DT25 purchase question

[Brad_Ames]

I recently saw these go on sale at Sweetwater for $799. maybe I can talk them down to $499 or $599

 

I've been in the market for a good tube amp, and was looking at a Pevey 6505+ and a Mesa Rectoverb.

 

not so sure about spending $1300 on a Mesa amp, and the 6505 is basically a Metal Monster, not great with the cleans.

my question is Would this amp be suited well for Jazz and Hard rock/Metal;  I Never plan to use a POD 500 or anything like that, I have a very nice pedal board I've worked on for a few years, or would I be better off looking at other tube amps for playing live?

[Tboneous]

They're versatile amps. I think you'd do well with one. The bonus is when you are ready to try something different, get a pod.

 

Trying to talk them down from $799? Good luck. It's one thing to want a good deal, it's another to be cheap! $800 is a great price for a versatile tube amp.

[Matt_Brown]

Really like mine but it comes into its own with a pod. You get 4 'voices' so really easy to switch from fender clean to vox to Marshall to Bognor uber. I would say though that without extra speakers you are not getting a monster metal sound from 1x12. Cleans are sparkly though!

[Brad_Ames]

I don't need a "monster" metal sound. I will be getting a 1x12 or 2x12 with greenbacks for larger sound later. I think I'll order from sweetwater just to try it, if it's not for me I'll send it back

[doug316]

Assuming you know about the $200 off promo: http://l6c-acdn.line6.net/data/6/0a06439ceca456feab6aaa231/application/pdf

 

I think they're great amps. All the punch I need in the smallest package for a 1-12. I also have a DT50-212 and while I love it, it's so damn heavy.

 

I couldn't resist picking up a backup at Guitar Center. They've had DT's on the floor for great deals, cheaper than used ones. I had seen one in there for $599 so when the above promo came online, I went in. They wanted $499 but I reminded them the promo was $200 off. After I told them I was only interested in having a backup and that $400 was my price, they finally agreed. They have been trying to unload these for a while. 

 

So anyway, Sweetwater, I don't know. But if I got mine for $400 I'm hoping you can do better than $800.

[Brad_Ames]

Well it was $1,000 on SW and they are advertising it as $800 with the promo, either way though it's still $600 cheaper than a Mesa (which I seriously doubt is worth $1300). I love the idea of the DT topology and such. Would you say that it still has that warm tube sound that tubes usually give and not that super cold and dry Spider Tone?

[Matt_Brown]

Yes, I think so. It also has that tube 'feel' when you have clean until to dig in. I find that hard to get with POD alone..

[Matt_Brown]

Yes, I think so. It also has that tube 'feel' when you have clean until to dig in. I find that hard to get with POD alone.

[Brad_Ames]

Well it should arrive today or tomorrow. I'll keep th8ngs posted to see how it goes

[Tboneous]

Good for you! You'll enjoy it!

[Brazzy]

Well it should arrive today or tomorrow. I'll keep th8ngs posted to see how it goes

 

Yep you'll be having fun soon. I just cranked up my DT50 today and man it is sound great.

[Brad_Ames]

It arrived and sounds beautiful. Threw it into LowPower mode and the stability is still here, even the tube breakup is great....wow it's beautiful.

 

My concerns lie with a small dent in the side and torn black cloth right out of the box, and the first 2 times I turned it on as it powered up, it hissed and made a loud crackle sound followed by a Pop noise...hopefully doesn't do that again as it quit after the 3rd and 4th times.

 

Beautiful sound though, sounds better than the 1 Mesa amp I've actually heard on distorted tones. So assuming I avoid all the horror stories I've read about here, I'll be sufficiently happy!

[Tboneous]

Yahoo!!!! One of us! One of us! One of us! 

 

Congrats!

 

Now get to playin!

[Matt_Brown]

Enjoy!

[Brad_Ames]

So quick question, my guitar's low strings sound super distorted and.buzzy now if the amost is on a clean channel, it never did that earlier, there's also a kind of crackling noise and intermittent pops. I've yet to test another.cable, I'll use 4 different ones. My question is How screwed is my amp if the cable isn't the issue?

[Tboneous]

Please clarify...

 

what kind of guitar

what topology are you using

is your amp new or used

 

Thanx

[Brad_Ames]

Gibson Lespaul, Fender Telecaster, Ibanez RG421 and 7421. Topology I and III

 

Brand spanking new amp from sweetwater.

 

Amp clean tones started getting buzzy about a day after I owned it, I'll try again today and see if I can get it clean and not buzzy, or maybe it will clear up by itself.

[Tboneous]

Hmmm ,

 

Can you provide a sound sample?

[Brad_Ames]

No, because when I turned it on this morning and went from standby to on, it popped, and now the channel area won't light up, Pentode and triode are off, and it shut off and back on. Called sweetwater, their amp technician said it sounds like a blown tube and transformer issue if it's power cycling like that x.x I can get channel IV to work on setting B, but A and 1-3 won't come on and It shuts off every now and then (consistently ever 10-20 minutes). They said it'll be 2 weeks before they get another amp in stock and asked if I just wanted the Mesa instead (extra $500 of course). Told their tech I'll hold out for another DT25 if I don't have another gig come up this week because I freaking love this amp.

[ColonelForbin]

I recently saw these go on sale at Sweetwater for $799. maybe I can talk them down to $499 or $599

 

I've been in the market for a good tube amp, and was looking at a Pevey 6505+ and a Mesa Rectoverb.

 

not so sure about spending $1300 on a Mesa amp, and the 6505 is basically a Metal Monster, not great with the cleans.

 

my question is Would this amp be suited well for Jazz and Hard rock/Metal;  I Never plan to use a POD 500 or anything like that, I have a very nice pedal board I've worked on for a few years, or would I be better off looking at other tube amps for playing live?

 

Love my DT25! It's a great pedal amp too; here's the key to 'dialing it in' - use DtEdit to customize the onboard amp models.

 

It comes configured with four 'voicings', which are combinations of preamp model + cab model + power amp settings. The same four 'voicings' are stored in channels A and B, so you can in theory use it with an external footswitch for channel switching - but it's not great at that.

 

What it does do, when you DTEdit, is give you access to load any 8 preamp + Cab + power amp 'voicings' into the eight slots (A I-IV and B I-IV).

 

In the stock configuration, it showcases just four amps, each pertaining to the four power amp topologies. If you prefer ,you can set them all up to the same power amp settings (topology + class + pentode or triode), or set each of the 8 slots to something different; all kinds of options.

 

I love the Plexi bright with greenbacks, personally. I set it just around the edge of breakup; get the volume at a decent level, then balance the amount of overdrive or clean boost in each of my gain stages (combination of Keely overdrives, Keeley compressor, Fulltone OCD and Fulltone 2B clean boost / limiter, along with some wah, chorus, autowah and phaser - with an M9 in the FX loop for delays, reverb chorus)

 

Which brings me back to the DTedti; with the DT25 you can also customize the mic model used for the XLR 'cabinet emulated' output on the DT25, which is sweet. And you can set any of the various reverbs to each channel - you can have eight different reverbs, one for each voicing if you wanted.

 

Now; it should be worth noting, that there is only one set of controls on the amp per channel. So if you toggle from voicing I-A, with a low gain Fender clean amp model, to voicing II-A, with a high gain ENGL or Bogner or Mesa or one of those - you will melt your face, and maybe some other people's faces too :) So, proceed with caution! But have fun, because really, the amp is awesome.

 

ALSO, a total aside to this - it also follows, that with configuring it using DtEdit, you can also totally bypass the onboard preamps and cabs. Not what the OP would want to do; but for use with my Helix, it's killer! Helix does the amp modeling ,DT just uses the Bogner power amp side; very cool. Not as "integrated" in terms of L6Link as the HD500x + DT25 experience is; but still, a very very versatile amp, for a decent price.

 

One last thing; I also have the 1x12 extension cabinet for the DT25; and the DT25 combo stacks perfectly on top of the DT25 extension cab.

Oddly, as at one point I also had a DT25 head and two of the extension cabs; the cabs don't stack well on top of each other for some reason. But, the combo stacks great on top of the extension cab, and the sound is nice; expands the bass range, and puts the combo with the open back up off the floor enough to give the sound some nice spread.

 

-Just to keep it real; also take a look at the Mesa Boogie Mark V:35 combo!! it's $1,800!! Adds some extra watts and features over the Mark V:25, which was just a head model - this comes as head or combo in the 35 version. Has the extra CabClone option for the XLR out (closed back, open back, vintage voicings) and the channels can be set to variable wattage - IE, clean channel set to 35 watts, drive channel set to 10 watts.

 

-Also, one more good 'pedal platform' amp to look at - the Fender Landau 2x12; it's a single channel variation of the Hot Rod series, but different... Also, it weighs 54lbs, and it's $1,100

 

-Last one - another good Fender pedal platform amp - the George Benson model, 1x12  It's $900

(they also have a George Benson 2x12, but it's based on a Twin reverb, and it's 80watts - four 6L6!)

[Brad_Ames]

Holy hell on that 1800 mesa. I was very happy with the stock voices on my DT, but the edit part should be fun (as soon as my replacement comes x.x) I assume dt edit needs the L6 link?

[Brazzy]

No, because when I turned it on this morning and went from standby to on, it popped, and now the channel area won't light up, Pentode and triode are off, and it shut off and back on. Called sweetwater, their amp technician said it sounds like a blown tube and transformer issue if it's power cycling like that x.x I can get channel IV to work on setting B, but A and 1-3 won't come on and It shuts off every now and then (consistently ever 10-20 minutes). They said it'll be 2 weeks before they get another amp in stock and asked if I just wanted the Mesa instead (extra $500 of course). Told their tech I'll hold out for another DT25 if I don't have another gig come up this week because I freaking love this amp​

 

That was kind of quick. How much time do you think you have on it?

 

Was nice of them to give you the Mesa option.

 

The DT's sure do sound Great though don't they?

[ColonelForbin]

Holy hell on that 1800 mesa. I was very happy with the stock voices on my DT, but the edit part should be fun (as soon as my replacement comes x.x) I assume dt edit needs the L6 link?

 

Nope; DtEdit uses MIDI, so it's a bit goofy. Can't use an HD500/500x to MIDI edit it for some reason. I use an old M-Audio soundcard that has MIDI in and out; there are a variety of options out there, most pretty cheap. The goofy part is that the DT edit software is not actually made by Line6! A bit trickier for Mac / iPhone users; pretty straight forward for PC / Windows. It's a user created editor.. There were a few at one point; I have stuck with DtEdit; which I think now also comes in an OSX option.

 

A side note - take a look at screen shot below, in the panels on the right side - power ampA and power ampB. Among the settings there is something called 'boost on' and 'boost off'. On the DT50 amps, this is a 12AX7 tube boost. On the DT25, it is an analog component of some sort; that switch, while it says DT50 only (as some of the controls are DT50 only - like 'smooth / tight' and p/v high or p/v low are DT50 only) this one actually does make a substantial increase when switched on. It's default on to several amps; off on some others. Depending what you are going for, it's useful to a certain extent if you are trying to get some customized voicings using different amp models and power topologies to be closer in volume to each other. Somewhere in the DT forum, way back there, I have a post where I documented which amp models have boost on and off by default

 

http://rome2.github.io/dtedit/

 

 

 

 

EDIT - I found that list; was easier to search than I expected!

 

DT 25 'standlone' (firmware v2.0) Amp models with "Boost ON" by default:

 

- Gibtone 185

- Tweed Bassman Normal

- Tweed Bassman Bright

- Divided 9/15

- Phd Motorway

- Class A-30

- Brit J-45 Normal

- Brit J-45 Bright

- Brit Plexi 100 Normal

- Brit Plexi 100 Bright

- Brit P-75 Normal

- Brit P-75 Bright

- Brit J-800

- Bomber Uber

- Treadplate

- Angel F-Ball

- Line 6 Elektrik

- Line 6 Doom

 

DT 25 'standlone' (firmware v2.0) Amp models with "Boost OFF" by default:

 

- Blackface Double Normal

- Blackface Double Vib

- Hiway 100

- Super O

- Blackface 'Lux Normal

- Blackface 'Lux Vib

- Class A-15

- Flip Top Bass

[Brad_Ames]

That was kind of quick. How much time do you think you have on it?

 

Was nice of them to give you the Mesa option.

 

The DT's sure do sound though don't they?

 

I had less than 4 hours of play time X.X. the amount was soooooo beautiful sounding though so sad to see it die. The Mesa rectoverb is kinda pointless though since I already love the DT. But at the same time I can go 2 weeks on no guitar amp; my 4 watt vox can't play with a 40 man jazz band and a drummer x.x here's hoping they get a new one or fix mine, quickly! I'd hate to spend almost $600 more on an amp (not really really sure it's even worth the $1250 they charge)

[Brazzy]

I had less than 4 hours of play time X.X. the amount was soooooo beautiful sounding though so sad to see it die. The Mesa rectoverb is kinda pointless though since I already love the DT. But at the same time I can go 2 weeks on no guitar amp; my 4 watt vox can't play with a 40 man jazz band and a drummer x.x here's hoping they get a new one or fix mine, quickly! I'd hate to spend almost $600 more on an amp (not really really sure it's even worth the $1250 they charge)

 

4 hours of heaven :) Not being sarcastic, I hope you get another real soon.

 

40 man Jazz band, Whoa Man! Sound neat.

[Brad_Ames]

4 hours of heaven :) Not being sarcastic, I hope you get another real soon.

 

40 man Jazz band, Whoa Man! Sound neat.

Yeah, might be a bit more or less, it's a college thing I do for a year or 2, and I used a roland 80GX, but I just can't stand it's sound anymore. 25 watt DT should replace it beautifully ( assuming they don't all have terrible issues). Thought about the BIAS amp head coming out, but it's distorted tones are poo compared to what I've heard my DT belt out, all warm and punchy!

[Brad_Ames]

Just sent it off, get my refund next week from the dead unit...BUT. I popped into guitar center today for memorial day Sale, and scored the only DT25 for $499 and a PodHD500x for $419!

 

Saved soo much money. The amo has torn vinyl on top and scratches everywhere but plays so great like my dead one used to before it died, and if it fails I've got decent insurance covering all my stuff anyway so it'll be repaired if needed. I'll pick it all up on Wednesday after they're done checking it all out to make sure it's working well!

[Matt_Brown]

I think you will be happier with the pair as they are made for each other...

[Tboneous]

Good for you...

 

The pod adds a lot of fleability. Almost too much flexibility.

By all means, have fun going through the Pod presets. Some are usable most are terrible to my ears.

What helped me the most was pulling up a blank patch. Pick an amp model wit no effects and use the knobs on the top of the amp to dial in your tone as you would with any amp. If at this point, if your tone is still missing something, then try some of the other editing possibilities.

 

More times then not, I can get what I need from simple bass treble middle and presence. All of the other editing perameters can create a rabbit hole that can lead to never ending tone tweaking if you aren't careful.

 

Just because you can play with the bias doesn't mean you have to.

 

Have fun!

[Brad_Ames]

Yeah, I hate GC but a sale is a sale, the amp is a year old floor model, so I know the tubes only have probably 6 months or so before a change is needed, and the light buzz on low power mode seems to happen across all the DT amps of the volume is super low. Looks like hell but play flawlessly and with only $419 to add the 500x? Absolute steal even if I do have to service it soon. Just bought the HD packs from L6 while they're on sale too. It's gonna be a great summer for me!