Yngwiestein
New member
It's all in the title. Whaddaya think?
What Do You Think Of Those Genz-Benz Amps?
- Thread starter Yngwiestein
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Binnerscot
New member
Re: What Do You Think Of Those Genz-Benz Amps?
I tried an El Diablo 60-C once.
http://www.genzbenz.com/?fa=detail&mid=1399&sid=416&cid=91
I thought the cleans were good, but I didn't like the higher gain sounds much. Even with a mid gain tone, there wasn't much in the way of definition or liveliness that I like to hear in an amp. I just didn't speak to me.
It seemed well made with a good amount of options.
I tried an El Diablo 60-C once.
http://www.genzbenz.com/?fa=detail&mid=1399&sid=416&cid=91
I thought the cleans were good, but I didn't like the higher gain sounds much. Even with a mid gain tone, there wasn't much in the way of definition or liveliness that I like to hear in an amp. I just didn't speak to me.
It seemed well made with a good amount of options.
Vasshu the humanoid typhoon
Unseen
Re: What Do You Think Of Those Genz-Benz Amps?
Have been through a Black Pearl 30 1x12"....that was one hell of a great amp!
I am trying a few more soon
Fantastic build too!
Have been through a Black Pearl 30 1x12"....that was one hell of a great amp!
I am trying a few more soon
Fantastic build too!
Yngwiestein
New member
Re: What Do You Think Of Those Genz-Benz Amps?
Last year I demoed an El Diablo & Black Pearl. I thought the El Diablo would be a metal amp but it turned out to be very versatile. I could not get over the syrupy tone and compression. Even with the compression off the amp sounded very compressed. Too thick sounding. It has a lot of nifty features like pentode/triode mode, EL34 or 6L6 and a parametric style eq. It was a good sound but not great.
I think the Black Pearl sounded a little better. Good sounds all around. That is one very nice amplifier! I would like to spend more time with it.
Have been through a Black Pearl 30 1x12"....that was one hell of a great amp!
I am trying a few more soon
Fantastic build too!
Last year I demoed an El Diablo & Black Pearl. I thought the El Diablo would be a metal amp but it turned out to be very versatile. I could not get over the syrupy tone and compression. Even with the compression off the amp sounded very compressed. Too thick sounding. It has a lot of nifty features like pentode/triode mode, EL34 or 6L6 and a parametric style eq. It was a good sound but not great.
I think the Black Pearl sounded a little better. Good sounds all around. That is one very nice amplifier! I would like to spend more time with it.
Vasshu the humanoid typhoon
Unseen
Re: What Do You Think Of Those Genz-Benz Amps?
You need to think Nashville cats and their smooth expensive tones
You need to think Nashville cats and their smooth expensive tones
Yngwiestein
New member
:foot:Vasshu the humanoid typhoon
Unseen
Re: What Do You Think Of Those Genz-Benz Amps?
Well the EL-84 tone is big there!
Dunno I think Huff and alikes when I play those things....another amp on to get list...haha
Well the EL-84 tone is big there!
Dunno I think Huff and alikes when I play those things....another amp on to get list...haha
Lazarus1140
New member
Re: What Do You Think Of Those Genz-Benz Amps?
I played a BP-112 combo and it almost made an EL-84 fan out of me. Unfortunately, I was in a store where you can't crank it, so I consider the test incomplete.
I played a BP-112 combo and it almost made an EL-84 fan out of me. Unfortunately, I was in a store where you can't crank it, so I consider the test incomplete.
Re: What Do You Think Of Those Genz-Benz Amps?
I've had a Diablo combo for over a year and I'm still deeply in love with it... I wrote a review here, you'd find it easily with a search...
Very very versatile, quite thick I'll admit but for the music I play (mostly quite heavy stuff), it fits perfectly... I sure couldn't find a better amp for the money (especially since I paid below 500$ in great conditions for mine)...
IMHO, it's a heck of an underrated amp and a killer bargain on the used market.
I've had a Diablo combo for over a year and I'm still deeply in love with it... I wrote a review here, you'd find it easily with a search...
Very very versatile, quite thick I'll admit but for the music I play (mostly quite heavy stuff), it fits perfectly... I sure couldn't find a better amp for the money (especially since I paid below 500$ in great conditions for mine)...
IMHO, it's a heck of an underrated amp and a killer bargain on the used market.
Ascension
Well-known member
Re: What Do You Think Of Those Genz-Benz Amps?
I like the Accoustic stuff I have played through a LOT. The electric amps however I have never warmed up to. The Black Pearl is ok but not great and overpriced for what you get IMO. The other high gain stuff I have played through I thought was pretty souless tone wise.
I like the Accoustic stuff I have played through a LOT. The electric amps however I have never warmed up to. The Black Pearl is ok but not great and overpriced for what you get IMO. The other high gain stuff I have played through I thought was pretty souless tone wise.
Dr.Mavashi
neonderthalotonalogist
Re: What Do You Think Of Those Genz-Benz Amps?
Well ..... I have bro, with whom I spent three years in the band in which we poured our heart and soul into ... I know his playing very well, I've learned from him. He has changed his style a lot, very much so ... so I've listened to the entire show of his new band with him playing through a Diablo .... I am very, very, very impressed. I would be considering this amp as an alternative to some other modern style of amp I think of, like Soldano for example ... for what its worth.
Well ..... I have bro, with whom I spent three years in the band in which we poured our heart and soul into ... I know his playing very well, I've learned from him. He has changed his style a lot, very much so ... so I've listened to the entire show of his new band with him playing through a Diablo .... I am very, very, very impressed. I would be considering this amp as an alternative to some other modern style of amp I think of, like Soldano for example ... for what its worth.
Re: What Do You Think Of Those Genz-Benz Amps?
However, the mids being voiced the way they are, I can easily see how it couldn't be for everyone, especially those who are looking for a mesa-soundalike...
I honestly think that it's more than that when tweaked properly... switching to 6L6 did improve it in terms of having a heavier sound when cranked.
However, the mids being voiced the way they are, I can easily see how it couldn't be for everyone, especially those who are looking for a mesa-soundalike...
Kosh Naranek
New member
Re: What Do You Think Of Those Genz-Benz Amps?
I'm not sure I totally agree about its compressed sound. Mine has the switch to kick in a more compressed sound. That's great for leads and for a sustaining 80's crunch tone. But with the compressed switch off, I hear a great, classic, more dynamic sound, more like the overdrive on old Joe Walsh tunes.
It is an amazingly versatile amp for gigging, and in the home studio. The one thing I wish it did better was transition more smoothly from a clean sound to an overdriven one.
That more or less sums it up. It does have a sorta "syruppy" sound. You either like it or hate it. I had to get used to it. But I find at gig volumes, where some amps might tend to get too edgy, my El Diablo stays smooth. Audiences like that. And I know from having recorded tracks in my home studio with it, if you record it cranked up, it sits very nicely in a mix.
I'm not sure I totally agree about its compressed sound. Mine has the switch to kick in a more compressed sound. That's great for leads and for a sustaining 80's crunch tone. But with the compressed switch off, I hear a great, classic, more dynamic sound, more like the overdrive on old Joe Walsh tunes.
It is an amazingly versatile amp for gigging, and in the home studio. The one thing I wish it did better was transition more smoothly from a clean sound to an overdriven one.
Yngwiestein
New member
Re: What Do You Think Of Those Genz-Benz Amps?
A lot of people have trouble dialing in those amps. It has like a parametric eq. It's not so straight forward as other amps where you turn up mids if you want mids or bass if you want bass, which is has PLENTY of BTW. I don't have very much time on those amps but when I demoed them a good friend of mine who is very knowledgeable about them guided me along. At the time I was thinking about selling them.
You would think a lot of Mesa types who love to tweak knobs would be head over heals for an El Diablo. I think they are as hard to dial in as Mesas. The only thing you can't dial out is the compression & thickness. It's like molasses man!
I don't know what 6L6s would do in an amp like that. It might cut out some mids but adding to the already thick low end man I don't know how great that would work out. Not that the result would be like that because I don't know. I would love to hear some clips comparing EL34 & 6L6 in an El Diablo.
Something I don't understand is the warning label they put on those amps. They warn you not to turn the controls too high up! I kind of thought that was the point of playing an amp loud.
A lot of people have trouble dialing in those amps. It has like a parametric eq. It's not so straight forward as other amps where you turn up mids if you want mids or bass if you want bass, which is has PLENTY of BTW. I don't have very much time on those amps but when I demoed them a good friend of mine who is very knowledgeable about them guided me along. At the time I was thinking about selling them.
You would think a lot of Mesa types who love to tweak knobs would be head over heals for an El Diablo. I think they are as hard to dial in as Mesas. The only thing you can't dial out is the compression & thickness. It's like molasses man!
I don't know what 6L6s would do in an amp like that. It might cut out some mids but adding to the already thick low end man I don't know how great that would work out. Not that the result would be like that because I don't know. I would love to hear some clips comparing EL34 & 6L6 in an El Diablo.
Something I don't understand is the warning label they put on those amps. They warn you not to turn the controls too high up! I kind of thought that was the point of playing an amp loud.
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ImmortalSix
John Mayer's Mankini
Re: What Do You Think Of Those Genz-Benz Amps?
x2, very versatile, very expensive, but their crunch and low gain rock tones were really, really great sounding.
x2, very versatile, very expensive, but their crunch and low gain rock tones were really, really great sounding.
Kosh Naranek
New member
Re: What Do You Think Of Those Genz-Benz Amps?
It may not nail the tone of a Rectifier, but if I crank the gain and turn down the midrange, it does a decent impersonation of scooped tones I hear on newer hard rock. Is it the guy from Nickelback that uses the El Diablo 100 watt amp? Or was that Staind? I can't tell the two bands apart, but I can set my El Diablo to get their guitar tone.
Kosh Naranek
New member
Re: What Do You Think Of Those Genz-Benz Amps?
It does depend on what sound you're after, and what your guitar and pickups sound like. Because of the thick and smooth quality of the El Diablo, I think it might tend to favor single coils and vintage humbuckers, which sound thinner and have more bite. The other guitar I play through my El Diablo a lot is my Hamer Monaco Elite Mahogany with a bridge '59. That guitar sounds fantastic through the El Diablo.
Speaking of the amp's thick sound, last weekend I tried plugging in a Strat type guitar with an SSL-5 bridge single coil. That thickness really compliments a single coils guitar! If you ever tried playing some of Pink Floyd's heavier riffs with a Strat and wondered why you sounded thin and ear piercing while Gilmour's tone sound fat and chunky, the El Diablo in combination with the SSL-5 bridge pickup smoothed out the high end and added the missing chunk in the midrange.
It does depend on what sound you're after, and what your guitar and pickups sound like. Because of the thick and smooth quality of the El Diablo, I think it might tend to favor single coils and vintage humbuckers, which sound thinner and have more bite. The other guitar I play through my El Diablo a lot is my Hamer Monaco Elite Mahogany with a bridge '59. That guitar sounds fantastic through the El Diablo.
Yngwiestein
New member
Re: What Do You Think Of Those Genz-Benz Amps?
Weird you say that because I was searching for SSL5 clips last night. It might be something to fatten up my EJ strat bridge pickup. Do you think it's a good choice or would sound out of balance with the 1954 & 1960 pickpups in the neck and middle?
Weird you say that because I was searching for SSL5 clips last night. It might be something to fatten up my EJ strat bridge pickup. Do you think it's a good choice or would sound out of balance with the 1954 & 1960 pickpups in the neck and middle?
