FixXxer
Member
For reference I am a die hard Mesa guy, they for me are the tones I hear in my head when I play metal and hard rock. I own several variations of the Dual REC and a Wallace Abaddon which is a damn good Marshall fire breather.
I spent 2 hr with a VH and Herbert at a local music shop and god damn if they were not allot of fun. Here is my synopsis of the two amps:
As a pre cursor one of the shop workers helped me dial in all the channels until I liked them and showed me what all the knobs and stuff did.
VH4
This thing is physically impressive and built like a shit brick house. I mean WOW, the layout is very nice and easy to navigate, the loops are perfect if you have a small to medium size rack and its very powerful.
Channel #1, was a very nice clean. I am not a clean junkie but it was nice. On par with the Mesa roadster / TOV cleans and had a nice sparkle to it. It didn’t break up at all and was loud. Very nice
Channel #2 was a nice Marshallesque and allowed me to dial in killer AC DC and Marshall blues type tones. I was pleasantly surprised by this channel and how diverse it was.
Channel #3 this is the money channel. Killer Killer Killer, Metallica, however when I was riffing it was very unforgiving, it was forcing me to play more accurate as it was impressive.
Channel #4 This was a bit of a disappointment for me, as it paled in comparison to channel #3, and was lacking. Maybe I should have played channel 4 first then went to 3, but I was just let down. If I got this amp, I’d rarely use it.
Over all It was a nice amp although I would struggle with this amp by itself. I now see why people mix tones with these amps, and if I had the roadster and this going it would be nirvana. I thought the tones were a little sterile (hence unforgiving) but it was a different tone that I could get used too.
Herbert
Wow, just freaking WOW. I by far preferred the Herbert over the VH4. To me all the channel were way more usable than the 4 on the VH4 (at least for my needs). The mid cut control thing was cool, and I would equate it to an EQ on a Mark V or an EQ in the rack. This amp was very 3 D sounding and in the spirit of a Mesa boogie, but definitely its own thing. It was way more forgiving than the VH4, which is a good and bad thing.
Channel #1
I really liked the clean channel here, it was easier to dial in and reacted well to the pedals. It maintained the headroom but was a little thicker and I like that. I guess I am not a fan of the fender cleans, but these cleans were nice. It was not a versatile as the Mesa cleans on the roadster, but man it was a nice clean and VERY livable.
Channel #2
Good gawd this thing is diverse. It can do everything. If this amp was its own channel it would be worth it. It was freaking Marshall madness and then fire breathing love fest. I loved this channel scooped unscooped etc. It had a tendency to be fizzy but it was a good kind of fizzy. Thick, meaty, mean, I really liked this.
Channel #3
Was great, and a lot of fun and better than the 4th channel of the CH4, and equal to the 3rd channel of the CH3 (in terms of liking). It’s a good channel and good option to have and could be configured close to channel 2’s raging distortion, but be its own thing.
All in all three channels on the Herbert were usable for me.
I really dug both these amps, and if I had to start over I’d look at them hard. If I wanted to get one amp, I’d get the Herbert. If you want to blend sounds and mix etc, I’d get the VH4 and call it a day.
To just run a VH4 would be hard and I’d need to spend more than 1 hr with it, but it was a little brittle sounding / harder sounding than the Mesa’s and the Herbert.
All in all, it definitely has been thinking more about buying one of these guys moreso than I have in the past.
I spent 2 hr with a VH and Herbert at a local music shop and god damn if they were not allot of fun. Here is my synopsis of the two amps:
As a pre cursor one of the shop workers helped me dial in all the channels until I liked them and showed me what all the knobs and stuff did.
VH4
This thing is physically impressive and built like a shit brick house. I mean WOW, the layout is very nice and easy to navigate, the loops are perfect if you have a small to medium size rack and its very powerful.
Channel #1, was a very nice clean. I am not a clean junkie but it was nice. On par with the Mesa roadster / TOV cleans and had a nice sparkle to it. It didn’t break up at all and was loud. Very nice
Channel #2 was a nice Marshallesque and allowed me to dial in killer AC DC and Marshall blues type tones. I was pleasantly surprised by this channel and how diverse it was.
Channel #3 this is the money channel. Killer Killer Killer, Metallica, however when I was riffing it was very unforgiving, it was forcing me to play more accurate as it was impressive.
Channel #4 This was a bit of a disappointment for me, as it paled in comparison to channel #3, and was lacking. Maybe I should have played channel 4 first then went to 3, but I was just let down. If I got this amp, I’d rarely use it.
Over all It was a nice amp although I would struggle with this amp by itself. I now see why people mix tones with these amps, and if I had the roadster and this going it would be nirvana. I thought the tones were a little sterile (hence unforgiving) but it was a different tone that I could get used too.
Herbert
Wow, just freaking WOW. I by far preferred the Herbert over the VH4. To me all the channel were way more usable than the 4 on the VH4 (at least for my needs). The mid cut control thing was cool, and I would equate it to an EQ on a Mark V or an EQ in the rack. This amp was very 3 D sounding and in the spirit of a Mesa boogie, but definitely its own thing. It was way more forgiving than the VH4, which is a good and bad thing.
Channel #1
I really liked the clean channel here, it was easier to dial in and reacted well to the pedals. It maintained the headroom but was a little thicker and I like that. I guess I am not a fan of the fender cleans, but these cleans were nice. It was not a versatile as the Mesa cleans on the roadster, but man it was a nice clean and VERY livable.
Channel #2
Good gawd this thing is diverse. It can do everything. If this amp was its own channel it would be worth it. It was freaking Marshall madness and then fire breathing love fest. I loved this channel scooped unscooped etc. It had a tendency to be fizzy but it was a good kind of fizzy. Thick, meaty, mean, I really liked this.
Channel #3
Was great, and a lot of fun and better than the 4th channel of the CH4, and equal to the 3rd channel of the CH3 (in terms of liking). It’s a good channel and good option to have and could be configured close to channel 2’s raging distortion, but be its own thing.
All in all three channels on the Herbert were usable for me.
I really dug both these amps, and if I had to start over I’d look at them hard. If I wanted to get one amp, I’d get the Herbert. If you want to blend sounds and mix etc, I’d get the VH4 and call it a day.
To just run a VH4 would be hard and I’d need to spend more than 1 hr with it, but it was a little brittle sounding / harder sounding than the Mesa’s and the Herbert.
All in all, it definitely has been thinking more about buying one of these guys moreso than I have in the past.
