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mark-anthony
New member
Just wondering if anyone experienced any problems or what people thought about A/Bing these amps.
Thanks
Thanks
duesentrieb
Well-known member
I've modded two Shivas (a head and a combo) lately, so I can compare Diezels to it: the Shiva is a pretty traditional amp (which is cool for some guys and not cool for others). The Shiva's clean is off a Fender circuitry and sounds like it (if modded a bit), esp. in the combo version with reverb. The second channel is off a 800s Marshall, and because its a Bogner, it is less bright, more dark and smoother than an 800s. The boost of it - well - is just a boost. Turns muddy too fast IMO.
A VH4, although coming from the same "age" of amp building, is much more modern sounding. The clean is more HiFi with a better mid control (it has a mid pot
), channel 2 is comparable to Shivas crunch, but with more oommmph, channel 3 is the Diezel trademark sound, completely unavailable in any other amp (and eats the Shiva for breakfast), while channel 4 goes into gain territories where the Shiva just dreams of, completely unreachable. Feature wise the Shiva is also traditionally built: VTLs, a very old school serial loop and two eqs for three sounds. While I like certqain aspects of the Shiva's traditionalism, the VH4 wins in all areas: much better loops. midi, 4 eqs for 4 channels, a much more modern sound.
Don't get me wrong: if you are a more bluesy player the Shiva might be your thing - but then I would compare to it to a Schmidt. And again: the Diezel "wins" - the Class A clean with tube driven reverb sounds even better (in a traditionalist way) than the Shiva and the crunch/über-crunch of Schmidt is much more versatile than the Shiva ever could be. the loop is switchable (and able to run series or parallel), the amp is much better controlable.
Just my opinion of course.
A VH4, although coming from the same "age" of amp building, is much more modern sounding. The clean is more HiFi with a better mid control (it has a mid pot
), channel 2 is comparable to Shivas crunch, but with more oommmph, channel 3 is the Diezel trademark sound, completely unavailable in any other amp (and eats the Shiva for breakfast), while channel 4 goes into gain territories where the Shiva just dreams of, completely unreachable. Feature wise the Shiva is also traditionally built: VTLs, a very old school serial loop and two eqs for three sounds. While I like certqain aspects of the Shiva's traditionalism, the VH4 wins in all areas: much better loops. midi, 4 eqs for 4 channels, a much more modern sound.Don't get me wrong: if you are a more bluesy player the Shiva might be your thing - but then I would compare to it to a Schmidt. And again: the Diezel "wins" - the Class A clean with tube driven reverb sounds even better (in a traditionalist way) than the Shiva and the crunch/über-crunch of Schmidt is much more versatile than the Shiva ever could be. the loop is switchable (and able to run series or parallel), the amp is much better controlable.
Just my opinion of course.
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mark-anthony
New member
Hey Duesentrieb,
Thanks for all the info. Really appreciate it. The reason why I wanted to A/B one of those amps with the Diezel VH4 is because (even though I like the clean channel on the VH4) I find it a bit dark, and Im looking for something to brighten up the sound. I want it to sound crystal clear with no gain whatsoever. Kind of like the clean on the Herbert. Maybe I could buy an EQ pedal for channel 1 of the VH4 just to brighten it up a bit, rather than dish out almost 2000$ for another head? Do you think that would do the trick?
My other problem that might add to the dark sound of channel 1 of the VH4 is that my Deep knob is cranked to about 8 or 9 because I like heavy palm muting and it really kicks when cranked this high, so for channel 3, its amazing, but then it affects channel 1 as well.
It would have been awesome if every channel could have its own independant Deep knob.
Hope to hear from you soon
Thanks for all the info. Really appreciate it. The reason why I wanted to A/B one of those amps with the Diezel VH4 is because (even though I like the clean channel on the VH4) I find it a bit dark, and Im looking for something to brighten up the sound. I want it to sound crystal clear with no gain whatsoever. Kind of like the clean on the Herbert. Maybe I could buy an EQ pedal for channel 1 of the VH4 just to brighten it up a bit, rather than dish out almost 2000$ for another head? Do you think that would do the trick?
My other problem that might add to the dark sound of channel 1 of the VH4 is that my Deep knob is cranked to about 8 or 9 because I like heavy palm muting and it really kicks when cranked this high, so for channel 3, its amazing, but then it affects channel 1 as well.
It would have been awesome if every channel could have its own independant Deep knob.
Hope to hear from you soon
duesentrieb
Well-known member
What is the serial number of your VH4?
I am asking (Peter may join us) because from the year of manufacturing he could advise you or your tech to change 1-3 parts (capacitors, esp. the bright capacitor) to get a brighter sound. If it is a pretty new model (older VH4s are somehow darker sounding) we definitely need Peter to join us.
And yes, why not put a Boss GE7 into the channel insert of channel1, its a pretty cool - and easy accessable - idea IMO.
I am asking (Peter may join us) because from the year of manufacturing he could advise you or your tech to change 1-3 parts (capacitors, esp. the bright capacitor) to get a brighter sound. If it is a pretty new model (older VH4s are somehow darker sounding) we definitely need Peter to join us.
And yes, why not put a Boss GE7 into the channel insert of channel1, its a pretty cool - and easy accessable - idea IMO.
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mark-anthony
New member
Hi Duesentrieb,
The serial# is 0901092
Its a 2008 model. I did speak with Peter about this before and he reccommended I switch one piece inside the amp to get a louder sound because I found that the volume doesnt open up enough on channel 1, but I was trying to figure out alternatives instead of changing parts in the VH4, at least for now.
The serial# is 0901092
Its a 2008 model. I did speak with Peter about this before and he reccommended I switch one piece inside the amp to get a louder sound because I found that the volume doesnt open up enough on channel 1, but I was trying to figure out alternatives instead of changing parts in the VH4, at least for now.
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mark-anthony
New member
Hey Duesentrieb, would you rather go for the GE7 or the MXR 10 band EQ pedal? I was looking up some stuff last night.