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Why's The Lester Model So Much Louder? Volume-leveled Bundle Any Good?


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Title says it all. Output from Lester is almost equivalent to the mags, but every other model in the guitar is much quieter. Significantly quieter. I see someone posted a volume-leveled bundle on that Variax page stickied up above. Anyone used it? If so, opinions? Worth installing to fix the variances?

 

I'm sure I will be hooking the JTV up to the computer this weekend to fiddle with some models, but if that bundle saves me time it's worth it. I'm at work now, so planning my weekend while I can't play. Thanks guys. I'm on 2.0 firmware too also.

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All I know is that Line6 claims that the models all reflect the output of the guitar they are trying to emulate. Thus models with humbuckers can be expected to be louder than those trying to mimic single coils. It says it in the Pilot's Handbook somewhere. Whether or not that's a convenient excuse for the disparity in volumes, or a deliberate design is anybody's guess.  I haven't tried the bundle though...

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Take an amp, any amp.  Plug in a Strat and play it.  Without changing the amp settings at all, plug in a Les Paul instead of a Strat.

 

Louder?

 

What he said...lol.

 

Difference in volumes doesn't really bother me. I find it easier to compensate with the volume in each individual patch on the 500x rather than relentlessly tweeking the guitar models in Workbench. Your mileage may vary...

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I agree that is way too loud, I have the JTV-89F and I al so have a Gibson Les Paul Studio with a 498T on the bridge which is a hot pickup from Gibson and it doesn´t sound as loud as the bridge position of the Lester humbucker model of my Variax, of course I have lowered the output using WB HD but I have never played a guitar with such output so I still think something´s wrong here, Workbench HD has shown to have several flows and I hope they can release an update soon.

 

 

Also in this up update they could add more sustain to the models because I have made tests and the sustain of the mag pickups is longer than the one in the models which is not correct mainly in the Gibson models which tend to have lots of sustain, this option should be available in workbench.

 

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I own enough guitars to know that humbuckers are louder. So thanks for the insight other guys. The non-helpful posts aside, I agree that the levels are too far off to be correct. No other models on the guitar even push dirt and the Lester is full on crunch. Especially if it's modeling a 59 with PAF's, that's excessive. Some difference is expected, but even the other humbucker guitars are strat-volume level. Maybe slightly higher, but not much. They are still in a different world from the Lester.

 

I think it's more a matter of the other models being voiced too quiet obviously, but how can a freshly flashed guitar be so far off? Maybe a reflash will help, as the #3 position acoustic sounds odd too. The guitar plays really well, but I still haven't fallen in love with the modeling aspect.

 

I agree that is way too loud, I have the JTV-89F and I al so have a Gibson Les Paul Studio with a 498T on the bridge which is a hot pickup from Gibson and it doesn´t sound as loud as the bridge position of the Lester humbucker model of my Variax, of course I have lowered the output using WB HD but I have never played a guitar with such output so I still think something´s wrong here, Workbench HD has shown to have several flows and I hope they can release an update soon.

 

Also in this up update they could add more sustain to the models because I have made tests and the sustain of the mag pickups is longer than the one in the models which is not correct mainly in the Gibson models which tend to have lots of sustain, this option should be available in workbench.

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I do notice a difference in the volumes, for sure, but to me it doesn't seem quite as dramatic as the original post indicates. The Les Paul and bridge and Special bridge, for example, seem to be relatively close in output on my JTV69US. I have a real Strat (multiple real Strats, actually) and I also have a Gibson ES-137, and to me, the volume difference on the models seems pretty realistic. On my ES-137, for example, I actually hardly ever run the volume on it on max. If I do, it starts pushing the amp, which is fine if it's what I want, but if I want it to be clean, I have to roll back the volume. But I should also say that the ES-137 has the 490R and 498T pickups which are more modern sounding than the PAFs that would be on a vintage Les Paul. I'd imagine they're a little hotter. So perhaps the Lester is a little hot?

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I think the volume difference in Lester vs Spank models is pretty close to the difference in my Les Paul and my Strat.  I have a feeling that this is not the case with many JTV's since there are several complaints about that here.   It's easy enough to adjust them if you want them all to be equal.  I have not bothered to do that.  I don't use WB very much because it still doesn't work with my HD500x.  When it does, I will spend more time with WorkbenchHD.

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I see someone posted a volume-leveled bundle on that Variax page stickied up above. Anyone used it? If so, opinions? Worth installing to fix the variances?

I loaded the bundle on my 69...for now, until it's POD HD500 compliant, I used this until I find it easier to tweak without pulling out the charger,charging the battery, sorting out the cables and screwing with the USB dongle slipping off the computer table, etc... I'll use oehman's hard work of balancing till it gets easier to tweak with the POD like the good ole days. The models are really volume balanced nicely. I recommend it unless you want to balance on your own.

my 2¢

BTW - all of stevekc's hard work putting together and moderating the VGuitar forum is helpful for other Line6 issues as well as Roland and other toys...Thanks Elantric! - a major storehouse of wisdom.

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guilhordas - -

"what is the exact name of the patch?"

it's a post named - All Models Output Adjusted to match

to quote oehman's post on VGuitar Forum (and they are all banks for download):

All models output were adjusted to match Lester so switching models in mid-set (or mid-song) won't require a volume adjustment on my amp or pedals.

I adjusted the output of each model using my POD HD & Headphones or a Fender Super Champ XD --YMMV.
Custom1 was set up so I can play Acoustic in position 3 and toggle to Lester or Spank
I didn't adjust the Reso Models
I changed pickups on some of the Semi's
Custom2 is all Masonite body with Strat pickups

9/3/13 UPDATE - SORRY I DIDN'T SAVE THE BANKS CORRECTLY IN THE ORIGINAL POST. These banks should be correct.
"

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