Gearjoneser
Gear Ho
Today, before going to a rehearsal to use my Bogner Ecstasy, I stopped in my local Sam Ash (Canoga Park, Ca), just to kill some time, and spotted the first Line 6/Bogner I've seen, the 1-12 combo.
You can read all the specs on the http://line6.com/spidervalve/ site, but I was pleased to see 2 6L6's, 2 12AX7's and a Celestion Vin 30. Also, the XLR out for live, or recording in tandem with a mic in front.
I decided to first plug in a PRS Singlecut and run it through all it's heaviest and midgain tones. I started heaviest, playing some Metallica and shred type stuff, and it dished out a lot of variety across the distorted tonal spectrum. The gain, EQ, and presence let me get darker Santana tones or crunchier metal tones, perfect for bedroom metal, not to mention tight high volume stage work. And trust me, it sounds great when it's loud and the Bogner designed power section is kicking in. The cabinet itself kept the lows pretty darn tight, even with the open back design. I can only imagine how awesome the 100W head on a 4-12 of vintage 30's will sound! They really did voice it like the Ecstasy red channel, Mesas, and highgain Marshalls. The gain and EQ is very tweakable, in order to really dial it in to your guitar.
One thing to note.....I hate being the guy in the store that scares everyone with a sudden blast of feedback, but the amp can get away from you very easily. I found myself having to turn the volumes down before any amp change, because any loud presets can throw it into feedback chaos. When you demo it, be VERY careful of this, because it's a tweakers amp, and will take some time to know it inside and out. ALWAYS turn it down when dialing it in, or you can get blasted with volume.
Moving on to a Fender Hot Rod 62 Strat for the midgain and clean tones. This is where mating modeling with tubes really matters. Normal modeling amps always have that sterile EQ'd transistor sound that is thin and leaves a lot to be desired. Once you get some decent volume on this amp, you can hear the power tubes, and it really sounds just as good as many Fender combos, plus the advantage of having gain to bring you right to the edge for great touch sensitity. By using the clean models or the midgain ones with lower gain, you can really model quite a few boutiquey, Voxy, or Fender tones.
One thing I noticed is a bit of crumbly gated sounds when the master volume is on 0 - 1. It seems like the mating of modeling and tubes is weakest there....or I just tried an amp with a bad volume pot.....I'm not sure. Or, I didn't figure out it's noisegate, or something. It really didn't bother me, because I liked having the master set at halfway, using the other volume as a main volume control.
The FX, although slightly limited in tweakability were stellar....definitely a cut above Vox. The reverb was nice and authentic sounding....not too digital sounding. I really liked it's delay and modulation FX, and although it's not as high-tech as the Vetta, there's a zillion presets on it to store separate sounds. I believe there's also 300 factory presets. I wish the tuner had LED's, but it's LCD screen gets the job done.
I have a feeling these little combos will see a lot of action in home studios, since they sound like a wall of stacks at the Forum, and have the thickness of tubes, as well as a quality Celestion Vintage 30 speaker. Micing it and using it's XLR out will be a breeze for recording huge tones late at night.
Overall, I'm really tempted to sell my Vox Valvetronix AD60VTH head, and either get the 100W head, or maybe even the 1-12 combo, which is PLENTY loud. What I REALLY wish Line 6 would do is offer a 40W head with 2 6L6's, like this combo I played today. That way, I could put it on my Bogner 2-12 cab at home. For home use the 100W head will be overkill, but amazing for a loud rehearsal or stage. I did notice that the 1-12's chassis had a plug for it's own speaker, and extra speaker outs. Hypothetically, I could put that chassis in a custom made headbox if I wanted. At least it isn't hardwired to it's speaker.
Continued...
You can read all the specs on the http://line6.com/spidervalve/ site, but I was pleased to see 2 6L6's, 2 12AX7's and a Celestion Vin 30. Also, the XLR out for live, or recording in tandem with a mic in front.
I decided to first plug in a PRS Singlecut and run it through all it's heaviest and midgain tones. I started heaviest, playing some Metallica and shred type stuff, and it dished out a lot of variety across the distorted tonal spectrum. The gain, EQ, and presence let me get darker Santana tones or crunchier metal tones, perfect for bedroom metal, not to mention tight high volume stage work. And trust me, it sounds great when it's loud and the Bogner designed power section is kicking in. The cabinet itself kept the lows pretty darn tight, even with the open back design. I can only imagine how awesome the 100W head on a 4-12 of vintage 30's will sound! They really did voice it like the Ecstasy red channel, Mesas, and highgain Marshalls. The gain and EQ is very tweakable, in order to really dial it in to your guitar.
One thing to note.....I hate being the guy in the store that scares everyone with a sudden blast of feedback, but the amp can get away from you very easily. I found myself having to turn the volumes down before any amp change, because any loud presets can throw it into feedback chaos. When you demo it, be VERY careful of this, because it's a tweakers amp, and will take some time to know it inside and out. ALWAYS turn it down when dialing it in, or you can get blasted with volume.
Moving on to a Fender Hot Rod 62 Strat for the midgain and clean tones. This is where mating modeling with tubes really matters. Normal modeling amps always have that sterile EQ'd transistor sound that is thin and leaves a lot to be desired. Once you get some decent volume on this amp, you can hear the power tubes, and it really sounds just as good as many Fender combos, plus the advantage of having gain to bring you right to the edge for great touch sensitity. By using the clean models or the midgain ones with lower gain, you can really model quite a few boutiquey, Voxy, or Fender tones.
One thing I noticed is a bit of crumbly gated sounds when the master volume is on 0 - 1. It seems like the mating of modeling and tubes is weakest there....or I just tried an amp with a bad volume pot.....I'm not sure. Or, I didn't figure out it's noisegate, or something. It really didn't bother me, because I liked having the master set at halfway, using the other volume as a main volume control.
The FX, although slightly limited in tweakability were stellar....definitely a cut above Vox. The reverb was nice and authentic sounding....not too digital sounding. I really liked it's delay and modulation FX, and although it's not as high-tech as the Vetta, there's a zillion presets on it to store separate sounds. I believe there's also 300 factory presets. I wish the tuner had LED's, but it's LCD screen gets the job done.
I have a feeling these little combos will see a lot of action in home studios, since they sound like a wall of stacks at the Forum, and have the thickness of tubes, as well as a quality Celestion Vintage 30 speaker. Micing it and using it's XLR out will be a breeze for recording huge tones late at night.
Overall, I'm really tempted to sell my Vox Valvetronix AD60VTH head, and either get the 100W head, or maybe even the 1-12 combo, which is PLENTY loud. What I REALLY wish Line 6 would do is offer a 40W head with 2 6L6's, like this combo I played today. That way, I could put it on my Bogner 2-12 cab at home. For home use the 100W head will be overkill, but amazing for a loud rehearsal or stage. I did notice that the 1-12's chassis had a plug for it's own speaker, and extra speaker outs. Hypothetically, I could put that chassis in a custom made headbox if I wanted. At least it isn't hardwired to it's speaker.
Continued...
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Start selling some stuff! And what's more important? Tone, or your wife trying to get smart? :33:
utahere:
