Line 6 is messing with my head

[OlinMusic]

I am still all about tube amps but last night I went to a great cajun spot in LA, very african-american scene and saw and amazing R&B band - wow! The guitar player had a nice tone and I went to check the rig, because that's what I do - and it was Line 6 with the floorboard. Not sure which model.

I actually liked it, thought it was a Twin or a Twin with a Fulldrive, yeah yeah I know. Boy, was I shocked.

I have to admit the distortion was a little uninspired, but good for what it was - reminded me somewhat of my Rivera (that is NOT an insult), it's just smooth and meant for a non-rock band.

I have heard 2 cover bands and this R&B band sound pretty good with this stuff.

I have not cared much for metal bands using HD147's but hey they work I guess.

I keep rethinking getting one, but it never feels or sounds right for me. I prefer other amps even for country or R&B gigs. I actually got a Rivera to cover this ground.

I will add, I have yet to hear one take on a Marshall in any way shape or form. esp. old ones. One larger known band in LA blew out an amp and brought out a Line 6 pronto, and it was NOT the same as the Marshall.

I am a lover of the POD XT Live for convenience, and I did quite enjoy some of the effects (esp the chorus, verb, and delay), and I love some of the Bogner, Diezel, Jubilee, and Cornford models I downloaded... Still thy have yet to replace my Univibe and a mic'd vintage Marshall.

 

[drp555]

Re: Line 6 is messing with my head

a few years back I fell victim to a similiar situation....

I saw this band play and thought the guitar player had a cool tone, so I look at his rig, and to my surprise, he had a Flextone II and Floorboard. So when it came time for amp shopping I picked up a Flextone IIXL with the long Floorboard. I gigged with it for quite a while, but I never could get along with it. It just sounded horrible to my ears at performance volumes...I ended up selling it. To this day I don't understand how that guitar player sounded good through his line 6:smack:

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Line 6 is messing with my head

I saw a Canadian classic rock band called Goddo last Septemeber and they have a new line up... their latest guitarist (from Coney Hatch) had a Flextone III on stage... following him was 2 other Canadian classic bands and they had Marshall stacks.... the Line 6 sounded the best out front!

 

[InstituteOfNoise]

Re: Line 6 is messing with my head

Olin, do you know what the guitar player looked like? I run the Line 6 users group here in LA and sounds like it may be one of our regular guys. He plays places like that very frequently. If it was a combo, I bet it was a Vetta combo.

 

[JLagoon]

Re: Line 6 is messing with my head

Well, well, this is like the blind test phenomenon. Sometimes I am just scared that tube amps will become obsolete in the future because of the advancement of digital technology. So, instead of carrying your tube head or rack equips with all those tube preamps, you can just carry a floorboard unit with a tube power amp or SS or maybe go straight to the PA.

Will tubes be obsolete???........

 

[OlinMusic]

Re: Line 6 is messing with my head

He was hmmm white I think
about 5'9" ish
wore a hat, kinda like Ed Norton wore on the Honeymooners
Lean build
He had a combo and floorboard
It was an R&B group playing at Stevie's, the cajun/creole party joint. Great crawdads btw.

 

[Lerxt]

Re: Line 6 is messing with my head

Solid state amps aren't what they used to me. Companies like Tech 21, Line 6, and Behringer got the modeling thing down good. I have the Behringer GMX212. (which i think is identical in sound to the Line 6 Spider II 212 Combo) and I love it. I was going to get the Line 6 but I saved $240 with the Behringer. I've owned tube amps before and this baby that I have can give me the sound of a JCM800 or my old Fender Twin Reverb. IMO, you can't go wrong with the purchase of any of these solid state modeling amps (Line 6, Behringer, Tech 21)

Karl

 

[Pecan]

Re: Line 6 is messing with my head

A pod is a piece of crap if you ask me. but some of those new modelling amps aren't to bad. I dont think tubes will become obselute for a long time, people thought that years ago and they still haven't. I'd prefer a good solid state amp over tubes mainly because they are so much easier to live with for a number of reasons, but till I find something as good or better I ain't gonna go that way.

 

[James Rock]

Re: Line 6 is messing with my head

i dont think they will eva get the exact things they do wif tubes and players will still want tubes (LOTS OF TUBE SNOBS) they r coming bak in fashion now (ive seen all kinds of things with tubes in them).

 

[InstituteOfNoise]

Re: Line 6 is messing with my head

Olin, that's not him, but he does play at Stevie's quite a bit.

I will say with any amp... modeler or tube, dialed in wrong will sound like crap. Most people honestly don't take the time to hone it.

I just did some sessions last week with some of the biggest names in the session world, and you'd be hard pressed to tell me what was digital modeler and what was tubes. The other guy, a huge name in the session world was using a new Kasha Rockmod preamp, an Egnater preamp, a tweed Deluxe and a Tonelab, I was using a Matchless, a Kasha Rockmod and my PODxt both into my Atomic 112 ( at different times of course). Used right it all sounds great in the end!

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Line 6 is messing with my head

I've freaked out fellow guitarists and sound engineers with my Boss GT-8/Mesa 50:50 rig.

Digital might not be quite exactly like a tube yet, but it's getting to that point for us gear heads. The audience already can't tell the difference.

 

[TheProphet]

Re: Line 6 is messing with my head

I will say with any amp... modeler or tube, dialed in wrong will sound like crap. Most people honestly don't take the time to hone it.

Reminds me of when I was messing with a TCE G-Force without the manual

This summer I'll be making a new cabinet + speaker for my older Flextone combo, as the current MDF and Particle Board one is causing tone loss at higher volumes.

 

[Ironjose]

Re: Line 6 is messing with my head

does anybody has play with vetta II? just a question?
JJ