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Over the last few years, Diezel amplifiers have become the must-have choice for some of the most high-profile rock guitarists on the planet. Behemoths such as James Hetfield, Billy Corgan and Matt Bellamy are just three of many who have embraced the four-channel versatility of German-engineered über-amplifier the VH4.

Diezel Amplification is largely the brainchild of electronics graduate Peter Diezel, who began dabbling in guitar amplification by modifying Marshalls in Munich in the 1980s and co-founded the company with fellow musician Peter Stapfer in the early 1990s.The first VH4 amplifiers were manufactured as early as 1994, but it has been in recent years that the profile of the company has really accelerated, with the high profile patronage of the aforementioned hard rocking luminaries.

Both head and cabinet are immaculately tooled both inside and out. The front-loaded - thus easy access - sealed 4x12 cabinet is a bulky beast almost on a par with an Orange 4x12 and ideal for retaining the tightness and power of those gained out voices that the VH4 promises to deliver with aplomb.

It has to be said that both head and cabinet make for an imposing physical presence and both are rather fearsome in weight terms. If you have a hirsute squad of burly roadies to lump around your gear then you are laughing, but if not, we would recommend that you consider smaller 2x12 cabinet. In gigging terms, a rig this powerful can be overkill even on larger club stages so a sensible degree of caution should be exercised before splashing thousands of pounds on a pro-level backline.

With a potentially bewildering compliment of twenty-five knobs, eight push-button LED-equipped switches, two toggles and the power and standby controls, it is a good job that the front panel has been designed intelligently. Four angled parallel rows of controls are responsible for shaping the tonality of each of the VH4's channels, while global controls are sensibly kept to the right hand side of the panel.

A quartet of 6L6 valves supply around 100 watts, while handy LEDs are present on the rear panel so that in the event of valve failure, each power valve has a corresponding fuse that when blown will cause the relevant LED to illuminate. Not only is this eminently useful, but the amplifier will also continue to function on two power valves, avoiding potentially embarrassing incidents where your guitar might otherwise cut out. However, when you do want silence, another handy feature is the front-mounted Mute button; great for avoiding those potentially noisy guitar changes.