Line 6 ToneCore Crunchtone

Fairly decent sounding pedal for a Line6. I'm not usually a fan of their's. I don't bother trying to sound like other guitarists. I only bought this so I could have a footswitchable overdrive to use with my little Ibanez TB15R practice amp at home, and that sounded as close to that amp's overdrive as possible(Ibanez TB series amps are the best sounding solid state practice amps in my opinion).

My setup: Schecter 7 string(mahogany/maple with DiMarzio D Activator Bridge and Blaze SC Neck) >> Crunchtone >> Amp.

The sound is very close to the Ibanez tone on the blues setting with bass at 10 o'clock, treble at 2 o'clock and drive at about 3 o'clock. It is very articulate and has good responsivness I found the Pop setting to be pretty ok for a mildly overdriven clean tone with the EQ's at 12 and drive at around 1 o'clock. The Crunch setting though, I'm not too happy with. It's very brown sounding which is not what I'm into(not a big EVH guy). The only sound I like on that setting was when I had the bass completely down and the treble completely up with the drive cranked and it still sounded a little too fuzzy in my opinion.

As far as noise, i didn't have a problem with it. I'm just using it for in home solo practicing so its not like I have the thing blasting. I keep the noise gate on one just so it cuts down on the buzz from the pickups when not playing which, especially with open coil passive hight output pups, can be annoying. The noise gate set at 2 seems to cut the sustain and harmonics a bit too much.

Seems reliable. Like someone else mentioned, the knobs are flimsy. Doesn't bother me though.
I doubt I'd use this live for anything. Maybe as a backup. I have a 100 watt all tube stack for live stuff so there's not point.

I play progressive metal but I crave wide open and rich overdrive tones rather than scooped out liquid sounding distortion. As the only guitarist in my band it is essential that I have clarity and power in my sound which you just don't get with nu-metal style tones.
This pedal is a good match for me only because it reasonably matches the amp tone I already like, but as I said I have not use for the thing in a live setting.
I've been playing for over 13 years and of the more than a dozen pedals I tried, including seymour duncan, MXR, Dunlop, Boss...this one sounded best. I actually like the digitech tonedriver as well on some settings.
As for the crunchtone, I really like the fact that it has a noise gate since OD pedals tend to add so much noise.

On one last note: I noticed that this pedal sounds a lot better with passive pickups than with active ones. In addition to the D Activator/Blaze guitar mentioned above, I also have an EMG loaded 7 string that didn't sound nearly as good through this pedal. The EMG's lack dynamic which is an important thing to have when using a digital pedal. The sound was much more limited with that setup. Just a word of warning.

The output level for the three mode switch positions differ widely, so you need to adjust the level knob each time. Annoying when using live. It's software based! How difficult would it have been to sort this?

The sound isn't dramatically different from any of my standard Boss or Ibanez distortion pedals. No classic valve amp, FuzzFace or Maestro simulations, nothing truly unique either. Nothing to inspire or weave into my style.

The tone controls are mild. I'd estimate they cut/boost around 12dB.

For the amount of weight added to my gigbag, it's seldom worth packing. It tends to stay at home.

Very heavy. It may be reliable, but it'll for sure damage other equipment in my gigbag. I use the original bubblepack, but am looking for a padded pouch to put it in.

Interference noise with my Line6 ToneCore Verbzilla reverb is unacceptable. The only solution I found was to get separate power supplies for each pedal. This seems to be a general problem with the Line6 ToneCore range.

My first encounter with this pedal was at my local Guitar Center, where I told the gentleman behind the counter I was looking for a versatile overdrive pedal with options to fill my Beatlesesque to Metallica-like tonality. He sat me down, told me they had one of these for $55 used (even though it had never left the box, and yes, I took it out of the outer wrapping), and plugged me in. Even through the miserable little crate combo I was playing through for test, this pedal rocked the hizzouse. I played "Day Tripper" on the pop setting, switched over to the crunch for some EVH, and finished with Megadeth on the blues setting. I bough it on the spot, and that was about a year ago.

Since then, I've used it on a few gigs (I'm primarily a bassist, but the call for guitar comes in sometimes), and it always comes through for me. Set and forget!

I CAN get the tones of my favorite artists, but why do that when I can sound like me?

I use a PRS SE Custom and a Yamaha body, Schaller tuners, aftermarket necked, EMG loaded superstrat as guitars. My chain is as follows:

Guitar >>> Whammy >>> Barge Compressor >>> YJM overdrive >>> Crunchtone >>> Boss AW-3 >>> Boss DD-6 >>> Vox Pathfinder 15R >>> 1x12" cab w/ Eminence Texas Heat

Sometimes I ramp up the YJM through the Crunchtone with both maxed out in drive, just to get an even more distorted sound, but often, the Crunchtone has enough definition, fidelity, drive, and clarity to rival all except my favourite high-end lusted-after analog pedals. I'm a bit of a tone nut on a budget, but this pedal works for that.

A bit noisy on the non-gated/1 setting, but very little on #2.

It's hard to find a bad sound unless you try to, but then again, every sound has a purpose. Some are just more wide ranging than others. Try it out before you buy it, though.

Just a basic rundown settings and controls:

Blues/Pop/Crunch switch: like a high gain 6L6 amp, Vox AC-30, and Marshall-ish with slightly less top end (a point off for that).

Off/1/2: No gate, slight gate, and fast clamping gate.

Everything else is self-explanatory.

It's a brick, and weighs about as much. I have gigged without a backup, and it worked just fine.

Never dealt with them.

I play metal a bit, lots of '60s and '70s rock/pop, and a bit of experimental. This is a good pedal that works for versatility. Does it do every sound the best out of any pedal I've tried? Absolutely not, let's be honest here! But it does do a few things decently and that's all I need. I cannot emphasize enough, do not buy this without trying it! Just because I like the sounds does not mean you will.

I tried the Boss MT-2. Too thin, not enough types of distortion. DS-1? Keeley modded, yes, but too expensive, and besides, not as versatile (noticing a trend?). Tube Screamer? Didn't like the midrange "hump" so much. This was my final decision, and it was a good one, IMHO.

4 knobs, 2 switches. Excellent.

'73 SG Std, '96 SG Spc, Carvin Belair.

I was impressed by this the moment I heard it. I compared it to many "classic" boxes, and , to my surprise, came home with this.

It don't do metal, but is good to excellent for most other styles.

Best you go and try one!

In my band everyone calls it Robocops foot. The knobs and post's seem a little fragile, but after 18mths gigging nothing has broken. Apart from the knobs, it's built like a tank.

No need to contact them.

I play mainly in a classic rock/pop band. Between a 2 channel amp and this all my o/d -dist needs are covered.
I like it a lot. Simple, rugged, good sounds and well priced.
If lost I would buy another one straight away.

Just a follow-up to my previous review. When I said this:

"I measured its power consumption, and got 45 mA in bypass mode and 60 mA when disengaged."

I of course meant 45 mA in bypass mode and 60 mA when switched on.

The four knobs - Level, Bass, Treble, Drive - are self-explanatory and offer a good range of sounds. A Mid control would be nice, but since that's mainly useful for scooping mids and this isn't a high-gain pedal, it's no biggie.

The two switches make it interesting, though. The Model switch selects between three different overdrive models - Blues, Pop and Crunch -, offering even more variety in tone. Basically it's like getting three pedals in one package. The built-in noise gate is also a very welcome addition.

Access to the battery compartment should, in my opinion, be the industry standard - it takes 8-10 seconds, tops, to swap the battery. And since this thing eats batteries for breakfast, that can only be a good thing.

The pedal comes with a very comprehensive manual, in five different languages, no less. The manual also contains some example settings for the knobs and switches, and a few templates where you can mark your own.

My current setup looks like this:

Tanglewood Quomaster -> Rocktron Tri-Wah -> Line6 Constrictor -> Line6 Crunchtone -> ProCo Turbo Rat

At home I play through a H&K Edition Blue 15R amp, and in rehearsals and gigs through various Marshall, Laney and Fender amps. Yeah, I'm a poor student, so I can't afford high-end amps yet.

The sound quality is pretty good. You can get a wide range of different sounds out of this pedal. It can get a bit noisy, but the built-in noise gate takes care of that. The noise might also be due to the generic wall-wart adapter I'm using. I'm in the process of building a dedicated regulated power supply for my pedals, which should hopefully eliminate some noise.

I've mostly used the pedal on the Crunch setting, but since I recently got the Turbo Rat for my primary drive pedal I suppose I'll be making use of the Pop and Blues settings more often.

The pedal isn't true bypass so it sucks some tone when switched off.

The pedal is, for all practical purposes, indestructible. I've had it for about 20 months, it's been through at least three dozen gigs and I've stomped (hell, even jumped) on it countless times, and it's still going strong. The output jack has come a bit loose, but that's only a minor nag in an otherwise tough package. Even the flimsy-looking plastic knobs have managed to stay intact.

I have used it without backup, and will happily continue to do so.

Never dealt with them.

I play different styles, from folk-rock to lo-fi indie to blues, and this pedal has seen me through all of those. If it got stolen I'd seriously consider getting a new one, though it might prove a little difficult since the Line6 pedals seem to be few and far between here in Estonia.

When buying it, I compared it to several Rocktron and Boss pedals, most of which had "zombie", "death" or something to that effect in their names. I chose the Crunchtone because it offered the most variety of sounds, and because I didn't need a high-gain pedal anyway. Since then I have found myself occasionally wishing it had more gain, which is why I recently purchased the Turbo Rat. But the Crunchtone has certainly earned itself a place in my pedal chain.

My favourite feature would have to be the noise gate, since it allows me to skip a dedicated noise filter. The selectable models are also neat, and I expect to explore their possibilities more in the future.

One point of concern is powering this pedal. As mentioned, it chews through batteries like there's no tomorrow. I measured its power consumption, and got 45 mA in bypass mode and 60 mA when disengaged. This is obscenely high for an overdrive pedal, and means that you'll probably need to bring at least one spare battery to gigs. The Line6 ToneCore pedals also seem to not like being daisy-chained with other pedals, though I haven't tried it myself. The best option, if you have more than two or three pedals, would probably be to get a power supply like the Voodoo Labs Pedal Power.

Overall this is one extremely versatile overdrive pedal.

Everything about this pedal screams "play me!"; the four controls are simple and intuitive, and it's pretty hard to get a bad sound out of the unit even with the knobs twisted to daft amounts. The two Mode switches are self-explainitory, too. Battery access is also a world away from a lot of other stomper in the market- with the squeeze-button access under the pedal, I can do a changeover in about four seconds.

The settings have been covered previously; onto my rig and styles: I've run a Squier Strat through this into Marshall AVT100 stacks, DSL50 stacks, a Line6 Spider combo, and my trusty Page G65R combo. It's only ever had issues with the Pagey at lower volumes. It's fantastic. I play a lot of styles- heavy hard rock through more traditional 70s rock to 90s British powerpop, and it covers them with applomb. I can wind in a lot of awefully useful tones without a hint of bother. The gate is a Godsend for a Strat player who loves gain. You couldn't tell this from an analogue pedal very easily, either.

It could easily kill any stage invader with quick smack to the head, but the knobs are a bit of a let-down; they look flimsy, and the posts they sit on are worrying plastic numbers. But otherwise, you'd have to hit it with a sledgehammer to do any damage.

Never needed.

For anything from a little laid-back blues noodling to full on stompy modern rock, this thing has it covered. Unless I was in need of some proper trouser-worrying metal tones or a lot of fuzz, I would be entirely happy to keep this on my pedalboard without any back-up. One to replace if it ever does pack in.

Extremely easy to use... only treble and bass controls, but still gives you plenty of tone-tweaking capabilities... very, very versatile. All three settings sound amazing... the gate gets rid of all that nasty hiss very well, even w/my 50's Tele.

I've gigged and recorded w/the crunchtone for over a year now. It's never let me down. I mostly play my Les Paul Standard (w/Burstbucker p-ups) through my Laney VC-30 (class A tube) 2x10 w/the 2x10 extension cabinet; I also use a Fender 50's (classic series) mexican tele, and a newer American Strat. This pedal meshes very well w/each of these guitars and the Laney amp. I really don't understand why people are knockin' the sound of this pedal through tube amps. Maybe their amps just suck, plain and simple... or maybe they should try tinkering w/those knob-thingies on the amps... honestly... The Blues setting is loud and ballsy when maxed out, but it still sounds open/clear - not too much extra color at all. It cleans up well w/the gain knob held back, and it responds well w/the volume knobs on all of my guitars, especially the LP. I use this setting about 90% of the time. Hot damn, I love the Blues setting! The Pop setting isn't as hairy, but it's useable for sure; it'd probably be great for a treble boost for solos. I use the crunch setting for all rhythm parts when I'm recording 'cause it's got a nice thick bottom-end. I use the crunch w/the Tele's neck pickup w/the bright switch engaged on the Laney. Yeah, it's nice.

Look at it! It's 2+ lbs. of thick metal. The knobs seem a little frail, but I highly doubt they'll get all F-ed up. I've stomped on the crunchtone oh so many times. It's seen at least 25 gigs, and it's never ever given me any trouble. It really is a beautiful thing.

I haven't had to deal w/the folks at Line6, and I don't think I ever will.

I play rough, bluesy, southern-style rock; yeah, the crunchtone definitely tickles my fancy. People often ask about how I get my overdrive/distortion tones; and, I tell 'em it's the crunchtone, and I tell 'em to go buy it immediately. I've received only compliments on the sounds this pedal puts out. If this were stolen (it WILL NOT break) from me, I would weep like a small child w/a skinned knee. Then, I'd pull myself together, go back to guitar center and buy another one. I love everything about this pedal, especially the blues setting. I used to use a tubescreamer or a Boss DS-1 or BluesDriver. The Crunchtone kicks all three right in the junk, though. No matter what type of rockin' rhythm or solo I write, I know that it will sound magical through the Crunchtone. I also own and use the Line6 EchoPark, and, as w/the Crunchtone, there isn't a single setting I don't enjoy. I've got the Uber Metal, too. I don't use it live; but, it's also awesome and hella-fun to mess around with in the bedroom... wow, that sounds dirty... sorry. Anywho, I also hope to buy the Roto-Machine, Verbzilla, and maybe even Dr. Distorto. Line6 ToneCore pedals are fun.

1) Very easy to use and dial in
2) Quiet
3) The only thing I needed the manual for was to figure out how to install the 9v battery. Simple.

I used a Steinberger with Lace Sensors through a Carvin 2 x 12 tube amp.

4 knobs; simple to operate. You can get a nice smooth overdrive or a nasty crunch emphasizing harmonics.

Even at the high crunch settings with harmonics and feedback this pedal was quiet compared to others. Very versatile pedal. It's a keeper.

Well, this thing is built like a tank. About 2 1/2 pounds of metal. I would not hesitate to use it without a backup, however I'd carry extra 9V batteries with me. I think most stompboxes sound better with batteries than with an AC power adapter.

Never had to deal with Line 6, so I don't know.

Like most everything else I buy, I bought this pedal used on eBay. In like new condition with the original box, packing and instructions. Fantastic value @ $47.00 including freight - but I wouldn't pay $149.99 for it (and you shouldn't either).

I'm probably going to use this for my main squeeze OD unit and say good-bye to the others. Watch eBay in 2006 as I'll be listing the pedals I don't want anymore.

Easy to tweak to a particulare sound but switching to one of the different modes can mean tweaking the output level or tone controls. I would set up a nice blues overdrive that matched my amps clean sound when the effect was off, this meant rolling down the treble of the line 6 pedal. I then switched to the cruch setting and it sounded muddy, only because I had the treble down for the blues setting. Once I rolled up the treble on the cruch it cruched nicely (not metal crunch but overdrive classic rock crunch). Playing with the pedal tone controls and your amps tone controls you may dial in a good combo that allows for switching easily between modes.

I use tube amps and I was suprised by how good the overdrive was. I could really dial in a variety of settings (on just the blues setting alone). I would first set up my amps overdrive at different settings and then get the pedal to mimic those. I would then set my amp to a clean setting and use the pedal for the overdrive. What I liked was that I did not get a lot of coloration of my original sound. When I activated the pedal it sounded like my amp (or guitar) only overdriven. Having the pop and crunch modes were nice for rock settings or modern blues. No Metal here, no thumping palm muting but I could get some classic rock overdrive (not quite sure I would call it crunch, maybe classic overdrive crunch (late 60's and 70's)).

Too new to tell

have not dealt with Line 6

I play Blues, rock and metal. The pedal was bought for blues, pop and hard rock NOT metal. It was a good match as I was able to get a stronger beefed up overdrive without it going overboard or into a distrortion type of overdrive. Bigger knobs for modes and noise gate would be nice. What I do not like is line out level changing sometimes when I switch between modes. I choose this because I had a Line 6 Flextone and felt Line 6 might have something to offer and I liked the fact that I switch from blues to pop or crunch, I was getting variety.