I have to chime in on the Herbert "can't cut in a mix" thing. I've used my Herbert in 3 bands now. From C# standard doom to drop D nu-metal to standard tuned goth/industrial. All 3 bands have been 2 guitar bands and the other guitarists have been using anything from Engl to Mesa Rectifiers to Vox AC30s and my own Fender Silverface super reverb. Right now my other guitarist is running his AC30 and my Super Reverb in stereo and he boosts the living hell out of his mids.
To top it all off, I almost always use the mid cut. I generally have the intensity around 9 and the level at 12, so I'm not scooping the tone much, but it just feels like it tightens everything up a little to me. Treble and Mid are up about 1 o'clock on all three channels, bass a little below noon. Deep and presence are adjusted depending on the room, but usually hover at or a little above noon. Ch 2- and Ch 3 have the gain around noon.
And with all that, in all 3 bands, my Herbert has dominated the mix. Each of the drummers have commented how well they hear me in the mix and complained when I don't use the herbert. My current bassist is always making cracks about my amp being a beast. I have to turn the volume down so as not to bury the other guitarist and the bassist. When I stand right in front of the amp, the volume is so low I occasionally feel like I'm getting lost (might want to add, I'm using a straight cab), but when I move out in to the middle of our rehearsal space, there I am, dominating the mix. It's unbelievable. It just cuts right through.
This is not meant to discount anyone else's experiences, just wanted to give the other side of the argument, I guess. I have had more people come up to me after shows talking about my tone than I ever have gotten before, and most of those people have no idea what a Diezel is, so it's not just the gear heads. I have gone through tons of different speaker pairings and cabs to get what I wanted (I won't bore you with the litany of that), but there is nothing in my experiences over the past few years with my Herbert, either in rehearsal or live, that says this thing has any issues cutting in a mix. Maybe it's just me or the pickups, speakers and EQ combination I use, but this amp kicks some major ass with or without a band.
