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Line 6 Disaster


Californiaman

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I'm going to admit to you up front that I'm not a fan of modeling amps.

I know many of you love them and would prefer them to a good tube amp.

It's just that I can't get used to all the sounds and settings.

Case in point:

Today I went into a local music shop and along with my son watched the owner of the store fiddle with the knobs to the point of exasperation. [cursing]

He was going to demo it along with a Squire stratocaster my son wanted to look at. I watched the owner spend 15 minutes on this thing never really getting any decent tone out of it. Finally, in frustration he says to the sales kid at the counter, "Kids have been twiddling the knobs on this thing again. ](*,) It sounds terrible. [mad] They've changed all the settings. It's going to have to be reprogrammed. :angry: "

It was kind of funny because all he had in his store are Line 6 amps and a new Fender Deluxe Vintage Modern.

My personal bias would be to get some good old fashioned tube amps in there.

I know there's some good modeling amps out there: Marshall, Fender, Vox etc...etc...

Just saying. It was sad to see the owner of the store go through that while trying to inspire my son to play guitar. :(

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Didn't it have presets? The ones on my Vetta II are easy to find and they do sound very good. My favorite one is the classic Van Halen sound. Anyhow, the owner should get better acquainted with his amps. Why didn't he let your kid play it from the beginning?

 

I always think of modeling amps as a tradeoff between versatility and sound. I love the sounds of real tube amps, especially Fenders, but I also like to play all kinds of music. So after owning a few amps, I decided to go with modeling, i.e., I went for versatility. Plus it's got every effect in the book.

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I have line6 gear AND tube amps (Marshall TSL, and Peavey Delta Blues). I use the POD and the x3 Live for direct to board and out to Bose towers, and have no problems getting great tones. Now, when I want real tube goodness, I plug into my amps. I mainly like my Line6s so I don't have to haul around my amps. I play at my Church every Sunday, and during the week, so all I bring there is my guitar (I leave the set up there, rather than my amps). For gigs, I use what is called for. As far as digital amps, I'm not crazy about them.

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I'm not sure that anyone here would "prever them over a good tube amp" any day...

 

I have a Line 6 amp...i find it pretty easy to get a decent tone on it...no "reprogramming" nessecary...though when i am playing loud, I go with the Blue Voodoo tube amp every time...

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I gig and play Tube amps, but I also find modeling amps/devices very useful.

I know how you feel tho, my grandfather refused to get a computer or advance beyond VHS.

 

You should get your son an Epiphone Valve Jr amp. All tube, one input and one chicken head knob.

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I have a Line 6 Spider III 120w and have no problems with it. Can't say it's the best there is, but definitely suits my playing style and gives me my money's worth out of it. There is an endless number of presets to fit most any combination you can imagine. It's just finding the right one among the few hundred. Not really impressed with the effects setup by using two knobs to get any two of the six available effects. Overall I'm satisfied.

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The Avid Eleven Rack looks interesting. I like that they made the input stage variable to get the correct front end amp input. I'm also glad they made it so you can pinch the effects, amps, speaker emulation wherever you want. I have a GNX 4 that is OK but you can't bypass the amp modeling or really the speaker emulator and just run effects. It's cool for getting an idea down quick or if I just want to go jam somewere and don't want to haul an amplifier over. I was also a bit disappointed Digitech didn't really do much with it after they released it. Kinda died on the vine....

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The Avid Eleven Rack looks interesting. I like that they made the input stage variable to get the correct front end amp input. I'm also glad they made it so you can pinch the effects, amps, speaker emulation wherever you want. I have a GNX 4 that is OK but you can't bypass the amp modeling or really the speaker emulator and just run effects. It's cool for getting an idea down quick or if I just want to go jam somewere and don't want to haul an amplifier over. I was also a bit disappointed Digitech didn't really do much with it after they released it. Kinda died on the vine....

 

Fractal's Axe-FX crushed it all.

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I can highly recommend the Fender Mustang II as a great way to inspire your son to play guitar. It's got great base tone and lots of presets and mods to fiddle with. [thumbup]

 

 

i bought my son a Mustang I, and can +1 on this too.

 

I like that other than volume, the knobs are "overridden" by the presets so it always dials in a nice tone. FUSE is fun to play with too.

 

it's a very nice sounding little practice amp.

 

-Don

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I have a Line 6 I leave at my drummer's house. For that, it does its job. For me, what really told me it was definitely worth it to go tube was at a Battle of the Bands. With a loud drummer, a bassist, two vocalists and three other guitar players, the only sound that came clearly through? My amp, the tubes set it apart and made a great sound. Never, ever ever will I use a solid state amp at a gig. I know there are good solid state amps, but two other guitarists had 120 W solid state halfstacks and it was loud as ****, but you can't understand the sound.

 

Personal preference of course, but its all tube for me

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I'm going to admit to you up front that I'm not a fan of modeling amps.

I know many of you love them and would prefer them to a good tube amp.

It's just that I can't get used to all the sounds and settings.

Case in point:

Today I went into a local music shop and along with my son watched the owner of the store fiddle with the knobs to the point of exasperation. [cursing]

He was going to demo it along with a Squire stratocaster my son wanted to look at. I watched the owner spend 15 minutes on this thing never really getting any decent tone out of it. Finally, in frustration he says to the sales kid at the counter, "Kids have been twiddling the knobs on this thing again. ](*,) It sounds terrible. [mad] They've changed all the settings. It's going to have to be reprogrammed. :angry: "

It was kind of funny because all he had in his store are Line 6 amps and a new Fender Deluxe Vintage Modern.

My personal bias would be to get some good old fashioned tube amps in there.

I know there's some good modeling amps out there: Marshall, Fender, Vox etc...etc...

Just saying. It was sad to see the owner of the store go through that while trying to inspire my son to play guitar. :(

 

What model amp was it?

 

Line 6 has just released some all new technology which is far better than the previous stuff.

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What model amp was it?

 

Line 6 has just released some all new technology which is far better than the previous stuff.

 

 

I wish I could remember. It was a 2X12 and had Bogner's name on it.

It still sounded like pooh.

 

And again, it's because someone had reprogrammed every effect on the amp.

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I wish I could remember. It was a 2X12 and had Bogner's name on it.

It still sounded like pooh.

 

And again, it's because someone had reprogrammed every effect on the amp.

 

That's the SpiderValve. It actually has a tube power output section. Only the preamp is modeling tech.

 

I owned the 2x12 Spidervalve, to be honest I agree, it did sound poo-ish.

I liked the same patches on the Spider III better than the SpiderValve.

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VOX modeling amps are great, maybe because they use a tube to emulate the power amp section of a tube amp and that's what gives a nice warm tone. Other brands center in the pre while vox centers their efforts in a good poweramp tone.

 

I have owned lots of line6 modelers and while they do the job they don't really feel "real" if you know what I mean. For some time tho, they were "the industry standard" for recording... some "pros" have pod racks as integral parts of their setups. I get requests to record via line6 preamps more than I get requests to get any high end tube amp, that says a lot. Maybe they don't sound as good but they have positioned their brand in the best way they could and it has paid.

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Sounds like the guy doesn't know how to operate some of his stock.

 

Reset. Preset.

 

Come on.

 

I like modeling amps. I like tube amps. I've got both.

 

As far as rich sound goes, IMO tube is the way, modeling amps still have a ways to go to compete.

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I don't care for modeling amps for the same reason I don't like television sets with built-in CD players. I'm not anti-technology, I just have extreme reservations about putting all your eggs in one basket.

 

I prefer the idea of an appropriately powered amp and externals with whatever you may want, and a guitar.

 

Tube or solid state... solid state in theory is more reliable but tube is warmer. So the amp to me is a subjective decision. But a wonderful amp section with a flakey or unneeded "modeling" section seems a real waste to me, whether the amp is tube or solid state.

 

A nice, plain and/or otherwise appropriate amp is a standalone. If it dies, replace it. Ditto a separate multi-effect or batch of stomp boxes.

 

I'm really more of the opinion that the stomp box/modeling amp are in ways obsolete technology since they're largely third-rate dedicated computers. A laptop with appropriate software should be able to do about anything along those lines - if not now, soon.

 

E.g., the iRig right now will connect into iPhones and Pods and Pads to do roughly that. But even that is pretty basic compared to a multi-effects processor type of program and then a performance program/database and...

 

The above tells me people are thinking about it, but only in terms an an electronic metaphor of what they're already doing. I'm thinking even more control, but...

 

m

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They do make a few good amps. Their spider series has been pretty bad though. The only one I think actually sounds good is their 15 watt practice amp. That's kind of sad.

 

I personnally like the fender frontman 212r. The ONLY problem i find with it is that it is very LOUD.

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It's all a matter of the sound that you're after. If your music is synthetic then modeling/effects amps will likely suit as long as they meet the reliability requirements. I personally just prefer simple all tube amps because I want just me the guitar and the speaker involved. But I play blues and classic rock and I am 51. I want to play crystal clean or bluesy crunch and have the amp respond with appropriate roar to the pick attack or when I turn up the guitar volume. Will on occasion use compression/boost or wah in front and modulation or delay in the loop but that's it. I even have a Boss GT-10 that I rarely use which is still rated as one of the best modeling/multi-effects pedals. Anyone want it? If you're into modern metal, shredding, punk, nu wave, etc., then the modeling amps and/or pedals will likely float your boat. I tried a Line 6 amp two amps ago and the first one was DOA but the second one worked fine I just didn't care for it. Watch those presets though. They can destroy your ear drums real quick. Playing softly and switch to a different preset and all the fish in the aquarium float stunned to the top of the tank. [confused]

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