Stroopy121 Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Planning on upgrading my bass rig and I want to go with a preamp / power amp affair. Currently using an Ampeg B410 cab with an Ashdown MAG300 but will at some point want to upgrade to an 8x10 or add a 1x15, but that comes later. Have considered a couple of different preamps, but love the look of the line 6 X3 PRO: [url="http://line6.com/podx3pro/"]http://line6.com/podx3pro/[/url] It can model guitar amps as well as bass, so can be used for either which is a lovely touch - as well as having a huge variety of sounds to choose from. I also love that it can be used as a USB interface for recording and again being usable for guitar and bass will make recording and demoing songs a little easier. My question is this: is this bad boy worth taking a punt on, or are there other bits of kit out there that are better? Someone mentioned a Fractal unit that rapes line 6 but they appear to only make guitar units. Anyway: opinions, please? Thankies xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Yeah, the X3 really is a nice piece of kit and it can certainly do a great deal when it is set up properly. For the money, it's definitely worth it. Yes, the AxeFX is a monster, but it does depend on how deep your pockets are, at £1600 it's unreachable for some people in comparison to the price of the feature rich X3 Live. Ultimately you need to ask yourself what you actually need from an effects unit - For me, the ability to record with the unit was a total winner, especially as you can do a lot of 're-amping' techniques on board without any other gear. Brilliant. Do it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stroopy121 Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 The AxeFX doesn't really advertise as being aimed at bassists too, does it come prelaoded with bass amp models too? Didn't realise the thing was so expensive! I'd expect it to have boobs too for that price! xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Yep, AxeFX has one or two Bass models as far as I know, but the Line6 has a greater array of amp and cabinet combinations. Interestingly, the new line 6 HD processors don't have any Bass models on board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stroopy121 Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Fairly glad it's that way round, not a fan of pedalboards as a general rule, much prefer rackmounted gear. I'd assume you could download patches for bass effects.. Unless there's a bass specific one in the tubes... *shrug* Looks like I'm sold though, just gotta scrape some cash together and pick out a power amp to go along with her. Any suggestions..? Looks like I have to find a middle ground between weight and cost... the lighter they are the more expensive they appear to be! xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
icastle Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 True Story: A guitarist in a band I used to play in was looking for a new combo. He spent months trawling the internet for info and travelling around different music shops trying out Fenders, Marshalls, Mesa Boogies etc. He finally selected a Line 6 combo. After a weeks worth of fiddling around with it and driving the rest of us up the wall with a whole pile of inappropriate sounds - he set it to 'Marshall' and left it there... His Line 6 combo cost more than the Marshall he was emulating. The point I'm making here is that having 60 different amps and 85 different cabinets emulated on units like these may be fine on paper but I think the majority of users will find the sound they like and stick to it. Kinda makes me wonder whether these emulation units are really worth it to be honest... P.S. Just so I don't get accused of having a 'downer' on Line 6 because of past experiences with them - I've been looking at the Roland CB100 as a wee practice amp but have been put off by the COSM modelling stuff they shoved into it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thumperbob 2002 Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 [quote name='icastle' post='1087430' date='Jan 12 2011, 11:42 PM']True Story: A guitarist in a band I used to play in was looking for a new combo. He spent months trawling the internet for info and travelling around different music shops trying out Fenders, Marshalls, Mesa Boogies etc. He finally selected a Line 6 combo. After a weeks worth of fiddling around with it and driving the rest of us up the wall with a whole pile of inappropriate sounds - he set it to 'Marshall' and left it there... His Line 6 combo cost more than the Marshall he was emulating. The point I'm making here is that having 60 different amps and 85 different cabinets emulated on units like these may be fine on paper but I think the majority of users will find the sound they like and stick to it. Kinda makes me wonder whether these emulation units are really worth it to be honest... P.S. Just so I don't get accused of having a 'downer' on Line 6 because of past experiences with them - I've been looking at the Roland CB100 as a wee practice amp but have been put off by the COSM modelling stuff they shoved into it![/quote] Absolutely right- I have a Sansamp BDDI that initially I had set for three different sounds- as well as the pick up configurations on my bass - far too many tones - Now I have my BDDI set to one ( fairly subtle sound ) and use my pickups full on for slap and back off the front pick up for fingerstyle- now I can concentrate on my playing and actually enjoying myself! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stroopy121 Posted January 13, 2011 Author Share Posted January 13, 2011 I do agree that live you tend to take a sound you like and stick to it, but the reason I like the idea of the line 6 is the fact that when it comes to recording you can have a great deal of tweakability. I don't really use pedals, I just play the same sound throughout my set, but recording, different sounds would lend themselves to different tracks. Last time I was in a studio I used a line 6 pod against my will... there was an Ampeg svt-3 sitting there but he swore by the POD (wish I knew which model it was)... turns out he was right, it was excellent. Looking to start doing some serious recording work at home and I love the idea of having a rig which I can run into a DAW (especially one that's protools compatible..) and go with. Especially if the same rig can be used for guitar.. Enjoying the different viewpoints on it all though! Current train of thought is to pick up an XT on the cheap with the bass plugins and use that for a while, if I hate it I'll sell it on and get a sansamp or something next to try. All in the X3 appears to be more or less the same as the XT but with a few bell and whistles, the main one being that it can run two channels simultaneously, but I'm hearing that it sounds awful... xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulwillson Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 [quote name='Stroopy121' post='1087696' date='Jan 13 2011, 10:45 AM']I do agree that live you tend to take a sound you like and stick to it, but the reason I like the idea of the line 6 is the fact that when it comes to recording you can have a great deal of tweakability. I don't really use pedals, I just play the same sound throughout my set, but recording, different sounds would lend themselves to different tracks. Last time I was in a studio I used a line 6 pod against my will... there was an Ampeg svt-3 sitting there but he swore by the POD (wish I knew which model it was)... turns out he was right, it was excellent. Looking to start doing some serious recording work at home and I love the idea of having a rig which I can run into a DAW (especially one that's protools compatible..) and go with. Especially if the same rig can be used for guitar.. Enjoying the different viewpoints on it all though! Current train of thought is to pick up an XT on the cheap with the bass plugins and use that for a while, if I hate it I'll sell it on and get a sansamp or something next to try. All in the X3 appears to be more or less the same as the XT but with a few bell and whistles, the main one being that it can run two channels simultaneously, but I'm hearing that it sounds awful... xx[/quote] The XT doesnt come with Bass presets you have to buy them from line 6, think if i remember there may have been a few but not that good. was a few years back so maybe im wrong but £50 extra was what i was considering paying to get something good outta the XT bass wise. In the end i opted to borrowing my mates X3 because the patches for the X3 seem to be alot better also the "Big 360" Bass preset on the X3 is lush. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 [quote name='Stroopy121' post='1087696' date='Jan 13 2011, 10:45 AM']All in the X3 appears to be more or less the same as the XT but with a few bell and whistles, the main one being that it can run two channels simultaneously, but I'm hearing that it sounds awful...[/quote] I've owned the Bass XT Pro and X3 live and would have to say there are many differences between the two. I'd have to say that either unit can sound awful if it isn't set up properly! Being able to run and mix two completely separate signal paths together is actually genius and is a massive improvement over the XT. - For those who like doing Chris Wolstenholme / Justin Chancellor impressions - I think this is one of the most effective ways of doing it without buying tons of gear - therefore, cheaper! - It sounds very good too, in stereo. Don't forget that the X3 isn't *just* about Bass. It has inputs on the back for Vocals. Keyboards, Variax guitar, electric Guitar and of course Bass - So the X3 can be used as an interface to record all of those instruments too as it features simulations of well known studio desks and a whole host of outboard effects. Something the XT can not do. Infact, to take it a step further, you can set up one signal path for vocals and one for acoustic guitar, each with their own effects on AND run them both at the same time in to two different channels on the PA!! Ultimately it's horses for courses and would be a waste to buy it if you are the kinda person who uses just one sound - but for those who like to have a hardware palllete that they can use for recording, live and writing on multiple instruments then it's great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulwillson Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 [quote name='dood' post='1089722' date='Jan 14 2011, 07:27 PM']I've owned the Bass XT Pro and X3 live and would have to say there are many differences between the two. I'd have to say that either unit can sound awful if it isn't set up properly! Being able to run and mix two completely separate signal paths together is actually genius and is a massive improvement over the XT. - For those who like doing Chris Wolstenholme / Justin Chancellor impressions - I think this is one of the most effective ways of doing it without buying tons of gear - therefore, cheaper! - It sounds very good too, in stereo. Don't forget that the X3 isn't *just* about Bass. It has inputs on the back for Vocals. Keyboards, Variax guitar, electric Guitar and of course Bass - So the X3 can be used as an interface to record all of those instruments too as it features simulations of well known studio desks and a whole host of outboard effects. Something the XT can not do. Infact, to take it a step further, you can set up one signal path for vocals and one for acoustic guitar, each with their own effects on AND run them both at the same time in to two different channels on the PA!! Ultimately it's horses for courses and would be a waste to buy it if you are the kinda person who uses just one sound - but for those who like to have a hardware palllete that they can use for recording, live and writing on multiple instruments then it's great.[/quote] the tone mixer thing takes practice getting right though, LOTS, especialy mixing distorted tones with cleaner tones. but yeah the other extras are cool. can you not record vocals on the xt then? im certan ive done that before. or maybe it depends on the model. awesome gear, so easy to get started. the tuner isnt great on it though ^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dood Posted February 1, 2011 Share Posted February 1, 2011 [quote name='paulwillson' post='1091060' date='Jan 16 2011, 03:09 AM']the tone mixer thing takes practice getting right though, LOTS, especialy mixing distorted tones with cleaner tones. but yeah the other extras are cool. can you not record vocals on the xt then? im certan ive done that before. or maybe it depends on the model. awesome gear, so easy to get started. the tuner isnt great on it though ^^[/quote] Ahh, sorry I missed this post - yep you *can* use the XT to record vocals with, though it's not specifically designed to do it - but the X3 has a dedicated XLR input and a whole set of studio preamps and effects for vocals/acoustic instruments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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