There have been many “revisions” to the VH4, but only a few are well known. Peter uses the same PCB since version 1 and just tweaks the values to follow musical trends or what guitarists ask for. On the official website for the VH4 it says something like “built the same way since 1991.” This is misleading.
I have a 2022 VH4 right now that is dry (feel-wise), has lots of gain on tap, is fairly compressed and dark until you crank the treble and presence. It pairs best with a front-loaded cab to add additional high frequencies and bring out the nice crunchy distortion the VH4 has.
My friend @hellzington has a 2004-ish VH4 that sounds like a completely different amp. It has more midrange, leaner in the bass, less compression, more saturated feel but less gain. We compared the two directly.
His amp could be modded, but there’s no way to tell. There is no single VH4 circuit. It’s changed a lot over the years.
I’ve also heard earlier VH4s that have overwhelming amounts of bass and are very dark.
The VH2 is its own beast. It’s a mix between a Diezel Paul and a VH4, taking the clean channel from the Paul and a modified version of the VH4’s channel 3.
So it depends on what you’re looking for. I’d recommend the newer VH4s to people into more modern music and tight amps and earlier VH4s to people who like the classic stuff with a more open sound (more Marshallish). VH2s to guys who don’t need 4 channels.
This, haha.
This 2004 VH4 is my third VH4. I've also owned a 2010 and a 2022. This 2004 VH4 sounds so incredibly different from the other two I had, I can't even explain it. Way less compressed and fizzy than my 2010 and dare I say more "vintage" and "raw" than my 2022, which sounded good but was very polished and modern.
This 2004 is darker than those two, with less compression and less gain globally (except on Channel 2, interestingly, which has more gain than I remember either of the other two having). The lowered global gain makes the sweep of the gain knobs much more useable from 1-10. Sure, the clean channel on the 2004 is not as pristine and shimmering as the other two, but the amp is overall much more organic and punchy, with a more pleasant top end. It has more pleasant harmonic content and the frequencies coming out of the amp are more balanced and classic. The under-the-finger feel is better and the amp responds more naturally. It just has more
personality. It's more fun to play and more satisfying to your ear.
THIS is the VH4 tone I had been chasing. Crazy how they can all be so different.
A forum member who has known Peter Diezel since 1998 told me that up until 2006, all VH4s were pretty much the same as the old "Blueface" circuit from the mid-to-late 90s. But in the mid-2000's, Peter got many requests to make the VH4 brighter and sharper, with more gain and cut. Players wanted more gain and articulation for "chug"/metal/down-tuned sounds. So Peter made an interesting modification to the amp. Adding a certain resistor to the circuit it would increase the gain, compression, brightness, and sizzle. The lower the value, the more gain, compression, brightness, and sizzle.
In 2007, VH4's started coming stock with these resistors. This is why the post-2007 VH4's all sound the way they do, and it's the way the market was trending at that time. If you recall, Mesa Boogie made similar changes to the 3-Channel Rectifiers in the 2000's to give them more gain, cut, and sizzle. (People now call them "fizzy" but at the time, people liked them.) Peter kept the resistors in the amps and continued adjusting the circuit to players' ears over the years, and as a result the VH4 continued to get more polished and produced as the years went on. I don't know what value they are using in current production VH4's.
When anyone asks about the VH4, my question is always, "Which VH4?" because they can be very different.
I have clips of my 2004 against
@pipboy90 's 2022 (we left the mic's running when we were comparing the two). I'll try and get that video finished this week so you can check it out yourself.
