NAD: Genz Benz El Diablo 100 head

Bob Zaod

Bob Zaod

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Kinda dropped in my lap for a few hundo. Picking up tomorrow. From the few vids out there it seems like a pretty versatile and powerful amp. EL34 powered with 2 channels and 5 modes. Milspec board and from what I have read and seen built like a tank and super reliable with some pretty killer tones to it.

Anyone here ever own or play through one? I bought it sight unseen and figure if I hate it I can easily get my money back. Includes the 5 button footswitch.
 
JiveTurkey said:
I would love to try one now. It was not well received at launch iirc.
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Yeah from what the guy in the review I watched said, people were expecting it to be like a NU-Metal monster and it's far from that. More like something stuck between a JCM800 and a JCM900. Seems to be heavily flavored of Marshall. I think Genz Benz prolly dropped the ball big on the marketing. For what I am paying I figured why not? I see them used for over 500 at most places and thats without the foot switch or padded cover. The one I am getting looks almost new.
 
Bob Zaod said:
Yeah from what the guy in the review I watched said, people were expecting it to be like a NU-Metal monster and it's far from that. More like something stuck between a JCM800 and a JCM900. Seems to be heavily flavored of Marshall. I think Genz Benz prolly dropped the ball big on the marketing. For what I am paying I figured why not? I see them used for over 500 at most places and thats without the foot switch or padded cover. The one I am getting looks almost new.
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I played through one once. It had an odd eq section. Active I believe. I really had no idea how to dial it in. I think I would have a better understanding of how to use it now.

I had the G Flex 212 and it was pretty killer cab. Very solid build as well.
 
ive not played one but i remember horrible reviews. the cabs though are great, i just got a 2x12 gflex for $75 and its wonderful
 
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JiveTurkey said:
I played through one once. It had an odd eq section. Active I believe. I really had no idea how to dial it in. I think I would have a better understanding of how to use it now.

I had the G Flex 212 and it was pretty killer cab. Very solid build as well.
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I always wanted to try one of those cabs out! The only person I ever saw using them was George Lynch and….maybe the singer for Stained? Maybe he was just using their amps.
 
You guys are making me think twice about picking it up tonight LOL. There's a jet City 100 watt head for the same price at the local MGR. I have a friend there who gets me discounts.
 
No seriously try the amp out. It is one of those internet lore pieces but it might actually be good. The only thing with that is if it is good but you go to move it; the internet rep would impact the resale value. If you get it super cheap; killer el34 "power amp".
 
JiveTurkey said:
No seriously try the amp out. It is one of those internet lore pieces but it might actually be good. The only thing with that is if it is good but you go to move it; the internet rep would impact the resale value. If you get it super cheap; killer el34 "power amp".
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Yeah that happened to me with the Blue Voodoo 120. I spent like 5 minutes with it into a good cab and was pretty impressed and scratching my head about all the bad reviews. that amp served as my rehearsal room amp for a few years. Luckily I do have the ability to try it first. I have dealt with active eq's a few times in the Carvin amps I have had.
 
JiveTurkey said:
No seriously try the amp out. It is one of those internet lore pieces but it might actually be good. The only thing with that is if it is good but you go to move it; the internet rep would impact the resale value. If you get it super cheap; killer el34 "power amp".
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i would at least try it out just to say i played the worst reviewed amp ever lol. werent you saving up for a good amp though OP?? this seems to be going backwards
 
Bob Zaod said:
Yeah that happened to me with the Blue Voodoo 120. I spent like 5 minutes with it into a good cab and was pretty impressed and scratching my head about all the bad reviews. that amp served as my rehearsal room amp for a few years. Luckily I do have the ability to try it first. I have dealt with active eq's a few times in the Carvin amps I have had.
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Yes, I'd pretty shocked if it was really that bad. If you're not paying much and the bar is set really low, it might feel like a diamond in the rough. I think the issue with that amp was that everyone was expecting it to be like a Recto killer or something and turned out to be like a mid-gain amp. It was called 'El Diablo' and everyone was trying to one up each other with high gain channel switchers. GB had a brilliant rep for their cabs, etc, as I remember. I bet it's well built.

At this point you owe it to us to try it out and report back. :p
 
RaceU4her said:
i would at least try it out just to say i played the worst reviewed amp ever lol. werent you saving up for a good amp though OP?? this seems to be going backwards
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Eh not really saving up. I could buy whatever if I wanted to deal with the wifes wrath LOL
 
Elric said:
Yes, I'd pretty shocked if it was really that bad. If you're not paying much and the bar is set really low, it might feel like a diamond in the rough. I think the issue with that amp was that everyone was expecting it to be like a Recto killer or something and turned out to be like a mid-gain amp. It was called 'El Diablo' and everyone was trying to one up each other with high gain channel switchers. GB had a brilliant rep for their cabs, etc, as I remember. I bet it's well built.

At this point you owe it to us to try it out and report back. :p
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Yeah I went and looked at the original press release from Genz Benz and it starts with "The demonic EL 34-powered Genz-Benz El Diablo 100 Tube Guitar Head is"..

Gee I wonder why people were expecting it to be a high gain metal machine?

I'm going to check it out tonight and see what's what. I'm pretty good at dialing amps so if I cant get a usable tone out of it, then yeah it's a POC.
 
Bob Zaod said:
Yeah I went and looked at the original press release from Genz Benz and it starts with "The demonic EL 34-powered Genz-Benz El Diablo 100 Tube Guitar Head is"..

Gee I wonder why people were expecting it to be a high gain metal machine?

I'm going to check it out tonight and see what's what. I'm pretty good at dialing amps so if I cant get a usable tone out of it, then yeah it's a POC.
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Wow... Sounds like they really shot themselves in the foot with their ad copy, too.
 
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