Line 6 Flextone XL

This amp offers up a versatile variety of tonal possibilities. It's claim to fame is truly its distortion/overdrive section, offering up about 16 amp emulations. The ultimate quality of possible sounds is somewhat dependent upon the ear and creativity of the user. There are a multitute of possible clean and overdriven tones. The effects section is adequate with minimal programmability. It has the ability to be very loud! It could easily fill any room. It has only one channel input which is a compromise you make if this is the amp you want. It has an effects loop which is a necessity for anyone who wants to loop in rack or stomp-box effects. The stereo direct out/headphone jack is a great feature for either recording or listening through phones while bypassing the speakers(so as not to disturb anyone else). Although it is a stereo amp, stereo separation is there but not particularly obvious (although the difference is there if you compare it sided by side with a 1 speaker amp.)

What this amp lacks...An extension speaker out jack to utilize the amps stereo capabilities to its fullest. The speakers are very weak in the bottom end! I use an EQ in my effects loop to get the fuller, deeper tonal end. I would like to have a MIDI section with in/out/thru ports, especially for future Line6 changes in available tones, or to add/delete custom/user created tones.
I find it rather disappointing that to use this amp to its fullest capabilities you have to invest another $200+ dollars to get the floorboard foot pedal which allows access to so many other features, ie. 16 presets, tap tempo, tuner, wah-wah, vol pedal, and a number of other tonal accentuators.

I play a variety of guitars: Telecaster, Stratocaster, Rickenbacker 360/12, Gibson 330, Rickenbacker 370/6, and several acoustics. Electric guitars sound great through this amp but I have yet to find really exceptional tones for my Acoustic/electric guitars (Takamine, Gibson). I play mostly country, blues and rock music and this amp is certainly suited for these styles. The distortion/overdrive possibilities are endless. To me they sound great. Anything seems possible with this section from just a little dirt added to a clean tone to full on heavy metal assault tones. Fantastic tones can be achieved for Blues guitar. Clean tones take a little patience to get a really nice tone. Distortions seem to improve as the volume increases.
Overall, the amp produces less noise than my 66' Bandmaster and 80s Twin Reverb.
The wah-wah pedal is excellent sounding!

I use this amp at home mostly, though I go out to jam at much louder volumes about 3 times a month. So this amp is certainly not being put through any heavy testing. But it has been reliable for me so far; I've had it about 7 months.

I have had a number of email interactions with one of the technicians at Line6. He has gotten back to every time within a day or two. He has promised to send materials via snail mail to me as well, and he has gotten those items to me within a couple days as well. So I can only attest to good customer service based on this.

I've been playing for 35 years. I own, or have owned, alot of different gear over the years. For me this amp offers a number of advantages. It is portable, although I wish it came with caster wheels on it. It weighs about 56 pounds (like a big bag of dog food). It has onboard effects eliminating the need to drag along other gear such as tuner, rack gear, stomp boxes, etc, which decreases set-up time and eliminates cords and connections. I do, however, use it with other gear but bottom line is you can take this amp all by itself and be fully armed and loaded. I like its distortion section better than my Digitech 2112, which I'm going to sell; I'm sick of all the programming it needs to get the right sounds. However, I use a Rocktron Intellifex On-Line in the effects loop to expand and enhance the effects section, especially Reverbs and Chorus. However, I don't always lug this stuff with me to a gig. But, another advantage here is usability without any extensive digital programming.
I wish it had MIDI in/out/thru ports and an extension cabinet. And for its rather steep price, I believe the floorboard ought to come with it; especially because the floorboard is so integral to using the expanded capabilities of the amp. It feels like price gouging by Line6 charging another $299 list price for this floorboard. Somehow I just don't think they cost that much to make, though they are of solid construction.
If this amp was lost or stolen I would consider buying it again, but I would shop and compare other amps as many other similar featured amps are out there now. Hopefully the competition will help adjust the price to greater affordibility.
I bought this model rather than the Flextone Duo because the 12 inch speakers gave it a fuller, richer sound. I would like to see different speakers in this amp; speakers with an expanded bandwidth, especially a deeper bottom end.
They really ought to put caster wheels and tilt back arms on this amp.

number of cool amps, effects distortions are great at low volumes,cleans are little harder to tweak but when used with effects sound really good.The amp as in quality was built like crap they could have done better, But for ease of use the controls real easy to use. Excellent practice amp good sounds at low volumes.

Well i am not gonna compare it to a tube amp but the sounds are very good.The clean sounds are hard to get right but if you add a little dirt they sound pretty good.The chorus is excellent rotary is ok and effects sound good enough. the harder amp models sound excellent.

haven't had it long enough

there webb page is great can get any info you need.

a real nice practice amp that you could gig with great sounds and very easy to operate.I had a different dsp amp and it was very hard to adjust just took to dam long(rocktron)I really like the sounds it is fun to use,line6 is really catering to guitarist.I like there fb4 idea for setting and a tap tempo very important when playing with the band.The only sound which really doesn't hit it is reverb that is pretty lame.but then again i have heard reverb swallow up some real good tones.the constuction could be better in the cabinet department.the best feature is be able to get cool tones at low volumes can't do that with a tube amp.

This amp has more feature than I would need, I was looking for a 3-channel combo, I looked at a Mesa Boogie Nomad 55 and a Marshall JCM2000 TSL (2X12 combo). The Mesa Boogie sounded really muddy on the low end (I play metal, so I need a good distortion sound for palm muting on the low strings), the Marhsall sounded awesome but costed twice the price. Then I plugged in the Flextone XL and discover that it could nearly emulate the JCM on the brit high gain setting with drive boost engaged, but it could also provide me with wonderful Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier sound, and killer clean sound, it also had nice effects (I have a RP-7 so I didn't need the effet, now I don't need my RP-7 anymore :o). Technically you could call this amp a 4-channel amp (I got the FB4), but you have to resave your preset everytime you need to modify one of your sounds for a particular sound, which is a big hassle since you only have one set of button for all 4 channels. I was a bit disappointed to find out I had to shell out 90$CA extra to get the footswitch, sure it has 4 buttons and a really long RJ45 cord, but other amp came with the footswitch.

You can get any sound you want, clean, smooth, heavy, blues, you name it you got it. However the speakers are really bad. It's a good thing I still have my peavey half-stack for gigging duties, because this amp can't cut it. I really like the Recto model, but the speakers can't handle the bass I throw at them, so I can't play loud enough for my own taste, so I line-out to my solid-state Peavey 160W half-stack when I need more power. At "reasonable" volumes it sounds perfect, but I would use just this amp for gigging.

For recording duties, it worked ok for distortion sound, but I can't use it for clean sounds, way too much hiss. The sound coming out of the speaker is clean (with noise-gate engaged) but the sound sent through the recording-out is dirty as hell. I wasn't all that impressed by the speaker emulation, but since I wasn't looking for an amp that would allow direct recording (I was simply looking for a small combo that I could mic easily) I don't really care.

The compressor is unusable, the most you can use is a 2:1 setting, after that the noise floor gets boosted in an horrible way and I can't stand it. The chorus and delay effects are perfect. You can't control them as much as with my RP-7, but I don't have to scratch my head trying to find a good sound, I select Chorus 1 (or 2) with the knob and it sound good with playing with settings, that's all I'm asking for.

Had it for 2 weeks only, no problem yet, but it looks so fragile... or maybe it's just me, at 999$ I don,t want to break it :o)

This is by far the best sounding amp I've ever bought, but I've only owned solid-state Peaveys so far. Although I love it, I see it only as a practice amp. However, before trying it, I wanted to get whether a MesaBoogie Dual Rectifier head later down the road, now I can't decide if I will get that or the Flextone HD, which is cheaper, and has 3 time the power, and 10 times the versatility...

Rather than discuss the features, which have not only been mentioned in previous reviews but have also been mentioned in previous reviews that they have ALREADY been mentioned in previous reviews (whew!), lets just get to my one criticism. Unlike the Axys which apparently has more RAM goombas, the Flextone can only feature one or two effects at a time, using the dial. Ignoring the RAM issue, I wish I could choose a preset and then dial in an effect on the knob, with the preset effects still in place. It seems possible to my small mind. But all in all, how many effects at once do we want?

Well, two. Say, if I had tremolo and delay and could switch them on and off using the floorboard, that would reduce my patches from two to one. Is this review off to a bad start? Hell no. I love this amp like it's my little brother. The submission criteria point out for me to be a little bit critical, so I hope my Flex will forgive me.

People say I did a bad thing. I sold a Fender Twin Reverb and bought the Flextone. Well, I did a good thing, but it's been fun watching tube-heads tell me I've been foolish. Let's see - it sounds better than my Twin, is lighter, has fewer repair needs, and you can times that by 16 (other models). And, in Blackface setting as elsewhere, it has built-in distortion, so I won't have a debilitating, critical need for my RAT pedal to comp for the wimpy Fender distortion. Unlike a review I read earlier, the amp cuts through at lower-level volumes. The highs are shimmery and the so-called 'dark' tone is not apparent, unless you mean it can sound as dark as the 'real' Twin I used to own.

The best compliment I can give it came from the first night of practice. Our drummer stopped in his tracks and said, "Whatever you're doing, save it. That's the best tone I've ever heard come from you."

So far so good. I'll check back in a year. This has a year warranty. Somebody said it had a short one. (?)

The receptionist gave me phone numbers for companies that make covers. I wish the covers were cheaper, though. I also wish Musician's Friend could find one to match up the amp with.

Guitars color the sound, so I've got to adjust it differently for the following, but my complaints come from each guitar, not from the amp: a Fernandez Thin-Line Tele, a Fernandez Vertigo, and an awesome DeArmond M75-T. I've played for about 15 years, been in bar bands, recorded, toured with one of the bazillion Coaster's outfits on an old tour bus, and am playing twice a month with a good cover band. That don't mean, I'm good, I know, but this amp is used in the real world. I've owned the Twin and a Peavey L.A. Studio. I'm not as critical as some, but I can't hear anything wrong with this amp, apart from some digital-sounding effects (and not all--the reverbs are pretty scary stuff). I'm giving it a great review, because it deserves one.

I get a kick out of the reviewers that say it's good if you play different kinds of music, but if you play one type, then go with the original amp. Apart from blues guys or jazz guys, who is this for? We've all been through about 4 different types of bands, right? As cliche as this sounds, this may be the wave of the future.

My addition to this forum is a concern with the foot pedal. It defaults to drive-boost on when it should be off. Let ME decide when I want to solo. Same goes for the effect: I'd like to turn it on myself, and not default to it on. Switching from one patch to another is not-so-easy if you're doing a medley (our band does a Who medley, loud,soft,loud,soft). I wish it had even 2 MORE switches to move from patch to patch without all of the on-off contortions.

Finally, I wish the boards presets could be user presets. The manual comes with a fold-out card with the settings for the factory presets, one for each amp model. Heck, I could put all 16 in myself from that card, and if I didn't like the 1 and 1/2 second delay like they did, I could choose to change it and make it palatable.

Oh well. Once this user gets to understanding the pedal better, I'll dig it even more. Still, I swear by this pedal, and I swear by this amp. I am very, very happy.

The HUGE list of features will be known by now: various amp models and built-in effects. I like the fact that the effects can be tweaked with a knob instead of going through lists of parameters. It's like my Zoom 505 pedal (obsolete now I bought the FlexTone): the choice of parameters is limited, but limited to a very useable selection.

Being a former transistor amp user, I can't tell if the FlexTone really emulates the stated tube amps, but to my ears it sounds AWESOME!! There are some amp models that don't do it for me, but there are a lot more. Especially the Brit Classic, Rectifier and Modern Hi-gain sound are GREAT!
The only minus: the amp only comes alive above volume setting 3. Below that it sounds feeble and artificial. But anything from 3 up sound REALLY impressive. This 12# version has enough bass to drown out the bass player, and enough highs to drown out the drummers cymbals. And it is VERY, VERY LOUD!

I think the XL can handle quite some abuse, and I totally trust it when gigging. My only worry is the thin cable between the floorboard and the amp, but I haven't experienced any problems yet.

Before I bought it I asked some questions through e-mail, and I got prompt and to the point replies. The website is also very nice, and offers some good support. I'm totally satisfied.

I have been playing for 22 years now, mostly in amateur rock-cover bands. I am currently replacing all my old gear looking for a better sound, and the FlexTone really makes the difference. I fell in love with the FlexTone two years ago on the Frankfurter MusikMesse and the only thing that stopped me from instant purchase was the price. I tried various other (cheaper) amps, but I couldn't find one that was as versatile as the Flex. I must admit there are some great sounding amps around, but the FlexTone is SEVERAL great amps in one box, combined with some OK effects. So although it is expensive (especially including the FloorBoard), it's still good value for money.

This is a new amp. It is extremely versitile for stage, studio or wherever. The features are easy to use but to really "tweak" the sounds takes some time and determination. I bought it with the FB-4 which is a 4 channel switching device. That seemed like enough choices. It is very powerful and has some greaat tones.

I play rock, blues and top 40 music. This amp fills the bill on all of it. I use it alot in the studio and recently put it up against a Fender Twin. It sounded just as good and with much less noise. The trick is to set your lead and rythm volumes ahead of time in the ratios you want. It takes some doing but it is possible. The patches you create are saved so you can't just change volume levels by turning up channel two's volume control like a normal amp. this was aliitle hard to get used to in a live setting. in the studio you can just simply change the volume of the patch manually for a given solo or whatever but live this is not as easy.

I don't know yet. Teh 1st one I bought blew up on the first gig. The replacement amp is fine so far.

As I mentioned in the previous section the first amp I got blew up on its first gig. However the music store and the manufacturer made sure I got a new amp very quickly. They also responded to my email questions promtly and intelligently.

I've benn playing over 30 years in clubs and other venues. I would be willing to buy another one of these. I think it is a bit heavy(about 65 lbs), so it will probably be my main studio amp because it is so versitile. I'm looking for a nice Fender single 12" amp for the everyday gigs.

It really has a lot of features... amp modeling, effects, reverb, low/mid/high, gain, channel volume, and master volume. When I was trying it out in the shop, the combination seemed endless!! Judging by the number of features, it IS endless.

EVERYTHING SOUNDS THE SAME. Well, I'll just say there's not much difference between the different amp models. At low volumes, there's no bite, no low end. But at high volume, there's bite, but still no low end, very midrange and treble based, not enough strong bass. The bass, when cranked is muddy. My Ibanez has 2 Hums and a sngl coil. The clean sounds are good on the single coil (duh) but I just can't find a decent distortion. The only way i got an OK heavy sound is by going direct into my studio setup and running it through an EQ. Too much work if you ask me... Effects are pretty good though. Overall, I really don't like the sound of this amp. I looked at a Rocktron Taboo Twin Combo and it sounded SOOOO much better, a little more dough, but worth it.

so far so good.

idunno yet

If you're looking for versatility, go for it, but don't expecting any good distortion sounds. I like the clean sounds, I hate the distorted tone. If it were stolen or lost, I wouldn't buy another one, I'd get a Rocktron Taboo Twin Combo. I'm gonna try to sell it actually hehe.

Features on this amp are absolutely outstanding. After playing through a large rack for the past few years (Marshall Power Amp, Digitech 2112, Alesis EQ, and Art Tube Compressor)I really got sick of all the complicated programming involved. Please do not get me wrong, it is not that it is hard, it just becomes a pain in the butt after a while. I went to a local music store looking for something with numerous features that sound good the way they are--no tweaking the sound for five hours to make it sound good--and with the FLextone XL I found it. The feature are pretty darn cool. The others that listed the problems with tone and EQ problems did not read the manual. The amp has 16 built in amp sounds--but that is not all--with each amp you choose the actual Volume, EQ pots, and reverb pots correspond. For example the Matchless Chieftan selection disables the mid pot because Matchless does not put one on that amp--pretty cool huh? The older Fender selections, too, have similar features. Anyway, you can choose any of the 16 (vintage fender (2) Vox, Matchless, Marshall (3), Mesa Rectifier, Soldano, 4 Flextone tones, and get this an Arbiter Fuzz mode. In addition to this it has numerous 24 bit digital effects. Tap tempo control over the rate of those effects. Simple Memory bank that is soooooooooo easy to set and the line out for recording is exceptional (just make sure you use a stereo inoput/output.

The Roland JC 120 is the selection the ones below should have tried for that loud (above 5-6) tone without the crackle. Remember this amp emulates others. So just like a Fender (if that is what you have selected) it will begin to break up the louder you get. I myself have been unable to get past the Matchless Chieftan sound with Rotary Speaker effect turned on. This will blow your mind for days. I programmed the Soldano (with a tad bit of delay) for my lead channel--sustain for days (without going to feedback). The VOX selection is also incredible. I have never been a fan of Fender Amps so I do not use those selections very often. Although the Bassmen Selection sounds good. The Mesa Boogie Rectifier Selection is dead on--I owned a Duel Rectifier (needed the cash which is why I sold it--young and in college--Rectifier for beer--what a mistake) before playing through the Marshall power amp and this tone is actually what sold me to tha amp. The salesman (Bubba from SAM ASH in Orlando--ask for him he knows everything--great guy) turned the Mesa selction on plugged my 1960 Les Paul Classic in a said "Play through this." I did and decided it was going home with me. The recording sound through the line out is also great. I have never in my almost 19 years of playing have I found something that sounds this good running straight into the board at volume one--that right volume one no clipping full full sound. Incredible. Buy One.

I hope Line 6 does not read this because it will void my warranty, but I dropped the booger (it is a little on the heavey side--but not nearly as heavy as a full 8 space rack and a marine grade plywood speaker cabinet) and the tolex smudged a little, but still worked and worked just like it always has.

Website is excellent. Manual is excellent and very entertaing--wait 'til you read the their advice on playing the wah pedal--it sucks because they have caught us all. You will have to read it to find out what I mean. I emailed them about adding a speaker cab output and they recommended I not do it. Hey, it wasn't what I wanted to hear, but I will listen because they know more about the amp than I do. they were prompt and courteous though. They could have called me an idiot or something worse, but they refrained--for this I like them.

Buy it and never have to buy another amp again. That is until Line 6 comes out with the XXL that has 32 amp selections and 48 bit digital effects. I would buy it happily.

Perhaps too many features, if this is possible. Does just about everything and then a bit more. I wish it had effects mixing, somehow, though. Sound through headphone jack includes cabinet emulation. (Actually, it sounds damn good through headphones! Better, I think, that through it's own loudpeakers.)

Perhaps too many sounds, if this is possible.
While playing with the usual bassist, he stated "You're just going to have to find like one or two sounds and stick with them...otherwise, with every song different, it is just too many sounds." He's right; when playing, it is easy to lose focus a bit and have fun tweaking tones. Huge variety of timbres. Just huge. Every amp model has such a completely different feel. Cool.

Hard to say. It is a new company with a new product line. Look at a Matchless Chieftan or a Fender Bassman and you're looking at reliability. Look at a Flextone and you're maybe not. Perhaps not the most rugged amplifier in all creation. But not poor either. I would recommend a surge supressor for the electronics which I am certain are orders of magnitude more sensitive than I care to think about.

I have no idea. But I will say this: both the User Manual and the Web site are good. The manual is, in fact, pretty humorous and a good read in general.

Not much else like this amp out there. I like it a lot. Get one, you'll see.

No since repeating all the features again, read some reviews below.

I was really jazzed about this amp when I played it at the store. I like the idea of having an amp that has a bunch of different tones, and built in effects. I couldn't really crank it, or do a side by side with a real tube amp in the store. So I bought it, took it home, and cranked it up in my studio. At first it sounded good, although it sounded really 'dark' to me, none of the high end sparkle I'm used to with my Deville. So I tried the EQ presence boost, that helped brighten it up, but it still just doesn't have that sparkle. The British Marshall sounds in particular are way too dark. The Rectified sounds are great if you're into that metal sound. I'm not, really. The effects are pretty decent. Reverb is so-so. The Fender emulations are decent. That is, until I unplugged my Strat and plugged it into my Deville sitting right next to the Flextone. No comparison! The Deville sounds so much fuller, has so much more clarity, at half the volume! I futzed around with the Flextone for almost a week, and never could get it to sound like I wanted. You really have to crank this thing too get a full sound out of it, at lower volumes, its completely lifeless. At high volume it actually sounds pretty killer. Still just sounds artificial to me, though. Hmm, I wonder why? I cant believe Line 6 charges so much for these amps, THEN makes you pay another $200 bucks for the damn foot controller, so you cant even use all the features until you shell out more bucks!

No idea. Seems a lot of people have had problems with the floorboard.

Dont know.

I've been playing over twenty years, both professionally and as just a hobby. I play all styles, mostly blues and rock though. I've always had tube amps. Marshalls, Fenders, Laneys. These days I normally play Strats through a Fender Blues Deville 60watt 2x12, and use a Daddio or Tube Driver for boost. I need another amp that can get a good,LOUD clean sound. My Deville is great, but I cant get a good loud clean sound out of it, once you get it up to around 3-4 it starts breaking up. Breaking up very nicely, I might add, but when I want a sparkling clean sound in a full cranking band situation, the Deville just cant do it. I figured this Flextone amp, being 100 watts would. Not so. Once you get it up around 5 even on the clean channels, it still breaks up. If you back off the drive, you lose your volume. The modeling thing is a great idea, it's just that after a while, if you play through a real tube amp, you actually notice what the Flextone is missing. I even tried running the line out of the Flextone into my Deville, it sounded better, but not great. I have to agree with one previous reviewer, that this amp is mind-blowing at first, but the more time you spend with it, the more you see what it lacks. SOUL. I really wanted to like this amp, I just couldn't do it. I returned it, and I'm planning on buying a Twin. Maybe a POD running into a Twin would sound decent, if anybody has tried this let me know. I would still have to shell out the bucks for the floorboard though. I just want to say how great this site is, it's a valuable resource for gathering info on a product before you buy it. However, everybody's ears\tastes are different. That's why some people give glowing reviews of a product, while others hate it. Bottom line is you won't really know until you actually take it home and play it with YOUR gear. Whatever sounds good to YOU is what counts. If you like this amp more power to ya, it's just not my cup of tea..