So I'm curious, what's Diamond Amplification got to do with Dean Z?

He's part owner or something.

Cut and Paste;


Equally newsworthy, Dean Zelinsky has partnered with Diamond Amplification owner Jeff Diamant, (who is now also President and COO of DBZ Guitars), and Diamant?????s Texas partner, Terry Martin. Explained Zelinsky, ?????Jeff and I share a vision for DBZ, and see eye-to-eye on how this industry should be serviced. I have teamed up with Jeff because his proven business savvy is critical to this challenging new venture...guitar brands are not built every day. His Diamond Amps are second to none and add cache to the DBZ Guitar brand.?????

Hello all and thank you for visiting our forum. I am Jeff Diamant, owner and founder of Diamond Amplification. First let me say that I am thrilled to be a part of this venture. Dean and I formed a relationship some time ago when word got back to me about the praise he was singing for my amps. I called him to thank him for the compliment that got back to me from a few different people, and our friendship was born.

So when Dean and his former company parted ways, this seemed like an natural marriage to both of us. Suffice it to say that Dean and I (along with my firend and partner Terry Martin) are partners in DBZ Guitars. Make no mistake about it, Dean is the guy with 30 years of history in being at the forefront of guitar design. As he's said though, Dean thought that I can add to the growth and development of DBZ so here we are!

Although my vision for Diamond will remain unchanged even though Dean is now a part of Diamond too, I am certain that he can contribute to the growth of Diamond as well. As I stated to the press today, we have a vision for DBZ and a vision for Diamond. But together we can offer the music community more than we can apart.

Should be a lot of fun!

Diamond

Too right!!

Ha ha! I assume you meant a new pointy DBZ. . .LOL

Thank you for the compliments and the warm welcome. It's appreciated and let me know if you need help getting hold of a Diamond. I know a guy. . .

Thank you as well!!!!!!!!!!

i was listeneing to the sound clips, and i gotta say you guys have some killer killer amps there, but a halfstack is a lot bigger then what i need for playing, especially a 100 watt tube halfstack. i was wondering if you guys also had combos of your amps or if you are soley top o the line halfstack kinda guys? i am especially interested in this as within the next few months i am going to be looking into grabbing a new amp.

Jeff's a standup guy.

good product and great personal service.

how do i know?

this is how!!!!!







cant leave these out either





Nate schmidt

http://www.myspace.com/signsoftomorrowband

not to be a total n00b here but will there some type of practice / combo amps available down the road for us home players.

i want one soo badd but theyre soo out of my price range its unbelieveable :( i will never get one inless Jeff an Dean wants to give me a little present :D well a very big Expensive present :D how about it Jeff... Dean??? please you know you want to HAHAHA

or will you be bringing out cheaper models ... like the ????500-????1000 price mark .... please those things are just too Killer

YO Jeff,
Good move ! I met you in Indy at the NAMM Show. My sales guys made sure I saw your gear. It was impressive then
and I am sure its even better now. Working with Dean you'll create great instruments that have the sound, tone quality,
sustain, and playability necessary to capture the creative soul of the player. I wish you well and hope to catch you at the
Teki Bar sometime this fall.

JJ

Those amps are killer, i just checked out their home site also, listenin to the clips

REALLY nice amps! I've heard great things about them....

Are these built completely to custom specs?

man i wanna play one!!!
i needa go visit my guitar center lol
i dout the local place down in waco would have em.

To be perfectly honest, Ive never heard of them ^^ But I will surely check one out now.

the spec op is on my wish list this next year!

What's your favorite amp? Particularly, how would you rank the Splawn with the Diamond? I've been looking at the Splawn Nitro. I currently use JCM 800's and Laney

One of your partners were jamming at the SurferDude movie premiere with Matthew McConaughey on the bongos!!

there is no comparison...

Wow that big stack looks crazy good... now I gotta find me one local to jam on... sell to Axe Music Calgary, Alberta, Canada!

My band Haloscript uses the Spec Ops and they are amazing!

Chuck -
These are pretty hand made in our factory in Houston.
You really should check out a Diamond Amp.
I was blown away and look what came out of it.... DBZ/Diamond
Dean Z

Sorry Jeff, I'm a little slow on the uptake here. Thanks for posting and a pleasure to 'virtually' meet you. -Ryan
(DiamondPhotog?)

Are There Any Outlets In Arizona? If Not,Which States Are You Selling Your Amps In That Would Be Close To Phoenix....

LA Sound Design in Burbank CA. Or check our dealers page on our website for your favorite retailer - www.diamondamplification.com

Hey all!

I have 4 Diamond ful stacks. Two Spec Ops, one Nitrox, and one Phantom and they are KILLER. The first night I used the Spec Ops onstage our pyro techs came out from behind teh stage and asked "What did you do to the guitars? They sound amazing!" and these are NOT guitar guys.

I personally like the Spec Ops best, as I can make it sing and then fly into a fury of crunch, but not a messy buzzy crunch, a crunch where you can hear every note. On top of that I use a double neck onstage that is tuned baritone B-B on one neck, and like a Cello in fifths from low A to Ab and it is the ONLY amp I have every used that doesn't degenerate into a wall of mud. You hear the roar of every note. Plus you get a real boost channel that allows you to instantly boost your signal to cut through with solos with NO change in tone. Very nice. My pyro techs refer to the Spec Ops as "The Voice of God".

The Nitrox is a ripper. That thing could peel paint. It is high gain and vicious. My other guitar player like sthis one best as he does a lot of forced harmonics and squeels, and the higher gain structure works for him. I like it, but I find myself going back to my Spec Ops. If Satan had an amp, it would be the Nitrox.

I just got the Phantom, so I can't really give a rundown of it until I get a chance to beat on it a bit. From what I heard at the NAMM show it is a little more "traditional" and mellow than the sonic assault of the Spec Ops, and does not have the boost channel. I will let you know more when I get some playing time in.

If you want to hear the Spec Ops you can punch up my web page www.knightsofiron.com and hear us in any of the video for Netherworld: Vampire Apocalypse. I am on the left side of the screen, and play left handed.

Oh, and I can vouch for Jeff being a stand up guy. He really cares about the amps the produce. Yes they are expensive, but they are the best as well.

L.D. Walter
Netherworld: Vampire Apocalypse

I've been checking out the diamond amps and I listened to the clips on the website and I got say that's the nicest sounding clips I've ever heard! The High-gain stuff is so clean and crisp it's scaring me !

I was looking to get a new amp eventually and these amps really seem great but I since I will never be able to try one before purchasing because nobody in Montreal will ever have them, I wanted to know some things about the amps in order to figure out what would be best.

I currently have a JSX Mini-Colossal driven through a JSX 4x12 Cab and that's pretty vintage blues/rock feeling and it's great for a lot of things but I was also looking an amp that was that really nailed pretty much any kind of metal without sacrificing any versatility should I want to do other mellower styles.

I wanted to know how possible it was with the heads to play with all the good tube tone without blowing my windows, playing at quite low volumes. I'm wondering if the Master Volume on the Effects loop would work pretty much like the PowerSponge of my Mini-Colossal by pushing the tubes to the max without the volume output that would need a HotPlate to fix.

And also I'm curious how well the amps such as the Spec Op, Nitrox and Phantom reacted to distortion pedals and overdrives along with their own gain structure.

I wanted to get a JSX head but I don't know if these would fit more my style, I love Joe Satriani but I'm not limited to playing only stuff he plays so I want to invest in an amp that really allows me to do as much as I can with my current setup.

Any suggestions or quick explanations Jeff ?! If I'm convinced I'll probably do the same as I did with Dean guitars back then and buy one without trying it and be happy I did!

Thanks

Hey there. Thanks for the compliments. Playing at low volume with a tube amp ALWAYS changes the tone. That being said, our master volume design helps with that a lot in that you can heat up the preamp channel substantially and control the volume. Also, we offer a half-power switch as a mod/add on feature that helps a lot too. I just put that on Jet Black Stare's amp as they wanted the higher volume tone at a lower output volume since they were a little tight on stage room. They said it worked fantastic.

As for overdrive pedals, they are typically used for two reasons: (1) to add gain when there's not quite enough on the amp; and (2) a little shaping for a lead. Well, the first problem is not an issue with our amps. There's all the gain you need. As for (2), it's personal preference. They work fine, although you may decide not to use them anymore. That happens with us a lot. Remember also that all our amps have a second volume and gain control on the crunch channel so that you can allow yourself both rhythm and lead settings by varying gain and/or volume between Ch 2A and Ch 2B while retaining the same basic tone.

As for Montreal - please ask for it at your local Steve's Music or Tom Lee. I think there's possible talks of them becoming dealers. If not, we have multiple stores in the West half of the Country - Mother's Music. They'll be glad to help as well.

Let me know what I can do.

Excellent ! Thank you Jeff for the information. I did my homework and I called places and went to Steve's Music. The guys at Steve's have no clue what Diamond amps are... besides they basically said "If we don't have it, it's crap, just grab a Marshall instead, you can't beat that" which makes me wonder just how knowledgeable these guys are about their products....

I called Mother's Music a few thousand Miles away from where I am and these guys know a lot about your amps, I spoke to a guy to was really into your amps such as the Nitrox and Phantom and I am completely surprised... the price they have is the exact same price as the US price but in Canadian currency. That means I can get these at the best possible prices!

I wanted to know what were the extra charges for the custom amp with the half-powerswitch ? That would be most interesting for sure to avoid destroying people;s lives in my apartment building hehe.

I also wanted to know if you would want to give a very brief description of the purpose of the Spec Op, Nitrox and Phantom as far as their target audience/musical styles are. My amp is pretty good for vintage stuff and rock and certain types of metal if boosted with the proper pedal but I'm not sure whether I want to find a jack of all trades, a real mega metal head that can't do anything else or something in between the two. That would be most helpful.

Thanks again !

As Jeff said, distortion pedals are not needed with a Diamond. With my Spec Ops all I run in front is a Weeping Demon wah pedal. That's it. I used to have a bunch of crap out front, and even ran a Vetta II at one time, but the tone out of the Spec Ops is so awesome that there is no reason to jack with it.

If gain is a problem, go with a Nitrox. That thing scares me. I really believe that on the highest setting it would peel paint. Match that with an EMG 81 or a DiMarzio Evolution and you had better be holding on. Really it is a bit too hot for me, and I have NEVER said that about an amp, it was always, "If you could just boost this a -bit- more". My other guitar player LOVES it. He switched from a Marshall Mode Four. He likes more gain and drive than I do, however.

Still haven't gotten time to flog the Phantom. Hopefully next week.

LDW

steve's management knows about us, but i don't suspect it will pass down to sales guys unless they pick up the line. as for mothers, they handle a lot of our gear. they know the line well. half power switch is 125USD retail.

as for the line - it goes like this:

nitrox - the heaviest of our amps. built for the mesa/uberschall/brutal heavy kinda player.

phantom - high gain, but a bit more traditional gain structure. think the hottest-rodded jcm800 you've ever heard.

spitfire II - plexi with more gain/angus young/vintage or classic rock crunch

spec op - our most versatile amp. will do from more classic rock kinda crunch to southern rock to modern metal. heavy but syncopated low end, very throaty, very different kinda voicing. responds remarkably to drop tunings, which was its original intended purpose. . .

hope this helps.

The Spec Ops is the only amp that my cello tuned A-E-B-F#-Db-Ab double neck doesn't dissolve into a wall of mud. I tried my 87 Plexi, my TSL100, a Vetta II and a Mode Four, and it sounded like crap through all of them. I had long discussions with Jeff and Brian about not only the amps voicing, and it's ability to handle the low A tuning, but also on the quality of the amp and the commitment that Diamond has to their product. My Spec Ops stack was 5K and I wasn't dropping that kind of coin unless I was pretty convinced.

So back in early 2007 I bought one. I used in in one rehearsal, and then took it on stage at the BIGGEST show we had ever done. We were the Saturday night entertainment for the Trans World Haunt and Attractions convention in Chicago. Dee Snyder's Van Helsing's Curse was the entertainment for Friday, so we had a tough act to follow. Normally I would NEVER put something on stage that I had not used to death in rehearsal, but the Spec Ops was just so dam EXACTLY what I needed for the doubleneck to cut through, I went with it.

It performed flawlessly, sounded like the VOICE OF GOD, and looked freaking amazing onstage. I added a second later that year, then a Nitrox, and now a Phantom.

I'm sold on Diamond. If you haven't played one, you should.

One funny Diamond story: A actress friend of mine got married last year. Her husband is a professional drummer, and he invited all of us to come to his bachelor party and jam with the guys he has been playing with for years. We (me and my guys) accepted, and showed up. Now we are all "Double Humbucker/Marshal" kind of guys, and these were all "single coil strat/vintage tweed twin" guys. We had to use their equipment, and our stuff sounded like crap. They also f***ed with us unrelentingly about our aggressive looking guitars, and messed with us in every jam, changing keys, tempos, just basically being dicks. Wanting avoid a full out fistfight we left.

Then came the wedding. At 10 PM the night before I get a call from them as they can't get their PA working, and know that I have done sound for years. Wanting to make sure Julie's (the bride) day was good, I said I would help. Their equipment was crap and totally jerry rigged. Not going into it, but suffice to say that the amp they were using to power everything is less than I would use for a monitor.

SO I said that it would be best to just go get my PA. We grabbed my trailer, and loaded my huge mains, subs, and a stack of QSC amps in my mobile rig with my board. I told them, however, that as we were loading my stuff, I was taking my Diamond amp too, because I was supposed to play at the wedding with a mix of their guys and my guys. They assured me their "blackface twins" would sound great, but I loaded the Spec Ops full stack anyway. I was there until 2 AM hooking everything up, but when I was done it sounded great, and my shiny metal faced amp glowed towering over everything else onstage.

Next day they show up to play, and everyone is like "What is that thing?" "Does Marshal make that" (DUH- It says DIAMOND on it!) I tried to explain it was a high end amp like a Matchless, or a Bogner, and NONE of them had heard of those. One of the guitar players that had been a dick to us said "Fender made the perfect amp years ago, I don't know why anyone would want flashy crap like this thing..." Finally one of the guys says "You won't be able to hear anyone else over that" to which I replied "That is absolutely correct. Remember the bachelor party where you jacked with us? Now it is our turn..."

SO they went onstage first, and played all originals. Just what you need at a wedding. And the crowd sat.

Then we got up. We had only rehearsed twice, so we stuck to easy stuff that we knew the crowd would like. We did Blitzkrieg Bop, mObscene, I Wanna be Sedated, I Want Somebody to Shove, and finished with Rock and Roll all Night, all of which got the crowd on their feet and everyone was dancing. Mr. Dickhead guitar player tried to sit in, and head butt with me on one solo. I looked right at him, reached over and turned the Spec Ops up, and proceeded to blow his doors off. He is a better player, I'll give him that, but few can run with me on stage presence, and in MY set, you had better have eaten your Wheaties. That, plus the overwhelming TONE of the Spec Ops just flattened him, and he put down his guitar and left the stage, saying "Well I guess you don't need me..." No, no we didn't.

We finished to a huge ovation, and left the stage. They got back up, and started in with their Bob Dillian-esque originals, and the crowd sat back down. Long flat learning curve I guess. Might explain why they have been playing the same bars since the 80's.

I got tons of questions about the Diamond Spec Ops from both musicians and not. Even most of the "Single Coil Tweedy Amp" guys said they were impressed by the tone. I think most of them would rather die than ever use one, as they would get thrown out of the "Vintage Twin" club, but they were all looking at it in a different light.

Dominate with Diamond. You can use that if you want Jeff...<g>

haha, that is one killer story man. these amps have me intrigued, but deffinetely not in my price range right now, but someday haha.

Hi everyone, I'm new here but I just wanted to chime in with my $0.02 on Diamond Amplifiction products and my experience thus far. My name is Rod Harder (yes, for real) and I manage the Mother's Music location in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and I have been selling Diamond products at my store since early this year. I have had nothing but raves from the people that have purchased them in the last 7 months. We have sold ALOT of Diamond Amplification gear since taking on the line and the comments have been all positive. We have sold Diamond gear to players of all types from all out thrash metal players in recording acts to the fifty year old hobbyist and have NEVER had anything but glowing reviews of both the amps and the company.
Jeff Diamant, the President of Diamond Amplification even flew up from Houston to Edmonton this summer to train my staff on his products and to bring Jason Krause and Marlon Young from Kid Rock's band into my store for a Q&A / meet & greet / guitar clinic on all things Diamond. Try getting that from some of your other "boutique" builders. Not going to happen.
Anyhow, if there are any Canadians interested in Diamond Amplification products out there and you don't have a local dealer - feel free to get a hold of me here or at my email- rod.harder@mothersmusic.com and I would be more than happy to answer any questions you have about the gear.
Also, if there is anyone out there looking for Diamond gear in Canada feel free to contact me - we would be happy to offer you a 30 day money back guarantee on a Diamond Amp purchase - we have NEVER had one returned. I am that confident about this gear, and look forward to seeing the DBZ Guitars line at NAMM this January because I know that if Jeff has his name on it there will be no question as to the quality or the customer service that DBZ will have to offer.
FYI - We currently have locations in Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon and Winnipeg that are all Diamond Amplification dealers.

Do they go to 11?

No, 12.

I own a Nitrox and let me tell you that it is the best sounding amp I ever heard... and I knew UPS had destroyed the tubes and probably some other things inside so I sent it to Jeff for repair and to get the Half Power Mod.

Can't wait to see what this amp will sound like once it's at full power and fixed. Seriously this amp is scary and I love it!

I give big props to Jeff and his team, he gave me the best service I have ever come across so far when it comes to repairs in the music equipment industry.

I'm really eager for his Dean Z and Jeff's products reach Montreal. It's just sad Montreal retailers prefer to stick to the crap that sells most rather than offering quality stuff

I agree with some guys here. A combo amp would be great for us, home players.

BTW We have a nice community here at DBZ

I might be speaking too quickly but I think that is could be possible to get combos on special order... at least they used to have spitfire combos back then.

Otherwise my suggestion would be to get the head with a 2x12 of your choice or perhaps a Spec Ops 2x12 and that would be awesome. The price is high up there yeah... it's not like those cheapo Peavey 5150/6505 but it's well worth the investment :D

i was first introduced to diamond amps by seeing virus(dope) playing them and i don't know why but i idolise virus as much as Muhammed Sui???mez(necrophagist) or dime(pantera really no need specifying that here is there?) but yeah i saw virus playing these amps so i decided to check em out and i loved what i found the nitrox is a beast but unfortunately i was quoted $580 shipping on a lighter amp from the same area in the US to here so it is looking pretty dismal with the Australian dollar being so low as well as huge shipping costs so its looking like they might just be a tiny bit out of reach at the moment that is unless i cancel my new dbz and i don't want to do that now do I?
so it looks like the nitrox will have to be a little while down the road until then i will just buy a madison from the US and when it comes to the time of buying the diamond i can sell the madison for more than i payed for it(australia's instrument and amp prices are STUPID!!!)

wow i talked allot of junk there but all in all love the amps cant wait to get my hands on one

and wait until you see the new combos that are coming.... phew

we signed on our Australian distributor at NAMM and their first order will be going out this week to Australia!! If you need help finding one when they get over there, go to the dealers page of the diamond website and you can e-mail our distributor. their contact info is on the dealers page! Lamberti Bros.

we have some low watt, Class A, hand-wired combos coming before mid year. what most of our players now prefer is the 2x12 and head combination. more portable, modular, easy to upgrade to the 4x12 thing, etc. that's what damon johnson (whiskey falls) is doing. . .

Oh interesting ! What kind of players are you going to be aiming for with those small amps ? Vintage players or also high-gain lovers ?

vintage. they are class A amplifiers. low power, low gain. clean/blues/etc.

snap i wish i knew that sooner i have already payed for the madison its due to arrive in a couple days.
and i also see they are going to be carrying dbz and guess what i have already ordered my guitar too lol
oh well im still probably paying less with $80shipping and bad exchange rate than i would from them when their order arrives......i hope im proven wrong and we finally get a shop that has good prices so i can stop ordering all my gear from the us have to wait on average 2 weeks for a guitar but its usually worth it saving hundreds every time

Be interesting to see what the pricing comparison will be once we get them down here. Both Diamond and DBZ Guitars are landing April/May, not sure who the dealers are yet.