spydox

TYVM that's very helpful! I'll retrieve it from storage this week and give that a go!

Vetta HD head..\ DOH! I solved it- the MIDISPORT was, I thought, labeled MIDI IN and MIDI OUT. I looked closer today with a flashlight and they're actually reversed. They say TO MIDI IN and TO MIDI OUT. Now its flashing :) Not that this thread is active or anything but some year it might help someone!

Vetta HD head.. I carefully followed the flash procedure with MIDI OX , and Midisport OUT into AMP IN. started my Vetta HD head holding COMP ,then it said ready to update. pressed EDIT and SAVE , and it said erasing block ...for several seconds. Then it said complete, waiting for update. Then after loading the 2.5 update file into MIDI OX, I used MIDI OX to transmit. It slowly progressed and the MIDI SPORT out was blinking. But the amp never said DOWNLOAD in progress Then the PC side finished normally , but the Vetta side still said WAITING. I tried the advice to adjust the :Delay after F7" but even up to 120, same result. I also tried all the other update files, same result for all. Ideas? TY!

Jupiter isnt too too far but doesnt show up on the map?

Sadly, just like motor vehicles and other consumer items, there is less and less that we, or small shops, can repair. In the 70s we had hand wired discretes. Now we have surface mount ICs, if we can even get to the boards.. Us dinosaurs gotta suck it up and do the best we can now to find economical fixes I guess. Tech was bound to outreach our abilities at some point, I just didn't think it would happen this soon!

TYVM its a privilege to have an expert on this forum who responds quickly! Ill do some more homework...

PS Im not seeing service centers close to 32905.

I appreciate your reply and everything you say makes sense. Also I would expect a company would not want to tell someone "open it up and mess with these hi voltage areas" because next thing ya know someone get shocked , injured, ruins test equipment, or burns up their studio! Then they blame you saying YOU TOLD ME TO MESS AROUND IN THERE! So you're spot on. The dilemma is what to do with some nice old spider IV amps that have flaws, when working used ones are like $100! Can I pull the amps out of the cabs and send them in for repair? Many thanks, S

Ty for this reply. These are both COMBO amps with everything 100% original. So none of that applies. The Spider 240HC is a head, but its performing great. I was just mentioning that to indicate that 66% of my gear has this issue! TY

Some consider normal forum users as if we're "Monkeys".. Being a electronics tech from the US Army , now with an MS in electrical engineering, a HAM op, and a bench with sig gen, oscope, logic analyzer, probes, solder gear, etc, I'm and others are more than capable of doing board analysis and repair. The only thing we really lack is proprietary service manuals which many companies offer to the public. Honestly, things reach a point especially on older gear where owners don't want to spend two or three times the cost of a good used amp to get one repaired. It would be a lot more helpful to respond with "here are the diagnostic steps WE would take to evaluate and repair this issue..." Just saying!

Oddly, both my Spider iv 75 and 150 have developed almost the exact same issue. Play the guitar , and the sound is attenuated like 99%, even with volume up, but sometimes pops up to full volume when changing settings like to BLUES for example. Full volume resumes for a second or two , then goes back to like 1% volume. The input jack seems ok- moving it about doesn't change things. Seems like the signal path is disrupted- some plug or cold solder joint perhaps? Seems like a mechanical issue not a chip fault. I did perform a factory reset. No difference. Advice on self-diagnosis/repair is appreciated. I have a VTM, mini color o-scope, and signal generator and more on my bench. Since two of my three Line 6 amps (the other is Spider V 240HC) have this issue , statistically, sounds like this is a probable fault that many many people have had. I'm hoping that there are many methods to diagnose and fix it.. TY, Eduardo

has anyone repaired one?

Anywhere I can source a replacement? I've been all over from full compass to reverb to ebay and beyond, no joy! Or perhaps repair tips? It works if I jiggle the cable enough....