Is FBV Longboard compatible with Firehawk 1500?

[kurtiscollette]

Not to be confused with the floorboard.

[psarkissian]

Apparently not,...

 

http://line6.com/support/page/kb/_/effects-controllers/fbv-mki-mkii-controllers/the-complete-line-6-pedal-compatibility-faq-r58

 

... but you can double check with the list. The new FBV3 board is backwards compatible though.

[kurtiscollette]

Interesting. So I can buy the Firehawk, but not have a foot switch, cause no retailers have an fbv 3 in stock.

[fflbrgst]

The Longboard was discontinued quite a few years ago, so is not compatible with any of the newer amps (including Spider IV).  The FBV3 release date is about 2 weeks from now, you can preorder from all the major retailers - GC, Sweetwater, Sam Ash, etc.

[komickapers]

For anyone who's struggling with a foot pedal for their Firehawk 1500...

I've just bagged a Firehawk 1500 at £420 (2nd hand) and it's mint. The fidelity of the sounds is outstanding, (I was previously running a Vetta II combo with a Variax 700 and Longboard).

 

Compared to the Vetta II, the sounds are noticeably better, especially the Acoustic Guitars, (to be expected through a full-range combo). On the electric guitars though, there's a warmth that I hadn't really noticed with the Vetta II.

But... here's the thing... I spent over an hour trying to find an FBV express MKII at a small price having just busted £450 inc delivery on the FIrehawk and mistakenly bagged a MK1 for £40. When it arrived, I instantly saw that it wasn't a MKII and checked back. Damn! My mistake! Still not the end of the world at £40, (I could resell it).

Just out of interest, I plugged it into the Firehawk and powered it up..... It works, 100% as far as I can tell, Presets switch correctly, Volume & Wahwah both work, even the tuner. Yet, on the Line 6 compatibility list, it's NOT compatible... Huh? This got me wondering about my FBV Longboard which Line 6 say is NOT compatible.. and guess what?

Correct! It works and is about 90% compatible with the Firehawk... That's right! It works for all the main stuff... Details:

Board powers on once the Firehawk has booted...
 

Bank switching UP & Down Works

A B C D Preset switching works, (Firehawk has a definite short silence between presets which the Vetta II doesn't seem to have)

FX Loop switches the compressor in & out

Stomp Box 1 - switches the Stomp Box in & out, (don't know if stomp 2 & 3 would work on the pedal if I had 2 or 3 stomps set in the Firehawk app)

Reverb does Reverb

Delay does Delay

Tremelo seems dead, (makes sense, no separate / dedicated trem block in the Firehawk or app)

Modulation switches Mod in & out

Left hand pedal switches between Volume & Wahwah, (but doesn't seem to switch off as with the vetta II. Easy to leave in volume mode at full volume if it's not part of your patch)

 

Right hand pedal seems dead..

 

Amp 1 switch and Amp 2 switch are fairly defunked in this scenario as the Firehawk has only 1 amp

 

...and that's it! 90% of the functions in the Firehawk 1500 are controllable from a MK1 FBV Long board.

Now! The FBV3 is obviously designed to take all of the patch/mod assignments via the app, from the Firehawk and put them onto colour-matched switches on the FBV3 and clearly THIS IS THE RIGHT PEDAL for the Firehawk 1500. But, if like me, you have to upgrade your guitar rig one piece at a time then it would have been helpful to know that my existing Line 6 FBV would actually be usable while I save up for the FBV3. I'd probably have upgraded a lot sooner, knowing I could still use the rest of my Line 6 kit with the Firehawk 1500.

I get that Line 6 want to sell ALL the brand new, shiny products to us but based on my experience, it's stretching it a bit to say "Not Compatible" when "Not entirely Compatible" is the more accurate statement.. I understand why... I just think it does you no favours with customers like me who've been faithfully running a Line 6 rig for about the last 15 years.