questions for line 6 users..

[Kasper Kowalski]

a few questions...

1. can you run a distortion pedal in front of a clean tube amp model on the line 6 and get the same sort fo behaviour you'd expect of a real amp?

2. do the distorted amp models clean up like a tube amp as you back off the volume? do the tones sparkle up and gain headroom, or is it more a solid-state back-off-the-volume but remains compressed affair?

3. is an amp model just one of the channels? eg. is the 5150 II model on the pod x3 just the lead channel, or clean and lead?

[sledge76]

I use a Line6 Vetta Amp ...

1 Yes you can use a distortion pedal, though the included Line6 pedals do a great job.
Right now I use a Ibanez Jemini pedal and it sounds just great with the Vetta.

2 They behave almost like a real tube amp. Of course itīs still just a modeled amp and
you canīt beat a tube amp. But after all these years Iīm still impressed by the line6
models.

3 Amp models are just one channel of the real amps. The 5150 on the pod x3 should be the
lead channel as far as I know.

[Lefty Robb]

1. Yes, you can throw OD and distortion pedals in front with no problem, I always ran a OD pedal in from of all my line6 gear, it improved pick attack, harmonics and all around feel and response.

2. No, it is a completely different beast, I spent 7 years with line6 pods and rack units before going to pure Mesa, and its totally night and day. My line6 gear never cleaned up when I rolled the volume down, it behaves just like it should on something digital, and just turns the volume down. With the Mesa its just incredible what turning your volume just slightly can do, I'm still getting used to it, but I love it, roll it down to about 40% and get a nice rocky blues tone, shut off the OD pedal and turn the volume down a little more and now its country twang, hit the neck pickup and now its jazzy, put it on position 2 , 3 or 4 and now its sparkly clean, fenderish twang, or clean jazz. you will never get that kind of response with all digital.

3. I have no experience with the X3 so I can't really answer that, but Sledge sounds right.

[HeavyMetal4Ever]

I have an X3 Live, and yes, the 5150II patch is modeled only on the lead channel. Some patches model different channels from the same amp, for example, there are seperate patches based on the clean channel and the lead channel for a Marshall JCM 900. You also get seperate patches for the Crunch and Lead channels of the Diezel VH4 model.

I hope we see some model packs soon, i'd like a Laney patch, maybe a Mesa Mk IV and an Engl SE would be nice too.

Rock on!

[Takin' a Ride]

I have an X3 and yes the tones definitely clean up as I roll back the volume on the guitar. But as stated above, the amp models are typically only one of the channels of a particular amp. I'm also not really sure how well the tone cleans up compared with what Lefty Robb is describing out of his Mesa.

What I would suggest if you'd like a good reresentation of what Line 6 stuff can do is go into a Guitar Center and play one of their new Spider Valve amps. You might try watching all their videos online before going to try it so you have a good idea how to mess with the amp.

[GuitarBizarre]

Originally Posted by Kasper Kowalski

a few questions...

1. can you run a distortion pedal in front of a clean tube amp model on the line 6 and get the same sort fo behaviour you'd expect of a real amp?

2. do the distorted amp models clean up like a tube amp as you back off the volume? do the tones sparkle up and gain headroom, or is it more a solid-state back-off-the-volume but remains compressed affair?

3. is an amp model just one of the channels? eg. is the 5150 II model on the pod x3 just the lead channel, or clean and lead?

I have a POD X3 Live and the answer is yes on all counts, and very convincingly too. In fact, I once did a double blind on some people from another forum asking them to tell which tones I had recorded for them were real amps and which were the Pod.

What I didn't tell them was that I'd recorded the whole track straight from the POD to the computer and just switched footpedal sounds. Even the most hardy advocates of tubes over all were none the wiser and were making all sorts of wildy varied guesses.

Thats not to say theres no difference of course. There is, but in a general playing situation its nothing anyone will notice in any way. In fact, it took me a good while to track down the areas where its not realyl as true to life, and I own the damned thing.

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