Hey, Neal, thanks so much for that offer to help me figure out more useful patches! I will definitely take you up on that, right now I'm still trying to figure out some basic concepts about tone creation on this rig. So far, I started with your patch MerlinFL_POD HD500_WHAMMY PEDAL_ and gravitated towards the Treadplate Pre with no cab. I like having the gain backed off about halfway on the preamp, so that there's still plently of gain when I use the Les Paul with the Super Distortion in the bridge, but at the same time, it's not harsh, and it has that "sweet scream" I was talking about. I also programmed in a pedal-activated low-gain Tube Screamer in front of the amp for an extra lead boost when I need it. I also use a little analog chorus and set up a couple of different pedal-activated delays and that was pretty much my high-gain tone for the live shows. Sounds incredible with the Strat and the Paul. Kicking in the digital delay model is really fun, and the Screamer is there when/if I need more gain. I also have another patch with Tube Drive, and one with a Tube Compressor in front instead of the Screamer. They all seem to have their uses. The differences are interesting, with the Strat, there's more clarity and chime and you really hear the strings ring, and with the Paul you get a thicker, honkier scream, but it's still not muddy at all.

I also used your patch MerlinFL_POD HD500_FENDER FANATI as a starting point for clean tones.

I mentioned that the show on Saturday 5/5 was recorded using a hi-def Zoom recorder, so that I can hear the tone the audience was getting. I finally had a chance to start reviewing the recordings. Usually I cringe at some point while listening to the various tones I was getting on different songs, but this was different--it just sounded awesome, pretty much across the board. I found myself thinking, this sounds like the radio. And this was using the XLR direct out on the DT25 right into the board, no mic. The direct out totally works like it should. Also, when I dropped the volume down for rhythm parts, the tone stayed intact and didn't get dark. Hence the rhythm parts sounded just like they were supposed to. When I pushed the volume pedal down for leads, it just sounded amazing.

So THANK YOU VERY MUCH! I am still in the honeymoon period with the HD500/DT25 rig, but I already see that I am getting some really cool tones that I simply was never able to achieve before. And I have barely scratched the surface of what this thing can do.

I do have a question though, I have not been able to get any dual tone patches to work on the DT25, I always seem to get only the AMP A tone out of the HD500 unless that amp is off, in which case I get the AMP B tone that's set up manually on the DT25. There doesn't seem to be a way to get both the AMP A and AMP B tones off the HD500 into the DT25. But that's fine with me, a single amp tone that sounds great can rock my world adequately!

The next show is this Sunday 5/13, at a large outdoor venue, so this will be yet another interesting test of the new rig :-)

Cheers, Pete

PS: Line 6 Monkey just told me there is a new update for the HD500, version 4.2.5.4  Any idea what's new in that? I delayed installing it until after the next show since I don't want any surprises when I am finally starting to get the thing pogrammed with tones I like.