BucF16

I've had this exact same thing. It's not the speaker although it sure initially sounds just like a blown speaker, it's an input on the M20D. Especially if you have something grouped in stereo. Next time you have this happen, mute your input channels one at a time and I'll bet you can isolate it.

I record almost every gig we do now and it works just as advertised. It's pretty easy to drag/drop the tracks into Logic, change the sample rate and then mix down, burn, and e-mail back out to the band. Pretty powerful tool. The only bad news is that I've been recording so much that I go through a lot of computer storage! You will fill up a hard drive pretty quickly if you're gigging every weekend.

Thanks for the info! This highlights an interesting problem with the M20D and late Line6 products in general. The products are LOADED with features, yet the manuals and documentation are thin. If I purchase a stand alone dynamic EQ from from TC electronics the manual for it alone is 18 pages. Ironically the original Axsys and Vetta manuals were the most well written and comprehensive manuals I've ever seen for any musical product.

Not a big Fender amp guy here BUT: Isn't it a normal characteristic of these old Fender amps to dime out the GAIN and then bring up the volume? They stay pretty clean throughout and get much louder.

Replaced my power tubes with E34L's from Svetlana (had a tech do it). Been over a year of heavy use and they're both doing fine.

I've had my system for just over a year (2xL3's, 2xL3S, 3xL3). Probably done 35-40 gigs in that time. No problems with them at all.

Do you do a set list? Rename the first song of each set "Start the Recorder" That's what it finally took for me. Now I got to remember to turn if off!

Last couple of gigs I've just had some weird things happening. 1. Monitor mix C is on a L2 through Line6 Link. During sound check a channel of audio that should be at ZERO is coming through the monitor loud and clear. Tried all the stupid things (pinged the speaker and I had everything correct). Couldn't figure it out so I tried just deleting the monitor and re-installing. Worked like a champ after that. 2. One of the drum overhead mic channels had a terrible static noise constantly through the channel. Took the sound guy a while to isolate where it was coming from. Didn't have another mic so I tried just deleting the channel and then reinstalling. Worked like a champ after that. 3. Coming back from break after an excellent first set. M20D had been on with Mute all selected during break. Start into the first song and 2 of the 3 vocal mics silent. Nothing showing on the input levels. M20D head semi-frozen. Most of the encoders are acting like on/off switches; selecting either almost zero or almost max with no selectable values between. Had to stop 30 seconds into the first song (not cool). Re-cycled power on the M20d. First time, no-workee. Second power recycle and it worked fine for the rest of the night. I've had some random glitches before but over the last two nights we've had some literal show stoppers. We were working off of a generator. Seemed like everything else in the band was working fine off of it so I don't know if that could be anything. I'm a big fan of the M20D as a concept and when it all works it's light years ahead of what we used to use. But if I had something to wish for, it would be more bulletproof operation.

Soldano, Park and Plexi are my go to's, but primarily the Soldanos. Using a lot of the tube driver these days. But I've had good luck with the screamer and L6drive. I frequently use a compressor in front too.

Maybe it's some kind of Y2015 issue? :P I have (on other less notable dates) had trouble with channels doing bizarre stuff and you just can't get it right. Usually with stereo channels (keyboards or POD). One of my go to fixes is unplug the instrument(s), delete the channel from the stage, recycle power on the M20D and re-install the instrument and channel. Haven't had it happen several times in a night though. It seems to me that, and L6 link connection problems have been 90% of the issues I've had with my system. It's been pretty reliable for me though. It will be a year in Feb and I've been gigging our 3-5 times a month

I've seen the same. We sometimes have 3 iPads (1 FOH and 2 Monitor) and I record everything. I have an airport express and it can still be sluggish, even at the M20D.

I've been gigging with a B-Stock Variax for a while now. I can't figure out what was wrong with it in the first place. Great guitar even if the modelling was completely inop...which it isn't. This thread is silly. The OP's problem is clearly with the retailer. (or could run much deeper). FWIW I bought a DT50 through Amazon that was beat to h3ll. The amp was completely functional though and rather than send it back, Amazon gave me $400! back on the price. Really, the thing had been through the postal masher. I'm a gigging musician and it wasn't going to be studio queen anyway so I took the cash. Doesn't look any worse now but it rides in the back of my pickup every weekend so who cares. A Variax is a working guitar, not a case queen. If you gig with it, it will get dinged. It's not like these things are going to appreciate in value. I have an old Vx700 that's basically worthless now....whatever. I got a lot of gigs out of it and at the time it cost my more than my new JTV69 even though it was half the guitar the JTV's are.

I'm in the exact same position as you. In the process of changing over from DT50 to direct. I still use DT50 in one band and direct in another. Ditto to the post above. You "may" find that you like the L2 in guitar mode but I use Ref/PA because I actually run to the board and then back to my L2M. Prepare for a tweakfest.

Getting ready for winter NAMM? Hmmm. The modern conundrum...buy old tech cheap or wait for new tech on the leading edge...

Great...until you want to play the Vx and then when you change patches your guitar goes away.

Yeah but I think changing patches drives the variax volume and tone back on.

Output knobs on the back of the speakers should be in the notch, not cranked. I would say your problems are not typical of the speaker per se as I've experienced.

I typically bring two guitars to a gig, and one of them is almost always my Variax. I would like to find a way to keep them both plugged in at the same time and use the same patches. Is there a way to plug the Variax in to the Vx jack and a conventional guitar into the guitar/aux jacks and just have the variax in "Standbye" until I need the variax. I realize I could make different patches with different inputs. Not wanting to create a whole bunch of extra patches though. On a dark stage it can be minor pain to plug the vx jack in when you need to do a quick guitar change. I might be getting ahead of myself, but a "vx" standby switch might be a good ideascale post? Or am I missing some more obvious solution to this problem.

John Petrucci hears notes before they're even played. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23i8BzhxCy8

John Petrucci would notice it...

I use MS for my keys. I've toyed with it's guitar tones and been very impressed. HOWEVER it would be a ton of work to map out the controls for a footboard. It's a constant headache to keep my keyboard controls matched up correctly. Extremely powerful but not exactly low maintenance.

Consider getting rid of the gate at the beginning of the signal train. I doubt that it's doing much except helping to kill your sustain. In my experience, gates at the beginning of the chain are good for reducing 60hz hum (in Italy I think it's technically 50hz hum) his and general noise when you want silence. Not so good a stopping feedback. The old Vetta had a specific hum canceller, slightly different from a gate, for that specific purpose (why do they get rid of good ideas when they "improve" the product line?). If you don't have feedback with the screamer off, I'd consider putting a gate right after the screamer, not after the amp. You can even make your foot switch turn both the gate and the stomp on at the same time. Volume out on the POD to your power amp could be an issue too. Maybe reduce the POD output and increase your power amp output? Good luck. I have one specific EVH type patch that I've been having trouble with too.

I've tried a decimator in front of the POD. It's fine but it works no better than the gate in the POD IMHO, plus the Decimator is really made to be run after your pedals, not as the first thing in the chain. Check the instructions on their website. Really hi quality gates will have two ins/outs. You'll run into them at the front of your signal chain and then back into them after the distortion pedals, then to the amp.

Can't believe no one has mentioned this: Put the noise gate AFTER your pedals That being said, your gain is too high. There's plenty of ways to get the tone you want without putting both the pedal and the amp up that high. Along that vein, as others have mentioned, your tone knob on the guitar might help get the tone you want without all the gain. Depends on your axe though.

Nice work. Thanks for sharing.