Chipdogg wrote:

 

Until Brewster posts some of his patches (I used his ones for the X3 Live all the time), you can check out the ones I've been tweaking over the past couple of weeks.  Tested a few of them out at our church straight through a PA, and they sounded spectacular!

 

http://line6.com/customtone/profile/Chipdogg/

Hey Chip - I'm digging around for EQ settings and noticed you used the same EQ model/settings on all your patches. Can you explain your approach to this EQ? I also used the LB patches on my X3 Live, but am about to go live for the first time with my HD500 and I'm struggling with the EQ settings.

Well, I've posted this elsewhere, but I was at a CMS in Sacramento in Sept, and Lincoln was demo-ing an HD500, and did put an A/B comparison on with the AxeFX and the HD.  Used a Plexi style sound, and honestly, there was not much diff at ALL between the 2.  You're right, he could sound good playing through a Radio Shack amp, but when he did that comparison, Line 6 sold me an HD500 (a few weeks later). 

No idea if he's gonna swap back, but I know I can't go the Fractal route, the rack and such is just too much hardware, and there is also that little problem of COST. 

There are some decent tones being posted out there, along with some decent ones that come on the 500.  The thing is so tweakable, and I really like the sounds.  Good tone is in the ear of the beholder, (and in some cases, the eye...  "no way you're using that box for that kind of sound"...)  the ears believe, but the eyes deceive.

So make of it what you want, but I think L6 is going to sell a lot of these rascals.  They did good.

Hoping to see a lot more vids and tones uploaded about these boxes.

Keep on strummin',

God Bless all.

Jason,

I am about to check out your patch on my HD500, but tell me a bit more about the fx loop thing you mentioned in a bit more detail (for us slow folks!)

Also, check out a patch I was working with the other day at church.  I was alone, so tweaking and EQ'ing the board meant a lot of trips back and forth with a loop playing.  But my goal on this loop is to emulate my pedal board and amp setup.  I've assigned switches on the HD to somewhat match the layout of my current board, for no reason but to elimanate confusion right now because I know where everything is on my pedalboard.  Once I get more familiar with the HD, I will try to create set lists for each Sunday.  But for now, my current pedal board is giving me everything I need but it is really cumbersome and heavy to carry this stuff around twice a week.

Here's a rundown of the board:

Guitar (usually a tele) - EB Volume Pedal - Teese RMC4 Picture Wah - Aphex Optical Compressor - Mosferatu Overdrive - Fulltone Distortion Pro DP-1 -Fulltone SupaTrem - Boss DD-20 delay - Amp.   Board is powered by VooDoo labs Pedal Power2.  I use a Boss tuner, but it comes out of the EB VP and stays on all the time, it's not even in the signal chain for sound.   I am using a Marshall 6101 right now since we've gone to a silent stage as I can run direct out to the soundboard from the amp's pre-amp and mute the speaker.  I have also used a 76 Fender Deluxe Reverb  and a Dr. Z Maz 38 in the past, both mic'd with an Audix I5.

So for the HD, I tried to get the clean sound I need, then I can turn on (or off) effects from the assigned switches.   Sometimes I layer overdrive and distortion, but mostly one or the other, depending on what we are doing.  Also, in the patch, I have two delays.  One is a dotted eighth and the other is a quarter note (which I can double tap to get eighth note delay if needed).

I am going to play around with running mono next time I go, since I don't have any stereo effects, per se, and while doing so hope to work out any panning issues on the HD.

If you play around with the patch and can refine it to give bigger and fatter tone, or improve any of the effects or sounds at all, please let me know.  Always open to improvements!

Thanks!

Jason..tell me about the fx loop boost thing...like exaclty how I would hook it up.

Thanks bro

I've got what I think are some pretty good and versatile patches, but our room is so whacky until we get it treated that I am terrified to know what it sounds like elsewhere. In the next couple of months I'll load some up.

hey.

here's a few notes.

don't try to get your old tones if you've switched from a live amp to a silent stage.  that's not going to work right.  you need to work closely with your front of house guy to get sounds that work in the mix.

turn off your reverbs for live playing.  use delay if you need to body up. 

I am still in the X3L zone but based on the problem/conditon you are describing, it sounds like the Fletcher Munson Curve syndrome. Basically if it sounds great at home low volume or through phones and stinks (like you describe) when you turn it up live, I suggest checking out the Fletcher Munson study. In a nut shell it shows that as volume increases, upper mids flatten out. Visually a EQ curve "smile" at low volume turns in to a flat crooked line at 80-90 Db. Try taking one of your basic tones and scoop out the upper-mid. The X3 has a four band EQ, so I cut the third band from the left.

Since I don't have the HD, I am making a stab here as well, does the HD have a "Focus" adjustment in the output section? With the X3, I took one of my greasy high gain tones and hammered a chord then turned the focus adjust until I liked it.

Seriously, my Xt and X3 were headed to the storage unit until I read the FM study. It totally changed how I approach effects. It made the difference from heavy brittle overbearing tones to tones that simply sing!

I found a simple version of the study here on the Line 6 site. Type "Fletcher Munson study" in to the search bar. Actually, I found it by typing in "why does the tone of my X3 stink", it took me to a discussion that lead to the FM study.

Once I get past Christmas, I may be looking at the HD500, or searching E-bay for used X3s!

God bless bro...Happy Birthday Jesus!

PS. I error on the side of too much reverb and delay or multiple delays. I love big 80s guitar and love large sweeping notes that sound like they are coming from the bottom of the Grand Canyon!...That's just me!

Far as I can tell, the ER setting is more for recording than live use. It stands for Early Reflections, to give you the amp in the room feel. If you don't have the amp in the room feel when you've actually got the amp in the room, you're hunting for a sound that doesn't exist.

It is basically a specialized reverb, and most reverb isn't useful for a live scenario. Maybe add a tiny bit for some of the bigger cleans, but it just makes it muddy when you combine it with non-synthetic reverb.

DISCLAIMER: I twiddled with that setting a little in our sanctuary and it gave incredible detail to some of my patches. HOWEVER, our room is brutal in terms of muddiness and reverb...my experience was that the ER setting enhanced in a very tasteful and somewhat intangible way some of the higher frequencies without altering the core of the tone. YMMV.

Good demo!! Solid write up. Thanks....