I've recently been given a Vetta combo amp (the original Vetta) which is made by Line 6. I have never been impressed with digital modeling amps but I have to say I am pleasently suprised at how good this amp sounds. I have mainly focused on the "virtual" Fender amps since I am more familiar with them and after spending a great deal of time dialing them in, I can get a good approximation of a '65 Twin Reverb or a '64 Deluxe Reverb. I'm having a harder time dialling in the '58 Bassman but I haven't spent as much time working on it. Some of the Marshall amps such as the '65 JTM-45 sound good to. With all of these amps you can pick what kind of cabinet and what speakers you want as well. There's many,many more amps to play with (Budda '01 Twinmaster, Hiwatt '73 Custom, AC-15 & 30TB, etc..) as well as dozens of classic effects (Maestro EP-1 Ecoplex, EH Big Muff Pi, Arbiter Fuzz Face, etc..) to try out. This Vetta is very loud too. It's a 2X12 combo (with Celestions) that says 500 watts max on the back (but I don't know what exactly that is refering to). I think its more like 100 watts per channel but I'm not sure of this either. I am really happy with this amp. It takes alot of trial and error to get it dialed in and then you have to dial in the effects. But once you do that you get great tones from amps one would most likely never be able to afford. This really is a great amp since it gives you so many different amps, effects, and other variable such as double tracking, and post compression. The sounds are pretty good but like I said it takes an extraordinary amount of time to dial in properly. The downside is that I do miss the tube warmth, however, many of the models do a good approximation of a tube amp. Another plus is that recording from this amp is a delight with plenty of outs for Direct Inputs, extension cabs, etc.

I was wondering if anybody else has an original Vetta (only info I can find is for the Vetta II and it is a good bit different). If you do have a Vetta could you let me know some of your settings (for the use of a Strat or other single coil guitar) for the Marshalls, Messa Boogies, Voxs or anything really? Most of the preprogrammed settings are way overcooked inorder to emphsize the Vetta's ability and I'm having trouble with some models to get an approximate tone.

Thanks,
Russ
edited subject

I don't own a Vetta, but I was at the press conference when the amp was introduced to the MI press, and I was blown away. The ability to run two amp models at once, with slight delays or in stereo to create the illusion of two rhythm guitars in a live setting was extremely impressive, and the sound of the models was excellent.

Now, I never played through one, so I don't knowhow it "feels," but I've been playing through POD's in the studio for a long time, so it never occurred to me that the Vetta would be difficult to get used to.

As a side note: People always talk about how much time it takes to get a modeler dialed in, as if this was a drawback. What... tube amps sound good in the first few seconds? It tales a lot of time to get a good amp dialed in, too.

The best way to approach a modeler is to forget it's a modeler. DOn't start from a preset. Zero it out... no effects, no compression, no thing. CHoose an amp model. Tweak the knobs like you would an amp. It's a lot easier to get the sound you're going for when you just stop thinking of it as a computer.