A week or two ago I literally woke up thinking about how much I loved my ENGL Fireball head, that same night I lucked out and picked up a VHT Pittbull UL. I still have warm sentiments for my ENGL, but when I A/B'd the two, I felt like tossing it through a window. That's just how great this amp is. I've never played the EL34 model, but my Ultralead w/ KT88s is just pure bliss.
Random thoughts:
-Features are out of this world, and all are usable. There is almost no unusable range for the various controls. You can max out or zero out basically any control and you will still get an amazing tone (well maybe except cutting all the mids out). Sometimes I play with a lot of treble/presence, sounds great, obviously bright but never harsh. I've also played it with the treble set low and it still had plenty of attack but just had a smoother sound. I was amazed the attack remained nearly completely in-tact even with the treble at 25%. Likewise, the bass or depth controls never get to a level where it turns into mud or flub.
-The 6 band EQ is incredible. Right now I just keep most things about neutral, I boost the 100hz a few dB, 250hz neutral, 600hz cut slightly (eliminates some of the V30 unpleasantries bigtime), 1.2khz neutral. 2.3khz neutral/tiny boost, 5khz healthy boost. With the EQ disengaged via the footswitch, it still sounds great, but man it really helps.
-Being able to choose from a parallel or serial loop is really cool. There is also an "Edge" button which according to VHT adds some bite/gain only on higher frequencies. It's subtle but it does sound cool.
-It has ancient tubes, at least 4-5 years old. I can't imagine this thing when I retube it and GC gets the Black Shadows we ordered in. This is the first amp that 100% tames a Mesa 4x12 cab loaded with v30s, no harsh 'death zone' to speak of. This amp is just so warm, musical, complex and brutal.
-The ENGL was tight and had great tone, but its like 2D compared to what's offered here. I honestly had no idea an amp this good existed, I tried just about everything else and in my opinion nothing comes close.
-For the record I still use an Ibanez TS808 in front of it. So far I've played my Rico Jr Vixen 7 Custom w/ the Duncan Invader and my ESP SC607B w/ the EMG 81-7s through it, they both sound phenominal but the Invader sounds better. That pickup sounds like ass with some amps but not with this thing. I'm looking forward to trying it with more Duncans and DiMarzio pickups.
Anyways, I'm just so elated with this thing, I wish everyone could feel this way about their gear. If I was rich I'd buy all of you guys one just because. Here are some pics. Peace.
Random thoughts:
-Features are out of this world, and all are usable. There is almost no unusable range for the various controls. You can max out or zero out basically any control and you will still get an amazing tone (well maybe except cutting all the mids out). Sometimes I play with a lot of treble/presence, sounds great, obviously bright but never harsh. I've also played it with the treble set low and it still had plenty of attack but just had a smoother sound. I was amazed the attack remained nearly completely in-tact even with the treble at 25%. Likewise, the bass or depth controls never get to a level where it turns into mud or flub.
-The 6 band EQ is incredible. Right now I just keep most things about neutral, I boost the 100hz a few dB, 250hz neutral, 600hz cut slightly (eliminates some of the V30 unpleasantries bigtime), 1.2khz neutral. 2.3khz neutral/tiny boost, 5khz healthy boost. With the EQ disengaged via the footswitch, it still sounds great, but man it really helps.
-Being able to choose from a parallel or serial loop is really cool. There is also an "Edge" button which according to VHT adds some bite/gain only on higher frequencies. It's subtle but it does sound cool.
-It has ancient tubes, at least 4-5 years old. I can't imagine this thing when I retube it and GC gets the Black Shadows we ordered in. This is the first amp that 100% tames a Mesa 4x12 cab loaded with v30s, no harsh 'death zone' to speak of. This amp is just so warm, musical, complex and brutal.
-The ENGL was tight and had great tone, but its like 2D compared to what's offered here. I honestly had no idea an amp this good existed, I tried just about everything else and in my opinion nothing comes close.
-For the record I still use an Ibanez TS808 in front of it. So far I've played my Rico Jr Vixen 7 Custom w/ the Duncan Invader and my ESP SC607B w/ the EMG 81-7s through it, they both sound phenominal but the Invader sounds better. That pickup sounds like ass with some amps but not with this thing. I'm looking forward to trying it with more Duncans and DiMarzio pickups.
Anyways, I'm just so elated with this thing, I wish everyone could feel this way about their gear. If I was rich I'd buy all of you guys one just because. Here are some pics. Peace.
... actually I think that whole cd just sounds bad, so nevermind 
