Using a Line 6 amp?

[Atticus]

Line 6 is one of the best known modeling amps in the rock/metal world. They definitely have a leaning towards the hard rock and metal crowd since the majority of their amp settings are high-gain, very crunchy and compressed sounds. However, the better ones also have a few cleaner options. Has anybody ever tried getting a good jazz tone out of one of their products?

I mostly ask because as far as solid state amps go, the Spider IV combo amps have some of the best price to amp-size-and-wattage ratios around. I like the Roland Cube-80, but I could get a Line 6 for about $70 cheaper and 5 watts less, or a 120W 2x10 for about $30 more.

[matt.guitarteacher]

Originally Posted by Atticus

Line 6 is one of the best known modeling amps in the rock/metal world. They definitely have a leaning towards the hard rock and metal crowd since the majority of their amp settings are high-gain, very crunchy and compressed sounds. However, the better ones also have a few cleaner options. Has anybody ever tried getting a good jazz tone out of one of their products?

I mostly ask because as far as solid state amps go, the Spider IV combo amps have some of the best price to amp-size-and-wattage ratios around. I like the Roland Cube-80, but I could get a Line 6 for about $70 cheaper and 5 watts less, or a 120W 2x10 for about $30 more.

We've got both at the store where I teach. Maybe I'm just not good enough with the knobs, but it takes me about a minute and a half to get a great tone out of the new Roland Cube 80x or whatever it's called. I think for clean tones it's got a lot of flexibility. I love it.

In contrast, I can monkey around for 20 minutes with the humongous line 6 cabinet we've got and still be really frustrated. That being said, I'm mostly an acoustic guy. I use electric mainly just for playing jazz. If it was me I'd get the Roland, but it seems like if you knew what you were doing you should be able to do just about anything with those modeling amps.

I like line 6. My son has a floor pod. I just don't need that much flexibility to play jazz. Before shelling that kind of dough, go somewhere where you can play both, and if nobody on here has a bunch of great sounding "jazzy" presets to give you before you go to the store, forget about it. Some things just sound better when you plug them in flat. You shouldn't have to work that hard.

Edit: BTW, the manager at the store says it's not just me. He's a little less delicate in his criticism of the line 6. I personally think if you "need" modeling, you probably get a little more bang for your buck to get a separate pod. I'm not real hip to the amp itself.

[Atticus]

I've always heard that the trick to modeling is knowing what you want to get and how to do it. If you just fiddle with it and expect something you'll hate it.

I've got a 15W Spider IV that was my first practice amp (I usually use a Pignose these days). Its modeling options are a lot more limited than those of the larger models. I can get a nice warm sound with my Squier Thinline Tele (single-coil neck pup) that's a bit more suited for blues than jazz, but I can't nail that crystal-clear sound that I hear so many jazz guys use in videos posted here and in other forums. It probably won't matter much since I'm going to be using it for a massive school group with the full load of horns, and will probably get one or two chances to take a solo per gig at most, but I'd like something that will continue to be useful.

I'm mostly looking for a really good clean tone. I figure if I need other tones for non-jazz stuff I can use pedals. I would get a Fender tube amp but they're expensive to begin with and require loads more upkeep than solid state.

[woyvel]

I'll say it again as I do in a lot of amp threads: Based (or bassed?) on another thread on the forum, I picked up a bass amp that suits me very well for jazz sounds. I did so after seeing someone tout a Line 6 bass amp. Check out "The Secret Jazz Amp" thread.

[cmajor9]

The Fender Blackface model of Line 6 seems pretty decent, and on some rigs they include an old Gibson model thats nice for jazzy tone. In my experience (I've tried a few different companies, including Line 6, Amplitube and Logic) the hardest thing to model convincingly is a good clean sound.