archtopeddy

Okay, here's my post-gig report. FIrst, I should explain that I played tonight in a reggae/rocksteady band. While we have six musicians we are not really that loud. Nonetheless, I have a drummer, percussionst, another gutarist, a sax and an electric bass to contend with, so presence from my amp is important. I'm happy to report that I had more than enough volume, headroom and sense of presence from the 150 amp. Also, the four patches I settled on worked well for me during the gig (I did not use any really distorted patches. I prefer to use an overdrive pedal). I was happy with the quality of the sounds I was getting. The highest volume setting I had for the amp was around 11 o'clock -- less than half the amp's potential volume gain. Even at this setting, my guitar volume was mostly rolled back to about 40-80 percent of full. Basically, there was a lot more volume left for me to use. In fact... I'm wondering if a 75 might work for my needs. I suspect a 75 could reach appropriate volume levels, but I wonder whether it would have enough "umph", depth and full dimensional feel. I may have to go back to GC and re-listen to the 75 with these considerations in mind. It's sure hard to beat the 75's handy size and weight! AE

OPERATING TIP: When I start up my 150, all four lights are dimly lit for about three seconds. Then preset "A" blinks for another two seconds (as the "Tone" light comes on). After two seconds, the "A" preset quits blinking and goes "on" steady. When the "A" preset goes steady, the "Tap" button starts blinking and the big volume knob shows the red volume level -- at about four notches. AE

I tried both side-by-side in the quiet "acoustic guitar" room at my local GC. I used the same guitar (Strat), same settings on the guitar, same patches in the amp. The 150 was noticeably more present and fuller sounding. Since I need this amp for gigs, I chose the 150. I loved the size and weight of the 75 and REALLY wanted it to work, but for gigs, I think the 150s the best choice. I'll gig with it tonight and let you know how it works. AE

OPERATING TIP: I'm new to Line 6 equipment and mostly new to digital modeling amps. What I have to say about adjusting volumes on the patches may be old-news to ya'll, but I thought I'd put this down since I found the following working for me. Let me first say I have an Amplifi 150 and I'm using my iphone 4S to do the following: -- From the main page, click AMPLIFi 150 link which will get you to your four patches on bank 1. (Note: If you have an AMPLIFI 75, the link may say AMPLIFI 75) -- Click on the circle with the arrow on the right hand side of the name of the tone in the patch you wish to change. This will take you the to editor page for that tone/patch. DON'T adjust any of the sliders (especially the Drive), -- Go to the links above the sliders and click on the "Vol" link. From there you can lower the "Max Position" from 100 %. -- After lowering the volume level, click on "Save Info", hit "Save" and then "Save to AMPLIFI 150" This will replace the patch with the newly adjusted volume. Since it seems by default most of the volume levels in the tones are set to 100 percent, it is best to lower the levels of your louder tones/patches (distorted and overdriven tones generally) to match the levels of your lower patches. To state it another way, you can't raise you clean tones above 100%, so you will need to lower your other tones to compensate. You can check your volume levels by going back to your AMPLIFI 150 link and clicking on each patch one at a time, comparing each volume relative to the other patches. Readjust as needed. When you are happy, close your AMPLIFI app and check the patches on your amp by clicking through the four patches with the "Tone" button. AE

Thanks Uber Guru Phil_M for the tip on how to search for artists and songs. Very useful indeed!

+1 regarding the manual. Let's get this thing on-line as a download please!