Overview of the Line 6 Amplifi 150 Guitar Amplifier

My wife just gave me a Line 6 Amplifi 150 for my birthday.

The Amplifi is a unique concept among guitar amps. Effectively, it’s a very loud, Bluetooth controlled, 7 speaker amplifier that let’s you define the guitar tone you want from your iPad or iPhone. You can then jam to existing tracks from Line 6 or songs in your iTunes collection. You can also use it as a loudspeaker for your outdoor party, playing any stored or streamed music from your smartphone via Bluetooth.

The Amplifi 150 has a 12″ custom Celestion speaker, 2 mid-frequency drivers, and 2 high-frequency drivers. It supports 4 onboard presets and unlimited presets via the Amplifi Remote mobile app. You can toggle individual presets via an FBV foot controller.

Features

I place a high premium on both convenience and simplification of the complex. Like Alton Brown, I prefer equipment that can serve as a “multitasker”; and I dislike unnecessary clutter. I also prefer cost-effective, “high tech” solutions over more expensive, “authentic” equipment.

The tone modeling keeps my equipment list to a minimum. In addition to the Amplifi, I own three guitars: an Epiphone Les Paul Ultra III, an Epiphone ES-339 P90, and a Yamaha NCX nylon electric. I play rock, blues, and jazz on the Epiphones and I play classical and flamenco on the Yamaha.

The number one selling point for me is the ease of selecting different guitar tones on the Amplifi. Before the Amplifi, I owned a Line 6 Spider IV amplifier. Although my old Line 6 Spider IV amp also supported a variety of tones, it forced the guitarist to memorize obscure memory banks and read a very small LCD screen. With the Amplifi, I use my iPad as my user interface. I can quickly select over 70+ guitar amps, 100+ effects and 20+ speaker cabinets from the Amplifi Remote app. Additionally, I can layer up to eight simultaneous effects.

Since I play guitar alone at home, the ability to layer backing tracks or drum loops behind my guitar enriches my jam sessions. Line 6 has crowd-sourced tone matching for a number of popular songs. You can select a song from your iTunes collection and the Amplifi app will suggest several appropriate guitar tones. This can get you up and running in a matter of seconds, literally.

Additionally, the entire amp is a USB interface for recording back to your Mac or PC. I haven’t explored this capability yet. But I find it intriguing because it expands the usefulness of my existing guitars. For example, I didn’t need to upgrade from the Epiphone Les Paul Ultra II to the Ultra III just to get the new model’s USB interface.

Resources

The Amplifi pilot’s guide

The Amplifi Remote mobile app pilot’s guide

Amplifi factory presets

The Amplifi amp firmware release notes are here

The Amplifi Remote mobile app release notes are here

Line 6 has some great video tutorials about creating tones here

Drawbacks

1. The first time setup is completely broken. My amplifier came with a 1.0 firmware version that caused the Amplifi Remote amp to crash every time. This prevented me from upgrading the firmware of the Amplifi via both iPhone or iPad. I had to dig out a USB cable and update it from my Mac. After that, I didn’t have any more crashes.
2. The power switch is on the back of the amplifier immediately above the power cord. This is a terribly awkward location, particularly if you place the amplifier against a wall. Line 6 should have kept the power in the front like the Spider amp. There also is not an automatic sleep mode similar to other Bluetooth speakers. To solve this, I plug my Amplifi into a spare Wemo Mini SmartPlug. Then, I can turn on and off my Amplifi with my Google Home.
3. Finally, while the Amplifi is the perfect amplifier for me (a weekend guitarist who practices in the comfort of his study), it is not for everyone. If you want the sound or volume of a big tube amplifier, this likely isn’t your amp. If you are an old school, ‘analog’ guitarist that prefers daisy-chaining stomp pedals, this is not your amplifier. While the construction is quite solid, I am not sure how it will hold up to the wear and tear of trucking between gigs.

Updated on May 31st, 2017