The ESP Guitar Company

Try it out and see if you like it.
i have tried it, its just i could only play it at low volumes, so i didn't ever hear it at its full compression and saturation. i really wanna try it with a thd hot plate, but nobody that i know owns one.

never played the 60,

owned the 100 with el34's

it's a good amp,

i don't quite call it highgain or for metal tho because it seemed to get up to the level i call "hard rock" but not really into sabbath-like (master of reality ) distortion, imo.

for what gain it has, the noise to saturation level was a little high compared to more expensive amps; for its price it was great though, and i'd just use a noise gate, which i use gates all the time anyway with any gain above "overdrive".

the amp seemed "tight" enough to me, tighter than a rectifier imo,
but not as tight as my splawn, or a vht UL.

i don't know how much the 60 differs from the 100, or what power tubes the 60 has.
Thanks for the advice! The reason i'm asking about the 60watt is cuz my friend has one that he'll sell me for $800. I'm pretty sure it has el34's as well.

I own a 100 - I've actually lent it to a friend that's gigging a lot right now. But I've tried a lot of different things. The trick with that amp is actually to turn the master all the way up and use the channel volumes, and let it breath some. It's not good at low volumes. I think it's a very cool amp - very flexible and you can get a lot of nice tones out of it. You can also get a lot of crappy tones out of it because it does sound like ass warmed over with the master low and the channel volumes up, and the EQs are very powerful and active - meaning that as you turn up past noon, you're adding bass, treble, and mids - and people that are used to passive EQs will have fits initially. I think the 60 is the one to get as it has the additional flexibility to go to triode mode for half power and a darker tone. It comes with the EL34 BSTRs which are great new production EL34s, but for heavier metal, just about everyone switches to KT77s or better 6L6s, as I understand it. These heads go cheap used. I think 800 is ok, but I'd try to get it for 600 or better if it's what you want. At that price it's a lot of bang for the buck.

Note also that this amp has only 3 preamp tubes and hence less gain stages than most true metal amps, and comes stock with a preamp tube selection that was chosen to give up a great clean channel (and the clean channel is indeed great, especially when put through Celestions - one reason it's a bargain is it's a great channel switcher if that's what you need). GB says that the V1 tube being cleaner also makes palm-muting tighter due to the higher headroom, but I think if it's really for high gain, I'd change that V1 out.

Regarding tight bass, I'd think you'll want the 6L6s (there's an EL34/6L6 bias switch in the amp), as the EL34s are more awesome for the mids, and if you're scooping them out, may as well go 6L6s... Also you won't want to use the G-Flex cab with this amp. I like it much better through a tight Vintage 30 cab - a Mesa traditional or something like that would be perfect.

Finally, if you search the web you'll find very different opinions. Partly for some of the reasons I mentioned. I've now got 8 amps, and the El Diablo used is going to be a bargain. I can't find a reason why some people would hate them with the vehemence that they do. Thanks for the advice, man! What would you suggest switching out the V1 with?

Cheap NOS stuff to try - RFT 12AX7 - it's 45 bucks for the tube from kcanostubes but it's worth a shot to see if it gets you your holy grail tone. Evidently some Diezels are the sluts slippery slot with these in them.

Other than that, I'd just try the various new production tubes and see which one kicks you in the gut - Tungsol reissues, JJs, EH, Chinese R9s, Ruby STR 7025 special, etc. Call Mike at kcanostubes or Doug at Doug's tubes, and either can recommend some good ones to start. The tubes are cheap, and the tone is personal. Good luck man. And they're all interchangable?

Did you buy it?

I've got one and I love it. I don't use it for metal though. But you can get some gnarly gain out of it. Like someone said before, push the master all the way and use the channel volumes to balance.

Post pics!!