dennis.ca

Former Big Sugar frontman Gordie Johnson once said “there’s nothing on my stage with batteries in it”. He said it with a twinkle in his eye; a sharp slap in the face for modern electronic effects and an approving nod for straight-ahead tube amp rock ‘n roll. I’ve always loved that quote.

After deciding to buy a used tube amp from a local guitar shop last Friday, I walked out the door with a Line6 Series II 30. This purchase rather flies in the face of Gordie’s admonition, but in my defense, I can only weakly cite his use of tape delays and eventual release of a dub album. At least I’m playing through the thing with a dual-humbucker hollow-body Epiphone Dot.

The Line6 amp is solid state all the way; no tubes to be found. It has quite a few built-in digital effects such as chorus, flange, echo, and reverb. In addition, it has an amp modeling feature that provides various levels of digital distortion. I cringed a bit as I carried it back to my truck — the thing is light — much lighter than a proper amp should be.

I’m not a superstar player, and I certainly don’t have a stable of effects pedals to mimic the various sounds that this amp can produce. For the amount of time I spend playing, an amp with built-in effects is just the ticket to get a half-decent sound without spending a lot of money. It’s plenty loud and far better than the junker I used to play through.

It doesn’t much help my shoddy finger work, but it does upset the dog (and probably my neighbors). In the end, isn’t that exactly what playing electric guitar is for?