Five Things We Love About The Line 6 Catalyst amps

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Watch Five Things We Love About The Line 6 Catalyst amps - Guitar on Dailymotion

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00:00 [Music]

00:07 Hi, it's Darren here from guitar.com.

00:09 It's been almost 30 years since Line 6 released one of the very first digital modeling amps, named the AXIS.

00:15 Over the next decade, Line 6 went on to become one of the most important names in digital tube amp emulation,

00:21 and the catalyst for the digital revolution that was to follow.

00:24 So somewhat appropriately, the brand new series of amps they announced in 2022 have been called the Catalyst.

00:30 There have been a number of Line 6 amps that have come and gone during that time, including the Flextone and the Alchemist,

00:36 but the Catalyst line of amps are the first to be based on their renowned HX sound design techniques,

00:41 which up until now were confined to their Helix products.

00:44 The Catalyst series offers three combos rated at 200, 100 and 60 watts,

00:49 each offering six amplifier types, six reverbs and a suite of 18 high-quality effects from the company's HX effects range.

00:58 Our 60-watt review model features a specially designed 12-inch speaker, two switchable channels,

01:03 a power attenuator which ranges from 60 watts to just 0.5 watts,

01:08 and an XLR output for recording or direct connection to a live PA.

01:12 The six onboard amps are all named after terms you will encounter throughout the course of your guitar playing career.

01:18 They are named after the tonal characteristics synonymous with particular brands of amplifiers.

01:23 In the past, players would only be introduced to the sound of, say, a Vox amp by owning one,

01:27 and thereby discovering its trademark chime.

01:30 But now you get to experience Fender, Marshall, Vox, Boutique and Mesa style amps,

01:35 and understand their sometimes very different flavours.

01:38 Inspiration can strike when you least expect it,

01:40 and the ability to quickly audition sounds to help nail the sound you hear in your head

01:45 can mean the difference between forgetting that idea or getting it down quickly and developing it.

01:50 When coming up with the idea for the track we're about to run through,

01:53 at first the clean sound didn't sound how I'd imagined it.

01:57 It needed a little bit more high end to my ears,

01:59 so I changed from the clean to chime, which added a touch more treble.

02:03 And I also activated the spring reverb.

02:06 So I went from this...

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02:18 to this.

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02:30 Similarly, when we get to the bridge section, where things start to heat up a little,

02:34 we wanted to introduce a more overdriven sound, so we activated the boost switch.

02:39 Now each amplifier type has a specific boost assigned to it

02:42 that the designers believed was the most complementary.

02:45 However, on this particular amp setting, and in part due to the fact we're using single coils,

02:50 the high end was just a little too pronounced and couldn't be tamed with just the treble control.

02:55 So I switched to something a little more bass-heavy, like a Marshall,

02:58 and this was all achieved via a quick turn of the rotary knob.

03:01 So coming up is the first track we put together, which showcases the chime, crunch and clean channels.

03:07 We'll also show you a screenshot of the editing app for each sound we used.

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04:39 Tube amps are generally designed with specific applications in mind.

04:43 A number of do-it-all tube amps, and whilst they can cover a wide variety of tones,

04:48 depending on their architecture and power section, in reality they can't really provide the chime of a Vox amp,

04:54 and then with a quick channel change, transport you into full-on djent territory.

04:58 [music]

05:02 The track you're about to hear demonstrates some of the heaviest sounds the Cabalyst produces.

05:06 Hope you enjoyed the demo, and we'll see you next time.

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