Most under-rated amp models

[Rocco_Crocco]

I dunno.... the Soldano for medium-hi gain applications is tough to beat IMHO. I think this weekend I am going to put together a preset to play ALL my cover bands songs, using just the two Solo models. 

 

That is all...

[zooey]

I'll have to revisit those, never got much joy out of them. Didn't like the Amplitube version either.

[jbright44]

I love the route 66 model. I use it on tons of presets.

[hideout]

So stuck on the Litigator and the Matchless. Sometimes the Fenders. Can't seem to be bothered with anything else.

Simple needs. Which leads me to wonder why people want more and more amp models.

[Verne-Bunsen]

I glossed over the Park for a long time, till I discovered that it was super awesome and now it's one of my go-to's.

[Rocco_Crocco]

I glossed over the Park for a long time, till I discovered that it was super awesome and now it's one of my go-to's.

The Park is my go-to Marshall sound.

[PeterHamm]

There are several you can use for just about any tone you can imagine that I rarely dial up.

 

The tweed Bassman is terrific. The HiWatt. The Parks.

 

But I keep going back to the Matchless, Litigator, and Dr. Z. Over and over again.

[DunedinDragon]

I think the Soldano and the HiWatt are the two most underrated amps in the bunch given their versatility.

[Alchemist500]

This got me thinking ... as I'm relatively new to Helix, what are the "highly rated" amp models that people seem to agree are the most popular or most used?

[requietus666]

hm. for me Soldano was to-go amp from day one. Ok, from day two, because on day one you usually play all out. I don't know what exactly is underrated amp.. is there anywhere usage statistics ? :-D

[DunedinDragon]

I glossed over the Park for a long time, till I discovered that it was super awesome and now it's one of my go-to's.

 

Thanks for the heads up on this one.  I was struggling with one of my patches and plugged this in and it was perfect!!!!

[DunedinDragon]

This got me thinking ... as I'm relatively new to Helix, what are the "highly rated" amp models that people seem to agree are the most popular or most used?

 

Probably the Litigator and Matchless for cleaner and medium gain stuff and the Archetypes for clean and high gain are the ones I see mentioned most often.

[laxtlo]

I like supro amp you can get even very heavy sound out of it 😀

[jbuhajla]

I keep going to Mesa Mk IV Channel 2 for my Strat sound, especially on neck and neck/mid pickups. Very versatile amp model cleans up very well, and can get some great mid-gain punch. 

 

Hiwatt and Matchless for cleans for sure. 

 

DrZ Rte 66 on my Tele for quite a few. 

[spikey]

The Nice thing about Helix is the "flexibility". You can use the amps and cabs and effects in it, or choose one or all of your own real or virtual, routed in and slotted in just about any way you desire. 

[AlexKenivel]

I can make the Essex A30 do anything. Twangy Country, warm jazz, blues, snappy funk, chunky rock, djent and other flavors of metal. Seriously. Not kidding.

[Verne-Bunsen]

Thanks for the heads up on this one.  I was struggling with one of my patches and plugged this in and it was perfect!!!!

 

That's how I ended up landing on it too, someone here made a post about having discovered it so I got intrigued and investigated. Glad to pass it forward!

 

I can make the Essex A30...djent...

 

I would be very interested to hear this!

[dickbanks]

I can make the Essex A30 do anything. Twangy Country, warm jazz, blues, snappy funk, chunky rock, djent and other flavors of metal. Seriously. Not kidding.

Just like the real Vox AC-30. Line 6 did a nice job with that amp emulation. 

And with the AC-15. I own one, with a greenback. With the "MIC preamp" trick in front (or after), I think the Helix sounds more like the AC-15 than the AC-15 does, If that is possible. It sounds better, more tube-like, and you can easily eliminate that nasty bright front-end (that people eliminate on the real amp by cutting the caps.

But my personal favorite amp is the WhoWatt100. I'll never own a real Hiwatt DR-103, and I really have no idea what one sounds like.

But the WhoWatt amp covers a lot of ground for me--nice cleans, and dirtiest up nicely with single-coils.

[Lachdanan0121]

No body mentions the Line 6 Electrik much, but it is pretty nice for medium to high gain.

 

Most of the other good ones have been mentioned.

[Inerzia]

No body mentions the Line 6 Electrik much, but it is pretty nice for medium to high gain.

 

Most of the other good ones have been mentioned.

I use it! In a dual amp configuration, along with... was it the Ãœber?

 

So stuck on the Litigator and the Matchless. Sometimes the Fenders. Can't seem to be bothered with anything else.

Simple needs. Which leads me to wonder why people want more and more amp models.

Well, you just answered yourself, kind of... Those two amps came along in different updates, they were not included in v1 firmware. See where I'm heading to?

I want more models, because there's always the possibility I will discover a new favorite.

I didn't care for the new Badonk when I tried it, but others have found it great. I will try it again, because I try them all, periodically, just to be sure that I'm not missing out on anything that will suit any of my different needs, not because I force myself to use them or like them all. 

On the other hand, I've used Litigator from day one, and I absolutely love it! 

Thanks for adding more, interesting models, L6

 

[hideout]

I use it! In a dual amp configuration, along with... was it the Ãœber?

 

Well, you just answered yourself, kind of... Those two amps came along in different updates, they were not included in v1 firmware. See where I'm heading to?

I want more models, because there's always the possibility I will discover a new favorite.

I didn't care for the new Badonk when I tried it, but others have found it great. I will try it again, because I try them all, periodically, just to be sure that I'm not missing out on anything that will suit any of my different needs, not because I force myself to use them or like them all.

On the other hand, I've used Litigator from day one, and I absolutely love it!

Thanks for adding more, interesting models, L6

 

I was speaking more of the folks who just want more more more amp models. Had Line6 never released the Litigator, I likely would have been just as happy. In fact, I was. There's so much tonal control that's available. I'm thankful for the Matchless and the Litigator but I was already getting similar tonalities - just not its response characteristics.

[EdwinV]

No one mentioning the Marshalls? The JTM45, Plexi, JCM800 and the Modded JCM800?

 

Leads me to think they may be underrated, at least in this thread up to now. I think they are great!

[beascott]

Oh, yeah...love the Soldano amps including the clean channel.  Same deal with the Archons.

[bsd512]

The Matchless, Litigator, Archon get tons of love for good reason, and I love those amps. And the new Badonk is great, I've always loved the ENGL Fireball since I first got my Helix. The L4 2204 Mod is pretty great, too, and gets it's share of props.

 

But lately I've been trying out a bunch of other amps.

 

I LOVE the HiWatt!!! So if the question is which is underrated - I don't hear too much about that amp, so that one is my vote. :)

 

The Vox's are pretty fantastic too. I guess when it comes down to it, there's not an amp in the Helix that I DON'T like. It would literally take months to really go through them all and set them up for different situations. They're all fantastic! :)

[sosmusic]

I really love all 3 channels of the SLO 100. Always been a big fan of the crunch channel on it, back from the PodHD days, so much versatility in it. For High gain lately I just can't get enough of

Line6 Epic. Just such searing, even, focused, scorching tone. Line 6 never gave up the goods on what amps inspired it. But am I wrong to think it's the closet thing we have to a Diezel VH4 in the Helix ? Also the new Badonk model really is a force to be reckoned with, makes me want to play loud,,, like REALLY LOUD !!!! 

[zooey]

It's funny, as this thread continues, I find myself wanting to post about a bunch of different models I've been getting into. Really, I've liked most of them, though some with limitations -- doesn't every get completely clean for example, or has some unwelcome low-level distortion even when basically running clean.

 

I guess my point is that it's worth revisiting ones that didn't grab you, or the community as a whole, initially.

[Inerzia]

If I have to pick one that I think is underrated is the Epic.
I don't think L6 own models get as much love as "brand" models, do they? 
Who uses the Epic? I use it a lot!

[sosmusic]

If I have to pick one that I think is underrated is the Epic.

I don't think L6 own models get as much love as "brand" models, do they? 

Who uses the Epic? I use it a lot!

 

I have to agree. Epic really is a killer high gain model. I would love to know which amps Line 6 drew from for inspiration on it. It's one of their best ones ever. It sounds out of this world through my DT50 half stack.

[zooey]

Agree, I'm not a super high gain guy, and I dig Epic too. Also Elektrik. But the king of Line 6 originals still has to be the Litigator. Those are all really​ great.

[vmoncebaiz]

The Archon (clean and gain) and Litigator (everything in between) have been my go-tos and I'm happy to see them get love.

 

Underrated: The JTM45 as a clean sound, the Supro with any speaker other than its own, and the "Dynamic 7" mic instead of the 57 or 421.

 

A friend of mine also put me on to using a mild screamer808 -> Jazz Rivet 120 model -> chamber verb. for fusion sounds.  I would have never stumbled across it myself, and it sounds good on every Line 6 product Ive tried. Even though they have different generations of modeling. (AMPLIFi - PodHD500x - Spider V - Helix)

[mattbarden]

I'd also like to give the Epic some props. Been using that one the last couple days and I'm really digging it. I still like the Archons too but that Epic is really growing on me.

[aleclee]

Archon for me.  No matter how much people rave about it, it's not too much love as far as I'm concerned. :)

[Verne-Bunsen]

This thread is going to cost me a lot of preset slots...

[HonestOpinion]

This thread is going to cost me a lot of preset slots...

 

LOL

[Lachdanan0121]

If I have to pick one that I think is underrated is the Epic.

I don't think L6 own models get as much love as "brand" models, do they? 

Who uses the Epic? I use it a lot!

 

 

I have to agree. Epic really is a killer high gain model. I would love to know which amps Line 6 drew from for inspiration on it. It's one of their best ones ever. It sounds out of this world through my DT50 half stack.

 

 

 

Agree, I'm not a super high gain guy, and I dig Epic too. Also Elektrik. But the king of Line 6 originals still has to be the Litigator. Those are all really​ great.

 

 

Hey guys, Thanks for the recommendation!

I haven't tried Epic out until tonight.

 

I was ReAmping some lead guitar parts, and I was using the PV Panama which sounded semi-good, (good enough to wet monitor with for the time being) then while having a looping signal sent through I was able to choose amps freely. I changed a couple, and decided I would go to "Epic" per seeing these posts. As soon as I switched to Epic on the amp model it was louder, cleaner, clearer, and I preferred the character over the Panama for this track. After reducing Ch vol on the amp, and reducing the Sag just a bit, increasing drive just a hair, and presence, I had a tone that really came to life in comparison to running the PV Panama through it.

 

... I will have to try this amp model out with some heavy rhythm guitars.

 

So I concur the L6 Epic, L6 Elektrik, and L6 Litigator are all pretty awesome from my experience.

We all know the ones like Matchstick, and Archtype are great, but some more Line 6 originals would be welcomed.  Even though there is still so much in this thing that I haven't got around to exploring yet.  :P

[Guitarzman]

I'm really loving a lot of amp models Vox. Plexi Brit,. Litigator.. But i'm thinking the Fender Twin Vib and the Archetype Cln are underrated. Both amp models sound amazing and have exceptional clean brilliant tones!

[Inerzia]

I'm really loving a lot of amp models Vox. Plexi Brit,. Litigator.. But i'm thinking the Fender Twin Vib and the Archetype Cln are underrated. Both amp models sound amazing and have exceptional clean brilliant tones!

Underrated or not, the cleans from the Archon and the Soldano sound really good to me.

[Heavyville]

EPIC amp seems to be based on MESA imo.  The master volume effects the drive or gain which seems to be a MESA thing from what I understand.   I've landed on this amp several times for long periods of time as my go to amp, for pure out grind!!!  I just did an amp shootout with my helix to get a tone for a recording and the Epic won out over Bedonk, Archon, Recto, BE100, and 5150 (which I've never gotten to sound good at all)   my second layer of guitars on the track ended up being the Mark4 lead.

I was using the Free Ownhammer IR's on the modern 00.

for the leads i'd take the BE100 as the throaty midrange cuts real nice.

BE100 is the other amp I use a lot for m patches.

 

I find most of the L6 original amps to be outrageously good.   Litigator getting the most mentions.