NAD and you will never guess

[xenophobe]

My stage level was so low I relied totally on the wedge and cross stage monitors.

If you're playing with a full PA system, that's how you're supposed to hear yourself, or in-ear-monitors.

In any event I've always found 100w tube to be too loud to be useful unless you're playing parties where there is only a PA for the vocalist. It also wouldn't hurt to install dampening pads in your speaker cabinet if you insist on running a 100w amp.

[Tetsuo]

UPDATE AFTER 18 months of playing with this amp its still cool as heck. Its even cooler now that its considered a vintage amp!!! Its so much fun dialing up and tweaking just about every amp on the planet. Still...

I've owned a few vettas in my life. I also had an axe fx which I moved simply because I am on the waiting list for the ax8 and that is what I'll use. I've wanted another vetta though. I would grab that deal you got in a heart beat. It doesn't sound tube but it doesn't sound bad either. I always found it easy to tweak also.

[jgcable]

If you're playing with a full PA system, that's how you're supposed to hear yourself, or in-ear-monitors.

In any event I've always found 100w tube to be too loud to be useful unless you're playing parties where there is only a PA for the vocalist. It also wouldn't hurt to install dampening pads in your speaker cabinet if you insist on running a 100w amp.

Me too. The last few gigs I did I used a Rivera Suprema 55w tube 1 x 12 combo mic'd with an SM57. No problem hearing at all in a VERY loud 2 guitar and keyboards 80's Arena rock metal band. The gigs prior I was using a Peavey 6505+ 1 x 12 combo. Same deal although it was harder to hear the Peavey live.
Before that I tried a Line 6 Bogner all tube powered Spidervalve 112 combo with a 2 x 12 extension cab under it. It sounded great and it was super fun to play through although I had an even harder time hearing it so I really had it blasting through the wedge monitor out in front. I tend to prefer the majority of my guitar volume to come from the monitor directly in front of me. I don't hear that good from behind anymore. When I started with this band I was using a Marshall DSL100 1/2 stack which didn't work out too well because that amp didn't start sounding REALLY good until it was too loud. I don't think I ever had the Master volume past 2 or 3.
The hardest thing I find when setting up a live rig is getting the proper balance for my guitar tone between the PA mains, the monitoring system and my amp. I am not like most of the other guitar players in bands around us. They tend to like to sit in the mix. I prefer to sit above the mix. To give you an example.... recently I saw Whitesnake and Vince Neil's solo band live. Both bands had one thing in common. They are both HEAVY guitar oriented and mixed bands which is evident in their studio recordings. The guitars are always out in front and loud. BUT... when they play live.. the guitars are buried in the mix, full of delay and the loudest elements of the bands live are drums and bass. You can barely hear the vocals... they are drenched in delay and effects and the guitars are there.. you can hear them.. and.. you can hear the solo's... they just aren't that loud. My live sound is more like Van Halen or Dokken. I am out in front and I want you to hear every note. Its mixed correctly.. don't get me wrong.. its just that I have the COURAGE to allow the audience to hear every note I am playing... right or wrong!!!lol..... I would love to press the Vetta combo into action live only because I know the tones I created over the years are good. The problem is usually the tones I create at home with my modeling rigs don't translate that well live when the other guitar player is using a Marshall 9200 power amp, a Marshall JMP1 and a 1/2 stack..... even if we are set at the same volume level. All I can hear on stage is his rig. That's why I always end up using my Rivera.

[roodyrocker]

Jgcable, it doesn't surprise me to hear of your experience with the Marshall JMP1/9200 combo. I have that rig as well and that power amp is brutally heavy and brutally loud! I have another rack with the JMP1 preamp going into a Torpedo Live. The Torpedo Live has power amp sims in it and I run it direct to the PA along with In Ear Monitors for me. No one complains its too loud or too low. I get what I want in my IEM's and the audience and rest of the band get whatever the soundman wants
Having said that, I played my last couple gigs through my Soldano SLO 100. Got compliments on the tone from people in the audience, other bands, and the soundmen at both gigs. I have another gig after I get back from NAMM and I'll probably use the Soldano again
Every now and then I take out other amps to play live just for the heck of it.

[Tetsuo]

For me the JMP is my favorite Marshall tone.

I really need an SLO-100 at some point in my life.

[markD]

That's why I always end up using my Rivera.

That's why I have used Rivera since 1990. They cut through the mix and find a place no matter what. I have NEVER had a problem being heard - and the compliments on my tone are endless.

[jgcable]

That's why I have used Rivera since 1990. They cut through the mix and find a place no matter what. I have NEVER had a problem being heard - and the compliments on my tone are endless.

That's exactly what happens with me with my Rivera. It has no problem with competing with any other instrument onstage and mine is only a 1 x 12. I can always hear it. It sounds fantastic mic'd too.

[jgcable]

For me the JMP is my favorite Marshall tone.

I really need an SLO-100 at some point in my life.

Every guitar player needs an SLO

[jgcable]

Jgcable, it doesn't surprise me to hear of your experience with the Marshall JMP1/9200 combo. I have that rig as well and that power amp is brutally heavy and brutally loud! I have another rack with the JMP1 preamp going into a Torpedo Live. The Torpedo Live has power amp sims in it and I run it direct to the PA along with In Ear Monitors for me. No one complains its too loud or too low. I get what I want in my IEM's and the audience and rest of the band get whatever the soundman wants
Having said that, I played my last couple gigs through my Soldano SLO 100. Got compliments on the tone from people in the audience, other bands, and the soundmen at both gigs. I have another gig after I get back from NAMM and I'll probably use the Soldano again
Every now and then I take out other amps to play live just for the heck of it.

I did 3 shows a while back with my old SLO100. It was absolutely the best live tone I ever got. The problem I had with mine (and why I ended up selling it like an idiot...) is the effects loop. I absolutely need an effects loop for time based effects and solo boost and if I plugged ANYTHING into mine (from G Majors to Stomp Boxes to a simple patch cord jumping the send and return together my SLO tone would get muddy and undefined. It sounded SO MUCH BETTER with nothing plugged into it and that just didn't work out for me.

[roodyrocker]

I did 3 shows a while back with my old SLO100. It was absolutely the best live tone I ever got. The problem I had with mine (and why I ended up selling it like an idiot...) is the effects loop. I absolutely need an effects loop for time based effects and solo boost and if I plugged ANYTHING into mine (from G Majors to Stomp Boxes to a simple patch cord jumping the send and return together my SLO tone would get muddy and undefined. It sounded SO MUCH BETTER with nothing plugged into it and that just didn't work out for me.

I never really plugged anything in the loop of my SLO. Just a few pedals outfront. Solo boosts were from the board by the soundman if I knew who it was running it, or an MXR CAE boost pedal up front if I did it myself. But yes, every rocker needs a SLO in their amp collection

Rudy

[jgcable]

I am going to try and use my Vetta live at one of our next shows. My plan is to bring my Rivera AND my Vetta. Since my band sets up so early and I don't have to deal with anything other than my own amp, pedal board and guitars I am going to try the Vetta during the soundcheck. If I don't like it live with the band I will just use the Rivera. I am also thinking about a possible 2 amp set up blending the Vetta and the Rivera. I heard another band that had great tone recently doing something similar. He was using a Spidervalve 1/2 stack and a Peavey 5150 1/2 stack with a switch combining the 2 together. It was great tone.

[Tetsuo]

That is a lot of amp to carry.

[roodyrocker]

Not only is it a lot of amp to carry but the clubs we play at tend to have limited stage room. 2 amps just for me would be nice but not practical. Years ago I did use a 2nd amp on stage, a California Blonde acoustic amp for songs that had a need for acoustic. I used a piezo equipped guitar for it. Sounded great but just too much stuff to lug around. I even have some stuff at home to switch between amps and effects at once (GigRig pedalboard) but don't use that live either. In really small places I use a 6 space rack direct to PA, no cab at all. That rrack has the Marshall JMP1 preamp, JFX1 effects processor, rack Wah, tuner, guitar wireless, and Torpedo Live. The Torpedo live has power amp sims, cab, speaker, and mic sims. Set up and tear down are literally under 10 minutes!

[jgcable]

Not only is it a lot of amp to carry but the clubs we play at tend to have limited stage room. 2 amps just for me would be nice but not practical. Years ago I did use a 2nd amp on stage, a California Blonde acoustic amp for songs that had a need for acoustic. I used a piezo equipped guitar for it. Sounded great but just too much stuff to lug around. I even have some stuff at home to switch between amps and effects at once (GigRig pedalboard) but don't use that live either. In really small places I use a 6 space rack direct to PA, no cab at all. That rrack has the Marshall JMP1 preamp, JFX1 effects processor, rack Wah, tuner, guitar wireless, and Torpedo Live. The Torpedo live has power amp sims, cab, speaker, and mic sims. Set up and tear down are literally under 10 minutes!

Me too of course. Being a 6pc band... 2 guitars, bass, drums, keys and vocals.... we are always cramped for space. Its absolutely not practical to carry a ton of gear. The problem is when playing 80's arena rock metal I need a lot of sounds, effects etc.....
I have been using my Rivera and a Boss GT10 for effects and volume boost only using the 4 cable method. Sometimes I use my Peavey 6505+ instead of the Rivera. They both sound great with the GT10. At home I use the Vetta combo. I love that damn amp. I also have a Marshall VS265 for band rehearsal which IMHO.. is the best 2 x 12 Marshall SS combo ever made. It sounds so friggin good. For that mythical large gig I have my Metaltronix M1000 1/2 stack. Haven't had the opportunity to use it live yet. I have several other amps too. If you ask me which amp I enjoy playing through the most.. it would absolutely be the Vetta. I have been tweaking a Vetta for close to 15 years now so you can imagine.. I am pretty good at it by now. Blending the 5150 (Mississippi Criminal) with the Dual Rectifier and setting up the double tracking with a 4 x 12 loaded with V30's and a Rectifier 4 x 12 cab is a VERY amazing combination. I also love blending the Matchless D30 with a Fender Blackface for the cleans. Most of the stock tones and presets in the Vetta SUCK. Many of the amp models suck too but there are a lot of REALLY good ones in there if you pick the right speaker cabs for them. It just takes a lot of time. I can dial in great tones on the fly in minutes without using Line 6 Edit. Anyway... I will probably stick to tube amps live but I would sure like to try the Vetta live one of these days.

[jgcable]

Bottom line for the Vetta's downfall is this. Lack of training by the stores selling them. If I plugged into a Vetta at the store and there was nobody there to show me how to dial it in I would NEVER buy it. That's what happened to the Vetta way back then. Fractal and other companies learned from this mistake. They focused on training and showing people how to correctly use this power software controlled technology. Line 6 dropped the ball regarding the Vetta. Its ashame. Its still an extremely powerful piece of musical technology.