software

The day I always dreaded The best tone I’ve ever gotten to date came from my Line6 Guitar Port, but not through one of the vintage models. Rather, the Line6 model “Spinal Puppet.” Right now I’ve got it dialed in exactly where I want it. Quite a shock for someone who has always been on the verge of being a tube snob.

Unfortunately, my Marshall, which I’ve had about 18 months, is no longer cutting it for me. Even cranked, I haven’t gotten what I was looking for in the Marshall (either that or my tastes have really changed in the last year).

So, for those familiar with some of the Line6 stuff, what out there is most like the “Spinal Puppet?” I’m seriously kicking around the idea of trading in some stuff for a new amp to replace my DSL50 (I’ll probably hold on to the DSL50 unless I can get a great deal on it, as it’ll be fun to mod). Anyway, obviously first on the list is a Line6 product, probably the HD147. For the price, you cannot beat the versatility, and it is capable of exactly replicating what I’m doing on my computer. But, just to satisfy my tube-snob curiosities, what out there is most like the Spinal Puppet? My guess would be a modded Marshall (which one?).

Any thoughts guys?

spinal puppet is an amp model created by line6 by mushing others together. You won't get that sound in any amp really. I owned a Line6 hd147 and loved it. The amp models and everything are much better than on the pod and guitarport. They rock. Great amp. I wanted to keep it, but I bought it to make money off it, I bought it at guitar centers' green tag sale for $400 and sold it for nearly 800.

that patch sounds pretty intense. I don't know about heavier sounding amps like others in this forum, but you might be looking at a soldano SLO or something based off a marshall circuit of some sort.

The DSL 50 is a good platform to use pedals with. Maybe you just need to start buying/selling Overdrive pedals till you come across 1 or 2 that gets your Marshall completely dialed in.

For home playing, I've found that the Vox Valvetronix AD60 head does a good job emulating my tube amps, but is much easier to manage, volume-wise. It's hard to get a modeling amp sounding great in the store before you buy, but when you bring it home and plug it into quality cabs and spend time tweaking the amp and OD models, it's pretty impressive. Plus, modeling amps like the Vox and L6 depreciate so much, you can score a mint one for half what they sell for at the store.