Tama Starphonic Snares

I keep an old ashtray on the counter by the back door to put my keys in, so I don’t forget them when I leave the house. They’re always there when I look for them and I’ve only locked myself out once…’k, twice. My point is, thanks to that groovy-old-ceramic ashtray from the ‘60’s; I remember to take my keys. Read more

Jimi Hendrix The Ultimate Guitar Hero -R.I.P

The Greatest Guitar Hero, Jimi Hendrix still remains one of the most influential forces in rock music. Pulling unprecedented sounds out of his Fender Strat, Hendrix challenged musicians and guitarists to explore a wild new world of tones and textures, dazzling and confounding guitar greats like Jeff Beck, Pete Townshend and Eric Clapton, who still speak of Hendrix with a hushed reverence. Other players before him might have experimented with feedback and excessive distortion, Hendrix turned those practices into an art fashion. He was the first player to use the whammy bar as an instrument unto itself, making his Stratocaster talk, scream and howl. Read more

Line 6 Flextone Amplifier

Destroy the tubes! No, not the Eighties pop band that brought us such classics as “Talk to ya Later” and “She’s a Beauty.” You know, those hot pieces of glass in the back of amplifiers that some people think you need to produce a great guitar tone. Well, those people clearly don’t include the engineers at Line 6, who continue to design amplifiers that use digital processing to emulate the sounds of classic tube amps. Their argument runs that most folks are happy to use digital processing, and more and more guitarists are enjoying the cheap flexibility of recording in the digital domain. Furthermore, we are happy to listen to CDs, use samplers, download music from the Internet—all digital. So why not a fully digital amplifier that includes models of the world’s favorite amps along with an array of powerful effects (and absolutely no tubes)?

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The Flextone is rated at 60-watts with two different 100-watt stereo versions also available. The open-back combo design is familiar, with a single Line 6 12-inch speaker, top-mounted controls and a retro look. The control panel has most of the features you’d expect to see—master volume, drive, treble, mid, bass, reverb—but the exciting stuff happens with the two rotary selectors. The first allows you to choose from 16 different amp models, including Roland JC-120, Fender Blackface, Marshall Plexi, Soldano SLO and some of Line 6’s own concoctions. The second control offers a variety of effects in different combinations, such as chorus, flanging, delay and tremolo. So, you choose your amp, tweak the sound to taste, add your effects and then save it in one of the four channel selections. It’s really a breeze; unlike some digital amps, the controls are very self-explanatory, and the comprehensive but lighthearted manual keeps you out of trouble.

The real question, of course, is, “Does it sound like the amps it’s designed to emulate?” Amazingly enough, the answer is yes. The modeling is very believable, despite a touch of high-end frizzle on a couple of the sounds. Pitted against a class A/B tweed amp, the sound of the Flextone’s Bassman model definitely held its own. The other models are equally impressive and capture the distinct voicings associated with legends like Vox and Marshall. High-gain tones really fry, without that swiffness normally associated with digital amps. The clean sounds, probably the most contentious area for such a design, handle the range from jazz to country with a confident swagger. Add to that a fat fistful of studio quality effects and you’ve got an amp capable of dialing up virtually any sound you can imagine.

The optional Floor Board controller that we tested with the Flextone is also worth a mention. At a hundred bucks, it’s a good value just for the volume pedal, excellent wah effects and built-in tuner. You also get a road-ready foot controller that lets you hop through everything the amp has to offer, including the delay tap-tempo feature.

The End Line

While Eric Johnson probably won’t hock his favorite Plexi in favor of this digital mimic, most players will buy these convincing tones.

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