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821 Views 10 Replies Latest reply: Mar 15, 2013 11:12 AM by STPLE RSS
Brion_Kean Just Startin'
Brion_Kean
391 posts since
Dec 27, 2007
Currently Being Moderated

May 30, 2012 12:01 PM

"Guitar In Z" Setting [new feature]

Question : Where can I find official documentation explaining this feature? A previous answer to my question explained that this setting corresponds to matching the first effect in the signal chain to the input z of the instrument going into that block.

 

My question to you all is, anyone have any advice, results, feedback or 'input'  regarding this feature they can offer up?

To keep it simple, is there a setting - other than AUTO - which could be logically matched for a humbucker, or an active guitar, or an acoustic guitar, or a bass guitar, or single coil, etc?

 

I have a strat, with humbucker in bridge, regular strat pups in the other 2, and that S1 switch which somehow engages the humbucker pickup while in the other, single coil, pickup positions.


For what it's worth, I also noticed a similar drastic shift in sound when altering this setting using an active bass into the new flip-top bass amp model - same first FX block, the noise gate.

It seemed to impact the amount of low end coming through, as well as overall tonality, most likely due to again, how the noise gate is hearing the bass..

 

I have noticed this strat guitar, as far as the tonality created and any artifacts of sound caused by the noise gate effect, works best with the settings at 1M or 3.5m.

The 3.5M being probably the preferable. It allows the longest sustain of the note decay without any noise gate "warble". I am using the default noise gate setting, I realize this could be adjusted

to suit any of the input Z settings, however, the tonality seems to become more muted as I choose lower K setting values, and the responsiveness to the volume on the guitar being rolled back changes

with these settings as well, presumably in terms of how the noise gate is "hearing" that sound decay and volume difference.

 

I like to play with the volume knob to clean / dirty up the sound, and often pair a rolled back volume with a boost compressor being switched on.

 

I always use the noise gate as my first effect. This 'input Z' setting makes a DRASTIC difference in the sound, leaving all other setting identical on a set of patches.

I have created a patch using my standard template, and saved out each patch for the various "Guitar In Z" settings; and uploaded them to Customtone.

Links attached, and list of input Z settings are as follows:

 

1.) Auto:   http://line6.com/customtone/tone/219237/

2.) 3.5M:   http://line6.com/customtone/tone/219238/

3.) 1M :    http://line6.com/customtone/tone/219239/

4.) 230K:   http://line6.com/customtone/tone/219240/

5.) 136K:   http://line6.com/customtone/tone/219244/

6.) 90K:    http://line6.com/customtone/tone/219242/

7.) 70K:    http://line6.com/customtone/tone/219241/

8.) 32K:   http://line6.com/customtone/tone/219245/

9.) 22K:   http://line6.com/customtone/tone/219243/

Tags: input, guitar, z
  • Brion_Kean Just Startin'
    Brion_Kean
    391 posts since
    Dec 27, 2007
    Currently Being Moderated
    May 30, 2012 12:19 PM (in response to Brion_Kean)
    Re: "Guitar In Z" Setting [new feature]

    Here is that same basic tone:

     

    http://line6.com/customtone/tone/219246/

     

    This is with the cabinet 'deep editing' set to roll off a slight amount of bass - I am running mono 1/4" into the power amp 'in', on back of an old CBS/Fender 1x12 combo. This helps the low end of the 4x12 cabinet models to translate a little better to the 1x12 cab, without woofing out or muddying up the tone with too much bass response. Adjust as needed for whatever your rig may be.. This amp is stellar though, it's a Paul Rivera designed (from when he worked for Fender CBS) 1983 "Studio Lead". It's got a 2-prong plug, by design, which somehow eliminates all hum and noise when connecting the POD to this amp, and the USB to a computer to use the edit software. Love. It.

  • TheRealZap Expert Line 6 User
    TheRealZap
    11,829 posts since
    Dec 22, 2006
    Currently Being Moderated
    May 30, 2012 12:24 PM (in response to Brion_Kean)
    Re: "Guitar In Z" Setting [new feature]

    no... your guitar really doesn't matter in this scenario.. unless you like the sound you get by a certain setting...

    auto is the best setting for authenticity...

    however... before this feature was released 1m was the default... some users switch back to that so that their tones didn't change...

     

    expirement as much as you like and go with what you like... but with all the other available places to tweak your tone... auto is likely to be the best setting for most.

     

    there really isn't much need to expand on this as it's simply the impedence of the input being affected... which affects what everything else in the chain recieves... of course it will be drastic in some cases as a hotter signal coming in and change the output of whatever effect that comes after

    • Brion_Kean Just Startin'
      Brion_Kean
      391 posts since
      Dec 27, 2007
      Currently Being Moderated
      May 30, 2012 1:40 PM (in response to TheRealZap)
      Re: "Guitar In Z" Setting [new feature]

      Thank you! That does help knowing what the pre-firmware update had been, as 1M.

      I appreciate the input, helps alot!

       

      For some reason, because of the way Fender wired this guitar, using the Auto

      setting was causing me trouble, I was just noticing all this swish that hadn't been there

      previously. Being able to set that to 1M or 3.5M seems to sound the best, though I

      was switching between 3.5 and 1 using presets, when changing from the humbucker to single coil on the strat.

       

      I suppose it's also worth mentioning that it seems this setting 1M or 3.5M, or Auto as it defaults to, can

      be set per patch, or globally. Noticed that setting in the editor after I posted my original message.

       

      Near as I can tell, with my guitar, it seems happiest with 1M or 3.5M.

       

      This is the fender page for it, except mine is 2008 : http://www.fender.com/products/americandeluxe/models.php?partno=0119102770

      Pretty sure they changed up that S1 circuitry in recent releases of this axe?

  • meambobbo Iknowathingortwo
    meambobbo
    1,702 posts since
    Dec 13, 2007
    Currently Being Moderated
    May 31, 2012 7:09 PM (in response to Brion_Kean)
    Re: "Guitar In Z" Setting [new feature]

    While pickup manufacturers often list their pickups' resistance, they do not list impedance.  I believe this is because there is no standard input or means of measurement - the impedance measured would depend on how a signal is induced - the force applied to a guitar string, the material of the string, the tuning of the string, the thickness of the string, and the distance between string and pickup.

     

    i have read that sending a signal from a low impedance device to a higher impedance device will result in no distortion and (other than a large resonant peak at the resonant frequency) the most accurate replication of the signal from the source (pickup) to target (amp/stompbox/pod).  Trying to send a signal from high impedance to a lower impedance device results in strong signal attenuation and distortion.  matching impedances between devices ensures maximum signal transfer but possibly slight attenuation of higher frequencies.

     

    active pickups generally have a much lower impedance than passives.  This lets you run longer stretches of cable with them with less loss of signal, but it also means they might not work the same as with effects that expect a higher impedance.  for instance, fuzz boxes often use a rather low impedance to force distortion when connected to higher impedance pickups.  wah pedals use a medium impedance to attentuate some high end, so they don't get too shrill with the toe all the way down.  amps are generally high impedance to ensure they accurately replicate the signal coming from the guitar.

     

    on the pod, "auto" sets the Pod's impedance to whatever the first turned on effect in the chain is.  the other just forces the pod to use that impedance.  lower values generally have a darker, looser tone, while higher values are brighter and tighter.

    • STPLE Just Startin'
      STPLE
      47 posts since
      Feb 21, 2012
      Currently Being Moderated
      Mar 15, 2013 10:43 AM (in response to meambobbo)
      Re: "Guitar In Z" Setting [new feature]

      Not sure if this is the place to ask this questions - Is "Auto" the best for acoustic guitars??  When I play acoustic - I play a Martin with the normal Fishman pickup (that came with guitar).  I run a POD HD 500 with amp model off - I have EQs (first in the chain), no amp, mixer, very slight delay (20ms) and a small amount of Room Reverb.  We run it direct from POD to PA.  I've been using Auto and wonder if that is not the best for an acoustic guitar pickup.  Thanks in advance.

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