
deadastronaut
Members-
Posts
24 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Everything posted by deadastronaut
-
Finally, my pioneering scientific work is recognized.
-
Just wondering if anybody knows stuff I don't about the amps and cabs on which Line 6 custom models were based. Some of them have been made available (L6 Insane on a mega-juiced Rectifier, L6 Boutique on a clean Dumble, etc.); I have a few of my own suspicions, which I'd be happy to explain (L6 Lunacy on a Boogie Mark IV, Spinal Puppet on a Bogner Fish). How about you guys?
-
floorboard, wah pedal does not go to zero
deadastronaut replied to mtsalmela80's topic in Floorboard / FB4 / FBV4
I don't actually have one of these, but I think I know the problem: most Line 6 pedals are turned on and off by a little sensor under the toe side of the pedal, so if you want to turn it all the way off, don't just rock it all the way back, do a full forward toe tap. That ought to disable it. -
One more before this thread completely dies: As you may have gathered, I'm a huge Shawn Lane fan, and one of his most unusual sounds was the one he used when playing with Jonas Hellborg and the Vinayakram brothers near the end of his life (if you Youtube "Shawn Lane live in Paris," you'll get tons of footage). It was totally clean, but it had the bite and sustain of a hi-gain tone, and he would also kick in what I believe were very early Line 6 delays to simulate the drones normally heard in Indian music. Here's my take. Note that the settings are all amp-knob style, not o'clock, and that the gear is nothing Shawn ever played (after he got his basic sounds loaded into his Peavey Profex, he didn't seem to care what power amps/speakers/etc. he played through), I just thought it got the tone. Shawn Lane Indian Drone Amp: Tweed B-Man Cab: 4x12 Tread Drive 2.5, Bass 7, Mid 6, Treble 6 Presence: 60% Compressor: threshold -39 dB, 10 dB makeup gain Delay #1: Reverse, 25% mix, 555 ms, 60% feedback Delay #2: Tape Echo, 35% mix, 417 ms, 56% feedback
-
Help Recording Spider V w/Cubase
deadastronaut replied to deadastronaut's topic in Computer Audio Setup and Troubleshooting
Yeah, it's plugged in that way, no other USB devices, and it comes up fine in Audacity and Garageband. For some reason, I can only get Cubase to recognize it as a MIDI instrument. I'm not gonna chuck Cubase entirely, but most of what I do recording-wise involves sending single tracks to a producer across the country, and Audacity is perfectly adequate for that (though you have to monitor input with the Spider V's channel volume rather than its master volume – strange; I guess the USB goes straight out of the preamp?). Thanks anyway for the reply, mate. -
A bit of frivolity here, but: While editing Spider V patches, I noticed that, to my surprise, the amp setting on the "Welcome to the Jungle" preset wasn't a JCM800 or Plexi, it was the famous L6 Chemical X. That, of course, brought to mind stories the legendary Marshall that everybody loved at S.I.R. Studios in the ’80s, the one that Slash notably tried to steal. It would seem to follow, then, that Chemical X is that 100-watt Marshall Super Tremolo 1959T, modded out by Tim Caswell of S.I.R. and subsequently Studio Electronics. I need to check if tremolo is one of the built-in effects on that patch, which would (kinda?) seal it. Anyway, an OCD sufferer's soliloquy.
-
Help Recording Spider V w/Cubase
deadastronaut replied to deadastronaut's topic in Computer Audio Setup and Troubleshooting
How would I arrange for that? When I set up a new Audio track, the Spider V isn't one of the input options – I just get my laptop mic. -
Tried this in the Spider forum and got nothing, so I figured I'd take a shot here: My Spider V 60 works great, my Cubase LE 10 installation went fine, and when I try to record direct via the amp's USB output, I can get Cubase to recognize the Spider as a MIDI input, but I can't get it to recognize that there's any signal coming out. The MIDI and audio faders are both dead, no matter how high I turn them up, and the track is definitely armed to record and not muted. Any ideas here? I've done a fair amount of digital recording, but it's almost all been of the mic/live instrument kind, so USB-carried MIDI is new territory for me.
-
The easiest way to get extra volume is, in my experience, a) making sure you've got the right cab for your amp, and then b) it's still a compressor, but you can use the amp's inline compressor – not anything under the DYN tab, just the one under the AMP menu – set the threshold to 0, and then dial in some postgain. Not perfect, but it works. You could also just bring down those high gain settings and then turn up the master; a lot of 2-volume amps recommend that technique anyway, and the Spiders are pretty goddamn loud, so you shouldn't run out of master volume.
-
I'd say it's neither especially great nor especially horrible. Comparable to the tuner in, say, a Blackstar ID:Core. If you're really worried about it, maybe I just got lucky with this, but I picked up a Monoprice Stage Right tuner pedal for $20 out of curiosity, basically, and it's the best tuner I've ever owned.
-
So I've got Cubase downloaded, installed, and running, everything seems fine, and I've gotten it to recognize the Spider V 60 as an input (it's under MIDI, for anyone searching for it under "audio" or "instrument"). Thing is, I can't get either the track monitor or the recording system itself to recognize that any sound is coming out of the amp, even when I max out the faders to an absurd degree – and no, it's definitely not on mute. Any ideas?
-
Do the new Spider amps have all the amps in them the Helix has?
deadastronaut replied to Booma5150's topic in Spider V
Dunno what's on the Helix, but here are all the amps, cabs, and effects on the Spider V: -
Amp Model Translator? Helix vs Spider? Tube vs Modeler?
deadastronaut replied to colek98's topic in Spider V
Thought a bit more about this, and while I still can't tell you anything about the Helix, I'm fairly certain there'll never be a point at which modelers (or non-modeling solid-state transistor amps) "replace" tubes – the question itself is, I think, a sort of misunderstanding. It's like asking a biker if his car has "replaced" his bike. He doesn't ride the bike for the same reasons as he drives, say, a Honda; he likes particular things about the experience of it, and even though they're both theoretically machines designed for automated motion, they serve completely different purposes to him. Thus with tubes/SS/digital. Some people are just always going to think tube amps feel better, and it's true that they're different in ways that modelers haven't learned to copy on a consistent basis. It's my experience, e.g., that even a mediocre tube amp has a relation between touch sensitivity and tone that you just don't get on non-tube stuff. That said, tube amps also break down way more often, have more specialized and antiquated parts, require constant vigilance and frequent servicing, and universally cost too goddamn much Because They're Tuuuuube. I personally wouldn't take a tube amp on the road unless I knew it was an absolute draymule (oh, the backbreaking memories of that borrowed 1973 Peavey Classic 50 which will, I'm almost certain, survive the extinction of humanity and possibly help to cause it). Of the amps I've got, my (solid-state) Fender Champion 100, which has about 17 "voicings" but isn't a digital or a modeler per se, is definitely the one I'd trust on any kind of extended tour. That doesn't make it better or worse than my Blackstar ID:Core 40 or my Spider V or the Marshall Valvestate and 5150 heads sitting in the closet, it just does particular things really well. (Though, let's be honest, it does make it better than the Valvestate. Those things sound terrible. And, to my moderate surprise, I find I much prefer my Spider-tweaked 5150 patch – still wondering what the hell a "Mississippi Criminal" is – to a bona fide block-letter 5150.) I, for one, don't give a damn about amp format, though I'd say that solid-state transistor amps have been the most reliable over my 20ish years of playing. If I like the sound, I like it, and if I can use it to make more and better sounds, brilliant. I think that's why there are so many half-cocked morons complaining about Line 6 gear on boards and Youtube: they don't really know what it's for, so they get angry that it doesn't do what they want. I didn't buy the Spider V for the presets – who buys a modeler for the presets? – I bought it because, after 2 minutes, I realized that 1) it was going to give me a massive library of amps and cabs for my own patches, and b) unlike a Kemper, it was not going to require NASA training to get the most of its programmable features. -
Amp Model Translator? Helix vs Spider? Tube vs Modeler?
deadastronaut replied to colek98's topic in Spider V
Can't help you with the rest, but here's a list of what every amp, cab, and effect is a model of, courtesy Line 6 itself: -
(Tip: you want that Led Zeppelin I sound, JP was using a Telecaster, not a Les Paul, and his amp was probably the Supro S-6616, modeled in the Spider V as the Super O. It's naturally very tinny, but give it a lot of gain, mid, and bass, and then send it through either a Screamer, Tube Drive, or Boost+EQ – I believe I used the Screamer – with some real drive on it and a very moderate Tone setting, plug in your Tele if you're luck enough to have one, and bang, early Zep. (I've been meaning to try a similar trick with the legendary Royal Albert Hall show from 1970 to get a Zeppelin II sound: the Plexi Lead 100 with everything dimed and the Boost+EQ will get you there, but he was specifically using that famous DR-103 Hiwatt stack, so I want to try that with a Screamer, since Hiwatts are naturally more snappy and sharp than resonant or sustaining.)
-
I use FR for absolutely everything. "Classic" sounds like a ratty little combo with a speaker on the edge of blowout. You may be able to dial in a few vintage tones where the "classic" setting is appropriate –say something like Pete Townshend, or the Kinks, or some really nasty early punk guitar – but even those could probably be better approximated with careful tweaking of the FRFR. I think this update is mostly for metal dudes who think an amp should deliver a huge block of bass under 250Hz, a huge block of treble over 5kHz, and nothing else. If you want to crank the noise gate and distortion, turn the mids to 0, and dime the bass and treble, feel free to go CHUGGA-chug-chug-CHUGGA-chug-chug-(pick squeal. I myself have no interest in that, and if, as I suspect, you don't either, I'm going to keep running Full Range/Flat Response, dialing in a reversed "smile curve" EQ (in my case, bass 3-6, mid 6-8, treble 2-4, depending on patch & usage, plus gain according to the sound I want – don't be afraid of either zero or 10!), and playing the 5 Mesas, 2 Bogners, 11 Marshalls, 3 Diezels, 7 Fenders, and a few signature-tone patches I've dialed in for people like Shawn Lane, Jonny Greenwood, Omar Rodríguez López, a couple of pre-Marshall Jimmy Pages when he was trying things like Supro and Hiwatt, 3 different Hendrixes (Hendrices?), et al.
-
Spider V Firmware 2.00 gets a buzzing sound all my tones
deadastronaut replied to reyrios10's topic in Spider V
(Bear in mind, this is coming from someone who loves mid-boosted, thick, creamy guitar sounds and is apparently the world's only fan of the Full Range/Flat Response system, but I really think what you're hearing is the "Classic Speaker" update. Everything with the treble above 2 becomes an unlistenable wall of static.) -
Spider V Firmware 2.00 gets a buzzing sound all my tones
deadastronaut replied to reyrios10's topic in Spider V
Honestly, I think what you're hearing is just the "Classic" mode on the speaker. It has an awful midrange cut and equally awful mega treble boost, I suppose in a failed attempt to make up for the proverbial boxiness of the 1x10" combo. I would recommend dialing in a preset you know very well and flipping the "Speaker" control back to "Full Range" – apart from a few peripheral updates, I think this 2.00 firmware is bogus as hell, and most people probably haven't even noticed that it automatically turns your maximum volume down to 78%, as well! You'll have to go thru all your presets turning the Volume parameter off, cause guess what: it doesn't recognize or save changes to the max volume percentage. Maybe it's good for the Remote app or something, but as a staunch straight-into-the-amp user, I think it's trash. Maybe some slight updates to the amp presets – I thought my Dual and Triple Rectifiers sounded very good last night, and my Bogner Überschall (i.e., Bomber Über) was screaming through the Brit 4x12 V30 cab, but everything non-basic-sound-related is basura. -
I forgot to mention on those Diezel/Shawn Lane settings that I also use a very mild noise gate on almost everything, usually -50dB/50% release (or whatever it's called on there). If you lot are interested, I could post a whole list of my customized settings; what I've done in almost every case is either 1) to dig out the sound of a particular amp I really like from the effects and alterations on other settings, or 2) to imitate the sound of a particular guitarist, usually during a particular period, sometimes using his gear if I can find a list of what he played through and sometimes just synthesizing a new sound. I'll warn you, though, that I like liquid, rich, midrangy sounds, with thick gain, moderate bass, and pretty low treble, so except for a few special cases (gotta dime everything on the Plexi Lead 100; I'm pretty sure it's in the Bible), I don't lollipop around with a whole lot of high end. Hopefully there'd be some worthwhile secrets nonetheless. E.g., I think their Plexi Lead is a little too clean, but if you set everything on 10 and then turn on the "distortion" (it isn't really distortion) called Boost+EQ, you get exactly enough "push" to bring it into Hendrix/Page territory. And you've always gotta run those MESA/Boogies through the 4x12 Tread cab; they get buzzy and anemic everywhere else, even with a Brit 4x12 Greenback 25 or V30.
-
Yeah, that was the idea here – I just program via the amp itself and find everything to do with downloads pretty buggy and non-intuitive, plus you can't read up on downloadable tones before you actually have to download something. I'd like to know what it is and does on a basic level before I go through the trouble of connecting thru USB, etc. And yeah, the Triple Rectifier is my favorite of the MESA/Boogie Recto models. Some people will tell you that it's just a 150-watt Dual Rectifier, and the differences are subtle, but I can clearly hear more fluid, singing midrange and less chugging bass and crispy treble out of the Triple Recto, and the Line 6 models reflect that perhaps even more than the real amps do.
-
Oh, OK, you're doing this through the app – I just do everything on the amplifier itself by pressing AMP and then EDIT, and the first 2 options on the menu are "Amp" and "Cab." "Diamond Plate" is easy to find on there, and I would encourage use of the "4x12 Tread" cab with all of the MESA/Boogie presets, namely Cali Crunch (Boogie Mark IIc+) Treadplate Dual (MESA/Boogie Dual Rectifier, channel 3, Solo) Diamond Plate, called "Cali Diamond Plate" on the mk II software (MESA/Boogie Triple Rectifier, channel 3, Solo – sorry I forgot the name change) L6 Treadplate (MESA/Boogie Trem-O-Verb Dual Rectifier) I don't know how to access the "cab" settings on the app, but I'm sure it's still in there – it's on the amp settings, and I imagine they're the same, save the interface. This is just a guess, but on your interface, there's an icon across from the word "Amp," above the amp's EQ/drive/etc. settings, that looks like a speaker cabinet. Maybe that'll give you a dropdown cab menu?
-
Well, having suggested the damn thing, a few of the best sounds I've dialed in so far: Diezel Fusion Lead Amp: Deity Crunch (Diezel VH4, Channel 3 "Mega') Cab: 4x12 Brit V30 Bass: 4 Middle: 7-8 Treble: 5 Gain: 7 Presence: 50% Diezel Legato Lead Amp: Deity Lead (Diezel VH4, Channel 4 "Lead") Cab: 4x12 Brit V30 Bass: 6 Middle: 7 Treble: 5 Gain: 7 Presence: 50% Shawn Lane Lead Amp: both Diamond Tread (Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier) and Bomber X-TC (Bogner Ecstasy) have provided good results Cab: Tread 4x12 (Mesa/Boogie) or Line 6 4x10 (Bogner) Bass: 2-4, to taste Middle: 8-9 Treble: 2 Gain: 8-10 Presence: 40% Delay 1: Digital, mix 30%, speed 305 ms, feedback 39% Delay 2: Digital, mix 25%, speed 845 ms, feedback 39%
-
Hey all, new to the forum & to Line 6 apart from the original POD. I've had a Spider V 60-watt combo for a couple weeks now & have been immensely impressed with its modeling capability, especially after you get a lot of the presets out of the way and start digging down into the amps, effects, etc. I've done about 70 patches, starting with my ideally EQ'd versions of amp presets that were already available (god, there are some gorgeous sounds to be gotten out of the Bogners, the Diezels, and the Mesas – the Triple Rectifier especially can be tweaked to sound very different than the Dual), then doing players whose rigs I knew how to assemble, and now I'm in the realm of what you might call "combinatory synthesis," where I'm trying to match heads, cabs, FX, etc., to come up with results that ably model something not available among the presets. (Oh, the Shawn Lane Modeling Conundrum. Right now, I've got 3 tones for Shawn, and since I won't be locating any Holmes Bluesmasters or Westbury ODs in the near future, I'm quite happy with my Lane/Hellborg/Sipe-era tone, which is a Triple Recto EQ'd for very low bass and treble, very high gain and mids, then sent thru the Line 6 4x10 cab – Shawn preferred 10" speakers, for whatever reason – and 2 digital delays, one around 305 Hz and one at, I think, 845 Hz. Feel free to steal and modify; it also sounded good with a Bogner Ecstasy/"Bomber X-TC," and if you want an earlier, more ’94 tone, the Peavey 5150/"Mississippi Criminal." Extraneous question: why in the world is the 5150 called a "Mississippi Criminal"?) So what I want to ask is, essentially, a continuation of the Shawn Lane quest: is there any thread where Spider V users can post their own best settings? And shouldn't we start one? I'd be happy to go first with as many of my ≈70 as you guys would like, though I favor a heavy-midrange, mid-bass, low-treble singing 'liquid lead' sound so heavily that I imagine there won't be much to interest the metal crowd. Ideally, though, this database could build on itself & provide usable patches for everybody. MSJ