Opinions on the Line 6 Flextone III Plus?

[jlf2960]

I've been looking into the Flextone IIIs. These clips espcially impressed me as I'm looking for a good triple rec sound:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ir0YdxAQyjs

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6bttjg4DCTw

http://youtube.com/watch?v=KuF8nW-EZ54

I plan on using it for home use only and mostly low to bedroom volume playing. I have a POD XT already and use it through the FX loop of a Tech 21 TM10. I can't seem to dial in the tones the guy gets above.

My questions are, is the Flextone III good for home use and low volume playing?

Does the extra speaker on the XL make a noticable difference?

[guitarman_nebr]

i used the Flex III Plus for home use and it was really cool. the editing software is fun and you can tweak to your heart's content.

i would highly recommend the Flex III for home use. get a shortboard with it and you should have all you need for quite some time.

instead of getting the 2x12 version, get a 1x12 extension cab for the Flextone III Plus. this gives you cab options and speaker options to play with..............fun stuff!!

[Crikey]

I think if you are having trouble duplicating sound from YouTube clips with similar gear, it might be because of all the changes that happen to audio as it goes in through the camcorder microphone and gets converted to digital, blended into the digital video data, edited, and then gets squashed down to meet YouTube's compression requirements. In other words, what you're hearing on YouTube might not bear much resemblance to what he was hearing in the room when recording the clip.

Here's what little I know about the Line 6 stuff, based on playing in stores. I found that at bedroom volumes, the Flextone III (like many gig-worthy tube amps) plainly sounded like it wasn't hitting its stride. It was kind of stiff and muffled sounding. I think you probably have to turn it up to get the sound to open up, again like many Boogies, the 5150 series, etc. The Flextone III seems to be intended for gigging musicians, so maybe this makes sense. The Spider III series seemed to sound more open right off idle -- certainly it's what most bedroom players would buy and so I expect that was an important design consideration for Line 6.

This is just what I observed; YMMV and all that.

Good luck!


Crikey

[Nick Patterson]

Originally Posted by guitarman_nebr

instead of getting the 2x12 version, get a 1x12 extension cab for the Flextone III Plus. this gives you cab options and speaker options to play with..............fun stuff!!

I've used this setup for almost four years now and it is great. Without the extension cab, I had to crank the mids to cut through and it started to sound thin. If you need a versatile setup, definitely the way to go.

Also, it is great for low volume without the extension cab.