I'm new to Diezel, Just placed an order for a new Herbert. Questions...

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Hay Mike

Hay Mike

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Message for anyone at Diezel or indeed all the Diezel aficionados I see using this forum.
I'm a Scots guy working in the Bahamas, been playing guitar for over 15 years now and decided to get myself a Christmas present when I visited the UK a couple of weeks back. I fancied a new amp, browsed the net for the tastiest available and kept hearing amazing things about the VH-4 and the Herbert. Whilst visiting a friend in the south of England I dropped in on Mansons guitars in Exeter (great place!) and was lucky to find they had a Herbert sitting a top of a VH4, great way to A-B between the 2 amps! It was close but there was just something I loved about the Herbert and opted for it. The only down side is that there's no point taking it back out here to the Bahamas as the voltage is all over the place and it would get fried in no time! so I will have to wait 6 months to get my hands on it again when I get it shipped up to Scotland in the summer.
So as a new member of what I see as a rabidly enthusiastic bunch of Diezel owners I've got some (bear with me) very basic questions;
what output valves does a new Herbert ship with?
What's the current Herbert 'model'?
When trying out the VH4 & Herbert at the shop, Mansons had them hooked up to a Marshall 4 x 12, which sounded pretty good to me (ooh controversial!) back home I have a pretty reliable Marshall valvestate 4 x 12, from reading another rig-talk forum, one guy was worrying that the deeper bass frequencies couldn't be handled by such a cab. I always found it a pretty tight cab, will I suffer all that much using this cab inittially?
Towards the end of this year I will probably upgrade to another 4 x 12 but which one......

Cheers for any advice you folks can offer!

:D
 

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"Hey" Mike

Welcome to the board. I own the newest version of the Herbert. The relatively newer models (made within the last 2 years) have external bias and the even newer models (2006) also have LEDs for the fuses. Here is a picture of what it looks like on the back. I own serial number 001/595 - I think, so if you find one with a higher number - it would be the latest model.

Herbert-BackCU1.jpg


As for cabs. I have a Diezel 412R and a Bogner Uberkab. I like the Diezel - but its a little brighter than I'd like. I think my Herbert sounds better through the Bogner cab.
 
Thanks for that & the pic.
There is a couple of outlets back in Scotland that stock Bogner gear so I might try a cab.
Do you have the Uberschall head, that was another I wanted to give a hurl but haven't had the chance.
What tubes did your Herbert come supplied with?
 
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Hay Mike":cf7be said:
Thanks for that & the pic.
There is a couple of outlets back in Scotland that stock Bogner gear so I might try a cab.
Do you have the Uberschall head, that was another I wanted to give a hurl but haven't had the chance.
What tubes did your Herbert come supplied with?
Click to expand...

Yeah I have the uberschall and an ENGL Fireball as well.

P1010685.jpg


The Uberschall is a great head. To me its really only one channel amp - since I don't use the cleans. Its a great choice - but it doesn't come close to the Herbert IMO. Just a little different flavor. It is a pretty loose amp compared to the Herbert - nothing that a good clean boost can't take care of though.

Right now I have the stock tubes in the Herbert - Chinese made Rubys - el34s for the power tubes. I am going to experiment with new tubes soon just to see what happens.
 
Well that looks like a fairly sweet set up you've got there! 'Gear lust' can't be something you suffer from with a rig like that surely!
I thought it'd probably be the Rubys, let me know how the experimenting goes.
Do you actually gig the Diezel?
I'm kind of longing to get back to it, maybe after I leave the Bahamas and get back to Scotland in 08...
For now i'll have to settle for running my Line-6 pod xt into Pro-tools, not quite the same though methinks....
 
There is always something more I want to buy. That's how I ended up with all that for my "bedroom" rig. :lol: My gigging days are long past me. Now I am more of a hobbiest with exspensive tastes.
 
I went to Manson's too and tried the Herbie that was sat on top of a VH4 into a marshall cab! It's obviously a different Herbie as I took this one away with me!

Yeah it was difficult but in the end I went for the Herbie too! I have a Marshall 1960A cab ATM. I want to get something better but I'm skint so can't buy anything nicer. I've never heard such nice sounds come out the 1960A! If yours is like the valvestate cab I had the 1960A seemed to sound a lot less woolley and more "open" and treble-y. Maybe I can get the Diezel to sound nicer with another cab but I'm still enjoying the improvement over my last rig! It's not like it sopunds shite, it probably just doesn't sound it's best!

Yep, it's 6x Ruby (Shugang) EL34s stock.

I figure you have the latest version Herbie with the fuse LEDs since I bought mine there JUST under a month ago and that was the latest version so 2 weeks is newer than mine from the same shop!

mhenson,

You say the Diezel cab sounds a bit bright. Which version is it? I figured it would sound darker if it had 4x V30s instead of 2x V30s and 2x G12T-75s.

My marshall has 4x G12T-75s and I think it's a bit "sharp", yet "woolley" sounding compared with what I'd get next as a replacement. I'm a bit broke ATM but would like opinions for when I'm better off! Could you compare them to a Marshall cab if you've tried one. Cheers!
 
BTW mine is S/N: 001/619 Is yours one or 2 different? they might be brothers! :)
 
Alright there Me,
Small world eh, and I'm four & a half thousand miles away! Seth from Mansons is ordering me another Herbert in from the one I tried as I'm getting back to Blighty in July and it takes a 3 month turnaround in the order. Don't know about you, but I've visited Mansons the last couple of years and found them very cool to deal with, too many places I've gone into test out the gear have the 'Muso-chin-stroking-what-the-fuck-do-you-want' vibe, thumbs up to Mansons!
In fact the first time I ever went in there I bumped into Manson himself & I asked him if he stocked Korg Khaos pads (didn't realize at the time that he built Matt Belamy's & John Paul Jones's Guitars, doh) and he started enthusing about he just fitted one into a Guitar?! Then the penny dropped very cool guy!
Do you gig your Hebert? would love to hear how people get on with them onstage, I bet it just batters the hell out of the back the legs!!

Cheers,

HayMike.
 
Welcome to the club! I own Herbie 673 - bought late last year.

Why can't you use yours in the Bahamas again?
 
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Me":e72bc said:
mhenson,

You say the Diezel cab sounds a bit bright. Which version is it? I figured it would sound darker if it had 4x V30s instead of 2x V30s and 2x G12T-75s.

My marshall has 4x G12T-75s and I think it's a bit "sharp", yet "woolley" sounding compared with what I'd get next as a replacement. I'm a bit broke ATM but would like opinions for when I'm better off! Could you compare them to a Marshall cab if you've tried one. Cheers!
Click to expand...

My Diezel cab has all V30s. I don't know why - but it is definately brighter than my Bogner cab. The Bogner cab has poly-fiber batting on the inside. I also did this to my Diezel cab and that helped cut the brightness alot - but it is still a tad brighter.

I've only played my Diezel through the 2 cabs I own - so I can't help you regarding the Marshall cab. I want to try it through a Mesa all v30 cab - because I've heard it sounds pretty good through those.

I'm happy with my Diezel cab - though I may try 2 new speakers in an x-pattern with the v30s. If I had gotten to play the Herbert through the Diezel cab and compared it to the Bogner cab before I bought it - I would have probably just bought another Uberkab. Its funny though - the cabs are basically identical in every way except for the speakers and minor cosmetics that don't affect the tone - they are made by the same third-party company.
 
Cheers Scottph,
The Bahamas power supply grid drops, peaks & sometimes cuts out all together, maybe once a week, sometimes several times a day in the summer! Even with a heavy duty surge protector on the mains i'd be really nervous about risking frying the Herbert. I'll just have to wait to get my hands on it in July when I get it shipped to my UK home address. I'm learning to be patient....

Mhenson; sounds like you've different experiances with different cabs but nothing too negative so far. I'll see how much a Diezel cab costs in the uk.
 
Oh ok. You may wanna ask Peter if the Herbie can wihstand something like that. I imagine they all can actually, cos stuff like that can happen anywhere at home or onstage.
 
You could always get something like a Furman AR15 voltage regulator - it keeps the voltage supply constant. I use it for my amps so they sound the same everytime I play them. Low voltage can make you amp sound bad - the Furman takes out any spikes/dips. Plus it is a great surge suppressor. I sure there is something comparable that works on European power standards - not sure what they have in the Bahamas.
 
Thanks Scottph/mhenson42,
I'll check out the voltage regulator, more for the UK as I'll be using the Herbert for recording into Pro-tools later in the year and its good practice to have all the gear regulated to avoid hum etc.
The Bahamas is 110v but the power outages, spikes & dips are very extreme, more than anywhere on mainland US/Europe I bet!
Anybody tried to dial in a Herbert-like sound on a line-6 podxt? :lol: .
 
Quick one Scottph,
I see your floor switcher in the picture, which one is it?
I take it, it works fine with the Herbert?

HayMike.
 
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Hay Mike":ed441 said:
Do you gig your Hebert? would love to hear how people get on with them onstage, I bet it just batters the hell out of the back the legs!!
Click to expand...

I gig with a Herbert...about 6 times a month. Except for it being the heaviest guitar amp head that I have ever carried around, it is perfect! The greatest thing about it is that even in small clubs I can turn down the volume and still get the great tone...unlike most other amps I have owned. When I play in large rooms...yeah, I like to turn it up and stand near it just to feel the sound. Bass players used to be the only ones who could do that, but the Diezel can really move some air when you want it to.
 
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