It is my understanding that the steel mod pads down the input (resistor?) more so that the hotter steel pickups don't distort. It would probably be an easy thing to do yourself. I imagine it is simular to the second input on most guitar amps.

I realize that every amp is different, but does the Real Tube 2 with the steel mod approximate those sounds?

Like I told you, you have a separate drive channel that will do what you want by itself. The drive channel can be stacked on top of the clean channel to give you more crunch than you can believe. I don't dwell in these areas too much, so I'm no expert.

As far as dialing a PF or Santana sound, I don't really know. I never tried.

The bottom line is probably that you're going to have to try one to find out, and that may mean buying one. If you don't like it, I'm sure it would sell fairly easily. On the other hand, if the Mesa V-Twin is more of a sure thing fort you, maybe that's the way you ought to go.

Lot of trouble to try out equipment, but it almost seems like a necessary fact of life these days.

Good luck.

[This message was edited by Steve Feldman on 19 July 2000 at 04:18 PM.]

Believe it or not, I think the Line6 POD will give you a much better rock and roll sound live than the Tubeworks preamps. I have been using the POD for occasional gigs and many rehearsals (where I don't want to bring my THD head). It doesn't sound as good as the THD head, but sounds pretty convincing. My personal theory is that great rock and blues tone is all about power amp distortion. The tube preamps will provide distortion, but it's harsh and 'buzzy'. The POD models an overdriven power amp stage, and does a pretty reasonable job at it.