Line 6 FBV Shortboard MkII Reviews

Duncan
from Mobile, AL USA
October 31, 2012Music Background:
Pro Musician/Songwriter

A Must Have

If you own a Line 6 amp and perform live this control board is a must have. Complete control of your amplifier at your feet.
From volume, presets, effects and an awesome expression pedal.
Well built and solid.

Charles Obscure
from Sunny Southern Wisconsin
January 21, 2012Music Background:
Basement, backyard and garage band musician

Added flexibility for the HD bean

Not mentioned in the compatibility list is the Pod HD desktop "bean" model. This board is recommended in the Pod HD user's guide.
I use my HD live mounted on a mic stand or attached to the top of a powered monitor. Now I have the option of adding a wah pedal to my patches along with many other choices accessible with the footswitches.
This MkII model is an improvement over the older shortboard featuring hardier footswitches and rugged steel construction all around. The size of the display is a non-issue for me as I can look at the screen on the HD bean when I'm using them both.
I recommend getting the Line 6 FBV Shortboard/PODxt Bag with this as it fits perfectly.

Willem
from Son, Holland
January 16, 2012Music Background:
Amateur in a coverband

Perfect combination with LowDown LD 300

I play in a coverband and created several variations on the Rock, Motown and Eden-models. Now I can choose the right one for any song we play. 36 presets in stead of 4. Perfect !

Scott C
from Toronto, Ontario
December 18, 2011

Great Pedalboard

The FBV Shortboard has great versatility with my Spider Valve Mk11. Best possible choice for any Line 6 product.

Ignacio Solano
from Costa Rica
October 31, 2011Music Background:
Pro Musician

Nice Gear !!

It works perfectly with my Lowdown (LD 300)

Full recommended !!!

Geri Gates
from Levittown, Pa.
October 21, 2011Music Background:
Guitarist, Singer/Songwriter ETC.

Line 6 FBV Shortboard MkII Is AWESOME!!!!!

I love the way that the pedal needs no electrical adapter just plug it in via the CAT5 cable (Included) and your off to the races. It's also laid out very well and gives me instant control. I am especially blown away at how rugged it is. This board is a Brick S@#T House. Solid as a rock. I love the controller as well.

Denton
from Buna, tx USA
July 16, 2011Music Background:
Hobbyist

Awesome !!

This is an awesome tool to have and very versatile. My only complaint is that it only works for Line 6 products.

Ray
from Brooklyn, NY
May 3, 2011Music Background:
Guitarist, Vocalist, Recording Engineer, Mixing Engineer, Music Producer and Songwriter

Perfect match for my perfect amp!

I use the FBV Shortboard MKII with my SpiderValve MKII 2x12.

The integration is perfect! At first I had thought that I wished for it to have two expression pedals, but it's fine with just one (plus you can add one if you like). The coolest thing is that it serves as a midi controller for your computer. Line 6 is pretty reliable with their software so you can perform updates and program your amp and pedal board via usb.

Anthony P
from 93436
February 7, 2013Music Background:
Working cover band musician

Not what I was expecting, but it's still quality

I thought I'd have more control over effects and more memory storage from the purchase of this board, for the price. Since it does not, I am making the best of the situation and realize that I may still have to purchase an effects board. Seems like an expensive upgrade from what I used to use.

Dave
from Frabklin, TN
November 23, 2010Music Background:
50 years of guitar playing mostly as a hobbyist, including several years as a profesional and a number of years teaching. I am now a retired executive and have much more time to compose and record music in my home studio. I play keyboards as well.

Great Addition to Compatibale Line 6 amps

The Line 6 FBV Shortboard MkII is a great piece of equipment but cannot really be reviewed on its own without linkage to Line 6 amplifiers or other equipment that are fully compatibale with the FBV Shortboard. Accordingly, please read my review of the Line 6 Spider IV amp. The review of the Spider IV 150 discusses how well it works with the FBV Shortboard and vice versa. Together they are a rare complete guitar amplification package that contains hundreds of preset FX and sounds and lets the user edit those sounds into what is seemingly an infinite variety.

Stringfingerer
from Sunny Southern Wisconsin
February 13, 2012Music Background:
Garage and basement rock star

Sturdy and functional

I bought this to pair up with a Pod HD desktop bean. Based on recommendations from the Line 6 HD forums, this model conveniently opens up the functionality of the HD bean for live playing. LEDs are nice and bright, and I haven't had any issues with the readability of the on-board display.
The switches are well constructed and the pedal action is smooth and easy.
The case is steel, and seems fairly sturdy without being too heavy to tote around. Comes with a nice long cable (to plug into the unit to be controlled) that's coiled up tightly, so when you unroll it, it's easy to coil it right back up again.
Get's the job done and it looks pretty cool too.

gk
from Michigan
February 10, 2012Music Background:
clarinet. guitar

A must have for Spider IV 75

This pedal board is a must have with a line 6
Spider 75 amp. The ability to plug in a laptop to
tweek and organize sound pathes is a lot better
then using the amp screen. Plus you get the wah/volumn
pedal and foot switch control of the looper.

Larry Scott
from Walnut Creek, CA
August 12, 2012Music Background:
Embedded Systems designer and music enthusiast

Good product when/if you can figure it out....

I am a very savy computer guy, and I have to say, I do not understand how the earlier reviewers of this pedal board can say it was easy to setup and learn! I suspect they work for Line 6!

Upon first use, the pedal board will switch patches easily but if you want to use the extended functions (like the looper function or control Amp & FX parameters), be prepared for hours of experimentation and pain.

First of all, the manual only contains 50% of what you need to know. You will be jumping all over the manaul to weed out the bits and pieces needed to configure the unit. It will drive you nuts when the manual tells you a function exists, but does not tell you how to access it or configure it! This happens throughout the manual.

Here are a few examples: The manaul constantly refers to FS1 thu FS8 (footswitch 1-8) but you will not find these identifier on the face of the unit! There are 13 footswitches on the unit and FS1 - FS8 are not contiguous and/or marked on the unit. After careful experimentation and using an obscure table in the appendix, I finally deduced which buttons are FS1 thru FS8!

Here is another example: in the manual, they refer to the 'Toe Switch' to change modes on the Expression Pedal. Not once in the manaul will you find the definition of a Toe Switch or where it is located. I assume it is part of the Expression Pedal, but I never figured it out. These are only two examples of the many ommissions in the manaul.

Next, It amazed me that there is no picture of the unit in the manaul with a legend showing button ids and functions. After a lot of digging, you will find deduce 50% of the information by reading and re-reading the manual, but this is un-acceptable. Most technical manuals will have tutorials on the use of the equipment. There are no tutorials in the manual.

Lastly, After 6 hours of painful experimentation, I finally figured out most of the pedalboard functionality. The only problem I could not resolve is how to engage the expression pedal EXP-1. I tried for two hours to get the expression pedal to contol my POD HD Pro WAH pedal. I never got it working. At this point, I am convinced that the expression pedal was DOA since I received the pedalboard in an open box. My one and only Line 6 support experience was akin to 'go away, don't bother us', so I am shipping the unit back to the Sweetwater and asking for another unit in an unopened Line 6 box.

On a positive note, I think Line 6 has an excellent engineering team and I am very impressed and happy with my POD HD Pro and the excellent software that came with the unit. It is obvious that Line 6 put very little effort into documentation of this pedalboard, but I will get another unit and try again.

To conclude, I will tell you that features of the pedal board ARE NOT intuitive. Imagine being told to stand on your head and spin with your left hand behind your back to engage a pedal board function. This is something you would never guess and you will not find in the manual. However, I do believe that at the end of this painful journey I will love and recommend the unit!

Good luck and happy hunting!

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