Vetta 2 Assistance

[spivonious]

Okay, I'm currently trying out a Vetta 2. I played around with it for an hour or two last night and came out disappointed. First off, there are way too many amp models. Does anyone really need 75 different amps? Second, most of those 75 models can be grouped into 4 different categories: Clean, British Crunch, British Hi-Gain, and American Hi-Gain. Third, it is impossible to jump in a get a good sound within 10 minutes. I started out with having one amp model and nothing else, played around with the EQ, etc. and got an okay sounding tone, but just couldn't find a way to take it to that next level.

Most of the reviews I read praise this amp as an amazing piece of equipment, and since Michael Romeo uses it, I figure there has to some good tones in there somewhere. Basically, I have the amp for 30 days (at which point I return it, or buy it).

Can anyone offer me some help or at least point me in the right direction? My main amp now is a Vox AD50VT, which I am very happy with. It may not sound the greatest, but it was under $300. For the $1700 that the Vetta is, I should be able to at least approach the wonders of the Mesa Road King (which I loved dearly, but had to sell because I needed the cash).

That's my story. Can anyone help?

I've also put in a poll, to see how many people here like the Vetta.

 

[Horus]

You have to really get to know the Vetta as a whole to know how to get the real GOD sound. That's why I always go over to the PODs in my local Guitar Center and fuck around with those 'till I got somethign good. The POD is essentailly the Vetta in a seperate unit, just with a few less options. I'll admit that I still find it a bit difficult at some times to get a sound quite like on my spider 2, but I do manage to pull off some stuff on the POD and Vetta that I never could on any other amp.

VETTA 2

Read through the manual many many times to really get the hang of it.

 

[spivonious]

You have to really get to know the Vetta as a whole to know how to get the real GOD sound. That's why I always go over to the PODs in my local Guitar Center and fuck around with those 'till I got somethign good. The POD is essentailly the Vetta in a seperate unit, just with a few less options. I'll admit that I still find it a bit difficult at some times to get a sound quite like on my spider 2, but I do manage to pull off some stuff on the POD and Vetta that I never could on any other amp.

VETTA 2

Read through the manual many many times to really get the hang of it.

I have to admit that I hated the Spider on the few times I've played it in the store. Same goes for the POD that I borrowed from my neighbor. Are the POD XTs better? I think also that my Vetta might be defective. The initial attack of the sound is very scratchy sounding, and then it immediately fades to a lower gain sound. It could very well be my super crapola cables though. I left my good ones at my friend's studio.

I find myself at a loss of what to do with this amp. I'm not a big effects user, have never met a stompbox that I liked. The best sound I ever got was with the Road King running on (essentially) dual rec mode. Another bonus with that was that I could just plug in and go. None of this endless tweaking.

Regardless, I have 30 days here so I'm giving it a shot. If you don't mind, what are the details of your favorite patches? It might help me decide whether or not it's worth putting in the effort to learn it

 

[Horus]

It probably is messed up because Vettas usually have great attack and gain. Get your cables back.

 

[Horus]

Okay, so I'm sitting in Manny's Music in New York City last night, playing a Dave Mustaine V (black, and with the S.D. Mustaine Livewire pickups instead of JB+Jazz) and I'm playing it through a Vetta 1. I was having an awesome time with that amp, and I was saying to myself that I really wish I had $1000, so I could buy it. But I still had a bit of trouble figuring it out. Is the Vetta 2 easier to use than the Vetta 1?

 

[Yngvai X]

I have a Line6 HD147 head and I find its pretty easy to use, although you do have to play around with it. Are you running your Vetta direct or through a cab? Because if you're running it through a cab, make sure the cabinet modeling feature is turned OFF. And if its going direct, you might want to turn it on, because that definitely colors the tone substantially, and thats a whole other thing to play with when you're getting sounds.

As far as the attack problems go, maybe try adjusting or turning off the noise gate? Sometimes the factory settings of those can be a bit too much, and typically I don't use the gate anyway.

 

[Kenneth R.]

Line6 = THUMBS DOWN.

 

[Shredboy]

Line6=THUMBS UP

 

[Horus]

Line 6 =

 

[M3talManiac]

how is the hd147 compared to the vetta II? i heard that the vetta has a lot of problems w/ breaking down due to all of its features and gadets stuff... well atleast thats what the salesman said maybe he was trying to sell me on the Boogie amp but i liked the Vetta way better. But! Back to my question... They didnt have the HD147 for me to play and i really wanted to try it out cuz i heard it was sick... just wondering your guys opinions if you have any. plus im tired of my marshall it just doesnt do it for me...

 

[M3talManiac]

I also heard that at high volumes its sounds terrible...

 

[Horus]

The HD147 is really really good and efficient. My bassist keeps bugging me to get the Vetta 2, but I'm still considerring getting the HD147, just 'cause it's that much more simple. But, with the Vetta 2, I can program effects for each song. That's pretty badass.

 

[Jaen]

i just bought an old Peavy Supreme 160, 2 channels, a few extras on each one. simple as fuck, just the way i like it

 

[M3talManiac]

Yeah i think i may go with the hd147. then later if i feel that i can handle the vetta II with all the gadgets then i will go for it... but i just manna make sure i can push out the same tone as the vetta cuz i was at guitar center for like 2 hours just playing because i liked it so god damn much, but it took a lot of noodling to find something i liked cuz there are so many different options.

 

[ProggyMike]

MJR says he changes his tone almost every week...hmmm.

Anyhoo, I think the Vetta is an extremely verstatile, amazing sounding amp, and I would snap one up straight away if it wasn't £1400.

I love the fact you can run 2 models at the same time, e.g clean and a lil overdriven (Perfect for getting that "Brown Sugar" tone )

 

[spivonious]

I totally forgot about this thread. Here's an update for any who are interested:

I figured out that it was a loose connection in the guitar's volume knob that was messing with the signal. So I fixed that up and got to work. After a week or so I had a pretty good MJR sound going (using the Boger Uberschall model fwiw), and was pretty happy with it. But in the end $1800 is way too much for an amp that I'd spend weeks trying to get a good sound with.

I took it back to GC and tried out some other amps. The Line6 Pod XT was essentially a Vetta in a foot-driven processor, so no go there (I'm not much into the endless tweaking). Two amps that I played and liked: B-52 AT100, Mesa Single Rectifier. The B-52 was like a Marshall mixed with a Mesa soundwise. It was very tempting, but my friend had one a year or so ago and it broke down after a few months of bedroom use. The Mesa was incredible. The single rec has a solid-state rectifier section, so it gives it a much tighter sound than the dual or triple recs. Other than that it's essentially a two-channel dual rec. Best of all, it's only $1200 for a brand new in-box 50W head. I ended up not getting it, as I just built my new computer and didn't have the cashflow, but it's definitely on my "to-get" list.

If you have a chance to try it out, do so. The Mesa Single-Rectifier Solo 50 head, or the Mesa Rect-o-verb series 2 combo (same amp).

I just got a POD 2.0 and it does the job for bedroom jamming/practicing. Got it at GC's Labor Day sale -> only $130.

 

[Horus]

Okay, so I'm sitting in Manny's Music in New York City last night, playing a Dave Mustaine V (black, and with the S.D. Mustaine Livewire pickups instead of JB+Jazz) and I'm playing it through a Vetta 1. I was having an awesome time with that amp, and I was saying to myself that I really wish I had $1000, so I could buy it. But I still had a bit of trouble figuring it out. Is the Vetta 2 easier to use than the Vetta 1?

The price of that same Vetta 1 was down to $600 on Saturday, and I put it on layaway. I'm picking it up on Wednesday.