Line 6 HD147 Head

By now you've read all of the above so I assume you know the features, if not, check out Line 6's website

I currently play through a PRS SC-150, Jackson USA KV-2, PRS Tremonti Custom and a Charvel Strat. I gravitate around the heavier side of music currently playing through a Mesa Dual Rectifier Solo Head, Dave Mustaine Signature Line 6 Head (one of four prototypes made) and now the HD-147.
For a heavy sound this amo does pretty well. If you are a rhythm player this amp will suit you well, giving you a ton of different effects to tweak and a pretty heavy sound. The amp models aren't too bad, some are really decent but you aren't going to get a Rectifier out of a solid state amp...that needs to be realized up front. This head will also sounds a TON better if you play through a decent cab. If you use this head with a $200 4X12 then you can't really expect much. I play mine through my Mesa 4X12 and it sounds good, once you turn off all of the cabinet modeling.
I'd play this live just to save space if I had to.

Don't know yet, but my DM head is a warrior having had everything spilled on it and still work

Line 6 support is pretty good, but only if you CALL them. The website sucks. I tried to get some info on my DM head and they couldn't help. Wow, you guys built it, shouldn't someone know something....

I'd give this an 8 overall, it's a pretty good piece of equipment. It piles a ton of amps into one box and this bad boy is loud. Just don't expect a Diezel to come out of this, but you can get some great sounds out of it.

I play mostly death metal and this amp has gain and distortion for days. It also has very nice cleans. The key to this head is patience dialing in your tone. This amp is basically loaded and with 300 watts you can definately piss off the neighbors.

I use an Ibanez RG3EXFM1 and play this head out of a Behringer full stack. For heavy,crunchy,chunky, distortion, the only amp that ever came close for me was a Crate 130 watt half stack i used to have. For as loud as this amp there is hardly any feedback and with noise gate on it is virtually silent when you stop playing. This amp can do it all. You can make any sound if you take a little time to dial it in. This amp at 300 watts is the loudest amp I have ever played through. It is plenty loud at 3 or 4, any louder and me dogs go running. Bottom line this is one of the best amps for under 2000 period.

I just bought this amp used so i don't know. It seems like it is built very well.

The line 6 website is very helpful. You can go online and print manuals or just about anything else. I havn't had any reason to contact them yet but there website is really good.

I have been playing for about a year and a half. Right now I only have this setup. With a Crate fxt120 2x12 for bedroom playing. I have owned a few other amps and have played just about every major brand. There is really nothing I don't like about this amp. I have compaired this amp with many others and after carefull consideration I chose this one. There are some very nice Marshalls and Randalls to name a few, but they are way overpriced. This amp was the best value for all you get. If you can get this amp for under 600 it is well worth it.

everything you need-

very crisp,unreal,modern sounding

seems tight,well built,so far so good-

theyve answered the phone if i need them

pretty sweet,,i owned the vetta 2 and ended up w/ this,very cool idea

If you are reading this then you already know about the features.

I play mostly progressive modern rock through this amp and it always sounds impressive.

The only thing I wish it did was have automatic Fletcher-Munson curve compensation so you could build your tones at low volume and have essentially the same tone at high volume.

Also, I wish it had better volume management between patches; sometimes volume levels are difficult to get 100% right.

I use a Schecter C-1 Hellraiser with EMG's and it sounds beautifull. The cleans are nice and clean with a tad bit of bite and really melds well with the effects.

The high gain amps are a bit noisy so I introduce a smidge of noise gate. By the way, be careful with the noise gate as it can change some things such as dynamics, etc.

I look at this amp for what it is; an amp with a plethora of tones. I am not trying to emulate different amps. You will never be happy if you attempt to do this. If you have the bug to get a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier sound then you need to simply buy a Mesa.

I have no problem running effects to this amp; they sound just as they should.

I also use this with the shortboard which is highly recommended for complex playing.

BTW, I also use a BBE sonic maximizer which makes it sound less compressed, more raw, and with better dynamics (similar to tube amp). I highly recommend you do the same.

I have gigged with this without a backup before with no problems. The only problem I have ever discovered was when running a two head one cabinet stereo set-up I had the HD147 on top of a B-52 AT-100 100W tube amp and almost roasted the HD147 with heat. I have since made a heat shield and haven't had anymore problems, but what was happening when it got over temp was that it was getting really quiet and "wierd".

I have owned the POD, POD2.0, DM4, PODXT, and Variax 700 Gold, and have never had a problem with my Line 6 products. I have asked questionsd and have gotten about 24hour turn-around time.

I have been playing with it for about 2 months and play show(s) every week. If it were lost or stolen I'd probably just collect the insurance money and buy another one used.

I use this with a two head set-up for a more complex set-up. Wish you could do the same with this one without going Vetta (too complicated for band use).

The other head is a tube head that takes care of the dynamics and low-end while the HD147 gives my sound the character.

Plus, with one footpress I can turn on a different amp, add compressor, noise gate, chorus, and delay. try doing that with pedals.

I play rock from prog to heavy to classic/AOR to pop to metal (http://www.myspace.com/mindwavesmusic) and I need a very versatile setup... this amp has it all: clean, crunch, rythm, lead sounds, in all possible styles, and also some good sounding effects, especially delays.

Oh, and 300 watts (stereo) of pure power...

XLR outputs for recording or getting a good sound directly in the soundboard for gigs.

Midi in and outs for using with Line 6 programs on your computer give you even more sound editing and saving possibilities.

Still, I only give a 9 though because if you want to really enjoy all the features of the amp, you'll have to buy a foot controller like the FBV shortboard.

I use mostly Music Man EVH and Axis guitars with DiMarzio pickups. This amp can really sound awesome, if you take a little time to work on it...because most of the factory presets don't sound that great and you'll have to read the manual and try to find your own tones. But it's really worth it!

Of course, it will probably never sound 100% like a tube amp, but it's getting sooooo close! (especially with an equalizer like the mxr KFK1 in the effects loop)

My favorite sounds:
-Fender Deluxe and Twin Reverb models for the cleans and also Line 6 clean
-Diezel and Bogner models for the Hi gain sounds (lead and rythm), Triple Rectifier for heavy rythm sounds and Line 6 Agro for nice singing lead sounds
-some of the Marshall sounds (plexi superlead) for the crunch

Nothing to say so far...(knock on wood!)

Hope I won't need it! :)

I've been playing for more than 20 years and have Marshalls (2555 Silver Jubilee head that I keep of course and JCM 2000 DSL 100 that I will probably sell), Fender (Super 60), just sold my Mesa Rectoverb combo...

I just had enough of all these things I had to plug in front of my amp and carry over everywhere and still that wasn't versatile enough for me. Now I just have one amp and one pedalboard to plug in (with an ethernet cable, so you just need ONE jack from the guitar to the amp!!!), rehearsals and gigs...and all these sounds are so nice to play! :)

I play Thrash Metal and I use the HD147 with a Line6 412S cabinet in my home and somtimes I carry the whole half stack to big rehersals. I basicly use the Smash model for my distortion chanel and the Line6 Super Clean (the red alterenate of the Line6 Clean model) model with some reverb as a clean chanel. This is one of the most versatile amps, it has 32 amp models and 16 cabinet models, you can ran up 4 cabinets with it and it also has a headphone input, not to mention the several outputs. It's really good for any style: blues (Vox models recommended), jazz (jazz clean model is for you), metal (Smash, Insane). It's also very powerfull, the 300 watts are more than enough. With the 412S cabinet I can use the whole power of the amp, because the cabinet is designed for 320 watts. That's an enormous power, I never even dared to spin the master volume knob over 3 (I always use the chanel volume on maximum), with the master on 3 your sound is perfectly loud and understandable even if your drummer plays as loud as he can.

I play on a Hamer Californian guitar with an EMG81 pickup at the bridge position. The noise gate is good it also works well on high volume and high gain, but it's not perfect. It takes away from your suistane and sometimes the power of your gain, for example pick slides doesn't sounds to good with the gate engaged in, but you can adjust the threshold of it and you can also turn it off, which is not really recommended, because without the gate, the ampo is very noisy. About the brutality of the distrotion: this thing is brutal. Very brutal. It is good for any kind of extreme metal, but if you take off the gain you can also have a nice, warm blues tone.

I never had any internal problem with it, but it's very vulnerablem because of the chrome overlay, which is looks good, but it's very easy to scratch it. Always use the shag bag for cover the amp, when you want to transport the amp for longer paths. Clean it with a dry cloth and always care about it very softly. Never put anything on the chrome parts of the amp!

Never dealt with them, I hope this won't change.

I've been playing for 3 years and this is the best amp I've ever had. I also had a Randall Warhead, tried an all tube Marshall, but HD147 smokes them. I love that this thing is digital. Digitality is very good for those, who play on a 7, or 8 string guitar, because the low string will sound very powerfull and focused with a digital amp. The only thing I don't like about the amp is that I can't turn off the gate with the FBV Shortboard, so I have to walk to the amp, to turn it off. The effects bulit in the amp are awesome. They are not as good as some hi-end stompbox, but they do anything for you.

Not sure how old the amp is - I bought it used. This is one of the most versital amplifiers on the planet - it will cover any style of music you throw at it. The only feature I wish it had was a tube power amp. I bought this as a back up to my primary rig (mesa single recto combo, line6 pod xt live, and BBE sonic stomp. This is an exceptional amplifier. I use it with a marshall 2X12 stereo cabinet. I would love to try it with a Randall 2x12x1-15 cabinet. The HD147 is capable of and amazing amount of bass (I play metal / hard rock). I typically use the Diezel as my dirty channel (sometimes the triple rec) and the Fender 65 twin reverb as my clean. I bought this amp as an impulse buy, sort of. I have had a pod xt live for a few years and I love it. I read about the HD147 quite a bit before ever plugging in (it looked good on paper). I was at the local G.C. one day and they happened to have one there used (they do not have them in stock typically) there was a guy playin blues out of it so I impatiently waited for him to leave. While waiting a sales man coaxed me into the big$ room to play a diezel VH4 - holy s%#t!! That was the best amp I ever played - period - but way to expensive. I escaped the expensive room and got my chance to try the HD147. I started with the Diezel model for obvious reasons. I am not going to tell you that the HD sounded exactly like the Diezel but it was d@#M close and about $4000.00 cheaper. I bought it right then and there - I showed the salesman how it sounded and he couldn't argue - it is as close as it could be. I realize this is a matter of opinion - its my opinion the Diezel is better but the HD147 is close enough for my wallet.

I play, as mentioned before, metal/hard rock this amp has the ability to give great joy in this style of music. I am pretty sure it would suit anyone and any style - my focus is on metal tones cause thats what I play. The sound quality is good but I still prefer my Mesa single rec w/ the pod XT live. It does not have that creamy warm tube sound. Maybe I am a tube snob. I still love this amplifier I record exclusively with it (it is great to record with) don't get me wrong about sound quality it sounds very good I just prefer the Mesa. This is not an amp I was able to "dial in" in ten minutes. It takes some time to fine tune your sound but your sound is in there, you just have to be patient and find it. I have owned the amp for 6 months and I still tweak it here and there. As a guitar player for 22 years I have gone through many phases of what type of distortion I like. This amp will allow you to change sounds as your mood desires - there are so many options. One note: get the short board or you are missing out on 75% of the enjoyment from playing this amp.

Its solid state and built like a brick s#$t house. I am pretty sure this could be used to stop an RPG and still work. I would have no reason to believe you would need a back up but anything could happen be prepared.

Never needed it - I have no opinion

I have been playing for 22 years. I am not the greatest guitar player to grace the planet but I play regularly and love to play. I do have 22 years of experience with gear and I've got to tell you this is a great piece of gear. If you play in a cover band you should give this amp a long hard look it is perfect for achieving any sound you can dream of - but it will take some time. If you are looking to create "your own sound" this is a great stepping stone it will give you a chance to intimately discover the sonic possibilities of many expensive amps. Then when you have the money to pony up to a Diezel VH4 (or whatever your holy grail is)you will truly know what you will get from that expensive amp. In my opinion it takes more than an hour of playing this piece of equipment to make a decision. It is not for everyone, it has a lot of adjustments on it - it is not a simple amp. It does not have that creamy tube sound it is a bit harsh (acceptable but a bit harsh) - I still love this amp and when mixed in with a band it is awesome sounding. It is not the best money can buy - but you would be hard pressed to find all the stuff this amp has to offer (effects, models, in/out options)in any other amp on the market. This could be the best bang for the buck in the world of guitar amps.

I play in 3 bands doing a very wide variety of music, country, classic rock, oldschool and newschool metal - this amp does it all - with the floorboard you have everything available - effects - volume - wha - boost - you name it. It is great for the gigging I do - no pedalboard to mess with - 1 head - 1 cabinet - run line outs to the PA and it rocks!!! plenty of volume if you need it - still sounds great at low volumes unlike tube amps.

I use this with high end PRS's - Les Pauls - I use Randall cabinets, a top with 4 12" speakers and the bottom with 2 12" and a 15" speaker. This amp can RUMBLE. It has great clean tones and crushing distortion if you need it, everything in between. All 300 watts of power to cut through - no noise (it has a gate) - unlike tube amps you can get the same great sounds at low volumes - also great for recording - the line outs are phenominal - I set up a bank for standard - clean, crunchy, heavy, and lead, - and then from there set up the rest of the banks for any specialized songs that have specific sounds and effects - I can cover so much ground with this setup - if you need to tweek something, hold the channel button and it is saved forever!!

Have had over 2 years - no issues yet - No tubes to fail

I have this side by side with my other guitarists Marshall 30th anniversary TSL100 - both of us are amazed at the sound quality of the line 6. I dont pay too much attention to the names of the models I use. I listen to the sounds and set up patches that sound good - I am so happy with this amp - I have had a lot of great amps and I have a ton of equipment that I no longer need as this amp has it all. I do wish you did not need to hook to a computer to do some of the advanced sound editing (such as putting the volume pedal pre or post amp).

loads of features to mold sound, and 4 built in channels to store your sounds...

every feature i need, but you cant choose the TYPE of reverb, i think the default one is spring but its OK, does the job!

Right... everyone's opinion here is different... just to clarify..

i play this kind of music.. (myspace.com/xerath) - orchestral groove metal we call it... and i'm into stuff like devin townsend, symphony x, opeth, nevermore, etc..

anyways, for that kind of stuff this amp RULES... i think its the treadplate patch i use, i got the perfect rythm sound within minutes, sparkling clean is gorgeous and i had a nice sound within 2 mins and lead took 10 mins and i used insane.

its rediculously loud as everyone says, i have 3 sweet sounds and a channel to spare and it took minutes.

I'm not easy to please, some of the stuff on this is more high-fizz instead of high gain if that makes sense... but you CAN get the sound you want if you mess with it

its tight as hell, and completely quiet

its lighter than a valve amp, does'nt get nearly as hot, does'nt have glass inside it

not gone wrong yet, but havent gigged it yet!

n/a

overall i'm extreamely glad i bought this amp, i'm sick of people ranting on for hours about the science of tone because they are always the ones who have cr@p p*ssy tone.

i'm lazy, i'm just a guitarist who wanted the best sounds and wanted them ASAP.. and thats what i got, for cheap too!

my last amp wa an engl powerball, i would say this is 95% as good for half the price.

Well well well... First things first. I don't own this piece of rig, I only tried it a couple of times at my local store. The fact that I'm writing a review is to explain you why I didn't buy it. So take my opinions carefully.
It was love at first sight. Some of the most gorgeous piece of sh*t I've ever seen, cool chrome plate, cooler blue leds glowing behind the grills.
I was looking for a head-cabinet, dreaming a high gain valve like Mesa, Orange or a JCM800, but that's it, dreaming. I love to play some genres, like metal, stoner, hard rock and some blues, but I'm going to gig with some blokes who play alt rock with no more than crunch rythms and some clean-delay stuff. In addiction, as I improve and grow old as a guitar player, I'm developing an interest in spacing through all genres and styles, and sounds as a consequence.
This should be 'the' piece of rig for 360 degrees of playing, it has pretty much everything from jazzy cleans to ball to the wall aggressive low end chug-chug distortions. A bunch of built in fx, programmable banks, gate and compressor... The only thing that lacks is a tuner (only on the optional pedalboard) and a frappuccino machine. Ok, let's give it a try!

I was higly impressed when the guy plugged in and shredded from a preset to another through a Line6 4x12 dedicate cabinet and a Strat.
The Mesa sounded like hell, the Diezel models kicked my hat off... Then I got back home and began thinking about actually buy the beast, but before I wanted to try it myself.
Today I plugged in with my axe (Epiphone LP Custom Zakk Wylde, stock passive EMG-HZ pu's) and tryed it in a different room in the back of the store.
I was strangely and sadly disappointed. No matter how many models I switched to, I sensed a lack of texture, of room, of breath. Even the fully cranked JCM800 was disappointing, with the eq settings properly wyldish and the gate off it was impossible to get a decent pinch harmonic, just some crappy 'wink'...no squeal no deal.
Good cleans, ok, but otherwise nothing impressed me for the good. The so globally appreciated distorted models gave an awful 'ooomph' on the low palm muting typical of budget, practice mosfet amps, and through a 4x12 this is absolutely rubbish!
I know the presets aren't the best, I know my experience is partial, but frankly I can't afford to spend 1000 euros and 400 for the cab to write a brilliant and competent review about how this head 'really' sucked.
I just tryed a Laney VC30 (30 watts, class A all valve combo 2x12 celestion) and it smoked the 300w,obscenely loud, headroom for days bullsh*t! (300w means it should be, if maths is on my side, ten-friggin-times louder on the card!). It filled the space with solid, punching and rich tone, leaving my ears bleeding but in a kinda pleasant way. I know, it will never be as versatile as the HD147, at least in intentions, but I'm talking about sound quality.
I'm not a valve-head, but I have to admit that the dream of a digital revolution remains, like, a dream... for now.

How the hell am I supposed to know??? ^^

It was like being told Santa doesn't exist.
I believed so badly that this head could have dethroned the high gain, high price, high weight and high trouble valve heads. But hands on, I had to drop any hope. For someone it could be ok, maybe for a studio situation (with a couple of months tweaking). But for my needs and taste, it is mediocre. Remember, I didn't go in depth as I owned it and played it for weeks, so give it a try, maybe try other cabs, and rely on your ears and hands before deciding.