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I just received my brand-new, factory-fresh VHT Ultralead with Graphic EQ today (it has that new amp smell to it... like the new car smell, but better [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] ). I only had about an hour to test it because the UPS guy came late and my neighbors are now home. The UL has 3 channels (clean, rhythm, & lead) and about a million boost, edge, & shift switches to it. I was looking basically for the ultimate modern metal lead/solo tone, and I think I've found it. Other contenders were the Bogner XTC (101b & Classic), Soldano SLO, the Diezels (VH4 & Herbert) and the Engl Savage (which was the runner up). I never have liked the Soldano high-end fizz/sizzle tone (and still don't), the Diezels are very nice (I actually like the VH4 better than the Herbert- it had more of a Marshall flavor to it) but sounded too sterile and processed to me. They have a 2-D tone to them; sounds like something is missing from the tone. The Bogner XTC is a great amp in either format (101b or Classic), but it is a vintage voiced high-gain amp (the EQ wasn't agressive enough and I already own an Überschall) so... after trying the others, the thing that sold me on the VHT was 1) the great fluid lead tone, 2) the versatility, and 3) the build quality it's bullet-proof. I haven't even begun to check out all the features. The note-for-note articulation is unmatched. The tone is best described (in my mind) as a modified Marshall JCM800 2203 with KT88s... with a ton of gain (but not saturated as to sound muddy like a Recto can) and bus-load of low end added. The tone is very open and huge. Many say the VHT tone is similar to a modified HiWatt tone which is definitely not the case with the UL in my mind. I've played plenty of HiWatts (DR103, DR103OL, DR504OL, DR103S, CP103, Lead 100, SE4122) and none sound like the UL IMHO (maybe a slight similarity on the clean channel, but that's it). The clean channel is vey good, better than what I expected. It has no gain pot, but you have boost & bright switches. The orange (rhythm) channel definitely has the JCM800 flavor to it. The red (lead) channel is pure sweet metal solo heaven. The lead channel has plenty of gain (w/ or w/o the boost) with great note definition. I would have bought the amp for this channel alone. The UL will be joining my Bogner Überschall to hopefully form the ultimate metal lead/rhythm combo. A few guys have been asking me to compare the Über to the UL, and the best way I can sum it up is to say the Über is the better heavy-modern rhythm amp while the UL is the ultimate modern metal lead/solo amp. Can the UL do heavy palm-mutes, sure... can you get a great lead tone from the Über... sure. But each excells at different things. So far I'm very pleased with the UL. I can't wait to really spend so time with this monster tommorrow and really crank it up.
Here are some pics:
Here are some pics:
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