Line 6 Flextone II XL

This amp has everything, amp models out the wazoo, cab models, midi, xlr balanced outs in stereo which is awesome! Chorus, compressor, rotary speaker, delay, reverb, etc! I have presets from everything from country to rip your face of metal, all completely relying on the amp itself!

Aesthetically this amp sounds like whatever tube amp it is modeling the only thing is that it doesn't have that bottom end warmth of a tube amp... This amp's eq is extremely dynamic though, just not a tube amp, but the best rip off I've ever heard.

Taken this amp all over the country with me and it has never let me down!

Great! Answered all the questions I had when I first bought it!

I'm a touring professional living in Nashville. I am always trying to improve my tone. This amp isn't the end all be all of my tone ventures but it was sure a helpful step along the way.

I've been a Line 6 user for about 10 years. I bought this amp used about 7 years ago (I upgraded from the original Flextone) because I wanted to be able to download tone and use my PC via midi cable to customize all the various tones.

I find it incredibly flexible and I have tones for various styles of music (classic rock, surf, New Wave, blues, jazz, Nashville -- everything but metal). To do all this, it really is key to have the floorboard and I can even switch tones back and forth through a song.

It's one of these pieces of equipment that has far more features than I have figured out how to use, but I imagine others have no trouble. I'm just not that big of a gearhead.

I use it at home to practice (via earphone), take it to rehearsals and gigs. I've used the XLR jacks for recording during a live gig.

I'd say the only drawback -- which is common in all amps of this wattage -- is that it's HEAVY. Oh, if only I had a roadie to move my stuff.

I don't play metal, so others will have to talk about the nastier tones, but since I play rhythm guitar in a cover band, the amp gives me plenty of different tones for various sounds. I get the jangly Byrds tone, the big fat sounds for blues numbers, lot's of crunch for backing up other tones.

There is a tendency on certain tones to have a <click> <click> sound in the background. Truthfully, though, it's probably something I could fix by changing the settings. I'm just a little lazy.

Oh, my main guitar is custom (I made it myself) but it has the look and tones of a high-end Les Paul.

I've dragged this amp to many gigs and rehearsal halls and never had a problem with it. I keep a cover on it when I move it, but otherwise it gets no special attention and has always been a solid performer.

I've never had problems with my amp, but I have gotten information on how to update the chip to the latest revision and found all my questions answered in the various forums.

Plus their downloadable tone library is awesome !

I love this amp ! It gives me everything I need without me having to muck around with various pedals.

Features have been discussed to death so I will only say it has everything I'd want in a SS combo!

Here's where I call b******t on the peeps that can't find what they are looking for in this combo.I changed the stock speakers which were nice to a pair of black shadow mesa's and all I can say is whoa!I play metal,this combo mic'd is more than giggable.Before you knock a product you should really investigate and experiment,you just might find a diamond in the ruff.People are so impatient these days,if it doesn't sound good right off then I don't like it.Anyway SQ on this baby is the shizz!

No problems in two years!!

Nevr used them for repair but they answered some questions and were helpful.

I've been playing 4 years now,I didn't start out playing SS amps,I had friends who cared about me and broke me in on tubes,so I've owned maybe 3 or 4 SS amps total.That said,I've played alot of tube amps that don't have the impressive tone that this combo is capable of with some coaxing,my band practices with this combo and uses it for small gigs and there are always compliments and "Hey would you sell that" comments.I'd buy it again.

Very versatile. A lot of features to go with a lot of amp models.

Unfortunately, this is the one (and most crucial) area where the amp is somewhat lacking. Other reviewers mentioned that at lower volumes it sounds great but once you put it in a band situation, it loses tonal quality. I agree, that is absolutley the case. I generally use the higher gain models such as the Mesa Boogies, Marshalls and Soldano's and once you give the amp some volume, the warmth and punch becomes somewhat shrill and what I refer to as "flabby". I guess other people would call it "muddy". It also takes on a compressed sound. It's not a terrible sounding amp, but if you generally like amps with hi gain and punch, you might want to check out something else, probably with tubes. Having addressed the high gain models, the other models on the Flextone II XL do sound good regardless of volume. If you're into a classic rock or moderately overdriven sound, you will have plenty of fun going through theses models and cabinet variations. This is where I feel this amp shines- the classic rock, mid-rangey, overdrive sound.

I've never had any dependability problems with the amp itself. The floorboard on the otherhand needs to be payed attention to. The switches and the wah and volume pedals need to be tightened on a fairly regular basis and to do that, you have to open it up. Not a huge deal, but still somewhat of a pain in the ass. Other than that, no complaints.

Never had to deal with Customer Support.

Overall, it's an OK amp. As I mentioned earlier, I would recommend it to people who play with a " clean to overdrive" sound. People who play more aggressive types of music should look elsewhere. I played the Flextone in a store where it sounded great, but obviously you can't REALLY get to know the amp until you turn it up and mess around with it. I was happy with it at first but now I'm considering selling it and finding something better. I've had the Flextone II since it came out which was about 5 years ago and have used it often since then, so like I said it's not terrible but there are better sounding amps on the market.

This thing has tons of features. Very appealing in a music store. Lots of "variety" to choose from.

This is where all the features don't really matter. In a music shop at a moderate volume this amp appears to have a lot of depth and potential of reaching an almost endless array of possibilities. Once you get this thing our of the box and use it in a band context the sound turns into cardboard. Very dull, lifeless, lost in mix, over processed, over compressed sound that regardless of how many hours you spend with it will never be able to achieve a professional sound a loud volumes. If you''re in your room playing with yourself it sounds wonderful.

Never gave me problems and I had it for about 5 years. Only gigged with it a couple of times.

Never had the need to call Line 6

Like I mentioned before, if you're a bedroom practice man it's really a good amp. When you're ready to get serious about tone it will become clear that a change of amp needs to be made. However, I forgot to mention that it's a pretty good recording amp too.

Very versatile amp. I bought it without checking it out first for only 250 euro second hand. No regrets yet, I was looking for a stereo amp with enough sounds and FX on board and this is it.

Mwah. Regarding noise levels, okay. Regarding sound quality of all the guitar stuff, okay too. Effects sounds, okay.

However: it is not that clean and stereo as I expected! When I plug in an external stereo device like a mp3 player it sounds great on the headphones but through the speakers it gets distorted and the stereo spread seems to lack all of a sudden.
This lack of stereo matters me most; I bought this amp too because of the rotary speaker effect and guess what, it sounds more like a mono tremolo unit! I was really disappointed about that.
Are there any more people around who discovered that 'problem'?

So overall I'm very pleased with the sounds you can create with the amp but disappionted in it's stereo mode, so the rating gets lower.

Seems very reliable

I have had contact with customer support in England, there they told me my amp was broken probably and needed a new board. I had to go to Belgium for that (from Amsterdam).
When I contacted the repair guys in Belgium and gave them some sound files they tested their own IIxl and that gave almost the same results regarding lack of stereo in rotary mode.

So: who's right?

I was pleased with the effort they took to listen to my problem but I got the feeling they did not really know exactly what their own product is supposed to do or not. Strange.

I must confess I'm thinking about going back to my old setup with a custom built Boogie 15W top, mixing rack, digital fx devices and stereo HiFi amp/speakers. Well. let's wait a while longer....

I bought this amp blind, just read some reviews about it. In short: No regret so far! I was in need for a powerful and versatile, yet simple amp (in general I hate too many knobs). First impulse (as always when it comes to guitar amplification ...): I tested out some tube amp heads, and the Engl Richie Blackmore Signature seemed to be the amp of my wet dreams ... Mesa Boogie's Rectifier Head was very nice, too, but both a little bit far out for the money I had at this time, not to mention the additional box to buy and to transport. Then I stumbled across this little critter and was ravished. A digital amp that sounded really good, was very affordable AND was really simple and "analog" in handling. And loud enough for my needs. And stereo (whats that??). AND the Rectifier was just one of 12 different amp models... AND when I'm in a really strange mood I can always switch on some of this little build-in delay effects, haha

All amp models are useful, life comes in with rising loudness (as always ;-). I don't care about 100% copying of archetype sounds as long as I can play around with the knobs and get satisfying results. If you need the original sound, go and buy the original amp! That does not mean that the sounds of this amp are not "typical" for the models it resembles, but I don't expect a 8x12" fullstack punch out of a 2x12" combo amp. But what it actually does in it's limitations is just terrific ;-)

No problems so far. But of course I am a little bit scary about the reliability of this digital shit inside. But so far no reboots necessary...

Never had to deal with them, but the manual is nice! (I take this as a goos sign)

I am a lucky user!

Whole lot of things going on in this amp, lots of effects, amp simulators, cab types etc. Have to pay extra for the floor pedal tho, which is a big screw up on Line 6's part.

Used it with a Jackson US fitted with Dimarzio Fred humbucking high output pick up, and with a US Fender Strat. Play hard rock/metal style.
I got this amp to save me having to lug my 4x12 cab, peavey classic power amp & rack effects around with me. At first was happy that it saved my back from lifting all that gear to gigs, but soon realised its limits. I guess part of it has to do with me being too naive, thinking that I could get a truly kick ass tone from a solid state amp. It does an OK job at attempting to sound like other amps, but it lacked character and warmth in a gigging environment.
The effects are OK, but a lack of control over their various paramiters make them only suitable for basic reverb sounds. Delay & chorus sounds are very nasty.

The speakers have difficulty handling de-tuned guitars. I tune down half-step and the low notes would make the speakers fart, lacking tonal clarity when muting chords makes for an unpleasant ride.
Due to all of the above, i got rid of the amp after about 16months gigging, so i did give it a fair go.
NOTE: Line 6 products are pretty much worthless as soon as you buy them, as their value plummets. I bought mine for #700 (english) when it first came out in 2002, and withing 12 months could be bought for just over half that brand new. I got #250 for mine when I sold it on. This is a common theme amongst Line 6 products.
I have learned a hell of a lot about the downfalls of solid state amps from my experience with this amp, and will never buy Line 6 product again.

Told that the speaker rumbling was a common theme with these amps, & a that a replacement would make fuck all difference.
Web support was good though, but many guys working in music shops gave it the attitude of 'hey, you buy a new gimmick amp, your gonna get ginnicky sounds', which I gueass is so very true.

I have been playing for 12 years, recording for about 6 of those and am begining to understand the value of great tone. I am currently on the lookout for my next amp, which i aint going to rush into buying until I have tried lots of different ones.
I would say that this is a good starter amp for kids, as there is plenty to keep you occupied whilst trying to find some reasonable sounds (ie effects, speaker emulators etc), but it is hard to find one truly great sound from this amp.
Again, having to fork out another wedge of cash for the floorboard, in order to access all of the amps features, is a fuckin rip-off.
I am very interested to see what happens to Line 6 over the coming years, because they appeared with a flash of cool marketing, but now seem to be dissapearing from many retail oultets.

Bought this thing used on eBay (the only way to go) - see the other reviews for specifics. It is a solid state 2X50W stereo channel modeling amp based on the original POD 2.0 modeler firmware. It came with a cover (nice addition) and the previous owner installed casters as this puppy weighs quite a bit (>60lbs). I already had the expanded floorboard (A MUST) from my bass POD playing days. I bought it because I've switched to guitar and I quickly needed to find my sounds for playing in cover band situations where it was unclear how many styles the other band members wanted to have - you been there too?

Yeah, this thing is very versatile (perhaps too versatile). But don't buy it in lieu of the specific amp brand you "hope" to get out of this beast. This mama is mainly for finding your own sound, without the hassle of the constant buying/selling/demo-ing of the brand amps Line6 states it can mimic, and then eventually expanding upon what you like to best suit your needs.

This amp is also best for us computer geeks who have a midi/USB interface so that we can tweek every nook & cranny of the tone on this monster - You cannot do this easily from the amp interface alone.

AND IT IS LOUD!!! I dare anyone to take this past 6, stand in ffrom of it and try and hold onto their lunch though a gigging situation.

I have yet to figure out the best way to take advantage of this amp being a 2X50 stereo (perhaps a cab extension for one channel placed on the other side of the stage?).

I use mainly humbucker equipped guitars - I am using 73 Gibson LP Deluxe, '03 Epiphone LP Standard, '01 Squier Subsonic Baritone with Screaming Deamons, '81 G&L F-100, '77 Yamaha SBG, but also have an '65 Fender Mustang. No problem getting gain or high frequencies from these guitboxes on this amp -

I have had numerous positive comments at gigs when using the LP's on the rectified setup. I currently use this amp for both rhythm and lead work for a 4 piece alternativerock/grunge music act. I mainly use the rectified and Marshal settings although I have used the cleaner amp models as well for certain songs. This is where this puppy shines for me. The modeled gain effects respond to guitar volume controls just like the Marshalls and Mesa's do - great for live giging. It is for the gain tones and distortions alone that I continue to use this amp exclusively.

Once you find what you need - trash the rest of the sounds and build up the 39 bank of presents with variations of what you really need - You''ll need a computer (mac or PC) and the expanded floorboard to take advantage of this (alas, more cost added to the equation).

One disturbing fact - as this amp is based on the early POD's, the delay, flanging, chorus and TREM effects are not what you would call "deep". I've added an additional Line6 modulation modeler in front (the effects loop is worthless) to get husky univibe and deeper flanging effects that are not available on the IIXL (although they now are on the POD XT and Vetta)

As a consideration when searching for your "sound" - turn off the cab modeling tweeks when playing through this amp. By letting the two installed cab speakers sing on their own you'll find that there is a great deal of personality behind the modeled amps (unlike what a few biased reviewers have stated here). The Cab effects appear to be mods of equalization and frequency and there is a trend to muddy or collapse the amp effects when used on the amp. They are probably find with a POD through a PA or Direct recording.

The amp has been heavily gigged since I bought it 18 months ago. That along with good amount of transporting to and from practice in a non-climate controlled garage it has held up nicely - why not as it is solid state. I have not worried about the need for a backup - I do have a backup POD that could run through the PA if a backup is needed.

The expanded floorboard is a separate problem - screws needs to tighten on the pedals and the switches on a routine basis (no easy task) due to space constraints

However-it is "old" technology. With PODXL and Vetta technology out there now the IIXL is old news.

What customer support - its used baby.

The Line6 web site is generally user friendly and has ooddles of user settings for even the old Flextones and POD 2's. There are a lot of these products out there so that it appears certain thet they will be supported for a few years more. You can get online, search and try tone sttings that are close to where you want to be and then download and modify them - oops, but you do need a computer with a midi/USB chord to do so. The interface software is free and updated routinely. Another point is keeping the Flextone modeling chip up to date with the most recent flashware.

Great for intermediate players who are not amp-bigots, and who need flexibility and power while they grow into their style and in their ability.

The potential owner will need to factor in the cost of computer interfacing, the expanded floorboard (way overpriced when new) and chiropractic care (due to the weight).

I will buy a JTM45 or Rectifier someday soon, but I will not sell this amp even if I do. If it was stolen, I would replace it with a smaller version.

You got allot of features!!! You got amps from jazz till heavy metal you can use. Some of them in never use so i wshed that they could customize it for me :D . You got effects like chorus, delay, tremelo, flanger and some other stuff. Next to that, you got a number of speaker cabs wich in never use. No, you should'nt complain about the features.

Mixed feelings here. Sure there are very good amps in it like: Mesa -boogie, marshall, fender and other cool sounds. You got lead sounds to play the best solo's with. But still there are many amps i never use. Because i don't need them or because they suck!!! Don't get me wrong, other people will love them, but i hate some of them. I also recoment getting a line 6 floorboard. When you have that you have 36 amp models allready build for you. I don't create my own sounds because those 36 are perfect to me. I may custommize it sometimes, but i'm not doing that much. And again i'm not even using the half of the amp models here Next to that, the floor board has a wah-wah pedal, a volume pedal and the easyness for your giggs!!!
Some tiny things are bothering me with the floorboard but you should see the floorboard reviews for that. All with all the sounds are good, but in the future i'm going to buy a tube amp and not a modeling amp. I also won't buy a new one if it broke.

I never had a gig using this amp. And i will never have a gig whit no backup. What i did use the amp for is using it for practising with the band. Replacing it never broke anything. it's still working.

Never used it. The manual is great though

A very good modeling amp but not a perfect one. Good fot backup or band practising amp, recording and sure good enough for medium-small gigs. But i should'nt buy it if you allready have a good amp whit the same amount of volume (2x50 watt) Also check out the felxtone III XL, this amp is likely to be a better amp.

This amp I bought on ebay about a year ago when I wanted to expand my guitar playing and after being impressed the a friends tone with his Line 6 Vetta. I knew the Line 6 name because of their great modeling technology. It's a 212 combo. When I opened the box, the thing was huge, pretty heavy. I would recommend a case with casters for it. It will save you lots of knicks in the tolex and popped discs in your spine. Four programable channels, did not come with a footswitch. You can buy a footswitch aftermarket, (FB4) which has a cool feature that lets you tap in tempo for delay, tremolo, or rotary speaker effects. Also features silent recording out, direct out, headphone jack, Midi out, external speaker outs. Knobs out the wazoo, yet very user friendly.

I play an '96 Epiphone Les Paul Standard and a Squier Tele. I play rock in the genres of alternative/medlodic/emo/blues whatever. I play lots of modern worship, which features a very U2 influenced sound, so the Line 6 crazy effects work great. As said earlier, it is the best modeling amp out there and Line 6 knows what they are doing, Lots of the sounds come insanely close to the real things, namely the Fender Black Face and the Vox Ac-30. The amp also has cab modeling on it, so you can mix and match amps with diffrent style cabs, or match them up with the same manufacturers product being modeled. One draw back I have noticed, is that any high driven gain amp models get really muddy, and takes some knob tweaking to get them to cut. The clean sounds break up nicely at high volumes that somewhat emulate tube amps. I would not buy this amp if you are a gain freak. Line 6 made a high gain modeling amp that does a real good job with those kinda sounds, but this amp pretty much takes care of the blues/jazz/alternative rock sounds. It's also kind of bass heavy, so watch where you turn that knob, or you might fart out a speaker. The effects are really great, and they allow you to adjust them to your taste. I really like the delay, swell delay and the rotary speaker effects, all very adjustable. It has a selection of all their effects combined with delay, as well as them by themselves (ie, flanger, delay/flanger). I pretty much just use this amp for it's amp modeling and use a normal pedal board for effects, that way if I run another amp with the flextone, I won't have to sacrifice effects for diffrent tone. Again, the modeling is about as close as you can come to the real thing. If you are patient, and don't mind experimenting with turning knobs, you can really make this thing shine.

One time I was rehearsing with this amp on a tilt back amp stand and it fell over backwards right on its head. I was worried, but it wasn't harmed and kept on rehearsing like it never happened. Something else I would experience, after leaving the amp on for a while, my sounds would get all weak and mushy. I would turn it off and back on again, and it would be fine. it has only happend twice though throughout the year I have had it. No big deal. If you take good care of it, it will take good care of you.

I have heard horror stories about trying to get Line 6 to fix a problem. Since these things are so digital and high tech, only Line 6 can work on them. The warrantly will go void if anyone other than a Line 6 certified place even OPENS the chasis. It took this guy about 2 months to get his Line 6 amp back after running around town trying to find places that Line 6 would let him take it to fix it. I personally have never had to deal with this. I get the impression that they might be cool people to deal with, because they write their manuals to be pretty funny and entertaining. I could be wrong though..

I've been playing for about 8 years now and this way the first "serious" amp I have bought. It is a great thing to have if you want versatility. It can make some pretty great sounds and tones if you spend some time with it. I have gotten many compliments on my sounds and have inspired some friends of mine to go out and get their own Line 6. Best modeling amp technology.

You could write an entire book on this amp's features so let's keep it simple and just list some of them: Impressive array of modelled amps going from the usual suspects to some boutique jewels, easy to use interface, fx loop, 9 four preset soundbanks.

This amp was my lifesaver, maybe it's not the best for one who can afford the most reccomended amp for his style, but when i got it i was playing in bands who played totally different styles and being a student i couldn't afford a vox and a mesa and there wasn't an amp in the market that could do their job decently. So here comes this little guy here that gives you very good modelling of some of the best amps ever made. I was using the pod before so i was quite familiar with the interface of the flextone (which is basicaly the pod fitted with some speakers and an amp look) but it definitely eliminated some problems i was dealing with my pod/crate amp setup:

1) No ages spent trying to find a good equalization for the two.
2) No excessive hum and noise coming
3) No excessive distortion on clean sounds
4) Better interaction with other FX

The celestion speakers really bring the wonderful sounds out without ruining them eve when using baritone or seven string guitars where many amps fall short. I bought it along with the floorboard and that really cut down my pedalboard leaving only the whammy peda, a wah, a phaser and my filter pedal. For the floorboard i'll post another review so now i'll talk about the fx. The onboard fx are some of the best available out there (exluding the ones on the contemporary vetta head and the now available flextone 3 and vetta 2 series who are much more controllable), definitely a great addition when you like to use lots of them and prefer to avoid the problems that might come from using pedals on stage (stepping on the knobs, battery failures, random troubleshooting, feedback...). If you have some midi equipment you can edit those fx even better with the provided software or the much more user friendly new software available online. Any flaws? Well of course there are, on the fx side i was disappointed not to find a phaser fx since i loved the Phase 90 emulation line 6 did for the bass pod and for recording the fx don't sound so great so i recomend using stompboxes for that. Since this is a combo and a quite heavy one too i wish line 6 would have thought adding some wheels to it. As for the fx control, well they could have set some of the more important features as controllable without the use of midi software and i've noticed that the incompatibility with midi interfaces is far greater than promised. But still it's a wonderful piece of equipment, the clean setting are great and being all digital it never distorts unless you tell him to do so using the dedicated gain and simulated amp volume, but no matter how much you crank the main volume the sound remains crystal clear. As for the distortion very well done, you can get the wonderful distortion of amps such as a Mesa dual rectifire and a Soldano Slo without even needing to crank it up to 11! What's the advantage on that? You can spend all the time you want setting it up in your own house without risking to be arrested for excessive noise, since you get pretty much the same sound with the master volume set on 1 or on 10. I definitely recomend this one or the other versions of it to anyone wanting the closest sounds to the ones of the best amps ever made without spending a fortune or to someone who needs a versatile amp

No problems ever encountered and it survived several low budget tours.

never tried it out

I've been playing it two years now and definitely i believe it will last for quite some time. If someone would steal it from me well i'd probably buy one of the newer flextones or the original vetta but i would stick to line 6 since this is the most satisfying amp i ever played. Maybe some could argue about the warmth of the sound on recordings but hey, you get so many sounds just from one amp and then live it sounds awesome. Plus you don't have to deal with tubes, the wonderful onboard fx surely make you travel lighter than most other guitarists. If it sounded also warm like a tube amp i doubt it would be quite affordable and that anyone would use a different amp.

Lots of features...

I don't understand why people who can't stand it live think it may still be suitable for recording. It is not!
I tried to record with Flextone (as well as POD) - it sounds flat and annoying because no matter what the volume it is not there, the sound is dead.
Since then I have picked up a Twin Reverb and a Mesa/Boogies Studio Preamp. Yes, it takes time setting up those things but the tone! The sound is localized, live and breathing. What a difference!

So, contrary to what others say, I would keep Flextone for live playing since it is so easy to use and change tones on the fly but for recording it is a tone killer.

Customer Support is great though. They sent me new OS chips free of charge immediately upon my first request.

as detailed on other comments

Used with G&L S-500, strat style guitar with hotter pick-ups. Play covers from funk to heavy rock. Combination of guitar and amp give huge versatility. Best clean channels are Fender, Matchless, Vox and Dumble models. Best vintage distortions are Marshall (45 and plexi), best rock sound Marshall JCM800 and Soldano, best lead Soldano. It is important for all distorted models that the cab simulator is turned off as this increases volume, brightness, sustain and punch. I suspect a lot of the negative comments are due to the cab simulators, it is a revelation when you take them off. It takes several hours of tweaking at gig volume to get the best combination of sounds, but once saved suit most venues. Delay and reverb effects are good, Chorus and flange are only ok, but useable when tweaked. The wah-wah is useable but not a patch on a Cry-baby.

Gigged it for two years without back-up. Only problems experienced are with voltage drops at outdoor venues using generators, or running strings of lights on the same circuit. If the voltage drops the amp will cut out. However, a rare problem and not really trhe fault of the amp. Otherwise extremely reliable.

Never had cause to contact them

Price paid includes floorboard which is essential for gigging. This amp is superb and always attracts good comments, but it has to be tweaked to get it right. I suspect a good valve amp would be marginally better at distorted sounds but you would lose the huge versatility.

This is a 2000 Flextone IIXL...I mainly play rock, jazz and blues. I bought this based on a recommendation from someone who knows...A Gibson guitar rep. 50W...(2 x 12).. This thing has a lot of KPD (knob per dollar)...and a tremendous amount of flexibility, maybe that's why they call it a "Flextone"....Anywho.. This thing models about 12 different amps from a Blackface to a Soldano... it is pretty true to those tones. It has insane volume... deafening actually, play it at home... #3 is all I can handle... play it in a band... maybe #5/6... This is a modeling amp... it can be used as a monitor, comes with headphone jack.. really all the digital wiz bang stuff you'd need.

I presently use a American Telecaster with Duncans. As I said above, we play rock, funky jazz and some blues. The amp was absolutely wonderful when I got it. It was the all-in-one amp I needed. It has allowed me to explore sounds and settings, that would have taken me hours and numerous trips to Guitar Center to discover. Ergo, it helped me discover my style and sound. I started playing when I was 15...put the guitar down for 20 years and picked it back up and have been playing daily for 2 years. I love it... the Line 6 was essential in my re-entry to the guitar. I know play in a psuedo-band.. not sure we could entertain anyone, but we have fun and are recording...what I have discovered about the "digital" amp is there is NO WAY it can, nor does, compete with a tube amp, whether live or recording. Live... it is shallow and tone deaf...lacks depth and lays an egg on sustain. Recording... it is non-existent. I end up spending all my time futzing with the bass/treble and volume to get heard. When I am heard, it sounds forced and mushy, or forced and tinny, or just loud... Frankly, the tube amp punches right through the digital. That being said... if we were both playing digital.. fine great amp... awesome flexibility...but if your going to gig and compete with a tube amp... don't bother suiting up. The amp is great for personal use and messing around and very good and allowing you to discover "the tone" your looking for. It won't be "THE TONE" cause it is binary, but it will send you off looking for the tube amp which will give you that tone. Other than that...clean tones to total rectified distortion are available. Toss a VOX Wah-Wah on there and viola' you can sound pretty darn good.

I have had this 60 lbs beast for a year... it is tough and reliable. It get shoved into the back of my car weekly 2-3 times... No problems.

Line 6 is wonderful when you call them... or I should say.. when you get them on the phone. This can be tough, but honestly... it has been a very positive experience. Their website support is stinko!!! In fact, if they spent half the time on website support that they do pushing those dumb little monkeys... they would be far better off.

Overall, I think this is a very good amp. You can get, nearly, any sound out of it you want. I will be using this as a back-up amp at home... and also keep it around because of the ability to use it as a monitor. A band buddy uses a Crate... and the Line 6 is a far more flexible amp. If you want digital this is the one your want (The Vetta would be the Mercedes)...

Otherwise, I am off to tube land!!!

Same Features as all the others. Lets face it, whatever you think of the sounds, it's jam packed with features!

The connectivity of it, via all the balanced and unbalanced lines out of the back, ground lift, recording/live modes, etc. is brilliant. Saves all that miking up!

Shame a footswitch and cover aren't included in the price. It's fairly impossible to use it with a band if you don't have a footswitch.

The user manual is brilliant, which makes a real change.

Ooh, this is becoming so controversial! I guess you either love it or hate it. Me, I love it. It sounds brilliant with the band, much better than the other guitarist's amp-plus-digital-effects-board rig. No, it doesn't sound exactly like all the valve amps its modelled on, but it does a bloody good impression and sounds brilliant.

I use it with a Fender US Standard Fat Strat mainly, but also with a Yamaha Pacifica 112, and it sounds great with either. I also have a setting with flat EQ and using the valve pre-amp setting for my electro-acoustic (Yamaha APX5A via a Zoom 504II) and that sounds good, too.

I think most people try to set it up at home at low volume, then try to use it with a band by just turning up the master volume. Well that won't work. You have to set it up at gig volume, just like you do with any amplifier. It's just that with so many channels it takes forever to tweak them all, and meanwhile the rest of the band are standing around taking the piss out of you!

In short it has a huge variety of sounds, most of them great, more gain than any sane person could want (that's another key to success with this thing: go easy on the gain) and a bunch of good digital effects as well. Some people whine about not being able to use a whole bunch of effects all at once, but I reckon that just sounds crap anyway, so I'm happy.

I've been using it for 18 months now and I've never had a problem with it. I've heard all sorts of horror stories about them misbehaving and switching channels and stuff of their own accord, but I think most of that is caused by using it somewhere where the mains voltage dips too far. Digital stuff hates that!

I contacted the US Email helpline and they were really, REALLY slow to respond, but the UK service guys were really quick and helpful.

I love it. If it was stolen I'd probably get the Flextone III now, but only 'cos the Flextone II has been discontinued.

The only thing I hate is that it weighs 27kg, so it's a bugger to lift in and out of the car, and it could do with handles either side as well as the top handle.

I've been playing over 20 years and mainly play rock music. I also own a Fender US Fat Strat, Tokai 60s Strat copy, Yamaha Pacifica 112, Yamaha APX5A, Fender Telecoustic, Zoom 505II multi-FX, Zoom 504II Acoustic multi-FX.

2003 Line 6 Flextone II XL. 1 input, basically a Pod with an amp built around it.

I just sold the amp on eBay and bought a Peavey Classic 50 212 that I'm setting up with JJ's tubes and Weber speakers. I thought I'd contribute a few reviews as I've used others here a lot!!

I bought it because I didn't want to lug around an amp and stomp boxes. It has all the features I wanted and a lot of the settings sound very nice. I wish I could use several of the features simultaneously. You can only use the dial to get one effect or one effect with delay. I never could get the effect to turn all the way down when used with delay, so it didn't seem too adjustable.

I used the amp with the full floorboard but the whole bit is just too complex. I had to look up how to set the noise filter in the manual (hold the tap button and turn a knob).

I used it a lot in the house, some band practice, some auditions. PLENTY of power at 100W! I auditioned with several groups that were using half stacks and were a bit snobby at first, but were impressed with the volume and tone after playing with them.

Very versatile

I use a stock MIM Tele and Strat and play jazz, country, and some blues. The amp sounds great IF YOU WANT DISTORTION! If you're looking for just clean jazz or country tone it is difficult to get. You can get some outstanding tones if you want medium to 'insane' distortion, but that's not what I'm looking for.

When I bought it I took a pro musician friend along and he was able to repeat some tone 'clipping' on false harmonics. The same actions on tube amps in the store (Fender and Boogie) did not clip. At the time I wasn't discerning enough to tell; now I am.

Clean sounds good(ish) sometime(ish). I could make it sound outstanding doing fingerstyle jazz, but flatpicking on my Tele sounded very very harsh. Brittle is a term I've heard used. I never used it with humbuckers as I don't have any so I can't say, but the single coil flatpicking sounds don't seem to go well with this amp. I never could find any setting that didn't have some 'drive' in it that sounded good flatpicked on the single coils.

I started getting a lot of noise recently and couldn't get rid of it. I have a wnty but just didn't want to deal with it. I wouldn't gig without a backup of any kind of amp really.

I would happily recommend line6 amps to someone who is ok with their limitations. I may even consider buying a small one (Spyder series) for a practice amp or for students that come over and don't want to lug an amp. However, if you want to play clean single coils jazz or country style this may not be your amp.

If you do the math though, a Pod cost $250, the low end Line6 amp (65Watt 112 Spyder) cost $299... Not bad for any 65W amp with all these effects!

I have to give a high overall rating of 8 because I think they're good products (I'd love to try the new Vetta II series), and I think I'd be sublimely happy with this amp if I was in a rock/blues band and even perhaps if I played humbuckers.

For jazz and country I decied to spend the bucks and get a tube amp. For effects I've simplified greatly and gone with the BOSS ME-50 which is basically a collection of stomp boxes with KNOBS AND NO MENUS without all the signal loss.

2002. If you can find a more versatile amp, you are living in a fantasy world. Four channels, 32 amp models, 16 cabinet models, and 16 digital effects. Plus reverb, drive, channel volume, master volume, bass, mid, treb, a noise gate, distortion, the possibilities ARE endless. GORGEOUS STEREO TONE, and enough volume to make your nuts rattle. Not to mention LOADS of other features on the back of the amp. You can program this thing to do anything. ANYTHING.

There is no way to tell you of all the hundreds of different sounds and tones this amp has. Sweet tone machine worthy of every musician. If you do not own one, RUN to the nearest dealer and buy one. If you can no longer find an XLII, get the XLIII.

HIGHLY RELIABLE

These people will do anything to please you.

30 years. Epiphone, Fender, Dunlop, Austin, Oscar Schmidt. Line 6.

Line 6 flextone II XL...if you've already read the reviews below, you know what this amp's got. I ranked the features at 7 because even though there are a lot of good fx on this beast, you can only combine the modulation fx with delay. having a seperate reverb control was genius, however, for some amps, the reverb is lush, for others it's too messy underneath, and some it's not enough. If you could preset the different types of reverb without all the midi equipment and combine different fx, then I'd definitely give this a 9. (there's ALWAYS room for improvement.)

I play in a lot of different situations. I play in my church's praise and worship team, also with an improvisational group that practices through headphones, and jam at a local bar with friends every so often. This amp, to be honest, sounded like I was in a cardboard box the first time I turned it up. But the secret is ...(drumroll) ... breaking the speakers in. You really have to crank it up and just wail on it for a couple of weeks to loosen up the speakers so they actually sound good. And when I say crank, I mean so loud that you forget that you're already wearing earplugs.

I've had this amp for about a year and a half. This is the "new and improved for 2002" model.

I play with an (now don't laugh) old squier strat. It's older than me. But before you judge, I did some research on this particular model'sd serial number, and it turns out that back when this guitar was made, 1976, fender made these parts in the USA and shipped them over to Korea to be assembled in the squier factory. In order to save on costs i guess. But I have a hot rails in the bridge, and a fender blue lace in the neck. the middle p/u is disabled as i can get enough tones out of the 3 settings already. I have to admit, that this amp is no marshall/boogie stack. Because it does not have 4x12 celestion vintage 30's, a closed back, and 100 watts of hot tube power. nor do any of the "clean" amps sound the least bit useable. However, I have found that with the VOLUME KNOB (the little round thingy on your guitar that you never touch, not the tone knob the other one) you can open up magical tone doors on this amp like you would not believe. Now I use, mainly, 4 amps. Jazz clean through 4th 2x12 cab, small tweed through 1st 4x12 cab, brit high gain through 1st 4x12 cab, and #2 rectified through 1st 4x12 cab. My "any application" setting is the tweed. I have the gain maxed out, and get a nice fat and very smooth distortion (maybe too smooth sometimes) but the magic here is when you roll the volume back. It cleans up and you get a non-sterile sounding fender amp with a little bit of glass. the jazz clean is for all of the church stuff. I have the gain maxed out on that model as well, but it's more of a midrangy grainy overdrive. It'll start to breakup real nice if you start pounding your guitar. and start to pick softer and "viola" the sound starts to soften up. And the Rectifier may not be as tight as you'd like it to be, but set it just right, crank it in a big room (like a church sanctuary), and start wailing "master of puppets".

So far it hasn't caused any problems for me, however ever since i've had it, anything plugged into the headphone jack, or xlr outputs has a major buzz.

they're website is really helpful. and you can even post your question and they'll answer it within 2 days if you have any question. I asked them a question about 'mod'ing my amp in a way that could have damaged it, but they answered my question regarding the mod, and they were right. They know their product.

I think it was a great amp for 750, 1000 w/ the pedal. it has a lot of great sounds and tones. It does an ok job modeling, but where it excels is in the "make your OWN sound" category. BTW, I am 20 years old. been playing guitar for 7+ years and have been playing electric guitar for 4 years. I'd say that I know enough about tones and distortin and fx to know what I need and how to get it. DON'T BUY THIS FOR 32 DIFFERENT AMP MODELS, YOU'LL BE DISAPPOINTED. BUT BUY THIS FOR THE ADVENTURE OF FINDING YOUR OWN TONES.

PS You CANNOT use this amp with a distortion pedal in front. trust me. try it in the store if you don't believe me.

you've probably read all the features on the others reviews so am not going to go into them, you just need to know that its got alot.

here's where my mind starts to boggle. now, like most people i got caught up in the hype of "Oh, line 6, every amp i need crammed into 1" now thats what it says it is, but it int. the sound just sounds too fake to me, am not a tube nut before people start to blame me for bumming mesa/boogie, ive never even played one, but i have played a soldano SLO-100, n the line 6 sounds nothing like it. it feels too restricted, u get a rather nasty whump noise if u hav the bass to high. u can only get a slighty descent tone out of it if u hav it below 3, the effects r good tho. the clean sounds arn't as clean as they say they are. the distortions and high gain setting nearly sound all the same, just different settings on the EQ, i cant feel the power from it, b4 i got this i played a marshall AVT150H on a 4X12 and honest to god, i cud tear the room down with the tight bass response n high gain u can set it on, i hav since reverted back to the marshall, for the money i payed for it i cant find another amp better than it. as for the line 6, it jus sounds sterile and weak against the marshall even tho the RRP is more. my advice, if u can afford all tube then get all tube, if u cant then at least get summat with a good tube pre-amp. i dont know who line 6 are trying to kid, maybe they do sound good for recording, but live playing, they've got nothing on marshall or soldano. it seem apparent to me that people who rate highly on this catergory hav never played through a descent amp. am sorry but that is just the way it is.

it hasn't broken down but that whumping noise is annoying.

never dealt with them, u get stung on the warrenty tho, u hav to fill summat in within 30 days else its not their problem ne mor.

the guitars i put through it were a gibson les paul studio and an american fender strat, i just used to get continuous feedback on the "Insane" setting with my les paul n on the other setting it was rather grainy, and it took away the classic fender twang of my strat. i put a parker p-38 through it once n when the battery started running down i cud pick up radio signals, not perfectly clear like but it was freaky. if it was stolen i'd probably use the insurance money to get me a second hand gibson SG or mayb upgrade my AVT150 to a DSL-100, coz marshalls r prity cool, n so r peaveys by the way, just thought i'd add that coz it says "anything else you'd like to share" n i thought it was a valid point. WOOOOOoooooo

This is a fantastically versatile amp. If you want quality sound emulation a the flick of a switch, you really sound buy one of the flextone series. I play rock/punk mainly, so i used the manual settings along with the amp emulators to create my sound. Howver, this amp doesnt just do rock/puck etc, it does everything!!!!!!!! From Blues to Metal, all you need is here, with the obvious exception of valves. Line 6 have incorperated a lot into this amp and its all done fantastically but i can can a while to get the sound you want but once you get it you're in the zone!!!!!! Its 2 custom celestion 12" speakers give it the stereo kick you'd expect form this 100Watt beast, even at low volumes; the on board CPU emulates valve sounds great at any volume.

Line 6 have put 32 amp models in this (1 of which is a tube preamp, for any instument you want, very nice feature) 16 cab models, and quite a few effects (delay, swell, flanger, chorus etc) Finally, it has send/return, midi in/out and stereo XLR outs, which are great for recording as you can turn the speakers off - and with the help of an FB-4 or the floorboard, its easy to change all your settings.

I play a Gordon Smith GS-Deluxe (in electric blue if anyone wanted to no) and i use both humbuckers for the best all round sound (although the coil taps give it an extra twang). The Flextone's can fit anyones type of music,as i said, i play rock/punk and theres no match for this am (unless u pay double for a valve amp and even then you never get the effects). And since i play everywhere, it is could to have an emulating amp, as it has mopre freedom to change the settings if there is natural reverd etc... If you have a clean sound, its always a clean sound, at any volume, and the same goes for every setting you choose. The CPU genorates the perfect sound at any volume you want. And as for the type of sounds - they're unlimited. No other amp can match the POD technology built into this amp, so the sounds can be as brutal or mellow as you want.

This amp is delecate because of the CPU, but dont think its not built solid, IT IS!! but if it gets knocked in the wrong place, (ie the on/off swith which can be broken off quite easily) it can all go wong. Luckily, you dont have to worry too much about damaging it if you sensible with it, its not a toy, its an amp, so dont play, Strum :)

I had to replace this amp twice (3rd time lucky eh??) because of 1) a run down battery in the CPU and 2) im not sure. But both times i've had a brand new amp, in 2-4 days. They actually replace the amp, they dont fix it, u get a totally new one, which is great as long as you can remember your sound settings. The second time it went wrong i was pissed off yes, but my local music centre gave me the number for Line 6 UK, and i tlked to the manger of Line 6 himself, so we sorted out a deal and i had another amp in 2 days. They are great guys.

This is a fantastic emulating amp, but make sure you actually want this amp, because it does have a lot of features to get your head around. I didnt really compare it with much, but saying that i did look around price wise and read some reviews on other amps in this price range - THIS WAS BY FAR THE BEST!!! I had this amp since christmas, and i have been playing for 5 years (im 16 btw) and this truly has been the best vaa;ve emulation i've heard. So if it were stolen i' find the guy/girl who stole it and i'd nipple clamp them to the electric chair and slowly burn them for the inside. I think the only things i wish it had were side handles for carrying, and a better look, more like the flewxtone 3's. Oh well.

I've had the amp for about 8 months, and i have yet to have a problem. All i can say is, if you play on the road alot... this is not the amp for you. This is straight recording amp. Theres 32 Different Amp Models, 16 effects (Actually, theres only about 10 different effects, because 6 of them are 'Two at once' Effects); and 15 different cabinets. I use the amp in my basement, and have never had a problem.

I play a PRS with just stock pickups... and yet, the sounds are still very crisp. Even though i actually only use about 6-7 of the amp models available, its still badass. The only problem i have with this amp... ... is once the master volume goes above 5... the sound gets very bad. As i said before, this is straight recording amp, nothing more. Oh... and it also needs a low end distortion... nothing REALLY heavy.

Not one problem yet, and 4 Save Channels... its all good.

Never dealt with em

Ive been playing for about 2 years, and i have 4 boss pedals and use a PRS. I like the amp for playing around with myself, its not an amp you gig with. Anyone whos still sitting in their basement looking for something relatively powerful, this is the amp for you.

I recently bought this amp, even though I actually am a bass player. Our band needed a gig amp and I do toddle around on the guitar. So I coughed up the money for a Line6. I will say that I am very happy with my purchase. First of all, it's an ultimate money saver. The amp carries an on board array of 16 effects, so we no longer will need to buy those. The 32 amp models, although I will agree that some fall short of the true sound, all can be used to create your own sounds. It's solid state so at 100 watts it can get very loud and hold it's own on stage. And on the other hand, the digital solid state construction allows for heavy gain at low volumes which can be handy as well. Our band has used it at fairly good sized venues. The AIR outputs on the back are nice and make wiring into a PA simple. All in all this amp can do what most guitar players need for a good price.

I've found that the amp puts out relatively good sounds. Some of the distortions I will say are somewhat weak or a bit talked up by the manufacturers. Don't look to Line6 Insane Model, but I Modern High Gain #2 or Rectified #2. The effects all sound great. I am impressed at alot of the clean tones that the amp will put out. Our bands sounds is loud with alot of distortion, and as long as you use a distortion on the amp, the noise gate does a good job at keeping the fuzz down as long as you don't have super sensative pickups and aren't in a 6x6 room. One quirky yet nice feature we have used is laying an external distortion over an amp distortion which sounds rad!! And even at high volumes the overlayed distortion holds together well and sounds great. This amp can supply a variaty of great tones with lots of cutom capability and will put out that tone at a very ample volume.

I've only had this amp for awhile, but it has seen a few gigs already. It's pretty easy to pack around, easy to get whipped into shape at a gig. I haven't had a single problem with it so far, it turns on everytime power goes to it and sound comes out of it everytime you hit a string. With no tubes you don't have to worry about those crapping out on you. I plan on having this amp for a long time!

Haven't had to deal with them yet, the warranty is limited but hasn't expired yet.

This amp overall is an awesome amp. I have the additional Floorboard coming soon and that will unlock the full potential of this amp. I also own and Ampeg SVT-610 Cab with B5R amp, and I like to think of that as a top of the line setup, and I like to feel that I added to that with a top of the line(brand name) guitar setup. In the end I would someday like to end up with the Line6 Vetta stack, but for now this amp does the trick and I am very impressed with it.

This amp basically has a lot of features... its an amp simulator so there should be enough tonal range here for anyone! - Hmm, maybe
Its a solid-sate affair housed in a 2x12" combo and has a wide range of tone for the money.

The sounds are nice. But not very nice, or 'valve like'. I have had this amp for 2 years now and its served me well. i remember when i had my Marshall AVT 150 and went to look for a replacement (3 months after i bought it, lol) i gave it a 7 for features becuase if you set out to achieve a certain sound (like an amp for example) you'll eventually discover this amp gets it about 60%-80% correct. So not spot on! It does sound a bit 'iffy' at hig volumes. But does have sufficient kick for a 2x12 solid state amp. The Rectified 1 sound (Dual recto tremoverb combo) sounds Fucking Awful!! its flabby,boomy, flat, boring.. etc. The Rectified #2 is where its at tho (the recto head) Saying that, i have played through the acutall amp and the combo is a bit shite really!! :p

I like the Rectified #2, Roland jazz chorus, and maybe the modern high gain for a smoother sound.

The Insane amp model is almost equally as shite as the REctified 1
its disgusting. "Mesa cranked acting as a preamp for a soldano" My Ass!!

Fine.

okay, got teh switch set to live and didnt know. Sent it off, it came back within a week i think. They never said anything.. ;)

This amp is good, could be better and far from great.
Very Good for begginers

2x50 watts of power, 2 12inch 8-ohm speakers, 32 channels, with 4 programmable preset channels(32 with floorboad) 16 digital effects settings, 1/2in headphone jack, optional floorboard with wah and volume pedals, 8 banks of 4 channels with foot switches and digital tuner, huge load of switches and plugs on back of amp all that are for studio recording(i'll probably never use em) this amp has ALOT of stuff on it, but it is very simple to use, it is extremly powerful, more powerful then I may ever need, even for gigging, I opted for this model more for the 2x12 speakers and the stereo sound, I keep it in my basement, and i nver turn it past 2.5 out of 10 on volume (ow its loud) even though it is an open back cabinet, this thing pumps out the bass with ease, very loud and clear, i enjoy this amp very much.

I use a junker guitar (99 ibanez GRX45) but i shoved a SeymourDuncan Distortion Humbucker in the bridge position to attain some good grind, and with the "Line6 Insane" channel on and my setting dialed in, it certainly does grind, I get a very bright,clear,absolutly brutal distortion, but with heavy, thumping bass when I palm mute, excellent for any metal/punk/hardcore or any kind of hard rock. I play various kinds of hard rock so i generally use this one channel, but ive had this amp for 2 years and ive discovered that i can attain most any kind of sound i want with this amp, the channels are very versatile, and with the effects and cabinet emulation i can make very unique tones at the turn of a few knobs. I have not had any problems with speaker distortion at all, these speakers can take up to 75w's each, and since its a 100w amp, you should technically be able to turn the amp up all the way without any problems.

I've had this amp for 2 years, never gigged yet, but ive had some aggressive jam and band practice sessions with it, and its held up, very solid amp, since its a Digital amp there are no tubes to worry about, and you can leave it on for hours without it getting more than slightly warm.

Well, I've never dealt with them yet, so I couldnt tell ya!

For the money, this is the most versatile amp you can get, of course the Line6 Flextone III series was just released, but they are more expensive. The Flextone II is a great bang for your buck, I'm only 18,but I will probably have this amp for a very long time coming. Now to get a new guitar :p

Everybody knows what this thing does. I'm just here to share some advice with similarly frustrated players out there.

And here's the advice- Cut the damn cabinet simulator off. Just cut it right the heck off, and ignore it unless you're recording direct. I was getting the woofy bass response, lack of mids, and flabby higher volume sound that many on this site have mentioned. Then, as I was reading the manual (again), it struck me that the cab models are simulations of a cab with a mic in front of them. Now, why would you want to send the sound of a mic'd guitar amp out of the speakers in your guitar amp and then to another mic? If you place a mic off axis on nearly any cabinet, or even just stand over to the side of your amp, you'll hear this fat tone with few highs and mids that sounds kind of cool, but really isn't your amp in all its glory. Seems like most of the cabinet models have just such a "mic position" going on with them. So bypass the cab simulations, redo the eq on all your presets, and it will probably sound and act like a real amp. Really.

Don't know yet, and I really don't wanna find out. I do, however, think that the blown speakers and rattled loose parts that other guitarists mentioned could easily be attributed to the whacked out bass in those cab simulations, being played at high volumes over time. But that's just my opinion.

Here's the surprise- Super quick response and friendly people. I sent out a fairly spiky email, and got a funny, good natured response from tech support. Seem like cool guys and gals to me.

I want to like this amp. I don't want to send it back. It has the potential to be as versatile as I need it to be, and I REALLY need an amp with lots of tones. Yes, I have been playing for a while (more than a decade), but other than giving me a bigger point of reference as far as what works and what doesn't tonewise, I don't like using this forum as a way for me to brag about my expertise. It's about getting to know the gear. I will say that if I keep this amp, I won't have to carry around as many pedals as I did before. But it sure does weigh a ton.

2x12 modeling, 100 watt amplifier. Built in effects models based on various boss, dunlop, and vintage effects. There aren't that many in there to play with, but there is enough to get the job done.

I purchased this amp to play in a cover band so I wouldn't have to lug around a ton of gear. The models are really just O.K. Some were outstanding like the marshall jcm (which is weird because I hate Marshall amplifiers), and the jazz chorus. At low volumes the amplifier was an absolute monster. I think line 6 is really aimed at the recording market. This is also a great way to dupe the customer into buying it, because if it sounds good quiet it'll sound great loud, right? Wrong! The amp was struggling at performance volumes. 100 watts my @$$! The speakers would develop the unmistakeable woof at any reasonable volume. I tweeked the thing for hours trying to get the stupid thing to behave. I talked to a rep at the NAMM show and he told me that's why they developed the vetta. The new designs apparently, don't have the volume problems these amps do. From what I understand this is a pretty common complaint. IMHO, recording this would be an invaluable tool, live it sucks hard.

Except for the volume problem the amp did what it was supposed to. I used on several gigs without a backup and never had a problem. Just had to put a little in the monitor for the time being. I give it 9 for the volume issue.

The website isn't very helpful, and if you don't mind being on hold for an hour long distance I'm sure they'd answer any questions (I got tired and hung up). The rep at the NAMM show was insightful and did realize the power problem.

I wouldn't but another one. I may try the vetta. I love the convenience, but damn I gotta hear myself.

features lots of amp/cab models, good effects, easy to use. i play everything from classical to hard rock, this amp can do it all, until you turn it above 3. i use it for home recording and gigs.

sounds great, at low volumes. this is a big, high wattage practice amp and direct recording device. some models sound like shit, some sound great. effects sound good

problem: you are at rehearsal with your band that expects you and your equipment to be able to perform and your amps speakers get blown. yep, i had it on 3 1/2 and they blew. sucked. it was a year and a half old. never been turned that loud. should not have happened

when i called line 6 about the problem they were quick and helpful. however a great company would have sent me a set of new speakers free of charge. they charged me 50 bucks. understandable though

i've been playing professionally for 4 years. i play a les paul, strat, i play a xv 88 roland synth, and have a bunch of recording gear. i take this shit seriously so i was seriously disapointed when the amp blew. i would not buy another one. give me reliability on stage. give me something that will do the job.

I know what you guys are thinking - why would I rate this amp at a 3? Yes, it does have a ton of features, I think its got 16 different amp models and 16 effects. That's just great, but the problem is these effects and models sound terrible. What's the use of a bunch of features if you can't use them?? The only way that you can adjust the effects is through a single knob labeled "effect tweak". If you want more chorus or flange, you have to do guesswork and just turn the knob to the right and pray that everything works out. This is also a huge problem for the delay. The amp models are really noisy and don't even come close to the sounds of the real amps (which are the amps you should be buying). So, basically, the features are worthless.

My main guitar is a Les Paul Studio. I usually play a lot of rock, punk, and a little metal stuff here and there. I've been playing since the 4th grade (i'm a sophmore in college now), so i I know what sound I like. My main issue with this amp is that it sounds really muddy. The clean channel is really flat and lifeless. I've got the treble turned all the way up, but it still sounds terrible. I really like the bright tone of fender tube amps - but i couldn't get this thing to come close. The distortion was really noisy - it wasn't smooth or harmonic at all. I really can't stand solid state stuff. There are a bunch of options for distortion - like "rectified" and "brit hi gain" that attracted my attention. Unfortuantely, they sound horrible. Also, when I turn the clean up, it gets distorted (natural distortion can sound good on a vintage fender tube amp - but not on this thing). I plugged in my boss metal zone to this amp, and I still got horrible tones. And i'm using a Les Paul!?!

Nothing's actually broken on this amp - but the clean channel has gotten more distorted over the last month. I have no idea why.

I've never talked to the customer support people.

If this amp were stolen, I would laugh because the thief would have screwed himself (uhh, or herself) over. Here's the deal - I can't believe that this amp costs around 800 new. That's a joke. Please - invest your money wisely and get an amp that uses TUBES. It will sound a lot better. If this amp were like 399, I might recommend it to a novice guitar player. But, 800? Are you kidding me? Personally, I'm saving up my money for a Fender Concert Reverb. It's got amazing clean tone - and the cool thing is Fender put in an extra drive channel that's geared towards more hardcore music. It costs 1,200, but I think its worth it. Once again, I want to stress that I'm just borrowing this amp until I have enough to buy a Concert Reverb. I would never pay money for a product like this. After my experience with this amp, I'm gonna stay away from the whole "modeling scene". I would rather own the "real thing" than try to use some solid state poser amp. The real thing always costs more money, but come on . . .

This amp is full of features( you know them,I won't bother listing them), however there are a few problems I had. First, It is nearly impossible to get all of your channels to match each other. What I mean is that it is very difficult to get volumes and effects and overall sounds of channels to match up well enough to use multiple channels in a live situation. I found myself using just one or two channels for live gigs because I couldn't get the other channels I needed to match up, and I didn't have the time to go through and edit all the channels I needed. Also the effects are very poor sounding, especially the modulation effects like Flange and Chorus. Very sterile and digital sounding. There is also a lack of controll over the effects. Also the louder this amp is turned up the worse it sounds. It sounds good for home practice and recording, but using it at gigs was terrible.Once I got it turned up to the volume I needed all the fullness and depth of the amp disappeared and I was left with harsh sterile sounds.

I would list the guitars I used through this amp, but it doesn't matter. This amp is very good at making every guitar sound EXACTLY THE SAME. All the nuances, colors, and textures of different pickups and woods and body styles are completely negated by this amp. Overall this amp is very dark and muddy sounding to me. It really lacks brilliance and sparkle. Also it seems to be geared towards heavy gain situations. All of the amp models break up way too much(you can make the Fender blackfaces sound like marshalls if you want). Most of the effects are useless. Untill I used this amp I used to use effects like chorus and flange, but the effects on this amp were so bad I actually learned to start playing with no effects(now I preffer to use very few effects).This amp is a nightmare to gig with. At stage volumes it sounds thin, one dimentional, and sterile. Like someone else said, it sounds like playing through computer speakers. Also I had problems with wierd harsh distorted sounds and crackling from the speakers. I thought something might be wrong with my amp for a while but I found out that is a common thing for this amp. Don't buy this amp for live gigs!! It's impossible to set up and sounds like junk! I actually thought it sounded OK untill i borrowed a friends all tube combo. Let me tell you, this amp(at low volume) may capture 75% of the sound of a real tube amp,but it gets 2% of the feel of a tube amp. There is no comparison between this amp and a real tube amp, the line 6 feels absolutely NOTHING like a real tube amp.

Poor, developed a strange crackling noise. Cheap plastic components are not reliable. Power switch broke off completely the first time the amp ever took a dive. Also there is sometimes a problem with the pedal not working properly. Sometimes does not switch patches when you needit to.

Don't know, but they take forever to send out replacement parts

I've been playing for about 7 years. This was my first real amp. At first I liked it, since I didn't have anything else tocompare it to besides a cheap Crate practice amp I thought it sounded great. However the longer I played it the more I grew to hate it. The amp sounded good to me when I was just playing it in my basement, but when I began gigging with it my opinion of it sank fast. Then when i got a taste of true tube tone and feel it was all over. I will never ever own another digital modeling amp. To be fair the tone when the volume is set below 2 I would rate at maybe a 6.5, but the more you turn it up the worse they get. The one good thing this amp did for me was to give me a taste of what kinds of amps are out there and what they sound ike. It pointed me in the right direction in the search for my tone. But I quickly discovered that my tone would never come from a digital amp.

Made in 2001.
Well, for me anyway this amp is fine. Loadsa different sounds and effects plus a wah/volume/tuner(with Floorboard, of course).
Plenty of line out/in etc jacks and the xlr out into a pa sounds good.Plus headphone jack so it seems to cover most of the bases.

I use it with a USA Fender Strat with Kent Armstrong Hot-Rails in the bridge position(for a bit more bite!) and an Ibanez RG550 with an EMG 81 in the bridge pos. I play Rock (80's, 90,s Classic etc) plus a bit of Skynyrdy type stuff. Doing mainly covers is helped by this amps amazing array of classic sounds so i can go from Tesla to Mott the Hoople to U2 and even to Skynyrd with it clean or cruch settings.

I have had it for 20 months and the only trouble i have had is it gets scratched easily when been bumped around in the back of the van. I would recommend bying the cover from Line 6 or if you can afford the extra cost get it flight cased. Apart from that it's lasted well. Oh yeah, it would be worth it as well to buy a coupla spare cables(from Floorboard to Amp) just to be on the safe side. They are quite cheap.

Never had to use 'em. But i did sent the Registration/12 month warranty card off within days of purchase.

I have been playing for 15 years and have had loads of marshalls and a coupla fenders but due to space limitations have had to flog them(sell). Before this i looked at the Yamaha DG. the sounds were not as good as the Line 6 but the moving knobs were cool. I got the amp for the above price including the floorboard cos to be honest to get the most out of it you do need the floorboard. It's easy to program and the presets sounds are great apart from the INSANE patches which were WAY TOO MUCH!!(No doubt you thrashers out there will disagree)

The amp Sounds AWESOME!!! this is wonderful for my tone, I wanted the Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier, and this comes so close it blows my mind. Plus I get to have a fender delux for my cleans, it's totally great. The ONLY thing that sucks about Line 6 is that there is not enough control over where to assign effects and the delays and modulation effects are not separate. (then they came out with the Flextone III damn!)

Like I said, can't complain. Now all I need is to buy another cab so that I get even more punch.

Don't know yet, the network cable thing for the floorboard is kinda flimsy, but no problems yet. If it stands up to me giggin', He'll keep his good home.

Their not as sweet as Digitech at their customer support but they provide plenty of alternatives.

How can I bitch? Good amp, Good sound, Good price. Long live rock and Roll, anybody want to listen to our tunes, check out mp3.com and do a search for COR SLC give a listen. Any questions for me just E-mail and title the subject Line 6 so I can filter it out of my junk mail.

This is for a 2002 model with updated cabinet and amp modeling capability. 32 amp models, 16 digital effects, and four user programmable banks with 36 available with the optional floorboard, and yes you must get the floorboard to appreciate all the features of this amp. (wah,volume pedal etc.) 100 watts stereo into two custom celestion speakers. This amp has just about any sound you could hope for.

I play an Ibanez RG 470 with dual humbuckers, mainly for heavier rock styles. The hi-gain settings on this amp are phenomenal. The Mesa and Marshall settings are not dead on accurate, but are very convincing. Both have easily recognizable sounds that the their respective models are known for, but they are unique and very good in their own ways. The cleans are are a little brighter than I like, but sound great with slight chorus and reverb. Volume is very loud, and I personally have not experienced any break up of notes at any volumes. Some settings do require a little tinkering to taste, but everyones ear is unique.

I have only owned this amp for about 4 months. No problems yet, except occasionally a small popping sound way back in the mix on the realy high notes. This usually only happens when the amp has not been turned on long, which is funny because this amp is solid state and that should not matter like a tube amp.

I have not dealt with cs yet, but got burned on the warranty because I did not get a chance to mail from 30 days of purchase, so if it craps out I will be very upset. Would give a ten if they had gave me more time.

This is the best amp I've ever played through, but my experience is limited. I've been playing for eight years but I tend to find one thing I like and stick with it, verses switching amps all the time. I do prefer solid state rather than tube, just because tubes are inconsistant with their tone, unreliable, and all have a distinctive lag in their sound curves unless compressed. Compared to all other tubes in it's price range, it blew them away. Compared to other solid states, it seemed to have a more real sound, than some other modeling amps that try to mask their more synthetic sounds with reverbs and delays. It's sound is much smoother and and more saturated than most of the others in it's class, and it definitely has more power and volume than any other amp under 800 dollars.

It has a lot of different sounds and effects. Saves a lot of money when searching for effect pedals. Good reverb and I loved the studio mode. Lots of different styles and power. Stereo amp. Dont buy one unless you buy either an FB4 or the floorboard. It's effects are useless without one.

Well... it's no tube amp and thats a problem in itself. After a month of owning it, it crackled on every deep note. I play a PRS custom 24 with vintage bass and HFS pickups. This guitar can make any amp sound good besides this one. I had to turn the treble knob all the way down for it to have any warmth at all. really pingy and tinny sound. The sounds that it has are good sounds but you have to do a lot of tweaking to get a good one. Maybe I just bought a lemon, I dont know. To each his own.

OK, this is where it gets ugly. I could never depend on it to play good above 3 on the volume knob. It would crackle all the time and was very frusterating. I took care of the amp but still it got all crappy after one month. I bought it brand new. Dont use it unless it's a practice amp.

Customer support is good. They helped a lot. One thing though. Make sure to send in the stupid registration card right when you buy the amp because if you read the fine print (which you usually dont do until the amp screws up)you will see that the warranty is no good unless you send the reg. card in within 30 days of purchase. And if you gig with it, you dont get a warranty cause then the amp is considered "commercially used" and is not under warranty.

I have been playing for about 3 years but dont let time fool you. I know more than you do if you are thinking of buying this amp. I would rather get this amp insured and pay someone to steal it so I could get the insurance money and buy a 2002 fender "Twin-Amp" or a Mesa Boogie. Love the effects, hate the amp overall. Hey, maybe I just bought a lemon and maybe you could go buy one and love it for years but this is my opinion from experience. I read these comments before I bought the amp and they upset me because of all the negativity. Ignorantly, I bought it anyways. This is just to caution those innocent, unsuspecting buyers. Make sure this is what you want and always be willing to check out other amps before buying the first one you play. Be willing to pay that extra 100$ for that great sounding tube amp you have been eyeing. Thanks for reading. IXOYE God Bless...

My amp was manufactured around 1999. How could you not give this amp a 10 for features? With decent modulations of mulitple differet kinds of amps and a built in pedalboard worth of effects, this is definitely the most versatile amp I've ever owned. I currently use the amp for a variety of music (pop rock, hard rock, melodic rock) in a cover band and I can pretty much set up a decent replication of any band's guitar tone that I hear. Perfect for cover bands who need to sound like effects laden U2 one song and Boston or Aerosmith for the next. 4 available channels (optional pedalboard offers more memory), channel switching, effects loop - which I never use, and headphone jack -which is great when you want to jam at 3AM. Master volume and channel volume to regulate volume between variably different channels. I use this amp around the house and in band practice - really LOUD band practice. Stereo feature is available with direct PA/recording input if you like. I still prefer to mic it live because the tone is pretty impressive.

All you digital naysayers need to read this before formulating an opinion about this amp, because if you use any gain whatsoever, I can emulate your tone. I use 3 Guitars: (ranked in order of use) 1. Gibson Les Paul Standard 2. Fender American Deluxe Tele 3. Epiphone Les Paul Standard. All guitars are equipped with stock pickups: Gibson Stock, Fender Noiseless, and Epiphone Stock (far less fat than the Gibson Standards). My music style is rock and I have three primary channel settings that I use; a clean channel using the line 6 clean - which is by far the worst sounding feature of this amp, a dirty channel modeled after a marshall vintage plexi, and a rectified high gain setting modeled after the mesa rectifier series. Both distortions are fairly decent copies of these amps and are the best thing out there of without owning the actual thing. One really impressive feature of this amp is that it maintains its good tone at any volume - most solid states tend to break up at louder volumes, as opposed to a tube amp. Unless your a stickler for tube tone, this amp can emulate pretty much any sound you're looking for; the only place you really suffer is on the clean (that's where I really miss my Fender Twin). The clean channel doesn't break up at high volumes, but it lacks the punch that sets tube amps apart from solid state - again, this is the worst drawback of this amp. The distortion can get as dirty as anything out there, plain and simple.

Digital scares the shit out of me. I'm not sure I'd ever go anywhere without a backup. This thing doesn't seem to be as well built as something like a Fender Twin or Matchless, but I have beaten it pretty well and it's still ticking. Line 6 needs to find a more dependable way to connect the floorboard other than their current ethernet cable resembling hookup, that's probably my biggest complaint.

Haven't had to go there yet, although I fear the day I have to ask for digital tech support...

I've been playing guitar for close to 7 years now, most of them have been spent in bands. I've played in some of the biggest clubs in the southeast so I've seen the best of gear at some point or another. I aspire to own a Matchless DC-30 or some other Class A setup one day, but until then, this will have to do. I'd probably purchase one of these again if it was ever lost or stolen, although I'm not sure I wouldn't buy a tube amp first - I miss the clean more than anything. The best part of this amp is it's like carrying a portable studio full of amps and effects around with you - nothing beats this in terms of VERSATILITY. I've compared this amp to several others along the way, and decided it was better than anything Digitech (Johnson), Fender (Cyber Twin)Crate, H&K (ZenTera) and any other company that uses digital emulation has to offer. The only amp that came close was this amps successor, the Vetta, which sounds pretty crappy at high volumes although cosmetically its looks are much cooler. If there was a way Line 6 could stick some tubes in this bad boy just for a clean channel, I'd be orgasmically satisfied with this amp. But for $750, you can't beat what this amp has to offer...

My flextone was made in year 2000, and I bought it then.
You should know the specs by now. Line6 amps are the most versatile amps available I think. From jazz to metal, they say. :)

I'm from Finland where i've played it in arena, open air festival mainstages, smaller festival venues, clubs, bars and allmost all kind of other bigger and smaller venues. It works and rocks every time.

Our second guitarist(I'm the lead guitarist) has line6 Vetta, and it makes a good couple with my Flextone. Well that's truly a versatile amp. :)

I use Ernie Ball/Music man John Petrucci -model and Gibson SG -71 guitars. They work at my bands musical style quite well. (Pop/rock)
The amp sounds generally good, thought it's a bit unpersonal. Sounds are good, but they are th same as in anyones line6. Specially the direct sound from XL's xlr output is the same with every line6 user. It's like taken straight from the CD, but it sure isn't personal.

Noisy? Oh yeah, enough. Don't add too much bass to the sounds. It'll cranck it up.

Just once i had a broblem with it, and that wasn't even amps fault. It had something to do with electricty. Too little power or something. I got the amper i needed, thought.

Never had a backup with me. Never. People have lots of line sixes in my country so I don't have a hard time to get one fast if my one goes broken. My friend bought the same kind of amp couple weeks later than me so i can lend his if I have a broblem or two places where to gig at same day or something like that.

I have a good hard case, so the amp stays in fit.

Nothing to complain.

In Finland teh customer support works great. I had a brocen speaker element when I bought the amp and it was replaced. They said at Soundata(wich is our importer in Finland) that the work will take like one to two weeks, but it was actuallu two days. I was happy.

Those guys have everything in control.

If this one gets lost, I'd probably buy new one. Its versatile, easy to set up and not too heavy to carry alone. I have a hard case with wheels, so I don't really have to carry it anywhere...

If I compare this to other digital amps, this is the best. Johnsons are lame, too small for me and they don't product enough that "ooombh" i love. Vox Valvetronix was allso a big disappointment for me, it was a way too silent. I crancked it up right away. My band and I play LOUD at our rehearsal place. It's actually the drummers fault, 'cos he's kinda loud. I mean LOUD.

I sure everyone knows about these amps and all the models available. Don't remember the year it was built, bought at Guitar Center about a 2 years ago, new, not one of the floor ones, I'm not stupid, bought plenty of floor used gear and its not bad, but for the sake of getting a product that has not been messed with by hundreds of poeple, getting a new one was a good idea. The amp can give me clean, pushed clean, dirty, overdrive, distortion, drive, fuzz, reverb, trem, flanger, noise gate, compression, delay, etc. Thats alot of tones, it allows me to jump around to different tones unlike most amps I've tried. I play mostly Punk/Ska/Reggae/Metal/Funk, in a garage band, but also use it for everything but country, disco, and pop music. it has 4 channels and I believe it has 9 banks, a manual setting, and many other features I can't remeber. Some feature I wish it had was a reverb model, the wah could be edit without computer and midi. I don't use the compression and thats about all I don't use. I used this amp at my drummer house which is where we have band practice, used once for recording and it sounded great, the amp is loud enough, also used at church for a worship service, for electric guitar, acoustic, and bass and worked good there to, we played one party with it and it did the job. I haven't got above half on the master volume, and it drowns out most of the band, at least to me. It has plenty of features, don't use the fxs that much due to my fx board, get the floorboard, it is neccesary, volume, tuner, bank up/down, wah, channels, tap tempo, makes everything eaiser. I wish it had all the controls on the front instead on the top in the back, but that is minor. Hey its packed with features, digital and stereo. Take one point off for no wah and reverb editing, and I wish it ahd some other amp models.

I use a Memphis guitar, looks like a Ibanes Artist with a flying V headstock, I believe it is an all Maple body/neck and a rosewood fingerboard, Two Chrome covered humbuckers, Tune-o-matic bridge, just put grover tuners on it due to a fall it took 2 months ago, had Mike Lull mod it for a two volume and master tone for Tom Morello style on/off gating. Also used with a Squire strat (yuck!), and a Ibanez RG 220, not bad but too much twang, basswood and poplar are not my woods of choices, and two of my friends have used their Epiphone Les Pauls (Gold Top and Birdseye Maple) in it. I favor the Memphis over all. Then I plug that into a Line 6 MM4, Line 6 Fm4, and a Line 6 DL4, used to use a Dunlop Crybaby original Wah, but now use the floorboard model. I explained my music style in the features area and yes it works for my styles. It is noisy? Well lest see it feedbacks on the Mesa/Boogie patch when my volume is up on my guitar, but I bet that is the guitar, and I think the hum I here is the guitars lack of grounding (I know its not grounded cause I get shocked when I touch a mic while playing, just a little shock, just smarts not fatal) and shielding, when I put my hands on the strings it elimnates the noise, I also use the volume poedal to eliminate the sound when not playing. Ok sounds, well we have clean to insane brutal distortion, I haven't found my favorite sounds yet, still working on them again! This is a tweakers dream come true, you can get any sound you want, I swear, a few notes, love the mesa boogie models (recto and Mark) recto just feedbacks, but it is fat and cutting, the Mark I use for a slighty driven kinda santana tone for our latin sytle music which we are jsut working into our music, still looking for the best clean- used the Vox, Line 6, and the Fender, but haven't found the best for our style, don't like the reverb, doesn't sound like my fender champ 25's reverb. Don't like the Marshall settings, seem to nasal, not satisfied with it no ability to palm mute, low end lacking, if anyone knows how to get the Tom Morello Marshall tone out of a line 6 amp please email me (rude_skalar@hotmail.com).but I haven't played a Marshall I liked, the Vetta ones sound better to me. There are plenty of other tones to go, I have only used 4 banks so far and I need to sit down and work with the amp some more to get more tones. Comparision on the wah, the wah is not noisy like the Dunlop, not as nasal, but i think the range is limited, not as low, and not as high, also silent on/off, but I want something else, tried the boss pv-10 v-wah, and it was cool. Like the modelers for my fxs, like my presets and the tone works for me. Cables are Monster Cables, and Spectraflex.

So far no huge problems, the power button got stuck at one point, due to being moved by some old band mates who don't how to care for gear. Also the floorboard wah broke at one point I fixed it myself one night, easy to do, other than that no problem, never broke, I've moved it around, put it in the trunk, where ever, its built well and reiable

Never dealt with it. Hope never too

playing 7 years, own fender amps, vogue bass, and alot gear I want to sell, also a line 6 bass pod. I would proabably buy the vetta model if it were stolen or lost. I'm not a tube fanatic, I love it but hoping for more some time soon, if I get off my butt and start tweaking again, I'm sure I love it more. It sounds good at all levels as opposed to Marshalls and fenders which need to be cranked and only have a good clean or distorted tone, this has both. Its good.

If I could give it a zero, I would. I've had two Line6 amps now, both have had problems. First was a Flextone and it developed a crackling sound after about 6 months that ended up being a capacitor lead that had sheared off from the board. I thought that was odd since I wasn't gigging at the time, and I had basically set the thing up in my room and not moved it since. Anyway it took me over 2 months to get it back from the local service contractor, and when it came back it didn't sound the same. It had lost any punch and the overall volume was severely diminished. The only response I got from customer service was that "my speaker wires must be reversed". Obviously that didn't fix the problem....

Anyway, my band was about to start playing around town, so I "donated" the amp to my brother (the starving college student) and upgraded to a Flextone IIXL. After about 6 months of ownership I notice that the amp would start distorting excessively while playing or having excessive phantom noise when I was not playing. A "reboot" seemed to fix this, but I was having to do this 3 or 4 times a practice and it was getting annoying. I've had this amp for over a year (read "no longer under warranty") and now it is developing a metal-on-metal buzz from some where in the cabinet near the component board. Having just bought a house last year, any new equipment or serious repairs are completely out of my meager price range.

Lousy. They have contracted out the service contract in my area, and the local company seemed to have no clue what they were doing.

Just contributing my own (two) personal horror stories...
The amp plays and sounds great, but buyer beware. Maybe if you are financially well off and can afford to buy an amp every year, this is the one for you.

36-amp models, 18-effects, effects loop, live vs. studio modes, XLR output, lift option.

I use a recent american strat and a '72 SG. I'm a blues and jazz man and have been playing for six years. I'm constantly plagued by that squeezed sound of digital. When I turn the amp to a high gain setting it sounds cool, but I feel like its caged. In order to get a good loud screamy tone, the amp has to be cranked way the hell up. The harmonic range is small and it sounds more like you're listening to a stereo than playing a guitar amp.

You cannot depend on this amp. I have owned it for two years now and it dies on me a few times every time I play it, the speakers cut out and it is necessary to restart the amp. It was great for a few months, but it has problems. It just cuts out, out of the blue. I may be in a nice solo or a jam and its off, I only use this amp to practice. For my main amp I use a fender deville and I'm quite pleased. There is not only a difference in tone, but an obvious difference in solidity, the deville just feels reliable.

I've never dealt with the company. I own some line six stuff and all I get from the company is advertising.

I've been playing for six years and mainly use an american strat 2000. I run the guitar in directly to a Fender Deville and use a boss compressor, boss ds-1, mesa boogie bottle rocket, and a line6 dd-4 delay modeler(this has been very nice so far) all run through the FX loop.
The Flextone II XL is a lot of fun to play with. Some of the effects are cool specifically the rotary speaker. I use very few of the amp models. I like British High gain for blues, Modern Class A(matchless), the tweed model, the fuzz and soldano modern high gain settings. The recto lacks bass and the blackface model sounds like a 10inch crate plugged into a generator, it is really bad. Don't buy this amp, there are so many other incredible amps that can be bought for this amount of money, don't let the flashing lights and buttons fool you, you'll end up finding one sound that you like and never use anything else.
Find your tone, and look for the tube amp that fits.

This amp has some great ideas in it like the effects and different models however they all sound horrible.

I play most styles of music and can definitly say that all the flextone II amps are garabage. I have owned each of them and returned all of them. They are ok unless you turn up to like 3 or more then it totally farts out.

Not at all reliable broke down the day i got it sent out to fix it and then it broke a few days after i got it back.

They repaired my equipment but took twice as long as they said they would and it broke again right away.

I took this awful piece of gear back and bought a real amp (Mesa/boogie half stack). I use to be a digital person but now i know why every always told tubes are the way. MESA AND TUBES RULE SCREW DIGITAL.

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.

Not sure what year this is. It's the Flextone II XL. I bought it for $666.00 with the floorboard (minus shipping). It's got most everything you could need. 32 amps, 16 cabs, "16" effects (really only 9, including wah on floorboard). This amp is great with the floorboard, you have 36 user channels, and the ability to use delay and reverb at any time. The amp models are versatile, I wouldn't mind a little more eq ability rather than the modeled eq parameters. The XLR outs with the speaker and mic emulation work great, it's also handy to have the studio(speakers disable, mic emulation on) and live(speakers still enabled and only cabinet modeling used for PA). The Headphone out (also has speaker and mic emulation) is also great, but it's just a headphone jack so no biggie. The speaker outs are a good idea, but it'd be nice if you could select to disable the internal speakers so you could run an extra cab instead of turning off the original speakers. Cabinet and speaker models are well done, very useful selection. They really could've made the amp models much closer in volume, but that's what the channel volume is for. I can't say the tuner is that great, I'll just stick to my little korg, hasn't failed me yet.

This amp also has seamless patch changing (the last channel still reverberates or echoes into the next channel selection). Something else very handy is the fact that you can make a delay, or efect setting and turn it off before you save the patch, then you can come back to the patch and turn, say, the delay back on, and it still has the settings you made before instead of reverting to some generic setting. very nice.

Now here's my chance to prove my worth. I've been playing for coming on 7 years. I've researched everything I've ever purchased beyond what people would call normal. My friends all trust me to equip there bands with the appropriate equipment. They even trust me to record tracks for them instead of a studio. I'm even going to be writing reviews for other equipment on there website soon.

I happen to use a Gibson Gothic series SG. I string it with Elixirs and it has the stock 490 series pickups. I plan on changing these out when I've got the money, but anyways. I also use a BBE 482 Sonic Maximizer (you should really consider one of these) in the effects loop, and for recording I run my amp into an Art Tube Channel. This helps to warm the tracks a bit, then you can use Cool Edit 96 to clean up any left over noise.

I play mostly harder rock a la Alice In Chains, and Korn. I also play a lot of very soft music, I'll be putting a piezo pickup in my SG soon and splitting the signal to my amps.

The Cleans on this amp are superb, very dynamic and punchy. Use your bridge pickup and you can get a very punky to twangy clean. The crunches are alright, they're obviously not as spongy as a tube's but they're useful. The distortions are the best feature. I'm not going to compare these to their supposed tube counterparts, because if you can waist your time saying it doesn't match something perfectly, go buy all the amps on the list and blow you and your grand daddy's life savings. The distortions are very friendly depending on your settings and as all of these things do, require a little bit of time to perfect them.

The effects are mediocre at best. Chorus, try the Dan-O Cool Cat, that knock your socks off. Flanger? well, ok. Try the Boss. The Delay is great. They allow you to make the echo louder than the hit so you can get U2 style echo taps. Fun stuff. The Tremelo, blah. I was really hoping to be able to adjust the type of wave it utilizes in Deep Editing but was dissapointed to find it only has depth and speed controls. Again, go with Boss. The compressor is rather friendly, you can only tweek the ratio but it works rather well. The noise gate is GREAT! Tweek it in Deep Editing and you'll be surprised at what you can do with it. The Swell, is ok, it'd be great if you could shut it off, but with the floorboard you have the volume pedal anyway. The wah, is not bad, I can't say it's better than my old Dunlop Crybaby, but it's cool that you can adjust the range. The rotary speaker is a n/a. I can't imagine using it in my music so I haven't experimented with it too much. Reverb-decent. It really requires the deep editing so you can adjust the spread and tone for each patch. Once you fine tune it, it is very usable. All in all, the Delay rocks and the rest are so-so.

Holy crap can this thing get loud. Apartment use, can't really get past the second dot. Live, this'll drown out your group if you let it. My friends have been borrowing this for their gigs, and love it. You can run the amp into the PA or just use it straight and it'll do the job wonderfully.

The Tone on this is Absolutely fabulous. Granted, it's not a tube amp, but again, YOU go buy all of them.

I hear some people get excellent results putting some real V30's in it. It'll void the warranty though.

I bought this amp used, and it has a few dings and the tolex is coming off on the top corners, I'm going to put on some corner covers and voila, problem solved.

The amp made it through UPS shipping fine, and trust me, that's pretty accomplished (I know, I used to work there, FRAGILE means don't throw it as hard). The problem mentioned most often is the volume dropout. The reason is voltage. Digital equipment is very susceptible to fluctuations in voltage and if the voltage drops to around 90v, it can completely shut off equipment and serious damage it. The easiest way to solve this, buy a VOLTAGE REGULATOR, not a power conditioner (two different things). You can pick up a rackmount regulator for a stiff $400, or you can look on the net and find a non-musical equipment regulator (does the same thing, just doesn't carry a name) for around $75.

The Floorboard seems to have some trouble. My Channel/Effects select button doesn't work sometimes, and is lately switching on the wah pedal though they are completely unrelated. Sometimes, it also will get stuck and not do a damn thing, requiring me to "reboot" my amp. I have talked to LINE6 and they said to reset my amp, and worst case scenario have it repaired. I have read a review with the same problem and they said it was the connectors in the amp that caused the problem.

I've always received prompt responses from LINE6 from all my inquiries related and non-related to this amp. My only complaint would be the incredibly short responses. Sometimes these are as simple as YES and NO. Not exactly the most helpful of chatters.
I don't know whether my warranty is any good being it was used, but I'm not sure the guy even registered it originally.

Despite the intrepid problems discussed in all of these reviews, the amp was well worth the money I paid. I've purchased marshall and other combo amps for a few hundred less, but I prefer choices and the direct recording system is a God-send. I am extremely pleased with this amp, and practically giggle every time I get to play with it. Well, I've blabbed on forever, but I think my experience in researching these things will help someone with less patience than I to buy this amp.

Amps, Effects, Cabs, yada yada yada

I loved the versatility of having so many unique distortions but the cleans sucked big time. Plus the reverb is SO metalic sounding I won't even use it. Its pretty bad so I just bought a pedal

No problems here, Had the amp 4 months.

To the people that had tons of problems with these amps:

This amp is a Computer and is best utilized in the studio or home personal practice. Gigging, or playing with a full live band exposes the amp to brown outs, surges, and black outs. Most of the below problems probably would have never been an issue if the owners would have used a UPS in those situations.

never delt with

I would have given it a 9 but the reverb is just to horrible

You know all the features by now.
Flextone with Floor board.
I play everything from Pink Floyd to Rage Against the Machine.

My main guitars are a Parker Fly Deluxe and a Fender Strat Delux with Fender Lace sensor pick up's.
I find that even with the hi output of the parker fly's pickups it's still vey quiet when not playing. No buzzing or crackles at all.
It takes a whle to set the effects right, you really cant expect great tones from a 10 minte fiddle. Clean tones at high volume are acheivable with alittle patience and the phat dual rectifier sounds are killer.

No idea about this really. Not had the amp long. I read all these reviews very carefully before buying this amp. I'm really not sure about the credibility of some of these reviews to be honest. More than a few sound like rival posts rather than actual amp reviewers. I may be wrong...but i doubt it :o)

Great. the shop i bought it from have been absolutly brilliant. Giving me details and specs, answering questions with patience and politness after the sale. Top Mark to the Guitar, Amp and Keyboard Centre.

I have been playing for about 14 years. I have a coupe of amps Fenders, marshalls. Varous pedals and mixers.
If this was stolen I would claim my insurance and go straight out get another...simple as that. I love the sounds, build, look and feel. Not sure yet :o)

The features have all been discussed already, so I won't comment much here. I like all of the features, and this amp has way more of them than the Peavey amp I traded for it, which was my motivation for buying it. I basically needed a clean sound and a distorted sound, and all the effects and other sounds were a major bonus. I use this amp in clubs and it has been keeping up with my band's lead payer's Marshall, so Kudos to Line 6.

I play a Brian Moore Millenium Series i9 guitar with Seymour Duncan humbuckers - and the guitar and amp seem to be a match made in heaven. I play in a hard rock/big hair 80's metal band, and both are perfect for that type of music. My fave sounds are "rectified" and "insane" but the crunch comes in handy, too. I mostly play rhythm, but do get to play a couple of dual leads.

I've only had the amp for about a week, so I cannot comment on this. I plan to use it without a backup, so....it had better not fail me!

Have not dealt with any of this yet. But will be dealing with the company soon, since I would like to have the manual.

I've been playing guitar and keyboards since the early 80's. I also own a Korg Triton and most of the PA gear my band uses, which is mostly Peavey stuff. I try to buy decent gear, and check all sources for gear reviews first, because as my dad used to say..."Ya' get what ya' pay for!" So far, so good. My current group (NASTY HABIT - check us out at nastyhabitband.com) has played almost every weekend for the past 2 1/2 years and so I can't afford for gear not to be reliable. As a matter of fact, we opened a show for Jefferson Starship last September, and they ended up using a lot of OUR stage gear! One more thing. I am a female rocker...which has not always been easy, since I prefer to play hard rock and metal. They gave me a lot of good advice on what to look for when buying gear, and I think I did a pretty good job with the guitar and amp. Since I just bought both of them within the last two months (because I was their keyboard player until our rhythm guitarist bailed), I won't have a long-term review for a while yet. Short term....just know the Line 6 Flextone II XL is and amp that definitely ROCKS.

I got this amp new out of the box in August 2001. I features 2 12" speakers with fifty watts a speaker, 2 XLR line outs (one for live performances and one for studio work), 2 1/4" line outs for each speaker (when used, the respective speaker switches off), and basically the POD 2.0 as a preamp. You can use the amp with just the channel switching footswitch ($70), but to get the max out of the amp, you'll want the $250+ floor board.
A lot of reviewers have questioned the quality of the speakers, and to be certain, they are not breathtaking, but if you play the amp a while at high volumes, the speakers will be broken in. You must do this with all new speakers, even the brand namers like celestion, eminence, and weber. After you do that, the speakers will sound much better, particularly at the low end because that requires a lot of cone movement which you don't get with new, stiff cones. Once this is done, loudness will not be a problem.
Compared to the industry standard of two channels with separate, this amp is extremely versatile. 32 separate models are available, and as far as I know, the only amp to beat that is the new Line 6 Vetta. I am going to subtract a point for the lack of any kind of footswitch (which now seems to be standard) and the lack of an independence selector (which forces you to use 8 ohm cabs).

Modern Gain Models:
The far and away winner in this category is the Rectified #2. It is powerful, articulate, and nicely compares to the real thing. A really nice metal sound is capable here. The only problem is the Drive control is really unresponsive. Going from 4-10 doesn't change a thing. The Line 6 Insane and Rectified #1 also good, but the latter does not have near the power nor the bottom end, and the former is a bit harsh and muddy. The Boutique #3, which models a Budda Super Overdrive, is top notch as well, nice and fat. I didn't really like the Modern High Gains and the Line 6 Drive (all based on Soldanos) as I found them compressed and treble happy (not treble heavy, which can be fixed with the Eqs, but instead, having a trebly fuzz in the gain apparent at all frequencies). They're also not very loud. I've never personally heard Soldanos, so I can't say if this was bad modeling or a bad model. Score: 8

Hi Gain Models:
I loved the Brit Hi Gain almost as much as the Rectified #2. With mids and trebles turned up and bass turned down, you get an incredible hard rock sound. The Boutique #2 and the Line 6 Crunch (both based on a Dumble Drive channel) are also really nice and very pick responsive. Be forewarned here though, they sound very unique, so copying someone's sound with these channels might not be easy. Score: 9

Low Gain Models:
All these are great, but the real stand out here is the Small Tweed and Small Tweed #2 with heavy emphasis on the treble. A really unique sound is achievable here that rivals any overdrive sound I've heard. The Class A's shimmer with a nice snarl and are very responsive to pick attack, and the Tweed Blues offers that standby classic blues tone. Score: 9

Clean Models
There are some problems here. First are all attempts to capture the Roland JC-120 (Jazz Clean and Line 6 Clean)--they're just not happening. Bad, dull clean sounds are all that result. The Black Panel and the Twang do not totally capture their intended model, but they are quite usable, if somewhat lifeless. The saving grace of this group is really the Boutique #1 (based on a Dumble Clean channel). Warm, responsive, and complex all describe this channel, though at high volumes, it does become apparent that this amp is digital (more on this later). Any of the low gain models are really better suited to capture a usable clean sound (with Drive turned down). Score: 5

Effects:
Compared to dedicated units, they don't stand up, but compared to any other on board effects, they are great. Score: 7

I really haven't played it that much, but it seems well built, and based on that I'll give it an 8. Other reviewers should note that computers crash all the time, an amp should be judged on its physical reliability.

No Idea

For the average player, this amp is more than enough to keep you occupied. It offers a myriad array of great sounds at a friendly price. Still, this is more amp than I'll ever need. I like a fixed sound. One that I can adjust to, so that my sound doesn't change character so much (though I still believe 70% of your sound comes from your hands and another 10% coming from the guitar). For me, a nice tube head works better. I do wish the Line 6 had models based on VHTs, Bogners, Engls, or Diezels.
Also, compared to a tube amp, this amp lacks presence. What I mean by that is, when I plug my VHT Pitbull into a 4x12 (or 2x12 for that matter), the sound is 3-D and reactive. Notes hang like they're surging with electricity, and I, or whoever is listening, believes in the magic of the sound. When I plug in the Line 6 to the same cabinet, I miss this. I've tried disengaging the noise gate and cranking it more and more, but the sound is still just not there. By the way, this is more noticable with the less distortion you have.
To sum up, this amp is great for someone looking for a wide variety of sounds without having to hassle with a large and/or expensive rig, blown tubes, or feedback. If you want just a couple or three great sounds, then get a more dedicated amp, particularly if it uses tubes (in the preamp section especially). I've been playing hard rock/metal for four years, and I am currently playing a VHT Pitbull 50/st through a 70s no name 4x12 with celestion T-30s and a Jenkins Sound Shop 2x12 loaded with celestion T-75s. I get a good clean sound with my neck pickup turned down, a light overdrive with either pickup cranked on the clean channel, a hi gain sound on the drive channel, and the best metal sound I have ever heard through the drive channel with the boost kicked in. Be warned though, if you follow my steps, you'll have to deal with all kinds of unpleasantness such as warming up the amp before you play it, replacing tubes and rebiasing, factoring in how much three hours of playing will change the sound (and does it ever), and a lot more cost and weight. Line 6 does give a nice alternative with the differences probably unnoticable in a band setting. For that, I give it an 8.

Bought in April 2001 from Guitar Center complete w/ Floorboard (a must!). See other reviews for features. Drawbacks - you're limited in the combination of effects, as well as their parameters.But they work in most situations. And you gotta have the floorboard to take full advantge.

Used with a Carvin Bolt-T Strat copy, mahogony body with maple neck/fingerboard, 3 AP-11 single coil pickups. Musical styles; popular music from 40s-present, alternative, classic rock, country. Seems to handle it all pretty well, considering you can't expect one amp to do it all perfectly. Amp has a low hum when turned on, but it's inaudible if you tweak the noise gate and/or play. Never had to turn the amp above 4 in live situations and it sounds great- inspires me to play better. Controls seem fairly responsive. Surprised at the warmth and tube-like characteristics coming from a digital amp. I use it in a duo and 6 piece band, using the direct xlr stereo outs to the board. Although it may not recreate amps 100%, they're pretty darn close when the guitar is in the thick of the other instruments. I get a lot of comments on how good my setup sounds right from the second I power up in soundcheck through to the last song of the night. ecently did a music video and sent direct outs to the board. It sounded better than the thin, tinny sounding mic'd guitars I'd seen in other videos from the same company- they're great sound engineers, so I have to think that the other guitarists had crappy sounds, even though they had great equipment. We even wound up using the music video tracks to burn audio cds!

This category is where I begin to feel some anxiety, but read on... So far, the switches on the Floorboard came loose once. Tightened them in a minute, no problem. Recently however, I was at a gig where the soundcheck sounded great. But when I went up to start the show, the amp was freaking out, the clean sounds were about 1/4 the volume and the distorted sounds were about 2x the volume. A REAL nightmare. Found out afterwards someone plugged the lights into the same circuit as the musical equipment causing a severe voltage drop. Line 6 amps are EXTREMELY sensitive to voltage fluxuations, which could account for many of the horror stories in the other reviews. WARNING: a simple surge protector willl NOT solve the problem. It only protects from voltage spikes by shutting down. Other protectors do the same if the voltage dips beyond a certain point too. You need to go out and get a line conditioner that outputs a *constant* 120V/60Hz (or whatever power you've got). It seems that most manufacturers these days are cutting corners on construction and the electronics are very sensitive. Combine that with the recent demands on power companies nationwide, and you're looking at a sonic disaster waiting to happen. I can't totally fault Line 6 for this, but I still feel like I have to treat the amp with kid gloves.

N/A

Been playing since I was 5 (35+ years).Have used Ampegs, Fenders, Music Mans, Rolands, Marshalls- you name it. Good amps for what they do. Had a Carvin 1/2 stack in the 80s that was great and versitile for its time. The Flextone is a great amp, in that you can do a lot without having to shell out a ton of money in stomp boxes (but at $1000, it's not so cheap, either). The stereo chorusing through 2-12s is enough to soil your jeans! ;-) I love the fact that with a midi interface you can download patches off the Internet. It ain't absolutely perfect at everything it does, but then, what is?

This amp is capable of any music you want to play. If your into blues, it will make you sound like Stevie Ray Vaughan. If your a shredder, it will make you sound like Yngwie. If your a metalhead, it'll make you sound like Anthrax or Metallica. It had four channels, which is more than enough to get a good variety of sounds. However, it's a software-based amp so you want to get a surge protector so it doesn't get messed up.

Like I said, it gives you any sound you want in the best ways. The Jazz Clean setting gives you some of the most beautiful clean sounds you will ever hear, and the Mod High Gain #2's distortion is just insane. Since it isn't a tube amp, you don't get output distortion, but no biggie.

Hasn't busted on me yet.

Never had a reason to deal with Line6.

I've been playing for about 2 1/2 years and this is the best amp that I've ever had. I'm definitely going to stick with Line6 when it comes to amps. If it were stolen, I'd definitely buy it again. The only thing I'd trade it in for is the amp head version, or a Line6 Vetta.

I play many styles of music from blues to metal and this amp cover's facets. I have read the above reviews of some would be "unlucky" owners. Or might they be Line 6 haters or jealous. Who knows. Doesn't really matter to me. I have owned one of amp or another of theirs and have had NOTHING but a good time with them.

Sounds....WOW. Check it out for yourself. But it from a GOOD MUSIC STORE that will let you return it within 30 days no questions asked (Guitar Center). And run that baby wild. Set it at all reasonable volumes and in many conditions then come here and whine if you need to.

I can totally depend on this amp without a backup. I have been using mine EVERY WEEK and have had NOTHING go wrong with mine. Could it be the ones with problems happened across a lemon?..............THINK ABOUT IT PEOPLE!

Here I can honestly say. THEY SUCK! They use to be much better. NOW THEY DON'T ANSWER YOU BACK IN ANY WAY ACCEPTABLE!
LINE 6 WORK ON THIS BABY. THIS COULD EITHER MAKE YOU OR BREAK YOU!.
I always call for general questions just to see their responce time. Kind of fun.

I was a devout vintage tube amp enthusiast until about a year ago when I realized I needed a lot more flexibility in my tone and did not want to cart around 34 pedals for my 70's Fender Twin. After much hemming, hawing and in-store experimenting I went and bought the Flextone II XL. The features are truly amazing--I could dial up more tone than I knew what to do with. After spending some time learning how to tweak the amp, (which was relatively easy even for a newcomer to smart amp technology...) I was absolutely hooked.

The sound quality for this amp is superb at low volume, direct and through headphones which makes it ideal for practice, recording and late night noodling. You can make just about any guitar sound good through this sucker too. From creepy airplane hanger reverb to thick fuzz I was nothing but delighted by the tones I could conjure up with the Flextone. I was particularly happy with the direct XLR outs on the FIIXL for live performance--experimented with this a bunch and felt this sounded better than a mic. Very convenient for the soundperson. At higher volumes it can hold its own, but still doesn't quite compare with nice warm tubes after hours of play time. The loud sound never got the thud in the chest feeling you get with driven tubes.

I've had this amplifier for 10 months of relatively light use. I've done a handful of shows at best, and it has been coddled for fear of damaging the delicate electronics inside. I've had an ongoing issue with a loud "pop" sound when switching out of tuner mode with the floorboard, and one problem with one of the floorboard switches (which was easy enough to fix--and anyway that's the floorboard, not the amp.) However, yesterday I plugged in my guitar and for no good reason there was no sound. There's some problem with the input that neither I nor the service support folks at Line 6 can seem to understand. When I compare the amount of playing time on this amp with the abuse my old trusty twin took from me, I have to say that after less than a year of light use I find it unsettling to have some sort of out of the blue mystery problem. For reliability reasons alone I am considering selling this amp and going back to the Twin with a Pod 2. I mean, who wants to take two amps to every gig? Not me--our band has too much gear in the van already! Simply not an option.

My experience with telephone support was okay. They were not terribly helpful, but there didn't seem to be much they could do with this last problem over the phone. I wasn't put on hold at all, (much to my amazement) and the technician answered my questions patiently and gave me an authorization number to have my amp repaired under warranty. Fine job with that. Email support is a different story. One time I used it and it was great. I received a reply in two days that was very helpful. At other times it was a royal pain in the ass. It seems half the time the website isn't working properly so you can't actually use their "faqtraq" system. If you write directly to service@line6.com or support@line6.com you get a reply telling you to use faqtraq. So I say pick up the phone.

If you want an amp to record with and you aren't often in high pressure situations where performance reliability is the difference between a great night and a migraine, then Flextone II XL is a fine amplifier. When it's working, it's a total pleasure to work with. However, I simply can't live with the fear that it might mysteriously stop working when I'm on tour and strapped for cash and time. I'm disappointed--I hope that the technology improves to a point where these become more reliable because they sure do sound good...

The Flextone II XL is a dream package. 32 different modeled amps, nice built in effects, programmable memory, and loads of input/output options, this amp is chuck full of features. An optional foot pedal can be used to add wah, more presets, and easy control on stage. All and all, the features set is incredible.

This is a great stand alone sound tool. True, it may not work well with effects pedals, but it has great effects already built in. I have only been playing for a real short time, but this amp rocks. Every amp setting is fresh, and the Line 6 insane will blow you away. I play a lot of punk and emo stuff, and this amp really fits my style. The thing I really love about it is you can just sit down, dial in an amp setting, and just play. I agree with the last post that this can be a great sound writting tool. I find myself experimenting more and more with the sounds, and it is a lot of fun. It may not be the best amp on the market, but it does give you some truly great sounds that make this amp really worth the money.

No problems. I was scared to hear that others have had bad luck, I hope I don't!

I never delt with them, and I hope I won't have to. I am pretty good with electronics, but the insides kind of scare me. Not sure if I would attempt to fix this one myself either

Like I said before, I am somewhat new to the guitar. I have played many instruments over the years, but just started the guitar 6 months ago. I love the amp. I am not planning on being in a band, or buying lots of equipment to use on it. I wanted an all in one package. Maybe this is not the best amp to tour with, but it is a great amp to play with and experiment on. I love it. If it were ever lost or stolen I would probably buy the POD2.0 instead of this simply because I went back and forth in the store, but in the end this was a good investment. I think the amp sounds great, it suits my needs perfectly, and is an all in one solution giving me tons of great sounds and loads of effects. Thanks Line 6, this amp rocks!

This is a very cool amp, loaded with features. The 32 different cabs, tons of effects, programmable channels. All and all, very full featured. I would have liked a foot switch to be included with the price of admission, even if it brought the whole package up a little. As is, a 9...

Well here is my problem. I played with these for a few weeks before buying one. I loved it in the store... lots of cool sounds, lots of great cabs. The effects were fun and the amp ripped. So, I bought one, took it home, and returned it a few days later. First of all, forget using your effects pedals with this amp. If you have any mooger foogers, or analog processing tools... they sound like complete shit on this amp. That was strike number one for me. I spent almost $600 for two mooger foogers, and not being able to use them freaked me out.

The final nail in this amps coffin was the inability to create a truly dynamic tube sound. I know, I know, it is all circuits, but this sounds like crap. Everything sounds tinny, and nothing sounds natural. It seemed like the louder I set it, the worse it got, and I started noticing more and more square sounding waves during tremelo sweeps, like with Voodoo Lab or a Mooger Fooger Ring Modulator. It also liked to cut out on high volumes, which, to be completly fair, I would probably never drive this cab to anyway (it is really, really loud at about 7).

All and all, I am not sold on Solid State. I had spent a lot of money on analog equipment, good guitars, etc... and I can not have them piped into this and sound like trash. I do think this amp is very cool, but would never spend more than $400 - 500 on it. If you really want these features, check out the cheaper Spyder... I think I will pick up one of those for a bedroom type amp myself. You get almost all the same features, same sound, and spend a lot less.

For me the rating is a 2, it does no good for me. For someone new to the game, and wanting an amp with tons of features, and can live with the somewhat washed out tinny sound (you may not even notice it, it depends on your ears) then I would give this a 7.

It was solid for the short time I owned it. The pots felt cheap, but I doubt they would break. Everything worked and operated well. If you plan to gig with it I would buy the $30 cover... it is really heavy duty and will keep this thing in good shape. If it would have worked for me (or with my equipment) I would have felt safe giging without a backup.

Never had to deal with them.

Full of features, great looks, and a pretty cool idea... However, this is way to much to be a practice amp... and the sound it generates is not something I would want to bring on stage. The amp is very cool and can be a great song writting tool. If you really want a Line 6, I highly recommend looking at the Spyder models first. They sound identical and have almost all the same features. This kind of amp is not my cup of tea, and I would only buy the cheaper model as a development tool. It is fun to play with, but for just under a grand, it is an expensive toy. At this price I would recommend looking elsewhere, such as Rivera or Fender's tube amps.

Alright, where to start...

2x12 amp, 100 watts(stereo), and a buttload of amp models. Enough effects to keep you tweaking for a while. This thing really comes alive as a recording tool, though. Plug it into your computer, and you'll tweak the virtual knobs until the cows come home. Excellent amount of stuff for the $700-800

I typically play a wide ranging selection of music, with two main axes. A Godin Radiator(6 string, single coils) and a Schecter A-7(7 string, humbuckers).

Metal: If you play mainly metal, and want a little more flexability, this is your main amp, right here. There's a reason that Line 6 has been really hitting the metal scene lately... Great response, excellent sounds. Just hit the Dual Rectifier or Marshal Hi-Gain models, crank up, and go! Or even better, use the Line 6 Insane model. Uses a Soldano as a preamp for a Dual Rec, basically. Great sound!

Clean/Pop: Even better, if that's possible. Just the right amount of sparkle and oomph. I can cover the Beatles, head straight to Goo Goo Dolls territory, and finish up with Nothing Else Matters.

Jazz: Throw some single coils on, turn down the tone, turn it to the 21st century clean or JC 120 model, and let 'er rip. 'Nuff said.

Country: I don't hit this area too often, but the slapback delays with the Fender models sound great.

Floyd/Trippy: This amp is awesome for this stuff... You can adjust a delay and chorus clean for the first part of "Another Brick in the Wall" and hit the distortion settings right after with no problem, just a toe tap. Then go to Bassman territory for the D minor barre chord. I can't say enough about the uses for this kind of music.

Recording: The best. Bar none. Adjust some settings from your computer, set up Pro Tools, and cut your tracks all in one shot!(That's how I run it, anyways...)

Gigging: Haven't had the same problems that everyone seems to have with the power amp. And if I did, I'd turn it down and run it direct to the PA, so my sound could triple or quadruple. No problems. Oh, and I run this thing at about 4-5 over a bassist(1/2 stack), guitarist(1/2 stack), and a drummer(Full five piece, heavy handed). No problems.

Effects: Alright, the only place I'm iffy on. The flangers are okay, but not that good... Choruses are great, as are the delays and tremelos... I'm not too keen on the Leslie emulator, but it's alright... Other than that, the effects are pretty cool. Unfortunately, the flangers keep it from hitting a 10.

The only reason I can't give this thing a 10 is I had the input jack bust on me during a practice once. Turns out that a lot of companies today are using plastic inputs instead of metal... Cord got jerked in just the right way, and snap!

Anyways, had it replaced with a metal one, so I shouldn't have that problem again...

Other than that, I've left it out in -40 to -60 for a few hours, brought it in, warmed it up, and it didn't explode. That's good enough for me!

Never had to talk to them.

I've been playing for about 3 years now, and I'm heading into my first semester as a music major, with a specialty area in recording(hopefully). This amp is everything I ever needed in one box.

I haven't played a lot live, but I believe that I would use this amp without a backup. If it was stolen, I would gladly buy a new one... Hell, maybe even the Head/Half stack!

A great, versatile tool for your musical expression. Crank 'er up!

I have been playing for 2 years now, and over the summer of 2001 saved enough money to plunk down on my dream amp. This amp is complexly wonderful. the 2001 flextone 2 xl is a mother. Mostly any sound required by any type of music can be replicated, as the amp has 32 'modeled amps' and 16 optional 'modeled cabinets' to mix and match as you please. Also there are 16 digital effects that can be applied to any amp/cab setting. this thing was built for performance too. 2 direct outs for studio or live work, and 2 speaker outs, all stereo. And powerful too, this amp can handle any gig/practice i'm doing under 5. definately eardrum blowing. I one thing i absolutely hate about this amp is the 'tap' button. it makes no sense to me at all. you have to hold this button to access hidden amps and cabs, and you don't know what you are doing unless you've memorized the owner's manual. o well it's still kick ass

I play straight ahead classic rock, jazz, blues, and funk and this amp is all over the place tonally. ALthough i will admit that some of the amps sound very similar, it has so many that it isn't a problem to find exactly the sound you want. If you are looking for vesatility this machine will not disappoint.

Perfect. I haven't had a problem yet in 4 monthes. Although when i ordered it from Guitar Center, i wanted one straight out of the box, not opened. I waited a few weeks, it came in and the box that the amp was in was totally destroyed: A huge gash in the side. I was seriously disappointed. but i simply did not take it home and ordered another one and it was fine. This might have been guitar center's fault...

n/a

I bought this amp at a deal, and i got the little 4-button foorswitch thrown in. I'm not complaining, but that footswitch doesn't do the amp justice if you like to switch around a lot during a set (which is probably why you bought the amp in the first place). The big ass footswitch is very expensive, $300 at least. definately recommended even though i don't have it. changing presents in the amp's 'tap' and 'save' modes during shows is a real pain in the ass, plus it takes a minimum of 15 seconds to change a present correctly for me. If you're looking for the most reasonably priced modeling amp out there that can pretty much blow ANYTHING away, this amp is for you.

Check out other posts or line6.com to read about the features...

Now, after reading the other reviews for this amp I thought it was necessary that I throw my 2 cents in. This amp is amazing. Before purchasing it I was dead set on using tube amps. However, I was blown away one day in the music store when I plugged the Flextone in. It 'nailed' the 32 amp sounds. Are they 100% purely authentic? No...but who cares. Regardless of what the vast majority of Line6 opponents say, it is nearly impossible to distinguish between the amps being modeled and the real amps. I was particularily impressed with the Rectifier & Matchless models. Try pricing a Matchless & Dual Rectifier alone and you're looking at upwards of 5 times the price of the Flextone. Another thing: as far as the amp only sounding good at bedroom levels and transforming into the world's worst amp in a band setting...complete nonsense. I found that the Flextone sounds just as good, if not better, cranked with a band. A few months ago I was soooo close to buying a Single Rectifier...god am I glad that I didn't. With the Flextone I'm able to get everything the Rectifier has to offer plus so much more (31 more, to be exact).

Sound is consistent and, if you simply take care of it, the amp should easily deliver day in and day out.

N/A

Please, do yourself a favor and buy this amp.

Well, by now everyone's familiar with Line 6's features - wide variety of sounds some great some not as good.
One thing I wonder, which is like "DUH???" obvious, is WHY THEY JUST DIDN'T PUT another knob on the top for cabinet modeling. Using the tap button to change cabs is not only stupid, there's no way to really tell whether or not you've selected a cab, or which. The whole tap button function is stupid in itself, there's no way to tell what's on or off.

I've used the LINE 6 with both my American Std. Strat (Lace sensor pickups) and a Les Paul standard (new). The amp versatility is tantalizing, the 100 watts of power makes your mouth water until you turn it up in a band setting. Then it just sounds like you are playing through computer monitor speakers.

I messed with it for like two months, then just bought a Marshall TSL 100 half stack.

So I'm stuck with a $750 practice amp which sounds great at low volume in my room. Turn it up over three and you'll cringe at the thin processed sound, as well as the infinite reverb which is omnipresent when the reverb and effects are in the bypass mode.

I was going to hook it up to my computer to make demos and record riffs , figuring the midi out function is cool to control with the floorboard, but.... (I'll get to this part later)

It's a 9 at low volumes, but a 1 if you're playing with something other than yourself...

This amp was never used for a gig, and is totally mint, six months old. And it has totally SH*T the bed. One day, I started getting a roaring hum like the input jack was loose or the cable had gone bad.

Nope. It was the amp. I checked the jacks, plugged it back in with new cables and a different guitar and well, nothing, not a single sound on any of the four channels. Nada, zip, zilch.

So I took out my 20+ year old Polytone and plugged it in...the Line 6 is awaiting me ending the phone tag with their tech support (in all fairness they called me within two hours, but I had left)

Chalk up another one in the horror story category...

The juries still out on this one, I'll update when I can.

Wow, where do I go with this? Just when I was beginning to accept the amps limitations and planning to work around them, it up and dies on me, with no regard for my feelings. I wanted to like it, I think the packaging is pretty cool and the facing on the speakers is beautiful. I even like the candy apple red color. Right now though, it's a 58-lb. paperweight. I wish I had read the reviews before I bought one.

I'm calling my credit card company to see if I can use a buyer protection guarantee on it. Let them give me my money back....

everything u need

It has a wicked sound for anything when played at low volume, but raise it above 5 and it sounds terrible. A good practice amp.

No problems yet

No problems yet

I need better sound at higher volumes (I'm in a really loud band)!

This amp is great for all kind of styles i play metal,blues,jazz and it suites all those styles and probably many more.It has 32 amp models Everything from mesa to marshall to fender and vox.It also has 16 effects flanger,chores,delay,tremmelo,compressor and many more.It has many more settings but would take forever to tell you all of them.Its jjust a great KICK ASS amp!!!

I use my Ibanez RG serious guitar and goes great with this amp made the stock pickups sound awsome.I mostly play metal (slayer'pantera,metallica,megadeth) and some blues and jazz and this amp suites every style I play and probably many more styles.Has a great distortion sound and nice smooth clean sound.

It's very dependable I would use it at a gig without a backup.Never broke nothing ever went wrong with it.

Never dealt with the company and i a pretty confidente I wont have to.

I have been playing for 2 years and this is one of the best amps I have ever played.I strongley recomend this amp for anyone who plays many styles of music.If it where stolen or lost I would no doubt buy it again.This is truley a great amp The only thing you can't use multiple effects you can only use one effect setting at a time

made in 2001
i play any style you can think of and this amp covers em all\
4 channels built in (36 with floorboard)
this amp has everything you need and nothing you dont
i use this amp in my high school group at church and in my band
it can get really really loud
as loud as you want
extremely versatile

i have a fender nashville power tele w/ standard tele lipstick, strat single coil, fender/fishman power bridge and peizo pickups
this amp follows suit with all other line 6 products giving you any sound you want
the clean models are sweet and maintain cleaness at the highest of volumes
the distortions on this thing are incredible

i havent had it too long but from what ive heard these things last with no problems but then again time will tell
if i had the money i would buy a backup
the amp is kept in perfect condition and works perfectly everytime its turned on

havent had to yet

ive been playing for only 4 yrs (i play at least for 1hr everyday)
but my knowledge and experience with gear is extensive
i go down to my local Guitar Center just about every weekend and just mess around with stuff
i also have an ovation celebrity and a 27 year old alvarez
i compared line 6 gear with marshalls (their avt stuff is crap in comparison) and fenders
i figured that with the flextone 2 xl i would get all amps i looked and all the volume i could afford
line 6 gear is so versatile i wish i had more money
if it was lost or stolen i would definetly get a new one
the only thing i wish it came with was a new gibson les paul custom

And now boys and girls a horror story about my Line 6 amp. I just bought this amp a few weeks ago. I have been playing it in the house and never heard even a hint of bad sound.....well, that didn't last. Tonight I had a band practice and so I took my new amp. For the first hour or so of practice, everything was going ok. Then I started hearing a "whoomp" noise when I would hit tight power chords. At first I kind of blew it off. I messed with the bass knob and it seemed to help. Then I started getting static. Bad static. Then the volume started going in and out. I turned off them amp and turned it back on. It would be ok for about a minute and then would start up again with the problems. I am really disappointed because not only did I really like the sound of these amps, this is my second Flextone in a month. I had to send the first one back due to volume drop problems. I would not recommend these amps to anyone. Don't get me wrong, I love the POD. I have no problems with that, but for some reason the amps just have problems. Do yourself a favor and do not buy these amps unless you want to be paranoid as hell about every practice, gig, etc. for the rest of your life.

Anger keeps me from answering this question. Why should I even have to worry about repairs on a new piece of equipment? That should be the last thing on my mind.

Look at the percentage on this one. Out of owning 2 flextones, both went bad on me. I don't like those kinds of numbers. That is ridiculous to pay $799 for something you can't feel good about. Garbage.....

100 watt stereo 2x12 combo, 32 amp models, 16 digital effects, 15 cabinets models, 4 user storage banks (or 36 banks if you have an extra $300 to spend on the floorboard after buying the amp...those cheap bastards!) Has effects loop, headphone out, dual XLR outs for direct recording or for a mic-less live setup, MIDI ports for amp model transfers from thier website or for using their Sound Diver software for tweaking your own sounds. What more could this amp need? My biggest complaint is that the amp is styled after the bluesbreaker style combo amps, and has the controls in the top of the amp, and not the front. At first this didn't seem like a big deal, but there are times you need to use both hands to make some adjustments, and you're forced to stand over top of the amp to see what you are doing, and your guitar hangs in your face. With the controls on top you cannot at a glance see what settings you have without making a trip back to it to lean over the amp. I guess if you have the floorboard you don't have to endure this problem. Also, they make a 2x12 extension cabinet, but once you plug it in, it disables the internal speakers! What were they thinking? I'd love to add another speaker cabinet, but unless I buy 2-2x12's I'm right back to where I started from!!

I use am Ibanez RG570 and a Les Paul. Both have stock pickups and sound AMAZING through this amp! I play a lot of metal/hard rock and the sounds this thing can create is pretty amazing. I am an ex-tube amp nut, so I feel this is a real revelation for me. I have had Marshalls, Mesas, Carvins, etc...and I have only ever been able to get one good sound out of any of them. Recently I decided I wanted something more flexable that sounded good, but eliminated the hassles of carrying a 2 ton tube amp up and down a flight of stairs. I really only have use for 3 of the amp models, but they are more than enough for me! The distortions are deep and tight, and have a plesant growl. Harmonics really cut through but aren't overly bright. The clean channels are okay and aren't really this amp's forte in my opinion. (But in all fairness, I really haven't tried to tweak the clean channels at all.) This is the first amp I've ever owned that having stereo was a noticeable difference. The effects sound full and deep. Also, the ability to try different speaker cabinet models is an added bonus when creating new sounds. They really do make a huge difference in the sounds. I feel this amp could cover just about any style of music with no problems.

I can't comment on reliabilty, but this site almost scared me away from this amp, based on the other postings I've read. I hope I don't have any issues. So far it seems rock-solid as far as construction goes. If you ever get curious, open up the amp and take a look. There's barely anything in there!

Once again, based on the other postings here, customer support and reliabilty seem to be the biggest pitfall of owning anything Line 6. I have yet to need them, but for $750, they better be there when I need them!

I wish I could own 2 of these! I recently made the worst decision of my life and bought a Marshall AVT 275. I won't get into it here, but after owning one of those horrible things for 2 weeks, this amp was a much needed breath of fresh air! This amp is extremely flexible, has killer sounds, and is not tube. I am never happy with an amp's sounds two days in a row, so having the different amp sounds is a big plus for me.I really like the added bonus of having sofware that allows you to re-program the sounds, and that thier web site also has user sounds you can download. I really doubt I'll consider buying another tube amp, since (for me) they have been expensive one-trick ponies.

New 2001. I bought the amp and the big floor controller. I have now problems with the amp other than the open back. When I play it at practice or live I run it through a stereo Marshall 4x12 and the stock 2 12's turn off so it's not an issue. All in all it does everything they boast about.

I play Les Paul's with Duncan JB's. The amp is very quiet and the distortions are great. I like the fact you can dial in a high gain distortion you like for your main crunch channel, save it and by using those exact same setting add a little more compression, delay and channel volume and have a seamless transition to a lead channel. I am having a hell of a time getting a good clean sound. It's probably something I'm missing but even with the dist boost off and the drive backed down it still breaks up slightly. This is where I notice the absence of tubes.

So far no problems.

Line 6's web site is useless for support. They will not respond to emails. But the phone number in the back of the red manual works well. They called me back within an hour both times I used it.

I've been playing since '78. I play Les Pauls exclusively and I love old black face Fender's for a clean tone. If I lost the amp I would replace it with the same thing. It's by far the best of the smart amps for the money.

This is an update to my review below. I wanted to do an update after playing around with the amp, pushing the volume, etc. I thought the knobs would be a pain in the ass because they are on top of the amp, but are located towards the rear. This has not been a problem, and is actually handy when playing standing up. It is easy to look down, tweak, and continue. Again, I wish the back of the amp was closed. I have not played this amp in a big room, but when I play in my spare room with it cranked, the sound comes out of the back of the amp and is real bassy off the wall. Not a big deal. With open backs I just feel like a lot of the sound escapes out the back. I like closed better. Footswitch is a must with these amps. Without the footswitch, you can only save 4 user presets.

I stand by my earlier posts about the sound quality of this amp. Like I said before, the presets are not a good representation. Even the "rectified" preset does not use all of the gain capable. I was able to really tweak this thing. It is amazing being able to get a great tweed sound and a heavy slayer type sound out of the same amp. I guess the key to the Line-6 stuff is patience.

So far so good! I am still paranoid, but I must admit I have had no problems with sound, noise, etc. By the way, the amp is really quiet.

Everytime I try to register a Line 6 product online I have problems. I sent it in the mail, which was a pain. I don't know what is wrong with their site, but they need to fix it.

This is a brand spanking new 2001, never opened. I play everything from blues to metal, and this amp really can cover it all. There are 32 channels to dump sounds into, but to be able to call all of them up you have to use the footswitch. If you guys are checking the review on this then you really already know the features, so I won't get into that part. The Line 6 website is probably better for that anyway. I really think that the footswitch should come with the amp. Lots of other amp companies include the footswitches now. I like closed back cabinets, and this one is open. Just a personal thing, but I wish it had a back you could remove. As far as power goes, this thing is loud. When I got the amp just around the 9:00 position it started already getting pretty loud. It definitely has enough power. They previously sent me a 1x12 combo and I sent it back. The 2x12 makes a huge difference as you can imagine. Tons of features of course. I give a 9 just because they need to include the footswitch.
I did end up buying one.

I am using a Gibson SG Special though this thing. They have the classic 490 Gibson pickups in them. The sounds cover so much ground that I would think you could get any sound out of it imaginable. I don't think the presets do the amp justice. If someone plugs into the amp in a store and just runs through the presets, they will be disappointed. I know some people think it sucks to have to tweak, etc. but I think that is where the amp shines. People play so many different styles, different guitars, settings, etc. and this amp allows you to get it just right for you. One guy might like a mid-boost and the other a mid cut. You make the choices. I was surprised at how good the clean sounds even at high volume. As far as distortion goes, I think it is pretty brutal. The insane setting is really good! The Rectifer and "Soldano" settings are really good too if you want heavy. All of the amps sound great though. Don't think this is just a metal amp or a jazz amp, etc. I really think this amp covers all ground. I compared this amp with a Peavey Transformer 112, a Marshall AVT, and a Rocktron Replitone. The Peavey and Marshall amps are really good. The Marshall is not a flexible as this amp but sounds really pure. The Peavey is a contender. Good distortion on that one. I was not really impressed with the Rocktron. I went in thinking that amp would be the end-all amp choice for me, but I thought it sounded a bit too processed. In the 80's it would have nailed a lot of the distortions that were being used, but now it seems a bit dated. That is only MY opinion.

I had a review on harmony cental about the 1x12 version of this amp. It started freaking out within hours of me buying it, so I sent it back. To be honest I am scared to death right now because I love this amp, but worry about reliability. From the reviews I have seen, people tend to have more problems with the 1x12 version than this one. Also, seems that people either have a problem free one, or a ton of problems. Time will tell with this. So far so good, but I will mark this section down based on past experience.

The website is great, but they don't answer questions too frequently. I usually get help from Malhavok, Dimitris, or some of the other Line 6 users. The other users treat you like family and try to help with any problems you might have. It's a shame Line 6 is not the same.

I have been playing for about 15 years. I had a POD 2 and only sold it because I knew I was buying this one. If it was stolen etc. I would buy another. That all depends on how this holds up though. If something went wrong with this one I would probably get a Marshall AVT 150 combo amp.

This amp is brand new (as of 2001). This is the most versatile amp I have ever played. It only has 4 channels (more if you add a floorboard). I use this amp in the studio, and on stage and it does a great job (though what is programmed for low volume will need some tweaking for the stage).

I am running a Schecter V-7 into this amp and it is very brutal. I play Heavy music (slipknot, Coal Chamber, Mudvayne, and Pantera). The sounds are all very good. The sounds you get are as good as the time you put into them. Though not a Tube amp, it is the CLOSEST thing to one.

I have not had any problems with it, but I am a little skeptical about it's use. I am not stupid enough to try to use this without a backup.

Never had to deal with them. Their website is very good for getting new sounds to your amp.

I have been playing for 5 years and I need something that will give me a consistent good tone without a ton of maintence. I like tube amps better, but they are not reliable or consistent. If it were lost or stolen I would get it again because it is the best choice for my style of music (ask Dino Cazares).

My amp was made in 2000. Before trying the flextone, I only owned solid-state amps ( this is a digital amp). I wanted to get an amp that would replace all the pedals and the other crap I needed to achieve my tone. This amp is amazing, I can pretty well get any sound I want with this amp. My style of playing is mostly metal and some blues. The amp can handle it all, from thick crunchy rhythms to sweet warm blues leads. It has a headphone jack which is nice when you want to do some midnight shredding and don't want to wake anyone. This amp is very loud; at 100 watts, it has more then enough power to gig with. I have no problems being heard. One thing that I wish was different is that you can only use 2 of the effects at one time. This isn't that big of a deal, but it would have been cool to see what really strange sounds I could have come up with. Also, the effects are average and not mind blowing, but they work well enough that I wouldn't have to add any other effects. If you do want to add other effects you can with it's effects loop. I believe this amp more then enough features to match any style of playing. It has a little something to meet the needs of most guitar players.

I use an LTD EC-300 by ESP, with EMG-HZ pickups. These pick-ups are not very good(I woant to throw in a set of EMG 81s). This amp even makes these pick-ups sound amazing. I love the sounds coming out of this amp. One cool thing is being able to download sound patches from the line 6 website. Some of the sound are awful, but some are right on the money. I downloaded a fade to black(distorted) sound and it was amazing. This amp does a great job giving you enough versatility, I have no problems finding tones I like. One thing you have to be careful about is the setting you have at bedroom level doesn't always sound good at gig level. This is not a big deal because with a little tweaking and patience you can find the sound you want at any volume level. Both clean and distorted sounds are excellent at high volumes. I can't believe how good this amp sounds. I have not tred most of the amps that it models, so I can't tell you if they sound close. I don't really care about how close they sound as I feel that there is enough variety to get any tone you want. If you like the tone you are getting, who cares if it sounds exactly like a 1959 fender bassman. I do wish that if you hooked up an external speaker that the internal one would not be silenced. This is not that great of an idea. This said though the amp is loud enough that most won't need any extra power.

I have had no problems with this amp. So far it has done everything I needed it to do without any problems. One thing that worries me though is the power switch. It is just a little push-in button that does not seem very sturdy. If it gets caught on anything while moving the amp I believe it would snap. You just have to be more careful with because of this.

The amp comes with a one year warranty, that should be more then enough time to find any manufacturing flaws. I have not had to deal with Line 6, so I don't know if their customer support is good or not.

I feel that for the price this amp is amazing. You can get any sound you want. I had been wanting a Line 6 amp for 4 years, since the first time I heard one in a store. Now that I own it, it sounds better then I could have dreamed. If it was ever stolen I would have to get another. If you want a very versatile amp that is not that expensive, then this is the amp for you.

Models of many 32 amps and every effect you would need. It is more versatle that anything I have played in 20yrs. With the floorboard, you have the ultimate setup with the wah and vol pedal. It seems to be the perfect setup. I have not played out live with the amp, but it gives every sound that I could want.

I use a LP and a strat with DG emgs. The amp is clean and has the most killer distortion. All effects sound fantastic.

I have had no problems in the 8 months that I have played on it.

No problems

I would buy it again. For the money, you can get the sounds of any legendary amp that you want. I get a great marshall sound. Also real good clean. I always wanted a high dollar dumble, now I can get it with this amp!

read another review below if you dont know what the features are.

I mostly use an Ibanez Jem 7VH and a MusicMan Axis with this amp.I've only had this thing for about a week so i haven't fully found my sound with it yet but so far i think i like it. I've owned several tube amps before includding a fender twin, a boogie studio 22+, marshall jcm 800 and a 5150. This thing may be better than all of them, not sure yet. I have been able to get some killer sounds...the problem is adjusting the sounds for stage volume. It's really only a nuisance...you get a great sound at home volume level and then when you try it out at gig level it's all wrong. After plenty of tweaking though, I've been able to get some awesome sounds that I like and as I continue to play around they keep getting closer to what I really want. The great thing about this amp is that I think you can probably get just about any sound you want if you spend enough time screwing around with it.

dont know yet ... a little scared after reading some of the reviews below.

?

So far so good...not a bogner, not a twin, not a boogie...but close enough to any to make me happy. The key with this amp I think is not the ability to get one or two perfect sounds, but to be able to get dozens of great sounds.

I play in two diffrent bands my first band(Big Mike & The Booty Papas) is a blues band,I use only my Fender Twin(1970). I also play in A House band in Macon, Ga. we play every thing from George Jones to Creed and any thing in between and the XL II works GREAT as A matter of fact my self, and the other players,Bass(Bass pod pro, Floor board), Guitarest(Xl, floor board), Guitarest,pedel steel(Ax2, Floor board), Myself(XL II, Pod 2.0, Floor board) we LOve the versatility of these amps.

GREAT SOUNDS, GREATB TONE!!! What else can I say.

We have had our amps for about 2.4 years and when ever any thing new comes out we buy it at once no sweat.

Never had to deal with them. Thank the lord for that.

This amp has so many features, The quality of it is outstanding, very well constructed and can with hold anyting. It has 2x12 speakers that put out 100 watts of power.

the amp has 32 different tones that you can tweak and customize to how ever you want. It also has 15 effects that you can add and customize. It has 4 channels for you to save your soubds, and comes with come sweet distortion.

It is a very reliable amp and never has broke down.

Never had to deal with them, But I think it has some kinda warenty.

Great amp for any level of players

I was initially very impressed by all the features of this amp, the real drawback is that the footswitch does not come standard. I wasn't ready to commit to the $300 version, but the 4 button switch still set me back $80.

I plugged in my fairly new 2000 Fender Deluxe with Noiseless pickups and was pleased with the clean and distortion amp settings. It sounded good with my Tele too. I didn't find the cab settings that interesting however. The effects were all ok, not overally impressive, but the flange sounded way to 'processed'. I prefer my Boss flanger pedal by far. The real test came during band practice where I found the real limitation of this amp. At high volumes, the warmth was lost, and the sound became very cutting and edgy with both clean and distortion settings. I had no problem being loud enough, but the tube simulation quickly began sounding very solid state.

Several issues here: The small fan that cools the board in the amp, yes the amp has a fan inside, often came unbalanced and would begin buzzing. It wasn't especially loud, but it was especially annoying while practicing at low volumes. Also during practice the amp at one point began making this very strange sound while playing, much like an envelop filter. This happened after my cord became unplugged. The effect eventually went away, but it was very disturbing. I don't think this amp was made for gigging and rugged use. If you need a studio amp, or have the money to spend $800 on a practice amp, this might be the amp for you. But if you intend to use it during band practice or are going to haul it around alot, I would look for something more durable. I eventually took this amp back after being both disappointed in its performance at high volume and its reliability.

This could be a good amp depending on how you are going to use it, but for my purposes it was rather lacking in both sound quality and reliability.

Great versatile amp, has a TON of different amplifier settings, I play in several different bands, several different genres, and it worked perfectly (soundwise) in each situation. Sometimes it seeemed to have too many options, but the versatility was amazing. I;ve had issues with the ones I've owned, read below. But the versatility is there.

My guitar collection is pretty diverse. I play in a Tragically Hip tribute band (kinda blues-rock oriented) and I use a Tele with Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in the bridge. I also play in a modern-rock cover band, which I use either my Jackson Dinky or my Hamer Chapparell, both of which are outfitted with EMG-81's. I also play in a country band, which I use a stock Tele with stock pickups. And, (whew!) I also have an original heavy-grind band, which I use my Hamer with. It worked well for all situations, with a little "homework" you can get EXACTLY the sound you are looking for. The cleans are clean, the distortions vary from slightly overdriven to just crazy (The Line 6 Insane model, The Dual Rectifier, and the Soldano sounds are nuts) Also, the fact that you have on-board effects (which, if you buy the large floorboard are easy to access) is definitely a bonus. The wah pedal on the floorboard is one of the nicest sounding I've heard.

Here's where the story gets bad. I know your mileage may vary, but I had NOTHING but problems with mine. I bought my first one Nov. 5th of 2000. It was messing up, so I brought it back 3 days later and got a replacement. I played with that one for about a week, but there was a problem with the amp - Volume was about HALF of what the first one was. No problem, I took it back to Guitar Center (you gotta love those guys!) and got YET ANOTHER ONE. Well, I used that for most of December, but when I played with a gain-heavy or bottom-heavy sound, the amp would magically switch into EDIT mode. So, I brought THAT one back, and got another one. (by the way, if you are counting, I was on amp number 4 since I bought it). This one would NOT go into TUNER mode from the footboard. I purchased a new Ethernet cable for the footboard, but it still didn't work properly. I exchanged AGAIN (5th amplifier), and this one worked until Feb 1st, when it unexplainedly started auto switching between patches, putting effects on and off during songs, and just being a pain in the ass. I brought it back to G.C. and got a Crate Blue Voodoo 120 head and a Marshall 4x12. I lost some of the versatility, but the dependability is definitely there. I play out 4 or 5 times a week, and I need something that can stand up to the rigors of live performance.

Don't bother. You call them, and sit on hold for hours. Don't email them either, because they won't write you back. AND, if you do get a hold of someone, they act pissed because you ask questions. Hey, man I paid $800.00 for this piece of crap, you'd better answer my f'in question.

I've been playing for 22 years. I own plenty of other equipment which doesn't piss me off. If someone stole it, I'd probably pay him for the honor of recieving my homeowner's insurance check. I'd probably take him out for a beer or three. I mean, for something that sounds SO AMAZING, it was the least reliable thing I've ever owned.

As stated in the review below, there's no way this amp could get less than a 10.

I really like all the different amp sounds you can get with this amp. I've read some reviews that say some of the amp models don't sound like the amp they are trying to copy. I have to disagree. They sound close enough for me, and I'm sure it's going to sound close enough for your audience. I think the only way you are going to get the exact sound is to actually go out and buy a Mesa, Soldano, etc... I've actually played out of a Marshall JCM 800 and I think this comes pretty darn close. I recommend that you use the Sound Driver software that comes with this amp. You can download patches and run it on the Sound Driver and it tells you exactly how to set your amp for different songs. For example I downloaded a patch for Creed's "Higher" and I was able to make this amp sound really close to the amp on the recording. I think that's the whole point behind this amp. You can get a sound that sounds pretty close enough to all your favorite artists without having to own the same expensive amps that they own. I've even been given compliments by my band mates about how they love the way I'm able to achieve the tone of the actual artist on the cover tunes we play.

I've had it for about 2 months and no problems as of yet. I can't really give an opinion after I've had it a little longer.

Haven't had to deal with the company so, no opinion here either.

I'd have to give this amp a 9. I love all the features and versitility that this amp gives me. If it were stolen I would definately get another one, that is unless they have the flextone III's out then, but if not I'd be getting another one of these. I honestly really couldn't bring myself to play out of anything else. I also have to recommend that you get the floorboard too. Its worth it's weight in gold. You get a wah pedal, volume pedal, tuner, and 8 more sound banks in which to store your sounds. It may seem a bit pricey, but you'll be glad you bought it.

There's no way anyone can give the features rating less than a 10.

There are a lot of good sounds on this thing, although I think it doesn't sound very good at high volumes, and the sounds don't sound like what they are copying--for example, I played a real dual rectifier then played this amp. I almost cringed--it was a very poor immitation. So don't buy this amp expecting exact copies of Marshall, Fender, Mesa, etc.

Cool because of versatility and what you get for the price. Sounds great unless you compare it to the real thing(s). Then it doesn't sound so good.

Line 6's 100 watt Stereo 2X12 Amp w/32 amp models, 16 cabs, and various effects, dual XLR outs, a live and studio mode, headphone jack, midi capability. See thier website

Ok, this is basically a POD 2.0 with a power amp and speakers in a combo amp. I bought this amp because I fell in love with the POD and needed a live solution. You can use a power amp and speaker cab with a POD but this is a more versatile and a cheaper way to go.

Ok, now for the sounds. I am a small time tube amp tech in Austin, TX as well as full time student at UT. I have owned/played/fixed most of the amps this amp models. Some of the models are closer than others. The dual rectifier model is damn close, the Fender amps and the Vox AC30 sound good too. The plexi and JCM 800 are nice. I was a bit disappointed with the JTM45 model though.

I am a tube amp lover, but this amp is so versatile. I love being able to pull up different amp models when I am noodling. By combining amps with different cabinets (like a JCM800 through a 1X12 Fender Cab) you can get some really cool original tones.

One of the nice touches with the amp models is that they sort of respond like real tube amps. I always liked playing through old marshalls wide open and being able to roll off the volume to clean it up (you know what I am talking about), this thing will do it too. Don't put too much stock into how close these models sound to the actual amps. The point is that the models sound damn good in their own right. I still like a strat through a blackface super reverb but without a lot of pedals you are limited in what you can do. I will admit it I am a tweaker and love being able to dream up new tones. These amps, if used right, will expand your playing range. I always felt as though I was a hard rock/blues kind of player but playing around with this thing has made me start learning all sorts of Andy Summer like chords and jazz progressions. My playing is really opening up even after 20 years.

The effects are pretty good. I have just ordered the Line 6 Delay and Modulation modeling stomp boxes because they sound better and do more. But, the ones on the amp are fine. The tremolo is really cool. Surf City!! I basically use the Choruses (there are 2) and the delay. The reverbs are also really nice.

Warning****If you get this amp, buy the floorboard too. You get 36 presets instead of 4, plus you get the tuner and Wah. Also, get the right cables and do your editing via the included software on your computer. I always make my patches sitting next to my computer because with the software you can see exactly how everything is set. If I have to give Line 6 one knock its the user interface.

It is impossible to not get good tones with this amp and a little patience. It is very loud too and not very noisy unless you are playing a really "gainy" amp like a Soldano with the gain maxed out. But guess what, the real amp is noisy like that as well. However, the Flextone's noise gate does a pretty good job keeping crap under control.

I have only had it a month. I have had the POD for a year with no problems. I would gig without a back up because I woul have no way to backup all my tones without an identical amp. I will never give an amp a 10 though.

I called them before I bought the amp when I was trying to figure out a rig and they talked to me about ways to make the POD work live. They also suggested this amp. However, the real measure of customer support is how they deal with you when their stuff breaks. So I guess I don't know on this one.

I have been playing for 20 years and have had lots of guitars and amps. I initially was a real snob towards digital stuff. However, in the end I opened up to it because I wanted some extreme versatility without lugging a shit load of gear around. If you are a blues guy or something, keep your old Fender because it does sound better, but if you want to do and try a lot of different things check this Line 6 stuff out.

I also compared Line 6 stuff to Jonhson and there was no comparison. To me, the Johnson stuff sounds really, really processed like cheap Digitech stuff. Line 6 has really done some nice research and development. I would buy another amp if this one was stolen.

This amp is extremely versitile for the music I play. I'm in a country/top 40 band. We've opened for people like Toby Keith and generally draw a pretty good crowd. As far as channels go, if you pick a clean amp (JC-120, Line 6 Clean, etc.) those are the clean channels, if you pick a "dirty amp" (Boogie,Marshall, Soldano) that serves as your overdrive/distortion. At 100w (50watts stereo) there is more than enough power. I rarely have to crank the master volume past 12:00.

All of the sounds are good. The twangy clean sounds are probably the best sounding overall. The heavy distortions I find are a little muddy (marshall, mesa), but I think that is the fault of the Line 6 speakers. It doesn't quite cut through the mix as some amps (like our lead guitar player - he uses a Rocktron Voodu Valve preamp/processor to drive a pair of Fender Hot Rod Deluxes, now his setup cuts through!) I am a little disappointed with the distortions and am thinking of using the clean channels only and getting my distortion from either a Rocktron Chameleon 2000 or some stompbox. It's just not as tight as I would like. The overdrives however are extremely good. The effects are just so so and the compressor isn't quite pro-quality.

I've had it for several months now, it's probably been through about 20 gigs since I've had it and nothing has gone wrong yet. The cable to the foot controller worries me because it doesn't seem to "lock in" very securely. The amp has survived quite a few roadtrips in the trailer that carries all the P.A., lights, mixers, monitors, etc.

never dealt with them, hopefully won't have to.

I also own a crate GX1200H w/2 4x12 cabs, I have a digitech 2120 that has since crapped out on me, a Gibson Les Paul Studio, Carvin AE185, Boss BF-2 flanger, marshall VS100 combo, Jackson KE, Vox Wah. I only wish it had better effects and tighter distortion, but with the cleans you can get from this, a good processor will take care of all that.

This amp is AWESOME!!! line6 has change the way we view about TONE!!!The features are very costomizable and easy to use. I was able to get the tones I was lusting for in a matter of minutes. The effects were easy to control too but the floorboard is a must if you want to take full advantage of this moster of tone. Their are some things that I wish it could have like a presence knob instead of a boost and full time compression. Also being able to compare the edited sound with original sound would be nice. finally having more sound banks would also be nice. Other than that is amp is nothing but amazing.

I have a parker nitefly with stock pickups and I have a Ibanez RG560 with EMG SA/SA/81 picups. I've never have heard anything better in my whole life being a guitar player. All of the models sound true to original amps.REALLY SOUND TRUE!!! My favorites are the rectified1&2 MESA'S DUAL RECTIFIER,modern higain SOLDANO SLO,blackface,brit class A 1,2,3 VOX'S RULE!!!,line6 blues,line6 insane,calif crunch 1,2 MESA BOOGIE MARK IIc+,and boutique 3 and it doesn't muck the tone and effects from my t.c.electronic G FORCE!!!! great stereo separation.

GREAT!!! nothing has gone wrong yet.

have not used it yet.

IF ANYONE WHO WANTS TO BUY A AMP WITH GREAT TONE AND FLEXABILITY THEN LOOK NO FURTHER. LINE6 NUFF SAID!!!

I'M GONNA MAKE THIS SHORT & SWEET...THIS AMP KICKS...!!!I JUST BOUGHT THIS AMP YESTERDAY.I PREVIOUSLY HAD THE AX2,BUT WAS FED UP WITH THE COMPLEXITY OF SETTING UP THE PERAMITERS(EFFECTS ETC)THIS AMP IS SO MUCH EASIER TO TWEAK,AND CAN THIS AMP BE TWEAKED!!!YES,I'M NOT GOING TO WRITE A LONG REVIEW HERE.IF YOU NEED MORE INFO,GO TO THERE WEB SITE,OR READ OTHER REVIEWS HERE.

I CURRENTLY PLAY MY ONE & ONLY GUITAR...A JACKSON DK2 W/EMG 81/SA/SA.I PLAY MOSTLY METAL,HARD ROCK,BLUES.THIS AMP FITS MY STYLE TO A "T"!!!THERE IS N'T ANY TONE THAT I CAN'T GENERATE OUT OF THIS MASTERPIECE OF ENGINEERING.THE EFFECTS ARE TOP NOTCH!THE TONE IS INCREDIBLE!I PLAY MOSTLY THROUGH A PAIR OF SONY STUDIO HEADPHONES,AND IT SOUNDS LIKE HEARING YOUR GUITAR BEING PLAYED BACK IN THE STUDIO.THE DISTORTION & CLEAN CHANNELS ARE SUPERB(VERY TUBEY!)THIS AMP IS THE CLOSEST I'VE HEARD TO A TUBE AMP,W/OUT BEING ONE.MY FAVORITE AMP SETTINGS ARE 1.SOLDANO,MESA-BOOGIE,MARSHALL.THEY SOUND GREAT.THERE IS A FEW TRICKS IN THE MANUALTHAT BROADEN THE SPECTRUM OF THE TONE KNOBS,THE DRIVE,AND???HAVEN'T GOT THAT FAR YET.32 DIFFERENT AMP MODELS!!!THE LINE 6 CAB SIM IS THE BEST,SOUNDS BETTER THAN THE MARSHALL 4X12...OK,I DO HAVE ONE COMPLAINT...THE SPEAKERS!!!NOT MUCH PUNCH OR PROJECTION???WHAT GIVES`LINE 6???OH WELL,MAYBE DOWN THE ROAD I MIGHT THROW IN SOME CELESTION 75"SOTHER THAN THAT,I AM TOTALY SATISFIED WITH THIS AMP.EVERY TONE YOU CAN IMAGINE.I'D GIVE THIS SECTION A 10,BUT THE SPEAKERS RUINEND IT.

I'VE BEEN PLAYING ON/OFF FOR 15 YEARS.I WOULD DEFINATELY BUY THIS AGAIN,AND ONLY THIS ONE!I LOVE THE VARIETY OF THIS AMP THE BEST,AND MOST OF ALL THE "TONE"&EFFECTS.I DID PLAY THE JOHNSON LINE OF AMPS,BUT THERE IS SO MUCH MORE VERSATALITY IN THE LNE 6...BY FAR!!!I WISHIT HAD CELESTION,OR JENSEN SPEAKERS.

Made in 2000,this amp is an open back 2x12 100w stereo digital combo. No tubes in the preamp(unlike the Johnson Millenium), no solid state. It's a fully digital modeling amp capable of replicating the sounds of yesterdays and todays greatest amps. The list includes: Fender, Marshall, Mesa Boogie, Roland, Soldano, Vox etc. It has 9 banks each with 4 patches in it, 32 amp models, 16 digital effects and 16 cabinet settings. It has dual XLR outs, an effects loop, speaker outs(which disconnect the internal speakers),MIDI IN/OUT for tone transfer library, foot control jack, and a headphone jack. speakers are by Eminence.

I've owned Marshall and Fender amps until recently and I have to tell you if you closed your eyes you would'nt be able to tell them apart from this amp. It's that good. I was using a Pro Co Rat pedal with the Marshall to get more distortion out of it but I was getting too much noise. Now I just set it to the High Gain setting with the delay and compression and my guitar sings! Same sound-no noise. Nice! Do'nt get me wrong, I loved that JCM 900 series head BUT,I'm sorry Marshall, unless it's modified, it's has no sack. I can get George Lynch's tone, crunch like Godsmack, and even twang like Stevie. It even has effects like chorus, delay, tremelo, compression, flanger, and reverb.

I've owned it since Nov 21, 2000. So far, so good.

Never had to use it yet.

To be honest, I love this amp more than the Marshall I owned before it. It produces all the sounds I hear in my head and it was a real bargain considering there are other amps costing twice as much with less features.

This has tons of stuff on it. So much it's almost confusing. The only problem I found was that I would find a sound and then bump a knob or something and never be able to get that sound again. That's what I get for buying just the amp with only four channels on it. I love the effects. High Quality effects I must say. The delay is great. I was playing with it and set it really slow. I played a riff and about one second later, heard my riff again. Very interesting. I don't particularly like the cab models but a couple of them are ok. I couldn't really judge their accuracy with the models they claim to replicate because this is my first amp experience so i wouldn't know what the others sound like. The speaker outs and XLR outs are great just can't figure out why they thought disabeling the internal speakers when you use the speaker outs was a good idea. Maybe they were possesed.

This is a stereo amp so it sounds great for recording. I plugged studio headphones into this monster and nearly melted. considering the pickps in the Bronze B.C. Rich Mockingbird are crap and they cable was junk... it still sounded awesome. I played this amp with a music man axis sport in the store and it blew one of the new workers away. The distortion is awsome and I have found no need to buy new effects. although it has an effects loop if i ever wanted to. Great mid, high, and low end range. I was amazed at how this baby cranked outside. Although I noticed a slight rattle at high volumes. I mean very high so it's not a real drawback.

Only had it for 2 months so i couldn't tell you yet. It seems to be holding up well.

Haven't had to use it yet and may not have too. Be sure to register your product so you can use the customer support.

If it were stolen or lost I would die... I would definetly find someway to get another one. I would suggest if you plan on adding a cab don't. save your money and just buy the Flextone head and get a bigger cab. compared to anything else... It is my dream amp. I love solid State but this doesn't compare. This is digital which is a comletely different species. I wish it had better speaker out designers who didn't disable internal speakers. Morons. that's the only drawback.

Flextone 2 XL 212 Combo. Go to www.line6.com for specs. Made in 2000 with the white power switch,(some have red) don't know of any major differences between the two. I agree that that Line 6 should have made turning the internal speakers off when connection external speaker an option. I use this amp currently in a band called Greyshine and rehearse and play out live with it.
Played this amp out on November 10th,2000 for it's first time and found this amp to have more than enough power and sound quality that can really outshine all else. Gave it a 9 on Features, for the future Flextones will only improve if they keep selling.

Main Axe is a 1996 Mexican Fender Stratocaster.
Styles: Many
Amp Noise: Incredibly silent...
Amp sounds: Many
Clean Channel: Can be a bit distorted at high volumes, but can be fixed by adjustment.
Distortion: Most insane distortion I've ever heard personally.

Reliable so far, only had it a few weeks. I just hope I don't have deal with crappy Customer Support if something goes wrong.
Giving Reliability a 5, just in case it blows up.

Customer Support Sucks period...
I registered my Flextone 2 XL 212 100w Combo online a few weeks ago and did not even recieve any confirmation from the company that they ackowleged me as a registered Line 6 user. Nothing...
Be carefull of ordering accessories, such as amp covers online from the link to Sullivan Corp.
I ordered the cover for the Flextone 2 XL 212 and they sent me the wrong cover. A rep said that they would pay to have the wrong amp cover shipped backed to them, but also informed me that they wouldn't be able to ship the correct amp cover to me and that they had no idea when the amp cover will be available.
Do not count on Customer Support from this company, unless they up the staff and if the company needs that much support, than there is something seriously wrong with their products.

Playing 27 years
If my new Line 6 XL was to be stolen or lost, I would have to hunt it down or beat and pitty the fool sensless for trying to steal it.
I love the fact that the amp sounds incredible, not noisy, plenty of power, and looks classic and gray.
Pleae go to the nearest Guitar Center and try this amp out in the closed Glass Rooms for at least 2-3 hours before buying it, which you will. Try to bargain to get a better price.
Overall I give this amp a 10, since it's the best amp I have ever played period...

a vertual smorgasborg of tones and effects. almost too many...almost
only problem i saw......no phase shifter. gotta have phase shifting
for late 60's early 70's music.amp is a little heavy to pick-up.
weighing in at roughly 65 pounds. wheels ......anyone? would be nice
to use an extention cabinet (hint) other than that feautures-o-plenty

geez...where do i start...i use yamamha pacifica telecasters with
joe barden pick-ups. i do a top 40 gig. eveything from patsey kline
to motown to disco to back street boys..this amp does it all.
it's the musical equivalency of a chameleon. this amp twangs
like nashville.this amp is quiet (noise gate).check out the modern
class A setting.....i swear it's almost touch senstive. the black panel model.......scarey!!!!!!!modern high gain #2........LETHAL!!!
any of the rectifier models...orgasmic! and talk about clean.THIS AMP
IS REAL CLEAN.

bought the pod.a knob broke. i took it back and got a new pod.
traded it up for the amp. first gig broke the on off switch
called line 6. they sent me 2 switches.word to the wise ;if
you are giging....by the cover...real nice cover. this amp appears
to be very reliable...i like the idea of getting the same killer tone
anywhere...bedroom, small club, big club always the same....killer/

dealt with these people 2 times...very helpful and cordial
real professionals.....good warranty program . i have'nt had
any problems

i've been playing 20 years. i've owned marshall, boogie,vox, fender
and alot of other"junk". this is with out a doubt the most versitile
amp i've ever used. almost bought the johnson..it was too"digi-tech"
sounding. this amp has soul all through it. floorboard was strange at
first , but i caught on quick.all and all "the amp to own ".
in closing i would like to say.....go to a music store...play this amp
......buy this amp.......AND RUN LIKE HELL!!!!!.....this thing is a killer.

Made in 2000, it's most definitely one of the most versatile amps out there. I play EVERY type of music in my band Spastic Nytzzz (http://come.to/spasticnytzzz). From funk to jazz to all-out metal, and this amp can do it all. It has 9 banks, each with 4 patches in it, basically making it a 36 channel amp. My one complaint is that the effects loop isn't instrument level, so you can only put in rack effects. this pisses me off extremely, because I don't really care for the built-in effects; even though I like the stompbox on-off style switching on the floorboard. It has dual XLR outs, an effects loop, speaker outs (which disconnect the internal speakers.. bad idea guys), MIDI in and out for tonetransfer etc., foot control jack. This amp has waaaay too many features. Not that that's a bad thing, though!! So far I've played 2 or 3 gigs with it and it's been loud enough to handle clubs and outside gigs.

I use a PRS CE24 Maple Top with 2 humbuckers in it. The amp responds very well to it, it really lets the guitar shine through much better than the old flextones. The built-in noise gate can really help, especially when you're using the insane model (6 gain stages? hot damn.) I use all of the banks; 3 for live use and one for bedroom levels; the rest are for other artist's patches. Like I said, I don't care for the effects much, although they have improved them by giving the delay it's own feedback and level controls. I love all the models, but the effects are just ok, so I'll give it an 8.

I currently own a POD along with the Flex II, and I must say that these products are quite reliable, even though I've only had the Flex for a few days. The floorboard, on the other hand, is a completely different story. It pretty much does what it wants. I've taken it apart and stretched out the springs, but the buttons still only work when they want to. But this isn't a review on the floorboard; the amp itself gets a 9 based on past experience.

I've emailed the company a few times, and at the beginning they responded right away. However, lately I haven't been getting a response, probably due to the fact that all the Flex I owners have been bombarding them with new upgrade ideas.

I have been playing for 5 years, and I currently own a LOT of pedals, all BOSS; an Ibanez RG320DX; my PRS; the POD, floorboard, and this amp. This is the only amp for me. My style is so versatile that I need something to cover all the bases. I almost went for the Yamaha DG-130 head instead, but Nobody had it in stock for me to test out before I bought it, so Line 6 got my vote.

Made in 2000, this is a 2 X 12 100 watt combo with an open back. I used to own a 60 watt Flextone but it ran out of headroom too quickly.
It contain 9 banks of 4, all programmable by the user, unlike original Flextones. 32 amp models from Dumble to Mesa and Soldano to Fender, 16 cabinet sims, and effects including reverb, chorus, delay, trem, flanger, and compressor. If you buy the big floorboard you also get a wah and a dedicated volume pedal. Preamp is digital and power section is solid state. Rear panel includes XLR's for connecting outboard gear and/or direct recording devices, headphone jack, and stereo effects loop in a TRS configuration.

Using the amp with my '96 PRS Swamp Ash Special. First off, the amp is totally quiet thanks partially to the built in noise gate and the digital architecture. The sounds are wide and varied, I could probably find a use for all of them if I wanted to. I've basically got 5 sounds going...1 a rock program based on a Marshall Plexi, 2 clean based on a Roland JC-120, 3 over the top metal crunch from a Mesa Dual Rectifier, 4 a clean blues type thing from a Fender Twin, and a ballsier blues tone from a Fender. I've never owned any of these amps but what I will tell you is the versatility of tones is simply amazing. Whether or not the amp models sound like the orginals or not is not my point. My point is I can accurately cover a variety of tones by using one amp. The digital preamp doesn't interact with the guitar nearly as much as a tube amp does but I'll gladly give up that for all the sounds this amp can produce. The effects work for me, however the only effect it doesn't have that I'd like is a phaser. Maybe in the Flextone III ?!?!?

I've read other reviews with people having reliability problems of their Line 6 amps but so far mine hasn't had any problems. The used floorboard I bought had a flaky switch until I opened it up a tightend down several loose screws.

I love the sound of my Mesa Rectoverb but I don't love dragging around a combo plus effects rack. I have everything I need in one amp and I still can walk straight. I like plugging in and playing in less than 2 minutes. If you don't need effects, go get a tube amp. If you play in a cover band and play everything under the sun, ditch the pedals and a get this amp with the Floorboard!

This amp have about as many features as you would possibly want. I play oldies and rockabilly for a Florida Radio station and found many of the amp models to be very close to the actual. When you compare the Flextone blackface channel and a mid 60,s Fender Twin, it is amazingly close. I only wish that you could plug an extra cabinet in this amp without having to loose the internal speakers.

I am currently using a 59, Gretsch 6120, a 1955 Gretsch Country Club and a 79' Gibson LesPaul with all original pickups in each and I can get more bottom on certain channels than I can get out of out of my old 63 hot rodded Fender Bassman. I did find that alot of the Marshall settings sounded very muddy and would need alot of tweaking to sound like a true Marshall. The reverb in all settings are less to be desired but the slap echo is great and sounds just as good as any petal that I have heard.

I have had four different Flextones since 1-00 and I can safely say that the reliability on all of them sucked with a capital S! The first one I had was a 60W and I brought it home and plugged it in and it had a loud buzz in it so I boxed it up and took it right back to the store and exchanged it for another. the second one had a memory problem within 3 weeks so I took it back and exchanged it for a Flextone II XL and within a month, during a gig, in the middle of a song, my amp volume went sky-high and when I shut the amp off and turned it back on the amp sounded very thin and with no tone so I took it back and thats when I got the first Flextone II 100 watt to hit that particular store. I gigged with that amp since the ending of April of 2000 until 6-10-00 when the memory went. When the memory took a dump I was still unable to get a good tone in the manual stage. I took it back today on 6-11-00 and purcased a AX2. The only reason I keep using these amps is that I am addicted to the sound. I hope that the engineers has worked all the bugs out of the AX2.

I hate the recordings! It is hell trying to get a customer service rep.

I absolutely love the sound of these amps! I've been playing for 20 years and I've never found a more versitile amp but so far I cant find one to last more than a couple of months under steady gigging and first class care!

Just bought this amp after a long love affair with tube & or tube/solid state hybrids, and man, this is wild! And confusing! This amp has an unbelievable range of tones, drives, colorings, nuances - you name it, it does it; BUT, you gotta invest in a whole lot of time to figure it out, which I am doing in my spare time, because you just can't plug 'er in & go. I mean, you CAN, but if you tweek a knob in the slightest, it can totally change the sound! For example, the volume might be cut by 50% - I wasn't even messing with the volume knob! The manual is fairly easy to read, but if you take this amp out for a test drive, be sure you spend some time beforehand figuring out what it does. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to do so, and my test drive experience at a gig was mixed, at best. I would have to goof around between songs a lot, so that was distracting to my bandmates, and took too much time between songs, etc. When I would find a sound combination I liked, it would totally change with just a bump of a tone knob, or drive selector - frustrating.

The good news: this amp sounds unbelievable! The clean sounds are nice, though the Roland Jazz amp didn't sound like a jazz amp to me. It's too thin & shimmery for me - I don't know, maybe that's the way Roland amps sound, but I thought it sucked. The best for a traditional jazz sound was in the Blues Tweed (Bassman) setting, with the drive set at about 3 o'clock. Somewhat disapointing was the sound gotten when you jacked up the drive in this setting. It just seemed very bottom heavy/muddy - not what I was expecting. The Small Tweed rocks, with the treb & mid knobs each giving a ton of different variations on the tone. I found myself more often than not living in this setting, and the Black Panel, too. This model has a great twangy, surf sound, but doesn't "dirty up" enough for my taste. Cranking the drive seems to give it some midrange bite, but overall it stays pretty clean, which I guess is pretty indicative of the amp it's modeled after.

I use an old Strat and a ESP Traditional Strat clone. The differences using the two guitars was amazing! The amp is noisy in the neck & bridge pickup positions on both guitars, but absolutely noise free in the 2 middle ones. My band plays mostly blues, so there's a bunch of stuff on the amp I'll probably never use. The effects are nice, once you figure out how to tweak them, but you're limited using 2 at once. Not a big deal to me since I normally am only going to use a little delay. The tap setting feature is cool, too. The amp actually has 32 different amp models - I spent 3 hours the first day just touring them all! Amazing.

I can't say anything about the reliability, but it kinda scares me that you probably can't fix it with a new fuse, some duct tape & a soldering iron!

Line 6 has a nice website that promises easy access to service & tech support. I haven't had to use them yet.

Overall, given the things this amp is capable of, I don't see how a working musician could go wrong here. The price is right, too, if you consider the shear number of "amps" you get. I would never be able to afford (not to mention carry around) all the variations you get in one package, even if you're like me and only need a handful of the options. It's a big thumbs up from me!!

Without a doubt, this is the most versatile amp I've ever owned (with the possible exception of the Line 6 Duo I traded in for it). I have been playing for 25 years and have owned some great tube and solid state amps. I told myself a few years ago that I would never own another solid state amp. I guess I really haven't broken that promise. In the most literal since this is NOT a solid state amp. It's a digital amp and that's a completely different animal. I play all kinds of styles and that's what makes this amp so perfect for me. You can recreate virtually any guitar tone or style with this amp. I love the Sound Diver software, you can really "get inside" the amp and tweak it to it's full potential. If you get this amp you have to get a MIDI connection for your computer (their cheap), it's the only way to really get to all the bells and whistles. As far as power, believe me, you'll get all the power you need with this. The only thing I wish this amp had was the ability to run a second cab. The amp has left and right cab connections on the back, however, when you plug in an extension cab it cuts off the internal speakers?! What possesed them to do that?

As I said, you can get any sound you've ever tried to get out of this amp. You won't be able to tell the difference between this amp and some of the best tube amps you've ever heard.......I promise!! The real beauty here is that you can get those great tones at room level volumes. I live in a pretty tight neighborhood and can't really crank it up which was a real bummer with my 64 Vibrolux (no Master valume). And if you really want to blow your eardrums you can plug in a set of headphones and crank til blood starts flowing!!

I owned the Line 6 Duo for two years and never had a problem. I've only had the XL now for about a month but it seems to be just as reliable. Time will tell if it's a realiable amp, but at this point I have no reason to believe that it won't be.

Never had to use it.

Bottom line......you won't find another amp as versatile as this one. The effects are great, however, as one of the previous reviewers stated it would be nice to have a full time compressor. You can, however, adjust the threshold on the noisegate if you have MIDI connection to your computer. As I said, I've been playing for 25 years and the first time I plugged into a Line 6 I put my 64 Vibrolux up for sale. Nuff said!!

I feel this amp has enough bells and whistles for almost any guitar player out there. The most important thing for me is the 100 watt 2x12 config. , it gives me a ton of headroom. The amp models are as a whole very convincing. I primarily use the black panel & tweed stuff but will occasionally run a JCM 800 or plexi. The modelling technology was probably the main reason I stuck with a line 6 product after cooking two of the AX2 amps in a matter of weeks (more on this later). The effects section is ample, but it is not as tweakable as the AX2, thank God. My only two complaints would be, the need for a full time independent compressor and an adjustable threshhold on the noise gate. These are both available on the AX2. I love the dual XLRs for live setups, my sound man also digs 'em. They may be on to something cool here. I guess the other critical factor besides the 100w power rating would be the versatillity of the digital amps, to get the quallity and range of sounds would take a hell of a lot more gear than I would want to drag out otherwise.

The amp sounds very good, nice organic tones. I have owned some of the amps modeled, and while I haven't done an A/B comparison I am very happy with all except the Matchless channel. I primarily use an American deluxe Stratocater with EMGs and a Jerry Donahue Telecaster with tex mex pickups. Both sound as they should through the amp. My only complaint would be the lack of low end snap on the '59 bassman when the compressor is turned up. For a real thrill try your Les Paul through the JCM 800 channel with the gain cranked, WOW ! I am a country player, I do go to high gainsville from time to time during a show, and I'm sure the rock & rollers out there would have enough distortion to suit them.(I wish I had this amp at 14). But like I said I'm a country player, and I'm able to get some serious TWANG out of this amp! We play some fairly large rooms (1200-2000) and when the amp has to be cranked the clean tones don't go to pieces. I have owned the amp two months and so far it has been the prefect live amp. As for the studio I'll try it but may end up using the real McCoy.

Here's where it gets ugly. As I stated above I previously fried two of the line 6 AX2 amps. My first AX2 lasted ONE show my second lasted a bit longer but let me down in Louisville KY when my band was opening for Tracy Lawrence. Fortunately this was during sound check. I was and still am disgusted with the reliabillity of line 6 amps, but simply could not find anything on the market as versitile with the sound quallity of these amps. Kind of a catch 22 isn't it? This however does not make a fair representation of this amp. So far it has been right there behind me doing its thing. We'll see what happens.

It's still a little ugly here. Do you ever get mad when the switchboard operator transfers you to your reqested extention only to be greeted by "I'm away from my desk right now...."? Well that will never happen at line 6. Numerous times I called the company and was welcomed with "The switchboard operator is away from her desk right now...." COME ON! SOME ONE ANSWER YOUR PHONE!! at least they did'nt transfer me to voice mail. After a handfull of prozac & a shot of whiskey I called back and actually talked to a human being about my AX2 woes. His name was Patrick and he was very helpful. He agreed the AX2 had its problems and informed me that if I could wait a month and a half they would send me an advance model of the Flextone 2 which was not on the market at the time of my temper tantrum, which they did. So if your are a very patient person who loves leaving voice mail that never gets responded to I would strongly reccomend a line 6 product. Cool website though.

I've been playing 17 years and I can honestly say I have a love hate relationship with this amp. I don't think I've ever owned a better overall sounding amp, or a more versitile amp than the Flextone 2 XL or the AX2. That is the saving grace of these amps, even though I have wanted to shove it down the customer service department's throat (or voice mail to them) and may yet if it proves to be as unreliable as its predecessors. The floor board is an essential and pricey option of this amp, and it would be hard to do without it. I really want to reccomend this amp on the basis of tone alone, but I can't. Anyone considering a new amp should at least hear one of these for themselves, but be very willing to take a back-up amp with you to the gig. If your luck is like mine you'll need it.

The most versitile amp I've ever played!
Although it is a solid state amp, it sounds almost as good as any tube amp. It can be extremely hard to use at times, but once you understand the amp you can coax incredible sounds from it. It is extremely verstile, and with 100 watts into 2x12 inch cabs you will never feel left out.
There is one thing wrong though.... Too many options!!! You might find a perfect sound, but if you change it you may never be able to recreate it.

The sounds are great in numbers, but lacking somewhat in quality compared to the real thing.
Let me put it this way- you could buy all 32 amps, then get 9 effects pedals, then buy all the different sizes of cabs... and even then it would be hard to gig because you would have to switch your amps when you wanted a different tone.

I don't know... it seems pretty solid.....

A pretty good manual.....

I seriously suggest that anyone who plays covers should use this amp, because of it's cost-effectiveness, power, and almost unlimited tonal possibilities.