Though Line 6 began with a modeling guitar amp, their breakthrough product line was arguably the POD guitar processor line and its later variants, but this modeling technology has been the foundation for most of Line 6's products, from guitar amps to software and computer audio interfaces. Digital modeling offers countless virtual combinations of a variety of music gear, but only as emulations, however convincing as they may be. Further development of Line 6's modeling technology has extended the emulation to include numerous guitar amplifier / guitar cabinet combinations, guitar effects, microphones, and even different guitars and other fretted instruments themselves. Early Line 6 products used digital modeling to emulate the signature tone of a guitar amp/speaker combination.
The company underwent a rapid expansion in the early 2000s (decade) due to the success of their Pod product line, which isolated modeling circuitry from the AxSys amplifier.ĭigital modeling attempts to recreate the unique characteristics of musical instruments and pro audio gear. This was followed in 1997 by the Flextone. Line 6 launched in 1996, with their first digital-modeling guitar amplifier, the AxSys 212, a combo amp using two 12" speakers. Because the new guitar-related products were developed in secrecy, the receptionist used "Line 6" as a code word of sorts, and paging them for a call on Line 6 meant to stop any guitar or amp-related sounds so that they wouldn't be overheard by other Fast-Forward clients or callers. As Ryle tells the story, the name "Line 6" came about because the phone system at Fast-Forward Designs only had 5 lines. As digital signal processing became more and more powerful and affordable during the 1980s, they began developing DSP-based products for guitarists.
Marcus Ryle and Michel Doidic (two former Oberheim designers) co-founded Fast-Forward Designs, where they helped develop several notable pro audio products such as the Alesis ADAT, Quadraverbs and QuadraSynth, and Digidesign SampleCell.