Line 6 amps

[lerxstcat]

Years ago, right after I got my POD 2.6, I had some free time one night and decided to run it across the Marshall 2210 halfstack. After about an hour of fiddling with it, it still sounded like crap. I had done everything "right," like turning off the A.I.R. switch, leaving the Marshall's tone controls flat, you know, the things that everyone says to do.

Finally, in frustration, I decided to break the rules. I turned the A.I.R. switch back on and started playing with different cab models. Guess which one finally nailed my sound? It was a 1x8.

No, I'm not kidding. This gave it the same sound across the Marshall that I had loved across the headphones.

See my writeup in THIS old thread.

So, did you put it in the effects loop later? An d if so, did the 1x8 cab emulation still hit the jackpot, or was it different that way?

[Spivonious]

Line 6 has always sounded too processed to my ears. Vox Valvetronix and Peavey Vypyr are miles better for practice amps. I've played a POD 2, POD xt, Spider III, Spider IV, Vetta II, and Flextone II.

[chrisolson]

I've always liked L6 amps. All except the Duotone. I've never been in a band though. Bands that do use L6 sound good if that's all that's being used, but if one is and the other is not, look out.

Playing alone though, I love them. Very hi-fi sounding - just like stuff sounds in recordings.

[PowerTube]

So, did you put it in the effects loop later? An d if so, did the 1x8 cab emulation still hit the jackpot, or was it different that way?

Nope. I just never got around to it. Now that I have a Vetta stack, I doubt I'll ever bother.

[Killertofu]

the line 6 amps can be very tricky indeed. thats why i stayed away from them for years but one day i sat down and played with the settings. after a while i understood it and got my tone sorted.

i mainly love the fact that i can have 4 effect setups on tap and 16 collections ready to roll. i only use a zakk wylde wah w/true bypass and this amp so it works well for me.

yeah if i had a million dollars i'd probably rock a real tube amp with a real pedalboard and tons of cool things on tap but such is life

[Spivonious]

yeah if i had a million dollars i'd probably rock a real tube amp with a real pedalboard and tons of cool things on tap but such is life

Eh, you don't need a million dollars, just some time to save. Once you go tube, it's very hard to go back. There's just something about how they respond to the guitar that makes me smile. While the modelers are very good at sounding like tube amps, they're missing that little something.

[PowerTube]

Eh, you don't need a million dollars, just some time to save. Once you go tube, it's very hard to go back. There's just something about how they respond to the guitar that makes me smile. While the modelers are very good at sounding like tube amps, they're missing that little something.

Since I bought my Vetta, my Marshall JCM800 2210 has been collecting dust. Seriously. So I guess it depends on the player. The Marshall sounds great with:

Metal Zone inline

GE-7 EQ inline

Digitech PDS 20/20 in the effects loop

But... it also sounds very hissy with this setup. It sounds awesome while I'm playing, but hisses like crazy with no signal.

If comparing tube amps with traditional solid state, then yeah, tubes win totally for overdrive sounds. But the Vetta can give me 5000 times more than the Marshall can, including a sparkling Fender type of clean. As far as the response thing goes, no problem. The Vetta will respond to my hands as well as any Marshall I've ever played.

[PowerTube]

the line 6 amps can be very tricky indeed. thats why i stayed away from them for years but one day i sat down and played with the settings. after a while i understood it and got my tone sorted.

A couple of years ago, I figured out why they haven't sold more Vettas. It's because the factory presets suck so bad. There's no way those were set up by a guitarist. No way. Almost every one of them sounds crappy. But to someone who doesn't really understand, they're going to plug in, run through the factory presets, and go "this thing sucks."

So yeah, they take some time and effort.

[chrisolson]

I've always found the key to making these things sound good is that if you're using it through a cab or as a combo, shut the cab sims OFF. All the difference in the world in making tones truly usable. The Vetta is about the only Line 6 I haven't spent significant time with...basically because it had SOOOO much stuff I'd never use.

[Spivonious]

I had a Vetta II combo for a week and took it back. I had gotten some usable sounds, but I found myself having to tweak the patches for different volumes.

I'd much rather plug in and play than tweak my settings for hours on end. The versatility of modelers is nice, but realistically I only need 3, maybe 4 tones. Right now I'm running a B-52 AT-100 (metal), a Genz Benz El Diablo 60 (classic metal and hard rock), and a Vox AC4TVH (classic rock). Gives me everything I need and didn't cost much more than a new Vetta.

[chrisolson]

^^^ This is why I loved the Flextone series, and the early Pod. Once you had to dive in further (XT Series, Vetta ), it got frustrating as I worked too hard on tweaking, and not enough playing. I get a good tone on 3 or 4 models, and then just add effects as needed.

[fordsho90]

I have the Spider Valve HD100 and when I first got it I hated it, too many options and I was use to pretty much plug and play up to this point and this head was a nightmare compared to my old JCM I use to have back in my younger days.

Now that being said I shopped around pretty hard looking for the best bang for the buck and when it came down to it this head seemed to be that. I bought it never playing it before sight unseen (Normally dont do this on large items like this but M.F is great about taking returns back)

So I ordered the head and I was being a cheap ass and didnt get the shortboard (for the price you pay they should throw one in) well that was a big mistake as it made for the love/hate relationship that was formed with the head. Now it had alot of potential in sound but w/o the shortboard it was a pain in the ass to try and scroll through all of the presets to find a usable one and go from there, I normally dont have a lot of free time so when I have a chance to play well I wanna play not fuck around trying to find a good setting. Well one day I got a descent tone out of it and was trying to save it and ended up changing the preset and lost my settings.


Well after that I said fuck it and ordered a bunch of pedals and fig. I would bypass the pre-amp and just go staight to the tube part of the amp, well like I said I dont have a lot of free time so once again just trying to get a decent tone out of the daisy chain was too time consuming and the fact the noise gate I bought didnt work (literally) I just boxed it all back up and sent it back and ordered the shortboard.

Now my time to return the head was quickly running out so once I got the shortboard I grabbed my laptop and locked myself in my music room and took the time and figured out how the head worked, (the owners manual is as worthless as tits on a bull) didnt use any of the presets just went to an amp setting turned everything to 0 and then to 12 o'clock and then started to dial in my tone. And was I was happy with a tone, I saved it into one of the many banks that are at your disposal (you can save over any of the stupid preloaded settings) and control them w/the shortboard for quick quite changes. But I was happy with the tone I was able to achive out of the head so I ended up keeping it.

Bottom line, for the cost and the sound that you can get out of the head and the versitility that is available at you toes (get the shortboard) you can get the most bang for your buck and its a pretty good deal for what you get. Sorry for the long ass post but wanted to add to this thread my real world experience.

[BallooTheBear]

I bought the little Spider IV 15 for 100 bucks,In my room you can't beat it.I also have a L6 UX2 with POD Farm to record my tracks,I must say BRUTAL!!!!I used to record with my MARSHALL VS100,Dont get me wrong that head is amazing,I prefer the Mesa though but the POD blows my mind.Any mood I'm in I can scroll through the heads,choose a cab,choose a mic,compression,delays..whatever I want.WHALA,instant fucking brilliance.For recording you can't beat a L6.Some may dissagree.Pardon the spelling....I'm Drunk

[BallooTheBear]

BTW,maybe I'm too lazy to read but has anyone tried the SPIDERVALVE by BOGNER.Heard it was kickass.I just usually invest my money in tube amps and was wondering if anyone owns one personally?

[Racerx2k]

I've tried the Spidervalve, and was disappointed. I was hoping it would be the Line 6 product that would impress me. Still sounded processed, like the rest of the L6 lineup.