Diezel Herbert

Model: Herbert
Output: 180 W
Channels: 3, with second master and mid-cut up to 6 voicings
Loops: 1 parallel, 1 insert loops, 1 switchable insert loop midi in & thru / phantom - power
Equalization: gain, treble, mid, bass, volume per channel add. gain switch on Channel 2 switchable mid. cut with adjustable volume
Preamp: 3 individually voiced, all tube pre- amps. Clean, crunch, lead
Poweramp: 6-tube power amp section. Recommended: EL34BHT, 6L6GC. Pairwise mixings possible, pairwise bias control
Dimensions: 74x29x28 cm

UTILIZATION

The general idea behind the herbert is that it's a vh4 with a less tight and more forgiving voicing. I had a vh4 years ago and I found it a little too "metal" sounding for my tastes in the voicing, so I was one of the first to try a herbert. The layour of the herbert is fairly simple. 3 channels, no big surprises. It does have a global mid cut feature that I honestly never use since I happen to like my mids. I suppose you could leave it on all the time and turn it off for solos? Not sure if that's how it was intended to be used. The effects loop is great, and for the price it better be. With my herbert I used an eventide eclipse along with a line 5 echo pro in the loop.

These amps are bulletproof, and I'm the kind of guy who won't buy a brand's stuff again after something goes down on me. With all the wiring in these, Diezel wouldn't be around long if their amps were going down on everybody. If you take care of it, then it will take care of you.

SOUNDS

I have all El34's in mine. That's just my preference. I like the extra mids they give me. The clean channel is somewhere in the Fender blackface/Hiwatt clean realm. I think the EL34's give it a little more hiwatt and less fender hollowness. It's not going to sound better than a good blackface original or even an original hiwatt, but it's better than a lot of channel switchers.

Channel 2 is where I spend most of my time. Serious range of gain when you use the guitar volume knob. You can go from plexi crunch to jcm800 roar to a high gain hair metal destruction. Probably one of my favorite channels from any amp ever. This channel alone would make for a great amp. AHEM

Channel 3 is basically your soloing channel. It starts at mesa rectifier territory and from there goes to some scary places. You heavy metal and noise metal...etc guys will know what I mean when I say "ridiculous amount of gain." It's a pretty versatile channel for voicing.

OVERALL OPINION

I ultimately got rid of my herbert because I rarely need to use all 3 channels. I have discovered I am more of a 2 channel guy, and most of my 3 to 4 channel amps have been removed from the collection. That's not to say this is a bad amp. It's a great amp actually. More for the guy who needs to cover a ton of bases though.

I have used the Diezel Herbert to pump up the volume of my acoustic when I play in church. I blow the roof off of the place (actually I fill the space up very nicely) with this . I love the fact that the batteries last for hours and hours. I own two other small amps and never touch them that much because of the sound of this one.

UTILIZATION

At first doubted the power i would get from it, but plugging my guitar in, i made the mistake and turning it all the way up. LOUD!!! The effects are really helpful, and so is the tuning fork. Very useful if you need to travel, or even for just home use. batter power is great as well.

SOUNDS

I would give this a higher than perfect score if i could. when i was thinking about buying this, the main worry i had was volume. it says 2 watts and is pretty tiny (and awesome!). But when i opened the thing up and turned it on the classic stack setting thats modeled after the Marshall amps, my mom kept yelling at me to turn it down, now i can't even play it at quarter volume without getting yelled at. Its very loud. also, its battery powered which makes it so much easier. you don't have to plug it in every time you want to rock out. Plus you don't have to worry about finding an outlet every time you have a gig, just plug in your guitar and play.


OVERALL OPINION

The thing i love most about this thing is that it's small. all my friends are lugging around huge marshall and fender amps and i have this tiny little amp that's almost as loud. I recommend this amp to anyone that’s on the run or the go and wants to continue playing.

Mine is the older Mk. I version.

- 180watt, 6x almost any type of power tubes, EL34, 6L6, KT88, 6550 etc.
- 3 completely independent channels with EQ, gain, treble, mid, and bass control
- Additional gain +/- switch on channel 2
- 1 insert loop, 1 series loop, 1 parallel loop, 1 switchable series loop, tuner out, MIDI in & thru.
- Mid cut feature, presence, deep controls
- Mute switch
- Channels and mid cut on/off midi assignable

UTILIZATION

It is very easy to get a good sound, I usually keep the controls near noon. I like the presence and deep controls fairly high and the mid cut around 10 o'clock. Using the midi is very easy, just push "store" on the amp, select the place where you want to assign it on the footpedal, press "store" again.

SOUNDS

I play a baritone scale 7-string tuned to B. I mostly play melodic and progressive death metal. I like how smooth and clear the gain is. I prefer the channel 3 because of it's compression and saturation. The 2+ channel sounds slightly bigger and more raw which can be preferable for some players. The clean channel is bell like very bright and clear, probably more voiced with metal players in mind.

OVERALL OPINION

What I like the most is the ability to change power tube types, and the fact how clear it sounds with the SED =C= 6550's I have in it now.

I'd buy one again in a hearbeat for the price I paid for it. I wouldn't however pay full price for it ever. I pretty much bought it as an investment since I can sell it for more than what I paid but it seems that I can't really let it go anymore since I like it so much.

3 completely independent channels with:
- Gain, treble, mid, bass, volume per channel
- (+/-) Gain switch on Channel 2
- Switchable mid cut with adjustable volume

Tubes:
- (6) 12AX7s in the preamp
- (6) Octal power tubes of any configuration, as long as they're in sets (2 EL-34s, 2 6L6s, 2 6550s, etc) @ 180w

Master Section:
- (2) Volume controls
- Presence
- Deep
- FX – return MX

4, 8, & 16 Ohm speaker outs

FX Loops:
- 1 parallel
- 1 insert loops
- 1 switchable insert loop

MIDI in & thru with phantom - power

Bias Test Points (on the model I have)

UTILIZATION

This thing has TONS of options, and can be a bit daunting at first, but honestly, I don't think there's any way you could get a bad tone out of this amp. Simply set all the knobs to 12 o'clock (except the master volumes, unless you want your head to explode), and you have an instantly gratifying tone. Adjusting from there, it only gets better!

The switches on the front are among the nicest I've seen. Everything on this amp screams quality. You will find absolutely no cut corners on this amp.

SOUNDS

From the first time I heard this amp 4 years ago, I knew I had to have it. Sitting in Guitar Center one night before they closed and seeing a guy walk in to pick this amp up, was a monumental day in my music career. What I heard come out of that amp was shear awesomeness. 180w of power coming out of a V30 loaded Mesa 4x12 made me giddy with excitement, until I asked the guy how much he paid for it! I've been building up to it ever since, buying, trading and selling others to see if there's anything out there that can rival its sound, and there's not a single amp I've owned or tried that can even come close.

I mainly play metal, and Channel 1 I use as my clean channel (though it can get some pretty cool lower gain tones with the volume cranked), the amp is surprisingly very versatile. This channel is simply beautiful, it's the clean tone I've been hearing in my head for years, that no high gain amp has been able to achieve. The cleans are bright, chimey and full of body and life. I tend to scoop my mids here, because I don't like warm clean tones, because they always sound sterile and lifeless to me. The cleans on this amp are second to only one amp I've ever played... an original 1965 Fender Super Reverb.

Channel 2 is perhaps my favorite channel of the 3. It's super tight, and has a huge grind to it that's perfect for metal riffing. While it doesn't have as "big" of a sound as the 3rd channel, it's more defined and aggressive for rhythms. The + and - setting on the amp allow for a lot of versatility, the - setting being used for more mid gain settings and the + for all out destruction. Very articulate gain structure and with the mid cut engaged, can get a HUGE sound.

Channel 3 is what I usually stick with for leads, or rhythms that require a little more oomph. It's thick and saturated with a TON of gain. It's great for aggressive leads on the bridge pickups (I can't stand the smoothness of most neck pickups I've had), and with the mid cut engaged, can really get a brutal rhythm tone. I tend to like a more searing tone, so I keep the Presence high on the amp, and the Deep around noon.

The MIDI features of the amp are great, and allow me to control my TC Electronics G-Major, and Diezel at the same time with my Behringer FCB1010, which is great for setting up a ton of awesome patches to switch through.

OVERALL OPINION

Right now, I'm running this through an Emperor 4x12 with Celestion G12K-100s and Vintage 30s in an X pattern and it sounds MASSIVE! Before, i was using a Mesa OS 4x12 with Vintage 30s, and while it sounded great, the GK100s really push this amp over the top with awesome tone.

Honestly, I probably wouldn't own this amp if it hadn't been for a great trade deal I got, which allowed me to sell the amp I had before it, and pick up the Herbert for only slightly more than what I got from selling the previous amp (Soldano SLO). While this amp does sound AMAZING, I'm not sure I would pay the amount of money that I did, had I not gotten the trade deal I got before buying it, while the amp sounds great, I would never pay the new price of $4600 for it.

Don't get me wrong, I would certainly recommend this amp to anyone who has the cash to spend, because in all honesty, it is the best sounding amp I've ever heard, no competition... but in my experiences, after about the $1500 mark new, anything higher priced is really not a huge, drastic, change in sound quality. While this amp certainly sounds better than my 5150, I don't think it sounds $2200 better :P
If I had to base just off of sound quality, I would give this amp a 10 out of 10 without question. Based on sound to price, probably more like a 7 out of 10, just because the price of these amps are so steep.