Line 6 Flextone II XL

This is a late 2001 amp. It has the new Celestion speakers and the 2.4 chip in it. All other features are standard Flex XL, described in previous posts. The need for the floorboard to really use the memory is a detractor.

I use this amp at home, to tech with and to play out. It is very versitile.

I play this amp using a variety of guitars, bith single coil humbucker and tapped. I play blues with some more modern rock and harder rock for the students.

The amp is very quiet, less noisy than a tube couterpart. The amp is able to get some pretty good clean to heavy tones. They are very useable. It also does a respectable job with the just breakup tone. I regulatem this using pick attack. I know others who regulate it with the volume knob.

At volumes above 4 it is hard to get a Jazz Clean tone from without serious tweeking. However, a volume of 4 or more is loud enough to be damaging to ears without protection. There is some difficulty controlling the bass side of the amp as the volume goes above 4 as well. It is controlable, but it does require (as would any amp) that you set up your patches at those voluems if you intend them to be used that loud.

I have had the amp for 7 months and the floorboard for 2 months. The amp is move a lot. It seems sturdy (though heavy). It has not broken down, and once you get the touch for hte amp it is a great piece of equipment. It does have a slightly different touch than the fender tube amps I used previously. Not a bad touch, just you have to get accustomed to it as you would any amp you buy.

Line 6 has been very helpful. They were excellent when I was trying to be sure I updated to the "new for 02" amp parts. They also sent me the upgrade chip (2.4) right away. As a POD owner, Flex II owner and Floorboard owneer I have been very pleased with their service.

Overall the best amp I have owned. I have a small Blues JR I use as my portable "quick" rig, otherwise this is the amp I use for everything. I love the ability to run the POD into one side of the amp and use the other side for the standard preamp. Layering takes on a new dimention. And, when using midi connectgions between the floorboard and POD I get control over each at the same time. Great system.

A lot of great features. Amp presets will take some adjusting to be usable in a live band situation. Great sounding tube cleans and distortions. Reverb is limited to what type of amp model used. only two types spring and room. You can't access alot of what the amp can do with out software and midi interface. (kindof a downer) Over all it has enough stuff to be satisfying and not too much junk that most people would never use. Definately need the floar board to ad functionality or to use live. Built in wah pedal is OK still pick a cry baby over it but the vox wah it emulates sounds better on the cleans thah the cry baby so it does have purpose. I use both.

I use a 79 les paul custom and just picked up an EVH wolfgange. For those who have written that this amp makes all guitars sound the same it is not true. It's like night and day when I switch guitars, enough to where I will probably need to make seperate patches for the two in order to keep more consistancy in my live sound when I switch between guitars. I play in a Top 40 rock cover band playing anywhere from Skynard to Papa Roach. It's got all the amp models I would need from classic to new. I don't recomend lining out for live situations but it will work in a pinch with out leaving you sounding like your playing through a walkman. The cabinet emulators are cool but most are to bassy for live applications unless you stick with the 2x12's or turn it off. Haven't needed to push the amp past 4 yet and 4 is @#$*ing loud as it is. The cabinet is really directional. 1 foot to the side sounds cool directly infront it'll rip your head off. Cleans are crisp and clear but you have to play with them to get it right. Distortions are true but a little flubby. Not as crisp as I'd like but that will probly be attainable after dialing them in more.

After all I have read about people having electronic problems. I bought a PC UPS/Battery Backup/voltage regulator that I run before it and haven't had a problem yet. I've only used it for two months played live every weekend though.

havent needed it yet

I've been playing for 13 years have owned alot of crapy amps and guitars. My last amp was a New Sun Model T head and the 4x12 and it was the shit! I loved it. I couldn't gig with it though because it was just too big and not versitile enough. I can get the Flextone II to sound just like it (not as loud though) but mic'd through a PA it doesn't matter. Plus it has the right amount of effects and a ton more amps it can sound like. It's a great amp I would buy another.

They thought of everything. Get the floorboard, amazing. any style, done. headphone jack, you can add another cabinet. Plenty of amp models, f/x's, and speaker simulators. And the sounds actually sound close to the real thing! You can hear the difference between a classic marshall and a mesa dual rect. no bs. Alot of these type units make bold claims but all the sounds are the same, BUT Line6 delivers the goods.

I unscrewed the Line 6 logo from the front of the amp, which gives it a vintage look, and has fooled even the biggest amps purists. Many compliments on my sound. Got a computer amd a midi cable and you can download sounds of the line 6 website with a click of the mouse. want Eddie's sound, click, The Edge, click, metallica, click, jimmy page, click, you get the idea. This amp is great for live with the band or in the bedroom or home recording. I tried on a pro session and it was okay but I opted for a vintage marshall and fender blacface, hey nothing beats the real thing, but you will like this amp , alot

Been great with regular use over the past year and a half

Never had to deal with them, therefore I give them a 10

Great value for the money, you get every type of amp and speaker combination that you could want, plenty of cool built in f/x's. Buy the floorboard and you get a wah and volume pedal as well. Use their website to download sounds and software to use with your computer, you'll be hooked!

Good

Its ok

Still works

The amp that I own was made in 2000. It is a great studio amp. But, I went out and bought the 412 cab for it. Same brand too, the Line 6 412 slant. The second that the volume is cranked, the tone starts to lose that great sound. The eq has to be adjusted and its a big mess. The big problem is the speakers. They can't handle the sound at loud levels. Its a shame because they let out a great sound. But, the speakers that are stocked in the Flextones are crap. So, the Flextones are intended to be studio amps and nothing more. If you intend to play a live show, forget it. And spending a couple hundred dollars on an amp, you would want to get the most use out of it. But, thats just my opinion. Find out for yourself.

I bought this amp in 2001. This a very versatile amp and has many features. I really like the phantom power to the footswitch through the cat5 cable. The tuner is also very usefull. It is nice to not have a multitude of cables to trip over while on stage. I play in a classic rock cover band. We do everything from Journey to John Cougar.

I use a schecter C1 Plus guitar with Seymour Duncan pickups (Bridge -> JB; Neck -> 59). Most of the models sound good, although I currently only use the Marshall high gain, Soldano, and Fender Blackface models. The models, although not 100% dead on, do sound good. Do they really need to sound exactly like the amps they are trying to emulate? I mean as long as the sound makes you happy, who cares. I have heard many complaints about the sound quality at higher volumes. While I do agree that the sound gets a little brittle as the volume increases, I am able to get around this by keeping the volume below 4 and running through the PA.

I have used many brands of tube amps from Marshalls to Fenders. While they definitly can sound better than the Line 6 amps, I like the consistency of the sound I get from my Flextone. Tube amps, due to temperature and other factors, tend to sound warm and fat one night at one particular club and then thin and sterile at another club on the following night. My flextone always sounds the same.

So far so good (Keeping my fingers crossed). I have had this amp for about 8 months so far with no problems. It is a little scary hauling this amp from show to show, due to the fact that it is digital. I definitly recommend purchasing a power regulator to protect not only from voltage spikes but also brownouts which can be equally devistating to digital circuits.

Have not dealt with them as of this time (Hopefully never will).

I have been playing for about 18 years. I definitly recommend this amp. It has good tone and is designed well. A lot of people complain about the controls being on the top of the amp. If you play out regularly you should appreciate this. I know several players who have busted the knobs off the fronts of their amps during transortation.

If this amp were lost or stolen I would most likely purchase a Flextone again.

The features are many as detailed in prior reviews. However this is a new and improved Flextone IIXL for 2002. It actually has a sticker on the front that says "New for '02". "Improved cabinet modeling", "Enhanced Reverb & Effects", "Refined Amp Models", "Custom Celestions".

I used to own the LINE 6 AX2, with celestion V30's installed. That was a good amp, but this is better. I was struggling with the idea of going back to a tube amp but decided to give this amp a shot. I'm so glad that I did. This amp is absolutely dripping with tone. The new improvements have made this amp an absolute winner as far as I'm concerned. I cannot believe how rich the Marshall and Soldano amp models are, they are so convincing.

I play many guitars through this amp; Fender Dlx Fat Strat; Steinberger GM; Peavey Wolfgang. My favorite combination is (Believe it or not) a Fender Powerhouse Strat (Mex) loaded with Dimarzio's (HS-3) in the bridge, Vintage 2.1 Neck/Middle.

The sustain and power of this (IMPROVED) amp needs to be experienced. The celestions are clear and powerful. Intitially this amp may come across as dark. I thought so at first as well. But spend some time with Patchwizard and tweak some of the patches and amp brightens up nicely. The clean sounds are average, but usable. I was able to dial in a beautiful bell-like sound on the Blackface. YOU MUST TWEAK THE PATCHES!!!!!!

IMPORTANT: This was one of the only Solid State amps that I could actually control the drive/distortion with my volume pot. Kudos to Line6.

There is enough drive and distortion in this amp to play the Garden. In fact, if your going to, there is a pretty good sounding extension cab for this amp (2X12), sounds great.

I owned an ax2 and banged it around, it was pretty solid. I expect the same here.

N/A

I've been playing for over 20+ years. If this amp were lost or stolen that person now has a hernia. THis is a great amp for the money that provides truly remarkable tube tone and warmth.

Turn up the volume and shut up and play!!

Peace

Lots of great features. Great models. Initially seems like an awesome amp. The answer to all those sound problems,If you use it in your room to practice on, but don't play out live with it!

The models are awesome. you can get any amp sound and cabinet selection you want, You also eventually get an overdrive whump noise and a crackling popping noise coming through the amp. I sent he amp back 3 times. Line 6 seemed to not be able to find the problem. I eventually recieved a new amp.

I am scared to death. Every time we practice or play a show I'm waiting for the thing to fail on me. I initially thought that I just had a lemon. My partner in the band had the same amp and he had no problems. Once I got my new one, as a replacement for the lemon, I had no problems and it sounded great. I've only had this one for 1 month. In the mean time My partners amp started with the overdive whumping crackle noises. How in the hell would two amps have the same problem!! Now he is scared to death. The last thing we should be worrying about after spending over $800.00 for an amp is that it may not be able to hold its own and fail. As of right now we are looking for something different. I toyed with the idea of buying another type of amp and keeping my Line 6 (since it's brand new) but I don't think I need a $800.00 practice amp. I've spent $ 850.00 on the amp (tax included) $50.00 to ship it all the way back to California for repair. (I did'nt pay for shipping the next two times)and $250.00 for the footboard controller, for a grand total of $1,150.00 I can't put an actual $ amount for the 9 weeks I was without my amp for the 3 times I sent it back. ( by the 3rd time I sent it back I only owned it for 7 months) Not to mention the way I had to beg people to let me borrow their amps so I could play our shows. The amp works well at low volumes, but I am convined that when pushed a little ( volume level 4) the amp starts to react badly and fail. What good is it!!What it all comes down to I HAVE A $1,150.00 PRACTICE AMP!!!

When dealing with customer service, they were polite and attempted to be helpful. They seemed to not understand what is going wrong with their product. They did work with me and did give me a new amp. Everything was covered under the warranty, but I had to pay for the shipping out to them the first time. There are a lack of authorized repair dealers forcing me to send the thing all the way back to them. It's not my fault they have no authorized repair persons so why should I have to pay to have a warranty item repaired. Their warranty is only one year. One thing for sure , if the amp is going to fail ,it will do it before your year is up.

I have been playing for twenty years and I never ever ever worried about my amp failing . TILL NOW. I would never buy one again, and shudder at the thought of spending more money on one of Line 6 Vetta amps or even a head and cabinet . I love the sounds the amp produces, I hate the fact I cannot depend on it. I have been asking around and talking to other Line 6 Flextone ll owners and I am hearing just horror stories. Stories from the same crackling popping noise,overdrive whumping nosies,( same problem I and my band mate had and are having) to the thing suddenly just not working. One last thought. LINE6 better get their crap together, or they might as well call their product FLAT LINE 6 or YUGO!!!

Ok, so this amp was probably created just to rack up tens in this column, but credit them for trying. It is nowhere near the quality of the amps it tries to emulate - like the mesa. But at least you don't have to break the bank to get that bit extra. as a recording tool it's great as well. I'm going to give them 9 just because there is too many features and they could have concentrated on making the good ones better.

The amp handles well at high volume. The distortion is good but it can get too muddy at times. However, if you want to get sounds as good as the rectifier you would have to shell out bucketloads. The difference in quality is noticeable but not something to be ashamed of. I feel sorry for this amp, because the degree of quality in the sounds let it down. But I will give it ten cos there are enough great sounds to keep you satisfied.

I have gigged it and I had no problems. Getting a footswitch is a must - I can't believe they don't supply one with it.

I have only owned it for 3 months and if I had problems I would make sure I grilled their asses for the money i spent.

If i were to lose this amp i would probably go the whole way and get a real tube. The sounds hear are such a great taster that they want you to make that extra level.

when it comes to features this amp is in a class of it's own. It's like being able to take your pick.
the power of the amp is enough for anyone not doing stadium tours yet, and it stands up well at high volume. If it doesn't then look at the quality of your pick ups.

the distortion kicks. The bass you get when you drop down to the bottom end will have your jaw dropping. it's very impressive. The clean sounds are a bit sketchy, but i righted this by bypassing to my effects.

not in a posistion to judge yet, but i am worried about the on/off switch being just a simple push switch.

not sure but it sounds convincing.

wicked. better than a lot of tube's and goes some way to exploiting idiots who believe tube's are the only good amps.

i bought my flextone II XL in 2000. so far i have no problems with it. features are ok so far. its real loud!! past 4. you have to be a genius to figure it out. too many sounds, but i give it a ten.

i use the fender tele '96 american delux, 69 gibson gold top, and 2000 fender strat american delux. works fine except clean sounds. im in a band and its a pain in the butt to navigate from song to song even with foot board). unplugg and you loose all your 32 presets except for 4. im not sure if this is a problem or not, i've never called customer support. louder you play the better sounds it gets.

great, but if you plan on turning knobs while you play it screws up the volume, which leads to "reboot" (turn on and off). i just found that out yesterday. im in a band and play a variety of 70's, 80's and new rock. i need something that can act as a chameleon and be able to change from zepp's crunch to creeds buttery sound. it hasnt ever failed me before so i will chalk it up as voltage problem with my house. loud, loud and louder. would still like to own all the amps it claims it sounds like.

never tried. hasnt broken yet, and i play loud (real loud at 4!!)

ive been playing since 1994. im not the fastest but have had the money to pay for lessons untill 1999. i love the fact that it has the ability to sound close to the amps i always wanted, but it is a solid state not a tube (dont care that it is digital). it still sounds like a transistor radio, but if you work the settings, you can get some great sounds out of it. i really wanted the 'boogie but at the price tag NO THANKS! i give it an overall 8. would have given it a 10 but the hoopla around the amp that made it be this cure all, never lived up to expectations. not a good live gig amp, gets drowned out a lot. i wish other quality amps like the boogie were not so $$ cause i would rather go with a tube.