Line 6 FBV Express MkII 4-button Foot Controller

The Line 6 FBV Express MkII Foot Controller works great with my Line 6 Spider amp. I never fully utilized all of the features of the amplifier until I got the foot controller. Having to reach down and change settings on the amp by hand is awkward and interrupts the music. The foot controlled access to four pre-sets, the tuner, and volume is fantastic. I really like the wah pedal as well.The only difficulty I had was updating the firmware (Flash Memory). The calibration procedure suggested in the manual wasn't available until the firmware was updated. When I plugged the foot controller into my computer (Windows 7 64-bit OS) to update the firmware, Windows 7 wouldn't install the necessary USB driver automatically and there was no way to manually install a driver. I'm not sure if this is a Windows 7 compatibility problem or if there's something unusual about my particular computer. I got around the USB driver problem by using XP mode (available in Windows 7 Professional).In XP mode the USB driver installed automatically and the Line 6 Monkey update utility worked as advertized.Once the newer firmware was installed the calibration procedure went smoothly. Honestly, the FBV MKII foot controller seemed to work well right out of the box without calibration and I'm not sure if updating the firmware and calibrating it was absolutely necessary.Since getting the FBV Express MkII I can't imagine playing without it.

I ran with the factory firmware version 1.0 on my line 6 spider 4-120 for two years oblivious to the fact that I had to have at least the 99.00 4 switch wah pedal to change the colors I paint with, or sound fx. I used to have a Peavey Transfex 212 with a 10 switch pedal. This was worth its weight in gold playing live. Going from clean to crunch, psychedelic to acoustic, crazy to mild, gives you the ability to change fx at the speed of sound. Covering some songs requires it, writing your own music makes it essential. With the FBV pedal you also get a built in link to the spider 4's tuner in a better way than the amps own display. Its also the only way to connect the amp online to update it. A major design flaw line 6, but a damn good way to ensure you sell a boatload of pedals. With that said, you get 4 chan switches but no way to browse banks, so your stuck in 1 of 4 channels of bank "A" for example. You must go to the back of the stage, select a new bank "B" an then back to the pedal and select the fx you wanted to begin with. Tedious for live playing. I pick bank A, then program the four sounds I need for a few songs, then change banks between songs. Works ok. The other thing you cant miss about this pedal is the very average volume and wah pedal. The volume side is sooooooo sensitive, it goes from naught to blaring in one tiny tap. To get from vol to wah you must press an electronic "pressure" pad at the top of the pedal that requires several attempts in most cases to activate. Once you get past the popping and clicking of the repeated stomps and get to the wah side, it is a very non natural electronic sound. When comparing to a baby wah or cry baby, you get none of the tube like sound that you expect or desire. I did find that using a wah sounding effect while using the pedal helps a ton.On the plus side, and there are a few. this thing is a Sherman tank. Solid build quality can handle just about anything the stage can throw at it, including the stage. I read a story of the entire forward light truss falling on the guitar setup area, destroying mic stands all the bonus pedals, a les paul, a monitor speaker, and floor lights and lasers. The line six fbv pedal had one scratch and a torn rubber wah cover. Rock solid. Made with what every rock pedal should be, heavy metal. The sound switching, although limited to one bank at a time is clean and seamless. The lighting on the pedal, all l.e.d.'s, are very bright even in the brightest daylight and stage lighting. The tuners lights fade from dim to bright as your tuning reaches desired frequency. Very easy to read. The main bonus of the fbv pedal is the cat 5/6 cable connection to the net, with it you can not only update the firmware of the spider amps, you can download the home made effects of other users via the line 6 website. This is for me the goldmine. We have all been amazed by the quality of how close line 6's artist inspired tones sound. These take that a full light year closer to reality, sounding almost perfect in some cases and dead on in others. Inspiration will take you for a ride with some of these tones that I dare say you would not have found otherwise. My advice is as follows; if you can only afford the 100 bones on a pedal buy it. It's worth it for the ability to switch channels, the make shift wah, and the icing on the cake is the download ability for updates and user made tones. Now if you have 200 bones and a loving spouse, mother or landlord pickup the Line 6 FBV Shortboard MkII Foot Controller here http://www.amazon.com/Line-FBV-Shortboard-MkII-Controller/dp/B002GYWBKK/ref=pd_cp_MI_2 and take total floor control of your Line 6 amp and PODfoot switches for preset bank select, effect select, tuner, tap tempo, and a full-sized volume/wah pedal with plenty of grip, Over sized and bright LCD displays chromatic presets and tuner with a USB jack and an RJ-45 jack as well. thats the thick and thin of it... hope it helps. Like an old guitarist told me, better play everyday or throw it away, it starts over at the 12th fret, and learn your scales.

This works really well as a standalone MIDI controller; you don't need to own the amp to use it that way. You do have to install some software though, which leaves icons on your desktop (OSX Mavericks) that I haven't found a way to get rid of. I'm not crazy about that part. But aside from that, it's a really handy foot controller. Smaller than the Behringer FCB1010, which makes it more practical for travel and takes up less space on stage if you have a tight setup. Also a lot less pedals than the Behringer, but since I need to be able to find pedals easily without looking down for long, fewer pedals may be more practical anyway. In researching MIDI foot controllers I didn't even know this existed until someone I know got one. So I suspect this item may be overlooked by a lot of people who assume you need to use it with the amp.

Really great to be able to switch channels in a bank and manipulate the wah and volume. It came with the lan cable needed and the pedal itself is power over Ethernet. No lag noticeable at all. Really great controller out of the box. I may use it down the road for midi but for now it's perfect for jamming. It's exactly what I needed for my setup. I highly recommend this little pedal. Very light as well, not like most heavy effects controllers. Good solid construction.

I've owned Line 6 products for quite a while and have always shied away from purchasing the expression pedal/pedal board because of the proprietary cabling/hook-up. I borrowed a friend's Line 6 Spider Valve to test it out and he had the Express pedal board with the amp. I fell in love with the Spider Valve, but more so with the pedal. I tried it out with my other Line 6 products (amps and PODxt) and was sold! This item works like magic and the tone of the built-in wah is very similar to my Morley Bad Horsie 2 wah wah pedal. The thing is built well and works every time. It's very nice to be able to set the tap tempo on the board as well as view the tuner from the floor.This is a great product that I would highly recommend for anyone with a Line 6 product to control.