Line 6 Flextone III Plus 112 Combo

This is a follow up to my previous review.

There have been some important new developments that I should share because they could make a difference to you if you are considering this amp.

The software problem I was experiencing was NOT the fault of the Line 6 Edit software, but rather my midi interface software by M-Audio. M-Audio has issued new repair software and instructions on how to correct the problem. I have had the Line 6 Edit and Monkey programs up and running for about two months and it is great having them.

Line 6 Edit (or the also available free Tweakwizard program) allows you to change all the amp settings with your computer. It gives you access to settings in the amp that cannot be changed manually. You can make these changes with your guitar plugged into the amp and hear every adjustment you make. Tweakwizrd will even save your tone bundle for later retrieval (a backup file). This is about as cool as it gets kids!

If you buy the FBV Shortboard it gets even better. You will have access to all 32 tones (amp models, if you will), you can turn effects on and off, control an external effects loop, have wonderful full time wah and volume controls, and a great stage tuner.
This set up has eliminated stage clutter I've hated for 30 years, and my sound is better than ever.

New developments in the "sound" category too:

The XLR OUT feature is something your sound guy or studio tech will love, but the only way you're going to hear the same thing through the amp's speaker is to turn off the cabinet modeling feature. I also turn of the microphone modeling, but some claim that has no effect on what you hear. I tweaked my tones (amp models) through good headpohnes (which will sound the same as the XLR OUT signal) and by ear too so they match.

Of course, you can continue to use cabinet modeling, but the tone coming out of the amp changes as you turn up your stage volume even though the signal to the board stays the same. My experience has been that several of the cab models distort the speaker, and the resulting stage sound is raspy and unpleasent.

I've got all that turned off and I still think the amp sounds terrific.

I have six models in use right now and they are all awesome.

I have no concerns about the durability of this amp, however be very careful of the woven reed speaker cloth!

Some advice:
1. Buy an amp cover. Line 6 Tolex is pretty fragile.

2. When taking the amp out of a cool, dry house into a high humidity environment (like outdoors in June in Alabama) LET THE AMP SIT FOR ABOUT AN HOUR BEFORE TURNING IT ON. That will allow some of the condensation on the circuit boards to evaporate. I've always done this, even with valve amps. One little drop of water can raise some serious hell inside an amplifier. That being said.............

3. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT sit your beverage on top of this amp. Find another place for your brew.

I haven't had the amp long enough to know how durable it's going to be, but our other guitarist has an old Line 6 Duo that's only been in the shop once in about ten years.

Customer support leaves a lot to be desired.

At times I've been quick to criticize others for condemning gear that was unsatisfactory when the REAL problem was operator error or just plain impatience. Well, now I have to admit I have been guilty of this myself, but everything is working now and I sincerely recommend this amp to cover tune band guitarists.

The tones I???m getting are just stupid good, and I???ve been at this awhile. I swear, if you couldn???t see this amp on stage you would not know it is solid state. I promise you, with the software working and several hours of serious tweaking you can get really great sounds out of this amp. It???s the most satisfactory amp I???ve ever owned. I replaced a Mesa with this amp, and that was before I had the Line 6 really cooking.

Customer support is the main reason this amp doesn't get a ten.

Very versatile, especially helpful for a guy in a cover tune band. This amp fills my needs very well.
The reviews below describe the features, which are MANY. I have the express pedal. I just LOVE the Wah-wah. It easily rivals my antique Vox pedal.
The one feature it does not have is a TRULY user-friendly computer interface. Oh, it has one, but it is ANYTHING but user friendly, and Line 6 is NO help ironing out the interface difficulties.
I use it on stage in medium-sized club and run XLR to the board. It???s plenty loud enough for stage volume.
One guy below said it doesn???t sound like a tube amp. I disagree. Two of the models I use are pretty much dead-on, besides, I???ve had tube amps that sounded like solid state. There is ALWAYS too much debate on this issue, especially by people who really don???t know as much as they think they do.

My main guitar is a ???72 Les Paul Goldtop deluxe. After tweaking the models, the amp sounds great.
We play mostly old rock classics. The amp is well suited to this.
It is very quiet unless the gain turned is waaaaay up on a high gain amp model, but that is true for ANY amp. The clean amp models are dead quiet.

Have only had the amp a little over a month and played it on stage once, but I have no real concerns about reliability. I always have a backup plan anyway. Only a fool wouldn't.

Customer service? So far, for me, non-existant. The Line 6 Forum system of customer support is absolutely useless to me.

I give just the amp seven points, but I penalize the company the other three that could have added up to ten if the support system wasn't so poor.
Would I buy another if this one went away? Sure. It sounds great! It is the easiest stage setup I've ever had because of the express pedal. GOODBYE MONSTER PEDALBOARD! Another HUGE PLUS is that the settings are exactly the same each time I plug in, regardless if the knobs get moved or not. Man! That is a BIG help.

This amp is loaded with features, so I won't try to list them, just know that it's very versitile!Solid state with plenty of power,great for live use or recording.

I play a Parker nitefly guitar with two single coil pickups and one humbucker, all Semore Duncans. Iplay classic rock, blues, and a little jazz. The clean sounds are very good and very quite. My favorite is the Vox AC30, Nice warm sound with good definition. several others aregood as well, like the twin reverb and other fender sounds. There are several good distorted sounds as well.My favorite lead sound is the silver anniversery Marshal, it's distortion is BRUTAL with LOTS of low end! the Boggie sounds are very nice as well as the Soldano lead 100, and the Conford and Matchless amp models.

I have ownrd this amp for about 4 years and have not had any problems with it.I have used it live, in the studio,and in the bassment, no problems so far.

contacted Line6 once with a question, they were very helpful

I tried many differnt amps before choosing this one, fenders,crate,Peavey, and others, but none of them could match the flextone for features or versitility in this price range $500. I love it because it's light, loud, and very versitile. When you factor in the effects it has built in, the Wah/ Volume pedal, the tuner, and the ability to power a extension cab, noise gate and comprresser you just can't beat it for the price!THat said the optional foot controler is a must. YOu just can't take full advantage of the features without it. AS far as the amp models go there are some really good ones, and some O.K. ones, none of them are really bad.Do they sound exactly like the amps they set out to model? NO, but some of them are really close, for about half the cost of a tube amp.somthing that really impressed me about this amp was the way it takes on all of the characteristics of the certain amp that it's modeling, it's so much more than just a differnt tone!b each amp model has it's own distinct vibe, its as if you actually changed amplifiers.I have been playing for 30 years, and would definitley buy this amp again if I had to replace it. I also built a one 12 closed back cab for it with a 12 inch celestian speaker in it, this really makes a differnce in the low end and the volume, as at increases the power to 100 watts

Made late 2005 or early 2006.
Versatility is on the main selling points, works for all types of music.
4 channels stock, 36 channels with FBV Shortboard.
Use in my living room, 75 watts mono, 150 watts stereo with extension cab.
Solid state, models 36 amps and 18 cabinets.

No unwanted noise, superb clean and high gain models, and good bluesy/overdrive models.
Play with Fender Tele and Strat, Schecter Ultra, Ibanez Artcore, all with humbucker in bridge and Seymour Duncans (except Ultra with EMG 81/85).
Cleans and high gain rate 10/10, mild overdrive 7/10.

No problems to date.

No customer service issues yet, local shop advised authorized to work on Line 6 for warranty work.

Been playing for about 18 months, also have a Fender HRD, Vox DA5, some pedals, and the above mentioned guitars.
Compared it to numerous tube, ss, and modelling amps before purchase, actually returned a Mesa F30 to get the Flextone III, chosen for versatility and sound quality.

I'm not sure of the year since I bought it used on ebay, but it is a Flextone III Plus and I purchased a 1 x 12 cab to go along with it from Musician's Friend.

The amp itself is PACKED with features from the 36 different amp models and presets. I'm also using an FBV shortboard that I've had to go along with my Duoverb HD.

Definitely in terms of features, this amp kills the competitors.

First off, I'm not going to compare this to a tube amp. If you want a tube amp, go out and buy one...This is a modeling amp which is supposed to emulate the sounds of various amps through digital technology, so it ain't no tube amp! This is a great amp though for both home use and gigging.

As far as the sounds, I'm pleased with quite a few, specifically the twin reverb, bassman, some of the marshalls, the soldano, and the matchless.

You can get some pretty good effects out of this amp, and the distortion on some of the models is brutal. This amp can handle all areas from country, blues, rock, jazz, and metal. It is THAT versatile. I do have to say though, that the 1 x 12 combo, even with the extension cabinet, does not sound as good as my Line 6 Duoverb HD.
A number of the models on the Flextone have that "raspy" distorted sound, but still, this is a much better amp than anything out there that is solid-state.

I own several Line 6 products and never had a problem with any of them.

I've emailed Line 6 support a few times regarding my Duoverb and they've always responded. The availability of software updates on the Line 6 site, as well as customtones.com is great.

This is a decent amp. I've been playing guitar for 34 years now and have gone through a bunch of amps both solid-state and tube. This amp beats any solid-state amp out there, and the best part is you can crank it at both bedroom levels or all out and it sounds great either way.

*My original review is under Flextone III, I'm putting one here where it belongs*

Solid state, mucho modelling, 36 amps, 16 cabs, tons of effects, 75 watts mono, 150 watts stereo with external cab connected. Adding and FBV shortboard makes all the options switchable with your feet, and gives you 36 instead of 4 channels in which to store your settings.

I think it sounds absolutely great, I've owned a few tube amps, a few solid state, have played everything I could in every store I go to, this has been my favorite. Great cleans, lots of headroom, and you will find a distortion model that you like.

No problems to date.

See my original review for all the details, I love it.

This amp has tons of features... Definately its strongest point. Coupled with Line6 edit (a free program you can use to program your flextone from your computer) you can edit everything from which type of reverb it uses (i believe there are 3) to microphone type and placement. I suggest you go look up all the features if you dont know them already, as this amp has a lot more going for it than the control panel suggests.

Honestly, this is a very weak point of this amp. Some of the models are way off, like most of the marshalls (the silver jubilee, however, is excellent) and they just dont have that warm tube punch that a real tube amp has.

However, I am still very happy with the way this amp sounds. Go try one in the store and I guarantee you will find at least one model that will surprise you with how good it sounds. This is a solid state amp, not a tube amp, so it will sound like a solid state amp. But for a solid state amp, it sounds great.

My favourite tones are the crunch ones (vox AC30, HiWatt, Cornford are all great). I disagree with what previous reviews say about the metal channel: I think they sound pretty good, the noise level with this amp is excellent and the compressor and noise gate really add to its metal credibility. The line6 super clean also sounds great, by far my favourite of the clean channels and its not even an amp model! Extremely versatile. If you dont believe me, go try one out.

The effects sound great, with deep editing available using line6 edit.

I have only had it for a bit over a month, so Im not going to give it a rating.

I did send them an email about 3 weeks before I bought the amp asking about one of the features, but they never replied (to their creditI did send it as "low priority"). I ended up going to the store and figuring it out my self. Apparently their phone support is good, but I have never used it so I wont factor that into the rating.

One thing I really like about their customer support is how they make upgrades available for the amp. Check out the FT3's update history to see how important this stuff really is.

Ok, now I understand exactly what a lot of the people here are saying about the sound compared to a real tube amp: in the right conditions, with the right gear (including things like compressors and noisegates), through a 4x12 and cooking, this amp does not hold a candle to the amps it is modelling - but I still love this amp.

See the thing is, to get all those amps to sound good, you gotta play em running hot as hell, especially the ones like the AC30 and the plexis. Also this amp has a lot of things built in such as effects, wah & volume pedal if you get the floorboard (and I strongly suggest you do), compressor, noise gate, reverb, delays. For someone who is not really at the professional stage of their career yet, this amp is, in my opinion, their best bet ESPECIALLY if they have not decided what kind of music they want to get into.

This is an important point: with tube amps (and yes I have/do own/ed some - I used to have a crate blue voodoo half stack and a genz benz el diablo, and I still own a fender hot rod deville 4x10) before you buy the amp and spend a ton of dough (way more than you would pay for this incidentally) you kind of have to make a choice with what kind of music you are going to play. This is because tube amps are not, in my experience, flexible at all unless you want to start getting into distortion pedals and things like that.


Also, it is very simple to use and set up. This is the main reason why I bought it because I just wanted an amp that I could plug into and play at reasonable volumes, just using a single floorboard to control everything. Those of you that have complicated effects loops can appreciate the fact that for this amp you will only need one cable from your guitar to amp, and one from amp to floorboard.

In my opinion, there is no better amp at this price point with this kind of versatility anywhere. I intend to keep this amp for ever as a practise and casual rehearsal amp, because this amp is perfect for that kind of application.

You all know the features by now im sure. On paper it sound good but for some of the individual effects; wah, chorus, flanger, delay...etc i find a lack of flexebility when shaping the effect. This can be helped with the line6 midi controller available to download from their website, but still i think they have tried to pack to many options into this amp. Also not all the amp models are true to the original. I've owned Marshalls, a Fender and Mesa/Boogies before and simply the line6 comes nowhere near their original sounds, it barely scratches their surfaces. Also with so many sounds it does get confusing which sound you really want. After a while of so many different options you get sick of it. I've had the Flextone3+ for about a year and a half, its convenient for someone gigging very often and long distances because of its light compact shell. But realistically it is a digital copy of stand alone, tube, masterpieces.

It may have these effects and all these amp and cab models but features are nothing without sound. I have a kramer nightswan as my primary guitar and when the coil tapping function is used on the guitar a beautiful array of clean tones can be accessed through the amp, especially on line6's own 'clean' and 'super clean' amps. This with some chorus to add some spice and a slight hint of delay can sound magical. also the bluesy and early rock n' roll tones are quite good. I myself, however, am a hard rock/metal type of guy. Rythmn playing like powerchords and riffs down at the lower end can be quite powerful and set up quite easily, its good and meaty. However it is the top end that i do not like in this amp. it is too thin and sounds like a bee stuck in a bean can! its hollow and does not have a good sound. it also lacks orignality for a player looking for their own unique sound.

Had to reset it a few times which was annoying. its been fairly rugged though.

n/a

overall its good for travelling light from gig to gig. the sound lacks for me a bit. too much in the amp.

You all know the features by now, so I don't bother to write the content of this thing.

Looks very, very cool and kind of retro. It's quite light when you think what it contains; dozens of vintage amps and stomp boxes, heh.

Bought it couple of months ago after spending a lot of time to comparing different amps. Thought this would be good enough for me, play mostly at home or studio. This thing is darn loud, especially when added a extra cab. The only thing that got me thinking was that it don't come with Line6's shortboard.

I have a Fender '62 reissue Strat and a '62 reissue Jaguar. Some people say that this thing sound better with humbuckers, it's true but I can't afford an extra guitar with humbs and I just love the sound of a vintage
single coil pick-up.

I'm a HUGE fan of the Chilis and John Frusciante. I've always been after his sound and with this thing I've got it! John is using Marshall's Silver jubilee on distorted sounds and 200w on clean. With this thing (and my gear) I can get almost the same. It requiers a little tweaking and patience but when you get that sound you've been after a long time it's worth that sacrifice.

The other models and effects are good too. I don't care if they don't sound exactly the same as the originals as long as they sound good which they do!

I have to give it an 8 'cause I haven't had a time to go trough all of its menu, so this is what I think of it now.

I hope it will last, but it is basically a computer so you'll never know.

Like the updating possibilities and the line6 website is awsome.

All in all I like it. It's versatile, loud and hopefully reliable. Read the manual!
It has been fun trying to find different sounds from it. Allthough it may not sound like the original amps (I really don't have that much experience to tell) it sounds good. I'm happy with it and propably buy another one if it was stolen.

Only thing I wish it had was the shortboard.

With the money I spend with it I would never have had this much versatility in sounds and effects. Line6 did a great job.

You no all the features by now i'm sure :- 32 Vetta-based amp models
12 Effects based on our award-winning stomp box modelers
16 Mix 'n' Match Speaker Cab options
Award-winning Point-to-Point modeling technology
1x12 touring quality cabinet
Powerful 75-watt stereo power amps
4 programmable amp channel memories
Stereo XLR direct outputs
MIDI compatibility allowing access to deep editing and the CustomTone.com library

For a digital amp, its not half bad.

Channel A - I found that gettin a really heavy distortion (white noise style) was next to impossible but I still got a nice heavy distortion, example Steel Dragon - Stand Up And Shout

B - I like to call it a creamy clean sound. Bit of chorus n tape echo complimentated it nicely. example Metallica - Nothing Else Matters

c - Straight clean best channel on the amp. Not to tinny and not to fat but with a bit of gain. example Lynard Skynard - Sweet Home Alabama

d - Mild distortion with some digital echo. Good for lead blues stuff. example Distorted bit from SRV by Eric Johnson.

a nice collection of sounds but like i said its only digital.

This is where it went wrong. 6 months down the line of me buying the amp it just died on me. Wouldn't power up or anything just sat there. Company we bought it from would only pay for one of the shipping charges and that was expensive, about #60. So we dropped it off to the shop (which meant we had to fly over to the main land as I live in the channel islands). Got it back and was fine.
6 months later i'm playing and the whole volume just died. so i went up to the amp and turned up the master volume over half way (which meant it should have been pretty loud) but it was just a bit louder.
there was some crackling but no great volume....
i;m so glad i never gigged with this. i'm gonna try and get it fixed over here then i'm gonna sell it and get an amp thats reliable.

terrible (i would use stronger language but this is a public site)

not been playing long, just over 2 year. i got an epiphone les paul, dean ml, jim dunlop wah, digitech whammy and shure wireless but i only use the wah, whammy and wireless 4 gigs. no wouldn't but it again. If it was stolen then i've just lost #500. i love the versatilty. i hate the unreliability. i did a bit of shopping, marshall digital amps, roland, fender but the flextone iii plus seemed 2 be the one.
i wish it had worked.
don't buy the amp