VHT Pittbull UL Thoughts/Photos

[bulb]

I don't like 'djenty' so there lies our differences I like my attack/palm mutes to be thick crunchy heavy palm mutes, but not in the metallic/djenty way. I agree for those stylings the ENGL is the best. I like the tone on your songs but its not my style personally When I said it had both of the best worlds, I meant that its super warm and thick, yet also has great attack and is SUPER tight like an ENGL.

Powerball is great, as is the VHT. It must be awesome having both

yeah if you arent into djent (or as djenty or "processed" a sound as the engl does or the podxt do on my recordings) i would say that the vht is the best and most rounded amp out there (mine doesnt have the eq but i got very similar results with a ge7 in the loop). I wanna try mine with some 6l6's to see how i like it as well, and i think im going to tung sol the v1 of both the vht and the engl because noodles cant praise those enough. Seriously if you havent played an ultra lead yet play it now, and keep in mind the gain is very tight and unsaturated so that you can build on it, so if you are into tight gainy chug, get a tubescreamer!

 

[jaredowty]

Congrats on the new amp. How does it do on lead tones? You'd think since it's so tight that it's best for rhythms.

 

[zimbloth]

yeah if you arent into djent (or as djenty or "processed" a sound as the engl does or the podxt do on my recordings) i would say that the vht is the best and most rounded amp out there (mine doesnt have the eq but i got very similar results with a ge7 in the loop). I wanna try mine with some 6l6's to see how i like it as well, and i think im going to tung sol the v1 of both the vht and the engl because noodles cant praise those enough. Seriously if you havent played an ultra lead yet play it now, and keep in mind the gain is very tight and unsaturated so that you can build on it, so if you are into tight gainy chug, get a tubescreamer!

I actually do like the ENGL characteristics, it's just the way I pick, I don't get djenty sounds. I can if I try but thats just not my technique. I just like the warmer yet still brutal and tight sound of the VHT more.

Yeah the EQ is key, thought if you use an external one I'm sure that's cool too. I tried using 6L6s with the Pittbull and I would recommend against it. It still sounds good, but the sound is considerably thinner and less ballsy with it. This amp was designed with KT88s in mind and it sounds like it too. That being said your model is the EL34 model so thats a different story. The Ultralead is better off w/ KT88s IMO.

I should also note I too used the Tung-Sol in the V1 of mY ENGL, definitely does help but it's somewhat subtle. I haven tried it with the VHT yet but I will. It's a good tube.

Congrats on the new amp. How does it do on lead tones? You'd think since it's so tight that it's best for rhythms.

Awesome for leads. I play rhythm and lead, it's very clear yet super complex and fat. I could go on forever with adjectives, just rest assured it's amazing

Wow, you are some gear Maniac, Zim!

Going to sell the Fireball now?

I already sold it on eBay yes.

 

[The Dark Wolf]

Sounds like you need to update your 'Rig' field, Nick.

 

[Karl Hungus]

I already sold it on eBay yes.

Traitor!

Seriously though, you're giving me GAS for a VHT.

Still, I had an excellent time messing around with my Fireball yesterday. I dialled in a very smooth Dream Theater kinda tone, which was very nice. The K-7 sounds really good though it, but I think either the Evo7 or Lundgren sound best.

I'd really love to get some JJ's and a Tung Sol at some stage, because it's all still stock tubes.

With reguards to someone saying that ENGL are more in the same field as Peavey or Marshall, I think that's half true, and I'd definetly compare the Fireball to a 5150. But some of the higher end ENGL definetly competes in the realms of VHT, Bogner, Diezel and higher end Mesa Boogie amps.

Take the Special Edition head for example, or the Invader. Not to mention any of the high end rackmount stuff.

If I was getting another amp, the Special Edition would be tops on my list.

 

[zimbloth]

Traitor!

Seriously though, you're giving me GAS for a VHT.

Still, I had an excellent time messing around with my Fireball yesterday. I dialled in a very smooth Dream Theater kinda tone, which was very nice. The K-7 sounds really good though it, but I think either the Evo7 or Lundgren sound best.

I'd really love to get some JJ's and a Tung Sol at some stage, because it's all still stock tubes.

With reguards to someone saying that ENGL are more in the same field as Peavey or Marshall, I think that's half true, and I'd definetly compare the Fireball to a 5150. But some of the higher end ENGL definetly competes in the realms of VHT, Bogner, Diezel and higher end Mesa Boogie amps.

1) Yes I was very sad to see the ENGL go, I never had a bad thing to say about it. As I've said ad nauseum, I woke up the day I got the VHT in tonal bliss with my Fireball. Fate just intervened.

2) I didn't like the K7 thru the ENGL as much as I did w/ my TriAxis. I can tell you with absolute certainty the Evo does like the ENGL more than the DS7, at least in mahogany.

3) I used the stock ENGL tubes in the power section, I just changed the pres. I tried JJs in the power section and actually thought it sounded worse. Maybe it just needed to be biased.

4) I think the quality of the ENGL is higher than that of a Peavey or a Marshall, I think it's up there with Mesa and the like.

 

[Karl Hungus]

I may have to invest in another Evo7. Definetly one of my favourite bridge pickups ever. Have someone interested in buying a Blaze Custom off me, so if that sells, I might go ahead with it.

Hmm, that's odd, I've heard from a few people locally who've gotten JJ's with their ENGLs that it absolutely smokes. I'm definetly eager to try a Tung Sol though, so I'll probably get that first.

 

[zimbloth]

I generally like JJ 6L6 as well but for whatever reason it made my Fireball sound harsh. Might have been a bias issue or I didnt have the amp setup right (back then I didnt know about the 'putting the presence down to 9o'clock" thing).

 

[Karl Hungus]

I generally like JJ 6L6 as well but for whatever reason it made my Fireball sound harsh. Might have been a bias issue or I didnt have the amp setup right (back then I didnt know about the 'putting the presence down to 9o'clock" thing).

Ah yeah, that could explain things. The presence on the Fireball really does make things incredible harsh. Mine's just under 9 O'clock.

 

[zimbloth]

Yeah me too. I set my presence about 2.5 out of 10, treble around 7.0 out of 10. Mids usually around 6. I loved it.

 

[Karl Hungus]

Yeah me too. I set my presence about 2.5 out of 10, presence around 7.0 out of 10. Mids usually around 6. I loved it.

I think you mean to say treble at around 7.0? Yeah, sounds about right for me too, with bass around 3. I'll turn the treble down to around 5 though if I want a smoother tone.

 

[zimbloth]

Oops, yes. It's very late at night here sorry I used the bass at 3 too until I got my Tube Screamer. That sucks out a lot of the bass so I can put it up around 4-5 depending on the guitar with it engaged.

 

[Karl Hungus]

I think we're taking this thread off in a whole ENGL binge again (Usually happens when i'm talking about amps) so I'll shut up about it for now.

I'd love to hear more about the Pitbull, it sounds like an awesome amp. I usually dig amps that have their own inbuilt graphic EQ, I think that's why I love the Mesa Mark IV so much, an amp that I promised myself I'd buy if I ever got rich. You'll have to throw us up a few sound samples, or maybe even a video at some stage.

 

[zimbloth]

I think we're taking this thread off in a whole ENGL binge again (Usually happens when i'm talking about amps) so I'll shut up about it for now.

I'd love to hear more about the Pitbull, it sounds like an awesome amp. I usually dig amps that have their own inbuilt graphic EQ, I think that's why I love the Mesa Mark IV so much, an amp that I promised myself I'd buy if I ever got rich. You'll have to throw us up a few sound samples, or maybe even a video at some stage.

Yeah, we're going to be recording heavily soon with the VHT. It will be layered with a Mesa as well but once I have that stuff recorded it will be easy to just mute the Mesa and you can hear the VHT in action. Most likely we're going to have 4 guitar tracks.

I could try to make a crude video, but those youtube videos don't really capture the real sound of an amp too well. The frequencies in cheap webcam mics are often filtered out.

 

[Karl Hungus]

Oh yeah, which model Tubescreamer is it you use? I've been wondering that.

 

[zimbloth]

It's the Ibanez TS808 Reissue. It's the green one like in the pic on page 1, they sell here for around $160. I hear the Maxon OD808 is the same thing and that one costs less but I've never used one to be sure.

 

[Karl Hungus]

Oh yeah, I see it.

If I ever get that Mark IV (Which I don't see happening any time soon), a Tubescreamer might be something to invest in.

 

[zimbloth]

It helped considerably with the ENGL too IMO.

 

[Karl Hungus]

Yeah, you've said that before. I might check one out at some stage, but it's just not high on my priorities right now.

 

[zimbloth]

Yeah, you've said that before. I might check one out at some stage, but it's just not high on my priorities right now.

Just to veer further off topic, I'm listening to the Minibosses album. It's an album of metalized NES tunes... classic stuff... I highly recommend it. It makes you appreciate how amazing those little 8-bit midi musicians were in the 80s programming this stuff. The music in Castlevania or Ninja Gaiden alone is better than Megadeth or Metallica has ever done IMO

Btw I'm still trying to figure out what the "depth" control on the VHT actually does.