So i heard/saw a Diezel Herbert finally

last night. believe it or not someone actually has one in the hickory area - he teaches music at a local music store. he has been a closet diezel owner all this time because his band was playing live at a fall festival.

granted i didnt get to jam on it - i'd like to share some ideas of what i heard.

the clean channel was indeed stunning. that really is an awsome clean, very smoothe and well, clean. you dont hear or feel that marshall clean thats somewhat overly bright and very alive sounding - the diezel's was more chimey clean and really prestine.

to be honest it sounded great.

the crunch channel sounded good - really heavy rock n roll was how he had it setup. you could hear all the chords perfectly fine no matter where he was on the fretboard.

the lead channel - i was dissapointed guys. go figure im usually the one to stir shit on this forum, but i didnt like it. what everyone said about the gain being a very complex tone is very true - i could hear that tonality perfectly and its very true. the compression of it made it seem like it was very easy to play and the gain is just outrageous. another thing i dont like about it was how loud it was - not the amplifier - the shit that noise-gates are for when you arent playing. maybe it was ground loops but jesus it was stupid loud and you could hear the hiss terribly.

i guess with that much gain what do you expect. my 5150 does it but then again its not a boutique amplifier.

i expected it to sound much better than it did. he was playing it through a diezel cabinet.

clean and crunch yes - but really dissapointed on the lead channel low end and the type of gain it had. i expected it to sound much better (especially cranked since it was a gig?) but to be honest i like a cranked 5150 instead.

who knows.

the herbie takes a bit of knob twisting, but all 3 channels can be eq'd to get you there plus the post-preamp eq across all channels. it has more gain packed into it than you can ever use. the mid-cut control is what takes it from mild to wild with the push of a button. if you got another chance, try to get one in a demo room and have a go at it yourself. it is over the top for high-gain, and very quiet with no hiss or white noise. he must have had something else going on.

steve

all the stores around here are mom and pop's stores or pawn shops.

sam ash is the only large music store for many many miles. they usually stock your usual 5150 III/TSL/DSL/cheap cabinet collection. of course all the tubes are microphonic from no-one knowing how to warm up amplifiers or cranking them once and a while.

unless i know someone here on the board nice enough to let me come play one i doubt ill ever see another one again for a long long time.

the way you describe it i really wish i could sit down with it for a second. but that amp's lead channel lacked alot. to say a $1000 5150 stomps ass on a herbert is nowhere near fair for that amplifier and it seems like it has tons of capabilities. the LED's on those things are bright though i can tell you that lol. i cant say that i dislike it at all because i do - the lead tones were OK but not as full as some of the engl's i have heard - at least for the tone that i would like to have.

again i feel like its one of those amplifiers where i could be jaw dropped or has the capability to drop me on the floor but the chance to experience one (correctly?) is out of reach. truely sad too - alot of people sware by them here on the forum. o well man.

glpg80":qo2ta1st said:

all the stores around here are mom and pop's stores or pawn shops.

sam ash is the only large music store for many many miles. they usually stock your usual 5150 III/TSL/DSL/cheap cabinet collection. of course all the tubes are microphonic from no-one knowing how to warm up amplifiers or cranking them once and a while.

unless i know someone here on the board nice enough to let me come play one i doubt ill ever see another one again for a long long time.

the way you describe it i really wish i could sit down with it for a second. but that amp's lead channel lacked alot. to say a $1000 5150 stomps ass on a herbert is nowhere near fair and i cant say i dont like it at all because i do - the lead tones were OK but not as full as some of the engl's i have heard.

again i feel like its one of those amplifiers where i could be jaw dropped but the chance to experience one (correctly?) is out of reach. truely sad too - alot of people sware by them here on the forum.

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i own the herbie and vh4. but, if i had it to do all over again there are several amps for half the price that i would consider before dropping that wad of cash. i did buy the vh4 new, but the herbie i found on flea-bay for $2900. would i pay $4600 for a new one? - hell no. it stays with me though. the vh4 may be on the auction block soon though.

steve

steve_k":10g8ypj2 said:

and very quiet with no hiss or white noise. he must have had something else going on.

steve

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That is what I was thinking. Or had some other problem in the whole rig or bad tube.

glpg80":10g8ypj2 said:

l. go figure im usually the one to stir shit on this forum, but i didnt like it.

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What ?

No amp is for everyone .....

I very much like the like the punch and huge low end. The mid cut makes some great tones.

I do not like the fact that it gets lost in the mix so easy. If it is the only mid-range instrument it well be fine. Throw in a other other guitar / brass / keyboard / etc. It is gone.

Mix any Diezel with one of my THD amps heavy on the power amp distortion and you get a huge full range sound.

I highly recommend this combination to all.

I've played the Herbert several times. It is one bad mofo amp, not just in a brutal way because it's really really good at the brootz, but all-around great sounding amp. I used to own an Einstein 100 and painfully, dreadfully had to sell during crisis. I still feel pain over it this day and will eventually scrape the dough up to get a replacement.

Anyway, I'd have to say the hiss must be something else. It could have been the guitar pickups, cheap cable, bad tube, etc... I think tone is in the fingers as well as the gear and setup. I've also heard people who can dial in great rhythm tones but their lead tones aren't so great.

I knew a guy who was a pretty damned good player but he had a weird pick technique so the pick hit the strings at a hard angle and made his tone kind of suck. It sounded kind of crappy no matter what amp/guitar he was playing because of his pick technique. Even though if you really listen to him you can hear his picking is accurate, it's the way he attacks the strings that seems to muck up his sound.

One thing you don't hear in forums often enough is "I'm going to play such and such amp tomorrow and was wondering if anyone had some suggestions on how to start off dialing it in?" You always hear much more of the "Played such and such amp yesterday..."

Like someone said before me, just find one, plug and play until you find your tones. If it inspires you then you just discovered what many before you have discovered (though they painfully shelled out thousands for it :>)

sixstrings":2exrj83u said:

I've played the Herbert several times. It is one bad mofo amp, not just in a brutal way because it's really really good at the brootz, but all-around great sounding amp. I used to own an Einstein 100 and painfully, dreadfully had to sell during crisis. I still feel pain over it this day and will eventually scrape the dough up to get a replacement.

Anyway, I'd have to say the hiss must be something else. It could have been the guitar pickups, cheap cable, bad tube, etc... I think tone is in the fingers as well as the gear and setup. I've also heard people who can dial in great rhythm tones but their lead tones aren't so great.

I knew a guy who was a pretty damned good player but he had a weird pick technique so the pick hit the strings at a hard angle and made his tone kind of suck. It sounded kind of crappy no matter what amp/guitar he was playing because of his pick technique. Even though if you really listen to him you can hear his picking is accurate, it's the way he attacks the strings that seems to muck up his sound.

One thing you don't hear in forums often enough is "I'm going to play such and such amp tomorrow and was wondering if anyone had some suggestions on how to start off dialing it in?" You always hear much more of the "Played such and such amp yesterday..."

Like someone said before me, just find one, plug and play until you find your tones. If it inspires you then you just discovered what many before you have discovered (though they painfully shelled out thousands for it :>)

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Agreed with this and some previous points about the Herbert you heard - the guy had a pedal or something else on/going on to cause the hiss/noise you heard. Mine is as silent as it can be. Almost sounds like there's a gate on it but there isn't. I've never needed to use one in fact and my band plays LOUD.

Now, I will disagree with a previous post regarding not being able to cut through in a mix. I play with another guitarist who dials in a very bright and crunchy sound and I'm right there in the mix just fine. Even and well balanced with him if not perhaps more present than his sound. It's all in the eq tweaking and it truly doesn't take much. I think this assertion is the result of some players not adjusting their amps properly for live performance vs. bedroom or studio play.

I've owned a couple of Herberts, and a good deal of it is how it's dialed.

I will say that I've never been a big fan of the third channel. Peter was nice enough to mod it on one of mine, but still not really my thing.

Channel 2+ was always where it was for me.

As far as the noise thing, both mine have been exceptionally quiet. As a matter of fact, I don't think any I've ever played were noisy, and that's probably 10 or so.

Edit: Channel three is good for super low volume. This is channel three, and you could talk over it.

Damn Josh!!! way to kick ass there buddy!

jcj":36n4c78t said:

I've owned a couple of Herberts, and a good deal of it is how it's dialed.

I will say that I've never been a big fan of the third channel. Peter was nice enough to mod it on one of mine, but still not really my thing.

Channel 2+ was always where it was for me.

As far as the noise thing, both mine have been exceptionally quiet. As a matter of fact, I don't think any I've ever played were noisy, and that's probably 10 or so.

Edit: Channel three is good for super low volume. This is channel three, and you could talk over it.

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I thought that clip sounded fantastic! Never played or heard a Herby in person, but I absolutely loved the VH4 I played through. It felt great to play and the response was very accurate and tight, almost like playing the guitar unplugged but with excellent rippin tone

studiojig":1zm6hl88 said:

Now, I will disagree with a previous post regarding not being able to cut through in a mix.

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I agree EQ of both guitars well help. Do you think you well cut with 3 or 4 people playing brass instruments and keyboard live ?

stephen sawall":1a44bb2d said:

studiojig":1a44bb2d said:

Now, I will disagree with a previous post regarding not being able to cut through in a mix.

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I agree EQ of both guitars well help. Do you think you well cut with 3 or 4 people playing brass instruments and keyboard live ?

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That's gonna be tough no matter what you're playing. I suppose it mostly depends om arrangement, no?

studiojig":37ixo5d3 said:

Damn Josh!!! way to kick ass there buddy!

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Thanks, Jeff....Timing is really bad, but there was a bit of drinking involved

Here is my Herbert rig Mark Day did for me. You can hear the amp pretty well here, I dug it allot. That said Diezels have their own thing going on, nothing like the high mids of a Marshall.

Me not too long ago playing my Diezel W/D/W rig. VH4/Herbie - 7 really cool tones. I found the Herbie too compressed for my taste in the long run. I liked the VH4 a little better. Herbie channel 2 in the (-) mode, and VH$ channel 3 were my favs. As I really started to explore all the amps I could, I found I preferred the more open amps, ie. SLO, Wizard, and I love the Marsha as well. Nothing wrong with the Diezels, but just not my thing once I got to play some other amps.

Do you think the reason you didnt care for it was the way it was dialed in?
Every clip I hear of the Herbert has me DROOLING!
But its just WAY TOO MUCH cash for a poor bastard like me to spend.

You're criticizing the tone of an amp you haven't even twisted a knob on I'm not a HUGE fan of Diezel for myself, but they're ultra-tweakable...the guy could've just had channel 3 set up poorly, or not to your tastes. They are super quiet as far as hum goes, so something must've been outta whack there.

rareguitar":1x1021pl said:

Here is my Herbert rig Mark Day did for me. You can hear the amp pretty well here, I dug it allot. That said Diezels have their own thing going on, nothing like the high mids of a Marshall.

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I thought this Herbert sounded awesome !!!


Mark

The Herbert will sound great in a bedroom but with it's compressed nature but it's no wonder when you hear complain about it not cutting through in a band mix with 2 guitar players. Up loud, a screaming Marshall will cut through and a Diezel will get buried, All IMHO

samhill":3gwf0x5y said:

rareguitar":3gwf0x5y said:

Here is my Herbert rig Mark Day did for me. You can hear the amp pretty well here, I dug it allot. That said Diezels have their own thing going on, nothing like the high mids of a Marshall.

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I thought this Herbert sounded awesome !!!


Mark

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Man....that does sound sweet!