My review of the Diezel VH 2

splatter

Active member
I'll start with things I don't like about the head.
1. I don't like the fact that the tube sockets are mounted to the circuit board. I never have liked this design. Seems to me that over time with enough tube changes this could cause problems with the circuit board from the stress of pushing in on the tubes. Especially with the pre amp tubes because of how tight they are. I do know that a lot of manufactures including Soldono go with this design nowadays. Maybe its just a sign of the times.
2. I don't like the skinny little cable that comes of the foot switch. It looks like its destined for a short life especially if the amp is being hauled around. But if your handy with an iron a new one will be easy enough to install since its just a TRS cable.
3. I don't like that an amp that cost this much doesn't come with a cover. For almost 3k I think it should.
4.edit. this was a dislike of the loop. After spending the day setting up my Fractal FX8 and the loop is GOOD


I got this head on Wednesday the 12th. I was working late a lot this week and only got to spend an hour or so a night on it. Mostly at low volume.
I was pretty much underwhelmed by the amp. My only experience with Diezels is from several years ago when I bought an Einstein new from GC and every time I played it I was like "holy SH!t this thing sounds good". I didn't have that experience with this amp. In Diezels defense I have become jaded since I owned the Einstein and I am a tone snob. Anyway yes, the amp sounded good at gig volume but was really lacking at bedroom volume. I know its a 100w head and needs to breathe. However, I have never had any problem getting a good tone at low volumes with any amp I've owned before and quite a few of them were 100 watters. I told my wife I was thinking of returning it and she was like "really",I told her for what this amp cost I need to be blown away and so far I'm not.
The amp did have that depth that Diezel is known for but it just seemed to be lacking. There was no bite to it
So today I got home from work early and decided that today was the day to decide if I keep the amp or not .So I dropped in a set of EH EL34's and changed V2 and V3 from the Chinese tubes to EH 12ax7's I had laying around. Neither the pre's or the PT's are my choice for what to put in an amp but its what I had on hand and I figured it would give me an Idea of the difference.
Well, now the amp is the beast I was looking for. It almost seems like these tubes were made for this amp. All the bite I could want is there and the highs are much improved, the amp has harmonic overtones for days. Now when I play the amp I'm saying "holy SH!t this thing sounds good".
We all know the right tube can make or break an amp but I've never had such a marked improvement in an amp with just a tube change.And yes it sounds good at practice volume.
I knew when I bought the amp I wasn't a KT77 fan. To me, the KT77 is a really round soft sounding tube. If that's what you're looking for in an amp then you may like this one stock.
The clean channel is sweet ,and goes from very clean to crunch .I'm not much of a clean channel guy and while I need one I didn't buy the amp for the clean channel.

In conclusion, I''m keeping the amp cause now IMHO it ROCKS.

BTW this amp loves H75 scumbacks . At least for the tone I’m after

kygkYjXl.jpg
 
Congrats on getting her to sound the way you want!

I have the opposite thoughts on the KT77 in that rather than sounding "soft and round" I perceive them as sharp and tight. At least in the Uber I put them in. Had them in a Splawn QR too and they were far from soft and round in that circuit. Like you I received my Uber and was pretty underwhelmed. Swapped out the EL34 that were in there for KT77 and absolutely love the amp now. Might of been pretty old EL34 in there though so liking it more with KT77 could have been more just the result of getting tired tubes replaced :dunno:
 
That seems like a lot of things not to like to justify keeping a $3000 amp, with how many amps out there in that price range that have all the things that you would like. Also what is the deal with the V1 being so recessed?
 
sutepaj":3vehunia said:
That seems like a lot of things not to like to justify keeping a $3000 amp, with how many amps out there in that price range that have all the things that you would like. Also what is the deal with the V1 being so recessed?

I agree but ultimately it comes down to the tone of the amp. The only other amp I was looking at was the Bogner ecstasy and I believe it just won’t have the balls this one has .As long as I can work with the loop the rest I can ignore. I’m planning on taking some time today and working with the fractal and adjusting it to suit the amp.
 
splatter":2ccw8ehi said:
lespaul6":2ccw8ehi said:
see ya in the classifieds...

LOL

Not likely. I just spent the day setting up my fractal and playing through the amp .
This thing is amazing

He put it in his sig, give it 3 months :rock: :D

Make clips!
 
OK, so this may not be a fair question, but I'll ask it anyway if only because with Diezels in my area, it's pretty much buy to try. Anyway...

I'm going to guess that you looked at the VH4, too. Completely hypothetical... my question is this... if someone would evenly trade you a brand new VH4 for your VH2, would you take them up on it? (I don't own a VH4, so this really is just a hypothetical question).

Here's why I ask... I've got a Herbert and LOVE it. I've been interested in the VH4 for awhile, too, although I chose the Herbert over it for my first Diezel. When they came out with the VH2, I was (and am still) really intrigued by the heavier transformers than the VH4 and the simplified signal path. Given those two things, I think it has the potential to be as good as the VH4, albeit with two less channels (something I don't care about). I know that, while the VH2 sounds close to a VH4, I know it's not quite the same. I think I would be very happy with a VH2, but I'm not sure if it would stop me from wanting a VH4, too. Of course, the inverse could be equally true... if I get a VH4, it may not stop me from wanting a VH2.

So, my question is really this... in your opinion, could the VH2 be enough to assuage the desire for a VH4? Or maybe, is it close enough to be an either/other solution?

I will admit that, after playing the Herbert for over a year now, I want all of the amps Diezel makes. Amazing machines!
 
ChurchHill":25xopozq said:
OK, so this may not be a fair question, but I'll ask it anyway if only because with Diezels in my area, it's pretty much buy to try. Anyway...

I'm going to guess that you looked at the VH4, too. Completely hypothetical... my question is this... if someone would evenly trade you a brand new VH4 for your VH2, would you take them up on it? (I don't own a VH4, so this really is just a hypothetical question).

Here's why I ask... I've got a Herbert and LOVE it. I've been interested in the VH4 for awhile, too, although I chose the Herbert over it for my first Diezel. When they came out with the VH2, I was (and am still) really intrigued by the heavier transformers than the VH4 and the simplified signal path. Given those two things, I think it has the potential to be as good as the VH4, albeit with two less channels (something I don't care about). I know that, while the VH2 sounds close to a VH4, I know it's not quite the same. I think I would be very happy with a VH2, but I'm not sure if it would stop me from wanting a VH4, too. Of course, the inverse could be equally true... if I get a VH4, it may not stop me from wanting a VH2.

So, my question is really this... in your opinion, could the VH2 be enough to assuage the desire for a VH4? Or maybe, is it close enough to be an either/other solution?

I will admit that, after playing the Herbert for over a year now, I want all of the amps Diezel makes. Amazing machines!

Yes ,its a buy it and try it. I was just thinking of completely re-doing the review.This Vh2 is my favorite amp ever.After the tube swap it completely came alive.I believe it was the pre tubes that made most of the difference I can't stop playing the thing.
I should state that I don't do the chugga chugga thing .I play mostly hair metal type stuff
hence my love of el34's and that searing top end .Depending on what you play it may be what your after right out of the box. I'm a tweaker when it comes to music gear and to be fair I don't think there is an amp made that I wouldn't find something I didn't like and something I wouldn't change..

As for trading for a VH4 , I don't know ,I would have to play the VH4 first .If I could make it sound like this then yes I would .A site unseen trade ...NO WAY.

I have had many amps over the years and this one trumps them all by a wide margin. At some point I will try to get some clips up .
 
Thanks! That answered my question perfectly. :) I play a lot of different things. I started playing in '85, so I can completely relate to the hair metal thing. I've had a number of amps, too, some truly great ones and more than a few vintage ones, too. My main requirement is that they all give me a tone that I can't get with anything else. I'm quite sure that both the VH2 and VH4 can meet that requirement easily.

BTW, if you ever get a chance to play a Herbert, don't hesitate! It's an amazingly versatile amp. Most people think that it's just a modern metal amp, and while it can do that as well as anything else, it does so, so much more! It doesn't sound like a VH2, though, but it can get close. The reason I went with the Herbert first was the mid-cut feature. I don't use it but about half the time, and then very sparingly, but it is a powerful tool to really shape the sound. I never thought that the VH4 was missing anything without it, and I don't think the VH2 is, either.

And yeah, some clips would be great! There's just not a lot of clips of the VH2 out there at all. I really like what I heard on Diezel's own clip of the VH2, and I think it's a little more directly comparable to their clip of the VH4 (same player, mostly the same guitars).

Anyway, thanks again!! Glad you're enjoying the amp!!
 
I was thinking that it's probably an attempt to limit mechanical noise, or possibly to reduce EMI. Unusual for sure, but not really an issue since it can be removed easily as per Peter's instructions. At least that was my take away from the other thread on the Diezel sub-forum about it.
 
The VH4 has the preamp tubes with more or less the same counter sunk design. But no collar or can shield around them. And I’m pretty sure it is to limit RF or EM interference.
 
Glad you're loving the amp now. I love the VH4 and have been curious about this one since it was announced. Heard some great demos too.

I don't think you'd like the Ecstasy based on the tones you like. It doesn't have the attack or upper mid thing that I can get from a Marshall or Diezel. It can definitely get bright and cutting but not in the same frequency range. The 20th is closer but still a different sound.

Put up some clips!
 

I'll start with things I don't like about the head.
1. I don't like the fact that the tube sockets are mounted to the circuit board. I never have liked this design. Seems to me that over time with enough tube changes this could cause problems with the circuit board from the stress of pushing in on the tubes. Especially with the pre amp tubes because of how tight they are. I do know that a lot of manufactures including Soldono go with this design nowadays. Maybe its just a sign of the times.
2. I don't like the skinny little cable that comes of the foot switch. It looks like its destined for a short life especially if the amp is being hauled around. But if your handy with an iron a new one will be easy enough to install since its just a TRS cable.
3. I don't like that an amp that cost this much doesn't come with a cover. For almost 3k I think it should.
4.edit. this was a dislike of the loop. After spending the day setting up my Fractal FX8 and the loop is GOOD


I got this head on Wednesday the 12th. I was working late a lot this week and only got to spend an hour or so a night on it. Mostly at low volume.
I was pretty much underwhelmed by the amp. My only experience with Diezels is from several years ago when I bought an Einstein new from GC and every time I played it I was like "holy SH!t this thing sounds good". I didn't have that experience with this amp. In Diezels defense I have become jaded since I owned the Einstein and I am a tone snob. Anyway yes, the amp sounded good at gig volume but was really lacking at bedroom volume. I know its a 100w head and needs to breathe. However, I have never had any problem getting a good tone at low volumes with any amp I've owned before and quite a few of them were 100 watters. I told my wife I was thinking of returning it and she was like "really",I told her for what this amp cost I need to be blown away and so far I'm not.
The amp did have that depth that Diezel is known for but it just seemed to be lacking. There was no bite to it
So today I got home from work early and decided that today was the day to decide if I keep the amp or not .So I dropped in a set of EH EL34's and changed V2 and V3 from the Chinese tubes to EH 12ax7's I had laying around. Neither the pre's or the PT's are my choice for what to put in an amp but its what I had on hand and I figured it would give me an Idea of the difference.
Well, now the amp is the beast I was looking for. It almost seems like these tubes were made for this amp. All the bite I could want is there and the highs are much improved, the amp has harmonic overtones for days. Now when I play the amp I'm saying "holy SH!t this thing sounds good".
We all know the right tube can make or break an amp but I've never had such a marked improvement in an amp with just a tube change.And yes it sounds good at practice volume.
I knew when I bought the amp I wasn't a KT77 fan. To me, the KT77 is a really round soft sounding tube. If that's what you're looking for in an amp then you may like this one stock.
The clean channel is sweet ,and goes from very clean to crunch .I'm not much of a clean channel guy and while I need one I didn't buy the amp for the clean channel.

In conclusion, I''m keeping the amp cause now IMHO it ROCKS.

BTW this amp loves H75 scumbacks . At least for the tone I’m after

kygkYjXl.jpg
Why did you specifically changed V2 and V3 ? I thought V1 had the most impact on the sound ? I'm a bit disappointed by the sound of my VH2 too so I'm wondering what I can do to improve it
 
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