Summer NAMM 2008 Coverage »  (Nashville, Tennessee: June 20 - 22)

Home > Effects > Effects Reviews > Line 6 > FB4 Footswitch

Line 6 FB4 Footswitch

Summary
Price New Line 6 FB4 Footswitch @ Musician's Friend
Manufacturer URL http://www.line6.com/
Ease of Use 9.7 (16 responses)
Sound Quality 6.9 (9 responses)
Reliability 7.1 (15 responses)
Customer Support 7.0 (3 responses)
Overall Rating 6.6 (16 responses)
Submit a review for this product!

Page: 1 2 (Show 10 | 25 | 50 | 100 reviews per page) Showing 1 - 10 of 18 reviews
Advertisement
Product: Line 6 FB4 Footswitch
Price Paid: US $100
Submitted 10/13/2005 at 05:51pm by RobG

Ease of Use : 9
Simple to use, 4 switches, 4 chanels, nuff said.

Sound Quality : 8
There is a delay when switching channels, but I thin kthis is the origanl pod and not the footswitch.

Reliability : 1
I would never replace this, and I don't gig with it now. The last 3 times I tried one of the switches would stop responding, and the pod would receive woerd singnals and edit patches. Serously, the switch design is crap a flmisy. I am gigging, I don't have time to daintily push a switch. I have had to manually get some gaff, solder and new spring and fix this thing twice, and now I figure it is better to not use it. So really a complete waste of money.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Line 6 are great, I will use them again, and there new footswitches seem sturdier, but this thing was out of warranty when I got it.

Overall Rating : 2
Nce and simple, a good companion to the pod, but just not reliable enough for me to use.


Product: Line 6 FB4 Footswitch
Price Paid: 60 (GBP)
Submitted 10/24/2004 at 04:37pm by Anonymous

Ease of Use : No Opinion

Sound Quality : No Opinion
Just wanted to point something out for POD users who may be put off by FB4 switch delay. Specifically, you get a noticeable delay wherever you use the FB4 to switch between patches based on DIFFERENT amplifier models. In my experience if you set up each POD bank so that A B C D patches are different EQ, drive and effect combinations but all using the SAME amp model, then you get no switching delay. The way I am using this thing I do not see a big need to switch between amps on the fly (I use it mainly to go between clean/crunch/drive settings on the same amp and would only switch amp settings between songs) so this doesn't bother me.

Reliability : No Opinion

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : No Opinion


Product: Line 6 FB4 Footswitch
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 08/11/2004 at 12:41pm by Charlie
Email: n10cm at gtlakes<dot>com

Ease of Use : 9
Sounds are easy to program and save - tweek the knobs to the sound you want. Don't know about the patches - ahven't tried them. The manual says nothing of the "manual mode", which doesn't work.

Sound Quality : 9
Customizing my settings was very simple. I can't seem to get a truly "Clean" sound, but the tremelo and reverb (which I use the most) are great. I'm using it with my Line6 Spider II 212. I've only been playing for a little over 50 years. My main guitars are Guild Starfire 4 and Artist Award. The effects I use are very good.

Reliability : No Opinion
The "manual" has never worked, so I can't set it to tuner mode with the pedal. It is solid and well contructed.

Customer Support : 1
Terrible. I can't get any response to my problem with letters or phone calls.

Overall Rating : No Opinion
I play mostly 50s - 60s music (Ventures, Duanne Eddy, Santo & Johnny, etc.), but also a lot of 20s - 50s. Not much for the "heavy" stuff. I play a lot of accoustical too.


Product: Line 6 FB4 Footswitch
Price Paid: US $45.00
Submitted 02/16/2004 at 02:42pm by Anonymous

Ease of Use : 10
Four buttons, four sounds. Tap tempo function is great.

Sound Quality : No Opinion
It's a foot controller.

Reliability : 2
I have been through three of these things. If you are a professional and work allot it will start to crap out on you after six months. I hope the new four button controller for the Pod XT was built tougher. I mean, good lord you know people are gonna step on it! Build it accordingly.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never dealt with them. It was so cheap I just got new ones.

Overall Rating : 4
I play everything. I play a tele through a Line 6 Pod into a Mesa Boogie 20/20 power amp into a one ten Marshall cabinet with a vintage sixty in it. I have been playing professionaly for ten years full time. I've been through three of them. I love it's simplicity. I hate it's flimsy construction. My favorite feature is that it is small. I compared it with the big Line 6 foot controller and decided I dont like to carry allot of stuff. I wish it was not so flimsy. I t is very useful when it is working. If you work allot get something stronger.


Product: Line 6 FB4 Footswitch
Price Paid: US $50.00 used
Submitted 10/28/2003 at 03:05pm by Mark P
Email: wdmp51<at>hotmail dot com

Ease of Use : 10
You plug it in to the front of the amp/pod and hit one of four buttons...have i lost anyone?

Sound Quality : No Opinion
this does not affect sound, it is an optional control accessory.

Reliability : 9
it seems pretty flimsy...but if you take care of your gear and have proper carrying/storage devices, i believe that this would be fine. No problems thus far.

Customer Support : No Opinion
I have a POD, Spider 210 and an FB4. Haven't had to deal with line 6 at all.

Overall Rating : 9
I am submitting this review for anyone who is concerned over the delay issues. The delay is caused by your output device not the FB4. If you sustain a note and manually switch a patch on your POD there will be a delay. With the Spider Amps, my experience has been: NO DELAY. But the POD is terrible. Bottom line I love this accessory. I didn't think it would be that handy, but i picked it up used mainly because of the price. I have no regrets.


Product: Line 6 FB4 Footswitch
Price Paid: 75.00 (British Pounds)
Submitted 05/09/2003 at 04:54am by Ridzi

Ease of Use : 9
Four Buttons, a retard could operate this thing

Sound Quality : No Opinion
This is a POD controller, the POD makes the sounds not the the controller. No point rating this one.

Reliability : 2
Now...here is where I am going nuts. The switches on this pedal are very ill designed. I have had my controller for a couple of months, and guess what? The switches start popping out, exposing the springs inside. I opened it up to see if anything came loose. I found out that the bottom end of the switches are held in place by a slight deviation of diameter of the switch. after a while this gets worn off and subsequently the switches just pop out! Highly annoying. Can't really rely on this thing at all.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Tried to get in touch with them about this problem, alongside getting a chip upgrade...they never got back to me. Not even worth rating.

Overall Rating : 1
I play mostly rock and metal. The POD has allowed me to get the tones I could only dream of. I got the footswitch so I can use my POD live. and yes, it has been helping me perform live. Although it must be said that the Floorboard is probably a better choice to use in live situations as it has a volume pedal and a wah controller.

I wouldn't bother buying another FB-4...and if someone stole it..i would be pissed off, but just a little bit



Product: Line 6 FB4 Footswitch
Price Paid: US $80
Submitted 11/26/2002 at 07:01pm by Angel Kristoph

Ease of Use : 10
Really easy to use... four buttons, one cord to plug it, shouldn't be that hard.

Sound Quality : No Opinion
It just changes the channel, no changes in sound that I can hear.

Reliability : 8
I probably could depend on it...

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never dealt with them, though I probably might have to soon about my spider 212.

Overall Rating : 8
It's a pretty awesome product, though all it does is change channels. I heard that some people think there is a delay... I"m running it through a spider 212, and you can BARELY tell that there's a delay and plus if you time it right and know what you're doing, you and the audience won't be able to tell.


Product: Line 6 FB4 Footswitch
Price Paid: US $68
Submitted 09/13/2002 at 07:47pm by AEPOC
Email: -=-

Ease of Use : 10
Simple to use, providing you have a foot and 3/4 of a brain.

Sound Quality : 1
Does not alter the sound, just changes the channels on your POD for you. Though it should be stated that these footswitches don't make a sound when you step on 'em... there's no big CLICK when you put your foot down.

*Note*
There is a delay between when you stomp on the button and when the sound changes. I knew that others have noticed this, so I bought it with the store knowing that I would be returning it if the delay was too noticeable. It was. It's a shame too, it's a great idea... even though a bit pricey (a lower price would have made it a BETTER IDEA).

I made room on my pedalboard for this thing, but took it off the next day because of the sound delay. And for those of you who think I'm nuts, I have the most recent POD update (2.3) and went from a VERY clean amp sim (JC-120) to a heavily distorted amp sim (Rectifier).

The delay between switching patches is why this got returned.

Reliability : 10
Tough as nails. If I had kept it I couldn't imagine ever having a problem with it. Droping it would only hurt whatever it hits.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never dealt with Line6.

Overall Rating : 3
I returned it. I cannot imagine why anyone would want this when there's a VERY noticeable delay while switching patches.


Product: Line 6 FB4 Footswitch
Price Paid: Free (UK)
Submitted 04/01/2002 at 09:00am by Brian Gillan
Email: briangillan<at>aol dot com

Ease of Use : 10
As easy as 1 2 3, thats really all its about.

Sound Quality : No Opinion
Does not change the sound at all, and no noise, also being powered by the POD is a bonus.

Reliability : 10
Built like a giant hippo cross bread with a tank, lob it across on the room and i would dent the walls.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never had any problems, CANT SAY!

Overall Rating : 9
Its a god send and a must for gigging. Some people say there is a delay between changing chanels, i think if your playing loud enough its not noticeable, just get your timing right and your whistle and dixie. I got this form my bro for free, which is nice, but i think the RRP is about #60? Its a big pricey but seeing as it is very well built, its probably worth it. It also comes with a HUGE long connection cable to hook up to the POD, overall, its a good buy, and a must for extra POD fun!


Product: Line 6 FB4 Footswitch
Price Paid: US $60
Submitted 11/09/2001 at 08:48am by Brant

Ease of Use : 10
A B C D
1 2 3 4 Make a selection.

Sound Quality : 6
Doesn't cause any noise. It's powered by the Pod so there's no extra cables besides the one to your POD. There's a slight delay which can be irritating if you have to change channels while you're still playing because everyone hears it.
I gave it a 6 because of the delay.

Reliability : 9
Pretty solid. Hasn't broken yet. Thick metal case is boogie-like.

Customer Support : No Opinion
No contact with Line 6 so far.

Overall Rating : 8
It does it's job. Only gripe is the delay in channel switching. I mainly play punk music and the delay stands out in fast paced music because you have to switch quick.

I gave it an 8 because it does do it's job.

Page: 1 2 (Show 10 | 25 | 50 | 100 reviews per page) Showing 1 - 10 of 18 reviews

Email: webmaster@harmony-central.com | © 1995-2007 Harmony Central, Inc. All rights reserved.