The VH4 was a letdown for me...

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I owned a vh4 n never was blown away by it. To me::: Herbert fkn spanked it !
To me this is how I hear vh4
Ch1 no gain
Ch2 some gain
Ch3 lots of gain
Ch4 even more gain

Like no difference to the channels. I think I ended up feeling that way about Hagen after couple years w it. But not as extreme. But Herbert has diff voicings. Ch1 clean is like a diff amp all together. Ch2 can be crunch or heavy as hell w +\- switch. Then the mid cut comes into play. Ch3 is creamy but I use this for my rhythm ch. it's just so brutal ! But 2and3 both sound different from each other. With vh4 I never got that.it was like 3 bumps in gain that's it.
 
cujo":29yzf07c said:
I owned a vh4 n never was blown away by it. To me::: Herbert fkn spanked it !
To me this is how I hear vh4
Ch1 no gain
Ch2 some gain
Ch3 lots of gain
Ch4 even more gain

Like no difference to the channels. I think I ended up feeling that way about Hagen after couple years w it. But not as extreme. But Herbert has diff voicings. Ch1 clean is like a diff amp all together. Ch2 can be crunch or heavy as hell w +\- switch. Then the mid cut comes into play. Ch3 is creamy but I use this for my rhythm ch. it's just so brutal ! But 2and3 both sound different from each other. With vh4 I never got that.it was like 3 bumps in gain that's it.
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Owning both, the Herbie does spank the VH4 in the gain department. Hell, the D-Moll will outshine the VH4 in gain. But, the VH4 is more controlled amp and one thing that people don't account for is the difference in the peripheral functions of both amps. Mid-cut, MV2 on the Herbie. Channel inserts, loop volume mix on the VH4. A bit different beasts altogether. Just depends on the players needs. Like them both, but I like the VH4 better.
 
steve_k":1xsqn3of said:
cujo":1xsqn3of said:
I owned a vh4 n never was blown away by it. To me::: Herbert fkn spanked it !
To me this is how I hear vh4
Ch1 no gain
Ch2 some gain
Ch3 lots of gain
Ch4 even more gain

Like no difference to the channels. I think I ended up feeling that way about Hagen after couple years w it. But not as extreme. But Herbert has diff voicings. Ch1 clean is like a diff amp all together. Ch2 can be crunch or heavy as hell w +\- switch. Then the mid cut comes into play. Ch3 is creamy but I use this for my rhythm ch. it's just so brutal ! But 2and3 both sound different from each other. With vh4 I never got that.it was like 3 bumps in gain that's it.
Click to expand...

Owning both, the Herbie does spank the VH4 in the gain department. Hell, the D-Moll will outshine the VH4 in gain. But, the VH4 is more controlled amp and one thing that people don't account for is the difference in the peripheral functions of both amps. Mid-cut, MV2 on the Herbie. Channel inserts, loop volume mix on the VH4. A bit different beasts altogether. Just depends on the players needs. Like them both, but I like the VH4 better.
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So what does the D'Moll not do?

Seems like it does almost everything that is critical in a Swiss Army knife of a Diezel...

If this is a thread hijack just message me if you don't mind.

Thanks
 
I still stand by saying the VH4 is the best amp I've ever played. Though funny story, the first VH4 I ever played was a used one at Guitar Center, which needed to be retubed badly and sounded pretty terrible. Give it another shot (not in a guitar center environment) before you give up on it.
 
The vh4 was a amp that i couldnt stand, my vh4 was a 2002 model and i hated it.
My amp sounded really dark and compressed, the gain had this top end sizzle that i couldnt dial out, my amp sounded dull and lifeless, i tried new tubes, different cabs but i still hated it and ended up selling it. For many years i had no desire to ever try one again. I own a herbert and love it, its the amp i play the most, i think diezel are great amps but not for everybody.

A couple months ago i walked into gc and i played a new 2013 vh4 and really liked it, better yet i loved it. The amp sounded so much better than the one i owned. It was brighter and had more cut, there was more gain on ch2 and 3, it was less compressed, the amp had some bite. I love the feel, the tightness and quick attack. It was clear sounding and even the clean channel sounded better.
I didnt know that peter made some small updates in 2007 and 2011.

I couldnt get the tone out of my head, so i bought a 2013 vh4 from jayherbie about 3 weeks ago and i havent stopped playing it. I cant wait to get home from work each day and start jamming. I like it so much that im selling my mark v and 5153, i can cover alot of ground with the vh4 and my herbert.

The vh4 sounds great with lower output pickups or higher output, it works great with my uberkab, mesa cab and lately i just started using my evh cab with greenbacks.

I briefly tried a hagan that day but didnt spend as much time on it as i would have liked, so im gonna try it again, i wanna see what the hagan can really do. I liked the clean ch and i cant remember but i know i tried ch3 or 4.

Excuse my poor wording and spelling. I hated school and didnt pay attention or attend very much haha.
 
It's cool if the vh4 isn't your thing. If you couldn't get it to thump even at modest settings, something was wrong with it. The sub bass inherent in these amps is part of the unique Diezel tone. Gobs and gobs of bass/thump.
 
I fall in and out of love with the diezel sound.

It is pretty dry and it will reveal your mistakes.

It will never mush out.

Needs some volume to come into its own.

Sounds terrible at bedroom volume.

Try a clean boost, that will ma e it more forgiving.
 
fuzzyguitars":2a4kj9l9 said:
I fall in and out of love with the diezel sound.

It is pretty dry and it will reveal your mistakes.

It will never mush out.

Needs some volume to come into its own.

Sounds terrible at bedroom volume.

Try a clean boost, that will ma e it more forgiving.
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Yeah, I had the volume pretty low. I didn't find it unforgiving like a Splawn or something of that nature.
 
I'm confused why people try things at "low volume" when its intended purpose is to be used at gig volume?

How can you complain about how something sounds when your experience is limited.

Sorry, I work in a music store and I hear this every day.

rant off/

And even though my user name is Diezelmonster I no longer use or own one. Sorry for any confusion.
 
glpg80":237ip1in said:
but after I came home back to my own setup I just found things I much preferred in my own setup more. There are many variables involving amplifiers it is unreal.
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I think that is a major point. Systems/rigs I have built start with the base tone (amp), and then the peripherals. Changing the base tone (amp) in that particular system doesn't work very well. Cabs, speakers, pedals, pups,settings, etc all can drastically change how you "hear" an amp. I would never judge a Diezel, or any other amp, using my SLO rig. I'd have to start at the beginning with speaker/cab to pair with it and go from there.

For a while I had 4-5complete, separate rigs. Took too much room, and some rigs just didn't get used enough. Got rid of most of it.

I'd put a VH-4 in my top 10 must have amps. In the right rig, and right style, it kills.
 
I live in the same state as the OP and I went to GC and tried it out myself. It was my first time playing a VH4 and I could not have been more excited about it. Here is what I thought;

Firstly, I played it through a Marshall 1960...not sure if "A" or "B". Regardless, it was the only decent cab in the room other than an Orange 2x12 (which I can't stand) so I stuck with the Marshall. I picked up a Gibson LP Custom off the wall behind me.

Channel 1: excellent clean. Really enjoyed it and didn't expect to. Chimey and bright but still fat. If I could have put a delay and reverb into the loop, I'd probably still be there playing it. Excellent. 8/10.

Channel 2: Not a big fan of this channel. I don't know what Peter was going for here but it wasn't impressive. It was a little crunchy but it was also harsh and not fun to play. Not big deal, not a dealbreaker. 3/10.

Channel 3: This channel is very cool. It wasn't super gainy but it was clear and chunky. Granted, I did have to crank up the treble pretty high but I was playing it at low volumes and through a sub-par cab. I enjoyed this channel and if I could boost it with a TS808 or something, I could see myself playing this channel exclusively. There was some good thump too. 8/10.

Channel 4: SO MUCH GAIN. It was a lot of gain to me. I don't use too much but I wouldn't turn this up over 1 o'clock or so. There was a fair amount of saturation but that isn't saying much considering how dry this amp is. It's unforgiving, more so than my old Splawn Nitro. Showed a lot of flaws in my playing, that's for sure :lol: :LOL: I liked this channel, again would have liked a boost but it thumped hard and I could see this being an awesome live performance channel. 7.5/10.

Overall, I liked this amp. It didn't live up to the hype that I had placed on it but I enjoyed it. I think I'd like it a lot more through my Splawn cab with Vintage 30's and Heritage 30's. I would like to point out though that I didn't like that I had to have the presence and treble so high up. Maybe that isn't what it was made for but if I were to use it, I'd have to do it that way.

Glad I finally got to try one! Now back to my Mesa :rock:
 
DiezelMonster":2m6pp5w5 said:
I'm confused why people try things at "low volume" when its intended purpose is to be used at gig volume?

How can you complain about how something sounds when your experience is limited.

Sorry, I work in a music store and I hear this every day.

rant off/

And even though my user name is Diezelmonster I no longer use or own one. Sorry for any confusion.
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To be fair, the Diezel voicing lends itself fairly well to low volumes in addition to cranking the master and pounding the speakers. My Hagen and Herbert sounded just dandy at home. One thing I did notice is that if you have to play at lower volumes, it's better to drop the overall master and keep the channel volumes high. The effects loop comes after the channel volumes, and uses two DC coupled cathode followers. By letting a hotter signal hit those, you get some really nice compression, sustain and "warmth" at just about any volume.
 
If you're playing any high end amp through a marshall 1960 cab (especially with 75s) it's like test driving a ferrari with bias ply tires that are underinflated.
 
My local GC recently had a Hagen and Herbert. The Hagen was sitting on a Marshall Cab with 75s, the Herbert on a Bogner cab (I also had other reference points as I used to own both amps at different times and played them thru Mesa cabs). The difference between the Marshall and Bogner were night and day in the room. The short answer is that, as other people have been saying, the Marshall turns any Diezel amp to sounding like shit. I don't mean OK, I mean like shit. I don't know why, but the Diezels just do not work with the cab. I've also used the Mesa vs Marshall cab sims on the Two Notes Torpedo with a VH4. Case is the same. It's true that the Diezel sound is not for everyone, but in this case the cab is absolutely the culprit.
 
yeah the cab is a massive variable.

the vh-4 is one i never really desired but felt there had to be something to it that i was missing for so many tone freaks to rave over. but i played it more than a few times cranked.

i prefer herbie but all in all ultra heavy tone, which is peter's wheelhouse, isn't my thing.

but i love peter diezel the mad genius!
 
I hated my VH4. I tried everything to like the amp, but it just didn't work out for me. My other guitar players JCM 800 buried it in a live mix no matter what I tried. Even in the video above(no offense), the guitar is very weak in the mix. That could be due to allot of things other than the amp, but that is exactly why I did not like mine.
 
I tried and played damn near every amp..... :yes: (well except for all these new models coming out the past few years)
and even after selling it down the river in a Amp flip quest.... :no:
The VH4 (to me at least) is about as good as its gonna get. :thumbsup:
 
nice, the manchester store right? I hate that store, everything they take in is EXTREMELY over priced. Its like they lost touch with actual market values. Store manager over there is a fucking douchebag too, Ill never shop there again because of that toolbox
 
Yeah, Manchester. I never end up buying anything there but they always have an awesome stock of used guitars to mess around with.
 
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