:
what I would do is buy a used UL since you already know you like it. If you end up not liking it you can sell it and not lose any money if you bought a new UL.
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It's hard to argue with this advice, especially if a person is really worried about possibly making the wrong choice.

rottingcorpse":3enxsh3l said:
i have found anything made by james peters much more easy to play and enjoy,with any tube in the power section. i prefer kt88s,but they love el34s. my fsm is also in my top five.
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Thanks Martin. :)

So imagine the FSM compared to the Gryphon (or Hydra). Take that amount increase in aggression/tightness, and imagine that "beyond the FSM"...but still easy to play.

Am I a bastard? :D

RockyStar":3enxsh3l said:
...the half power is nice.
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That phrase "half power" points in a specific direction, away from the Professional Series amps and toward the amps that I made prior to 2008. I did away with that feature before the introduction of the Professional Series amps. So I'm guessing that's an older 50W model with designs other than FSM (and I know it doesn't have CSM since only one person has an amp with that, and he's in China).

With that in mind, I want to clarify something, not necessarily to anyone posting on this thread so much as to anyone reading this. When someone talks about "a Peters" or "the Peters" but leaves things vague, I tend to get that brought up to me in emails. ("I heard Peters amps are this or that.")

The idea of "the tightest" and "the most aggressive" designs didn't interest me, and actually still doesn't. My main priorities are tone and feel. Then I design in as much gain/aggression/tightness as I feel makes sense without sacrificing tone and feel. My designs have been gradually "creeping up" in gain/aggression/tightness over the last 15 years as I've learned to do that while keeping a careful balance. Until now I haven't even tried to push past the level of gain/aggression/tightness of the CSM or FSM because I thought it would sound bad. I was kind of right; I had to re-think what I was doing and change the circuits overall in a few ways to push past that without sacrificing tone.

This means my previous designs can't be considered in the same realm as other amps that are "super tight and aggressive". Even later designs like Gryphon, GNL, and especially Hydra (which was quite misunderstood--not intended at all to be as tight as people assume) aren't what I consider in that realm. FSM and CSM are pretty good for that sort of thing, but still I was purposely holding back.

Also I made very few 100W amps prior to 2008. 50W was my "standard" for years. It's hard to judge a modern high gain aggressive/tight/deep sounding amp especially at louder volumes, if it's 50W and being compared to 100W amps.

Then as of the Professional Series, the effects loop circuit (and all the circuitry around it, whether you used the loop or not) helped keep the poweramp more punchy than the amp formats prior to 2008.

So I don't want to "poo poo" my prior amps, but when talking about the most aggressive/tight sounding designs, I'd say unless it's a Professional Series 100W dual or triple channel with CSM or FSM designs, you probably haven't gotten a taste of what I'm capable. :)

The first of the Body Hammer amps will be made right away. I'm waiting for custom faceplates for the 15th Anniversary format, but also making a couple triple channel amps with that circuitry. Clips will happen soon after those amps are made.
 
Yeah, I kinda got the feeling someone was comparing something like a Vega to an Ultra Lead. And that's not a fair or valid comparison.
 
FourT6and2":f3eujk4y said:
Yeah, I kinda got the feeling someone was comparing something like a Vega to an Ultra Lead. And that's not a fair or valid comparison.
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It could even be something significantly higher gain like Chimera or Gryphon since those were around since...2006, I think? Damn I'm getting old. :) Despite how I made them sound "tighter" as of the Professional Series, I'd still hesitate to say they're meant to be that tight/aggressive (compared to the UL).
 
If I recall correctly, UL's prior-to 2007 had EL34's. 2007 and beyond is when Steve began putting the KT88's in.

I have a 2010 UL w/ KT88's and it's a surgically precise machine. Great amp if you want shred ear drums and cut through any mix.

I currently own a Hydra/Halo, and have owned the Chimera/FSM - I think the UL is much dryer/tighter by a good margin than any of the three Peters overdrive channels I've played.

Being that UL's are getting harder and harder to find you may want to start with a Peters, they are great sounding amps.

There are a couple UL's on Reverb, but the buyers prices are pretty high as compared to what I bought mine for.

https://reverb.com/item/3021801-vht-ultra-lead-100

https://reverb.com/item/3688416-vht-fry ... footswitch

https://reverb.com/item/3894190-fryette ... 2016-black
 
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