Diezel VH4

Plugin Manual

Developed by Brainworx Audio in partnership with Diezel GmbH and

Distributed by Plugin Alliance.

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The iconic, first Diezel amp!
The mighty VH4 head is the powerhouse that put Diezel on the map. Dissa-
tisfied with the sounds from commonly available amps, rocker Peter Diezel
created the VH4 tone monster in 1994 just to please himself – and got so
many requests from tone-hungry fellow guitarists for their own Diezel amps
that he had to put the VH4 into production.

The VH4 head features a beefy 100 Watt output section with four distinct-
ly-voiced preamp channels, each with separate gain, EQ and master controls.

With a highly-versatile four-channel preamp section (Clean; Crunch; Mega

and Lead), virtually any sound you can think of is on tap. At lower gain settings,
the Clean channel produces the now-classic Diezel sparkle & chime but crank
up the gain a bit and the Clean channel can get into that robust Townshend/
Hiwatt zone. The Crunch channel begins where the Clean channel leaves
off, delivering hearty vintage cleans to glorious AC/DC-style rhythm and
lead sounds. The Mega channel delivers Diezel’s trademark - highly-defined
heavy metal rhythm sounds to soaring solo sounds. The lead channel carries
over from Mega, more gain, more compression, more bottom, more smooth
top end –creamy, authoritative, loud.

The power stage of the VH4 is rated at 100W, driven by four JJ KT77 output
tubes. Power amp controls include a master volume (maximum clean volume
at around 1’o’clock, beyond that adds power amp distortion), global presence
(centered at around 4K) and a “Deep” knob, which is an active bass control
that adds low end punch (centered at around 90 Hz).

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Not only does the plugin nail the heart and soul of the Diezel VH4 but you’ll
find the extra features you’ve come to expect from Brainworx products. A full
FX Rack with host syncable lo-fi delay, noise gate, tight and smooth filters,
power soak and apower amp bypass feature.

On top of this you find no less than 120 advanced impulse reponses created
at Brainworx’s studio using various boutique cabinets, high end microhones,
their Neve VXS console, SSL 4000 Channel Strip, Amek 9098 Channel Strip
and the legendary Telefunken V76 Pre Amp.

Key Features Summary

• Exacting emulation of the original Diezel VH4 Tube Guitar Amp Plugin
approved by Peter Diezel and Peter Stapfer
• Sonically flexible amp head with iconic high-gain tones
• 4 completely independent channels cover a massive range of gain
• Global presence and deep controls dial your tone into your venue
• 100 watts of KT77 tube tone
• 120 Brainworx’ advanced impulse responses included
• FX Rack include host-syncable lo-fi delay, noise gate, tight and smooth
filters, power soak, pre and power amp bypass

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Plugin Manual

Amp 3 Channel 3 (Distortion)

It’s concept is heavy rhythm guitar. The distortion is noticeably tighter than
1 Channel 1 (Clean) in channel 2. The side effect of this added compression is that he signal
This channel was designed for clean, undistorted sound with high power gets somewhat limited in it’s dynamic range. This limitation hits mostly
and good harmonics. With it’s gain control to the upper third, it sounds soft the lower frequencies. This loss is corrected by a negative feedback loop
and warm, gain at lower settings produce more percussive and penet- to the power amps, which adds fat low end to this tone without muddling
rating clean sounds. Full gain setting makes crunch sounds possible. The up the tone. The control for this low end is in the master section and bears
tone reminds of a cross between a twin and a Hiwatt® 100, but with better the “Deep” designation. The gain structure of channel 3 is designed to
overall dynamic response. deliver great distorted sound even with guitars that have relatively low
output, like many vintage guitars. The side effect here is that guitars
2 Channel 2 (Crunch) with very high output (active EMG® etc.) might overdrive this channel too
Channel 2 is a blues guitarists closest friend. It’s dynamic spectrum is much and become too compressed. The guitar loses it’s punch in the band
especially beautiful in the lower frequency range. It’s gain range goes sound and becomes very undefined. In this case, a radical gain reduction
from clean to distorted.Due to it’s different voicing the 2nd channel will is the cure. The guitar sound will clean up a little bit, and the overtones
sound a little softer than channel one in clean mode ( gain 2:00-3:00, and and harmonics will once again sparkle. It is best to start with a 12:00
approaches channel 3’s tone in high gain mode (gain 3:00-4:00, but with o-clock gain setting and start to feel your way to the point of perfection
softer midrange and less compression. “Raw” probably best describes and very little compression. This works best while the band is playing
this channel. with you. Remember - less is often more.

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Plugin Manual

1 Channel 4 (Ultra High Gain) 3 Presence

The Solo channel. A little more mid heavy then channel 3, therefore This knob controls the treble part of the power amps tone spectrum. Its
punches through the band sound quite well. See channel 3 description frequency centers at about 4kHz. Treble is produced and dispersed in a
for gain control setting. Often a gain setting near 1:00 o’clock is sufficient very small beam from the speaker, so be sure to position yourself in the
for absolute high gain distortion. Use the volume control here and for all projection area of the speaker when making adjustments.
other channels to match the individual channel volumes
4 Deep
2 The Master Volume The Deep control is an active bass control for the power amp that adds
controls the final volume of the Power amplifier(s). The layout of the low end punch to the power amp centered at 80Hz. It does not alter the
controls is such that full volume is achieved at the 1:00 o’clock knob dynamic behavior of the power amp. Diezel Co. is not responsible for
setting. Turning the knob further will overdrive the power amp(s) to cabinet handles popping out etc.
create power amp distortion for those of you that prefer this sort of thing.
We added this feature to round out the distortion sound palette on the
extreme end. So you friends of all things vintage can get colorations and
distortion textures that only power amp tubes can deliver. Bring your ear
plugs, please.

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FX Rack 3 Threshold
Continuous knob, -120db to 0db. The Noise Gate will dim the output signal
Noise Gate of the amplifier as soon as the input signal (your guitar signal) falls below
1 Closed a certain level. This level is called Threshold. Adjust the Thresold so the
When lit, this LED indicates that the Noise Gate is Closed. This means the noise of the overdriven amp will be reduced, but make sure you don´t cut
Threshold setting is higher than the incoming signal and the noise gate fading notes or chords.
dims the output signal of the amplifier by the amount adjusted with the
Range control (e.g. 30dB in the picture above). 4 Range
Continuous knob, 0db to 100db. The output level of your amplifier
2 Noise Gate on/off will be reduced or muted when the input signal is lower than the
On/Off switch. Enable or disable the Noise Gate completely. Switch up Threshold setting. You may dim the output level only by a few
(‘On‘) means the Noise Gate is activated. decibels (dB), or completely mute the output in pauses by setting the
Range to its maximum.

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Plugin Manual

Amp Filters 3 Smooth Frequency

1 Tight Filter With the Smooth filter you can cut high frequencies of either the DI guitar
Three-way switch: ”Pre”, ”Post” and ”Off”. With the Tight filter you can cut signal (Pre) or the processed amp output (Post).
Low frequencies of either the DI guitar signal (Pre) or the processed amp
output (Post). 4 Smooth Filter
• Pre: If your pickups produce an unintentional rumbling bass sound you Three-way switch: ”Pre”, ”Post” and ”Off”. With the Smooth filter you can
can filter the low end before the DI sound even hits the amplifier. cut HIGH frequencies of either the DI guitar signal (Pre) or the processed
• Post: If you want to cut some of the low end of your amplifier setting amp output (Post).
(maybe even only temporary) you can use this studio quality high pass • Pre: If your pickups catch a lot of hiss or noise you can filter the high end
filter to reduce the bass. before the DI sound even hits the amplifier.
• Off: When set to Off the Tight filter is in bypass mode. • Post: If you want to cut some of the high end of your amplifier setting
(maybe even only temporary) you can use this studio quality low pass
2 Tight Frequency filter.
With the Tight filter you can cut Low frequencies of either the DI guitar • Off: When set to Off the Smooth filter is in bypass mode.
signal (Pre) or the processed amp output (Post).

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Plugin Manual

Delay 2 Tap*
We closely modelled a vintage delay stomp box to capture the true Use this parameter with your mouse to click with the groove of the song
essence of retro delay effects. Limited frequency bandwidth and ever and the delay will adjust to your tapping automatically. This is a nice and
decreasing high frequencies on repeats add authenticity to the sound. easy way to set delays to musically pleasing times, especially if there is
We also included more contemporary features like a mix parameter & no fixed tempo in the song.
DAW controlled bpm / tempo sync. We realise you will use your favourite
selection of external effects, such as Chorus, Flangers, Reverbs and 3 Time
even other Delays to achieve your signature guitar tone but an instantly Alternatively you may just dial in a delay time based on milliseconds using
accessible delay is extremely useful when surfing and creating patches. the Time knob. Use this parameter to adjust the delay time between 15ms
For example, testing a new lead patch without hearing at least a touch of and 1000ms.
delay wouldn’t sound realistic for many players, so we added this effect
for your convenience; plus we love vintage style echo! 4 x2*
Use this button to redouble the current Delay time.
1 Delay On/Off
Use this parameter to activate or deactivate the delay and all of its 5 /2*
parameters with this switch. Use this button to half the current Delay time.
• Switch up: Delay is activated.
• Switch down: Delay is bypassed / off. x2 & /2 Buttons
Both buttons can be pressed repeatedly as long as the maximum delay
time of 400ms is not exceeded.
* Note: Custom control, not automatable

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1 Host BPM 4 Lo-Fi

Click on the BPM number in the GUI and a pull-down menu opens up. Now Use this parameter to add creative destruction to your delay signal.
you can select musical values like half notes, quarters, triplets, etc. All With the Lo-Fi knob you control the amount of internal distortion, the
values will be based upon the tempo that is being displayed in the BPM resampling quality, etc. The higher you go the worse the quality gets from
window. The tempo will be synced with the tempo of your audio session a pure technical stand point... but the more interesting it may sound for
automatically. many guitar sounds and styles.

2 Mix
Recording Chain
Use this parameter to control the amount of dry (unprocessed) vs. wet
(processed) signal. The Mix parameter blend in as much delay signal with Brainworx Advanced IR Technology
the dry amplifier sound as desired. For unobtrusive delays we recommend Simply select a speaker and a complete studio setup by browsing through
settings around 10%, heavier effect sounds may require settings of 50% the Recording Chains pull-down menu.
or more.  
In the past two decades Brainworx owner Dirk Ulrich has produced and
3 Feedback recorded with members of Dream Theater, Toto, Michael Jackson and with
This controls the number of repeats. While a setting of 99% will result in many more famous and infamous acts. The Brainworx Studio in Germany
an almost infinite delay loop, a typical setting for a rock lead sound may (www.brainworx-studio.de) is equipped with one of only nine NEVE VXS
be around 25%. 72 consoles ever made, and it also hosts some of the best outboard EQs
and mic pre-amps available.

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Using this impressive setup Dirk has produced a huge variety of custo- Many amp simulations give you some captured impulses of a selection of
mized ‘Recording Chains’ for the Diezel VH4 amplifier, which you can cabinets and microphones, then they leave it up to you to EQ and further
apply to your Plugin amp settings. Imagine a selection of 120 perfectly process these incomplete setups by mixing different microphone setups,
mic’d and EQ-ed cabinets that you can select and use instantly with a adjusting phase and EQ, and so on. But this really is not an easy job; it
single mouse click! takes years of experience to get it right.
   
We carefully placed up to 12 microphones on each cabinet used. These Now all you have to do is select the Recording Chain that sounds best for
mics were then fed to individual channels on the vintage Neve VXS console.  your amp channel and setting, adjust the Tone Stack and Gain and you’re
This configuration gave us fine control over the mix of the various micro- good to go. Recallable, reliable, flexible and fast.
phones used and the ability to apply Neve filters and EQs. The final mix  
was routed to Pro Tools for recording.  And if for any reason you should not like any of the Recording Chains the
  Plugin offers, you may use the very last setting (labeled Cabinet Bypass)
An innovative new approach was also used to capture various pre-amps and use your own mic’d cabinet or external IR software. This setting
and EQ chains. A parallel chain was created that was split to three will also give you the sound of a tube amp wired straight into a console,
different hardware preamps and EQs. These parallel chains were also which also may be a nice effects sound.
routed to their own discrete channels on the Neve VXS console and then
sent to Pro Tools for capture. This routing allowed us to record each chain 1 + / - Switches (Plus / Minus)
individually or blend them for interesting combinations. Browse through the Recording Chains by either using the pull-down
  menu of the Recording Chain text box (see above) or just click through the
settings using the ‘+’ and ’-‘ symbols.

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1 Auto & Bar selection 3 Input Gain

If you are trying to find the best sounding Recording Chain for your song If you want to drive the input of the Diezel VH4 preamp harder or softer
it can be a hassle to have to play a few chords, grab the mouse to select you may adjust the input gain to your liking. Some single coil pickups from
the next Recording Chain, play a few notes again, grabbing the mouse older or vintage guitars may deliver low level output that can be compen-
again, etc. sated with the Input Gain. The opposite goes for a lot of heavy metal style
humbuckers. If you have recorded the DI signal too hot or if you are using
For this reason the Diezel VH4 offers you Auto mode: Just select a pattern other Plugins before entering the Diezel VH4 amp Plugin you may want to
(1 Bar, 2 Bars or 4 Bars) and the Plugin will activate the available Recording dim the input signal.
Chains automation, following the actual tempo setting of your DAW. You
can now play uninterrupted and simply listen to the sound of the various With most standard guitars you can and should leave the Input Gain at 0
Recording Chains as the Plugin switches through all of them every single (zero) though.
bar, every two bars or every four bars, depending on your setting. As soon as
you hear the speaker setup you like best just stop Auto mode by clicking 4 Bypass Pre Amp
the AUTO button again and manually select the desired Recording Chain. Bypass the pre amp section.
Afterwards just fine-tweak the Tone Section and Gain and there you are. With the Bypass Pre switch you can switch off the Diezel VH4 preamp
completely, which may be wanted if you record your own hardware
2 RC Info (tube or solid state) guitar pre- amp with the Diezel VH4. In this case you
The RC Info feature showing you exactly what kind of setup was used to may still use the internal Power Amp and speaker / Recording Chains
produce the Recording Chain you selected. simulation and will be able to achieve amazing results recording your
guitar sounds without using an external Power Amp and speaker.
Switch up: Preamp is bypassed (off), Switch down: Preamp is active (on).

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1 Bypass Power Amp

Cabinets we used for the Recording Chains
If you want to use only the distortion of the Diezel VH4 preamp you may
switch the power amp simulation off. This may sound cool if you use the Diezel 4x12
Diezel VH4 plugin to distort other signals than a guitar. For a realistic Front loader cabinet Celestion G12K-100 loaded
guitar recording we recommend leaving the power amp on, as it is an
integral part of the overall sound of the amp. The Diezel-412FK is a front loaded 4x12“ cabinet loaded with 4 x G12K-100
Celestion speakers. This cabinet is constructed of 18mm African Okume
2 Power Soak wood.
Controls the output volume.
In the Hardware world power soaks are being used to reduce the volume At the heart of this cabinet are Celestion‘s „monster of rock“ - the G12K-
of a guitar power amp. This way you can crank up a (tube) guitar power 100s, which deliver huge power handling with superb clarity across a wide
amp to drive it until it starts clipping, and still record at a volume which frequency response. This cabinets delivers a massive bottom-end, rock-hard
will protect your hearing and keep the neighbors friendly. A clipping tube mid-range and restrained top-end make this ideal for modern high-gain
power amp adds distortion and harmonics to the guitar amp signal and tones.
is something most guitar players love. A fully cranked up tube guitar As with all Diezel cabinets, oversized 12-gauge speaker wire is soldered
amp tamed in volume with a power soak will sound different than the between the speakers and the terminal. This handcrafted cabinet includes
same amp with the master volume turned down. We have modeled the detachable casters and is designed to withstand the rigors of the road.
behavior of the Diezel VH4 tube power amp, so you may experiment with
different settings of the Master of the amp and the internal Power Soak.
We recommend a setting of roughly -10dB for most scenarios.

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Plugin Manual

Suhr 4x12 re-issue 25-watt Greenback speakers and is finished with the mid-
Suhr custom made 4x12“ Speaker Cabinet (Straight) loaded with four to late-‘60s style EC fret cloth and the smoother levant covering. The
Vintage 30 Speakers. Marshall 1960TV stands an impressive 4 inches taller than a standard
4 x 12“ - hence the ‚TV‘ in its name which is an acronym for ‚Tall, Vintage‘
American 4x12
Mesa Boogie Rectifier® 4fb 280W 4x12 Vintage 30 .ORANGE 4x12
The STANDARD Rectifier® 4x12 is the “oversized” 4x12, providing Orange® PPC 212 closed-back 120W - 2x12 Celestion Vintage 30
thundering low-end punch and resonance which is perfectly tuned with speakers 
the smooth, tailored midrange and articulate, clear high-end. This is the The 120W Orange Amplifiers PPC212-C guitar speaker cabinet is crafted
most popular 4x12 cabinet and an icon in heavy music. using 13-ply high-density 18mm birch plywood throughout like every
Power Projection Cabinet (PPC). Orange speaker enclosures, like Orange
English 4x12 amplifiers, are built to last with manufacturing techniques that assure
Marshall 1960TV Lead 100W 4x12 Greenback G12M-25 extremely rugged construction. Orange‘s unique ‚skid‘ design feet help to
The 1960TV is loaded with Celestion® G12M-25 Greenback speakers, acoustically couple these cabinets to the stage to provide a tighter bass
which are more forgiving than the 75 Watt Celestions used in the 1960A™; response and full range definition. All Orange Amplifiers‘ speaker enclo-
the 25 Watt Greenbacks have a warmer, more saturated sound. This sures are equipped with Celestion Vintage 30 speakers and are equipped
100 Watt mono cabinet is 65mm taller than a 1960A and 1960B™, which with comfortable flush cabinet handles. The Celestion Vintage 30 Speaker
results in a lower mid-range resonant response. recreates the sound of the original Celestion Blue with new cone and
To re-create the classic looks and tones of yesteryear, Marshall offers the coil assembly. Improved performance: rated at 60W capability, handles
1960TV cabinet. The 1960TV houses four Marshall/Celestion designed extra heat generated by higher power equipment. The Vintage 30 handles
massive overdrive tones with ease. It‘s a classic 2x12 loudspeaker.

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Top Toolbar 3 Copy / Paste

To set up variations of similar sounds you don´t have to dial in all the
1 Undo / Redo parameters several times. Let´s say you like your setting A and want to
You can undo and redo changes you made to the controls of the Diezel use the same sound, just without delay, as setting B.
VH4 plugin at any time. The Undo / Redo will work for as many as 32 • Simply press Copy while you are in setting A.
steps. This makes experimenting and tweaking knobs easy. If you don´t • Switch to setting B by pressing ‘B’ in the settings section.
like what you did... just undo it. • Press Paste, now setting B is identical to setting A.
• Bypass the Delay.
2 Settings (A/B/C/D)
The Diezel VH4 amp plugin offers four internal settings (A/B/C/D) which Now you can switch between A & B and play the same sound with or
will be stored with every preset. So, one preset can contain up to four without delay.
amp and effects settings.
You may use similar amp settings with more or less delay, different delay 4 FX Rack
times, etc., to quickly switch between different sounds, or you can switch Toggle between FX Rack and Standard view.
from clean to crunch to lead within one setup / preset.
The Settings can be automated in your DAW. This way it´s possible to switch 5 About
from a dry rhythm sound to a lead sound with tons of delay, for example. Information about the development of the plugin.

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Bottom Toolbar 4 Key (Icon)

Clicking on the key icon brings up the activation dialog, allowing you
1 PA Logo to manually reauthorize a device in the event of a license upgrade or
Clicking the Plugin Alliance logo takes you to the Plugin Alliance website addition. You can also use this feature to activate additional computers
via your web browser, that´s if your computer is online. or USB ash drives.

2 License Type 5 ? (Icon)

The toolbar displays information about the type of license you’re running: Clicking the ? icon opens up a context menu that links to the product
Trial licenses will be displayed along with the number of days until manual PDF, as well as other helpful links, e.g. to check for product
expiration; there is no note for full licenses as these are unlimited. updates online. You must have a PDF reader installed on your computer
to be able to read the manual.
3 $ (Icon)
If you are using a demo / trial version of our products, you can always click
System Requirements & FAQ (Links)
this icon to open a browser that redirects you to the respective product
page in the Plugin Alliance store. This is where you can easily purchase a For latest System Requirements & Supported Platforms
product without having to look it up on our website. https://www.plugin-alliance.com/en/systemrequirements.html
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Factory Presets • Set the controls of the Tone Stack to the center position (’12-o-clock’).
• Play through as many Recording Chains as you like and pick the one that
We have made a lot of presets for the Diezel VH4 amp plugin, many of them sounds closest to what you are looking for before altering the knobs.
have been made to work perfectly with classic guitars like Strats, Teles or • Once you found the Recording Chain you like best for your sound, start
Paulas. All of the factory presets offer A/B/C/D variations, do try them out! tweaking the Tone Stack and Drive to fine tune your amp settings.
• Add Delay or activate the Filters, the Noise Gate, etc. for variations of
This effectively quadruples the factory sounds you can browse through, your sounds.
and many similar amp settings sound quite different with different Filter • Plug in, Rock out!
or Delay settings.
These presets are only intended to give you an easy start and to demo Experiment, be creative. We are confident that the different tone selec-
some of the tones you can get out of the Diezel VH4 amp plugin. tions of the amp and the huge selection of Recording Chains will offer
you many possible combinations that will sound great on a big variety of
Creating your own Sounds & Presets musical styles and genres.
When you start to create your own sounds the most important elements Combine the Diezel VH4 amps with other plugins (dynamics, effects,
to adjust are the Drive, Recording Chains and the Tone Stack. room simulation), and you will be able to create countless world-class
(Bass, Middle, Treble, Presence, etc.) production-ready guitar sounds in the box. Enjoy.

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Plug in, Rock out! - www.brainworx.audio