First run at it was a month or so ago - in less than ideal circumstances, in a shop, average headphones, not much time and a guitar with strings that were past their best. Not a good impression; sounds were thin, didn't 'feel' right, presets are pretty extreme, and distorted sounds were horrible. The one shining light was one of the clean settings, it leapt out as warm and vibrant - unlike all the other sounds.
Cut forward a few weeks and some more consideration - my JCM800 provides my stock sounds, I need more variety and specifically clean sounds...and the thought kept coming back, based on the clean tone that maybe there were some nuggets in it that could be exploited. I decided to order one, and use the weeks taster period to give it a proper trial at home.
First play at home and I would have sent it straight back; it felt like there was a perceptible delay between hitting the strings and the sound coming out , and that sound was awful...I'd gone for the heavier end as I wanted to test it on what I was most familiar with. On that test the Bogner was poor, the Fireball just a woolly mess, such that if they actually sounded like that they would never have sold a single amp. On going back to Line 6's online samples I then noticed that the Bogner one only played single notes - two together had no definition, so something of a deception on Line 6's part I feel. The JCM800 model was nothing like mine (although obviously speakers/valves mics etc have a huge impact). Overall a disappointing half hour.
Next day, had another go, more or less the same story, but I played longer on the 'cleaner' models and was beginning to get inspired, coming up with a few ideas and really enjoying them..but I still figured I would send it back.
Day three, and by now I was really hooked on the rounded gorgeous clean amps (and dialling back the gain on the crunch amps). After more consideration of what I needed, I figured that, with the decent effects, what did it matter if the heavier tones weren't there? I had my Marshall for that and maybe using the POD as a pre-amp into, might just add some more usable flavours to that palette.
However the key to the whole thing came after connecting it up to the computer and downloading the update patch. Having noticed it changed the gain stages on the Fireball and Bogner it seemed promising - and indeed it was. The Fireball suddenly got the definition it needed and was a revelation, I could actually see myself using it and spent a fun half hour just noodling around with some heavier rhythms.
It's still very early days, but as a creative tool its certainly working for me (the first idea I had is already taking shape into a full song). It fills the need for clean tones perfectly and the heavier amps are now getting a look in with me...although I'm not sure I would use them for leads, they still don't have the right feel for that.
Overall for the money, with the update patch...it's a real bargain and an excellent tool for those who need access to a range of decent sounds - get one and live with it for a while!
Kevin
