FBV3 Pedalboard -- Observations

[01GT]

I am running Spider V 240 HC with FBV3 with an EX-1 expression pedal connected to it (along with Remote 2.00 with Win10).  Overall, I really like the FBV3 a lot.  It is a great extension of the amp and Remote 2.00.  The basics about this thing are well established and agreed upon at this point: nice metal construction, bright display, color LEDs, excellent having foot access to looper and tuner, etc., etc. 

 

Here are some other observations:

1) There have been some that complained about the price.  Considering that a decent Wah pedal is about a $100+, the FBV3 price seems very fair considering the huge amount of additional functionality you get plus having the 8 different Wah pedals you can select along with the high-quality pedal on the FBV3.  You can get this item for $240 out the door at Guitar Center if you just wait for one of GC's "15% off one item" coupons.  Very fair price to me...

2) In Remote 2.00, the programmability of the FS1-5 switches on the FBV3 was more extensive than I expected.  That was a nice bonus.

3) I initially thought that the amp's looper was controlled by the FBV3's "Tap" button.  Nope, it is actually controlled using the FBV3's "Function" button.  The FBV3's pilot guide (i.e., manual) only discusses use of the Function button when hooked up to Firehawk (no mention of use with Spider V at all).  As such, I initially thought the "Function" button when using Spider V had no function at all, which I thought was odd.  Line 6 should really have AT LEAST some small blurb on the "Function" button in the manual in the "when used with Spider V" context.

4a) When adding the EX1 pedal, the FBV3 automatically configures the on-board pedal to only being a Wah such that the pedal's toe-button turns it on and off, instead of switching back and forth between being a Wah and Volume pedal.  Hence, the on-board FBV3 pedal becomes a full-time on/off Wah pedal, and the EX1 pedal becomes a full-time on-only Volume pedal.  Originally, I was thinking of using the EX1 for delay modulation stuff, but I have decided (at least for now) that I really prefer having totally separate Volume and Wah pedals.  Considering the EX1 is quite cheap (especially when using one of Line 6's "25% survey completion" coupons) any one with a FBV3 should at least consider getting an EX1 too.

4b) You can use the EX1 for things besides the extra volume pedal.  It would be nice if that was written down somewhere to know what it can be used for, and how to actually use it.  Right now, this information is far from clear or even available.  If someone knows where this is documented, please let me know.

5) I was also initially thinking that the "FBV Control" app that you can download from Line 6 would also provide additional FBV3 control similar to how Remote works with the Spider V amp.  Nope.  That app is pretty much only for using the FBV3 as a MIDI controller for "other device" (i.e., non-Line 6, non-Spider, etc.) controls.  Once hooked up to a Spider V, it automatically reverts to its Spider configuration settings. All told, that is perfectly fine with me, but it would be nice if this stuff was in the Pilot manual.  

6) I thought the FBV3 would use a small power adapter.  Nope.  I was very impressed to find that there is no separate power adapter at all.  It gets all the power it needs from the ethernet cable coming from the amp to power the LEDs for 13 footswitches, the bright display, the two pedal-dedicated LEDs, and whatever the internal circuitry needs.  I know LEDs and displays use very little power, but for a fair-sized board like this one to get all its power from the ethernet alone is surprising ... at least to me.  As such it means it has only one wired connection (plus the optional EX1 1/4" connection, if desired).