Beginner Amp Question: Line 6 FBV-Express

[b-nice]

Hello all,

I have been playing guitar for about a year, and have a question about
pedal boards.

I have a Spider III 30 watt amp and I have been thinking about getting
the Line 6 FBV-Express pedal board for it but I am a little confused
exactly what the pedals do.

It says in the description that the switches will change the different
channels on the amp. Does this simply mean that it can switch from
Clean to Crunch to Metal to Insane? I was hoping for complete
customization via the pedals. That is I could set the board so that if
I wanted clean I could press pedal A, and if I wanted Crunch with
reverb and phaser, I could press pedal B and so on. Is this degree of
customization allowed or does the board simply switch the preset
channels?

I hope this makes sense. Thanks in advance for the help.

- brian

[Rufus]

Post by b-nice
Hello all,
I have been playing guitar for about a year, and have a question about
pedal boards.
I have a Spider III 30 watt amp and I have been thinking about getting
the Line 6 FBV-Express pedal board for it but I am a little confused
exactly what the pedals do.
It says in the description that the switches will change the different
channels on the amp. Does this simply mean that it can switch from
Clean to Crunch to Metal to Insane? I was hoping for complete
customization via the pedals. That is I could set the board so that if
I wanted clean I could press pedal A, and if I wanted Crunch with
reverb and phaser, I could press pedal B and so on. Is this degree of
customization allowed or does the board simply switch the preset
channels?
I hope this makes sense. Thanks in advance for the help.
- brian

Best bet is to download and check the User manual for the combination
you're interested in -

http://www.line6.com/support/manuals/?families=11&submit=Submit&1st=1st

[Paul P]

Post by Rufus
Best bet is to download and check the User manual for the combination
you're interested in -
http://www.line6.com/support/manuals/?families=11&submit=Submit&1st=1st

That's what I thought but the manual is just about worthless.

On the product page is says :

"Designed for the performing guitarist who needs a compact, cost
effective foot controller, FBV Express™ allows guitarists to
instantly recall an entire rig via four gig-ready footswitches
built into a road-ready steel enclosure. FBV Express delivers tap
tempo for effects, a chromatic tuner interface for quick and
accurate tuning, and a full size, heavy-duty Volume/Wah pedal. FBV
Express is a must-have for the performing guitarist who needs
powerful features in compact controller.

* FBV EXPRESS: Switches for Channels A, B, C, & D
* Tap on the current channel for Tap Tempo
* Wah/Volume pedal
* Chromatic tuner interface
* Self-powered though the locking RJ-45 cable (included) "

Paul P

[Derek]

Yeah, those footboards allow you to controll the various options on
the amp via your foot rather than fiddling with the knobs.

[b-nice]

Post by Derek
Yeah, those footboards allow you to controll the various options on
the amp via your foot rather than fiddling with the knobs.

Great. That is what I was hoping for.

And yes Rufus I did check the manual first, but as Paul said it is
completely worthless. I wouldn't even know how to program each pedal,
but I guess that's a question for another time.

Thanks everybody.

[Paul P]

Post by b-nice
And yes Rufus I did check the manual first, but as Paul said it is
completely worthless. I wouldn't even know how to program each pedal,
but I guess that's a question for another time.

I have the feeling from the description (I know nothing of these amps)
that you program the _amp_ into four different styles and then you
select each with it's own switch on the pedalboard.

Paul P

[Rufus]

Post by Paul P

Post by b-nice
And yes Rufus I did check the manual first, but as Paul said it is
completely worthless. I wouldn't even know how to program each pedal,
but I guess that's a question for another time.

I have the feeling from the description (I know nothing of these amps)
that you program the _amp_ into four different styles and then you
select each with it's own switch on the pedalboard.
Paul P

That's the impression I had...I looked into buying a Line 6 amp once,
then bought a Pod XTL instead...then ditched it and went back to pedals.

If you're not up to programming any of the above, you're better off
simplifying...it's all just a PITA otherwise.

[Lumpy]

Post by Rufus
If you're not up to programming any of the above, you're better off
simplifying...it's all just a PITA otherwise.

That's always been my experience.

Step on a Blues Driver and you know what to expect.
Plus you can do it in the middle of playing.

Step on one of those programmable things and
you may or may not get what you want if you were
too fast, too slow, didn't figure in the delay,
have your midi cables hooked up correctly,
hold your mouth just right etc.


Lumpy

You were the "OPERATION" game voice?
Yes. Take out wrenched ankle.

www.LumpyMusic.com

[Rufus]

Post by Lumpy

Post by Rufus
If you're not up to programming any of the above, you're better off
simplifying...it's all just a PITA otherwise.

That's always been my experience.
Step on a Blues Driver and you know what to expect.
Plus you can do it in the middle of playing.
Step on one of those programmable things and
you may or may not get what you want if you were
too fast, too slow, didn't figure in the delay,
have your midi cables hooked up correctly,
hold your mouth just right etc.
Lumpy
You were the "OPERATION" game voice?
Yes. Take out wrenched ankle.
www.LumpyMusic.com

...and God forbid a power spike...

[Lumpy]

Post by Rufus
...and God forbid a power spike...

"Take it Rufus!"

""Uh, I'll take it in a minute.
First I have to reboot my pedals.""


Lumpy

You were the "OPERATION" game voice?
Yes. Take out wrenched ankle.

www.LumpyMusic.com

[a***@my-deja.com]

Post by Rufus
...and God forbid a power spike...

AAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHH!!!

After many hours of customizing and saving a bunch of
patches....then..scrtzzzz...tttttt..blink...oh, looks like it's still
working, I'm getting sound, but that's not my patch...oooo
AARRRRRGGGHH !!

sigh...

[Charmed Snark]

expounded in news:1f95eae9-1f50-4c66-8874-be168e0383b7

Post by a***@my-deja.com

Post by Rufus
...and God forbid a power spike...

AAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHH!!!
After many hours of customizing and saving a bunch of
patches....then..scrtzzzz...tttttt..blink...oh, looks like it's still
working, I'm getting sound, but that's not my patch...oooo
AARRRRRGGGHH !!
sigh...

That's why KISS is so important. The more complex some
"system" is, the more points of failure you have. You
give Murphey a bigger hand in your fate every time....

That's why I snickered at folks in the days of palm pilots--
ppl trying to fix their synch problems, dead batteries
and other failures.

I always knew where my meetings were-- simple paper and pencil.
No batteries, hi resolution graphics, and nobody wants to
steal it. In fact, they're more likely to bring it back to
you if you left your name on it.

I think the same applies to guitar tuners, and metronomes.
Keep computers out of it and you'll be overall, much
happier =)

Snark.

[Derek]

Post by Lumpy
I don't think "several bands have used PODS for tours"
means much at all. I doubt that you could find any piece
of equipment that hasn't been used by several bands
on tours.

Yes, well it means something if a unit that takes up 2-3 rack spaces
replaces a bunch of amps and pedal boards.

Post by Lumpy
And I would categorically disagree with you about
"more dependable" and "easier to control".
Nothing is more dependable or easier to control
than a single or series of single stompies.

I guess I would disagree. I have a board full of nice "stompies", and
there is plenty of maintenence and grounding issues that come up.

However, we are talking about replacing tube amps in addition to FX on
the road.

Ask your roadie this weekend, would you rather hump this (shows POD
Pro rack unit), or this (points at wall of Marshall stacks and
Bradshaw switching/fx unit the size of a small condo)?

I bet you a grand that after a show with the POD Pro, she will say you
never sounded better, and hers will be the first panties thrown on
stage.

[Lumpy]

Post by Derek

Post by Lumpy
I don't think "several bands have used PODS for tours"
means much at all. I doubt that you could find any piece
of equipment that hasn't been used by several bands
on tours.

Yes, well it means something if a unit that takes up 2-3 rack spaces
replaces a bunch of amps and pedal boards.

Esteban travels with an Esteban.
I guess that means that those groups that
travel with Fenders can now get rid of those
expensive guitars.

Wadda you got stock in Line six or sumpin?


Lumpy

You were the "OPERATION" game voice?
Yes. Take out wrenched ankle.

www.LumpyMusic.com

[Derek]

Post by Lumpy
Wadda you got stock in Line six or sumpin?

Not beyond what I spent on my POD 2.0 some 8 or so years ago plus the
floorboard.

It is just that so many guys poo poo them when pros are using them
both on the road and in the studio.

Just trying to balance the negative crap with some positive crap, that
is all.

Just for the record, I have 2 ss amps, a Hartke Kickback for bass, and
JazzKat.

I also have 3 tube amps. Ceriatone OTS (Dumble clone), Lil Dawg 5E3
Tweed Deluxe clone, and an Atomic, designed for working with
modelers.

I also have a rather large pedal board with about $2k worth of
stompies on it.

[Lumpy]

Post by Derek
It is just that so many guys poo poo
them when pros are using them
both on the road and in the studio.

And again I suggest that "pros" use lots of stuff.
I don't think that just because someone uses it,
it makes the widget some kind of "passed the test" worthy.

There are people that have been using the same
stomp box for decades longer than the line-6
company has even been in business.

And I guess we'll disagree about the reliability
factor. To me one pedal or a dozen pedals will
ALWAYS be a better reliability bet than a
microprocessor controlled multi-box.

Use your rack of pedals, ground loop example.
If you've got a problem "somewhere" in a dozen
pedals, it's simple to isolate. Unplug this one,
did that cure it, no then unplug that one, did
that cure it, etc. But when the multi box takes
a crap, it very likely craps on everything. You
can't isolate it, you can't disconnect the AC
power, you can't bypass it without losing every
effect you've got.

I simply think it's a lot more reliable to use
individual boxes. If my reverb dies, I'll bypass
it and I'll still have death metal distortion and
psychoswirl chorus and pornoflick autowah. I don't
have to revert to playing straight through cowboy music
because I lose all of my FX.


Lumpy

You were the "OPERATION" game voice?
Yes. Take out wrenched ankle.

www.LumpyMusic.com

[kitekrazy]

Post by Lumpy
And I guess we'll disagree about the reliability
factor. To me one pedal or a dozen pedals will
ALWAYS be a better reliability bet than a
microprocessor controlled multi-box.

Do you find the hardware pedals sound much better than the multiboxes?

[Lumpy]

Post by kitekrazy
Do you find the hardware pedals sound much better than the multiboxes?

Pretty hard to define "sound better".
I think the sound is more predictable.
There's just a lot less variables in
single stomps.


Lumpy

You were the "OPERATION" game voice?
Yes. Take out wrenched ankle.

www.LumpyMusic.com

[Tony Meloche]

Post by Lumpy

Post by kitekrazy
Do you find the hardware pedals sound much better than the multiboxes?

Pretty hard to define "sound better".
I think the sound is more predictable.
There's just a lot less variables in
single stomps.
Lumpy

I'd put it like this, speaking for myself:

Years ago, I had a multi, but I went to separate stomp boxes pretty
quickly. Multis do many things from "pretty good" to "quite good".
Singles do one thing, but they do it perfectly, and very predictably, as
Lumpy said.

The Old Guy

[Tony Done]

Post by Lumpy

Post by Rufus
If you're not up to programming any of the above, you're better off
simplifying...it's all just a PITA otherwise.

That's always been my experience.
Step on a Blues Driver and you know what to expect.
Plus you can do it in the middle of playing.
Step on one of those programmable things and
you may or may not get what you want if you were
too fast, too slow, didn't figure in the delay,
have your midi cables hooked up correctly,
hold your mouth just right etc.
Lumpy
You were the "OPERATION" game voice?
Yes. Take out wrenched ankle.
www.LumpyMusic.com

I'm doing a "me too" on this. I bought a multiFX and spent weeks
trying to program some decent sounds into it. In the end it all just
got much too much of a good thing and chucked it in the pending file.
I'm back to a nice simple predictable pedal chain again <g> including
my new build, the BYOC Lazy Sprocket. - Think autowah, but with volume
instead of frequency band.

Neither would I buy an amp with built-in FX or a guitar with a built-
in tuner or powered tuning machines, too much to go wrong to little
chance of getting it fixed.
Did I tell you the parable of the straw spreader yet?

Tony D

[Derek]

Ah what a bunch of sissies! :-)

I have a POD 2.0 sitting in an Atomic tube amp designed for modelers.

Along with the rather large floorboard, you can control the thing
quite well, and never needed a "reboot".

The Line 6 stuff is pretty fun, and if you like to tweak your gear, it
is infinitely tweakable.

[Tony Done]

Ah what a bunch of sissies!  :-)

Nah, I'm just not "black box" - minded. I still can't operate our DVD
player at home, though I suppose I could learn easily enough if I was
motived. I like the organic quality of analog circuits, they have
mojo, digital ciruits are carboard copies thereof. <g> My delay/echo
is digital though.

Tony D

[Lumpy]

Post by Tony Done

Ah what a bunch of sissies! :-)

Nah, I'm just not "black box" - minded. I still can't operate our DVD
player at home, though I suppose I could learn easily enough if I was
motived. I like the organic quality of analog circuits, they have
mojo, digital ciruits are carboard copies thereof. <g> My delay/echo
is digital though.

I've always found that after days and weeks worth
of hours of fiddling an experimenting with
multi effects, I always tended to settle on
one or two settings. Those same one or two
settings always seemed easier on a stomp
box with ONE footswitch and ONE (sometimes two)
pots.

An FX the size of a kleenex box, with 99 controls
vs
An FX the size of a pack of fags, with 2 controls.


Lumpy

You were the "OPERATION" game voice?
Yes. Take out wrenched ankle.

www.LumpyMusic.com

[Charmed Snark]

Post by Lumpy

Ah what a bunch of sissies! :-)

..

Post by Lumpy
I've always found that after days and weeks worth
of hours of fiddling an experimenting with
multi effects, I always tended to settle on
one or two settings. ..
An FX the size of a kleenex box, with 99 controls
vs
An FX the size of a pack of fags, with 2 controls.
Lumpy

Having choice certainly has it's downside.

It's like going to Starbucks for a black coffee
for the first time-- too much choice when you
"just want a coffee".

And too many visits to try them all out, just to find
out what your favourite is.

Snark.

[Tony Done]

Post by Lumpy

Post by Tony Done

Ah what a bunch of sissies! :-)

Nah, I'm just not "black box" - minded. I still can't operate our DVD
player at home, though I suppose I could learn easily enough if I was
motived. I like the organic quality of analog circuits, they have
mojo, digital ciruits are carboard copies thereof. <g> My delay/echo
is digital though.

I've always found that after days and weeks worth
of hours of fiddling an experimenting with
multi effects, I always tended to settle on
one or two settings. Those same one or two
settings always seemed easier on a stomp
box with ONE footswitch and ONE (sometimes two)
pots.
An FX the size of a kleenex box, with 99 controls
vs
An FX the size of a pack of fags, with 2 controls.
Lumpy
You were the "OPERATION" game voice?
Yes. Take out wrenched ankle.
www.LumpyMusic.com

Yeah, me too (again!). The other major discouragement was that it had
nothing even remotely approaching true bypass, and I lost patience trying to
program it for bypass emulation. I was thinking of getting a not-cheap line
selector pedal to use as a bypass, but that defeats the object of the
exercise when you are only looking for a couple of decent sounds.

The other thing about a pedal chain is that you can see what is going on at
a glance easily and intuitively make changes if necessary, eg reduce delay
level if using compression.

Tony D

[Charmed Snark]

Tony Done expounded in news:972878e1-5b0e-4d57-b8c7-2e22dfbf7190

Post by Tony Done

Post by Lumpy

Post by Rufus
If you're not up to programming any of the above, you're better off
simplifying...it's all just a PITA otherwise.

That's always been my experience.

..

Post by Tony Done
Neither would I buy an amp with built-in FX or a guitar with a built-
in tuner or powered tuning machines, too much to go wrong to little
chance of getting it fixed.
Tony D

The only two effects worth having in an amp (IMO) is the venerable
"reverb" (though the digital pedals are better now) and/or "vibrato" aka
"tremolo", if you play any material that uses it.

Snark.

[Rufus]

Post by Charmed Snark
Tony Done expounded in news:972878e1-5b0e-4d57-b8c7-2e22dfbf7190

Post by Tony Done

Post by Lumpy

Post by Rufus
If you're not up to programming any of the above, you're better off
simplifying...it's all just a PITA otherwise.

That's always been my experience.

..

Post by Tony Done
Neither would I buy an amp with built-in FX or a guitar with a built-
in tuner or powered tuning machines, too much to go wrong to little
chance of getting it fixed.
Tony D

The only two effects worth having in an amp (IMO) is the venerable
"reverb" (though the digital pedals are better now) and/or "vibrato" aka
"tremolo", if you play any material that uses it.
Snark.

I've had tube amps that have had nice phasers built in - there was a
Music Man 75 watter (I think?..) that had a cool one where you could
pull the rate knob and stop the sweep - then you could dial the filter
notch to a fixed freq...that was cool...wish I could get my hands on one
today.

[Charmed Snark]

Post by Rufus

Post by Charmed Snark
Tony Done expounded in news:972878e1-5b0e-4d57-b8c7-2e22dfbf7190

Post by Tony Done

Post by Lumpy

Post by Rufus
If you're not up to programming any of the above, you're better
off simplifying...it's all just a PITA otherwise.

That's always been my experience.

..

Post by Tony Done
Neither would I buy an amp with built-in FX or a guitar with a
built- in tuner or powered tuning machines, too much to go wrong to
little chance of getting it fixed.
Tony D

The only two effects worth having in an amp (IMO) is the venerable
"reverb" (though the digital pedals are better now) and/or "vibrato"
aka "tremolo", if you play any material that uses it.
Snark.

I've had tube amps that have had nice phasers built in - there was a
Music Man 75 watter (I think?..) that had a cool one where you could
pull the rate knob and stop the sweep - then you could dial the filter
notch to a fixed freq...that was cool...wish I could get my hands on
one today.

I would think that a "sweep stopped" phaser would sound a lot like a wah
in a fixed position.

Snark.

[Rufus]

Post by Charmed Snark

Post by Rufus

Post by Charmed Snark
Tony Done expounded in news:972878e1-5b0e-4d57-b8c7-2e22dfbf7190

Post by Tony Done

Post by Lumpy

Post by Rufus
If you're not up to programming any of the above, you're better
off simplifying...it's all just a PITA otherwise.

That's always been my experience.

..

Post by Tony Done
Neither would I buy an amp with built-in FX or a guitar with a
built- in tuner or powered tuning machines, too much to go wrong to
little chance of getting it fixed.
Tony D

The only two effects worth having in an amp (IMO) is the venerable
"reverb" (though the digital pedals are better now) and/or "vibrato"
aka "tremolo", if you play any material that uses it.
Snark.

I've had tube amps that have had nice phasers built in - there was a
Music Man 75 watter (I think?..) that had a cool one where you could
pull the rate knob and stop the sweep - then you could dial the filter
notch to a fixed freq...that was cool...wish I could get my hands on
one today.

I would think that a "sweep stopped" phaser would sound a lot like a wah
in a fixed position.
Snark.

Not quite as "horn-like"...more mids, and without the single-coil like
hiss that you can get from parking a wah too sharp. As I understand it,
a wah is a essentially a treble rolloff filter (a frequency device), and
a phaser or flanger isn't really rolling off, but works the entire
signal in time and not frequency. Anyway, my Peavey Mace could do this
and it was a very different sound from parking my Morley.

I can also sort do it with my vintage MXR flanger by setting the width
knob, or even better with my Moog MuRF with the animation turned off,
and each of those sounds very different from a cocked wah as well.

[Charmed Snark]

Post by Rufus

Post by Charmed Snark

Post by Rufus

Post by Charmed Snark
Tony Done expounded in news:972878e1-5b0e-4d57-b8c7-2e22dfbf7190

Post by Tony Done

Post by Lumpy

Post by Rufus
If you're not up to programming any of the above, you're better
off simplifying...it's all just a PITA otherwise.

That's always been my experience.

..

Post by Tony Done
Neither would I buy an amp with built-in FX or a guitar with a
built- in tuner or powered tuning machines, too much to go wrong
to little chance of getting it fixed.
Tony D

The only two effects worth having in an amp (IMO) is the venerable
"reverb" (though the digital pedals are better now) and/or
"vibrato" aka "tremolo", if you play any material that uses it.
Snark.

I've had tube amps that have had nice phasers built in - there was a
Music Man 75 watter (I think?..) that had a cool one where you could
pull the rate knob and stop the sweep - then you could dial the
filter notch to a fixed freq...that was cool...wish I could get my
hands on one today.

I would think that a "sweep stopped" phaser would sound a lot like a
wah in a fixed position.
Snark.

Not quite as "horn-like"...more mids, and without the single-coil like
hiss that you can get from parking a wah too sharp. As I understand
it, a wah is a essentially a treble rolloff filter (a frequency
device), and a phaser or flanger isn't really rolling off, but works
the entire signal in time and not frequency.

Ya I guess the technologies are different enough,
that although the sounds might be similar in some
fixed configurations, they really are worlds apart.

With a wah, there is a boost of lower freqs, followed by
a cut of the upper freqs in its "range". Moving the pedal,
shifts the freq range. The following shows a chart
(worth a 1000 words):

http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/wahpedl/wahped.htm

Phasers work in a more complex way using the phase
cancellation and reinforcement to alter the sound.

Post by Rufus
Anyway, my Peavey Mace
could do this and it was a very different sound from parking my
Morley.

"Vewy interestinck", indeed.

Snark.

[Rufus]

Post by Charmed Snark

Post by Rufus

Post by Charmed Snark

Post by Rufus

Post by Charmed Snark
Tony Done expounded in news:972878e1-5b0e-4d57-b8c7-2e22dfbf7190

Post by Tony Done

Post by Lumpy

Post by Rufus
If you're not up to programming any of the above, you're better
off simplifying...it's all just a PITA otherwise.

That's always been my experience.

..

Post by Tony Done
Neither would I buy an amp with built-in FX or a guitar with a
built- in tuner or powered tuning machines, too much to go wrong
to little chance of getting it fixed.
Tony D

The only two effects worth having in an amp (IMO) is the venerable
"reverb" (though the digital pedals are better now) and/or
"vibrato" aka "tremolo", if you play any material that uses it.
Snark.

I've had tube amps that have had nice phasers built in - there was a
Music Man 75 watter (I think?..) that had a cool one where you could
pull the rate knob and stop the sweep - then you could dial the
filter notch to a fixed freq...that was cool...wish I could get my
hands on one today.

I would think that a "sweep stopped" phaser would sound a lot like a
wah in a fixed position.
Snark.

Not quite as "horn-like"...more mids, and without the single-coil like
hiss that you can get from parking a wah too sharp. As I understand
it, a wah is a essentially a treble rolloff filter (a frequency
device), and a phaser or flanger isn't really rolling off, but works
the entire signal in time and not frequency.

Ya I guess the technologies are different enough,
that although the sounds might be similar in some
fixed configurations, they really are worlds apart.
With a wah, there is a boost of lower freqs, followed by
a cut of the upper freqs in its "range". Moving the pedal,
shifts the freq range. The following shows a chart
http://www.geofex.com/article_folders/wahpedl/wahped.htm
Phasers work in a more complex way using the phase
cancellation and reinforcement to alter the sound.

Post by Rufus
Anyway, my Peavey Mace
could do this and it was a very different sound from parking my
Morley.

"Vewy interestinck", indeed.
Snark.

I'll have to fool around - my Moog MuRF sounds nothing like my Low Pass
Filter...but if I follow your theory I should be able to get it to do
so...the LP filter is responsive to dynamics where the MuRF isn't, even
thought the MuRF is essentially a bank of 8 band pass filters - static
or animated.

...coolest thing about the MuRF is that I can dial an animation mode on
it that makes it possible for me to play a VERY passable version of
"Baba O'Reily" including the sequencer part with just my one guitar
running in stereo - MuRF left, dry right...if I had a sample and hold I
could do it about perfect without letting the sequence follow the
changes. Hmmnnn...SOS on my TTE...hmmnnn....

[Pt]

I tried to like line 6 amps to no avail.
A few years ago I borrowed one from a friend while my Marshall was in
for repairs.
It was a 120 watt stack.
Clipped (distorted) badly at stage volumes.
I was very disappointed with it.
I tried another one at a rehearsal and it went into some switching
mode with lights flashing like crazy.
Totally unusable.
Another one with a country band I played in.
The leader supplied the amp.
Easier than dragging a half stack around.
I never did get a good sound from it.
But it soulded pretty good with an acoustic/electric.
I suppose if I had the time and put the time in to it I could have
gotten better sounds....maybe.

Pt

[kitekrazy]

Post by Pt
I tried to like line 6 amps to no avail.
A few years ago I borrowed one from a friend while my Marshall was in
for repairs.
It was a 120 watt stack.
Clipped (distorted) badly at stage volumes.
I was very disappointed with it.
I tried another one at a rehearsal and it went into some switching
mode with lights flashing like crazy.
Totally unusable.
Another one with a country band I played in.
The leader supplied the amp.
Easier than dragging a half stack around.
I never did get a good sound from it.
But it soulded pretty good with an acoustic/electric.
I suppose if I had the time and put the time in to it I could have
gotten better sounds....maybe.
Pt

Was it a solid state amp?

[M.S]

Post by Pt
I tried to like line 6 amps to no avail.

I hear what you say...

Problem with all the line 6 stuff in my experience is that all the sounds
within are essentially algorithm "snapshots" with no dynamics.

I have played several... Flextones, pods, and owned a AX212 at one time. You
CAN get some sounds out of these things that in isolation sound pretty
passable but say for instance you have a heavily distorted patch with maybe
a flanger for that highly processed 80's "hair bear" rock sound. Pick a
string hard and it sounds the same as brushing the string at 1/2 the
velocity, just quieter. Now back off your volume knob on the guitar and that
very same sound is just quieter again. It does not clean up at all and in a
band context with maybe competition from a proper guitar valve amp, you end
up simply getting lost in the mix with a mushy non-descript mess for a tone.

As others have said here, try to make changes to patches on the fly on a
live stage with some of these modelling amps and multi fx devices. and you
can find yourself in serious trouble very quickly. I have to hold my hands
up and say that I personally use a TC electronic G-system running through a
rack Marshall preamp and power amp these days and it works for me but rest
assured that when playing live, I also have means to simply bypass it and go
direct to amp with a few stomp boxes at the ready should I whiff the
slightest problem. Touch wood, it's been reliable so far!

In my experience, these modelling amps in the main make for great recording
tools in some instances or can provide quite a lot of sonic inspiration when
practicing/noodling about at home or in the studio but are unuseable for
most live applications.

In my case there is absolutely no substitute for hot tubes, pushing enough
juice to drive a decent set of speakers in my not so humble opinion....

[Norman Webb]

b-nice wrote in message ...

Post by b-nice
Hello all,
I have been playing guitar for about a year, and have a question about
pedal boards.
I have a Spider III 30 watt amp and I have been thinking about getting
the Line 6 FBV-Express pedal board for it but I am a little confused
exactly what the pedals do.
It says in the description that the switches will change the different
channels on the amp. Does this simply mean that it can switch from
Clean to Crunch to Metal to Insane? I was hoping for complete
customization via the pedals. That is I could set the board so that if
I wanted clean I could press pedal A, and if I wanted Crunch with
reverb and phaser, I could press pedal B and so on. Is this degree of
customization allowed or does the board simply switch the preset
channels?
I hope this makes sense. Thanks in advance for the help.
- brian

I have an early Line6 flextone II and floorboard to match. Not sure if the
spider is the same but on the floorboards there are 4 channels, A,B,C,D and
8 banks in each channel. They have to be programmed on the amp via dials or
by midi software and are only selected by the floorboard.

[Derek]

Guys, several bands have used PODs for tours. In an arena, you aren't
going to tell that much of a difference between a decent modler and a
mic'd tube amp.

Then there is wear and tear/dependability issues. I certainly can see
why bands are doing digital/modlers.

More dependable, easier to control, and other than us gearheads, how
many people in the 15,000-20,000 arena are going to know the
difference?

[Lumpy]

Post by Derek
Guys, several bands have used PODs for tours. In an arena, you aren't
going to tell that much of a difference between a decent modler and a
mic'd tube amp.
Then there is wear and tear/dependability issues. I certainly can see
why bands are doing digital/modlers.
More dependable, easier to control, and other than us gearheads, how
many people in the 15,000-20,000 arena are going to know the
difference?

I don't think "several bands have used PODS for tours"
means much at all. I doubt that you could find any piece
of equipment that hasn't been used by several bands
on tours.

And I would categorically disagree with you about
"more dependable" and "easier to control".
Nothing is more dependable or easier to control
than a single or series of single stompies.


Lumpy

You were the "OPERATION" game voice?
Yes. Take out wrenched ankle.

www.LumpyMusic.com