Line 6 Flextone II

Anton · #1 10-18-2003, 07:20 AM

Hey guys , I'm looking around for a new amp at the moment , I had my heart set on either a JCM800 head , or a JCM800 combo , but as you know they are quite expensive , and valve amps need to be cranked to sound good right ? , seriously , if i cranked a valve amp in my house my mum would flip

, and the house isn't empty that often... so I'm not sure what to do.

I've been thinking of a model amp like the Line 6 Flextone II , but I've read so many bad things about it , and it's kinda putting me off , could anybody tell me their opinions on it if they have it ? , what is the tone realism like etc ?
Thanks a bunch
Anton

track7 · #2 10-18-2003, 08:59 AM

(i'll jump in with the unbiased opinoin before two hands gives you his sales speach!)

Ignorance can be bliss.

The big question to ask yourself is have you ever played through a (good) vavle amp before? If not then you may be very happy and at best even blown away by the line 6 stuff, it can be impressive and very useful.

HOWEVER, if you know about valve amps and have listened to 'em enough and actually played through them then no amount of digital trickery will fool your fingers and ears. On record its a grey area cause the lines can be blurred and it is getting difficult to tell by listening. But when playing and listening the feel is very important. And you can definatley feel the amp breathe and the tone sounds like its in the room not like your sound is coming from your CD.

So if its just for practising (i personally wouldn't gig overdrive sounds with any modellor) and you can live with the sacrifice in feel of tone then go for it, otherwise get a 800 combo and get a THD hotplate that way everbody's happy you get the tone your mom gets low volume.

Track

Jem7RB MK · #3 10-18-2003, 09:45 AM

Dude,search around for an ENGL,Mine cost me £599 but f**k me it's great at low volumes,and just recently got it wound up ... Trouser fapping good ... I rate them highly,I am on the look out for another,What about Laney's? They go cheapish on eBa... keeps your peeps open

If you want to try out an ENGL get yerself to MK and plug in :-)

Rob

Two hands31 · #4 10-18-2003, 12:13 PM

I didn't read the other replies, or even very much of the first post, but I think everyone would be shocked if I didn't post:

Buy Line6!!

clnh5 · #5 10-19-2003, 08:34 AM

I have a flextone III and it is a excellent amp, i have the 212 one, and it rocks, the amp models are very good, but the effects are so so, but thats to be expected, but overall it is a awesome amp.

He4D · #6 10-19-2003, 11:09 AM

I would buy a JCM800 Combo.
Ive tested many Products of Line6.. and i dont like any of them.. maybe i dont get the right settings.. dunno. Its just not my sound. Or watch out for a Engl amp.. greatest sound of all, and not "that" expensive.

Dylan7620 · #7 11-01-2003, 09:27 PM

i tried line 6, and i really did want to like them, really. but i just cant get any tone, i did a few palm muted chuggas and it sounded like it had some oomph but wen i actually hit a chord it was gone. like i said, i really wanted to like line 6, they have very good prices and they look cool as hell, but if ur going for a modeling amp, go for a vox, i had one for a while and recorded with it, thats got some tone, i think it even has a tube or two in there, that probly helps it out a wee bit.

Chriscec · #8 11-02-2003, 12:40 PM

I have a Line6 Flextone II HD and a Mesa Triaxis with a Mesa 50/50 power amp. Obviously, the Mesa sounds better, but I still love my line6, and I use it quite frequintly. You can hear a certain amount of "fakeness" in the tone, but It is certainly a vaild piece of gear. Especially if playing at lower volumes is needed. For example, I play in a church praise band, so thats where my line6 gets its most use. Also, keep in mind the amount of maintenance you need with a tube amp, and problems that can possibly occur.

Two hands31 · #9 11-02-2003, 03:33 PM

I play many different styles and find myself using a lot of the amp models in my Flextone II. Also, in the band I'm working on right now, we have a pretty heavy sound, kinda Manson meets Evanescence meets Korn meets Mudvayne type thing, so the slightly artificial sound works well. I don't like Line6 for sounding exactly like the amps being modelled, I like it because it sounds close to sounds I like, but with a different sort of sound.

So in other words, I play line6 so I don't sound like everyone else

The amps sound good to me, I don't care how close to the original amps they sound.

Drew · #10 11-02-2003, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Two hands31

I play many different styles and find myself using a lot of the amp models in my Flextone II. Also, in the band I'm working on right now, we have a pretty heavy sound, kinda Manson meets Evanescence meets Korn meets Mudvayne type thing, so the slightly artificial sound works well.

Twohands, we have and will continue to have this debate ad nauseum, but gosh darn it, it's so FUN!

That first reason, IMO, is pure BS. One GOOD tube amp will give you a good clean sound, and a good heavy rhythm sound that can either double for lead if it's two channel and be perfectly serviceable, or leave you a third channel to set up for lead. most good tube amps have a clean tone that works for rock and heavy stuff, but can do a quite passable jazz tone when need be, and I still insist that one of the best "texas blues" tones I've ever gotten came from the "pushed" mode of a Recto head's clean. A good tube amp won't sound like 15 different "heavy" tones, but will give you one awesome tone that will work in 15 different contexts, largely because it's so good.

The second, howeer, is a VERY good reason to consider Line6 gear. So it sounds a little transistory and "processed" on the distortion patches? F'in bring it! And the added processing power the effects section gives you would be a godsend, not just for weird choruses and delays and other modulation effects, but for things like noise gates to make your chording even choppier. if you're into electronica-tinged music, a Line6 makes a lot of sense. Personally, i still prefer the feel of a real amp, but there's a lot of things you could do with it that would sound quite genre-appropriate.

A Line6 and a tube amp are two different beasts. Don't expect the first to do everything the second can, because it won't. however, it's got a few tricks up its sleeve that the tube amp doesn't.

Also, as for it being harder to tell on tape... Idunno. Especially for distortion sounds... i bought the new Revis CD becvause it was cheap and because I loved "Caught in the Rain," and within 15 seconds of throwing it into my CD player, I grabbed the liner notes to check to see if they were line6 endorsees, because something sounded "fake" about the distortion, particularly the mids and highs. Bingo. At mp3-level encoding, there's a little bit of fuzz in the upper frequencies anyway, and on the radio, it's hopeless, but at CD level, it's pretty apparent, IMO.

-D

Drew · #11 11-02-2003, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Two hands31

I play many different styles and find myself using a lot of the amp models in my Flextone II.

Goddamn it, I wish i lived clsoer to Ontario... I'd totally drive up there for the evening some night and let you take my TSL to a rehearsal for one of your bands. Or a couple, even. I have no doubt that you'd be able to get useable sounds out of it for all of them.

Hell, give me a list of genres and if you want I can record sound clips of the thing nailing them all. It might be a fun little challange.

-D

Two hands31 · #12 11-02-2003, 04:55 PM

Well, you see, I not only use many different amp models (Rectified2, Brit High Gain, Modern Class A, Modern High Gain, Line6 Clean, Jazz Clean, and more, these are just the main ones), but also different settings (I have at least 4 or 5 different Rectified2 sounds, none of which for anything but rhythm parts, plus tonnes of effects patches, plus many different clean tones, plus specific tones like the Modern Class A being used for a clean channel, or for a lead channel that can be backed off to almost clean). Plus, I like the easy switching between patches and settings without having to step on 5 different pedals, and turn 3 knobs.

Drew · #13 11-02-2003, 10:07 PM

But, the thing is, you only do that because you CAN. Limit yourself to one good amp, and after a week or two you wouldn't even be missing all 5 of your rectifier patches.

And I get all the tones i really need out of my guitar (two, if need be), a patch cord, and my amp... no need to tap-dance across the stage...

Basically, we're two polar opposite musicians in this respect, and we're going to spent the rest of our lives trying to convert each other and our equivalents. that doesn't mean i'm not right, of course.

-D

Two hands31 · #14 11-03-2003, 07:21 AM

Oh, and I forgot to mention that I have yet to have a practise or performance where I've had enough room/need for anything more than a combo amp. A halfstack, for me, is just too big at this time.

Not that I don't want one

Drew · #15 11-03-2003, 05:16 PM

Ditto here, but the 25 watt mode thing works wonders, and the TSL sounds suprisingly good at lower volumes with some JJ's in the preamp.

I only sold my Mesa combo because i was looking for a bit more tonal flexibility, and the Rocket series is basically a one-trick pony: very Mark-II C+/Mark-IV-esq, but without half the flexibility either amp would offer, and little else on its own. So, it's a price to pay, having to lug that thing around and getting all these envious stares from guitarists and their puny little combos, but gosh darn it, someone's gotta do it...

Actually, I lied, I ownly use a 2x12. I'm in love with the Recto cabs, and the idea of carrying a 4x12 to gigs and back terrifies me. I came pretty close to saying "**** it" and dropping the extra $300 for the 4x12 down in Matt;s Music because the 2x12 just isn't that imposing, but later that night when i was carrying it from my car to my dorm, suddenly i was VERY glad i didn't, lol. Even the 2 was enough to keep me in shape this summer.

-D