NGD! Line 6 HX Stomp Review.

Hello SSO!

I have been wanting an HX Stomp for a long time. I recently graduated school, moved into a yurt, and sold a bunch of gear to downsize. The day I sold a bunch of gear I found this bad boy for $400 brand new. Here's some pics, then a review, then a demo.






Pros first:
This thing is so capable it's not even funny. I plan on using it mostly as a standalone rig for local open mic nights and such. I have almost no gigging experience and I am going to change that. I think the simplicity of having a guitar plugged into the Stomp and the Stomp into a house PA will be a great start.

But as you may have guessed by the 5150, my real desire is to play some metal gigs. As such, I think the long term goal will be to use this as an effects unit and backup for the EVH. The amazing thing is I no longer have any need for a separate noise gate, compressor, effects pedal or anything really. I can do everything I need with the Stomp. And as such I think I'm just going to sell the effects pedals I do have.

The size and form-factor of the Stomp are it's biggest selling points for me. I live in a freaking yurt so being able to cram everything into such a small package is a godsend. I think my only remaining rig purchase is hoping to be another 1x12 that I can stack and I think I'll have a very modular rig capable of ANYTHING I could possibly need.

All of the effects are a ton of fun and very useful.

PRETTY COLORS GLOOOOWWWWWW.

Now Cons:
I'm not a fan of most of the high gain models. But there are a few that I definitely do like (specifically the Revv and Archon Models) and thats all I need.

Also not a fan of the stock cabs for high gain stuff. They are useable with tweaking.

As far as software goes, the 6 block limit is a little tough but doable. The 8 block update should be very useful.

It would be a great improvement if we could load IR's into the amp+cab block to save space.

The default tap/tuner function of the third footswitch is very limiting. I think a better work around would be to have the ability to assign the tuner as a long press to any footswitch instead of having tuner functionality be the exlusive purpose of an entire switch.

The included power supply is very lame. It's huge, the cable is short, and it's just another thing that needs to be plugged in. Which is extra difficult when living in a yurt that has a single power outlet. I plan on buying a CS6 power supply for this and the few pedals that I will keep.

In summary, I am very satisfied. I have had serious GAS for one of these and I'm having a blast with it. It's a dream come true how far this technology has advanced.

Here's a video for a song I just finished. The rhythm guitar tone is the Revv Gen Red Model.


Thanks for checking out my review!

 

Hopefully this is helpful for you. The form factor of the stomp is pretty great. And the value is hard to beat if you can find one on sale imo.