NAD: Diezel VH4... ish

Grumpyrocker

Ouch!

Nearly deafened myself just now by trying my Donner Circle Looper drums in the effects loop. Didn't realise the Diezel has its master volume before the loop. So the drums played through the amp at full volume - on the looper's lowest volume setting too - but still massively loud.

Fixed the issue now though - added my JHS Little Black Amp Box before the effects return. Now I can balance amp volume (with the amp's master control) and the effects return volume with the JHS control.

Ears still ringing. 

guitargeek62

Oof, good point - I’d forgotten to mention that! It’s a weird/poor choice by them for sure - I’d used it as a power amp for my HX Floor and it caught me off-guard with that too!

Grumpyrocker

So a week on I'm still loving this thing. How can something so small and inexpensive sound so amazing. Such good fun to play. 

Jetfire

https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/210816372719003--diezel-vh-micro-30w-solid-state-amp-head

Oooof

Grumpyrocker

I only paid £50 more for mine. Well not pay - as I was gifted Peach vouchers for my birthday. 

guitargeek62

£230 for me, I can’t remember why it was discounted so early though but I’m fine with that - it’s a really fun amp!

guitargeek62

Ooh, the Bogner and Friedman are on offer too…

https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/210816372718003--bogner-ecstasy-mini-solid-state-amp-head

https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/product/210330367897003--friedman-brown-eye-be-mini-solid-state-amp-head

guitargeek62

Long-term update:

So I’ve had this VH Micro beast for almost six months, and I have to say, it really is fantastic! I’ve never had an amp with such range on the EQ or Gain controls before, there is simply a ridiculous amount of tonal-shaping here - all of which based on a JCM800-type as a starting point, which is no bad thing at all imo.

Lately I’ve mostly been running it with a simple rig of an SD-1, DS-1, and Bug Muff Pi going into the front end, and the amp gain set really low (~⅞ o’clock). With this I can use it very much like a classic JCM rig with very usable results, as the VH preamp doesn’t mush out with the pedals at all.

If I want the VH4 tone, then I simply bring the gain above 9 o’clock and get that dryness and roar in ever-increasing amounts without it flubbing out. Most importantly of all, it does all of this at very neighbour-friendly volumes indeed. For the £230 that I paid, this thing is superb fun. 

My biggest criticisms are:

a) I’d love a second channel, or switchable gain pots like the VH4-2 pedal.
b) the FX return isn’t linked to the master volume, so that can be a little surprising the first time you try and use it as a power amp
c) The mini format is both a blessing and a curse; it’s almost too gimmicky to take seriously at times, and then you plug in and…  


Admittedly, I’ve been wondering about replacing it though, but mostly because I want more of the same. If I do, then it’ll either be for the VH4-2 pedal into my AMT power amp and Zilla cab, or for a ‘proper’ VH2/other Diezel amp sometime next year. However, I don’t expect that the full-size amps would be quite so usable at home as this thing is - unless the 20w VH Mini materialises at long last! That said, would a second channel be worth the additional £1000+ that I’d need to spend? Probably not, but life is short

Grumpyrocker

I am equally thrilled with mine. Like you I was surprised the first time I tried to use it as a power amp. But otherwise it's fantastic.

I do wish it had a clean option - because if it did it would totally be my main use at home amp. 

guitargeek62

To be fair to it, I have no issue with cleaner sounds when rolling back on my volume pot, I’d just prefer to have two channels (crunch/drive, more so than clean/dirty)

Grumpyrocker

guitargeek62 said:

To be fair to it, I have no issue with cleaner sounds when rolling back on my volume pot, I’d just prefer to have two channels (crunch/drive, more so than clean/dirty)

I can get a clean like that, but I'd like a full clean for my pedal board. 

Jetfire

Id fricking love one of these to try.... Sounds ace!

guitargeek62

Bump - I cannot state it enough, these things sound far too good for their size and price.

One based on the VH4-2 pedal, with foot-switchable channels would be a perfect home/jamming rig for me. As there's not one, I'll carry on riding the volume pedal, and maybe pickup the VH4-2 pedal anyway to try it alongside the VH4 Micro.

Jetfire

So, someone made a comment about using the helix with this in the FX loop for a clean channel but it was loud. What was the story with that? Is it doable so you can have the helix doing the clean and the head doing the dirty? 

guitargeek62

Jetfire said:

So, someone made a comment about using the helix with this in the FX loop for a clean channel but it was loud. What was the story with that? Is it doable so you can have the helix doing the clean and the head doing the dirty? 

I don't think so, no - the FX Return bypasses the preamp circuit entirely, though in theory it supports 4CM as it has a loop... I'm not sure now!

The VH4's volume control (as part of the preamp) is bypassed when using the FX Return too, so if you just use that then it'll be pumped back out at a full 30w.

Jetfire

So I'm literally about say fuck it and buy one of these. I fancy an amp again AND I could use it for powering a trad cab with my helix. 

When setting it up with the helix in the FX loop, any tips or tricks for doing so? Does the out put need to be changed to a different type? Or is there a much easier way using something to set the helix volume via the FX loop? 

guitargeek62

@Jetfire - Do it!  I would just keep it simple and use the top-mounted volume control to change the output level into the fx loop