Anyone else HATE Line 6???

gibson59neck

gibson59neck

Villiage Idiot Keeper
So, two weeks ago, I bought a Line 6 Spider III 150 watt stereo head, and the 4x12 Custom Celestion Cab to go with it. It worked for a week, survived two band practices, and then I brought it home and heard crackling noises thru it with my headphones. I thought it was the phones, but it wasn't. Next practice, the thing starts making this crackling/static noise when I play chords ( clean or distorted) and then just shuts off, filling our room with the smell of melted wiring. So, last night, I take it back, get a brand new one ( still in a bag, in a box...) and within an hour, it starts to crackle again. I could've shit...

Anyway, checked many many variables: different guitars, different settings, different cables ( have all new monsters, including the speaker cable from head to cab) different outlets, even a different surge protector, and same results. Something is shorting out inside the head. I stopped using it soon after we heard the noises last night, just to stop it from burning out completely. I'll be taking this one back for good tonight or tomorrow, because at this point, I could give a shit about what's causing the problem.

Line 6 seems to suck for tech support. The manual is tiny for this head, as if to say - "look how simple it is to use!" and has no section for troubleshooting. I went to Line6.com, and all they seem to have is a forum - no technical info at all that I could find, just a lot of posts about problems with Line 6 Spider stuff, and not a lot of answers. Mostly, users were told to contact their local Service Centers. Gee, thanks Line 6. YOU FUCKING SUCK!

I knew, after years of being a true believer in tubes and vintage amps in general, that this modeling thing was too good to be true. Talk about a grand facade...The thing sounds great when it works, but two new ones in two weeks with the SAME internal problem of burning out? Cheaply built pieces of shit.

Anyway, I've learned a valuable lesson - If you want something, get the real deal, not some imitation garbage. I'm saving for a Marshall tube head. End of story. (Hope you liked it.)
 
I think theres a guy named HangDawg who mildly dislikes Line6! LOL!!!

In theory, I like these modeling combos, but the reality is that they never really turned me on pushing air. At one time, I stole a Vox modeling amp(a big 212... their flagship at the time) and a PRS Custom 22 for $600. For the first night I played with it, I was real turned on by the options, but when I went back to it the next day, the thrill was deffinately gone. Needless to say, I flipped em both real quick for a handsome profit.

As far as poor customer service at Line 6? I have never had any direct dealing w/ em, but their reputation for "making things right" is pretty poor. If you use the search function, you can find lots of threads documenting warantee nightmares with these cats!

If you cant get it resolved, just take your knocks and expense it as money wasted in a lifetime of tonequest!
 
Flamin Lip said:
I think theres a guy named HangDawg who mildly dislikes Line6! LOL!!!

In theory, I like these modeling combos, but the reality is that they never really turned me on pushing air. At one time, I stole a Vox modeling amp(a big 212... their flagship at the time) and a PRS Custom 22 for $600. For the first night I played with it, I was real turned on by the options, but when I went back to it the next day, the thrill was deffinately gone. Needless to say, I flipped em both real quick for a handsome profit.

As far as poor customer service at Line 6? I have never had any direct dealing w/ em, but their reputation for "making things right" is pretty poor. If you use the search function, you can find lots of threads documenting warantee nightmares with these cats!

If you cant get it resolved, just take your knocks and expense it as money wasted in a lifetime of tonequest!
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Very interesting...I won't lose money on it since I JUST got it - it's going back asap - they can have it. I wanted/needed a half stack NOW, and wnet for the new vs. used. Big mistake, at least with this one - I am now going to get a used tube head, when I can afford it. I'll run a metal zone and a bad horsie into it, and life will be good. I think. I mean, I hope...

By the way - the cab I got with it sounds great. I ran a vintage 50 watt Bassman into it last night, with a Big Muff, and wow - it sounded great. Unfortunately, I cannot afford the Bassman, and even if I could, my bass player would never part with it...It's the real deal, late 60's, sits on a big 212 cab...Anyway, at least I got a good cab out of the deal.
 
I own a mid 60's bassman that was made right before the buyout, those fuckers are GREAT. I'll never get rid of mine. If you can do it, I would highly recommend it!
 
I'm going through a Line6 issue right now...

I have an original Spider 210 combo. Had it for 8 years and its been nothing but dependable...until a few days ago when it randomly died on me. Total dead, no power, no sound, no nothing.

This amp is obviously out of warranty but I call Line6 support to see if they can walk me through any troubleshooting (or perhaps fuse, switch, etc replacment).

Their immediate answer is "it doesn't sound that simple, you'll need to send it to an authorized service center."

Also, the construction of the amp is so that nothing is accessable.

Of course my authorized service center is 150 miles away and will charage $50 just to look at it (and they've told me a typical repair costs $125-150).

By the time you factor in the $50-100 cost with shipping and/or the inconvenience of driving it 2 hours one way, I'm seriously debating "replacing" rather than reparing.
 
Damn Toad. Line 6 must just be shitting the bed universally. I guess it's great that they can get these sounds, but who cares, if the technology isn't rugged enough to be used at loud volumes or for extended periods of time?

We live in a throw-away culture, and all these new fangled pieces of equipment are part of that - they break easy, and they are too expensive to fix. Vintage is the way to go, IMO. Stuff built to last from a different world where quality was typical, not rare.

I wish I could get the Bassman head - it sounded awesome. I would have to kill my bassist and pry it out of his cold dead hands, tho. He got it and its matching cab for 100 bucks, too...!
 
There are two companies that make gear that I'll probably never touch in my lifetime, even though I've had zero personal experience with them:

Line 6 and Behringer.

Their reputations precede them, to say the least.
 
tom18222 said:
oh boy, here we go again.

hangdawg will have fun with this one.
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Ha, no I'm done for awhile. I'm not really that big of a dickhead. I've just been pissed off lately and rather than killing someone, I just come here and get people riled up.
 
gibson59neck said:
I guess it's great that they can get these sounds, but who cares, if the technology isn't rugged enough to be used at loud volumes or for extended periods of time?
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The problem is, at least for me, is that the sounds aren't even that good (but don't get me totally wrong, they are certainly decent). It does 2 things very very well: crystal-clear clean and extreme distortion. If you want anything in-between, say a nice slightly overdriven tone, you simply can't do it....it just sounds way too brittle. Another thing I've noticed it that it doesn't do well with stomp boxes. Even my simple chain, Crybaby and Tubescreamer, made it hiss like a dying snake. It also seems to be better with single-coils over humbuckers.

The Line6 I bought was my first "real" amp purchase and I somewhat got lured into the "jack of all trades" moniker of the Line6's. They were sorta new at the time (8 years ago) and I'm sure the sales person hyped it up for me.

The thing is, I've got nearly $800 invested in this thing. The amp itself, if I recall, was $475 then I paid another $250 for the floorboard foot controller (which is nearly a must to get the most out of these things). If I had it to go over with, I'd have surely bought something different for that kind of money. When I bought it, it came down to the Line6 or one of the tube Fender Hot Rod series amps....I obviously made the wrong decision.
 
I hoped this Amp Modeling thing was just a fad and it seems it is turning out way. BUY THE REAL THING and you won’t be disappointed. Tubes Rule for Guitar it is that simple.
 
Double said:
I hoped this Amp Modeling thing was just a fad and it seems it is turning out way. BUY THE REAL THING and you won’t be disappointed. Tubes Rule for Guitar it is that simple.
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I concede. Playing through the Bassman Head into my cab was awesome, and that thing is probably 40 years old!
 
toad said:
...When I bought it, it came down to the Line6 or one of the tube Fender Hot Rod series amps....I obviously made the wrong decision.
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I had the Hot Rod Deluxe for over 4 years, and it was great, but it just couldn't produce the huge bottom end I need for our band. The DeVille might have been better at that, but I'm convinced that a half stack is the right choice for my type of music. I just got the wrong one, too. Oh well - I at least have the head and pedal to take back and get the money for something else...I'll post about the replacement soon enough!
 
My Flextone II HD has been reliable as any amp I've ever owned, and I played the hell out of it. However, my other guitarist's Flextone II HD suffered a burnout because of an impedance mismatch, so I tore mine apart and repaired his with parts from mine (didn't want to lose presets). Line 6 stuff, as far as I can see, is fairly easy to repair and doesn't have anything too complex in the boards outside of the modeling capabilities. Can't speak for non-US Line 6 stuff aside from DL4 and Echo Park (Flextone II was the last thing they made in US), but as long as you are able to return it, no harm done right? Quality control on everything is going down the tubes, so I don't think it's even close to isolated with Line 6 products.
 
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