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Whats with Line 6?

#61
Having owned and used many of the 'big' name amps over the years I now predominantly use Line 6 Bass amplification, I use an LD400 Pro as my main gigging bass rig and also an LD150 for smaller gigs.

Although having basically the same circuitry they sound very differrent from each other, mainly due to the different speaker/cabinet sizes.

I tend to use just the Ampeg modelling on both of the amps, very good, powerful sound - someone said earlier about them not cutting through the mix? - What???!!! :eek: you must be kidding right???

I have had both amps for several years now and both have performed faultlessly. OK, the LD400 is a bit on the heavy side but it does have built-in wheels.

Very easy to get good sounds out of these amps, and once you have your sound they are pretty much plug and play, I vary rarely need to adjust any of the settings.

Nice built-in chorus as well, plus with the synth mode you can get a very close Moog Taurus sound!

Line 6 seem to have stopped making the LD400 now for some reason, perhaps they're bringing a new model out!

Anyway, don't be afraid to try out and use these bass amps, ignore what the gear snobs say, just because it doesn't have a Fender or Marshall badge etc on the front doesn't make it an inferior amp.
 
#63
dbase said:
I was thinking of trading my Ibanez practice amp for a Line 6 LowDown LD400 Pro 2x10" 400W Bass Combo Amp. I asked a music store I go to if they carried the brand. He said no and the reason they dont is because they are a terrible amp. I thought the amp looked good, had plenty of power and wasnt too big to cart around for practice or a small gig. Why did he say that?
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It is a common practice for salesmen at music stores to say what they have in stock is excellent and what they don't have in stock is terrible.

Go to a Music-go-round and they will have a variety of amps that you can try.
 
#64
Two friends of mine, both VERY good players, gigged for years with Line6 combos and really liked them. They used only a few settings but the ones they used were good. They're built well and are plenty loud but they're a bit on the heavy side.
I give them pretty high marks for sound, construction, versatility and ease of use, considering of course the wide array of sounds. Ease of transport would be greatly improved with a pullout handle and wheels, like the old GK combos had.
 
#65
I honestly do not know anyone who has been happy with anything made by Line 6. My old guitarist had a Line 6 amp that would just randomly make noises that sound like a jet taking off. It was very annoying especially at a gig.
 
#66
The Line 6 engineers are incredibly brilliant, having made many giant steps in digital audio starting with several early Alesis products. However, their expertise is digital audio modeling, and they should have stuck to it. Getting into amps and guitars (remember them?) was far off in the wrong direction, and it shows in their amps.

I have seen this happen many times, where a good company's ego takes over and they go beyond their area of expertise and produce something awful. I'm sure you can all think of some examples, like MicroSoft making hardware.

Apologies to Line6man, but perception is reality.
 
#68
cybersnyder said:
Line6 has simply decided that bassists aren't worth their effort.
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Pretty much. :(

I've even seen a bunch of former-devoted Line 6 users (both guitarists and bassists) who went elsewhere because of the lazy approach L6 took with the HD series with the lack of updates and amp models. I understand "quality over quantity", but they're missing some pretty important amps, and FFS give the bassists some love again.

Also, I've seen a bunch of people practically begging for an impulse loader... and they give us the X series. :spit:
 
#70
jgroh said:
If the bass products sold well enough they would still be churning out tons of them. No company stops making products that are selling well.
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But the problem is that they combined the hardware platforms with the X3 series and, to an extent, with the XT series. Just a few models is all they need for the HD series. They did come out with a B-15 model earlier this year, but it seems like just a half effort on their part. Even when they had a sponsored forum on TalkBass they neglected it. Questions would be asked and nobody would reply. Rich Renken tried, but I think he was being held back by the company. (That's just an impression and my personal opinion.)
 
#71
I have a couple of Line 6 products, none are amps.

I have the BassPOD XT Pro with the longboard. When I worked for a defense contractor, I would take it on the road. A pair of headphones, and I've got pretty much everything I need. Doesn't get any use now. Bought it 4 years ago on a whim for a really low price from a guy who'd been laid off 6 months prior and was in a tough spot, financially. Overall, I find it rather impressive. Although, it has an annoying metronome strobe that can't be turned off.

About a year ago, I got a Line 6 Variax JTV-59 guitar. Won the Grand Prize in the D'Addario D'Train sweepstakes. Very heavy, weightwise. Nice guitar, but it gets no time. I'm a bassist. Bass is my love. It's been off the wall twice for a total of 30 min of tuning and play time. Haven't done any kind of serious noodling with it, or even given it a setup. May give it to my daughter when she's old enough.

I know a couple of guitarists who have/had the guitar amps (don't know which models). Initially, they got close to the sound they wanted. But, it did take them a little bit to fine tune the settings, just like any other amp. They both took pictures of their knobs, just in case. They played metal, punk, and reggae, and the amps shined.
 
#72
cybersnyder said:
But the problem is that they combined the hardware platforms with the X3 series and, to an extent, with the XT series. Just a few models is all they need for the HD series. They did come out with a B-15 model earlier this year, but it seems like just a half effort on their part. Even when they had a sponsored forum on TalkBass they neglected it. Questions would be asked and nobody would reply. Rich Renken tried, but I think he was being held back by the company. (That's just an impression and my personal opinion.)
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Oh I know, Ive had several Line6 products and was on those forums alot. Unfortunately, I stand by my statement. The products most likely didnt sell enough to justify their continued support/development. It sucks for us bassists thats for sure.
 
#73
I played a line 6 LD for 5 years in a regular gig (church). I found 5 or 6 very usable tones in the amp, and with the floorboard tuner and low price point it always seemed to be an acceptable compromise between cost and sophistication. Much better than your standard 'cheap amp'.
 
#75
What did the OP end up doing? I have a 400 2x10 I'm about to part with, but I need to become a supporting member before I go any further with that conversation here... I'm in DC.

Separately, I use the HD500x with my guitar and bass. On the bass side, I usually feed it through a VT pedal into the FX return. Good stuff. Odd that there aren't more bass amp models built in, but outside of maybe an SWR model I have it covered otherwise.

I can see the love and the not-love for Line 6, but I think they're newer upper end stuff delivers what they advertise.
 

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