Review: Genz Benz El Diablo 60C - With Sound Clip

myxolidian

myxolidian

New member
I scored a used Genz Benz El Diablo 60C combo off of fleabay last week. Never heard or played one before but it had the features that I was looking for and the price was right…so I took a gamble.

Firing up the amp for the first time in 60 watt pentode mode was a shocker. I did NOT like what I was hearing. Extreme fizz. Cranking it up did little to help. There’s just an inherent fizz to the lows, highs and everything in between. It’s a unique sound…but wasn’t what I was looking for. I think the fizz is extremely polarizing and is the main reason people might be turned off to this amp.

Next up was switching to 30 watt triode mode. Like other reviewers have mentioned, this makes a HUGE difference. There’s still an inherent fizz but it’s much more subdued. Now it’s starting to sound “right”. Unfortunately, this mode also makes the low end flabby.

I decided to throw a Jekyll & Hyde pedal in front to tighten things up. Just using the Jekyll side as a boost made a very nice improvement in tightening up the lows (since it cuts some low end like typical old-school ODs). The amp seems to accept this pedal EXTREMELY well. Cranking up the drive/output on the OD did not overwhelm the input like some other amps. Worked great on both the Warm (clean) and Hot channels.

The amp has a ton of tonal properties. However, I’d say the main voicing of the amp is sort of like a Bogner XTC that mated with a Mesa Recto (speaking in regards to 30 watt triode mode). Kinda loose low end and a low mid voicing. It’s lacking that tight, percussive Marshall low end and doesn’t have the Marshall high mid voicing, even though it sports EL34 tubes. Ironically, the Warm (clean) channel is very tight and could use some loosening. It still sounds great though.

I'm hoping there's a mod to tighten up the low end and eliminate the remaining fizz in 30 watt triode mode. If that were the case, this amp would be unstoppable. The feature set and flexibility are fantastic. The tones are there. It just needs clarity.

Below is a sound clip of random noodling with a few different tones.
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=520434&songID=4503968

All clips had a J&H as a semi-clean boost, unless noted. I think it represents the sound accurately. Hot channel always had the compression switch engaged. Guitar was an Edwards LP with Seymour Duncan Distortion humbuckers on both bridge and neck positions.

0 - :25 Hot channel. Jekyll boost. Bridge pickup. Amp was moderately cranked.
:25 - :49 Hot channel. Jekyll boost. Bridge pickup. Amp was moderately cranked.
:49 – 1:14 Clean channel. No boost pedal. Neck pickup. Loud TV level.
1:14 – 1:32 Clean channel. Jekyll boost. Neck pickup. This is the same amount of boost used on the Hot channel. Loud TV level.
1:32 – 1:50 Clean channel. Hyde boost. Bridge pickup. Loud TV level.
1:50 - 2:02 Hot channel. Jekyll boost. Bridge pickup. Loud TV level.
2:02 – 2:15 Hot channel. No boost. Bridge pickup. Loud TV level. Note how much flabbier the low end is without the boost engaged.

Overall, I’m now pretty happy with the amp and discovering new tones every day. There’s just a few things keeping it from being a great amp for me. I’m hoping there’s some mods to fix this.

Anyway, hopefully these clips show potential buyers what the El D can do in 30 watt triode mode (the Genz Benz videos already show what pentode mode sounds like).
 
Re: Review: Genz Benz El Diablo 60C - With Sound Clip

hmm.. thats a cool sounding amp. I can definately hear the fizz, but you are right, it does have tone. I like the high gain sound you are getting with the boost. Id like to hear what the clean sounds with a different neck pickup, something lower in output. Also, what about low gain lead sounds? with neck or bridge really. Besides that, what was your basic recording setup?
 
Re: Review: Genz Benz El Diablo 60C - With Sound Clip

my assessment back in may:

"But max-ed out gain was just unpleasant. Not sure how to describe it...kind of muddy and not tight. Maybe buzzy would be the word? Just odd."

but you're clip sounds pretty nice to me! I dig that sound.
 
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Re: Review: Genz Benz El Diablo 60C - With Sound Clip

suislidE03,

The clean sounds on this amp are phenomenal. And this is with EL34s. The amp can also use 6L6s which I'm guessing would make the cleans even better. There's also a gain knob on the clean side which can push it to get a little dirty.

Mild distortions from the amp sound just ok at the moment. I haven't really tried to dial it in much though. What I'm finding is that because the clean channel takes to the J&H so well that mild distortion can be provided by the pedal and that it sounds great (and I've never been a fan of pedal distortion in the past). I'll throw up a sound clip of something with my Strat later today.

As for recording, it's just an Audio Technica condenser into a Mackie mixer.
 
Re: Review: Genz Benz El Diablo 60C - With Sound Clip

DankStar,

You hit the nail on the head. The 60 watt pentode mode just sounds like a mess. However, the 30 watt triode mode sounds like a completely different amp.

This amp requires a lot of tweaking. But then again, anything with a lot of flexibility usually requires a lot of tweaking. I think a lot of people might be frustrated with this fact and you'll see them on fleabay for around ~$550. Not a bad deal for an amp with great build quality and flexibility.

If you get a chance to check one out again, make sure you flip that switch in the back to triode mode.
 
Re: Review: Genz Benz El Diablo 60C - With Sound Clip

Thanks for the great review. I've been seriously considering one of these. I'd be interested in hearing the Strat with it as well. Supposedly this amp works equally well with humbuckers and singles so it should be interesting.
 
Re: Review: Genz Benz El Diablo 60C - With Sound Clip

Here's the clip with the Strat. It's got a Virtual 2 (stacked vintage) in the neck and a Pro Track (stacked PAF) in the bridge:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/songInfo.cfm?bandID=520434&songID=4507565

The El D doesn't do slightly dirty sounds on its own really well, IMO. So what you hear on the clip is all using the amp's clean channel. Any dirt you hear is provided by the J&H pedal, which I'm loving more every day. First on the clip is the Jekyll (TS-808) side and then around the 1:42 mark it's the Hyde (Rat) side.
 
Re: Review: Genz Benz El Diablo 60C - With Sound Clip

What kind of speaker does it have stock? Maybe a speaker change could cure the flabby-ness.
 
Re: Review: Genz Benz El Diablo 60C - With Sound Clip

I love just about every part of those clips!

Is that mostly the pedal doing the tonal shaping or is it the amp?
 
Re: Review: Genz Benz El Diablo 60C - With Sound Clip

According to the descriptions he's given it seems that much of what we're hearing is the pedal which is a little misleading. Although the two "no boost" clips he's provided also sounded pretty good. And if it really is a flexible amp maybe after a few more weeks of tweaking and getting used to it he'll be able to dial in some settings he's more comfortable with.
 
Re: Review: Genz Benz El Diablo 60C - With Sound Clip

It sounds pretty much like my El Diablo. I love the amp. I pretty much love the tones you have here. I would do some tweaking for the high gain, and the just break up tones for me. EQ on the just break up needs some messing with for me. I thought the clean was great.

I do play the EL34's in tirode mode most of the time. It does smooth things out a bit more, I agree. But, in triode mode it is a darn smooth amp. The most common criticism of the gain I have read is that it is not aggressive enough (too smooth). I also agree, the most common comparision is to a Bogner. I have not played a Bogner enough to tell if that is true or not.

For me - I love it mostly because it has far less fizz than nearly everything I have tried. I would say most of the fizz I hear here in the clip (there is not much to me) appears to me to be coming from your having the conture a bit higher than I would generally run it. I would back it down a notch or 2 myself. Are you hitting the amp with a high output ceramic or something in the bridge? You probably said and I missed it. I do not know what you have for pups for sure but a SD Seth Lover in the Neck will smooth it out more under high gain as well. The delay seems to create some of the issue with the bass to me. But, it is a 1x12 (though semi open cab) so it is not going to handle bass the same as a 4x12 closed back cab does. I think if you ran it into a nice closed back 4x12 it would not be an issue. However, for a 1x12 combo it is the best I have found at all it does.

Pedals are taken well by the amp. A Tube screamer run as a boost is a great effect with the amp as well. I agree with that as well.

But, I still really liked yoru clips here and would ask anyone who has better to post them here for a comparison.
 
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Re: Review: Genz Benz El Diablo 60C - With Sound Clip

Thanks for the comments guys. I'm really enjoying the flexibility in this amp, especially for $550 (used). :D I'm just nitpicking on the remaining fizz/fuzz because I know this amp can be even better. The base ingredients/tone is there. Modding amps is nothing new (almost every great Marshall has been tweaked). Unfortunately, this amp isn't very popular so there's not a lot of info on it.


sufferinrewind said:
What kind of speaker does it have stock? Maybe a speaker change could cure the flabby-ness.
Click to expand...
It uses the same Genz speaker as in their G-Flex cabs. They're made by Celestion and are voiced after a V30 but have some stronger parts from the GT12-75 along with higher strength epoxy, etc. So in other words, it's a beefed up V30 and is a very tight speaker.


Mephis said:
Is that mostly the pedal doing the tonal shaping or is it the amp?
Click to expand...
In the 1st higher gain clips, it's all El D with the pedal providing clean boost and a treble bump. In the 2nd clip it's all pedal with the El D providing the cleans (which, by the way, are fantastic on this amp).

Interesting thing though: the J&H pedal had been sitting in the closet for the last year because I didn't like the way it sounded with my other amps. But with the El D, it almost behaves like a completely different pedal. Great tones (and even great feel).

drpietrzak said:
... appears to me to be coming from your having the conture a bit higher than I would generally run it. I would back it down a notch or 2 myself.
Click to expand...
I don't run the contour very high. 5 max. On the 1st clip it was at 4. My latest setting has it at 0 and gain at 4. This makes the amp really dark so I dial the mids back up thru outboard EQ. I've come to the conclusion that the fizz is inherent in the gain stages. Turning up the gain gets a little mushier than, say, a Marshall. I'm going to play around with some different preamp tubes. I think a slightly brighter/clearer tube than the stock JJ/Tesla should clear things up a bit.
 
Re: Review: Genz Benz El Diablo 60C - With Sound Clip

I don't run the contour very high. 5 max. On the 1st clip it was at 4. My latest setting has it at 0 and gain at 4. This makes the amp really dark so I dial the mids back up thru outboard EQ. I've come to the conclusion that the fizz is inherent in the gain stages. Turning up the gain gets a little mushier than, say, a Marshall. I'm going to play around with some different preamp tubes. I think a slightly brighter/clearer tube than the stock JJ/Tesla should clear things up a bit.
Click to expand...

I am not sure then, mine does not have the same quality. I still suspect it has to do with the way you are eq'ing it in some way. Though I hasve to say I am not really hearing much fizz. It may also be in the voicing of your pickups as well. The amp is pretty respondent to pickups and other elements.
 
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