Line 6 help?

[glpg80]

i feel dirty posting this. i really do.

but i believe for my personal use im going to make an addition of either a line-6 rackmount pro with a tubed poweramplifier, or buckle for simplicity with a Vetta 2 HD.

comments on either units? reliability? if anyone has played both or either i would love to hear testimonies. hows the footswitches for these units? MIDI? what about recall times?

thanks ahead of time

my plan is probably to do a stereo W/D rig with either one of those units - same cabinets i have now probably.

 

[glpg80]

no one?

would you think that you could opperate the line 6 recall functions with a GCX or equivalent unit? i wouldnt be able to run a stereo rig dry 5150 with a wet SS vetta II and have both pedalboards at once. that just isnt economical or feasable

not sure how i would go about this.

slave the line out of the 5150 with a load box into the vetta, then control the sound of everything from the vetta for post effects?

i could put stuff like chorus, wah, OD, etc in the front of the 5150 for economical/tone reasons. just wondering how this can be done

would probably make more sense to do a line 6 pro, but people are saying the tone isnt A+ persay. however ive heard some line 6 vetta heads that sound pretty good to my standards. just never really thought i would be looking at one...

 

[glassjaw7]

I use my Pod Pro sometimes for fun. I usually get sick of it after a few days and then I switch back to the Recto with pedals, but with the Line 6 floorboard the Pod makes a really convenient rig. When I finally get a switching system(rjm+ground control) I will keep the Pro in one of the loops and have it set to switch my head to clean and the pod presets into the loop. Then I can use both

For now I power it by running into the fx return of the recto, or running into the front on the clean channel as I've been doing the past few days. I use a much simpler setup than what you are describing-geetar-boost(sometimes)-Pod-Mesa.

Mine is the older model before the XT, so the effects cannot be used without the modeling which really sucks. I'm also fairly sure that you could use any switcher and midi board to do the type of rig you're describing. My floorboard connects to the rear of the unit via an RJ45 CAT5 cable. The unit does have midi in/out and I imagine you could use a standard midi board with these connections.
Weren't you looking into a jmp-1 pre? Personally I would go for a jmp pre + fx unit. But if you're trying to be cost effective the pod isn't a terrible choice. I wasn't overly impressed with the Vetta. Great feature set, but IMO any Line6 stuff needs a tube power amp.
Good Luck

 

[glpg80]

the VERY original game plan was and is an engl powerball, which as soon as i get my ESP later this year, ill go for a roadtrip to GA to try them out with a close friend with 1 of the 2 ENGL dealers on the east coast in the US.

ill be borrowing a nice video camera and probably spend the night there and drive back another day, as to not try to log all the miles at once.

i know it seems stupid to drive that many miles just to play through or demo an amplifier, but that until then im trying to get my ducks in a row.

the JMP-1 is one of the other options i am throwing, but only if it is voodoo modded which makes the unit about $700 in value - half the price of a vetta. i havent heard one in person, and i have never played one as well. the line 6 stuff i have indeed played through and to tell you the truth it could really deliver if mixed correctly in the mix i believe.

the vetta would become part of the 5150 rig, whereas the engl powerball would be a different rig entirely - same for the JMP-1.

both rigs would still need an effects rack which i have designed and will build someday, but the vetta/5150 mix would eliminate a substancial amount of gear requirements for reverbs, effects, pitch shift, etc. for practical purposes - a glass nexus probably, my wah, an OD out front, and thats about it. so much simpler compared to a RG-16/MPX500/PCM90/Boss harmonizer/glass nexus/OD rack that would go along with the engl and 5150 if i indeed "click" with the engl powerball after i demo one. even if i dont, thats still what i will end up doing to add effects for a W/D rig with the 5150.

just trying to see whats more economical. i know i enjoy the tone from michael romeo and chris impellitteri and both of those guys have used and do use line 6 units on record and/or live. i cant help i dont mind their tones there, so it only makes sense for me to consider the line 6 vetta head in this scenario as a possible second amplifier/effects source to mix with the 5150.

thanks for your help jordan much appreciated. TBH i believe i may just have to tack a vetta II onto the playlist scenario myself and really see if it can deliver what i need.

 

[Stratboy151]

i feel you'd get better tone with the spidervalve amps. if you still want the option of using high quality rack effects, the spidervalve II series now features midi control

 

[blackba]

My buddy got a Vetta2 recently. He is still using a POD2 with a SS power amp live, has not switched to the Vetta. Overall, he likes the vetta better. The main problem with the Vetta is that the direct sound does not match what is coming out of the speakers. So he tunes his patches for the direct sound and just uses the amp as a monitor. He could also mic the amp as well. He does like tube amps, but at the small places around here, they are just hard to keep reigned in. That doesn't stop me from using tube amps....

 

[Phrygian]

You know my take on the Pod Pro setup...not a fan. The Vetta seems to be the way to go!

 

[glpg80]

i listened to a few vetta amplifiers, had the pleasure of hearing one live through a shitty cabinet. it still sounded OK. i was actually chilling with my friend who was up next and when i heard the amplifier, i walked up to the stage to see what it was. was somewhat surprised to be honest, which is why its in consideration.

never thought a line 6 unit in general would be a consideration for me, ive always been a tube amplifier believer (and still am)

as far as the mark II units go, i played the bogner/line 6 head mark II and wasnt impressed. my 5150 II definately did more and sounded much better than that unit does.

i would have to play one of the vetta units and see if i can squeeze a preferred tone out of it at reasonable, (not bedroom level) volumes.

from what i have heard on youtube clips they seem to have the axe-fx disease. so im not 100% sure if the vetta is the right way to go now, especially from what i have played through a mark II. i would consider a 5150 III before the mark II unit IMHO.

like i mentioned earlier i will just have to put the vetta on my playlist of shit to noodle on and let my ears do the talking. an engl powerball is next, however an effects rack is more of what i "need" - moreso than another amplifier. just wanting something that either compliments what i have, or can be used in conjunction with my 5150 on recordings to help my creative part. its just sometimes my 5150 gets that "wtf tone is this" out of it and its very hard to write or think of new ideas through it. im sure others have experienced this

just chewing on ideas at this moment. im never one to make drastic decisions

thanks for the help guys. if indeed i did like and play a vetta, midi control would be of utmost importance. changing channels in unison with my 5150 for instance or through a GSX unit.

 

[stratotone]

I gigged a vetta for over a year, was very reliable and easy to set up.

 

[blackba]

from what i have heard on youtube clips they seem to have the axe-fx disease. so im not 100% sure if the vetta is the right way to go now, especially from what i have played through a mark II. i would consider a 5150 III before the mark II unit IMHO.

What is the axe-fx disease?

 

[glpg80]

What is the axe-fx disease?

no "umph" behind it. no cahunas. sounds like what it is: a solidstate algorithm-based modeling amplifier of absolute perfection.

clean stuff always sounds great on such units no matter who makes them. the high gain tones however always sounds lacking, or compressed - no 3D depth to the sound. i give kudo's to the guys at fractal audio and also at line 6 for such complicated algorithms, but it still isnt an infinitely un-perfect analog sinwave of tone that tube preamp's deliver with their variables.

i will say that the vetta, from clips i have heard, have this same style of tone which i hate with a passion. however from what i heard live of one it sounded alright, but it was many many years ago. so im skeptical to say the least.

the best way i can explain it is that, i like to feel what i play, when i play what i feel. not playing through a lifeless sterile noise-creating machine so to speak. thats the axe-fx disease

I gigged a vetta for over a year, was very reliable and easy to set up.

thanks pete for your opinion. ive heard alot of issues come from them and im comstantly finding "help me" topics on wierd glitches the units have. so this makes me feel a little better about its reliability.

tone wise i just need to let my ears do the talking. where or how i find a vetta II HD to play is a whole nother ballgame. but its a consideration to either mix with my 5150 or be in competition between adding a 5150 III or an engl powerball to the collection

 

[blackba]

^ I haven't tried the axe-fx, but I now know exactly what you mean about the feel. I had a Vox AD60 and AD120VT valvetronix amps. The sounds were pretty good, but the feel just wasn't there.