Line6 Flextone Iii / Vetta Ii Help Needed Options

[Francis Viviers]

I was wondering what you guys think of both the line6 Flextone III and Vetta II amps. Im thinking of going away from valve for gigs as programming presets at home before hand will help allot.

Thanks in advance

[David Wallimann]

Sorry, no answer.. But I'd be very interesting to hear what you think too..
I want to buy a Vetta II...

[Andrew Cockburn]

Sorry, no answer.. But I'd be very interesting to hear what you think too..
I want to buy a Vetta II...

Veta II is top of the line and has some awesome abilities looking at the spec. I've never played with one but the PodXTL has similar capabilities and is an awesome tool for playing and recording. The convenience of being able to set patches up is great too.

Before you write off tube amps, there are models that allow you the best of both worlds - tube tone + presents (H&K Switchblade for one, there are others).

Funnily enough I am going the opposite way to you - I don't gig at the moment, but I am moving to explore tube sounds instead of digital. Give me a year and I'll be able to give you a meaningful comparison

[Hardtail]

I have gigged with the flextone mic'd, the flextone direct to PA, and my valve amp mic'd.

Flextone gigging pros:
1) Controllable to zero stage volume from the amp.
2) No tubes means VERY reliable.
3) Easy to set up (no mic' required)

Flextone gigging cons:
1) Modeling amps tend to sound flat and running them direct to PA maintains their flatness or gets even flatter because some venues PA mixers and speakers. I recommend still miking the amp to help with this.
2) Modeling amps have not figured out how to emulate pick attack response like valve amps which is MUCH more important for live performance than for practicing at home.
3) Modeling amps "Model" other amps which makes you sound like other gear. Not good for creating your own sound. Reminds me of Fender's slogan they put on all their valve gear packaging: "Innovation, not emulation."

Valve Amp gigging pros:
1) PA's tend to reproduce the sound very well assuming a decent mic' is being used.
2) Better pick attack response than modeling amps.
3) Create your own unique sound.
4) Large venues allow you to crank the volume thus opening up the valves and improving the quality of saturation.

Valve Amp gigging cons:
1) Stage volume tends to be a problem since valve amp users want to crank their amps and small/medium venues want you to lower it so that stage volume is not coloring the main PA sound.
2) Valve amps should never be gigged with unless you have backup tubes (valves) and can be unreliable sometimes.
3) Some valve amp rigs can be very complicated, heavy to move, and a pain to get mic'ed up properly. This increase the amount of work that goes into setup and can eat into your warm-up time.

All-in-all you can see that the pros and cons of each are the exact opposite of eachother. Most people I know use modeling amps at home for their versatility (ie - switching rigs quickly to find new sounds, excellent reproduction in headphones, low volume quality sound) and use valve amps for performing for their better quality sound.

However, I do know of one guy that uses all his valve gear for recording but brings ONLY his PODXT when on the road. I would guess he's an exception.

Hardtail

[Francis Viviers]

Thanks hardtail.

I think i must get rid of damn peavey then. I cant afford to own two valve amps as their to expensive in this country. I think a better bet will be to go for a fender hotrod deluxe or something with a closed back cabinet and get a rackmountable effecs unit or something.

[Pavel]

Vetta II is way too expensive, at least for me Try looking at HD 147 - it has almost same features as Vetta II and the price is really affordable...just a suggestion!

[Francis Viviers]

Sorry, no answer.. But I'd be very interesting to hear what you think too..
I want to buy a Vetta II...

I think the Vetta II sounds absolutely awesome ...

Vetta II is way too expensive, at least for me Try looking at HD 147 - it has almost same features as Vetta II and the price is really affordable...just a suggestion!

Ill go check it out. If Matt Bellamy from the muse uses a HD147 it must cook

[David Wallimann]

Vetta II is way too expensive, at least for me Try looking at HD 147 - it has almost same features as Vetta II and the price is really affordable...just a suggestion!

Thanks for the suggestion Pavel..
Will make sure to check that out too.
I do agree that the Vetta II is very expensive...
Will have to do a LOT of lessons to be able to buy it...

[Francis Viviers]

Thanks for the suggestion Pavel..
Will make sure to check that out too.
I do agree that the Vetta II is very expensive...
Will have to do a LOT of lessons to be able to buy it...

Haha yeah i know. If i decide to get it. I have to eat bread only for couple of months and sell all my other amps

[Hardtail]

Thanks hardtail.

I think i must get rid of damn peavey then. I cant afford to own two valve amps as their to expensive in this country. I think a better bet will be to go for a fender hotrod deluxe or something with a closed back cabinet and get a rackmountable effecs unit or something.

The Hot Rod Deluxe is a valve amp and is open back like every tube combo amp otherwise the tubes would fry themselves after destroying the amp

If your looking for presets I've recently noticed that some pro musicians run all their pedals on and then link them to a pedal controller similar to Voodoo Labs Pedal Switcher to control separate pedal effect loops. This adds an incredible amount of diversity and tonal clarity since it physically disconnects the loops not being used. Of course, depending on how complex your rig gets you may have to buy pedals twice or more to run your loops correctly.

Example:

Let's say you want to run your Sparkle Drive all the time. You also want a loop with clean Delay and Chorus. You have another song that uses a subtle distortion like a Blues Driver but you got a Tubescreamer for solos. But then there is that one weird song where you ride the bridge pickup the whole time with a fuzz pedal.

SETUP 1 Now normally you might have a loop like this (assuming no loop on the amp):
Guitar -> Tuner -> Sparkle Drive -> Chorus -> Delay -> Blues Driver -> Tubescreamer -> Fuzz -> Amp

Now if you count that is 8 connections between your pick and the audience... which invites alot of tone loss and signal noise... you may correct this with a Noise suppressor pedal but still you'll have tone loss.

SETUP 2 If you use a switcher your rig might look like this:
Guitar -> Tuner -> Sparkle Drive -> Switcher -> Amp
Switcher Loop 1 -> Chorus -> Delay -> Switch
Switcher Loop 2 -> Blues Driver -> Tubescreamer -> Switch
Switcher Loop 3 -> Fuzz -> Switch

COMPARE
SETUP 1 (SETUP 2)
Song 1
8 Connections (7 Connections)
2 Stomps from clean (1 Stomp from clean)

Song 2
8 Connections (7 Connections)
3 Stomps from song 1 (1 Stomp from song 1)

Song 3
8 Connections (6 Connections)
2 Stomps from song 2 (1 Stomp from song 2)

As you can see Setup 2 still has a bunch of connections but they aren't passing through "turned off" pedals avoiding added noise and tone loss

Hardtail

This post has been edited by Hardtail: Aug 29 2007, 01:27 AM

[Pavel]

Line 6 HD147 seems like most reasonable amp to buy. It has AWESOME features and lot's of bands use it for stage. Rhapsody Of Fire used it in the studio for recording of THE DARK SECRET album and they have amazing sound and also use it live.

I am thinking about getting one myself!

[Francis Viviers]

Line 6 HD147 seems like most reasonable amp to buy. It has AWESOME features and lot's of bands use it for stage. Rhapsody Of Fire used it in the studio for recording of THE DARK SECRET album and they have amazing sound and also use it live.

I am thinking about getting one myself!

Really sounds like a viable option. I like line6 products. The only thing i didnt like was running the podXT through another amp which doubles the EQ etc. Getting basicly a POD XT in amp form should rock