Opinions on the Diezel D-Moll?

I've gone through several Diezels. My keepers are the VH4, Hagen and D-Moll. They all offer something a little different than the other, and all sound amazing when I opt to choose one over the other for feel or tonal characteristics. D-Moll is a tremendous amp, just gotta dial it in to get there and it really isn't that hard to do.
 
One thing I have noticed with Diezels is that I prefer them biased cold. I'll admit, I first tried it because of Adam Jones, but damn, that guy is right. When you lower the bias from 60%-70% to 50%, the amp just opens up and becomes a whole lot clearer. All of that congested midrange that can be in Diezels sometimes just melts away. The amp becomes sharper, clearer, and more open. It'll accommodate higher output pickups better, too.

If you have an AxeFX you can try this on the Diezel VH4 (Blueface or Silverface, doesn't matter). Go into the Amp block, to the power section and lower the bias to 50% (or even a little less if you want). You'll lose a smidge of gain but all the congested low mids clear up. Give it a shot!
 
That's one of the things I really liked in the clip. To me I consider it "large grain distortion" as opposed to fine grain like I hear in some Herbert clips and modded Marshalls. As for the weight, it's going to be mainly a studio amp (unless I can manage to get another band off the ground). Plus I've toured the country with an early 70's SVT and 810 tearing my arms out of the sockets, so this should be comparitvely light.
i like fine grain that's why i like the VH4 setting (least amount of bass in the early Gain stages). You might consider the Hagen. it's the most raspy, large Grain of the big Diezels.
 
One thing I have noticed with Diezels is that I prefer them biased cold. I'll admit, I first tried it because of Adam Jones, but damn, that guy is right. When you lower the bias from 60%-70% to 50%, the amp just opens up and becomes a whole lot clearer. All of that congested midrange that can be in Diezels sometimes just melts away. The amp becomes sharper, clearer, and more open. It'll accommodate higher output pickups better, too.

If you have an AxeFX you can try this on the Diezel VH4 (Blueface or Silverface, doesn't matter). Go into the Amp block, to the power section and lower the bias to 50% (or even a little less if you want). You'll lose a smidge of gain but all the congested low mids clear up. Give it a shot!
I found that to be the case with most of the more compressed high gain amps I've had, especially my OG Uber, but even with the Naylor's I had. My tech biased both those amps under 50% (don't remember the exact number) and they sounded to me better than ever, so I just left them there
 
One thing I have noticed with Diezels is that I prefer them biased cold. I'll admit, I first tried it because of Adam Jones, but damn, that guy is right. When you lower the bias from 60%-70% to 50%, the amp just opens up and becomes a whole lot clearer. All of that congested midrange that can be in Diezels sometimes just melts away. The amp becomes sharper, clearer, and more open. It'll accommodate higher output pickups better, too.

If you have an AxeFX you can try this on the Diezel VH4 (Blueface or Silverface, doesn't matter). Go into the Amp block, to the power section and lower the bias to 50% (or even a little less if you want). You'll lose a smidge of gain but all the congested low mids clear up. Give it a shot!
Good to know! Thanks. Will try it
 
I've gone through several Diezels. My keepers are the VH4, Hagen and D-Moll. They all offer something a little different than the other, and all sound amazing when I opt to choose one over the other for feel or tonal characteristics. D-Moll is a tremendous amp, just gotta dial it in to get there and it really isn't that hard to do.
What sound do you like about each?
 
One thing I have noticed with Diezels is that I prefer them biased cold. I'll admit, I first tried it because of Adam Jones, but damn, that guy is right. When you lower the bias from 60%-70% to 50%, the amp just opens up and becomes a whole lot clearer. All of that congested midrange that can be in Diezels sometimes just melts away. The amp becomes sharper, clearer, and more open. It'll accommodate higher output pickups better, too.

If you have an AxeFX you can try this on the Diezel VH4 (Blueface or Silverface, doesn't matter). Go into the Amp block, to the power section and lower the bias to 50% (or even a little less if you want). You'll lose a smidge of gain but all the congested low mids clear up. Give it a shot!
That makes a ton of sense! Thanks
 
i like fine grain that's why i like the VH4 setting (least amount of bass in the early Gain stages). You might consider the Hagen. it's the most raspy, large Grain of the big Diezels.
I think it's inevitable I'll have a Hagen at some point. That gnarly large grain sound it can get is what I'm after. I've heard only a clip or two where the D Moll reminded me of it on the third channel. So I'll see if I can get there with that for now.
 
I think it's inevitable I'll have a Hagen at some point. That gnarly large grain sound it can get is what I'm after. I've heard only a clip or two where the D Moll reminded me of it on the third channel. So I'll see if I can get there with that for now.
The Hagen is really cool it just wasn't my thing. The secret to that amp is the channel masters. If you keep them high, it will sound more vintage. If you keep them low, it will sound more modern.
 
I wasn't too thrilled with the gain tones of the D-Moll either. I found a really good deal locally, but after playing it, I left without the amp. One of the best clean channels ever though.
But gain wise, it had this thick, almost fuzzy, wooly, over-saturated tone in the low-mids that you couldn't dial out.
And having played the big Herbert, that one was definitely tighter and drier, even with all its saturation.
As far as the gain/distorted side of this amp, my feelings exactly Slow tracking/round/warm low end response too. I couldn't flip it fast enough, different strokes though.
 
I think it's inevitable I'll have a Hagen at some point. That gnarly large grain sound it can get is what I'm after. I've heard only a clip or two where the D Moll reminded me of it on the third channel. So I'll see if I can get there with that for now.
In the room, you will likely find the D-Moll to be much smoother, polished and filtered sounding that you might suspect. And unfortunately it evaporates in the context of a two guitar band. That was my experience.
 
Last edited:
In the room, you will likely find the D-Moll to be much smoother, polished and filtered sounding that you might suspect. And unfortunately it evaporates in the context of a two guitar band. That was my experience.
This will only be for recording most likely. I have a plethora of pedals to try with it, and also bought a Pepers Dirty Tree on Reverb to handle the low end from my baritone, and maybe spice it up. I'll throw whatever I can at it and report back :) I should know something by wednesday.
 
Do report back with your findings!
The amount of gain won't be an issue for death metal; the question is if the texture or 'grain' of the gain is to your liking.

And be advised, it is quite a heavy head, even though it's only 24" (~60cm) wide. IIRC, the weight is well over 50lbs. As I considered it as a smaller gigging amp, this was a concern for me; I'm using a ~35lbs EVH 5150III 50W head in a custom-made padded bag, and that's easy to carry.
Is the D-Moll only 24” wide? Everywhere I look shows it as 29”, but I saw it in another thread on top of a Mesa 2x12 Very cab which is only 23.5”
 
Back
Top