Line 6 HX Stomp

Ron Shalita · From: California, USA

Hi all just wondering if anyone is using one of these and what are your thoughts on it?
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Been playing all of my life, Lead Guitar, and Pedal Steel, sing Lead and Harmony.. play other Instruments also but I hate to admit to it..

Tom Dillon · From: La Mesa, California, USA

I tried hard to make it work for steel with the goal to reduce rig weight. I got it close enough for my band leader to comment that it sounded as good as anything I used before. I didn't think it did, and I moved on after a few months. I do still use it on my fiddle pedal board for effects and its very good for that. Also in a pinch, I could always use my old Stomp steel preset into a monitor and PA if my amp went down.

I think it can work for steel, depending on your needs. My experience was:

- It has lots of great high gain amp models, but very few clean amps appropriate for steel. I used the Fender Twin model. It is workable and has plenty of settings to dial in a good sound. Maybe too many. More than the amp itself has. For me, I never found a GREAT sound that was as good on stage as it was in headphones at home. Generally it was too bright on stage no matter how much I changed the EQ. I used it with a QSC monitor or IEMs, and direct to the PA. I dialed it in at home using an AB switch and comparing to Milkman Half and Half and Stereo Steel amp heads.

- The Stomp also has a lot of speaker cabinet models, but again, almost all are for high gain guitar players. The Stomp's Fender Twin speaker cab isn't all that great so I wound up buying 3rd party IRs for JBL D120 and D130s. I also used the AB switch to compare these to the actual speakers. Pretty close, I thought.

- Lots of over the top reverbs, but the hall and spring versions in the Stomp are fine for steel. The simple delay, Zendrive and phaser effects are pretty good too.
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Tom Dillon
- MSA Legend, On-Trak, fiddles, mandos

Ron Shalita · From: California, USA

ah thank you for that nice reply maybe it is a bit much for me then.. just looks good in all the reviews... you have a good one and stay safe..Ron
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Been playing all of my life, Lead Guitar, and Pedal Steel, sing Lead and Harmony.. play other Instruments also but I hate to admit to it..

Jack Stoner · From: Kansas City, MO

I use a POD X3, for effects only no amp modeling. The POD X3 has been discontinued for a long time and I considered modernizing. I looked at the current Line 6 products and didn't see me gaining anything so I'm staying with the POD X3.

David Spires · From: Millersport, OH

I love it. It was essentially my entire rig on the road with Josh for the last year.

The inherent problem with all of the guitar modeling devices is, they are made to break up (distort) for guitar. There are a couple ways to address this. You can set the input for Line Level (and have a 10dB pad, my E-66 pickups are about 8dB hotter than a guitar pickup. You can also use a device like Fender's Buffer Pedal:

https://www.guitarpartsfactory.us/023-4530-000-Genuine-Fender-Level-Set-Buffer-Guitar-Effects-Pedal-0234530000?search=fender%20level%20buffer

It lets me reduce the input level 12dB, and have a tuner output.

Sometimes the best amp model isn't what you think... I loved the Bassman at first, then gravitated to the Mesa Boogie Mark IV (after all, it's basically kin to the Studio Pre Paul used for decades). Then, I started using IRs instead of the built in cabinet models.

It's an amazingly small, and powerful unit. I've never had a more realistic direct sound. I have one at home to use with real amps, so it's an amazing swiss army tool kit of effects.

Everyone has their opinions, but that is mine. Smile

Best of luck!

David Spires
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2021 MSA Legend XL 10&7; Asher Electro-Hawaiian Junior Lap Steel; '79 OMI Dobro 66 w/ Scheerhorn cone and setup; '64 Hand-wired Re-issue Fender Princeton Reverb

Ron Shalita · From: California, USA

It sounds like you have done your homework, Thank You so much for the very well written review. Ron
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Been playing all of my life, Lead Guitar, and Pedal Steel, sing Lead and Harmony.. play other Instruments also but I hate to admit to it..

Jason Goodell · From: North Carolina, USA

I use the HX Stomp for guitar, steel and bass on a silent-stage in a church worship team. Do modelers 'sound' like an amplifier in a room to the player. No, but in a silent-stage environment an amp in the room is not possible. But through front-of-house I would say modelers can sound better, the engineer isn't having to deal with stage volume effecting the mix. Our subs are directly beside and behind the stage, so we get some of the 'feel' of stage volume back via the front of house. In-ears on a silent-stage is a very different environment than being in-the-sound on a stage with amplifiers. But for someone who has tinnitus, not going home in pain and spending a uncomfortable night with loud ringing in my years is a win. The lucky are those who go deaf without tinnitus.

As for the issue of to much high-end from modelers, that can be improved with the global EQ. Guitar amplifiers have a relatively narrow range, roughly 75Hz to 6000Hz, while the full range and response of the modeler/PA ranges typically from 20Hz to 15000Hz. Use the hi-pass and low-pass filters in the global EQ to simulate the range of a guitar or bass amplifier. This will prevent the low-end from getting woof-y by cutting out the ultra low end, the the high from being spike-y with to much presence. Then you can dial in the amp without fighting the effects of the high fidelity signal chain.

The HX Stomp would be more appealing to steel players if there was a larger selection of black face, silver face and a few Music Man and Peavey amplifiers to choose from. I also don't prefer the Line 6 reverbs, I use an Eventide H9 spring which to my ear sounds more like the black face reverbs, and the Eventide tremolo is almost dead-on for the Twin vibrato.

I don't think you would go wrong with the HX Stomp if you need to get a modeler, and want to go that direction for reduced rig weight and or stage volume. But just realize to the player especially, it is not going to be the same stage experience, and that is the point. It's not suppose to be the same stage experience. Volume effects the human ear's perception of EQ (the Fletcher-Munson curve), and if you used a modeler with powered speakers on stage to produce the same effect with volume. Then why would you use a modeler?
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Physicist, software engineer, hobbyist amplifier builder, purveyor of dad-jokes, and guitar player of many of its forms. Not necessarily in that order, and with no guarantee or warranty.

Ron Shalita · From: California, USA

wow another great review... Hey Thank You so much!
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Been playing all of my life, Lead Guitar, and Pedal Steel, sing Lead and Harmony.. play other Instruments also but I hate to admit to it..

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