The modelling technology is great when it works, but having been let down on a major gig by Line 6 Helix, I lost all confidence in it. Truth is I now have the Fender Tone Master Twin Reverb weighing 33lbs and looks fantastic on stage which is pleasing to the eye for the player and the audience. The weight of the Helix in it's flight case was not far short of the weight of the Twin, so no loss there. I've had several bits of Line 6 kit, including their acoustic guitar modeller which was disappointing, then fast forward ten years and I tried the new Line 6 'James Tyler' effort which again claimed bells and whistles, claiming to be able to clone all Gibson, Fender & Gretsch models, but in truth didn't come close.
I have given them plenty of rope and for me they finally hung themselves with the failure of the Helix, especially on such a major venue.
The best sound by far was my Mesa Boogie DC-5 & MKIII, but these are so damn heavy that even though I still own the DC-5 I can't consider gigging it any more. The next best just for Shads stuff was obviously th Vox AC-30 and I still have one of those, again it's not a sensible option weight-wise. This new Twin Reverb with it's power attenuator allows me to get close to the AC30 sound because of it's Jensen Neo speakers, which are much more versatile than the old JBLs that were very loud and harsh.
I dare say I'd be better off with the single 12 Fender DeLuxe Reverb ToneMaster which is very light and only 22 watts, but my love of the old Twin won't go away.
So what I'm saying is I've tried everything and anything to lighten the rig and even cut down to one guitar, but in truth, if one is honest with themselves, having a few different types of guitar and a real amp blows the clones and models out of the water and looks 'right' to the punters and pleases me. Before anybody screams that the ToneMaster is a modelling amp, yes it is, BUT all that processing power is used ONLY to recreate the Twin Reverb at a very light weight, which it does perfectly.