WELCOMETOTHETUBETONEREVOLUTION!
easily the equal of many outboard pedals and modules, offering up tasty reverb, delay, chorus, flange, tremolo and even rotary speaker simulations. But there’s more: Five overdrive/distortion models including Octave Box, four types of wah pedals, and even a 5-band graphic equalizer.
All settings are programmable, of course, with instant recall and seamless switching of complete amp-and-effects setups. A high quality direct out with cabinet and speaker emulation lets you record direct with real miked-up amp tone, or play with great amp tone through headphones. All this tone is driven by
100 watts of stereo power into dual custom 12" speakers. You also get a chromatic digital tuner and an independent aux channel free from guitar tone and effects for clean amplification of acoustic guitar, CD, drum machine, tape, or even vocals to
accompany your guitar sound.
Tone for the '90s and beyond: The 100-watt 2x12 AX2 (left) and Flextone (right) with Floor Board and FB-4 pedals

Sweet Notes

A few years ago — has it really been that long already? — the guitar world was stunned by a new amplifier that boasted tube sound, but without tubes! The cutting-edge technology behind this startling development was called physical modeling. The product was the AxSys 212 by Line 6. As you might guess, it was a worldwide best seller.

But now it's 1998, and let’s face it, a whole lot has been learned since the AxSys was first unveiled. The second generation of physical modeling amps are now here, and they’re more powerful, more accurate and more player friendly than ever. While that first amp was a great start, the people at Line 6 actually listened to what guitar players and industry publications had to say, and the new amps reflect that.

Replacing the AxSys at the top of the Line 6 . . . umm, line . . . is the AX2 Digital Guitar Amplifier System ($1199 list). The AX2 uses the same electronic insides as the company’s original 2x12" system, so every AxSys 212 can be fully upgraded to be an AX2, with all the features of this new Line 6 flagship (proving the awesome advantage of software-based products and their ability to be inexpensively upgraded).

The heart of the AX2 is its software- based amp models which use Line 6’s TubeTone Amp Modeling to bring you a wide variety of sounds and effects modeled after some of the most popular classic tube amplifiers. The TubeTone software in the AX2 improves over the original AxSys 212 with even better modeled amp tone and an expanded set of amp models. All of which means that the AX2 can pretty much give you any guitar amp tone you want or need

—19 of them to be exact, all at the push of a button (or one stomp of the optional Floor Board).

While Line 6 doesn’t name names on its front panel (the manufacturers of the originals would strongly disapprove), you can easily guess which amps they’re modeling by the descriptions: Small Tweed, Jazz Clean, Black Panel, Brit Blues, Rectifier, California Crunch, Modern Hi Gain and more. The AX2 ships with 128 preset sounds, or you can dial in your own and save it to the amp’s 128 user memory locations (no tube amp offers this feature!).

What’s more, the onboard digital effects are

No organ donors required for POD! See details on next page . . .

But say, maybe you don’t need 100 watts or dual 12" speakers. You want a combo amp with classic looks, but you also want that killer TubeTone modeling. Simple! You want a Flextone ($799 list)! Powerful enough for rehearsals and live gigs (in reasonably-sized halls, of course), yet compact enough for studio use or as a practice amp, the 60-watt mono 1x12 Flextone is for you. With 16 amp models and 16 pro quality effects setups, each arranged on separate knobs, you can dial

Page 7

up the amp model you want, add effects to taste, then save the combination in one of the Flextone’s four foot-switchable channels. The amp includes a direct out for recording that gives you great TubeTone cabinet simulation and speaker emulation — recording great guitar tones has never been easier than this! — and the direct out doubles as a headphone jack for late night, speakerless practice.

If you need more power, take a look at the Flextone Duo ($949 list) with 100-watt stereo amplification and two 12-inch speakers. This puppy can crank out the volume to fill up all but the most gigantic concert venues, yet it still has all the convenience and features of the 1x12 model. For those that need an all-out, high power, four-channel amp head, the Line 6 people also offer the Flextone HD with stereo 2x150-watt amplification, guaranteed to detroy the delicate eardrums of anyone over 40 (or under 40, for that matter). Hook it up to your favorite speaker cabinets or a couple of Line 6’s Cab212S closed back speakers ($299 list each).

Okay, now you might be asking yourself at this point, aside from the power and speakers, what’s the difference between an AX2 and a Flextone. Good question. Here’s the deal: The AX2 is designed to give you a total of 256 different sounds, live or in the studio. Programming is done via a front panel matrix that’s much easier to learn than it is to explain. It’s the ultimate in tone-shaping, but it does require a bit of work to really get the programming thing going. Meanwhile, the Flextone series is designed more like a traditional amp, so you just dial in the sounds you want via the top panel controls, and then save them to

— Continued on Page 8

ACCESS OUR 2,000+ PAGE WEB SITE DAY OR NIGHT AT “WWW.SWEETWATER.COM”