VH4 and pickups?

exbest182

Member
I'm a new VH4 owner - 2006 EL34, with front loaded v30 2x12 and 4x12 Diezel cabs...

I just got the 4x12 today, and hooked it all up... I have 3 guitars..

Friedman Vintage T - with custom Friedman pickups (motor city?) - alder body and maple neck...
PRS Signature Limited - Mahogany body/neck, maple cap, indian rosewood board - PRS 408 pickups
PRS Custom 24 - Wood library - Korina body and neck, maple top, ebony board with BKP Mules

Going off channel 3 alone... The Friedman sounds the best by far... just killer.
The Custom 24, didn't have near the clarity... maybe it was the settings, but it sounded muddy...
Similar results, but a little bit clearer with the other PRS.

I would think, with the friedman and bkp mules being PAFish, that they'd be close in sound (though there is the wood difference) ...

I consider the VH4 a pretty modern sounding amp, I always have been a fan of using lower gain pickups, and then using more gain on the amp, than having higher output pickups.. I'm not sure how the friedmans measure, but the 408 and mules aren't super hot..

in your guys experience does the VH4 prefer higher output pickups? any suggestions are great.. I just really love my PRS guitars, and can't get them sounding near as good as the Friedman...

also, side note, i have a light crackle on channel 1 alone.. other channels are nice and quiet.

Thoughts? opinions?

Thanks!
 
Hard to say anything without having heard the amp in question, but it's worth pointing out that the Diezel sound has more bass and low mids than any other.
A PRS which sounds fat will sound even fatter. If you are accustomed to other amps, it may take a while to get used to the sound.
At least that was my experience.
Whenever I switch on another amp now, I always ask myself where all the low end has gone. Our ears and brain get so used to the things we hear.
What we listen to all the time, sounds right after a while.

I have Dimarzio PAFs in my guitars. Those are low output and rather bright.

If there is crackling, I'd replace the tubes, not pickups. ;)
 
I like stuff around the 13k mark myself as far as pickup winds go, not really an accurate measurement of output though. A lot of it depends on the guitar too really. One thing you will notice with a diezel whatever that guitar is putting out will be exacerbated 5 fold because of their natural compression.
 
exbest182":26be2non said:
I'm a new VH4 owner - 2006 EL34, with front loaded v30 2x12 and 4x12 Diezel cabs...

I just got the 4x12 today, and hooked it all up... I have 3 guitars..

Friedman Vintage T - with custom Friedman pickups (motor city?) - alder body and maple neck...
PRS Signature Limited - Mahogany body/neck, maple cap, indian rosewood board - PRS 408 pickups
PRS Custom 24 - Wood library - Korina body and neck, maple top, ebony board with BKP Mules

Going off channel 3 alone... The Friedman sounds the best by far... just killer.
The Custom 24, didn't have near the clarity... maybe it was the settings, but it sounded muddy...
Similar results, but a little bit clearer with the other PRS.

I would think, with the friedman and bkp mules being PAFish, that they'd be close in sound (though there is the wood difference) ...

I consider the VH4 a pretty modern sounding amp, I always have been a fan of using lower gain pickups, and then using more gain on the amp, than having higher output pickups.. I'm not sure how the friedmans measure, but the 408 and mules aren't super hot..

in your guys experience does the VH4 prefer higher output pickups? any suggestions are great.. I just really love my PRS guitars, and can't get them sounding near as good as the Friedman...

also, side note, i have a light crackle on channel 1 alone.. other channels are nice and quiet.

Thoughts? opinions?

Thanks!

Please send an email to service (at) diezelamplification (dot) com
 
No diezels only like moderate boosting comparatively, ive even easily wound up in a fuzzy blocking sort of distortion.
This is my experience after boosting and playing many pickups and guitars through the five models I have owned.

So if using an OD you wont need high outputs, if not a medium output 10-12k is what most people prefer to retain dynamic and clarity and add some heat.

As for the tone, well matching the pickup to the guitar and then the amp is always a case by case balancing act.
 
For my ears , I dig the VH4 with PRS Mcarty pickups.
HB OR SC they're highly versatile with this amp.

For a bit more definition the JB/Jazz combo sounds great as well.
 
I usually use medium to medium high output pickups (BKP black dog, rebel yell, emerald, and PRS 57/08) and that seems to be the sweet spot for my VH4 I would have the amp checked out if you are getting mud with mules. Those are lower output, slightly scooped, and should have enough high end from the scatter/hand wind to retain clarity.
 
I've recently bought my first Diezel (50w Einstein) and am in tone-heaven when I play a Les Paul Standard with a BKP Mule into it. However, I'm about to have a Fender Strat routed for a humbucker (I'm more of a Strat player but love humbuckers) and would also like to put a BKP pickup in there, but I'm aware that amps like Diezels are said to go well with lower-output pickups. Does anyone have a good suggestion for which of the BKP pickups which would go well in a Strat, when being used with a Diezel?

Many thanks :)
 
I've meant to post about this in the past and keep forgetting, but since the low vs high output pickup thing comes up often enough...

Honestly, find any pickup that has the type of frequency balance/response to playing/character that you like, regardless of its output level, and then buy one of these:

http://www.radialeng.com/product/dragster/

(Or any Radial switching device or pedal that has a "Drag" control on it).

The Radial "Drag" control is meant to be used to compensate for pickup loading mismatches when using a wireless transmitter or splitting one guitar between multiple amplifiers with one of their switching/splitting units, but I have found that it can also be used to dial pretty much any guitar/pickup combination into the sweet-spot for the front end of whichever particular amp you are using.

I've dropped BKP ceramic Nailbomb pickups into the bridge position of all of my primary (for use with my band) tracking/live-use guitars. They are advertised as 15.7kOhm, which is on the high side, but using the drag control on my splitter pedal they all play along with my Diezels (Herbert, VH4, and Einstein) just fine and sound wonderful. (Without it the clean channels can sound a little harsh, distorted, or something at times under heavy playing.. with it I have absolutely no issues, the amps sound perfect, and yet I can retain the character of the pickup and the tonal balance that I like coming off of the guitar).

Best of luck in your ongoing quest for perfect tone. :thumbsup:
 
Cool... Tim's always been a great guy to deal with and the Holy Diver is a great pickup. Hope it works out and gives you what you're looking for!
 
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