My VH4 - not sure it is healthy - thoughts???

[Eagle]

tbf, he's using a boost pedal specifically because the amp gets farty without it.

I generally agree with @GreatGreen 's assessment above - I keep trying to love the VH4 sound and it just sounds soft/fuzzy/limp to me

Mine is EL34s and does that anyway.

 

[laxu]

I think this video from Diezel themselves is pretty representatitve of the VH4's basic sounds. Matches at least what I remember from when I tried a VH4, using it on the Fractals, as well as hearing a couple of bands using them live.

I don't think they get farty unless you go overboard with the Deep knob.

Now there is a certain character to the sound that you either like or you don't. I think of it as if you took a modded JCM800 and mixed some Mesa Rectifier fizzle and bottom end oomph into it.

 

[Orvillain]

Maybe it just doesn't like low tunings as much as some other amps. I'll try my new Orville by Gibson in drop D into it.

But it hasn't escaped my notice that I've gone further down the Mesa path, and less down the Diezel path. It used to be the other way around.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Maybe it just doesn't like low tunings as much as some other amps. I'll try my new Orville by Gibson in drop D into it.

But it hasn't escaped my notice that I've gone further down the Mesa path, and less down the Diezel path. It used to be the other way around.

You are re-inventing your core tone preferences

 

[Eagle]

Maybe it just doesn't like low tunings as much as some other amps. I'll try my new Orville by Gibson in drop D into it.

But it hasn't escaped my notice that I've gone further down the Mesa path, and less down the Diezel path. It used to be the other way around.

I replaced a RoadKing with the VH4 and found it a vast improvement.

 

[Eagle]

I think this video from Diezel themselves is pretty representatitve of the VH4's basic sounds. Matches at least what I remember from when I tried a VH4, using it on the Fractals, as well as hearing a couple of bands using them live.

I don't think they get farty unless you go overboard with the Deep knob.

Now there is a certain character to the sound that you either like or you don't. I think of it as if you took a modded JCM800 and mixed some Mesa Rectifier fizzle and bottom end oomph into it.

You really have to dial a crappie tone on these.

 

[jellodog]

I think this video from Diezel themselves is pretty representatitve of the VH4's basic sounds. Matches at least what I remember from when I tried a VH4, using it on the Fractals, as well as hearing a couple of bands using them live.

I've been playing the Fractal VH4 this week; I watched that video to learn more about the amp and I agree, it matches that video very well.

 

[Eagle]

I've been playing the Fractal VH4 this week; I watched that video to learn more about the amp and I agree, it matches that video very well.

I’ve set them up together it’s very close and of course they probably modelled a different iteration.

 

[GreatGreen]

I think this video from Diezel themselves is pretty representatitve of the VH4's basic sounds. Matches at least what I remember from when I tried a VH4, using it on the Fractals, as well as hearing a couple of bands using them live.

I don't think they get farty unless you go overboard with the Deep knob.

Now there is a certain character to the sound that you either like or you don't. I think of it as if you took a modded JCM800 and mixed some Mesa Rectifier fizzle and bottom end oomph into it.

I agree with the idea that it sounds like an 800 blended with a Recto, but to me, I dunno, it sounds like the worst elements of both. It has the extreme preamp low end of the Recto but doesn't have the massive wallop and slice of one. Instead, it's got the tight and relatively narrow bandwidth of the 800, but without the stringy clarity and detail of an 800.

The circuit sounds like it starts out loose and gets progressively tighter and more narrow as the signal moves through the amp, but because that initial looseness is baked into the sound at the beginning, the sound always keeps its undefined nature. A Recto is flubby also, but it doesn't filter out the highs, so you can use boosts and things like that to reduce bass and get your highs back. Can't really do that with a VH4.

Every single well known artist who uses a VH4 blends it with something else. I don't think that's a coincidence. It's a "big" sounding amp and I can see people blending it with other amps to add thickness and interesting complexity to the mids and that kind of thing, but relying on the VH4 for your entire core tone has always seemed to me like a bad move.

 

[Eagle]

I agree with the idea that it sounds like an 800 blended with a Recto, but to me, I dunno, it sounds like the worst elements of both. It has the extreme preamp low end of the Recto but doesn't have the massive wallop and slice of one. Instead, it's got the tight and relatively narrow bandwidth of the 800, but without the stringy clarity and detail of an 800.

The circuit sounds like it starts out loose and gets progressively tighter and more narrow as the signal moves through the amp, but because that initial looseness is baked into the sound at the beginning, the sound always keeps its undefined nature. A Recto is flubby also, but it doesn't filter out the highs, so you can use boosts and things like that to reduce bass and get your highs back. Can't really do that with a VH4.

Every single well known artist who uses a VH4 blends it with something else. I don't think that's a coincidence. It's a "big" sounding amp and I can see people blending it with other amps to add thickness and interesting complexity to the mids and that kind of thing, but relying on the VH4 for your entire core tone has always seemed to me like a bad move.

It really depends on the tones you’re looking for.

 

[GreatGreen]

It really depends on the tones you’re looking for.

If it's your thing and you like it, play it and be happy! It's certainly a well-made amp that will last a lifetime. You could easily do a lot worse.

The main reason I spoke up in the thread wasn't because I have some vendetta against the amp, it's that the OP detailed sound he thought indicated a malfunction with the amp, but everything he described sounded like a standard VH4 to me. I wanted to help him avoid chasing down rabbit holes just to end up back where he started, with an amp that by his own description, as far as I can tell, he doesn't really like.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I have always LOVED the idea of a Diezel amp. Despite giving zero shits about Tool, Adam Jones or the guitar tones he uses. The FAS VH4 took me a bit but I love it. I run it maybe odd compared to some and lean into what I am assuming is making it as "Marshall"-esque as it can get? Not sure how 1:1 it is with the real thing. I know my poor ass is probably goin to stay being just fine with the fake thing considering the price at hand

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Team FAS Silver or Blue?

Silver for me (out of the two). Blue seems to have more of the traits I don’t like. @Orvillain Is your amp closer to the Blue model?

 

[EOengineer]

Orville by Gibson

For sanity’s sake you’re going to need to create an acronym for this.

Suggestions:
OBG
OG
OBGYN (Orville by Gibson You Newb)

In all seriousness though, I’d recommend being very cautious about comparing amps you own against each other unless they are competing for the same utility.

Up until the V, the Mark series was a surgical tool of sorts. It did a very specific thing that nothing else does in terms of having a laser focus on a certain sonic spectrum it occupies which allows it to sound heavy in a dense mix while still cutting through like a chainsaw. The V still does that but brings more to the table.

Your VH4 and Rectos are IMO almost the anti-mark in that they are huge, kind of loose, and don’t have a ton of aggressive upper midrange.

This is IMO why you see Adam Jones and others often pair a VH4 or recto with a Superlead style amp, because they cover totally different parts of the tonal spectrum without masking each other.

giving zero shits about Tool, Adam Jones or the guitar tones he uses.

Reported. Someone please ban this man.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Team FAS Silver or Blue?

Silver for me (out of the two). Blue seems to have more of the traits I don’t like. @Orvillain Is your amp closer to the Blue model?

I use Blue 3. I am sure I gave Silver a go at some point? That GOT from last year(?) with the studio guy who gave out his VH4 preset was where I started from. Swapped out IRs and did some tweaks as well as added my own FX from my library and I enjoy it quite a bit.

 

[jellodog]

The FAS VH4 took me a bit but I love it. I run it maybe odd compared to some and lean into what I am assuming is making it as "Marshall"-esque as it can get?

The delicious harmonic content in the mids is total ear candy for me, despite whatever shortcomings it may (or may not!) have.

It's like gobs of honey dripping rays of sunlight.*

I only use a modest amount of gain though, so wadda I know

EDIT: Team Silver. Not tried the blue yet.

* I probably have synaesthesia

 

[EOengineer]

I was fortunate enough to attend NAMM one year in the early 2000s in Anaheim and Deizel had a big booth with the VH4 and Herbert.

I played through both for a bit. I was surprised how much the VH4 reminded me of my Recto in the lows and lower mids, but with a much stiffer almost cardboard (not in a bad way) top end.

They are cool amps but aren’t for everyone.

 

[jellodog]

Those Herbert amps are 180 watts!

 

[Orvillain]

Team FAS Silver or Blue?

Silver for me (out of the two). Blue seems to have more of the traits I don’t like. @Orvillain Is your amp closer to the Blue model?

Yeah I think it is closer to the blue, but I can't really remember tbh. I'm gonna plug the sucker in right now!

 

[EOengineer]

Those Herbert amps are 180 watts!

I didn’t realize this. That’s all the watts, right?