Good Morning Joey.
I just saw your post. I have a Schmidt in the mail from Peter as we type.
I am still using both the combo Einstein, and Olaf's Alizee, depending on the work.
I have read some good comments here, but I look at it differently.
Vintage tone is what one interprets it to be, as one has come to know it.
Everyone has their own interpretation of "vintage tone".
I do a lot of pop, blues, and commercial music. I have owned every Diezel amp and had no problem getting any tone in my head from any of them. I have studied 1940's jazz, and classical and I know I can get those tones from any Diezel amp as well, with ease.
It gets down to the player's ability to dial it up and the guitar, which is going to add to the sound the amp produces. Tubes and speakers can help get you more into the territory you seek tone-wise.
I have not heard the Schmidt, but I don't need to hear it to know what I can get from it.
Fender cleans are possibly the hardest to reproduce on another company's amp, but I have come close using outboard EQ, the amp's dials, and a reverb that can approimate the Fender reverb tone. Fender guitars will also help authenticate this tone.
If you play in a band, the other instruments will hide some of the particular tonal aspects of a Vintage tone, or any tone to a point. In a recording situation, you will be able to have a clearer platform to possibly hear the tones you want more precisely, depending on how it is mixed, of course.
The only way I know of to get a true vintage tone is to use a vintage amp, such as an old Tweed Deluxe from the 50's or other type of vintage amp. Yes, there are companies that can come close, and satisfy a person's desire for a specific tone, but most vintage amps have a basic tone and only slight variations on this tone depending on the players abilities to coax other tones from the amp.
Try using any and all of the gear you already have to see how close you can get a vintage tone compared to a recording you can listen too and dial up your gear too approximate.
Remember that the tone you are hearing on a recording has gone through other gear in the studio. If you get to try out a vintage amp live, you may find the ability to emulate that tone easier, although don't expect any modern amp to get you a truly vintage tone.
In the end, you will need to compromise. Either you get an amp specifically built for a vintage tone, or you find a way to get close enough for the ear to accept the given tones from a more modern amp after you have tweaked it.
My personal experience has been that the average listening audience, not the musician or audiophile in the audience, will not have a problem thinking a vintage sound is being played if they recognize the song, and the tone is close. This is because they are mentally hearing the original in their head as you are playing it, and are listening more to the execution of the song then the tone.
As far as the Schmidt getting a vintage tone...there is enough flexibility in the amp based on what I have read about it, and having spoken with Peter and Olaf about it, to know that it will give me way more then I will ever need from it in any playing situation I will encounter.
Other's experiences and needs will of course, vary.
more than self advertising I just wanted to get the real answer (as you always provide) about whether the Schmidt could deliver the vintage tones I'm after. The other amps in the Diezel line have a very well positioned place and neither compete with one another which I find extremely awesome (VH4 is the 80s king/kick you in the face tight versatile monster. The Herbert is the modern huge kicks you in the nuts gotzilla, the Einstein has the modernish vintage tone, and the schmidt so far seems to be the organic vintage one in the line) but since I haven't had the pleasure of playing one, I wanted to make you it was indeed made for the vintage seekers.
