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Line6 Vetta I Combo v2.5 Price Paid / Price New: $625/$1699 Year Manufactured: Early 00s Specs:
Sound:4/5 This is a modeling amp. Its models are certainly not perfect or exact. However, they do sound quite good on their own. If you want a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier, get a Dual Rectifier. If you want a vintage Fender Bassman, get a Fender Bassman. If you want to get sounds that are close those without spending many thousands of dollars, get a Line6 Vetta. Personally (since this is a fairly subjective category), I've found sounds in the Vetta that I haven't found any place else. Its cleans vary so much from amp model to amp model. Its dirty tones vary so much from amp model to amp model. Its high gain tones vary from amp model to amp model. If you sit down with this amp and work with it for a while, you WILL find a tone that is very close to the tone you want, if not THE tone you want. Line6 basically takes a shotgun approach to tone; It gives you many thousands of combinations of tone altering tools. This approach ensures that you will find something close to what you want. Equipment Quality: 4/5 I bought this amp second hand from a retired gigging musician. He claimed he had no problems with this amp in the 3-5 years he had used it. (He bought it new, but couldn't remember the year.) I've had it for a year and just recently had a problem with it. The memory had corrupted and I needed to reflash the Vetta's software, which fixed the problem. I've run the amp with mismatched loads for a couple hours four months ago and have seen no ill effects. All of the knobs/plugs still function very well. The amplifier gets quite loud with minimal noise. The cabinet seems to be a weak link. It certainly isn't terrible, but under very high gain and high volume the cabinet starts woofing, perhaps a combination of the cabinet and the speakers. I've never encountered this problem except under extreme conditions. At practice with my band I've never encountered the woofing (we play pop rock that occassionally calls for some chugging.) So bottom line; if you play bass heavy, high gain music with the amp dimed (this combo is painfully loud over a hard hitting drummer at around 5/10) then you will need a separate cab. Playbility: N/A Overall Value: 4/5 INCREDIBLY versatile. The range of tones you can get out of this amp is pretty amazing. That alone gives this amp a 3/5 rating for overall value. The other things that add the extra point are certainly not subtle either. The amp is incredibly loud. This, like the Roland JC120, does not suffer from weak SS power amp syndrome that plagues lower end SS amps. This amp can compete in a band situation. The FX setup on this beast is pretty tough to beat. A footswitchable stereo FX loop plus all of the Vetta's internal FX make it incredibly liberating. If you use a lot of effects, this amp will certainly be of some interest to you. Most of the FX models are usable, but they are missing some things. The Phasers in particular are quite average, and I still use my Boss PH-3 in place of any of the Vetta's phasers. Reverbs are nice as well, and also very configurable. There is really too much to go into on the subject of Vetta FX, but none are throw aways. Seeing as how this amp uses MIDI, most effects can use the tap tempo function. Sequencing the phaser, delay, tremolo, chorus, flange, or [insert time dependent effect] can be controlled via tap tempo. The two amps at once feature is why I initially bought the amp, and its something that makes things much easier as a lone guitarist. Live at band practice, it thickens up the sounds A LOT. Its quite easy to achieve the wall of guitar sound by oneself. The Double Tracker feature is interesting, and usable, but definately not jaw dropping. Its nice to have, but thats about it. The direct outs from this amp are also better than any direct outs I've heard on any factory amp (Mesa Boogie's direct outs make me shudder.) It makes home studio recording artist's (like myself) lives much easier. Plug in a 2 1/4" cords from the amp to the computer and viola, silent, stereo guitar goodness. The direct outs certainly aren't perfect, and will need tweaking between your live, loud tone and direct in tones, but they are better than most. The downsides are that this is not a tube amp, to be quite frank, which I guess can be good and bad. Repairing this amp is not going to be simple it will MOST LIKELY require a Line6 certified amp repairman. It will not get that exact saggy tube feel, it will come close, however it will not achieve it exactly.
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Jul 5, 2007 22:14
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Mesa/Boogie Studio Caliber DC-2 Price Paid / Price New: $400/$??? Year Manufactured: Early 00s Specs:
Sound:4.5/5 Small tube amp. drat loud for 20 Watts. Both channels have separate EQ and Reverb controls. The Lead channel's tone can be changed by hitting the "Contour" button on the footswitch or by changing the channel selector switch on the front of the amp. The Clean channel is somewhat Fender-ish while still having some of the middy Marshall cut. With the gain 2 or 3 nice clean mellow tone. Nice semi-breakup with the gain dimed. Very reactive to playing dynamics and volume control on the guitar. When cranked on the clean channel, it breaks up beautifully, really something to behold. The Lead channel ranges quite a bit in tone. With the gain around 2 its Bluesbreaker-ish. It winds all the way up to 10, which can almost chug. It needs some sort of overdrive pedal to get it up there, but it gets quite high gain sounding with the gain dimed. The Contour switch makes it sound less nasally, less Boogie Lead sounding. The Contour switch makes the amp sound newer, I find it works well when trying to achieve sounds similar to the Black Album rhythm with the gain at 10. I usually keep the Contour switch off when playing lead lines because that sweet Boogie lead tone cuts through so well. Equipment Quality: 5/5 Built like a tank. Aluminium tube guard on the back. Footswitch incredibly well built. Nothing out of line here folks. Playbility: N/A Overall Value: 5/5 I really can't find a price for these new. However, for 400 dollars, this amp was very much worth the money. Superb clean, superb rhythm and the coveted and sought after Boogie lead. Very nice amp. Quite versatile as well, being a rocker I would've liked a little more gain on the lead channel, but this amp is very well suited for rock and classic rock.
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Jul 5, 2007 22:41
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