The Live Vetta XONE

When the Line 6 Vetta first came out, I heard a lot of guys saying that it was great for recording, but was not so great for Live use. Well, after almost 4 years of usage, and many shows under its belt, I can fully attest to the fact that the Vetta more than holds its own in a Live band performance. In fact, the tones I've tweaked in my Vetta have simply blown people away in the Live environment.


The Vetta contains 32 banks of patches, with each bank containing 4 patches. I generally devote a single bank per song, although we do have one song where I utilize 3 banks of patches switched through on the fly. All the patches in the Vetta can be fully customized and in XONE, we live by the motto "No Factory Patches Allowed!". Every patch in my Vetta was created from the ground up by me. Each patch is tweaked for my particular rig: Ibanez RG1570>D’Addario EXL140 Strings>Vetta HD>Marshall 1960A 4x12.

With so many options available in the Vetta, it's really a lot of fun creating new patches for new songs. Every patch is tweaked at 105+ decibels, which is XONE's live and rehearsal volume level. With Line 6 products, patches must be tweaked at the volume they will be played at. A patch made at a bedroom level will not translate to gig volume, and vice versa.

Now as to whether or not the Vetta can really deliver live, I would say that my live Vetta tones have converted even my most Tube Snobby friends. In fact, the biggest tube snob I know, recently bought a POD XT Live and is LOVING it! You have to use your ears and not your brain when dealing with the Vetta or any of Line 6's excellent products. Just cause your brain says digital sounds harsh, doesn't mean that it does. You have to actually listen to the amp models and other variables within the Vetta before deciding on your opinion of them. Investment of time is the key.

An hour playing through the Vetta in a Guitar Center does not constitute understanding what the Vetta can do. A real investment of time (3-6 months) is necessary, unless you just play your guitar all day. I've found that once I got comfortable with Vetta's interface, I really began to go through and tweak at all the Vetta's models effectively. After a length of time getting used to the models, I then was able to really make my patches soar and sound rich and full. There’s a lot in there, so you gotta do your Vetta homework.

It's funny, I've had guys yell "That Marshall sounds awesome!" at me at shows cause I play through a Marshall 4x12. I always laugh, cause it ain't no Marshall.
It's a Vetta, and it's ALL DIGITAL...