Line 6 Flextone HD

I gave up a much more versatile amp in the Vox Valvetronix AD120VTH Stack. Of course I got a lot more back in sound. This amp has some very versatile features I think one of my favorites is that it is a powerful beast that can run up to 8 cabinets. I just have the four channel switch for right now until I get the foot control and then I'll have far more control of the features.

It this what it is really all about? The sound is the most important signature of an amp. I practically stole this amp paying 199.00 for it. There was a small tare in the front top of the tolex but I don't give a crap what an amp looks like just what it sounds like.

One weekend I came across some vintage E.V. cabinets with the VMR mids in them. I had used one of them for a guitar bottom back in the mid 80's and remembered how awesome the sound was and how there was just so much headroom. So here I was thinking I was doing something totally different using a full range cabinet instead of a typical 4x12. Tom Scholz of Boston had me way beat because his Rockman cabinets were actually full range cabinets instead of 4x12's.

Anyhow I dragged my guitar and one of the E.V. cabs to the music store to try out all sorts of heads since the distortion in the Vox head sounded thin and fakie through the E.V's. I thought the tube heads would sound the best since it was an old Marshall head (clear as a bell even dimed out) and later a Musicman HD-130 I had used through the E.V. Full range P.A. cabinet. First I tried the Line 6 Flextone 2 and it sounded great. Marshall's JCM 2000 sounded like crap and a few other did too. Then I saw the Flextone HD with the small tare in the tolex thinking sure they'll knock some off because of cosmetics and they did. I tried it and it sounded awesome. Then I put it up against the Flextone 2 and went back and forth. The Flextone HD was not only the better sounding of the two but also a lot less money. Also I had noticed that it had the fans on the back was wider and heavier (larger transformers).

If you're looking for that vintage Marshall crunch sound that you hear in the early ACDC when they are smashing those chords and the speakers are growling at you. It's in there with the right cabinet and guitar! This amp sounds heavier than wet carpet and that great Line 6 delay they are known for really kicks. Loads of tone especially for a solid state amp. This amp has very good clarity when you're playing lead. Very good clean sound as well, not the best I've ever heard but much better than Marshall's. I saw Skid Row using these in the Area back in 2000. These are a beast when it comes to loud and you can run up to 8 Cabinets with one of these heads. It's a monster!

Just got it a week ago so I can't honestly say. Time will tell? So far so good

Haven't needed them.

I'm 45 and have been playing since I was 13. If something happened to this amp you bet I'd get another one. I'm considering getting another on anyways as a back up. I play mainly Classic rock 70's and some of the 80's Metal and this amp is superior for that type of music.

i think the other reviewers have covered this, tons of amp models, tons of effects (actually some great quality effects), lots of gain, etc. etc. etc.

This is where i just love this baby. I use a ESP LTD EC-400, a schecter c-1 elite, a schecter c-1 hellraiser, a ibanez sz720, and a lite ash fender strat (MIK). I have owned the flextone II HD, and have lots of time on the vetta II head. I also owned a flextone III XL combo for a short while. This is definitely my favorite one, and the same goes for everyone else i know, it shares the same power amp as the vetta, the preamp is the only difference. Even stand alone i LOVED the sound i could get from this head, i literally prefer the recto model on here than my rectoverb and don't even get me started about how much i paid for that damn thing (going on ebay soon lol). Then i threw a MXR kerry king 10-band EQ in the effects loop, one word....WOW.....this amp just came to life. It just took the fun to a whole new level. i've used this same EQ in other amps and it always does alot of good, but it was just made for this amp. Anyone that dislikes the amp needs to throw this EQ in the loop. the effects are excellent and you have lots of control over the effects. Just wish you could stack more
on top of each other. So i use a few pedals like a compressor, chorus, and delay. Although i prefer the effects on the head believe it or not, its just you cannot use them all at once.

no problems here and its not exactly new. I run it at 4ohm stereo and it doesn't even hardly ever turn the fans on until i've had it turned all the way up.

incredible sound, one of the only amps that doesn't sound too harsh or nasty at high volumes. It really handles high volumes for long periods no problem. Its not going anywhere. As much as liked the flextone II head i used to have, and its extra models and cabinet sims i just feel it didn't sound nearly as good as this original flextone HD does (using the same cabs too). I'm using it through 2 cabs. A Marshall 1960A, and a B-52 AT cab. absolutely wonderful

16 Amp models, 8 core effects then 7 mixed with delay and bypass which is considered 16 "different" effect. Effects loop, Stereo outputs, XLR outputs. Hidden bonuses such as, Noisegate, EQ Boost, Presence boost, Drive boost, open/closeback cab sim and more. 300watts..I could go on for days! Everything is useful no matter what you play!

Mainly a Metalhead but I'm open to learn anything to better my skills; blues, classic rock, ect. This amp will achieve alot of different tones from a crisp clean, a sublte crunch to an all out gain MONSTER! My guitars are mostly passive or active humbuckers with neck single coils.

Being a member of a certain "seven string" guitar forum not alot of people like these amps, but heres what I have to say; Not everyone popped out with a Marshall stack and a Les Paul at birth, so stop pretending to be Zakk Wylde and STFU!

So far so good but I don't want to jinx it!

Horrible! I voiced concerns I'd read from many people and they seem oblivious to the fact anyone is having problems with any of their products. "It was built to do what it says and so it will without problems!"

Never touched a tube amp, wouldn't want to pay the outragous price for it, then the tube upkeep, it's like a child! People put down solid states but LOVE DImebag Darrell's tone....DUH! It's all in what you have to work with folks!

Everyone knows the features by now...16 amp models (well, 15 and 1 stomp model), 16 effects.

The Flex II and higher obviously have improved upon the features, adding better control over effect parameters, choice of cab models, and so on...

There have been numerous feuds over SS vs. Tube, blah blah...

I have not heard half of the amps this thing is supposed to emulate. I don't care. What I do care about is that with some time, I can create some great sounds, from clean, to slightly dirty, to full on distortion.

The most important things to remember are that 1) you have to spend time tweaking this amp. It should be a labor of love! You really can't expect very many amps (or any other audio gear) to sound good without some time invested in learning the controls.

2) You have to set your sounds a GIGGING volume. You can't expect it to sound great on 1 in your bedroom, then take it to a club, turn it up to 4 and sound as good. It's called the Fletcher-Munson curve. Look it up.

Aside from that, for me, the sounds are great. If you play in a cover band (we play covers/originals), this is an invaluable tool that will save you from hauling around processors and stompboxes. Tom Petty? It's in there. Creed? Yes. Matchbox 20? Godsmack? STP? Zeppelin? All in there. You just have to work at it.

I bought mine used off Ebay for a fantastic price. It has cosmetic flaws, but thus far has worked quite well. Definitely use a surge protector. Remember, this amp is basically a small computer with a big ass power amp.

I've had Line6 gear before, and service has been pretty decent.

All in all, this amp is pretty damn fantastic. Versatile, fun to use, LOUD and definitely a bargain, new or used. Do the math. Add up the price of a comparable amp (Marshall MG or something) then add all the effects/distortion pedals. You'd need at least 14-18 pedals to come pretty close to doing what this thing does.

300w solid state amp with artificial tube modelling for about 16 amps from various eras, plus built in digital effects - reverbs, delays, noise gates, flangers, chorus', compression, rotary speakers.

Way more stuff is accessable if you shell out for the line6 floorboard (wah and volume pedals plus way more presets)

serial or parrallell effects loops, midi compatible out, direct balanced xlr strereo outs to send to a mixing desk or pa system with microphone and cab modelling built in.

this thing has 4 savable presets to bank sounds (more 200ish with a floorboard) plus the manual setting

this thing can power 8 four by 12 cabs via the dual stereo outs, or even a little 8 inch single driver with the option of mono outs.


IN short a home recordists or gigging guitarists dream. I don't know how you could give it any less than a 10

guitars i use;
1)bc rich warlock with emg 81 and 85
2)godin radiator (stock)
3)guild s25 (stock)
4)fender jap strat 57 reissue (stock)
5)taylor baby with dean markley sweetspot

I mainly play from blues to rock with some fast shred type passages, but like to change my guitars up to stop boredom. I wanted an amp that would suit every one of my guitars, and for the price (#250 second hand) it seemed an obvious choice. I can set presets - 1 for each guitar;

1)brit high gain, rectified
2)brit classic
3)flextone clean
4)flextone layer

The distortion is as hard as you could ask of a solid state, with the advantage of not having to crank up the volume for ultra gain like tube amp heads. If you read the manual, there is an extra gain boost you can get by holding down a preset button and cranking the gain past 12 oclock. The soldano, marshall and mesa models all sound great to me (really do) but i have not heard the originals they are based on.

Similarly clean varies - but i like the tweed blues, blackface, flextone clean and layer models are all great after i tweak the eq. I find that both through dirty and clean channels, the sound is more tube like if i use a chorus or compressor with the effect turned almost all the way off. (try it)


I rate it for versatility, even if i think it could sound a little breathier and expressive at times. It really does give a broad pallet of great tones, easily accessible within a minute.

years old, 1000 physical miles on the clock sincwe i have had it, more before. No breakdowns, and if it ever does, it will go way after the amps it is modelled on. No need to service like tube amps.

It won't let you down

never used them, but all manuals are online and there are forums to talk about this amp, although liune6 really only seem to care about stuff from pod 2.0 and flextone 2 range onwards for some reason.

No updated patches or tweaks suggested for original customers,

its been a great amp, for what i could afford, but i preferred the jcm2000 marshall heads when i tried them (but are aot more money), less flexible although better at the oine thing they do.

I might try a laney pro tube head (they go for less than they are worth), or a matamp head if i get the right deal. It will be through no fault of this amp though. I have since thrown a hughes and kettner tube factor in through the front end and am getting something more like i would like now.

Basically, i wih it had tubes or that i could edit it more deeply like the flextone2 heads and pod xt's.

I wish it had a couple of real pre amp tubes that you could turn on and off to add colour (hughes and kettner tube factor inside).

I wish that the line6 floorboard was not the only way to get all the sounds out of this thing - #200 is alot for what is only a switching device.

Everyone already knows the features here.

I use a cheap Ibanez RG Series guitar w/humbuckers. I like to play very loud with a lot of power and this amp has done that for me for the last 6 years. I run it into a Mesa cab w/celestions and that sounds awesome! I really don't think this amp models other amps very well, but I don't care about that. I like it for the sound it DOES give you. I think this amp is even better than some newer versions that don't have the power and head-room that this amp gives you. You gotta have the floor-boord w/ this amp. It gives you more controll over the sound as far as boosting drive, distortion, EQ, etc. I know everone likes different stuff. Crank it up to where you are going to play and then tweek it. I use a bit of help from a wireless unit and a boss noise suppresor and that it sounds GREAT!!! I have used this amp live and for recording. Works great for both. Live, I've used a mic sometimes and the XLR line out and both ways work very well. The other guitarist in my band uses a Mesa Triple Rectifier and I destroy his tone, but at the same time they sound great together. I don't like the volume controll on each channel. It sounds best cranked to 10 on every channel, but then the clean channels a just a bit weak(volume, compared to distortion channels). The wireless for some reason helped on this. This thing is VERY LOUD. My band playes VERY LOUD and I've never had to turn this thing past 4 1/2!!! Effects are O.K. I love the Trem and I use the reverb, chorus, delay, and roto speaker.

This thing as taken a brutal beating over the years of gigging. Not once in the six years since I got it did anything go wrong.

Not one problem EVER!

Never talked to them.
Wish they still made this amp though.

Nothing gets a 10 overall, but this amp does it for me!

Like I said I wish they still made this amp. The flextone 2 sucks in my opinion. The FlextoneIII and HD147 sound good, but they aren't the same. I have played on many amps, tube and SS(I like both), and if this amp was lost I would find it used and buy it again in a heart beat.

this is a digital head with 300W. it's suppose to emulate many popular tube amps with "tubetone" technology. this amp can cover just about any music style. it has a plethora (or whatever that word is)of amps and effects.

i play for the most part, new school metal. i run an ibanez "s" series 7 string into a boss metal zone, then into the line 6 head, and then into a marshall 1960A slant cab. this amp is AMAZING at volumes below "3", but after that, this thing sounds wiry and dry. when you crank the gain and volume on the rectified and british hi gain settings, this thing just loses all clarity and depth in my opinion. i run the metal zone b/c i think it's the best stomp box distortion available, and still even when i get about 4 or 5 on the master volume this thing displeases me. the fender amps and the chorus amp (roland jc-120 copy) seem to do pretty good, and the effects are decent. it has a cool effect that fades in the note, and delays it too, which is something different. i've owned this thing for about 3 years now, and the more i play it, the less impressed i am. i played one of the vetta combo amps 2 days ago and it kicked this things ass!

this thing has been good to me as far as reliability, no breakdowns, no blown fuses. i would use it without backup, mainly b/c this is my only head haha

never dealt with them

i've been playing for about 7 years now. i own a 1996 fender jagstang, a 99 or 2000 ibanez "s" series 7 string, and 2 days ago i put a paul reed smith standard 22 on layaway. hopefully the prs will help out the lame tone a little. i really really want to like this thing b/c it's the best value for the money for people that can't afford a mesa or a marshall. i've never owned a tube amp, but while i was guitar shopping i also looked around at amps and am really serious about getting a nice high-gain all-tube head like a peavey triple x or a mesa dual/triple rectifier.

This is simply the best-sounding and most-versatile amp for the money. This is great for every style - jazz, classic rock, metal, etc. Perhaps the best feature is the XLR direct outs w/cabinet simulator. This amp is normally ridiculously loud, which is great (why else would you by a head?). Yet, if you want to practice at home, just plug in the direct outs to a mixer and use headphones - it still sounds great. Authentic tube tone without the hassle of real tubes. My biggest pet peeve is that you really need the line 6 floor board to use all of the features (expanded memory, distortion boost, presence boots, tuner, wah, volume pedal).

I play a cutom Jackson Soloist w/ a Seymour Duncan JB in the Bridge and a SD Jazz in the neck position. I play rock, metal, and jazz. This amp is perfect for those styles. The highest gain settings (modern hi-gain/rectified) are pretty brutal, yet articulate. That is one of the best things about this head - at it's heaviest it is never muddy. This amp is very noisy with hi-gain settings - a noise gate is needed for tight stops. I use an old Rocktron Hush unit for this. The HD II does have a built in noise gate, so Line 6 has addressed this issue. The clean channel does not distort at high volume.

I've had this unit for about nine months, and have had no problems at all. I gig without a backup.

Never Dealt with Line 6.

I have been playing for 12 years, and this is the best amp i have ever owned. I was in love with a Digitech 2112 until it was stolen from me! I wanted to have an all-in-one unit instead of buying a preamp and a power amp. This is 1,000 times more organic sounding that any digitech or johnson product. The chorus effects are great sounding, but the others are mediocre. In my opinion, a good chorus is the only necessary effect. If it was stolen I would definitely replace it. The HD II is actually better in many regars to the original HD - more control parameter for effects, choice of cabinet simulators, etc. The worst thing is the noise factor. At high volumes you really do need a noise gate. The bottom line is TONE...and the HD is simply the most organic sounding, versatile, and economical head out there. Kudos to line 6 for making such great sounding products. Highly recommended.

I bought the Line 6 Head for the somple fact of getting a lot of bang for the buck since I have pretty stringent amp requirements. I play at least 5 nights a week so I needed soemthing that could keep up with me and all the sounds I needed in one easy to access area. Line 6 provided me with all of that.

I'm running a DeArmond Spit Fire Special through it with P90 pickups and playing mostly rockabilly and punk. I had a few problems trying to get that shrill solid state sound out of the mix. Which I never did manage to master. Other than that I gave me most of the tones I was looking for. Especially in the recording studio when I could run straight to the board with out a mic at my cab. Live however was a slightly different story. I was running a Peavy custom made cab loaded with british made sheffield speakers. It runs a little brighter than most so that horrid solid state sound came through way to easily. If you're considering buying one of these heads I would recommend running it through a Mesa Boogie half open back cab... That's the one I found it sounded the best on.

As far as reliabilty this amp sucks! Like I said I have very stringent amp requirements and this is not the amp for that! I've had it blow out in the middle of sets 4 times and numerous times in rehersal. Any sort of power surge under extreme conditions and the fuses blow... I think this amp would be best if it was a studio amp only, it's not made for the bumps and bruising of the road.

With this amp blowing almost every other show I've tried several times to contact Line 6 and ask if there's a prevention to all of this. I still haven't heard from them. So tonight I'm going out and trading my Line 6 in for something else, an action I'm not real thrilled about since I have a show 4 hours later... So I have 4 hours to break in a new head... Thanks for nothing Line 6!

Overall this is a good amp if you don't know what style you want just yet or if you are looking for a less expensive solution to that Dual Rectifier you've always wanted. But don't expect it to hold up for the long haul... Keep it in the studio it'll work wonders... Take it on the road and you'll be screwed.

it is full of features and has really groovy lights on the front panel

the sounds on this thing rule through a marshall cab !!!

it is very reliable, but also very heavy
there are no tubes so they can't break and i have not had any other problems yet

no comment... look on the site and see for yourself

i've only just bought it 2 months ago but i am really happy with the raw power that is gives me... it now resides in the studio where it also works like a dream so to be frank... i love this thing