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Spider IV 75w and FBV Shortboard MKII


alkay
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Hello,

 

I will try to keep this post as simple as possible and stick with the facts so it can stay on topic and hopefully come up in search engines to help people.

 

I have read the manuals and the advanced guide. Unfortunately, I need an exact "step by step guide" because the documentation isn't working for me. I would appreciate some help please. I come from a background of using stand alone pedals joined together and manually engaging what I want(daisy chain kind of setup with whatever effects).

 

This post is intended for Line 6 and anyone who is in the same situation as me or has been and can offer some help.

 

This is all new to me and hopefully it helps others.

 

Equipment:

Line 6 Spider IV 75 Watt amplifier(Has been factory reset again as outlined on the Line 6 website so I'm starting fresh).

Line 6 FBV Shortboard MKII(Has been calibrated again after factory reset of amplifier).

Ibanez RG350EXZ

 

Suggestions:

Update the manual in a table / spreadsheet format so the user gets a visual representation of how the inbuilt and user presets are stored in memory. This is very confusing. Please explain memory locations. A, B, C, D, corresponding numbers etc. What corresponds to what?

 

Problems:

I have managed to create two user presets by going into manual mode as outlined in the advanced guide manual. I can use the front panel on the amp to cycle between those two by hand(not FBV Shortboard MKII). How do I do this with the FBV Shortboard MKII?

 

Correct me if I am wrong please.

A, B, C, D "channels" on the amp have a total of four "memory banks" within each allowing for four different user created sounds to switch between on each channel. Therefore allowing me to create 16 different sounds from the array of effects built in the Spider IV 75w amplifier to my liking.

 

How do I cycle through the effects I have created(on the amp) using the FBV Shortboard MKII and how do I exactly store them step by step?

Example:

I want to click clean tone on one button press.

Click another button and have distortion.

Click another button and have phaser and distortion.

Click another button and have distortion with delay.

- So I can switch between these when playing a particular song according to verse, chorus, solo, etc.

 

*How does the above example work for me when I'm jamming and I've got a whole different set of effects I want to use?

This unit is meant to be stand alone without a computer so I would appreciate any assistance on how to achieve the above.

 

Recommendation:

Aside from the above issues I have mentioned I have played around with the amp and I think it's excellent so far but really need the FBV Shortboard MKII working with it. Great for a jamming amp and a small gig. I had an old Marshall 80w Valvestate and this thing runs rings around it given the inbuilt features. It will be awesome once I get used to using it.

 

Cheers,

 

Alkay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Ok, you're close ....

The Spider IV has 16 User Banks of tones.  Each bank has 4 patch locations.  That's a total of 64 user patches you can program.  You cannot access the presets (artist and song) with your Shortboard, but you can access all the user patches there are A/B/C/D buttons and UP/DOWN buttons on the shortboard.  Use the UP/DOWN to go go through user banks 1-16.  Use the A/B/C/D buttons to select the patch in that particular user bank.

So save your 'Clean' sound in Bank 1 (or whichever bank number you choose) patch A';  add the distortion sound you want, then save that to Bank 1 patch B;  add the phaser, adjust tone and volume as needed, then save that to Bank 1 patch C; adjust sound - remove phaser, add delay, etc, save to Bank 1 patch D.

 

In a band situation, I used to have one bank set up as 'clean', on A, boosted volume on B, distortion on C, boost an distortion on D.  Another bank (for keyboards) was clean, chorus, boost, chorus+boost.   You can set up some generic banks for your jamming, and if you need to make a change to the sound while doing this, just adjust the appropriate amp control - no different than if you had to reach down and adjust a control on one of your pedals.

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Mike,

 

Excellent work. I appreciate your input and understand perfectly now on the memory allocations.

 

I have successfully stored my own sounds in Banks 16A, 16B, 16C, 16D and 15D. Distortion, Clean, Phaser, Chorus and Flanger in respective order as a test and now understand tapping up arrow on the FBV Shortboard MKII will allow me to go to number 15 bank where I can tap D patch and the Flanger is engaged.

 

I was confused because all the other User presets are already programmed (1ABCD-15ABCD). Starting with Arachnophobia 1A, leaving 16ABCD free in memory to use and not knowing the others could be overwritten. I'm guessing Line6 filled all these banks(1A-15D) with patches to demonstrate the capabilities of the amp aside from the song and artist presets there as well. If I missed that in the manuals I have read, then my bad. A spreadsheet diagram would have made it easier I think.

 

When creating each sound above I set the volume all the same(9 o'clock) in edit mode however they differ. Some soft, some loud. I will experiment more. Possibly Drive?

 

Also when I go to another user bank that is already programmed(1A-15D) the volume can be extremely loud. Is this because I have not set the volume to the same level as the user presets already in the factory defaults. Master volume is global, yes? I hope that makes sense. I was trying to be quiet around the house while people were sleeping and they weren't sleeping afterwards. Woops.

 

I will do some more experimenting and see the replies to this post. Once I'm comfortable I'll post an image with a few tips that hopefully will help other people out there too. I have found it confusing from knowing nothing about these new amps and reading the manual. I think a diagram would help. Aside from that I am getting more impressed with the amp.

 

Cheers,

 

Alkay.

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Correction:

I don't think I had the volumes set at the correct levels. I did another test after editing each of my presets and setting the volume to 12 noon on all and it works great(probably don't want to go to high with these as I don't want to blow up the speaker).

 

Tried the loop function, need more practice. Anyone know if there is a way to get more than 14 seconds given the memory capacity that isn't being used?

I'm guessing not but just thought I would ask. Wipe some of the other presets? It would be great if one could plug in a usb storage device for this. Yes there are other ways by recording then playing back on a tablet or smartphone through the amp. Better if it were built in(live playing situation).

 

I appreciate any input anyone could give. Diagram coming soon. Awesome amp. Extremely happy with what I can do and I know I'm not even scratching the surface yet of it's capabilities.

 

cheers,

 

Alkay.

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The preset patches in the user area that come from the factory are just duplicated from the artist/song patches contained int hose preset areas - you can just 'write over' them.

You'll want to set the channel volumes in your patches so they are more-or-less the same when you switch from one to the next (except when you want a boost for a lead patch, of course), so that you adjust your overall volume with your master volume based on your set up - practice room, gig, etc.

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  • 2 months later...

im using the mk1 shortboard and very intrested in learning more about it

im using channel a as my rythmn od and channel b basically same as channel a but with slightly more volume

just want to know more about the stop and modulation switches on the board

I know modulation switches on/off fx1.I would like to add chorus quickly during a song and also turn it off so how do I set the amp to do this using the modulation switch?

also,what exactly does the stomp feature do?

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