Musician Gear & Tech Discussion

Any opinions on Line 6 flextone III amp ou there.
How it measures up.

it's a very versatile amplifier, and either with the XL model (2x12) or an extension speaker, you won't need much more for practice, gigging, recording... It's probably the best bang for buck.

If your into cover bands they'll get the job done. But as far as origanal bands go they don't cut through the mix verry well unless your playing with other people who have the same or a simmilar amp. Example:

Your buddy gets a new DSL with a 4x12....you coma along with your line 6 flextone........ your going to sound out of place...... his will be all warm and fuzzy while you ...... who actually have a great sounding amp will sound dry...... any time you try to mix versitility with tone somewhere you come up a little short.
The veta though is much better beacuse you can blend the sounds of two amp tones at once giving you a much warmer....well..... fuller sound which jives a little better in a live band setting with tube amp players.

As far as a recording/ practice amp is concerned I feel they're great! how many of us out there have the ability either in time or pure liquid assets to buy, record, experiment with, re-record with different speakers, re-record with different microphones, tweak, and the re- record again so many of the worlds best amplifiers, efects and cabinets? it's great in that respect!

If you need to dial in a sweet blues sound....it there
Trashing metal tone?....... it's there
Strange ambiant noise....... it's in there
clean twang....... it's got it!
warm fuzzy, sludgie tube tone......... well thats why god created tubes

So to sum up.....if you want to play with effects and explore different sounds....line 6 is the way to go....hands down......if you need a multitude of tones to fit different playing style......line 6....if your a tone hound who knows his sound.....mabye if you reallly really like the sound of the amp.

And by the way there is this really cool tube amp company who Just came out with a solution to the line 6 tone problem.....Atomic amps has an 18watt tube amp that is specifically designed to work with the pod...podxt.....Vamp...etc...... and suposidly it solved the modeled amp tone problems......I haven't seen one but I've heard it works....mabye


Thanks for the time......Joe

I agree.....the Line 6 is a great practice piece, but it doesn't cut it against a full stack. I used to use all Plexi Marshalls until I found the Peavey 5150 series amps. They are the best I have heard in a long time if you can't afford Marshall Plexis. However, I run both my double stacks through a twin Variac at 85 volts to smooth out the distortion, and I also use hot plates so I can run the power tubes on 10 for that great power tube distortion instead of preamp thin distortion. A line 6 simply cannot compete with equipment like this.

I currently own a Flextone III XL 2x12. As far as the digital modeling amp it really has the closest to a tube tone that I have heard and it is LOUD.There is only one real negative and that is there is no stompbox distortion modeling, which leaves a little to be desired on the leads. I use a Plexi 68 amp setting with a Treadplate (Mesa Boogie) 4X12 cab simulation and it sounds very tube like and warm for rhythym's. The line level XLR outs with cab simulations are INCREDIBLE to run direct into the PA, sounds just like whats coming out of your amp speakers and that is rare with some of these modeling amps.

I have only played a III a handfull of times, but thought it was pretty good. I think I liked the Flextone II's better, but I've played through them more. If you're looking to buy one, you might try to find a II on ebay or at a pawn shop. I'm sure they would be cheaper than the III's!

Line6 stuff isn't bad at all. Very versatile....decent effects. BUT it does lack that warmth and presence that you get from a tube. I used line6's stuff for about 6 years and it did the trick....definetly not crap, but I eventually had to go back to tubes. I would recomend that you take a LONG time (if you can) and audition and re-audition the amp, as well as compare it to other products. If it's a versatillity issue, it might be what you need. If it's price you are looking at....crate has come out with the "V" series and I really like it. Class "A" all tube amps for a good price. I was surprised that Crate put this out. Worth checking out. good luck!!!

I have only played a III a handfull of times, but thought it was pretty good. I think I liked the Flextone II's better, but I've played through them more. If you're looking to buy one, you might try to find a II on ebay or at a pawn shop. I'm sure they would be cheaper than the III's!

Agreed, I have a flextone II for my half stack, it's wonderful.

Well since some people have already stated different models of the LINE 6. I agree the combo amps are great for alone practice. However if you still want that LINE 6 options I would recommend using the LINE 6 XT LIVE. It gives you the same options and more. Other posts have stated that you loose that warm tube sound, well in this case which I recomend is make sure you use you FX Loops (Send and Return) on your amp head to get the true soud of the effects. Also as a great combonation to go along with it I would recommend the TS 100 CARVIN all tube head. Not only will you get a real rich tube sound but you will also be able to use the XT LIVE for it's full poetential, in this case stereo. The great thing with the XT LIVE is you can bypass the amp models and use your orginal amp sound and just use effects from the XT LIVE.

Love my podxtlive.....try the "tweed b-man amp with the gain all the way down and 68% classic distortion on the stomp ........analog delay with 50% feedback and 25% mix..........Killer tone.....I have mine set up that way with 32 amps, one in each bank of four having 4 different effect set-ups on each individual amp.

I had a line 6 flextone III but seemed to lose the distortion sound when I had to turn up to 6-7 to cut through the mix on stage. Although I loved the distortion sounds up to 4 on the master volume. So, I went back to tube amps. I have a marshall tsl 100 w/1960a cab and a '57 fender twin 2x12. I run a Boss ME-50 for effects. Can't be happier. Just didn't have the time to make the adjustments in the Line 6 sound for higher volumes.

I own a line 6 flextonne 2. I like the distortion but I hate the clean. Sounds horrible.

Well since some people have already stated different models of the LINE 6. I agree the combo amps are great for alone practice. However if you still want that LINE 6 options I would recommend using the LINE 6 XT LIVE. It gives you the same options and more. Other posts have stated that you loose that warm tube sound, well in this case which I recomend is make sure you use you FX Loops (Send and Return) on your amp head to get the true soud of the effects. Also as a great combonation to go along with it I would recommend the TS 100 CARVIN all tube head. Not only will you get a real rich tube sound but you will also be able to use the XT LIVE for it's full poetential, in this case stereo. The great thing with the XT LIVE is you can bypass the amp models and use your orginal amp sound and just use effects from the XT LIVE.

Both myself and my bandmate use the POD XT LIVE, I love it! I run it with a Crown CE1000 power amp and a 480 watt B52 cab (1100 watts at 4ohms mono), and Steven uses a Crown 402 and a 350 watt LINE 6 Vetta cab (270 watts @ 4 ohms stereo)............... this may seem like overkill, but it really works well! The power amp lets you run in "stodio" mode, and sounds just like the amp it's modeling. ............Plus it'll cause bowell movements in three counties