Diezel VH2 Amp Head Review

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The Diezel VH2 has two channels, both of which can put out substantial amounts of gain. However, the first channel is the designated "clean" channel, while the second one is for higher gain levels and heavy distortion.

Yet, even on the clean channel you can get a lot of distortion and some aggressive tones.

Here's the demo by Peter Diezel and Peter Stapfer at Diezel headquarters:

The cleans on channel one sound great, though can easily be distorted by moving the gain knob up. It's the second channel where you'll get the most mileage out of the Diezel VH2. On high gain settings the thing is just an absolute monster.

Riffs sound thick and heavy, while palm muted power chords have a ton of percussive "thud" and thickness.

It's not as much a searing amp as it is a bass-heavy power chord amp, perfect for heavy rhythm riffs and following thick bass lines.

As you go up through the gain levels, you can basically hear the second channel picking up its gain level where the first channel leaves off.

It's heavy and sounds good even with full saturation.

Whether it's clean or metal, you get a lot of sustain in the mix and a nice balance of frequency which leads you to avoid tinkering much with the EQ.

For an amp that has so few tweaking features, it still sounds better than nearly anything we've tested.

You don't need to tweak it.

Control

The control scheme on the front panel of the VH2 is quite simple. Here's a look at both channels and the power amp controls:

You have the following controls for both the first and second channel:

• Gain
• Volume
• Treble
• Middle
• Bass

Clearly this is an exceedingly simple control scheme.

All of the control for those two channels is set at the preamp level. Moving right - to the power amp - you have the following universal controls:

• Master 1
• Master 2
• Presence
• Deep

There's no reverb, but you don't really miss it once you start using the amp. The "Deep" knob is nice to have since the amp is already so heavy. This allows you to add or reduce bass in the EQ depending on the sound you're going for.

While it has less control than most amps in its price range, it's hard to complain about it since we didn't feel like any additional control was even necessary.

Note the switch in the middle is the channel selector, though channels can also be selected through an included footswitch.

Value

The VH2 retails for about $2900 which is around $1500 less than the larger VH4. If you're okay with just the two channels and the limited control scheme, the VH2 is a fantastic alternative to the high Diezel prices.

Not only does it get you the same Diezel tone that we like about the VH4, but it gives you all the same bones and the basic control.

Aside from the additional flexibility of more channels, there aren't any downsides to saving the money and going with the VH2.

In its price range, it's one of our absolute favorite amplifiers

Buy confidently.

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