Line 6- Which Board To Get?

[stevieb]

So, scored a Line 6 212 Spider (red face) a while back for stupid low money- they guy's son had pushed a noodle into the headphone jack, which switched the sound to the speakers off. Easy fix. I figured it will blow away some kid at the r n r summer camp i am providing gear for in July.

But, no footswitch. I could just buy the FB2, which would do for the camp, but I'd like to play around with this amp myself, and I am no stranger to multi-effect floor units. The long board looks both impressive and intimidating at the same time- maybe too many choices? Or, maybe not?

I know some folks don't care for Line 6 amps, but please, this is not asking about the amp- it's about already having the amp and choosing the right foot switch to go with it. If I had not made such a stupid good deal on this one, I probably would have never bought a L6, but this was just too cheap to pass up.

Long board has two expression pedals and 18 buttons! Accesses tuner. Not sure about looper (not sure if my amp has the looper.)
Short board has one exp. pedal and 13 buttons. Tuner. Not sure about looper.
Floor Board has two exp. pedals and 8 buttons. Tuner. not sure about looper.
FBV Express Mk II has one pedal and 4 buttons, that allow you to choose 1 of 4 channels, presumably pre-programmed, and accesses the amp's 14-second looper, and has a tuner on it. Cool!
FB4 has... 4 buttons. (DUH!) to choose 1 of 4 channels, presumably pre-programmed.
FB2 has... 2 buttons. (DUH, again.) Scrolls through options.

You get the picture, I think...

 

[mjbphotos]

I thought the Express Mk 2 would also let you use the 4 buttons for turning on/off F/X? It will also let you download more presets via USB, too.

 

[stevieb]

You may be right, I just went on first impressions.

 

[mjbphotos]

No, I was wrong, the Express Mk 2 only lets you go to 4 pre-set channels. Of course, you can set the pre-sets to basically turn on/off an F/X as you go to one channel from another. Goes for $99 compared to the $299 of the 'short board'.

Line 6 - FBV Series - Foot Controller Pedal / Floorboard

Assign the footswitches and pedal to perform MIDI CCs, bank changes, program changes and even transport commands to drive many popular audio applications including ProTools®, Propellerhead Reason® and Record, and more!

That would be pretty handy for doing punch-ins. Wonder if it works with Reaper?

 

[stevieb]

FWIW, I made my decision and wanted to report it here. Called Line 6, turns out the FVB boards are not compatable with the earlier amps- but the guy I spoke with told me they found a bunch of Floorboards in a warehouse, and are blowing them out at $50.00! Shipping only cost me another $5.00, making the thing cheaper than any I found on evilBay, for almost 3 weeks. I bit the bullet and ordered one last week, should be here any day, now. Here's the link:
https://www.globalfulfillment.net/g...line6/10Expand.aspx?ProductCode=99-Floorboard

I expect to have some cheap fun with the rig, but frankly, I am anticipating getting bored with the rig- I am more of a guitar>wah>tube amp kinda guy- and selling it pretty soon. I figured I'd turn a tasty profit of about $100 to $200, but it seems this sort of rig, being out-dated, may only sell for about $150 or so. Oh, well. If that turns out to be the case, I will have made a little money, and have first-hand experience with Line 6's earlier stab at modeling. Or, maybe the amp will go to the New Orleans studio, as a mule/doorstop.