No matter what other amp I use, this HD147 is always behind it. When I inevitably get bored of an amp, or an amp breaks, this HD147 fills the gap until the next amp comes along. This is the one amp I keep coming back to, year after year. It's not very good at sounding like the amps it claims to model, but if you ignore the model names and simply go by what your ears hear, there is a large range of good tones in here. The JCM 2000 model, for example, sounds nothing like my actual Marshall JCM 2000, but it's still a nice rhythm tone in its own right. The more blues and country-style tones aren't very good and expose the dated processing in this amp, but all the fully clean tones and everything from standard rock gain upwards sound at least decent. Special mention has to go to Line 6's original tones which are not based on any specific amp, but were made simply by Line 6 trying to make a nice sound; in most cases, they succeeded. Their 'Insane' distortion tone is legendarily bad, but all their other 'originals' sound extremely good and cover a wide range of tones. Their original clean tones are especially good, mostly sounding like a hybrid of a Fender blackface/silverface and a Roland JC.
Most importantly, the HD147 is the single toughest and most practical amp I've owned or used. You have to really go out of your way to try to break it, and it has every kind of connection and function you could need in a general-purpose amplifier. In addition it has been well designed for live use. When using it with the FBV Shortboard floor controller, for example, activating the wah pedal automatically adds in a small volume boost, so it can be used for solos without needing to also adjust the volume separately. The whole front panel is also free to be adjusted on the fly, like any analogue amp's controls are, so if you decide you need a little more bass for one particular room or a little more treble or anything like that, you can dial in that adjustment exactly the same as you would with a regular amp.
The Vetta and Vetta II amps do offer more advanced processing but they also aren't as practical live; other modelling (or "profiling", as some brands market themselves) amps offer more accurate reproductions of popular valve amps, but those also typically are not as practical in terms of live use. And, other than rack-mounted units, most of them are not as tough, either. My personal HD147 has been subjected to rapid and extreme temperature changes, liquid spills, and being dropped on concrete, and other than a few scratches to the outer plastic is otherwise unharmed. The fact it is 15 years old, has never required a service and not a single pot crackles is quite outstanding.
These amps have been discontinued for a long time and never built up enough of a reputation (in fact, had their reputation dragged down by the similarly-named Spider 150HD) for them to retain much value, so you can buy these in good condition at a fairly low cost. My advice to anybody other than blues and country players is if you see one of these advertised at a price you can afford, check that it still works of course but buy it right away. This is one of those amps you likely won't record your #1 album with but it'll always be there either in your studio or as your backup head, always ready to go and able to fill in nearly any task you ask of it. It's not the very best tone you can get but it's so tough and so practical that it is an absolute must-have.
Reliable backup
No matter what other amp I use, this HD147 is always behind it. When I inevitably get bored of an amp, or an amp breaks, this HD147 fills the gap until the next amp comes along. This is the one amp I keep coming back to, year after year. It's not very good at sounding like the amps it claims to model, but if you ignore the model names and simply go by what your ears hear, there is a large range of good tones in here. The JCM 2000 model, for example, sounds nothing like my actual Marshall JCM 2000, but it's still a nice rhythm tone in its own right. The more blues and country-style tones aren't very good and expose the dated processing in this amp, but all the fully clean tones and everything from standard rock gain upwards sound at least decent. Special mention has to go to Line 6's original tones which are not based on any specific amp, but were made simply by Line 6 trying to make a nice sound; in most cases, they succeeded. Their 'Insane' distortion tone is legendarily bad, but all their other 'originals' sound extremely good and cover a wide range of tones. Their original clean tones are especially good, mostly sounding like a hybrid of a Fender blackface/silverface and a Roland JC.
Most importantly, the HD147 is the single toughest and most practical amp I've owned or used. You have to really go out of your way to try to break it, and it has every kind of connection and function you could need in a general-purpose amplifier. In addition it has been well designed for live use. When using it with the FBV Shortboard floor controller, for example, activating the wah pedal automatically adds in a small volume boost, so it can be used for solos without needing to also adjust the volume separately. The whole front panel is also free to be adjusted on the fly, like any analogue amp's controls are, so if you decide you need a little more bass for one particular room or a little more treble or anything like that, you can dial in that adjustment exactly the same as you would with a regular amp.
The Vetta and Vetta II amps do offer more advanced processing but they also aren't as practical live; other modelling (or "profiling", as some brands market themselves) amps offer more accurate reproductions of popular valve amps, but those also typically are not as practical in terms of live use. And, other than rack-mounted units, most of them are not as tough, either. My personal HD147 has been subjected to rapid and extreme temperature changes, liquid spills, and being dropped on concrete, and other than a few scratches to the outer plastic is otherwise unharmed. The fact it is 15 years old, has never required a service and not a single pot crackles is quite outstanding.
These amps have been discontinued for a long time and never built up enough of a reputation (in fact, had their reputation dragged down by the similarly-named Spider 150HD) for them to retain much value, so you can buy these in good condition at a fairly low cost. My advice to anybody other than blues and country players is if you see one of these advertised at a price you can afford, check that it still works of course but buy it right away. This is one of those amps you likely won't record your #1 album with but it'll always be there either in your studio or as your backup head, always ready to go and able to fill in nearly any task you ask of it. It's not the very best tone you can get but it's so tough and so practical that it is an absolute must-have.