Line 6 4x12 - are they really this good?

[Thorax the Herdsman]

Played a gig last night with my usual PRS Custom 24 + 5150 II rig, but using the venues Line 6 4x12, and it sounded absolutely killer - thick, chunky, and not a hint of the evil fizz that I seem to get with my 5150 4x12.

Is the Line 6 4x12 this good or is it just showing up my Peavey cab for being the weak part of my gear? I didn't think I needed any more gear right now but if the Line 6 can make this much difference I wonder if I shouldn't get one next year, or perhaps this just shows that there's plenty of 4x12 options out there that I should also consider?

 

[PhilTheBeard]

id say look into a bunch of options. but hey if the 4x12 line 6 sounds good to you then by all means get what sounds the best to your ears.

 

[narcossintese]

As far as I remember Jocke Skog ("TheDude") uses one on his recordings, and it sounds killer.

 

[MaximumMetal288]

As far as I know the regular line 6 cabs, not the spider ones, are alright. I think they have some sort of special celestion speakers in there that are meant to not color your tone in anyway to allow whatever line 6 amp you use ti color the tone with its speaker emulation.

I've never played out of a 5150 cab but I haven't heard good things from them. It could be very well that the line 6 cab sounds better than the 5150 cab due to better construction, speakers and what not.

 

[beyond dead]

if you are saving for a cab, I would try a recto cab, and a mills acoustics cab. Greg has got me gassing for one pretty hard haha

 

[if6was9]

Used one with a band that comes in regularly enough to my place- sounds class. Great clarity and not much fizz. Good chunky low end too. Better than my laney 4X12 and Marshall 1936 for sure. Comes close to the mesa roadking cab I've here too, prefered it for this band.

 

[mick thompson]

i've found (from the 2 i've heard - 2 mates own them) that when using them with line 6 heads (like the spider 3) they have the tendency to be very bass heavy and muffled and i've always found its hard to pull some high end out of them. on the opposite side the line 6 spider series combo's (my amp prior to my peavey) have a very high range treble and mid with a very weak bass level which really starts to break up at at around 8 o clock on the chicken beak.

although all that could just be due to line 6's bad preamp (or post amp) whichever is causing the tone sucking and muffling

just putting that out there

 

[egan.]

The 412vs has vintage 30's.

 

[Rex Rocker]

^Yeah, the Spider Valve cabs (which are the only high-end cabs Line 6 sell right now) have Vintage 30's in them. I've tried those, they're pretty good... and they really aren't that expensive. They're cheaper than Marshall cabs, at least.

The old Vetta cabs (discontinued now) had custom Celestion modeling speakers.

 

[TheDude]

The old Line6 cab with custom Celestions, are better than the peavey 6505 cab IMO. The 6505 cab is even hard to mic with it's Sheffield speakers.

If I were you, I'd test some different cabs and get rid of the Peavey.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

It was probably the bogner line 6 cab if it sounded good. I think they put v30s in that cab.

 

[iamandy]

I'm pretty sure GubbKuk uses Line6 cab.. and made impluses:

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/andy-sneap/458398-new-impulses-you-all-v30.html

 

[Petrocker]

Sure do, and i like it.
Those are old and not so good impulses tho eheh.

 

[AllanD]

I hope you're talking about the new V30 ones. If you think A spider cab is good, you need to clean them ears out!

 

[tides]

In my experience, the peavey cab sucks. Harsh, too bright, bass not well defined,... I just didn't get the punch and clarity I was looking for, and sold it almost immediately after buying one

 

[zackpennington]

Its the Peavey sucking more than anything. Get a Recto cab if you can used for a good price.

 

[Trevoire520]

Heard some killer stuff on the forum from line 6 spider valve cab's, which are (apparently) basically a Bogner cab wth V30's.

 

[nwright]

I'd say its an indication of your Peavey cabs inferiority, but the Line 6 cabs are cool, IMO.

To be clear, there have been 3 Line 6 4x12's over the years, and narrowing down which one you used may indicate what you liked about it. The first 4x12 they had were loaded with Eminence speakers. They were part of the Flextone series, and they had the red/silver grillcloth, and a oval metal badge on the top of the cab, in the center, with the flextone logo and a rhino or elephant style tolex. When the Vetta came out, Line released the "vetta" 4x12, which featured custom Celestion speakers made for Line 6 and the softer leather look tolex (more like Mesa tolex), black grill cloth with white piping. With the release of the Spider Valve series, Line 6 came out with new Spider Valve cabs. They are loaded with Vintage 30 speakers and are Chinese made. The construction of the Spider Valve cabs look REALLY close to Bogners (a larger rolled edge around the baffle with no corner protectors is the most notable feature), and I'd say the design and dimensions are ripped from Bogner due to the connection with Bogner for the SV series. They are killer cabs and waaay underrated. I'm assuming the Chinese made SV cabs continue in the tradition of the Vetta cabs before it with baltic birch ply construction, but I don't know for sure. The smaller budget series Spider cabs suck ass, so I doubt you used one of those.

I owned a Vetta 4x12 for over 3 years, and it was a killer cab. I ran it in tandem with my Recto cab when I played an HD147 and it killed. I'd argue that the custom Cele's sounded better than the V30's in the Recto for that amp head, but both cabs had their strengths.

If I were to assume or guess, I'd wager that the cab you used was a Flextone or Vetta cab basically due to the amount of time they've been out and the fact that it was provided by the venue...For some reason, I don't see them providing a cab with V30's that's not been out too terribly long.