James not using Diezel's anymore??

[4nkam]

here are some pix I took last year along with a few others:

 

[thiswaythatway]

Hetfield should just go back to his old Mesa IIC+, that's when he sounded his best. As each album went by and they used more and more amps they've sounded worse and worse.

The guitar tones on Death Magnetic are just dull and unimpressive IMHO. And please people, don't lump all Mesa's together. The IIC+ sounds NOTHING like a Recto.

 

[Joeytpg]

Hetfield should just go back to his old Mesa IIC+, that's when he sounded his best. As each album went by and they used more and more amps they've sounded worse and worse.

The guitar tones on Death Magnetic are just dull and unimpressive IMHO. And please people, don't lump all Mesa's together. The IIC+ sounds NOTHING like a Recto.

you know funny you say that ehehhe because Death Magnetic has A LOT of Mark IIc+ in it...... but again with the jacked up mix it's impossible to really appreciate the tone.

But if you ask me I LOVE Load/Reload and Garage Inc tone, it's THE tone for Hard Rock for me......

The current VH4+MEsa tone They're yet to capture it on a record.... but I've seen them three times between 07 and 08 and the live tone was heavenly

 

[TheMagicEight]

The IIC+ sounds NOTHING like a Recto.

I don't know why everyone bashes Rectifiers. The new ones are nothing like the older 2 channels from the 90s. Those older ones have sick tone, full mids, and set up right will smoke most amps out there. New ones are where the problems of fizz and mud emerged....

 

[stephen sawall]

Hetfield should just go back to his old Mesa IIC+, that's when he sounded his best. As each album went by and they used more and more amps they've sounded worse and worse.

The guitar tones on Death Magnetic are just dull and unimpressive IMHO. And please people, don't lump all Mesa's together. The IIC+ sounds NOTHING like a Recto.

I believe he did go back to the II as his main amp.
And I also think this is his best sounds.
He talked about this in Guitar World ... the one with them on the cover that came out about the same time as the last album.

A Mark IV can get close to all the sounds that a Diezel can. The Diezel does not even come close to cover the range of the IV.
I think both are great amps.

 

[MARK2C]

Hetfield should just go back to his old Mesa IIC+, that's when he sounded his best. As each album went by and they used more and more amps they've sounded worse and worse.

The guitar tones on Death Magnetic are just dull and unimpressive IMHO. And please people, don't lump all Mesa's together. The IIC+ sounds NOTHING like a Recto.

I believe he did go back to the II as his main amp.
And I also think this is his best sounds.
He talked about this in Guitar World ... the one with them on the cover that came out about the same time as the last album.

A Mark IV can get close to all the sounds that a Diezel can. The Diezel does not even come close to cover the range of the IV.
I think both are great amps.

I have a Diezel VH4 and a MK IVB. The MK IV pisses itself every time the VH4 is near.
Other than the peeing, it sits in the corner with a cover on crying in envy....
The IIC+'s don't like the VH4 either.... At least mine don't.

 

[sean106ESP]

Hetfield should just go back to his old Mesa IIC+, that's when he sounded his best. As each album went by and they used more and more amps they've sounded worse and worse.

The guitar tones on Death Magnetic are just dull and unimpressive IMHO. And please people, don't lump all Mesa's together. The IIC+ sounds NOTHING like a Recto.

you know funny you say that ehehhe because Death Magnetic has A LOT of Mark IIc+ in it...... but again with the jacked up mix it's impossible to really appreciate the tone.

But if you ask me I LOVE Load/Reload and Garage Inc tone, it's THE tone for Hard Rock for me......

The current VH4+MEsa tone They're yet to capture it on a record.... but I've seen them three times between 07 and 08 and the live tone was heavenly

Yeah so many people complained about the tone on DM. It is weird as it sounds great in my car, but you hear clipping when I use my IPOD or monitors. Either way I listen to all their live stuff more anyway, rarely the albums, so no biggy for me. I just know that they sounded sick when I saw them last. The distortion was incredible and as usual the cleans so sparkly.

 

[Joeytpg]

I think the Mark IV is an exceptional amp..... I'd love to own one someday (or prob. an Axe Fx later on which can do the MArk IV and IIC+) but it's been the metallica's tone for too long. The Vh4 tone is a breath of fresh air


I also think that in Death MAg. he used his VH4 A LOT.......much much much more than what Hetfield admited to (not that he's hidding anything, but I think his deal with Mesa Boogie has something to do with it)

You cannot hear AS MUCH VH4 in Death Mag. because the mix is too squeezed up and it's eating a lot of the VH4 bottom freq. and lower mids which characterize it. He also used Kranks and their high mids is noticable too, and even underlined by the mix result.

But knowing hetfield (not personally, but the man has a history with tone, you just gotta pay attention to it) he's not into changes taht much........he loves what he loves.....the guy played a IIC+ for more than 15 years, and I'm sure he tried EVERY fucking amp out there during those times....... so being the way he is....I don't see him using a tone for the album and then using another tone live. He's just not that type of guy based on observation.

Same with guitars...it took him more than 15 years to start using other shaped guitars regularly other than Explorers.....he then switched to Les paul body and played that almost exclusively for 6 years or so (2002 - 2007) and only recently he's using more varied stuff.

So again....I'm not so sure he "abandoned" the Vh4 for the Mark IIC+. If you get over the mix and listen CAREFULLY you can definitely pick up the VH4 in the mix.

 

[Riddick]

Hetfield should just go back to his old Mesa IIC+, that's when he sounded his best. As each album went by and they used more and more amps they've sounded worse and worse.

The guitar tones on Death Magnetic are just dull and unimpressive IMHO. And please people, don't lump all Mesa's together. The IIC+ sounds NOTHING like a Recto.

I believe he did go back to the II as his main amp.
And I also think this is his best sounds.
He talked about this in Guitar World ... the one with them on the cover that came out about the same time as the last album.

A Mark IV can get close to all the sounds that a Diezel can. The Diezel does not even come close to cover the range of the IV.
I think both are great amps.

I have a Diezel VH4 and a MK IVB. The MK IV pisses itself every time the VH4 is near.
Other than the peeing, it sits in the corner with a cover on crying in envy....
The IIC+'s don't like the VH4 either.... At least mine don't.

 

[thiswaythatway]

Hetfield should just go back to his old Mesa IIC+, that's when he sounded his best. As each album went by and they used more and more amps they've sounded worse and worse.

The guitar tones on Death Magnetic are just dull and unimpressive IMHO. And please people, don't lump all Mesa's together. The IIC+ sounds NOTHING like a Recto.

I believe he did go back to the II as his main amp.
And I also think this is his best sounds.
He talked about this in Guitar World ... the one with them on the cover that came out about the same time as the last album.

A Mark IV can get close to all the sounds that a Diezel can. The Diezel does not even come close to cover the range of the IV.
I think both are great amps.

I have a Diezel VH4 and a MK IVB. The MK IV pisses itself every time the VH4 is near.
Other than the peeing, it sits in the corner with a cover on crying in envy....
The IIC+'s don't like the VH4 either.... At least mine don't.

I borrowed a Herbert for a week. Nice amp, but after a few days the IIC+ took me over again. Give me the IIC+ lead channel with the Herberts second channel for rhythm and you'd have one heck of an amp. The Herberts 3rd channel......eh, it was ok i guess. LOVE that second channel though.

 

[thiswaythatway]

Hetfield should just go back to his old Mesa IIC+, that's when he sounded his best. As each album went by and they used more and more amps they've sounded worse and worse.

The guitar tones on Death Magnetic are just dull and unimpressive IMHO. And please people, don't lump all Mesa's together. The IIC+ sounds NOTHING like a Recto.

you know funny you say that ehehhe because Death Magnetic has A LOT of Mark IIc+ in it...... but again with the jacked up mix it's impossible to really appreciate the tone.

But if you ask me I LOVE Load/Reload and Garage Inc tone, it's THE tone for Hard Rock for me......

The current VH4+MEsa tone They're yet to capture it on a record.... but I've seen them three times between 07 and 08 and the live tone was heavenly

Yeah so many people complained about the tone on DM. It is weird as it sounds great in my car, but you hear clipping when I use my IPOD or monitors. Either way I listen to all their live stuff more anyway, rarely the albums, so no biggy for me. I just know that they sounded sick when I saw them last. The distortion was incredible and as usual the cleans so sparkly.

I was listening to Death Magnetic in my car today. Then i put in that last Testament album.......DAMM. Now THAT'S a heavy sound.

 

[stephen sawall]

I thought this thread was about what James uses ... not other people personals taste in amps ?
I never seen a ad or heard of any deal between James and Mesa ?

I like both amps.
I only stated what James has said about what he used.
He said it had to do with the mids and how it fits in the mix.

The other statement about the range of sounds the Diezel and Mark amps can produce is not a mystery ..... look at the range of users.

 

[MARK2C]

It's simple. Boogie gives their stuff away and Papa Het throws them an advertising bone.
The amps he paid for out of his own pocket and plays are Diezel VH4's.

 

[scottph]

@Joey: James has no deal wit Mesa. Never had.

Just to clear it up a bit: James talked extensively about using Mark's on DM, along with Marshalls (all the old stuff), VH4, etc. So to say that his "old sound with the Marks" was so much better than his current tone is, well, silly.

Totally OT: His live tone is pretty much the best I ever heard.

 

[VoodooChild24]

I Hate Hetfield FAN BOIS!!!!!!

 

[Joeytpg]

@Joey: James has no deal wit Mesa. Never had.

Just to clear it up a bit: James talked extensively about using Mark's on DM, along with Marshalls (all the old stuff), VH4, etc. So to say that his "old sound with the Marks" was so much better than his current tone is, well, silly.

Totally OT: His live tone is pretty much the best I ever heard.

I know he has no "contract", when I said deal I was refering at what MARC2C was talking about (MEsa supplies free Boogies, he's good enough to promote them a bit)


maybe we need another word othern than "deal" hehehe it's confusing. He has a "friendly agreement"

 

[James Lugo]

I remember reading about James saying he was going back to Mesa because of the midrange. That he liked that sound better.
I also remember reading Adam Jones saying he liked the Mesa better than the Diezel's but the rest of the band felt he was taking up to much frequency space with the Dual Rectifier.

My self .... I like all the amps for what they are.

I think they all have a place, I own a Herbert, Dual Rec (2CH), modded Marshalls etc... I love blending them. I wouldn't want one without the other. Any one amp sound gets tiring to me after a while, kind of 'been there done that'. I also make music full time for a living, so amps are going round the clock at my studio.

Variety is the spice of life.

 

[stephen sawall]

I remember reading about James saying he was going back to Mesa because of the midrange. That he liked that sound better.
I also remember reading Adam Jones saying he liked the Mesa better than the Diezel's but the rest of the band felt he was taking up to much frequency space with the Dual Rectifier.

My self .... I like all the amps for what they are.

I think they all have a place, I own a Herbert, Dual Rec (2CH), modded Marshalls etc... I love blending them. I wouldn't want one without the other. Any one amp sound get tiring to me after a while, kind of 'been there done that'. I also make music full time for a living, so amps are going round the clock at my studio.

Variety is the spice of life.

I agree with the idea of them all having there place.
From the non master Marshall's / Fender's / etc to the flavors around today ....There are a lot of great sounds.
Never felt one was best ....

My favorite sounds come from mixing a preamp distortion amp with a poweramp distortion amp.
1 + 1 adds up to more than 2.