NAD! Feels like coming home!

timmysoft

 Met up with the good fellow @sweepy today and did the deal to own another Genz Benz El-Diablo 100, top chap, great communications and made the whole process very easy, so thanks mate!

 I first owned an El Diablo 100 back in 2007, it was the first really expensive amp i'd bought. The original one cost me over £1k and i loved playing through it. Stupidly i sold that original one, i still don't know why i did that! Fast forward 10 years and its back with me, i don't think its my original one, but i do know there was only 12 of the 100w heads sold in the UK. 
 These amps received a lot of hate back when they were released, the EQ is "bass amp" powerful and they're difficult to dial in, but if you get to know how the controls all interact then you'll be rewarded with some hugely unique and fantastic quality tones. The cleans go from sterile on the vintage setting through to a lovely dynamically responsive edgy clean on the warm setting, theres a whole heap of great tones to find just by working the channel volume against the master. The drive channel is a complex work of art! Its a very individual drive tone, more suited to modern high gain rather than bluesy crunch type stuff. Gain levels are huge, it'll take on Engls and Diezels for gain no problem. The drive channel options are massive, its very easy to get lost in the active EQ, tube contour, texture and gain style and its very easy to see why many people would take the time to dial it in. Even at maxed out gain levels the amp is incredibly quiet, which is a feature i really love as i spend most of my time chugging out heavy rhythms. Personally, i like all the feature switches engaged, for me its when the amp seems its most lively.

 They advertised the half power switch as like having two different amps, which for once is actually true! The 50w mode is softer and slightly more saggy in the low end, the 100w is brighter, bolder and more aggressive. I've always preferred the 50w mode.

 The cab i picked up a few weeks back, its a Fender Supersonic 2x12, its bloody massive and quite heavy! I plan on removing the tilt back legs and changing the v30's over to Creamback Neos, but even as stock its a good sounding cab. I may also add side handles as its not the easiest of cabs to manoeuvre, its just so bloody big!

timmysoft

Revalve today, dropped in some EH 6L6GCs, changed the V2 to a 5751 and swapped the Ruby in V3 for an old EH 12AX7.



results - the clean has more sparkle and body, single notes really pop now. The drive sound has less gain, but it's clearer and any fizz has now become  top end sizzle. It's very good, much better than the EL34's that were in it.

i also swapped out the terrible input jack on the Fender Supersonic cab. It's now got the big recessed Marshall one, I think it's much better than the tele dish that was fitted as stock. Interestingly while changing out the speakers I found that internally the two sides of the cab are completely split, it's actually more like two 1x12 cabs coupled together. It makes it a heavy cab but it is very clear sounding for both clean and drive tones.

I've also gone for a set of V-types, they've become my favourite speaker that celestion make, I even prefer them over the creamback!

Winny_Pooh

Interesting, so a bit Rivera like in design? The split cab thing is unusual.

darcym

interested what colour that PRS is, looks very cool

timmysoft

It's olive green, it was part of a limited run of MiraX and Starlas I believe there's only 3 Mira X models in this colour and it's a colour they'll never repeat. It was a really n for DV247 in Europe in 2009. It's the kind of colour that people think they'll hate but it's just very unique. It helps that the guitar is an absolute monster, plays superbly and sounds huge! It's also no case queen, I've bumped it, chipped it, switched parts out, it's everything a PRS shouldn't be!

andy1839

Congrats!

Lovely (this was mine before @sweepy) the lead sound with every button engaged was truly something special. Solid, reliable and super quiet. 

darcym

timmysoft said:

It's olive green, it was part of a limited run of MiraX and Starlas I believe there's only 3 Mira X models in this colour and it's a colour they'll never repeat. It was a really n for DV247 in Europe in 2009. It's the kind of colour that people think they'll hate but it's just very unique. It helps that the guitar is an absolute monster, plays superbly and sounds huge! It's also no case queen, I've bumped it, chipped it, switched parts out, it's everything a PRS shouldn't be!

I like it an lot !