sidroe

Mono means ONE! You are recording a summed output of both L and R when using mono. In both the output sections you will see XLR Left, XLR Right outputs. To record stereo you must plug a cable FROM both L and R on the HD500 IN TO the L and R inputs on your interface, mixer, stereo power amp, etc. to get signal from both channels. Set the Pan controls on the now stereo channels as hard Left and hard Right. It is the same for the 1/4 guitar cord outputs. Mono output will not be stereo AT ALL! It is simply a SINGLE output signal of both the channels but not split and spread apart so your stereo FX will not work.

I set it up just like you would in the standard studio scenario. Guitar in to whatever gain situation ( if you don't use compression or distortion boxes before you hit the amp, disregard this and plug straight to the amp.) Mic the amp with your choice of microphone. That mic then hits the channel on the recording console and all other FX are used in the buss. This allows you to actually record the dry amp to a track and later after the recording you can play with as many FX or FX mixes as you like while keeping the original guitar track. In the HD500 this would translate to guitar in to POD, first effect is compressor or distortion or both, amp with mic, and all other FX after the amp. Unless you are a diehard vintage track guy and put all FX first and the amp dead last in the chain. The problem is you lose the ability to keep that raw guitar into amp track. In other words, you will be recording a lot of takes if you print all the FX to the track.

I am hearing either double tracking or a very slight chorus effect and it sounds to me to be small to midsize room reverb, not hall, moreso than a delay. The room is cranked pretty good. I definitely am hearing some pitch shifting like a chorus effect.

I tend not to use the overdrive pedals but just set the amp as if I were using the natural output distortion of the amp. I don't do much shred or metal. Mostly, classic rock, blues and jazz projects. The overdriven amp sim to my ear is worlds better than sticking a fizzy sounding overdrive or distortion box in front of an amp. Besides, that leaves one more blank block to fill in with another effect box. LOL!

Still have all my pedals and amps. They all are in storage gathering dust while I use my HD500! Straight in the PA, a little monitor mixed to taste and I'm good. BTW, I've got a collection of amps, guitars, pedals, and rack units dating back to 1965!!! The HD has become my Swiss Army knife for everything. I started out with a POD Version 2.0 and never looked back.

I actually took the foot pedal off of the board and trimmed some of the rubber off of it to make it easier to press down. NOTE: This could void your warranty if you have a brand new pedal. Mine is an older HD500 so the warranty is toast. BTW, I trimmed a little at the time until I got it near perfect to activate the toe switch. I almost had to jump up and down on mine when it was new. As a matter of fact, I had to stand on it with all my weight and take my other foot off the floor to get it to go down far enough!!! TRUE!!!!

Why not use the Octaver stomp box and blend the output mix??? It can be inserted after the amp if you wish, I think.

I am an old codger that's kicked around studios and concert halls for more years than you would want to know. I can tell you honestly, nothing will ever completely take the place of a great sounding tube amp with a floor and rack full of analog hardware pedals and rack gear. NOW, that being said, Line 6 changed my life!!!!! There are so many issues with the old school guitar gear, broken cables, spending 100 dollars a year on changing batteries, white noise so loud you can't think in quiet passages, and the list goes on. I have boxes of pedals in storage, 4 racks of FX units wheeled in the corner of the storage bin gathering dust, all because I traded a guy for a POD 2.0 and that little gizmo saved my aching back!!! Since then I have run thru PODs, Boss GT5, 3, 10, and now for studio work I use a laptop loaded with Amplitube 4, Guitar Rig, and TH2 and will next add BIAS. I have not used an amp or stompbox since acquiring that little kidney bean back when they first came out. That being said, STILL nothing feels like the old school rig when it comes to touch and response of the guitar in your hands but Line 6 is as close as I have come and I don't see me going back to all the headaches of pedals, racks, and noise anytime soon. BTW, saving up for that Helix!!!

Never tried it with amp switching but I have a live performance patch that is setup so when I step on 1 button it switches me between the compressor and the overdrive box. I never liked the hiss of a compressor still on when you switch on the overdrive or distortion, for one thing, and to my ear it makes the distortion sound grainy with compression running thru it. I can get the distortion box up in volume and more defined without the compressor in front of it being on. To do this with hardware you would need the compressor, the distortion, and add an A/B box! In HD, one button!! Too easy!

It's always a pleasure to help anyone here. They have been so helpful with my questions, I am glad to re-pay the favor!

BTW, the last guitar solo sounds like some slow speed flanging and a very fast delay for a doubling effect. This plus the post above should get you in the neighborhood. Good luck!

Hi! I am hearing spots where the trumpet is actually doubling the melody (not solos) played on the guitar. I hear snatches of a slow setting on a Uni-vibe. Distortion-wise any cranked distortion (not just overdrive) should suffice. Abercrombie is a combo amp player! I have seen him use Twins, Music Man, etc. With all this, keep in mind that amp-wise you may find a combination of amp and a different cab that may sound better to you. The core of his sound is what I mentioned above.

Fine for European electrical outlets. Not even a close match for US units!

BTW, you could have picked a better example clip! SERIOUSLY!

A very good condenser mic, first of all!! My wife worked in radio for many years and I got to hang around with the tech guy and actually became the assistant tech for emergencys. At any rate I can tell you the secret in that sound is a great voice and a $5,000 rack box that contains compression, limiting, gate and EQ. Radio and TV audio is compressed to hell and back!! You would not believe the excessive settings of compression and limiting they use. It seems that their theory is turn the compression/limiter up until it hurts and then turn it up some more. Proximity, as well, has a lot to do with it. The closer your mouth is to the mic the more bass you have. The farther, the bass disappears and the residual room sound starts being heard. Just think about the late night DJ with the bassy voice at 2 in the morning. He has his mouth shoved right up on that mic. BEWARE! Set the mic to the side of your mouth or slightly above so that wind noise doesn't make the diaphragm pop or the mic can pick up really excessive breath noises! Hope this helps! I have to say I wouldn't be using PodFarm for this. I would be using an audio program with plugins to build up a chain of VST effects or a plugin designed to emulate a mixer channel. That voice effect is a combination of all of the FX I gave you. It can't be done with just one. The crucial thing is the use of both Compression and Limiting with a fast gate after them. Good luck!

FWIW, I have played studio and live since the POD 2.0 was released. I have 2 2.0 models and for 2 years have been happily using an HD500. In the studio I use a laptop loaded with Amplitube 4, Guitar Rig, BIAS, and TH2. I own a whole storage room full of amps and that now sit and gather dust. The road will be hard sometimes getting used to running direct but hang tough. The results are worth it!

Sweetwater has them but a new one is quite pricey at $130! I need to apologize! I remembered mine was $60 on ebay.

Don't forget a Mission Engineering pedal as a secondary control such as volume. It plugs in the Pedal 2 jack. There are other pedals available that work. I found one on ebay for $40. Just google optional control pedal for Line 6 HD500x.

I don't smoke!!! LOL!!! That was my point that you are not even getting the REAL item for even 4 grand!! I do agree, however, about the dweebs who have put professional musicians in the bread line because club owners now settle for guys that struggle to get thru 3 chord songs while sitting on a stool strumming a cheap acoustic and got there because they will play for nothing. On the other hand, have music lovers sunk so low that they settle for this kind of entertainment? I hope not.

Another real aspect of this age observation is this. I am 63 years old and still happily working in studios, playing, and producing. I started out at age 7 learning classical piano and then switched full time to guitar when I heard the first Jimi Hendrix album. At that time the price of a real les paul with a case was fairly easy to save up if you worked even part-time! Now you have to take out a mortgage on your house, car, and family to pay 4 grand! What teenager can realize his dreams with prices like that? How about a couple of grand for an amp now that used to be 3 to 400 dollars for a handmade and point to point wired amp? If you ask me, music instrument manufacturers have become GREEDY with bigger than a capital g! Because of this money mongering, our younger musicians have had to settle for less quality instruments both in sound and construction! I subscribe to the idea that if manufacturers would worry more about realistically pricing their instruments and amps while taking a young musicians pocketbook into consideration, they would sell MORE than they do now! We also have come a long way from everyone aspiring to own a home stereo system that rivaled some giant PA system in a coliseum. Now the young music lover listens to music thru earbuds shoved deep in their heads, listening to MP3s and raving about state of the art quality! To make a long diatribe short, as long as we allow technology to convince us that what they make is the best we will never understand the quality of what we had!!!!!! And before anyone starts, I have had to defend myself too many times for using PODS, Amplitube, Guitar Rig, etc..... I shed my amps back when POD 2.0 came out. I still pull them out and smile as I remember Jimi playing on that turntable. Then I remember how heavy they are and pack up my POD HD and my laptop and go to work.

I still have the Altair. And it still works. The thing is built like a tank.

Hey, leesteel! I can beat that one! I used an Altair Attenuator a year or so before jumping to the Sholtz unit. I still have it and have pulled it out of the closet sometimes for old times sake. My Sholtz unit, sadly, bit the dust many years ago. All I had to do to fix it was replace one of the resistors but by then we all started gravitating towards pedals for more versatility. I sure loved those attenuators though.

BTW, I forgot to mention I did use a Sholtz Power Soak on an early 70s Marshall Super Lead 100 stack for way too many years. Sadly, the club burned down one night and that was the end of my stack days. Everybody started moving towards the smaller combo sound and I followed. But, now here I am today, a disciple of HDs and happy to be here!

I , also, had the Rockman Sustainor and the Stereo Delay rackmounted in my rig for most of the 80s and in to the mid 90s. It was a time when most all guitar players were tripping over each other trying to get THAT sound. The problem became guitarist starting chasing other sounds and the Sholtz units were more of a one trick pony. They did only one thing but they did an incredible job of it! And as stated, it is rather difficult to replicate THAT sound. Well Done, Mr. Sholtz! We salute you! Now, here we are spending mountains of money and still chasing that ULTIMATE tone. Here's a clue. There is no such thing! LOL!!!!!

NO!!!!! That setting should bounce around -12 on a digital mixer in a DAW. -15 is equal to 0 on an analog desk. That's why you hear the term headroom. If your signal is around -15 or -12 at your peaks, what is referred to as your loudest reading on your DAW meter, you have a very good strong, clean recording level! Hence, all that available level is left in case you need it. +12 is way over the distortion threshold for recording, even for tape! LOL! I hope this helped.