Ear piercing treble on vh4

[Savvyray19]

So i have a 2018 diezel vh4. I was always obsessed with trying to get adam jones tone the amp already sounded great i just kept fiending to getter closer and closer. Time went on and i replaced the tubes to 6l6gcmstr power tubes the same ones he uses. It once again sounded great but i still wanted to get closer to the blueface tone so i searched and searched for a long time to find out what all has been changed in the circuit over the years looking though forums and what not also asking peter what could be done. From what i had found and what peter told me and confirmed was there is a resistor in the preamp and if i change that out to a 47k it will sound alot darker. There was also a difference in the feedback circuit that changed the low end in the power amp he told me if it was changed to a 22k crossed by a 100pf cap that would make it like a blueface. These two things were the big update done in 2007. Everthing else that was changed over the years were very small mostly unnoticeable differences mainly in circuitry not necessarily tone. So i made the two changes and the amp tone wise sounds fantastic and alot closer to what i like. The amp really should be exactly how is was right before the update in 07. So its sounds good and when recording it sounds good the only predicament is when im using adams settings and im sitting in front of it i get this really ear piercing treble that come through that isn’t pleasant on the ears. Im not sure if thats just a characteristic of the older style amps or what. Im just curious if other people have had this issue with the older amps or is it just me?

 

[Philhouse]

Sorry, that huge block of text is really hard to read, some paragraphs would make it clearer, ie: gIve it more presence (TIC)

I think you're saying;

1) You are going for Adam Jones tone with your 2018 VH4, and the amp sounds great, but not close enough just yet.
2) You're using 6L6's which sound great, but still not there for you.
3) You modded it to Blueface specs and it sounds fantastic.
4) It sounds good, and sounds good for recording.
5) When you use Adams settings and you're sitting in front of the amp it's really ear piercing treble.


So:

1) How close are you sitting?
2) What cab and speakers are you using?
3) Are sitting in the direct beam of the speakers? Can you sit elsewhere in the room?
4) Is the room you're using it on perhaps accentuating the treble and attenuating the bass?

I would also say, if you're going for Adams tone and you think the VH4 is very piercing, then don't add the other huge part of his tone, the 70's Marshall... that will really rip your ears off. My understanding is the Marshall is doing all the high end, high mids and Marshall thump & clarity of his tone mix, where the VH4 does his low end, low mids and the thick distortion. when playing them together all set up for his blended tone it sounds glorious, but when you mute the Marshall you realise how little treble the VH4 is adding to the mix.
Then there is the rabbit hole of all the variety of amps he uses in the studio, Recto's, Krank's, Wizard's, Rivera's etc... and now on tour he is using his VH4, Marshall and the Recto, so thats another factor you'll need to nail his current tone.

I enjoy the chase sometimes to get close to his tone too when I'm feeling the vibe to spiral out. As they say most of it's in his hands & the tone he hears in his head. A smaller part is the exact gear he uses (and that's only what we know about from photos and interviews that he and others have disclosed, we'll never know every exact part and setting goes into his tone).

Adam's VH4 isn't just a standard blueface either, his is modded. Peter himself said that a few years ago when his inspected Adam's amp and blueprinted it. Peter didn't go into specific's about the mod, but said it was only a minor change here and there. I'd guess he would also be under some friendly agreement to not fully disclose everything in respect to Adams personal amp and he wouldn't reveal all the secrets behind the curtain of the Pro's. The fact his personal VH4 is modded adds yet another factor to chase/guess/solve in order to be really replicating his exact tone.

I guess I'm saying, get as close as you can then accept it can never be 100% perfect and just enjoy the tones for what you can get on your gear.

 

[Savvyray19]

Sorry about the text, ill work on it im new here.

So ive literally written massive guides on how to get jones tone. Ive spent years figuring out every single little detail when it comes down to his rig, I probably know more about it than just about anyone to be honest with ya.

As for your questions, doesn’t matter if im a foot away or 20 feet away you can hear the unpleasant frequency. Im using a mesa cab, a early 90s duncan distortion, and a 78 lp custom, ive also built an exact replica pedalboard ive even gone so far to try and match the exact years of his pedals. Everything i can do to get as close to his tone ive done.

Ive got a 76 marshall superlead right next to it with exact specs but attenuated. For several of his tours he only used the marshall and blueface. And those two by themselves are my favorite tone of his. And those are the settings i have them setup for. You can see them clearly is this video at a clinic were he only had those two heads running. https://youtu.be/HWJzy6ptThI He runs the marshall differently when he does this.

My diezel nails the aenima tone, the only way i can explain what im hearing is it sounds like some frequencies are getting smooshed close together and creates this unpleasant kinda upper mids treble that seems impossible to dial out without turning the treble or presence down significantly and by that point it doesnt sound right. Maybe thats just where the treble frequency sits in these amps i dont know it just doesnt seem right to me.

Btw, from what ive read im not sure if his amp has been modded or if some caps had just been replaced with different types.

 

[Peter Diezel]

So who did mod the amp ?

As long I can remember I never shipped out an amp
with ear piercing treble because I don´t like myself.

Please send some pictures of the PCB to service (at) diezelamplification (dot) com.
Next step would be to get some sound files.

Thanks,
Peter

 

[Daniel.S]

Sorry about the text, ill work on it im new here.

So ive literally written massive guides on how to get jones tone. Ive spent years figuring out every single little detail when it comes down to his rig, I probably know more about it than just about anyone to be honest with ya.

As for your questions, doesn’t matter if im a foot away or 20 feet away you can hear the unpleasant frequency. Im using a mesa cab, a early 90s duncan distortion, and a 78 lp custom, ive also built an exact replica pedalboard ive even gone so far to try and match the exact years of his pedals. Everything i can do to get as close to his tone ive done.

Ive got a 76 marshall superlead right next to it with exact specs but attenuated. For several of his tours he only used the marshall and blueface. And those two by themselves are my favorite tone of his. And those are the settings i have them setup for. You can see them clearly is this video at a clinic were he only had those two heads running. https://youtu.be/HWJzy6ptThI He runs the marshall differently when he does this.

My diezel nails the aenima tone, the only way i can explain what im hearing is it sounds like some frequencies are getting smooshed close together and creates this unpleasant kinda upper mids treble that seems impossible to dial out without turning the treble or presence down significantly and by that point it doesnt sound right. Maybe thats just where the treble frequency sits in these amps i dont know it just doesnt seem right to me.

Btw, from what ive read im not sure if his amp has been modded or if some caps had just been replaced with different types.

It's probably your pickups. Try a JB and then let us know.
Don't forget that Adam usually doesn't like giving out information about his gear, so he'll say he uses something else instead.

 

[Savvyray19]

Ive used a jb before the distortion sounds better. Adam said in a magazine interview he uses distortions.

Me and my tech worked together to do the mods.