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etm1109 « Duoverb - Hidden Gem »
Published on 06/03/18 at 13:50
Best value:
Excellent
Audience:
Advanced Users
I consider myself more of a 70s guitar player in the sense I play a lot of styles like Rush, Led Zeppelin, Steely Dan, etc. So my comments about this product may not be as pertinent to people playing heavier music.
I know this is an amplifier most people will love or hate. I wanted to approach a few features about this amp that I really like. Because the amplifier supports two amps at the same time, I have found a unique feature of the amp if you have a Line 6 pedal is the ability to switch between the two amps on the pedalboard itself. That means you can program each slot with two amps and flip between them. This really doubles the stored combinations of amps and allows you to toggle between a cleaner tone and a heavier tone for louder passages or leads.
The other interesting thing I like is the output features. By plugging in a headphone, this turns off the speaker. With the XLR Balanced outputs, I can record directly to a console DAW and that is a nice touch.
Regarding the sounds. Like a lot of people, I play a lot of styles and this is where this amp shines. Having the ability to get a nice early 60s Beatles tone or a heavy tone is great. I've played tube amps and owned them over the years and I also own a Peavey Classic 50 4/10. I really have compared the tonal quality of the Duoverb and the Peavey and I find the Duoverb holds it's own with the Classic 50 though I would agree there are some tones the Peavey seems to nail a little better at louder volumes. Being the Peavey has 4-10s and I use a lot of hollow/semi-hollow body guitars, I believe the cabinet and tube is responsible for that.
Overall, for $200 this is a great amp even for beginners and has some interesting features that shouldn't be overlooked. If it broke or were stolen, I'd get another one. If I win the lottery, I'd probably buy a couple of backups. I also own the Flex III which is nice, but having the ability to mix two amps does present a lot of interesting tones one doesn't usually find in an amplifier.
I know this is an amplifier most people will love or hate. I wanted to approach a few features about this amp that I really like. Because the amplifier supports two amps at the same time, I have found a unique feature of the amp if you have a Line 6 pedal is the ability to switch between the two amps on the pedalboard itself. That means you can program each slot with two amps and flip between them. This really doubles the stored combinations of amps and allows you to toggle between a cleaner tone and a heavier tone for louder passages or leads.
The other interesting thing I like is the output features. By plugging in a headphone, this turns off the speaker. With the XLR Balanced outputs, I can record directly to a console DAW and that is a nice touch.
Regarding the sounds. Like a lot of people, I play a lot of styles and this is where this amp shines. Having the ability to get a nice early 60s Beatles tone or a heavy tone is great. I've played tube amps and owned them over the years and I also own a Peavey Classic 50 4/10. I really have compared the tonal quality of the Duoverb and the Peavey and I find the Duoverb holds it's own with the Classic 50 though I would agree there are some tones the Peavey seems to nail a little better at louder volumes. Being the Peavey has 4-10s and I use a lot of hollow/semi-hollow body guitars, I believe the cabinet and tube is responsible for that.
Overall, for $200 this is a great amp even for beginners and has some interesting features that shouldn't be overlooked. If it broke or were stolen, I'd get another one. If I win the lottery, I'd probably buy a couple of backups. I also own the Flex III which is nice, but having the ability to mix two amps does present a lot of interesting tones one doesn't usually find in an amplifier.