Modern Diezel Amp Shootout - Herbert mk II vs Hagen 

I’m so happy there’s a high quality Hagen vs Herbert video up on RU-vid now. Thanks John!!! Channel 3 on the Herbert and 4 on the Hagen sounded so similar to me. On my speakers the Hagen had an insane amount of low end and Herbert had a nice throaty mid range. I ended up surprising myself and liking the Herbert a bit more but both are great.

It's always interesting to see one's preconceptions being challenged - I rewound the clean part twice because I expected the Hagen to somehow stand out more. I think both amps maybe serve a slightly different position in a mix - but overall it would be the Hagen for me here as well. Cheers for another great shootout!

Great video, thanks! The differences are well captured BUT much more apparent, if you play them yourself. For anybody interested in buying one of these: Play them before buying. With a matching cab! I had the Herb, it's mindblowing, bass is unreal, too much for me tbh. Never really liked boosts with any Diezel. These amps make high end guitars shine, because they don't cover up what you put in tonewise as other amps do, despite all the gain. Have a VHX now, very happy! Can't go wrong with any Diezel, once you understand their qualities..

Awesome video! I’ve been on the brink of getting a Hagen but I am still undecided. Between these two my winners are: Clean: Hagen Crunch: Hagen Mega: nose to nose, but probably Herbert Ch2+… tough! Lead: undecided, depends on the use case If I only played metal, Herbert is a no brainer. It is so direct and precise. Hagen seems to be a better allrounder especially in the medium to medium-high gain fields.

I like the great gain of the Herbert. I heard the hagen was a modern version of the vh4, and that it has a tighter bass for downtuning.

Great shootout John! I own exactly the same amps and agree with your opinion. Sometimes I consider selling one, but I couldn´t decide which one, so both are still here ;-) I also prefere the cleans on the Hagen a lot more and for me it´s warmer and not that sterile sounding than the Herbert is. As you mentioned as well, Herbert is more modern and tight sounding and there´s also s bit difference in the mids. Sometimes I feel, that the Hagen lacks a bit in the lower mids and doesn´t cut throught that good. I only use the 4th channel of the Hagen for leads and this works good for me. But you´re right, for ryhythm it doesn´t work that good. Nevertheless both are good amps and love them. Keep on doing such great shootouts!

what a channel, aaaaahhhhhhhh. Hagen Channel 2 max gain so good

Only orange owners know why the screws are not screwed all the way 😂 Great video John ! I still have to ask you privately about the Dmoll 😅

Hagen clean channel all the way. That’s the important comparison right there!

Mate, you're the perfect guy to answer me this: what are your absolute favorite speakers to use with your Peavey 5150? Thank you in advance.

The difference between the microphone change between the Intro and the Final Thoughts was bigger than the difference between the amps.

thank you for posting. great video as usual. watched it at least 3 times already. For me they aren't that similar, generally Herbert felt much more refined, more like produced record, hagen raw, saturated, more into old Marshall direction, I'm pretty sure Hagen can easily compete with JCM800, Friedman BE100 Suhr PT100 for all that Marshall-ish type of sounds.. I very much suspect that hagen is more sensitive to different pickups, guitars, boosters, because to my experience, Herbert has a lot of it's own refined sonic signature, I didn't like any tube screamers in a front of it(with exception of Precision Drive with very transparent settings) somehow all boosters make it sound smaller squished and cheap. Herbert simply doest like boosters, he is good as it is.. Similar phenomenon with guitars, If I plug into rectifier or mark, some guitars sound good, some sound better, but different... but with Herbert they are more or less the same, but in good way it I do like that Herbert's sonic imprint on sound, some might say that Herbert makes everything sound more similar than other amps do. you totally right hagen ch1 is a bit more spanky, and alive, Herbert is more like a huge bell. both good, I would love to have gain pot on Ch1 Herbert, but obviously there isn't any free space. I liked Hagen 2ch here a bit more than Herbert's 2-. I always felt that Herbert's ch2- sounds like something holing it back, imagine being stuck in car traffic in nice Porsche, it can do more , but doesn't. Although I had some nice results using bit of mid cut and ch2-. doesn't sound like old Marshall, but certainly has nice crunch to it. Herbert's ch2 + or Ch3 Hagen I think equally good, just depends what you want, raw or refined, I think Herbert is win for me here, just because I like that Herbert sonic signature so much same goes for CH3 Herbert and CH4 Hagen. Herbert's ch3 seem a bit more versatile for either rhythm of lead playing, whereas Hagen's ch4 is more pure lead channel. I understand your dislikes for CH4, but I'm sure it's really nice for solos, which was intended here. one thing that turned me off: hagen, has that spiky treble, like it run out of treble headroom and spikes or distorts, I often heard this spike in some Marshalls and ENGL(amps that I generally dislike), Herbert is cleaner bigger, like there is no limits at all. Big and mighty I think the main reason Hagen is less popular than VH4, Herbert of D-moll is not the sound or features but the look, people always choose with their eyes not ears. and unfortunately hagen's layout is odd and a bit confusing: knobs kind of fit in between each other, signs(gain, volume, treble etc) are not straight in-line like VH4 but rounded, which is silly and hard to read, black panel+white knobs also very unusual. looks very messy and unrefined, Herbert has much more cleaner layout and it just one of the most beautiful amps as far as looks goes, VH4 is odd, but in a cool way: all knobs are in line with each other, sings are straight and easy to read. I'm sure great many people, when saw Hagen for a first time were a bit confused, despite it being very logical. Hagen would receive much more success if all knobs were grouped in straight lines like Marshall JVM410. Chanel 1 Chanel 3 Presence Deep Chanel 2 Chanel 4 Volume 1 Vol 2 this layout is more familiar to all guitarists, there is no confusion and no knobs being in between each other. as for me, I probably keep two Herberts, instead of flipping one Herbert for Hagen. When time comes to buy another rig, I'll get Diezel 412 box and Hagen or VH4, whatever comes at better deal and easier to obtain. probably VH4 just because I'm such Metallica fan..

Yeah... It's difficult to make a final decision for me. Both amps sound great. The thing is... If you listen to one first and get used to that sound, when it changes, you might like what you hear 1st better. That's a bit tricky with these A/B tests. The Hagen seems to have that extended hiegh end though.. When you play chords and stuff, especially when strumming through the high strings... But the Herbert has that midrange throat punch. It could be sacrilege, but I wonder how the Hagen would sound with a graphic or parametric EQ in the loop, just pushing the throaty frequencies just a tad. I'm not sure if you could do the inverse with the Herbert... But I don't have the amps and have no idea of the range of their controls.. I'm just thinking from the amps set the way that they are... It juat seems from my limited perspective that the Herbert would have a little more difficult coaxing out the high end brilliance than the Haven pushing some throatiness with an external eq... But who knows! 😂 Maybe I'm just biased because I find the ahgen to be one of the most beautiful amps ever... But either way, I keep wanting one to sound a little more like the other depending on the part and how my ears are adjusting to each clip change.

What is the name of (I'm assuming, your) song that plays quietly during the thoughts at the end (if you've got it out anywhere)? Great vid

Nice quality. I love German engineering .

Hmm i like the herbert a lot in this shootout. It's a bit more mid foward and makes me think it would work better in a full band mix. We have a hagen in our rehearsal space and it's been an OK amp for me but nothing spectacular. There's this fuzziness inherently present which i like but at times it does sound a bit dark/polished and does not cut through as much.

Very cool video. Herbert seems a little tighter for me? But they are very similiar.

They both sound great, but to me the Herbert just sounds a little meaner and more focused. Herbert wins for my taste, even though its pretty close.

Love the Herbert a lot 🎉

Both sound great but i like the Herbert just a tad more

Hagen Channel 3 voicing gives me ENGL vibes. Gain structure seems typical Diezel though.

Am I correct in generalizing that Hagen is a more modern ish version of VH4?

I have a mkIII herb dean, and I swear Im on the fence about selling every 3 days or so. 😂

I prefer the herbert, hagen feels more aggressive

Looks like the Herbert is the only Diezel amp with a somewhat ergonomic front panel design. Both the Hagen and the VH-4 are textbook examples of how not to design a panel. Either the developers never attended any classes on basic ergonomics - or they just decided repeatedly to sacrifice practical usability for visuals.