Rig Connection Advice...

[rickfugue]

Hi All,

I had an experimental idea the other day on the way to band practice. I tried to hook it up when I got there & ultimately failed. Honestly I'm not 100% sure it's even possible or worth it but I thought it'd be worth a try. Let's start here:

My usual rig is Ibanez RG2570>Peavey XXX>Line 6 Pod HD 500X>Line 6 Vetta II 4x12 slant cab(stereo)>Marshall 1960A 4x12 slant cab(stereo). I only use the Pod for FX, no amp or cab modeling, via 4 cable method. Works fine sounds pretty good for what we do.

My thought experiment was to still use the XXX for my amp tone and the pod for FX but...I have an old Vetta II HD sitting around that I don't use. It's 300 watts, stereo, and I have 2 cabs. I am 1 of 3 guitarists in the band & my role is more like a vocalist's, playing catchy out front melodies & such. I thought it would be cool if I could somehow use the Vetta as a poweramp and run stereo using both cabs. I feel like stereo would add some depth to our melodies.

1) I clearly couldn't get it to work. Based upon the gear I want to use, is it even possible? I had it connected the way that made the most sense to me but may make no sense to you guys: IBZ>POD IN>POD FX SEND>XXX IN>POD FX RETURN>XXX FX SEND>POD OUT L/R>VETTA II HD FX RETURN via TRS to Dual 1/4" insert cable. I Did input a dummy cable to the in of the Vetta as I've learned the hard way in the past that it's FX Loop won't activate without one in the jack. I also had The Vetta's FX Loop enabled. I could no sound. No hum, static, buzz or anything regardless of any volume tweaking on any of the devices. This tells me the signal is cut off somewhere. All cables are good FWIW.

2) I do have some concerns about this setup, even if it does work. First one: is that the POD's FX send is TRS out, it works in my normal setup to the XXX amp in but my concern is that I'd be collapsing the stereo field immediately upon insertion, even if I do use a TRS cable because the XXX input is mono, I presume. On the other hand though that would only effect FX going before preamp & i'm fairly certain that none of what I am using or would use before the preamp is true stereo anyway so possible moot point.

3) 2nd concern:I know that most likely if I do get it to work I'll be bypassing the XXX power section and will lose some color/tone possibly. It's been my understanding though that power amp tube coloring is negligible in contrast to preamp tube coloring. Do you find this to be true. Even if it is, my ears will tell me if I get it working that the sacrifice for stereo was worth it or not.

4) This is mostly an observation but the XXX has a line out as well that seems like it could be the answer maybe? So in that case I was thinking IBZ>POD IN>POD FX SEND>XXX IN>POD FX RETURN via TRS to dual 1/4">XXX FX SEND>XXX LINE OUT via TRS to dual 1/4"> VETTA FX RETURN>VETTA SPK OUT to both cabs. Beings that there is no stereo element to the XXX that I'm aware of I fear I may be spinning my wheels. My only hope is that stereo field collapses upon entering the XXX but expands again upon exiting the XXX to the VETTA.

At the end of the day I just want my mods to have a wider swirl and my delays to displace between cabinets & I just want to know if it's possible before I waste any more time on it. As to if it's worth it or not, that'll be my decision.

Thanks so much, as always, in advance for any help or insight. I apologize for all of the details but I'd rather put it all out there up front than waste mine and your time by not giving enough info.

 

[greyskull]

Having two cabs is cool and all but HUGELY impractical for touring.

Just use one head and four cable the Pod, especially if you already have three guitarists.

 

[rapucore]

Agreed 100% with the above.

 

[Trevoire520]

Lugging around 2 cabs when there's already 2 other guitarists in the band just sounds like a total pain in the ass. And live sound guys are very unlikely to go to the effort of double mic'ing you when they already have 2 other guitarists to deal with. It might be doable and sound cool, but is incredibly unlikely to be worth the effort.

 

[rickfugue]

The cabs weren't the issue. I don't take them both to shows. Just the Marshall. I only use them both at practice. I tried just using 1 or the other several times but together they have a certain mix that I like & miss when
it's just 1 of them.

Anyway, no one even attempted to answer my real question which was not, should I take 2 cabs to a gig or not. Both cabs are stereo by themselves so even if I used just one of them, I would imagine that if the connection I want to try is possible, that using just 1 stereo cab wouldn't drastically alter the method of connection. I only mentioned the 2 cabs because where we practice is very spacious and I wanted to hear a wide stereo spread & we record our rehearsals. I'm aware that using one cab will narrow the spread.

I'll ask the question again, this way instead but in the context of using just one stereo cab. I want to use my XXX as the primary tone source with my POD for FX only, preferably 4 cable-ish method style, as that's how I currently run it. In addition I'd like to use my Vetta II as the power amp into a stereo cab or 2 stereo cabs (If I feel the urge). Is this possible and if so how do I do it?

Again this is just an experiment to see if I even like it or not. Wasn't planning on dragging 2 cabs to gigs. It's bad enough that my bassist already brought his 8x10 & his Fender 6x10 (Not sure exactly how many speakers it has TBH, but it was ridiculous & took up easily 1/3 of the available set-up space at our last gig, & like you guys said, the sound guy only mic'd the 8x10 & tried to even weasel out of mic'ing that one. HaHa.

Sorry for not being more clear the 1st time, I hope someone can help me out with the answer good or bad & thanks for trying to save me some perceived hassle.

 

[wishtheend]

You'll run the pod 4 cable mode into the Peavey which should be connected to a load even if its not what's pushing the cabs. Preamp out of the Peavey into a power amp input on the Vetta. This will be mono, you won't be able to have stereo since the pod will be ran thru the Peavey loop prior to being sent to Vetta power.

 

[rickfugue]

Thanks! Unfortunately that's what I was afraid of. I'm already doing the 4CM thing through the XXX so there really isn't any advantage to me using the Vetta then, at least none that I can see. It was just something I thought could be cool in theory while I was driving. It's kind of what I thought but I wanted another brain to confirm it. Saves me some time & mental energy in the long run. Thanks to everyone who replied!

 

[hermann26]

You could try running the xxx hooked up to one cab in 4 cable method using the left output of the pod into the xxx fx return. The right output of the pod would go into input of the vetta hd (on a clean setting) hooked up to the other cab... It might not be the most technically correct way to do it, but it works fine in a similar setup I have at home.