Vetta II Has Landed!

[quiksilver]

Woo hoo! My Vetta II head and FBV shortboard arrived today! I haven't had much chance to jam with it yet, but it fired up, anyway (unlike the Vetta combo I bought before that was DOA). This one was packed much better.

I notice that there is something rolling around inside it. Sounds like a screw. Anyone know how to open one of these babies up? I'm afraid it will land in a bad spot and short something out. Upon peering in through the back grille, I can see a fuse in there, so I am guessing there is some way to get inside this devil. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[quiksilver]

Never mind. I figured it out. It was a screw, which is now back in place.

[jgcable]

Send me your email address and I will send you some Vetta patches.

[Sanctuary]

I'm thinking about joining the Vetta owners group too. They sound really cool.

[jgcable]

I just sent you the patches. Enjoy and give a review here.

[quiksilver]

Thanks, John!!! I will!

[sgray]

vetta information:

Check out www.instituteofnoise.com
and www.vettaville.com for excellent information, patches, good forums etc..cool thing with the vetta is the ability to use the variax with free workstation software (allows alternate tunings saved / per patch)..good luck and congrats! I love mine

[quiksilver]

The Rime of the Ancient Modeler

Chapter 1: A shiny new toy!

Well, folks, the Vetta II head arrived. I plugged it into my bottom (Marshall 1960A), running in stereo, and got some sounds out of it - nothing that sounded better than my Pod XT Live running through a power amp into my 4x12, though. The Pitch Shift and Double Tracker controls were about the only noticeable differences, and they didn't sound too great (not bad, but nothing to write your congressman about, either). They kinda sounded like I had a doubling effect on, kinda like an ol' Randy Rhoads sound (which, frankly, does nothing for me - Randy was a monster player, but I think his tone was poor). I will say that Line 6 materials indicate that the double tracker is much more effective with 2 cabs, which I didn't have. Also, I didn't get a chance to tweak either of these at all before the amp took a nose dive - but I'm giving away the ending.

John (JG Cable) sent me his patches, which were a MAJOR improvement over what I was getting out of it (thanks, John). I also printed out the huge Vetta manual PDF and started reading up on it. Then, I finally got a day off and thought, "cool, I'll get some time to check it out." WRONG.

Chapter 2: Is this thing on?

I turned the Vetta on and started playing, then I went to switch to a different channel on the FBV Shortboard. No response. After trying that a few times, I tried pressing buttons on the amp. No response. I then discovered that the amp controls were entirely locked up. So, relying on my experience with computers, I thought a restart might help. I turned the amp off, waited, then turned it back on. Orange screen with no text, all controls non-responsive, and now the amp also makes no noise at all. I tried unplugging all the cables and restarting, then re-flashed the memory, over MIDI (it will still communicate with my computer via MIDI, oddly). After trying this several times (per Line 6 instructions), I finally gave up. I searched the web in vain for a way to revive this boat anchor, but no luck. The next day, I called Line 6, and the rep told me that it sounds like a hardware problem, and the amp needs to be taken to a local repair center. We have none where I live. So, I emailed the eBay seller to ask if he could register a complaint with the shipper, since it presumably worked before he shipped it and didn't very shortly after I received it. He started that process (which is continuing).

Chapter 3: The only redeeming factor

The only good news to this debacle is that the seller is a saint. I had already left him positive feedback on eBay as soon as the amp arrived, fired up and made some noise. He actually asked me to let him know if I had any problems, as he had the shipper pack it and and had to pay an outrageous fee for shipping but still, when I re-contacted him, he could've said, "sorry" and left it at that - or initiated the shipping complaint and let me fight with the shipper over it (which was actually all I had asked him to do). But he didn't. Even though the shipper has not yet "investigated" and decided whether to willingly pay or not, he has already issued me a refund - without me even asking for it. I thought I would have to wait out the process with the shipper but, nope, he issued the refund right away. What can I say? The guy rocks.

Chapter 4: Fool me twice . . .

In conclusion, I am done with the Vetta. This is the second DOA POS Vetta I've bought in 2 years. True, the first one was packed like crap. This one was packed much better (though still not the way I would've done it). But either way, 2 in a row is a pretty poor track record, IMO. Both amps looked fine, BTW. They didn't look like they'd been kicked around or anything. They just didn't work, that's all. Fortunately for me, both of my purchases were from honest eBay sellers who gave me refunds. But I'm pretty much fed up with the Vetta. I'm about ready to take up acoustic fer Pete's sake. At least the damn things work.

I don't know. Maybe I'll get a JSX after all. We DO have Peavey dealers in Wisconsin (though I don't know if they do any service work). Ironically, I've always bought solid state gear partly so I wouldn't have to worry about the unreliability of tubes. Well, that's my sad tale. Thankfully for me, the seller took that albatross off my neck, but I'm still here to tell the Rime of the Ancient Modeler.

[jgcable]

Sorry to hear about your DOA Vetta. I agree.. if you got 2 bad ones in a row I think its bad Karma for you to have a Vetta.
My Vetta's have proven extremely road worthy.
Its nice to hear that there are still some honest people left out there!!
Again.. sorry to hear about the Vetta.

[skorb]

yeah I got my used combo and longboard shipped to me (in all orig packaging) and it has never bailed on me once.

that's too bad you have had bad exps like that.

I can't live without mine.

[RacerX]

True, the first one was packed like crap. This one was packed much better (though still not the way I would've done it).

First off, sorry to hear of your troubles. The Vetta seems pretty amazing, and it must have been a real letdown this time.

I'd like you to talk at length about both the packing jobs, as that is a special interest of mine. Anybody who has received any gear from me can tell you I pack very well and am a big proponent of proper packing.

I am planning a head purchase soon so I will be looking forward to the details of these 2 shipments, and also what you expect/usually do. Thanks.

[quiksilver]

Thanks for the empathy, guys. I am sure the Vetta is a great amp. Obviously, there are lots of happy people with them. Like John said, it's just bad karma for me to have one, apparently. I still have my XT Live, and I get along great with that, so that'll be my Line 6 product, I guess.

Shipping details. OK, here goes. The first time around, I bought a Vetta combo. I paid $75 for shipping from Chicago to WI. I was under the impression that the seller was having it packed by a pro, but no way. The box was enormous. You could have put 2 Vetta combos in the box, side by side. The padding was an absolute joke. It had a ton of padding on one end, then the amp, then barely any padding on the other end. Also, the amp barely had any padding around its top, bottom, front or back. Just tons of padding on one end. And as I recall, the padding was just a bunch of chewed up crap (paper, etc.). Not surprisingly, the amp was DOA. I could not find a box to ship it back in, so I paid our UPS Store another $75 to pack and ship it back (obviously, the seller did not pay $75 to pack and ship it to me). The guy at the UPS Store said they would triple-box it, use various densities of foam, etc., etc. He was pretty into it. He said it would be suspended in there. He also said that failing to pack it like that would result in the amp suffering internally from impacts during shipping, even though it looked perfect on the outside. I thought he was overdoing it, but now that I've had 2 dead Vettas that looked fine on the outside, I'm starting to believe him. I will say, the boxes they were using looked really tough. Way tougher than the POS it came in.

The second Vetta (a head this time) was packed much better, but still not great. It was double-boxed, and they did use some bubble wrap, but not enough, IMO. Mostly, they just used styrofoam peanuts. Again, the outside box was huge - way too big, and not packed tight at all. I am sure the amp could move around in there. They just put a shitload of styrofoam peanuts in there and called it good. Also, the boxes were poor quality. The inner box was OK, but the outside box is weak. You can push in on the sides and it flexes easily.

Both times, the outside box should have been smaller and WAY tougher. The amp should've been wrapped in bubble wrap, inside an inner box, and that box should've been secured so that it could not move at all. Ideally, there should've been foam in there, too, like you get when a laptop is shipped to you (I have a couple of laptop boxes that I have been stealing foam from periodically when I ship fragile items). The best approach to do this without spending a ton of $, IMO, would be to keep the original box as the inner box, or else go to a music store and try to score an amp box. Another cheap trick I like is to put one or more tightly fitting empty cardboard boxes inside the outer box to provide crush resistance.

[mantis]

Eff modeling man, can't wait to read your comments on the JSX. I played it twice now and I want to go back for a 3rd playing. I'm pretty sure it''s the right amp for me. I'm liking the flexibility without having to model.
I had a Vox Ad120vtx modeling amp and it died within 2 months. It powered up but didn't work anymore. It sounded pretty good but if it's going to break, what good is it?? I owned many amps in my time and none of them just quit on me. This thing was brand new and played for hours on end for the 1st month I owned it. My experience with electronics is if it's going to break , it will do it in the first week or less. The Vox made almost 2 months. Todays built quality or something man.

But back to the JSX, dude post your thoughts, I'm, eager to read

Dan

[danastas]

But why would you say Eff modeling based on one experience with a Vox?

That's like me picking up a Squier or a Chinese Les Paul and saying, eff guitars, I'm going with the saxophone.

Big difference between a Vetta and a Vox modeller. Vettas are the kings of modellers.

[skorb]

But why would you say Eff modeling based on one experience with a Vox?

That's like me picking up a Squier or a Chinese Les Paul and saying, eff guitars, I'm going with the saxophone.

Big difference between a Vetta and a Vox modeller. Vettas are the kings of modellers.

people who have not tried a Vetta have no idea what they are missing.
but that's ok cause it's not my job to sell products, I just like awesome tone on stage.