amsdenj

A better option might be to use a reactive load box with a line out into the Powercab input. Then run Powercab in either Flat/LF Raw or any of the speaker models.

Paul, the band is Moonlight Rescue Band, see Facebook. I also play acoustic music with No Worries, see Spotify or Apple Music.

I think we expect guitar amps to sound a certain way for an application, PA speakers to sound a certain way for different applications, and HIFI stereo speakers to sound a certain way for yet another application. PowerCab is attempting to cover all those different applications with its MODE/Voicing. To me, FLAT/FRFR is ok for gigging situations for acoustic guitar. But it can't reproduce the sound of 4x12 or bass cabs in Helix. You'd need a lot bigger FRFR to come close to that. If you're trying to get a good 1x12 guitar sound from a modeler, Powercab in FLAT/LF Raw does that pretty well. It will sound a lot like a typical 1x12 guitar amp. This is what I'm looking from Powercab, it's the application to which I am applying the product. I think it works great. And for those occasions where I need a FRFR, Powercab is good enough for gigging situations. Not perfect, but good enough. I like that flexibility. For other situations, if a 4x12 cab block in Helix into Powercab FLAT/FRFR sounds good, then I'll use it. I don't really care if it sound like AITR as I know that's impossible. The question is simply does it sound good for the application.

Using a cab or IR block with FLAT/LF Raw is putting a guitar speaker into a guitar speaker. That's going to sound pretty dark. But maybe that's what you like. Typically you would use cab or IR block into FLAT/FRFR and no cab or IR block into FLAT/LF Raw. I've never found a very good use for FLAT/LF Flat. For any acoustic instrument or keyboard, FLAT/FRFR would be typical. But for something like a Fender Rhodes, you might like FLAT/LF Raw because we're use to hearing that into guitar-like speakers.

To get hum canceling with neck and middle or middle and bridge on a Strat, you need two things: 1) the middle pickup need to be reverse wired out or of phase and 2) the magnets need to be flipped N/S to S/N up on the middle pickup. That puts the string motion back in phase, while leaving the voltages induced in the pickups from external fields out of phase and cancelled. You can use a compass to check the phasing of the magnets.

I have Powercab112+ and Powercab212. I'm very happy with the functionality, tone and convenience. The 112+ is used on every gig. Like @rd2rk, I do prefer the flexibility as I use Flat/LF Raw mode most of the time and only user FRFR for acoustic tones.

For a JTV-69S, the bridge should be level and somewhat off the guitar body, say 2-3 mm. You can use the bridge height off the body to somewhat compensate for neck angle issues, but a shim in the neck pocket could be a better option. You can also use bridge height to normalize the bridge saddles off the bridge plate when setting to correspond to the neck radius, say if the bridge saddle screws are too low or too high.

A good example where this feature would be useful would be when using chorus. Sometimes you want the chorus in front of the amp, or before distortion, and sometimes after. I generally prefer stereo chorus after the amp and cab to preserve the doubling and mixing in a linear block. But if you want to get that Clapton chorus tone, you need to put it in front of distortion, with just a bit of chorus to give the tone depth. For Helix, the solution is multiple blocks or different patches. I believe all the current modelers are similar, you can't change the signal path configuration in a patch, you can only turn blocks of and on.

I would only add that Flat mode with LF Raw voicing works really well with modelers. The Eminence speaker in Powercab is actually a pretty nice guitar speaker. Use it in Flat/LF Raw with no cab or IR block in Helix and you get a very nice amp in the room sound. This is how I use Powercab for backline stage volume, and I use a separate path with a cab block for IEM and FOH. Don't be afraid to turn it up, and use some treble.

I don't rely on being able to see the display to know what snapshot I'm in or what blocks are bypassed, the foot switch lights are enough. Same for HX Stomp and Helix floor. Then I setup all patches using the same general foot switch layout, so that I know pretty much what a foot switch will do in any patch. For example, the drives and modulation might be different in a patch, but the same foot switches will control them in most patches. Then I actually practice against backing tracks to simulate gig mode to make sure I can get to the right tone at the right time while singing. This often involves pickup changes on the guitar and changing the guitar volume (which I do a lot). I consider this part of playing my instrument and practice these moves too. And of course it's different for different guitars, have to practice that too.

I guess we all knew this was coming, but it still saddens me a bit. Variax was a really innovative product that I would like to have seen be more successful. I still have two Variax guitars, a JTV69S and a Variax Acoustic. Both are excellent instruments in in perfect working order. I don't gig with them anymore as I wanted to focus on playing my other guitars. But I use the JTV69S every day for practicing and for rehearsals. It's light, has an excellent replacement neck with stainless steel frets, SVL Daytona pickups and plays as well as any guitar I've ever played. So I'll keep it, and maybe use it for quick open tunings or baritone occasionally.

When using Helix Native, it's important to use a Hi-Z or instrument input on your audio interface. Otherwise you could get a very dull tone. The biggest difference between Helix and Helix Native is that Helix is designed to support live use. If you don't need that, then Helix Native is likely a better, and more flexible solution

The advice above about creating and verifying patches at volume is correct and is part of a broader point - doing patch design in the context in which they are intended to be used. That's simpler with a traditional guitar amp because they were designed mostly for one use - playing live and loud. While volume is a key part of patch design, you may also be experiencing something I'm calling the "Digital Dilemma". The big advantage of digital amp models is they can get good driven, overdriven and distortion tones at any volume level. That's really hard to do with tube amps unless you're using pedals into a clean amp, or your amp has a master volume control and has good preamp distortion. When we think of glorious tube tone, we're usually referring to power amp overdrive, and that's going to be loud even with a 20 watt amp. The Digital Dilemma is that this advantage of digital amp modelers is often what makes them not cut it in live situations. It's not just the volume and tone that doesn't scale up well, it's also the amount of compression or saturation. When an amp is clipping, it has no more volume left. Pushing it harder only adds more saturation, distortion or overtones. There can be a tendency to over-saturate digital amp models, because it's easy to do and sounds really good. But the resulting compression reduces dynamic range and tends to make it difficult for the tone to cut through a dense live mix. Try turning your Power Cab levels up pretty high, running your amp model master and channel volume up (while avoiding any digital clipping on Helix output or PowerCab input) and use less gain/saturation/distortion. I try to use the minimum amount of distortion needed for the song. Then use your guitar volume between 7 and 10 to control saturation, and below 7 to control clean volume. You may find this sounds and behaves more like a traditional guitar amp, gives better dynamics, and cuts through the mix better.

In IR mode, Powercab sends the output of the IR through XLR. The only configuration that might be an issue is when using Flat/LFRaw. There the XLR output will be the same as the input. Typically that won't have a cab or IR block since you're using the Eminence speaker directly as a powered guitar speaker (and this works very well). In this case, you probably want to get FOH from Helix or other modeler that is providing a cab emulation on a separate output, and not use the XLR output in Powercab.

Thanks for the pictures!