Rewolf48

Rather than repeat for all pickup positions, you should start by changing the Global String Volumes (on the menu). This applies pre-modelling (because it is global) and is intended to adjust for the variations in piezo pickup and string combinations. If you think about it (Line 6 won't say) the variax processing has to cope with all sorts of variations in string, piezo and playing style without sounding disastrously bad, so to first thing that has to happen is a compression/limiting stage to get the signal for each string down to a safe level. The Global String Volume adjustment should allow you to reduce the amount of compression and limiting that is required - if the strings are consistently at maximum level then any body resonances will similarly be at maximum level all the time. You should find that there is little change in output level as you initially reduce the volume for each string - find the rough point where you can actually hear a volume difference as you play harder & softer then adjust to give an even volume across the strings. All of the above is supposition - it would be nice if Line 6 could confirm it or otherwise, and if it is true provide an official set-up guide. I might just be contributing to internet myths and disinformation. It could be that in fact the JTV automatically trims each string every time you start it... but I doubt that is the case.

100Hz for the -3db point is barely cutting anything audible. I am not saying that this will be suitable for your situation, but double checking what I have set in reaper for recordings for our band for the male vocals I have it set up at 400Hz (can't remember if the M20d low cut cut can go that high, but if not then the other EQ can). This means that it starts cutting at about 600Hz and is -12db at about 200Hz - it lifts the not particularly high vocals out of the main contention range (mud). Good singers wouldn't necessarily need that treatment, but we aren't great singers with a high level so tend to have to get closer to the mics and the proximity effect has to be attacked hard. Don't be afraid to cut hard in the lower end on everything that doesn't have to be there which is typically just Bass and Kick. The professional settings on the M20d defaults do need to be tweaked to suit the less professional bands. I seriously suggest if you aren't doing it already getting a 32GB SD Card and recording all inputs from rehearsals and gigs and then to practice trying to get a good live recording whether just using the M20d or a DAW (I use Reaper which is very reasonably priced) - the EQ settings that you make for those live recordings can be replicated into your band set-up or into preset adjustments for your instruments. If you record the main outs as well then you will be able to hear what the PA was putting out when playing live and you can sit back and listen critically a few days later and decide whether you are happy with the sound. The ability to record without additional gear is one of the best features of the M20d, and there are loads of "tutorials" on the web that will help you with the basics of Live Sound mixing.

It sound similar to the drop-out problems that others including myself have experienced: http://line6.com/support/topic/6559-issue-volume-reduction-on-stereo-grouped-device/ http://line6.com/support/topic/10272-stagescape-m20d-sudden-loss-of-audio-output/ http://line6.com/support/topic/10197-no-output-on-the-left-side-until-and-some-questions/ It may be that connectors between the various circuit boards have become oxidised and are no longer making a good electrical connection, if your M20d is in warranty then use it and get Line 6 to look at it. If out of warranty and you are confident opening up high tech gear (or know somebody who can help you) then it is well worth giving these connections a clean (pull off, use contact or switch cleaner, push back on again) to see if that fixes the problems.

Some great advice here, but can I ask the dumb question? Do you have the Highpass Filter enabled on the Input of the vocal channels (deep tweak) and set to a suitably high value? If the low frequency noise is below the frequency range that you want to hear from the vocals then it will reduce the level significantly - it won't work so well if you have low range voices such as Bass or lower Baritone of course, but generally for amateur singers setting the filter higher works well as it also cuts the proximity effect from when they try to eat the mic in order to get the volume up, and moves the resulting vocals out of the mud range

Acoustic 5 has a body strong resonance at that F# in the model and it can be a bit overpowering - it will also appear for the same note on the A and E strings as well (or does on my guitar). It doesn't appear on other Acoustic models but I also prefer that body generally for the Acoustic sound as it sounds fuller. If it is turning into a buzz then it is probably overloading something in the signal chain. I would suggest using a parametric EQ on the HD500X at the start of the chain to cut significantly at that point - as with anything EQ on and HD this will be trial and error to find the correct % value and I suggest you find it by starting with a boost for a narrow band until you isolate the frequency and then change the boost into a cut. I have also found that as it is a body resonance that it varies with the virtual mic placement and is strongest in the middle (when the mic position is about level with the soundhole) going with mic positions by the bridge or neck and it is not quite so dominating (10 and 0 on the tone knob)

You should be able to go 4CM... Guitar -> HD500 -> HD500 FX Loop Out -> JMP-1 Guitar In -> JMP-1 FX Loop Out -> HD500 FX Loop In -> HD500 Stereo 1/4 Outs -> JMP-1 FX Loop Return -> JMP Main Out -> Power Amp -> Cab Technically that is7 if running in stereo, but that is how I would run it; then you can use the Wah, Distortions before the JMP-1 and the Delays and Reverbs after and still feed Cabs.

If only Electro Harmonix would wake up to the concept of MIDI and remote change of presets then I would be far more likely to buy their stuff - groping around on the floor to change sounds is so 1980's - I had midi control at least in the form of patch change from the Quadraverb onward.

Do you consider John Petrucci to know anything about this? If not that is fine, but he does a big cut at 750 on his boogie - you can see it here where he does a rundown of how he gets his sounds.

Helix isn't supposed to be get everything for $1499, it is get a core of stuff and then use the 4 FX loops to add in anything you want to suit your needs. It is a bargain for what you get in the box if you compared it to getting the included stuff separately.

Line 6 do not recommend an Cat 5 or 6 ethernet cable, not because it doesn't make the electrical connection, but rather because ethernet connections are designed for static equipment - the sockets are not designed to have the cable jerked around and certainly not have any significant force applied. If you connect your floor unit to you guitar and forget and walk away pulling the cable with the force of your body then you will almost certainly break the connector at one or both ends, which means broken variax or broken helix... and it would be your fault so no warranty. Ethercon cables, which is what VDI is, have a the same metal shield around them that is used for XLR mic cables (designed to take a lot of abuse) and also remove the little plastic locking clip on the ethernet cables that might make removing the cable difficult.

Any Ethercon cable can do it - I can find 50m ones on Amazon but 10m (over 30') is probably enough for most guitarist. I got mine from Andertons in the UK and I don't believe it was the Line 6 version; it is more flexible than most guitar leads and it plenty long enough for the stages and rehearsal spaces we use.

My experience has been that any electric equipment may fail or have intermittent faults but actual failures of something like a motherboard are pretty rare. My JTV-69 (2011) is working perfectly although I have managed to break off the VDI flap. My HD500 (2010) has required a little tweaking of the springs under the switches as they went intermittent as they got compressed over time but is performing perfectly. My M20d needed the connectors on the motherboard reseating as they appear to have been dislodged in transport and it working perfectly My L2t speakers are working perfectly although my first was a B Stock that cut out within seconds and got sent back as unfit for purpose. On the other hand... My really cheap Westone Spectrum with PRS replacement Pickups and Pots has noisy switches My Patrick Eggle Los Angeles has scratchy pots that I need to get cleaned and a noisy jack socket that needs tightening and resoldering My Yamaha APX had a complete failure of the pre-amp with no replacement part available and is now piezo and body mic directly connected to the socket in order to get any sound out. My Korg N364 Keyboard had some keys go dead (good cleaning fixed that) and the backlight fail completely (had to replace myself) - works perfectly. My Yamaha Motif XF6 however appears to have corrosion on the key bed circuit board that has caused a break meaning that I have 5 completely dead keys and no warranty (my most expensive musical purchase) So: All my Line 6 gear is working perfectly but has occasionally needed a little care My Korg stuff has needed repear My Yamaha kit is all broken The only way that a Variax motherboard can break - and the reason for it being on sale is because some people like replacing their strap buttons with locking ones and screw the large replacement screw through the circuit board. You might want to check and clean the connectors because they might get dislodged but actual failure of the circuit on a PCB is pretty rare (the APX was down to cheap capacitors ageing badly)

With a POD HD500 / HD500X or Helix you can get both at the same time. For example this:

I thought that the 31 band graphic was located in the speakers and set individually and is only accessible via L6Link?

JTV + PodHD + DT (Amp) is Dream Rig as originally defined Bits of this can be substituted - the processor for HDX (e.g. HD500X) or for Helix, and the DT Amp can be replaced by L2/L3 speaker(s) My rig is JTV69 + HD500 + L2t (*2)

Yes you can. The mixer on the L2t will still be mono though but both speakers will work. The only way to get a stereo sound (if you want that) is to use the L6Link or the Phono connectors

I like the idea of this, but I struggle with the math... A lot of Alex Lifeson stuff just doesn't make sense given that "Rush always can plays all of the parts live" ... except that this is sometimes loosely interpreted with Samples: http://www.2112.net/powerwindows/transcripts/19970700eq.htm

Occasional use of the long reverbs (Octo, Particle) can be very effective at giving the impression of a keyboard pad especially with trails on, but it is not something you can use all the time

As long as the minimum value on the knob on the side is set to zero (or that was the case for the HD500). One trick that you might not have thought of is that if you open the base you can pull the excess cable into the body of the pedal and leave only the minimum length you require to reach the sockets on the Helix (or other unit such as HD500) without getting in the way of the mechanism so you have have neat cables without doing anything permanent.

Where did you get this from? Nobody has told the Line 6 website - if I go to http://line6.com/products/ the top of the page is taken up with the M20d and the StageSource speakers and you have to scroll down quite a way to find the first non PA gear.

Yes the guitar matters. The processor is modelling the effects chain and amplifier, and mic and some post mic processing, but the start of everything is your playing of your guitar. That said don't forget that the sound of those bands is not just the guitar and rigs but all of the studio post processing and mastering as well so don't forget EQ both before the amp (which can change the sound of a guitar substantially) and afterwards where often very significant amounts of EQ is used to make each instrument fit into the producers idea of the correct mix. There are quite a lot of videos out there about getting the sounds of those bands out of the POD HD series so have a good search for videos and other sources and then don't forget that you need to tweak for your specific equipment and circumstances. Don't get too hung up about that perfect sound - remember to have fun and enjoy it!

I would go with the Helix out as first thing in the chain simply to avoid using two cable to the guitar It may or may not stress the electronics, but dragging two cables around probably does mechanically stress the socket and would stress me - either they are tied together and inflexible (twist them around each other before joining for best flexibility) or you have two cables to trip over!

Good luck to you all - I presume that is excluding vat; for us UK buyers the price started at £1077 last year (or something like that) and has now risen for all UK retailers to £1224 presumably because the import cost has gone up with our currency devaluation. All online retailers are of course showing exactly the same price, and the UK doesn't have the loyalty vouchers that the US gets. The problem with the big-name music manufacturers and Mom and Pop stores (to use the American phrase) is that Fender, Gibson etc. don't just have a minimum order value, but also insist on Merchandising rules as well. The way that it works from the store perspective (according to a now retired owner of a small independent musical equipment store) is something like this: M&P: I would like to order 4 of your budget range guitars please in the most commonly sold colours for $100 each Big Name: Certainly do you have an account? M&P: Yes we have been selling your stuff for years - our number is nnnnn Big Name: Ah yes, well I am sorry but your order doesn't meet the current directive, you will need to add a few other things as well. M&P: Okaaay... what would that be? Big Name: Well the minimum order is now 30 units. M&P: Ummm, that is more than we sell in 2 years but I suppose we could borrow a bit from the bank. So what will it be? Is the price less? Big Name: Yes and No. The $100 guitars are now $95 each, but you are only allowed to have 10 of those anyway. The other 20 have to be a split of 10 from the Premium Range ($899) including 5 in obnoxious colors such as puke green, and the remaining ones have to be from our Exclusive Relic range where we scuff it all up and charge only $4999 each. An absolute bargain really because the margins are so much higher on the expensive guitars. Oh and you have to sign our Merchandising Agreement too. M&P: What does that mean? Big Name: It is nothing really.. you just have to reserve a 20' long wall display section that will exclusively contain our guitars and cannot have any other products within 10', it must be immediately visible to a customer entering the store, it must use our approved fixings and obviously we get final say of whether we like how you have arranged it. That will be an additional $5000 for the shop fittings obviously M&P: &*$^"£%"!!!

:) I can do this - but I am using a JTV, so the Volume and Tone knobs are also Expression controllers (Exp3 and 4) so I can for example lower tube compressor threshold, raise the tube compressor level, and raise chorus mix as I lower the Volume knob on my guitar. You can do all this too with the Expression pedal - most of the primary controls for everything on the HD can be controlled by the same Expression pedal at the same time - so combine the Amp Gain setting (plus Tone Controls) with some FX setting changes and you can get a very large range of sounds just by rocking the expression pedal

I just link the Amp Gain to the Exp 1 Controller, and because it isn't just Gain you probably want to tweak the tone controls as well. Or you could simply have a distorted amp and place a volume pedal effect in front of it The old fashioned way to do this of course is to use those knobs things on the guitar ;) Assigning Amp controls to Controllers is covered by Glenn in this rather old video - just switch Gain for Volume and you should be good to go: