Stormtrooper12

Grab yourself a Mesa Boogie Mark V and a Klon Centaur and a Strymon Timeline and then a nice chorus and phaser etc etc haha. Or get the Helix and that Victory Countess 30 that Paul Hindmarsh and the boys demo'd on Utube. Sounded wicked. I had an original Blackstar HT-5 and it was alright, nothing to write home about though. If money is no object you could also check out Matchless :P

Cool man, thanks for the answer. I traded my GT-10 recently haha (For a Vetta II HD no less), great old machine the GT-10. I miss certain aspects of it. It was bulletproof, had the 38 second looper, was very versatile, had a great patch for my 12 string acoustic-electric and so on. Really digging the Vetta so far so all is seemingly well haha. Yeah I really like the Helix also, everything about it seems top notch and so versatile and easy to carry around. The price is an ouch now though because our dollar took a huge dive in the last year. $1500 okay, $2000 just seems out of the stratosphere at the mo for a floor modeller when I already have a Mesa, SV mkii and other tube amps and processor gizmos. It is shmexy as hell though :P

Just out of curiosity what are you using now?

A Marshall 9200 and two Orange PPC 4x12's :P I heard those Atomic Reactors are pretty cool, and another cheap alternative to look at might be the Tech 21 power engine. It's light, versatile and has a good flat response and you can use it a bunch of different ways. Of course the LT2 or LT3 would work excellent as well besides buying some big monster full blown powered P.A. cab/cabs. I guess a lot depends on how much you want to spend and how heavy. EV JBL QSC Yorkville and Mackie also have great powered FRFR speakers in many different power and price variations.

No you cannot connect the SV mkii directly to the computer like say a POD HD500 or BOSS GT-10 that has a direct USB connection. What you need to connect to a computer in your instance is an audio interface. There are many available in many different price ranges and options. You would then take the "Studio Out" XLR from the guitar amp and go into the audio interface, then interface to computer. Note that with the SV you are always supposed to have a speaker load connected at all times. Some mixers also have a USB out on them so they could also be used instead of a regular desktop type audio interface. Hope that helps a bit.

Could it be something so simple as a fuse. Maybe each power amp side has a separate external or internal fuse. I know I'm kinda grasping at straws but you never know. And with the headphone jack still working yes it does seem like a power amp section problem. Keep us updated and good luck.

I've mentioned here before about buying a plastic Marshall vent grill and installing it directly over the power tubes. I think it's the 17 inch one. Mesaure twice, cut once :P I haven't done it yet myself as I don't use my SV HD 100 mkii all that much so haven't really bothered. But I figured a steady hand and a jigsaw and the modification could be done in under 20 minutes and probably make the rare DSP chip and the rest of the amp last many more years.

The USB port is on the back of the FBV Shortboard mkii ;-) Only the ethernet cable goes to the amp. Same with my SpiderValve HD 100 mkii. That's how I updated my SV and also ran the patch editor with my PC. USB printer type cable from PC to shortboard, ethernet cable from shortboard to amp.

I think I recall someone having issues with a TC G-System in direct sunlight where the bright sun would affect a sensor under the foot pedal causing problems. The dude made a little awning type canopy for the front out of plywood or cardboard and painted it black iirc :blink:

I've read about all the firmware update nightmares for the Vetta II and people bricking their amps by having some sort of interruptions or not using an M-Audio midisport uno etc etc.... Why didn't Line 6 also offer a way for people to update through their new "top of the line" floor controller (FBV Shortboard mkii). I realize not everyone has one and some would still have the original longboard or shortboard but it seems like a novel idea and might have increased sales for the newer incarnation, and at the same time also removed incompatibility issues for firmware updates and added better/easier capability for using computer based editors and backing up patches et al. Just my .02 PS: I'm also guessing that Vetta production had ceased before the FBV Shortboard mkii was even released but it still seems like an easy integration to make for a Line 6 tech guru.

I think what you said will work fine. If you want to get really serious you could buy this nifty little tool, and a can of Deoxit DS5 http://www.stewmac.com/Luthier_Tools/Tools_by_Job/Maintenance/Pot_Cleaning_Cap.html

Grabbed this tidbit from the Line 6 Knowledgebase here on their website: Q: Can I run my Line 6 amplifier without a speaker load (i.e. not connected to a speaker) A: All Line 6 amplifiers (with the exception of the Spider valve series) are safe to run without any speaker load connected. The DT series and Spider Valve series amps **must have a speaker load connected to avoid damage to the output transformer.* Now I'm wondering if the Vetta II HD can be safely run without a speaker load haha.

It is best to have a speaker always connected at all times. But, from what I've read in the past and are lead to believe with these particular amps is that you can run in studio direct on standby without a speaker load connected. However it is highly frowned upon as one slip up and flick of the standby switch accidentally and you'll blow the transformer inside your amp and cause other possible damage as well. So to your last sentence, the amp HAS to be in STANDBY. On a side-note, you accidentally put this in the solid state "Spider" series category instead of the "SpiderValve" area. Lastly, you should try and find the exact answer to your question in the archives here to be 100% sure, because I don't want to be responsible if I'm wrong and you blow up your guitar amplifier :)

Oh yeah, and a Digitech RP1 and a few other gizmo's and could always dial up a great sound. Don't expect it to belt out at the same sound pressures as a wall of Marshalls though ;)

You should have no problem whatsoever. I've run my BOSS GT-10 and Lexicon MPX-G2 straight into my home stereo and they both sounded awesome. For the Lexi I ran it through a small Mackie VLZ4 12 chan mixer first. Classe SSP-25, Rotel 985mkii, B&W CDM7se, Paradigm PS1000

I'm not too familiar with all the fancy workings of the Vetta as yet as I just got mine the other day but a good try might be the Angel P-Ball as it sounded pretty beefy. Also most of the presets have the drive and presence totally jacked giving off the ear piercing can of bees distortion. Try the Angel P=Ball and dial back the gain/drive, treble and presence a bit and then maybe add a touch of delay and whatever else you like :)

What sort of speaker to use with the Helix? Well two Mackie HD 1531's and a SWA1801z of course :P

Sounds like a great offer. One needs to take out a second mortgage up here in Canerder seeing as how it will be hovering around the two thousand dollar mark. Amazing looking piece of gear though.

Good show mate! I made a cheap but cool wooden "floorboard" for my floorboards lol. Just a nice big square of 3/8" birch plywood and 2x4 under one end. Mitre'd to a 45 or whatever, on the top of the 2x4 so it sits better. Then I stained it with a nice dark cherry and then varnished it. I know it's just more krap to lug around but I always like resting a foot on it whilst singing and playing geetar. Saves my back sorta and gets the foot controller to a nice angle :)

Wish it was so easy on the Vetta II HD I just picked up. I'm stuck with the 2.10 firmware version by the looks of it unless I resurrect an old laptop I have with XP, an older version of monkey, try an find my midi-sport Uno and then beg Line 6 Support for the 2.50 update file. And then,, only then cross my fingers and pray to my flying spaghetti monster that it doesn't get bricked somehow.... Sounds like a hassle doesn't it?

Thanks man! I read most of the manual last night and I think all the forum questions/topics on it as well haha. I must say having the FBV shortboard mkii already was a big bonus and meshes nicely so far. Good advice about the update, I'm leery as heck after reading all the horror stories, it sounds pretty killer already so I think I'll wait.

Hey gang just snagged the Vetta II HD in trade some gear I had kicking around. Couple questions. Kinda digging it so far BTW but have only messed with it for about an hour. 1. Has anyone ever tried to play an electric acoustic through and had any success at all? Or making a patch from scratch for the acoustic that sounded good/great? 2. Does switching from full to half power really help in any way? I'm running into a 2x12 Mesa Boogie just using the two Vintage 30's and selected mono obviously from the Vetta output stage. 3. Noticed it is still running version 2.10 Is it worth trying to "monkey" around updating it? I have an old turtle laptop running XP and have an older version of Line 6 Monkey on it and I think I have a M-Audio Uno sport midi thing lying around somewhere. Or would I be better off just leaving it as is for now and waiting til the amp screws up before trying to flash a newer firmware version? Is it worth the risk? The upgrade in the direct out Air II technology sounds kind of intriguing the way they hype it in the 2.50 addenum 4. I don't really like the "thump" powering it on and powering it down, is there any remedy at all to this that anyone knows of? 5. I know this a dumb and lame ? I should know the answer to. Does anyone ever run the solid state Vetta II HD head without a speaker load attached? And if that is a definite no-no does anyone just use a loose small 8" speaker per se or THD hotplate or powersoak type thing so they can move the beast around and use it in "studio" direct mode but not have to lug around cabinets So many questions,I know but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Is 2.50 really any better than 2.10? Cheers and thanks :)

Get Helix to do a demo of the Helix :P https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa6xumk3lSE

Because these SpiderValves aren't fixed bias I thought they always had to be readjusted every time you changed the power tubes, to +/- 35 mV I swear I read that here years ago :ph34r: :D

I've heard of the knobs getting the jitters before but not the physical switching like you describe. As far as fixing the knob issue the cheapest easiest thing I can think of would be a small shot of Deoxit into the potentiometers themselves and then work them a bit by hand after. I should mention the old thing about tube amps packing enough wallop (electricity) even when unplugged, to kill a person so know what you're doing or take it to a pro. I own the HD 100 mkii and as far as I know they made extra DSP chips for them so they are still somewhat "serviceable" should something go awry with them. Conversely the HD 100 doesn't. Therefore I always thought it might be an okay idea to buy a plastic Marshall vent grill for the top and install it right over the 4 6L6's. That way all the heat leaves the head quickly and dissipates upwards leaving everywhere else cool. Now people will say "Well tube amps are meant to get hot". Well that is true but real full blown tube amps don't have finicky digital preamp chips in them that have proven time and time again to be extremely susceptible to excess heat. They (the vent) can be had online for about 15-20 bucks from what I recall. Then I'd say just take a drill and jigsaw to the top to cut the perfect slot. I mentioned this a few years ago on here somewhere. Just my two cents, for an amp that basically is toast if that chip goes, so I thought an ounce of prevention might make it last many many years longer.