Cheap alternatives for Diezel VH4 / Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier

So, I'm a teenage metalhead with a part time job that gets me about $90-$100 every week, but I'm applying for a new job that'll start out at about $10.50 an hour, and on top of that, my last year of highschool is almost up so I might pick up some extra hours over the summer. I've been practicing guitar seriously ever since i got my LTD EX-50 this past christmas with more of a focus on being a downpicking rythym player. On a scale of 1-10 for playing efficiency I'd put myself at a 3 because even though I'm mostly inexpierienced, I've gotten pretty good at playing both the clean and dirty parts of my main practice songs, save for the solos (Sanitarium, Fade to Black, Seek and Destroy, Bleeding Me, One [except for the crazy stuff at the end], as well as the Holocaust songs that I can find tabs for).

With all that being said, I've been growing tired of my current amp, a 50W Fender Mustang V.2 (feel free to check my opinion of it on my board), mostly due to how annoying it is to set up my gear to play, which involves getting out my 10-year old 5 lb laptop that I have to plug in because the battery went bad within a week of me getting it all those years ago. But the real reason for this post is to ask all you gear gurus out there for wchich amp you would reccomend me getting as a gig worthy alternative for a Diezel or a Mesa Boogie. Im definitely willing to save up at least $1,000 - $1,500 to get a nice head and cab (2x12 at least). I've had my eye on the terror series from Orange, especially the Brent Hinds signature because of the channel switching and the not too ridiculous price tag of $750, with another extra $600 for a PPC212 120W cab coming out at about $1,400.

What do you guys think? Sorry for typing your eyes out but I like writing lol. Any and all advice is appreciated.

I ahte to say it but behringer clones the triple rec in its tube amp line, bugera and the mesa version sia lready such a reliability nightmare that you could look at those without fear that your behriger copy would be breaking down more often... the diezel stuff and the triple rec don't have THAT much in common circuit wise though other than being from the soldano school of cascading preamp gain with weird bias etc. They're all high gain tweed bassman descendents loosely, but the triple rectifier is very much a soldano SLO100 with a different pwoeramp design that has alotta mesa jackassery to voice it and switch with more preamp options too (more that can and WILL break)... coem to think of it the whole epavy 5150 line and the EVH branded 5150s are also SLO100s more or less. The Diezel VH4 is a fresher approach to high gain as far as I can tell. The Herbert employs more marshally voicing but its still uses the same approach to high gain. I mean, its not reinventing the wheel, and its still a tweed bassman/JTM45 descendent at heart, but diesel doesn't seem to be too direct of a SLO100 lift with tweaks like a lot of high gainers of the 90s... they took it somewhere else. Simialr technology though I guess.... its an apples and apples comparison on all this shit.

you should read up on this, there are only a few camps of high gain and all of them have either tweed or blackface fender as their building blocks... the earliest examples besides the JCM800 are all blackface fender like mesa mark amps and the dumble design... SOldano took the bassman and 800 ideas and then whacked on more gain in a novel way that's nothing like the way emsa did it.... then peavey did a version when evh wanted a different tone from his SLO100s and finally mesa took the design and copied it with tons of swithable components and a brand new power section (for better or worse, the SLO100 sounds great stock) as ther ectifier series... evne the heartbreaker and the nomad use a SLO100 preamp more or less and that's a well tought out, gained up JCM800 which in turn is a bassman with the 2 stages of V1 cascaded instead of parallel as well as some voicing tweaks to prevent fartiness (as wella s some plexi holdovers where they refined the circuit for the hard rock sound too) .

most of these amps are very similar, tis very minor thigns that separate them tonally and a few little parts value mods here and there can eba world of difference... for sitnance,e very modern orange design is either a vox ac15, 30 or a marshall 800 with some different values... the old oens were a weird groundup design though, but everything else they do is a vox or marshall with darker orange voicing ;-)

Hmmmmmm..... Well it seems to me that with the info you've given me, my best option is still gonna be either the Brent Hinds Terror or the Dark Terror with the PPC112. Everything else seems to be a bit out of my league price wise, at least for now. But thanks for the history lesson man seems like everybody is unoriginal lol.

thepower section ofa terror is an ac15 or 30...VOX OX XOX XOX... not a bad thing, but maybe not metal

buy an old amp... buy an old cab

you're thinking "more gain is more muscle?" no, less is more. You cando a lot w/apile of baddassery with a 50 watt amp pinned to 10 through a big 4x12 with good celestions or fanes... RAH!

So you're saying that this https://www.guitarcenter.com/Vox/AC15CH-Custom-15W-Tube-Guitar-Amp-Head.gc

and this https://www.guitarcenter.com/Orange-Amplifiers/PPC-Series-PPC212OB-120W-2x12-Open-Back-Guitar-Speaker-Cab.gc

will get me the tone I'm after?

Actually, after a doing a little more research I've come to find that a VOX just isn't the style of amp I'm after. The Dark/Brent Hinds Terror is still what im probably what I'm going to go with, just because they're designed with high gain metal riffs in mind.

the difference ebtwen any of the terrors and an ac15 or amtchless spitfire is like 2%... pretty much just an extra gains tage. But hey, if you want all rpeamp gain then that's the ticket. alo, an roange logo on your gear is way more metal then a vox logo and that actually is something worth considering when gigging. But I'm telling you, the wholet error series is very much a pile of vox rip offs with various voicings, extra features and varying amounts of extra gain. personally I liked the original TT the best.... also try the OR15. its a TT power section with an marshally/soldanoey type preamp stapled out front. I thought it was too much gain for the power amp for my sort of sound but it may be right up your alley. It was also built pretty damn well for a chinese amp although the other terrors kidna have the edge for grab n go convenience if you wanna take it on the subway or something. The or15 is prettier though.

anyway, if you get a chance try the discontinued Rocker30 if you're lucky enough to run into a used one. that's the best modern orange design I've ever tried. been flirting with buying one for years. Really uique design and has way more gain then I for one could ever use, but its nicer sounding gain to my ear then a lot of other modern oranges.

Sounds good brother, thanks for everything.

also try some Jet Cities, they're msotly designed by Soldano... i think they have a new 2 channel designed by the guy who does Cornford. The Jet City Sodlano ehads sound really good for $300 amps.

I agree with Jim. As the owner of a Jet City, they're badass amps and have enough gain for what you need. I'd recommend the 22H or Custom 22 - 20W amps with 2 channels (hence the 22), volumes+gain knobs for each channel, and a shared B/M/T+Presence. Each Can be had new for $380 and free shipping from the Jet City AmpFactory (on Reverb or on their website). The 22H is brighter, more Soldano-y in tone, while the Custom 22 is darker and tweaked by the dude from Victory Amps. Grab yourself one of those, and grab a solid 2x12, and you're set!

Also, if you want to save $ on a cab, definitely hit the local Craigslist or check out Avatar Speakers (made in USA amps that cost less than MIC-Oranges, with the same specs). I got my new Avatar cab loaded with Celestion Vintage 30s for $478, new.

Also, if you want to save $ on a cab, definitely hit the local Craigslist or check out Avatar Speakers (made in USA amps that cost less than MIC-Oranges, with the same specs). I got my new Avatar cab loaded with Celestion Vintage 30s for $478, new.

I picked up an empty avatar used for under $200 local pickup a while back. I have ltos of speakers aorund though. Was actually looking for an empty 2x12 to be my Fane/JBL cab

the other thing with this whole amp thing, even in metal/high gain turf? Is speakers. They matter way more then you think. A lot of discerning metal freaks are quite particular bout high pweor and high headroom favoring stuff like the EVM12L over more obvious things like the V30. more 80s flavored metal is best with the celestions loaded in the marshalls of the era like G1265, G12S50 and even the lowly G12L35 (a very underrated driver). The V30 was late to the party with the earliest Marshall branded example I've owned being in amp made late '85! A lot of guys in emtal like the modern elads and that whole 70 to 80 watt class of celestion but an often overlooked celestion is the 100 watt one that's pretty ideal for shred and that kidna stuff. I'm always screwing around with whats in my cabs and everyone should. There's no be all end all (although for most of my needs a Blue and an H30 are it). But my closed back cabs are always getting different stuff based on what I want to record and what amp i'm planning to use.

and the 22 is basically a 20 watt fixed bias EL84 poweramp with the preamp from the Soldano Hot Rod stapled on. I actually really like the hot rod amps. Better then the SLO100. They're more marshally.... and I like me the marshally.

I did see where Zacky Vengenance from Avenged Sevenfold has a sponsorship with them. You've got me sold on it, much cheaper and used by one of my favorite bands.

So you're saying that this https://www.guitarcenter.com/Vox/AC15CH-Custom-15W-Tube-Guitar-Amp-Head.gc

and this https://www.guitarcenter.com/Orange-Amplifiers/PPC-Series-PPC212OB-120W-2x12-Open-Back-Guitar-Speaker-Cab.gc

will get me the tone I'm after?

and no Iw as not ever saying that... iw as suggestion a lower gain 50 watt, EL34 or 6L6 head might get it ;-) but turned up... I love the vox thing but its not THAT metal. The big difference between the EL84 Jet City 22H and say a terror series or even an ac15 is nto so much the preamp (we're looking at simialr cathode follower absed tonestacks following a handful of gains tages, all bassman descendents more or less, even the top boosted vox preamp is sort of like that) but the POWER SECTION. All the terrors are, like the ac15/30 (not to mention the classic marshall 18 watt, 20 watt elad and bass, watkins dominator, etc, are cathode baised (what many companies call class A even though tis not really... el84s lend themselves to this bias scheme mroe then any other power tube). The voxes and msot of the terrors also have no engative feedback. pwoer amp distortion slides in gracefully ina very brian may sense. There's a lot of comrpession, not as much percussiveness and the pweor amp's frequency repsonse will favor the midrange the louder you play... the 22H runs the same pair of tubes in fixed bais like a alrger amp. A more modern arrangement. now the cathode bais scheme is self biasing. No ened to go to a tech when you ened new tubes... and it has a sound and its a great sound. I LOVE it. But its a vitnage sound... small tweed amps, voxes, supros. Change the preamp all you want and you still have a small cathode baised pwoeramp with a gain banger stapled on teh front... as you turn up the pwor amp wille xhibit those cathode biased sonic traits. If the pwor amp ahs no engative feedback it will sound loose. now one of the options on the triple rec is 'raw mode' which elimiantes the corrective negative feedback, but tis just oen voicing option on the amp. The Jet city is going to use those smae small pwoer pentodes in a totally different way with a large amount of corrective engative feedback for a tighter response and a twinge more ehadroom and the fixed bias will expand the headroom and lows even further as well as changing the distortion character to include more odd order harmonics like a amrahall as well to have a more abrupt onset of distortion. I could explain more, but most high gain amps prior to Orange upping the gain on the tiny terror? Fixed bias pwoeramps with a good amount of negative feedback (presence and depth/resonance controls effect the way thise corrective feedback from the output tranformer effects the extreme highs and lows)...

another thing to think about with the terros is that the original TT is pretty gainy ebcause its designed to clip the pwoer section. There are 2 cascaded triodes from V1 that share a dual ganged gain pot so that they both turn up together giving equal gain rather then everything being bunched up in the firsts tage like msot high gain amps, a cool idea, but they're no generating much dirt, the dirt comes from the PHASE INVERTER that splits the signal for the push-pull pair of power tubes. The master control is the same post-phase-inverter variety that orange overdrive ehads of the 70s used. its been used by matchless and vox. it was a favorite mod for marshall JCM800s when iw as a kid. That original terror soudsn vicious because of this arrangement. The toen control is also in the pwoer amp right in line with the amster. its basically a the vox cut control which is a frequency specific master volume for the treble. that's it. This really simple arrangement really works on the terror. Those type of vox-based aps do really well with this sort of gain structure. They really messed with the formula for the Dark, Hinds OR15 etc. Iw as still reptty imrepssed with the OR15 overall, but it defintiely is spongier and softer then the Jet City and they are VERY similar ind esign until the poweramp. I've used both amps ins tores and while Iw ould say that for myself I rpeferrred the Orange, for metal? I think the Jet City will own most of the time.

PS: prepare to redefine loud amps... 15 to 20 high gain tube watts is going to take your head off compared to that fender modeler. Blood will come out of your rectum or something... if you think 15 watts will dial it down for apartment use think again. 15 watts is loud as fuck in a small space. its not less than half as loud as 50 watts ;-) its about half as loud as 100.

Alright, the gear in the want category on my board is my final descision, minus the pedals. Thanks a lot to Jimmy and Jake for helping me out. :)

figure out what those sevenfold guys have in their cabients, not just on teh road, but in tehs tudio sicne you're used to their studio tones... soldano designs are real sensitive to speaker choice

figure out what those sevenfold guys have in their cabients, not just on teh road, but in tehs tudio sicne you're used to their studio tones... soldano designs are real sensitive to speaker choice

Syn uses V30s in his Hellwin cabs and Zacky uses V30s as well in his Marshall/Jet City iso cabs.

@Palm no worries man! I'm glad I could convert someone to Jet City! They're underrated amps. Self-admittedly, when they came out, I thought they looked corny (with their 333 logo and color scheme) but when I finally heard them, I was blown away. Save some money and grab one of the 22s and a 2x12, used the rest to get a couple pedals (def a noise gate), and even another guitar if you know how to hunt right!

they use their touring abckine to record? a lot of folks don't... I ahd a period where I just used one of my tall cabs thatw as the magic for studio use or I sued combos, but a lot of the other 4x12s I ahd did not eveng et brought, just the magic oversized amrshall one that soudned better then any other 4x12 when close miced... all the otehr cabs Ie ver sued sounded great on stage, but the amgic one was straight up magical... it was somehat the speakers but also just that aprticular box was just plain superior sounding

Pretty much, surprisingly. They previously used Uberschalls and Marshalls (JVMs, Jubilees) with Mesa cabs (normally with V30s) before switching over to their current rigs of Hellwin and Jet City heads with V30 loaded cabs.

I used to use the tall mesa recto cabs soemtimes when i couldn't use a tall marshall and I really don't care for modern V30s... they used to sound different, celestion changed soemthing, I dunno... the oldest V30 I owned, an '85 in a marshall studio combo? best sounding V30 ever. Iw as half tempted to steal the speaker outta that am when I sold it. Actually I wish I had the amp and the speaker. that obscure 80s 1x12 sounds fantastic for anything short of death metal. It does not sound like the itty bitty 15 watt, cathode-biased amp it actually is. its a total ebast. I made a lot of money on it though.

I like the Jubilee, its the only marshall that egts into higher gaint erritory ad still soudns good. Other than that design they coudla just quit with the single channel 800, just kept making that sucker forever.