Diezel 4x12" Front Loaded cabinet

I had been waiting for a Diezel german made cabinet for too long ..
My local guitar store finally brings them in this year.
Thank you, TGP/Cheras- Low KS and Ken Chan shipped it to me within couple of days.

Someone made a mistake in Diezel factory.
The check box of "Rear Loaded" was checked on my shipping box.
I thought I had placed a wrong order when I just received it initially.

My Diezel cabinet was well packed from factory.

Four removable caster base plates and rubber feet.


2" casters included.

Here she is Diezel new German made 4x12" Front Loaded Cabinet.
There are some old US made Diezel cabinet in the early of America market.
Diezel used to authorize US dealer (outsourcing) to make the Diezel cabinets by themselves
because the flight costs a bomb to ship 4x12" cabinet over the sea and even long lead time by sea shipping.
All those US cabinets were licensed under Diezel trademark.
However, the design and construction are very different from German made cabinet.

Since the speakers are loaded from front, the cabinet back is fully sealed without any screws.


8ohm in mono, 16ohm in stereo for each pair of speakers.

All Diezel cabinets are made in Dillingen, Germany since year 2007.
Peter Stapher re-designed the whole cabinet construction during that time as well
from internal baffle boards to the choice of cabinet wood and speakers.
The woods are cut by high precision CNC machines in that new production plant.

I really love the Front-Loaded cabinet, easy to access the speakers.

I had been looking for the perfect cabinet to match my Diezel VH4 and Herbert for years.
And all along I know the perfect cabinet would be a Diezel cabinet,
unfortunately none of my local guitar store brought them in and the oversea shipping always make us headache.

I had tried several common cabinets in the market such as Mesa/Boogie Rectifier Oversized and Stiletto/traditional cabinets, Marshall 1960 cabinet,
Orange PPC412HP with G12-K100 speakers, Bogner Oversized 2x12" cabinet and even a Mills Acoustics Afterburner 412 cabinet.
I had even messed around the X patterned speakers in every single cabinet that I have (check out my blog).
Unfortunately, none of them really fulfilled the perfect Diezel tone in my mind.

As you know Diezel VH4 and Herbert are voiced pretty heavy low-mid and compressed.
Mesa and Bogner cabinet sounded great to me, but still lacked of something to my ear and I believe that caused by Celestion V30 speakers.
After that I thought G12-K100 speakers would be the choice, so I bought a Orange cabinet with that speakers.
Too sad to say that Rear-Loaded G12-K100 sounds muddy and even worse inside a Orange cabinet with Cane front grill (sound from a blanket).

I was so scared that Diezel cabinet would fail me since I bought it without trying and this cabinet is so expensive.
What a relief when I listened Diezel VH4 and Herbert sound perfectly with Diezel Front-Loaded G12-K100 cabinet.
Buy this cabinet if you are seeking for articulate, tight and fast response especially for low tuning player or you want your Diezel amp to sound brighter and opened.

Speakers are directly screwed on the front baffle board without speaker gaskets.

Silver piping - There is one of the way to differentiate Diezel German cabinets from early US cabinets.

Diezel Herbert vs VH4

Herbert or VH4 ? That's really a hard choice. Let me show you the differences between them

=Main Features Comparison=

Channels
VH4: 4 channels - Clean, Crunch, Mega, Lead.
Herbert: 3 channels - Clean, Crunch "+/-", Lead.

Mid-Cut
VH4: NO.
Herbert: YES.

Preamp Tubes
VH4: 7 x ECC83/12AX7.
Herbert: 6 x ECC83/12AX7.

Poweramp Tubes
VH4: 4 poweramp tubes, one bias trim-pot.
Herbert: 6 poweramp tubes (180w headroom !!!), three bias trim-pots for each pair.

Effect Loops
VH4: 6 FX loops - Serial, Parallel (MIDI) and 4 Channel Inserts (MIDI).
Herbert: 3 FX loops - Serial, Parallel and Switchable Loop (MIDI).

Second Master Volume
VH4: YES and NO (Use parellel FX loop volume to be second master volume).
Herbert: YES.

= Q&A =

Which one is versatile ?
Ans: I think is Both. VH4 covers jazz, blues, rock to old-school metal,
        but Herbert can do even further to modern metal territory.

Which one has better clean channel ?
Ans: I think is Herbert Ch1, especially when "Mid-Cut" enganged.

Which one has better lower or middle gain for vintage tone ?
Ans: VH4 Ch2 which has more "organic" sound.
         Herbert Ch2 is dryer, modern and stiff no matter "+" or "-".

Which one has less Diezel famous compressed tone ?
Ans: My 2012 VH4. Herbert Ch3 is much compressed than VH4 Ch4.

Which one has bassy, boomy and huge bottom end ?
Ans: Herbert for sure.

Which one has less Diezel famous "Hi-Fi" one ?
Ans: VH4.

Which one has sizzle and fizzy on top ?
Ans: Herbert is brighter. VH4 is much darker.
         All Diezel amps actually sound smooth like a silk.

Which one has aggressive and brutal high gain channel ?
Ans: Herbert Ch2 when "Mid-Cut" enganged. Without "Mid-Cut", I think is VH4 Ch3.

Which one has tighter and faster tracking response ?
Ans: VH4 for sure.

Use one word to describe them.
Ans: "Extreme" for Herbert, "Balance" for VH4.

2012 Diezel VH4 Review

After playing Herbert for two years, I just get myself another Diezel amp - VH4.
"VH" stands for "Valve Head" as Peter Diezel told me.

VH4 is the earliest flagship model from Diezel which launched since 1994.
Original VH4 came with "blue face" panel and 6L6 powertubes. Old VH4 sounds darker and more compressed.
Diezel reissued those blueface VH4 with EL34 as limited edition in last year 2011.

There is another version of VH4 called "VH4S", S stands for "Stereo".
Two independent 50w poweramp sections on VH4S. You can either drive two poweramps for stereo effect,
or run two different types of powertubes (EL34 and 6L6) for two different kinds of tone.

My favourite artists/bands use VH4 such as Adam Jones from Tool, James Hetfield from Metallica,
Matt Bellamy from Muse, Mark Tremonti from Alter Bridge/Creed, Wes Borland from Limp Bizkit and many more.

VH4 is a 4-channel monster - Ch1. Clean, Ch2. Crunch, Ch3. Mega, Ch4. Lead.
Ch.1 has Diezel typical "Hi-Fi" punchy cleantone. This channel takes OD/Dist pedal pretty well.
Ch.2 is the paradise for blues and vintage rock players. High compression and picking sensitive low gain sound.
Both Ch.1 and Ch.2 have "Bright" switch to boost up some highs.

Ch.3 and Ch.4 is the Armageddon from VH4 which trademarked Diezel high gain tone in the industry.
Ch.3 has tighter and drier brutal sound to cover from hardrock to heavy metal scene easily.
This channel is voiced towards lower-mid and tracks fast aggressive picking style extremely well.
Ch.4 extends Ch3 to higher compressed and slightly saturated gain level.
You can get most aggressive and brutal high gain from this channel. It's designed for smooth juicy lead tone.
But when you tuned back gain level, it can do thrash metal rhythm too. Ch.4 is a very versatile channel.

Presence and Deep knobs from Diezel amps are usable for all level.
Even cranked the presence knob to highest setting, you wouldn't hear "fizzy/buzzy" like other high gain amps.
They are good for adding modern tone elements into your VH4.

Parallel loop volume is to mix the level of the parallel FX loop which is MIDI programmable ("Send 2" red button).
According to user manual, you could use this volume control as Second master volume.
"Channel Insert" is also MIDI programmable to turn on the individual channel FX loop.
There are total six FX loops on VH4 - typical Serial/Parallel FX loop and
Channel Insert FX loop for letting you hook up any effect pedals with individual channel.
For example, you could simply add EQ pedal into Ch.3, chorus pedal into Ch.4 or compressor into Ch.1.
Again, all Channel Insert FX loops are MIDI programmable.
MIDI in and thru which is compatible with most of the MIDI footswitch in the market.
I use Tech21, NYC MIDI moose for my Diezel VH4 and Herbert without problem.

You probably heard "Germans always make good stuff".

JJ KT77 shipped with Diezel amps from factory since year 2012.
Peter Diezel thinks they sound great and more reliable. To my ears, KT77 sounds like EL34
without too much mid hump and comes with 6L6 punchy bass behind.

Ruby 12AX7AC5 which is relabelled from Shuguang(Chinese) 12AX7 9th-Gen High Grade tube.

The 6L6/EL34 switch.

Incredible VH4 !


My Diezel VH4 demo

5751/12AT7 preamp tubes in Diezel Herbert

I have bought some 12AT7 and 5751 preamp tubes for gain/noise reduction experiment.
They are Chinese Shuguang 12AT7, Russian Electro-Harmonix 12AT7EH and Sovtek 5751.

=Gain Factor=
12AX7/7025/ECC83  is 100mu
5751                           is   70mu (30% gain less than 12AX7)
12AT7/ECC81           is   60mu (40% gain less than 12AX7)
12AU7/ECC82           is   20mu
You can ONLY put 12AT7 or 5751 in Diezel for gain reducing,
NOT any others like 12AY7, 12AU7 or 12AV7.



=Preamp Tube Layouts=
All the stock preamp tubes in Herbert are Ruby selected 12AX7HG higain tubes (Chinese made).
Herbert:
V1 Used by all channels (nearest the input jack)
V2 Used by Ch3
V3 Used by all channels
V4 Mixer & Loop Driver
V5 Return Driver
V6 Phase Inverter

Firstly, I put Chinese 12AT7 on V2.
Comparing with Ch2(+ mode), the gain and hiss/hum noise of Ch3 are obviously reduced.
Gain level in Ch3 is still much more than Ch2 even changed with 12AT7.
Tone and compression wise, they are still keep the same before and after.

After that, I changed 12AX7 on V3 with another 12AT7, Electro-Harmonix 12AT7EH.
Both Ch2 and Ch3 are quiet down. Just a little hiss noise on maximum gain setting.
Still NO improvement in compression for both channels.
The volume of Ch1 is dropped, so I need to crank up the channel volume higher.

Lastly, I put Sovtek 5751 in V1 position. Now, all three preamp tubes in my Herbert are lower gain tubes.
Ch2 is tame now, not good for metal anymore but great for blues and rock.
Ch3 is still highly compressed as usual.

I did change the V6 Phase-Inverter to Electro-Harmonix 12AT7EH.
There's NO any difference in both dynamics and tone.

=Summary=
Lower gain factor preamp tubes like 12AT7 and 5751 reduce gain and noise obviously,
but they didn't open up the compression feeling from Herbert. And I still love the Ruby selected
12AX7HG that came with stock, they are great with Herbert.

1/4" Hole Plugs

Love this little guy, magic indeed !


I was truly amazed when I saw they in my Mesa/Boogie cabinets.


I bought them from eBay Motors, they are called - 1/4" Flush Type Hole Plugs (made by plastic).

They function as :

1) Cover unused 1/4" jack sockets-
That's most important ! You will have chance to accidently plug a cord into the wrong jack socket
when setting up on a dark stage (I have done this before with speaker cable ...)

2) Prevent metal part of jacks socket from oxidation.
3) Prevent dust and moisture get into your amplifier or other devices through jacks socket.



Back panel from my Diezel Herbert.
All the unused 1/4" jack sockets are covered by the magic "little guys" now.

NEW Diezel Herbert 2010 Review

Here is my new baby - Diezel Herbert 2010 (white tolex, assembled by "Lars")


Diezel Amplification - One of the famous boutique amp companiens from Germany.


Diezel Amplification - Founded by Peter Diezel and Peter Stapfer.
"Herbert" is the name of Peter Diezel's father.


Three channels -
Ch1 - Ultra clean Jazz tone
Ch2 ("- or +" mode) - From Blues, Hard Rock to all kind of Metal, tight and focus.
Ch3 - Juicy saturated lead tone, sustains for days.


MIDI switchable "Mid Cut" function -
The most important feature of Diezel Herbert, varies tone from here.
You want something like Dimebag PANTERA tone ? You need this for sure !
It can be acted as "Mid Boost" as well.


Super bright blue L.E.D


New internal bias system of new Herbert 2010 -
No more easy external bias system due to the restriction from Germany government


Biasing instruction is printed on the board -
Lethal high-voltage inside the amp ! Be careful !


Stickes from Diezel, Thanks Peter !


MIDI controller chip sent from Diezel, Thanks Peter !


Spare parts for my Herbert , Thanks Peter and Lars !
Diezel is a great company taking great care of their amps and customers.


Diezel Herbert Ch2 Demo (Under bedroom volume level)