ColonelForbin

Yeah, I used to play 5-string electric bass in my old band back in the day. I went through a couple different ideas for pedalboard type gear; the ME50B, a horrendous piece of lollipop that was. Then I did use the X3Live for a while; though I didn't have a lot of luck getting it to translate well to actual amplified sound. I tried using a Keeley 4-knob comp - works wonders for guitar, terrible for 5-string bass, because it attenuates all the low end lower than the open E string right out. Not pleasant. On that note; Keeley did bring their new (not yet available) "bassist compressor" to NAMM 2014 - I am hopeful they release that thing eventually! They also brought a "compressor pro" which uses a very different design over their 'ross clone' style 2 and 4 knob comps. For comparison's sake, here is the "mark bass compressore", which is also (as are all Keeley pedals, true bypass) - however the Mark Bass comp also uses a tube. If you want to look at some cool bass gear, check out *anything* by Mark Bass! Amazing amps, really killer stuff. The key to bass fx sounding good is *low pass*, meaning, the effects should/need to allow the low freqs to pass unfiltered, and be merged with effected version of the mid and upper range of the bass note. Some bass-specific effects will allow you to dial in a sort of "cross over" effect. Also, look at getting a high quality pitch octave pedal (Mark Bass, octaver). Playing notes above the 12th fret on bass with a one or two octave drop that also allows the "dry" signal to mix with it is way cool. Oh yeah, not to be a total "pedal tease" here, esp since I ordered mine at least a month ago, and they are still building them - but the new "Keeley Neutrino" looks like it would be pretty freaking awesome on bass. :)

Hey there, anyone remember Tarcase? I remember them building custom plywood, pretty nice/heavy duty cases for the X3Live, and apparently also for the HD500. I can't seem to find them anymore online or on eBay or anything. Though, I've found someone selling a used HD500 Tarcase on Craiglist locally, was debating if I should go that route, vs. the $60 Line6 soft-side carry case. I also used to have a Rondo case back in the day for my X3L, but I needed to do a fair amount of work to line the lid with foam and do it up with velcro. Thoughts? Anyone have any other awesome ideas, opinions, or directions to point me in>? Thanks!! :)

Yeah; out here in Chicago - my buddy was in a band, where they had to *buy* tickets to their own show, and then sell them to their friends, which determined how much they (didn't) get paid. So Shady!!!!! The general consensus is that "pay to play" is a bogus bunch of horse-lollipop.

Here is the link to the M20d recording I did of my buddy Patrick Gemkow doing his solo-acoustic thing at Smoke Daddy in Chicago. I hadn't yet learned how to do the input gain, so the levels were realllly low in the .wav files. 24 bit gives you a lot of headroom apparently, because the levels were loud and clear to the house PA / mixer. Go figure! Makes me realize you want to set your input trim conservatively, you are better off with a .wav file that looks like it's too low, and boost it rather than one that is set too hot and clips! Anyway, forgive my somewhat novice mixing skills, and over-zealous use of compressor plugins.. I ended up mixing this on Adobe Audition because it's what I know, but I am in the process of learning to use my Pro Tools 11 - bit of a learning curve there! lol :) Patrick Gemkow : Live at Smoke Daddy - March 27, 2014 If you dig into the extended presets for input sources, there is one in there for cajon! The drummer I jam with actually builds cajons, pretty cool instrument. We did some recording at his rehearsal space, he was on drum kit and his son was playing the cajon - but I didn't have the M20d long at that point, and had not yet learned how to adjust the input trim settings Here is a link to the Facebook page for his custom cajon designs - the guy is a top shelf carpenter, his primary business is home remodel and renovation - good stuff! TDC Custom Cajons

First, I will answer with my opinion, then explain why. Is the M20d overkill for solo gigs? Not At All!! Why do I say this? For the purpose of *recording* yourself with extra mics that *do not get sent to the main mix*... I can actually send you a link to my SoundCloud page; I recorded a buddy at his solo acoustic gig, using the M20d, where I had to feed the house PA / sound system which powered the mains and monitors. Came out rather interesting; I didn't even have the input gains set up all - had to normalize all the .wav files just to mix - but the 24 bit on the M20d gives you massive noise free headroom. It's really impressive. I did the following: -guitar into passive DI, XLR to the M20d. -vocal mic into the M20d. > M20d monitor send 1, vocals only to the house PA > M20d monitor send 2, guitar DI only to the house PA *then* I added: -a Shure Beta 57a as a guitar mic, ran it only to recording -an Audix ADX51 condensor mic as an 'overhead', also only to recording Treat every performance as a chance to capture an amazing multi-track recording of yourself. Treat the main mix like a monitor mix, and make a monitor mix that you can perform well and hear yourself, and always add an extra couple of mics that don't end up being sent anyway, except to the "input channels" that get recorded when you run multi-track recording on the M20d. Point a mic at the crowd, set up a stereo pair around yourself, close mic your guitar, add an extra mic as a 'backup' vocal mic, do a bunch of cool, extra stuff, that is 100% for the recording. You won't regret it. The M20d makes it too dang easy, so why not! Cheers!

Sort of - but not in the manner in which the HD500 is used, as an ASIO soundcard. You would need some type of soundcard that can take audio input, to a recording software. For example, an external soundcard, M-audio, etc. - or even the built in soundcard depending on your computer. Here's why it's not ideal - you have to use the 1/8" headphone jack out of the AMPLiFi - which disables the AMPLiFi speaker! So, you would also need to have a second speaker system that would monitor the audio signal going to the computer / soundcard. If you want to do any type of overdubbing, like record a drum track, then a rhy guitar track, then a lead, etc., you'd need the soundcard to be full-duplex at minimum, and you'd need to be able to adjust your buffers to achieve minimal latency. For example, the HD500 has a pretty low latency for use in that type of situation - whereas the M20d mixer when used via USB to a computer is reported to have HORRIBLE latency! However, that's not what it's primarily intended for, so it makes sense - it's a live mixer than happens to allow multi-track recording. So, that's the scoop. I like the *idea* of the AMPLiFi, and it does surprise me slightly that with such a cool, high tech idea, they didn't include either a DI out / Line out - neither XLR or 1/4", and unless they add the recording / soundcard / ASIO type USB connection to a future firmware update, it also doesn't offer any recording option. Such it is with these things! I bought a DT25 just before the big AMPLiFi press release, and they had me worried with all that hype; in some ways I am glad it doesn't rival the DT amps, because I am still making installment payments until August on the DT25! lol Best of luck :)

Here are those four variations on his "Rads Acoustic DT" extracted from the patch bundle, and just as four patches in a .zip file Rads Acoustic DT.zip

Ahh, a good point! I totally forgot to mention - when using something like the L2t/m, since it's "full range / flat response", that means you have to use the "full" amp models. In which case, you won't need to jump through any special hoops to get the JTV acoustic models to sound good. The trick with the DT amps, is you are using only the "PRE" versions (preamp only) of the amp models, and all the power amp portion of the modeling is left out, and created by the Bogner portion of the DT amp - actual tubes, actual analog relays. As as result, concerning DSP usage, the PRE versions of the amp models use far, far less DSP. For those interested in radatats HD500 / DT amp / JTV acoustic patch idea, the links to his patches are here: ( you can also try to search customtone for "Rads Acoustic DT") http://share.cx.com/yGRXwV some threads discussing the idea, here is the summary he wrote: "- Set input to Variax, same. (you may need to change from global to preset which may mean checking all your other patches) - make a dual channel setup with Fliptop pre amp in channel A with no cab, change topology to III. (topology III changes the physical settings in the power section and just gets that nice sort of resonance you would expect from an acoustic) - no amp in channel B. - in the mixer Mute channel A, channel B to 0 or higher if needed, and center both channels. - place Tile reverb as last effect in chain. - place a graphic EQ in the pre section with the two lower sections set to -2db, top 2 knobs to +1db. (adjust to taste, this worked for my cab)"

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/DT50-212 (says it's in stock)

Yeah, I had done some input level setting using the auto-trim feature, and ended up having to adjust the input trims after we got the levels more dialed in. I did cause a massive feedback meltdown that was 100% user error - turned up the input gain and channel volume while the monitor send was all the way down; once I got that sorted it was all good. I think I will want to play around more with some of those settings in deep tweak, just so I trust myself to adjust things there, and understand what I did, and how to undo it if I mess up! ;) I had been holding off on sending it back, we had a totally fine rehearsal couple Saturdays ago, recording actually came out semi-decent, for as not-yet-all-together our playing is! Then, the drummer sold his house in record time - 8 days or something! So, that cancelled the practice we were going to have this most recent Saturday past, and I cleared all my gear out of there on Tuesday - that night I booted up the M20d, and had the issue - and figured, good timing to send it back; I figured I would be out of a mixer for a week or so, didn't think they would step up and send me a new one right away! :)

Yeah, major props to Sweetwater! They sent the replacement yesterday, it arrived today at noon, and FedEx picked up the return; Sweetwater sent me a return label, and they paid for the return shipping and were super quick, prompt and uber-pro about handling it. Big props to Ray Leach and Stephen Gallagher at Sweetwater; thanks guys!!! :)

Check the position of the little switch on the back of the HD500, make sure it's set to "stomp" and NOT to "line" The most likely answer is the problem is with your cry baby wah. Unless there is some hardware problem with your HD500, or possibly an issue with how you are setting the levels before / after the FX loop. I am guessing your wah is not 'true bypass'? Do you notice noise when the wah is switched off? The wah should be the *first* thing in your signal chain. One trick you could try, if you have to place the wah into the FX loop (example, if you are using a JTV using VDI to the HD500) would be place a noise gate right after the FX loop. The second link has info on which Cry Baby models are which type of bypass wiring : -H = hardwire bypass -T = true hardwire -B = buffered -HR = hardwire relay -TR = true hardwire relay http://www.jimdunlop.com/blog/what-you-need-to-know-about-true-bypassing/ http://issuu.com/jimdunlopusa/docs/bypass_spreadsheet_sheet1/1?e=0 For example, if you have a "vintage" effect pedal that only sounds awesome when it's ON, but sucks the life out of your tone, or induces a bunch of noise while off, or does other problematic negative things to your sound, you could use a "true bypass" effects loop pedal, something like the Keeley effects loop pedal. The problem pedal would be ON all the time, and you would switch it in or out of your signal path by switching the FX loop pedal on and off - when it's off your signal would remain "true" bypass, and when on, the effect pedal would be engaged. Something like that might help with your wah issue. Here is a link: (it's showing as $99 on the Keeley website, but Sweetwater, and various online vendors have them for $85. I bought one of these for use with a Memory Man delay pedal; haven't had a chance to try it out yet, but I think that it will help *alot* with a non-true bypass pedal situation. Keeley Effect Loop Pedal (True Bypass) Keeley Effect Loop Pedal (Sweetwater) "Connect any effect to this unit that is "old school" and not true-bypass. In particular Vintage wahs, echoes, phasers, fuzz face type pedals, or even new effects that might have a weak bypass system. These elderly effects rob tone when they are off. Now you can make them truly bypassed when off with this little box."

Yeah, I still like this idea, looking to get it finally incorporated into my bank as the 'D' option. I have just recently decided I want to start reprogramming my patches using the FS1-8 option, instead of just doing FS1-4, and using the bottom row to change patches. I get more out of switching multiple HD500 effect and outboard effects (Keeley) on/off rather than switching to a new patch. Invariably I always end up accidentally switching to patch D anyway, when I am trying to set the tap tempo, or sometimes when I am working the expression pedal. I put this in another post, but I'd have the same configuration of effects in each patch, change the amp model, and set patch D to use radatats acoustic-JTV-DT patch idea, with the fliptop, the empty amp slot B, and the topology III.

Here's a quick mock up patch concept, going toward that "multiple FS 1-8 with an FX loop for external pedal" setup; I still always end up not defining FS3, but I have the rest of the FS defined to control an effect. I put the effects I am most likely to toggle on/off more often in the bottom row (FS5-8), and the others on the top bank (FS1,2,4) since they will most likely stay on; but I like the idea of being able to turn on off the FX loop if something goes wrong with the outboard pedals, or switch on/off the noise gate as needed. I am just recently liking the idea of having the extra control over things like the FX loop and the noise gate - which I typically just left "on"; or the ability to control multiple reverbs and multiple delays - rather than just leave the '63 spring on all the time, or toggle between the '63 spring and something like the hall verb or the particle verb (which is a wayyy cool effect, can be totally chaos, but at low enough mix levels, can create a very subtle background texture that sounds like waves on the ocean or wind and rain - I like it alot!) So, I've made the offline patches; I created 5 banks using the same FX layouts in all, just altered the amp model, all using the 'PRE' versions for use with DT25 / L6Link. Haven't tried these at home yet with the gear, so I expect that the levels are pretty off, just to illustrate the signal chain thought process. The 'D' bank in each is set to force the JTV to that acoustic model, and the typology is set to III on all bank 'D'. I need to explore a bit more on those patches. I also switched out the wah on the acoustic patches for a volume pedal. It doesn't want to save the setting offline, where you set the expression pedal EXP2 to control the amp volume - will have to tweak that at home when I have all the gear together, see what happens then - it just keeps defaulting back to drive / none - not sure why... It lists "CH VOL*" as an option, but with an asterix* next to it. 1A: J45 1B: TWEED 1C: PLEXI 1D: Martin D28 [JTV acoustic#1 ] 2A: P75 2B: FENDER 'LUX 2C: J-800 2D: Martin O18 [JTV acoustic#3 ] 3A: DR-Z 3B: FENDER DOUBLE 3C: DIVIDED/13 3D: GIBSON J200 [JTV acoustic#5 ] 4A: HIWAY 4B: VOX A-15 4C: VOX A-30 4D: MARTIN D12 [JTV acoustic#2] 5A: SLO CLEAN 5B: SLO CRUNCH 5C: SLO OVERDRIVE 5D: GUILD F12 [JTV acoustic#4 ] Here's the basic layout, including the external Keeley pedals in the two FX loops: JTV59 > VDI > HD500 > Wah (toe switch/EXP1) > [HD500 FX LOOP SEND]> :Keeley Neutrino envelope filter> :Keeley 4-knob compressor> :Keeley Bootlegger overdrive> :Keeley White Sands luxe drive> :Keeley Time Machine clean boost> [FX RETURN]> [*Amp Model*] > '63 Spring verb [FS4] > Hall verb [FS5] > Particle verb [FS6]> Dynamic Delay [FS7]> Digital Delay w/ Mod [FS8]> [LINE 6 LINK TO DT25]> [DT25 FX LOOP SEND]> :Keeley Seafoam chorus> [DT25 FX LOOP RETURN]> [DT25 XLR OUT]>

I'd have to say "maybe"... I think what the L2m would offer you, without substantially changing your current rig, is a dedicated floor monitor for your HD500, because you could still feed the FOH mix with the stereo XLR from the HD500 - while connecting the L6Link to the L2m. I haven't messed around much with using my L2t as an amp with my HD500; but with that route I would lean more towards adjusting some of the EQ as the other posters suggested, and maybe use a combination of your in-ear for the band mix, and the vocals, and use the L2 as your primary guitar monitor. I would imagine if your patch cuts well and sounds right coming out of an L2, it should also sound pretty good in the main mix. For me, I realized I liked the more 'traditional' guitar amp sound as my monitor. The sound of actual tubes and power amp interaction, paired with a nice Celestion speaker. Nothing against the full-range, flat-response that the HD500 is capable of; it just "felt" right coming through the DT25, in ways that I didn't get previously. It may just be due to laziness on my part; instead of spending the time sculpting my HD500 patches, I just let the DT25 do what guitar amps do, which in a lot of ways, creates a natural pleasing to the ear sculpting of the tone. Alot of the "high def" audio we get used to hearing in live broadcast, studio recordings, live concerts - much of that is occuring way, way "post" - it's not originating on stage, it's from behind the mixing console, with plugins, multi-band compression, stereo expanders - all of the stuff you can do with Pro Tools to make your mix pop, is what professional audio engineers are doing to a mic on an amp, and a vocal, and a snare mic, kick mic, bass DI - if the stage mix was that hi-fi, I think it might be a bit of a mess. That's to me, why there are two mixes - main and monitor. A total aside to that, at some point along the way, Phil Lesh decided it would be a cool idea, along with the board recordings they were making (Betty Cantor, best of the best at making that mix!) Phil decided they should record the monitor mixes. Very interesting side-by-side listening experience. Two different world of sound. Which sort of comes full circle, to my take on it, which is - the pairing of the DT25 + HD500 is a heck of a powerful amp switching tool. First and foremost, that is the #1 most valuable function it offers. That you can integrate various external pedals into the FX loops of both, even while utilizing the L6link, makes it that much more functional. In some ways, I think alot of us get hung up on "stereo", when in most cases, live at least, stereo is a detriment to the tone, rather than an enhancement. For me, the DT25 forces me to think "mono", and get through the hurdles of programming, and narrowing the "Way too many choices" panic reaction effect that working too much with tweaking this gear can cause. At this point, I am even considering going to the alternate FS setup, and limiting myself to like, four main patches, and then possibly, a couple banks following that pattern. Like, 1A, 1B, 1,C, 1D; 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, and set them up with the same footswitch assignments in all patches - make the 'D' bank acoustic JTV friendly (do the radatats option, where you define two amp blocks, just select one amp model, leave one blank, turn down the actual amp model all the way, use the blank channel to pass signal direct to the DT power amp, and select a good typology and class to best reproduce JTV acoustic models - he's got a more detailed explanation floating around in various posts - worth a try, check it out - works quite well) - anyway, 'C' bank is lead, 'B' bank is crunch, 'A' bank is clean. I'd choose a few of the amp models I like the best, and maybe switch each patch according to a good amp choice for each intent. I use the Plexi alot, for almost everything, but the various other Fender and Marshall models all sit in the right vibe for where I end up going. I've been adding external (Keeley) pedals to the mix, to free up more FS settings - which is why I mention the FS programming. How many people prefer having instant access to four patches, and using just the four FS switches? I've almost always done that; and very rarely bothered to program the full bank of 8 FS settings - where you use the toggle up/down bank switches on the left side to trigger a patch change. Leaning heavily toward that concept; rather than programming out each patch to change so many multiple settings, or be "just right", I lean toward "controlled chaos", where the programming ensures that any given effect on/off, in conjunction with most any other efffect on/off, creates a decent tonal combination. I'd rather be choosing between on/off for three or four external pedals, and 8 FS switches, to have full control over each and every effect block in each patch. Sort of 'back to the drawing board'. Alot of that vibe is coming to me from interacting with the sound, from the DT25. It's a subtle distinction, but they key is - your amp sound is your amp sound; and the sound of a mic on that amp is a different thing. It's up to you to make your amp sound right to get your tone - it's up to the mic on your amp to get that sound to the audience or the recording. While the HD500 does a great job of both of these things - it cannot do them both at the SAME TIME. Meaning, you are either listening to the "control room" version of your amp with a mic on it (Studio Direct) or you are listening to your "Actual Amp" sound - Combo/Poweramp, as in using the L6Link to a DT25. I ended up realizing I preferred the sound of the amp to the mic'd up / studio direct tone; and the DT25 gives you that "mic modelled' signal back, as the XLR out from the DT25. So, that's my reasoning, and where I am going with my rig. That' just me though - but thinking about how hearing your tone and the source of it - a mic on your amp being presented through full range speakers; or an amp with it's guitar voiced speaker and tubes - that's the most important decision / factor which will most properly influence your choice of gear. It's far less logical, it's a matter of the heart, and what moves you to play better and with more soul, with your being in the notes, rather than your head stressing the technical details.

You can achieve exactly what you are trying to do; here is what to do: set up dual inputs paths on the HD500. make input 1 guitar, make input 2 mic. create a dual amp path, leave the bottom path as "no amp", set the top path as the amp model you want to use to go to your actual amp. make sure ALL fx blocks are moved into the TOP amp channel path - leave NONE in the 'pre' single position before the amp splitter. Same goes for post FX - move ALL post FX into the top amp path. You should now have your signal that would go to the amp in the top amp path, and nothing in the bottom amp path. Go to the mixer settings, and pan them both hard Left and Right. Connect the left 1/4" out from the POD to the FX return of your amp. Put your HD500 in "combo/poweramp" mode. This will disable the mic modelling. I *don't think* you would need to place a "dummy" 1/4" cable into the right output of the POD, but you *might* need to, so it doesn't do a mono sum of the two channels and cause that feedback. If you prefer, another option would be "Studio Direct", which would include mic modelling; though that won't create an ideal signal for your SM57 mic. So for now, lets stick with the Combo/Poweramp mode. One note to that - not sure how those output modes impact the mic signal, since you are not running it through an amp or processing it. You may want to try both, and see if one sounds any better than the other. Last, go into the mixer section, and increase the level of path B until you get decent levels in your recording software. A note on output modes - if you end up in Studio/Direct, you can get a decent recording ready signal from the path A as well as the mic in path B - but if you are in combo/poweramp, etc - any mode other than studio/direct, don't even bother recording that input path A, it will be configured to sound good through your amp only, and won't translate well to recording. Essentially arm the recording software to a mono track and record of the 1/2 pair, 2 only. Here is a sample patch; I created this offline, so you'd need to tweak the FX and amp model choice, settings to what you want to do with your tone. I boosted that mic input 2 level +6db in the mixer; you may need to adjust that to less or more, depending. Amp+SM57 dual input.zip

Got two more 'drive' type pedals on order (more Keeley!); should have those in a couple of weeks, will report back when I have a chance to mess around with the best way I come up to integrate outboard pedals into the "dream rig". Definitely a nice option to open up a couple of FS assignments that I was typically programming as overdrive and compressor. Replacing those slots with outboard compressor and overdrives will leave me some room to mess with some of the phasers / mods / envelope type FX; or even just keep it simple and mess with some basic EQ, dunno. I am a sucker for new Keeley stuff; they released a lighter intensity drive pedal that should pair nicely with the other overdrive that I snagged. I also noticed that they redesigned the 'Time Machine' boost pedal as of May 2014; they added a third voicing setting on the vintage side, and lowered the price. It's actually a clean boost - incorporates the Katana boost and the Java boost. I like to use drives with the HD500 in a more subtle way anyway, so these are right up the alley. I typically set the amp model to be near tube breakup tone, and let the boosts add a bit of extra sumthin' while pushing the drives a little harder, but near enough to that edge that I can roll off the guitar volume to clean up the tone a touch without dropping the volume. The funniest thing about searching Google for Keeley is all the mostly nude pics you get of some totally unrelated model type lady who happens to be named Keeley! lol Keeley White Sands - Luxe Drive Keeley Time Machine Boost (redesigned May 2014) I have two ideas I still need to try, both involve running the JTV in dual mode - one idea, split the inputs into variax and mags, run the mags through the outboard pedals. Another idea that just occured to me, is run the 1/4" from the JTV into the drive pedals *before* the HD500, and also connect the VDI. This would put the boosts before the wah, but that's not too big of an issue. I would just merge those signals right up front, and then that would free me up to run the FX loop in the post-amp slot, and maybe put the chorus and compressor there, if I don't keep it up front. There are pros and cons to both, and I might just be overcomplicating something that should be relatively simple - ahhhhh, the joys of modern extra complex digital fancy stuff :)

Yeah, It's pretty strange - when it works, it works perfectly! I figured it must be something going on with the recording, or the SD card - it seems to exhibit the symptom when I shut it down while leaving a scene / setup "open". THOUGH, it had this problem from day one, "new" out of the box, so I don't think it's anything I am doing wrong. It should be able to power down and power on and the touch screen should still work; and the problem with the calibration not functioning properly makes me think it's got a hardware issue, in terms of how it senses the screen being touched. I emailed my rep at Sweetwater, have some downtime with the band right now - drummer just sold his house! That's where we rehearse, so I just cleared a car load of my gear out there, which makes it easier to work on my rig and patches at home now, which is what led me to realizing the M20d was still acting up. I am still definitely enthusiastic about this gear, I eagerly await a replacement from Sweetwater that works properly right out of the box. We did a recording at our last rehearsal, right before the drummer put their house on the market, and I am getting some nice tracks which are mixing pretty well. I need to spend more time just reading the manual now! One thing I can say, it's worth learning the "deep tweak" right away, it's crucial to getting the input gain set properly.

Will try some more recording / routing options tonight. For round two, I am going to try a version that splits the variax modelled / piezo and magnetics into two signal paths / dual amp setup. For that I will only run the magnetic pickups through the fx loop / keeley pedals, with the vdi being the input to the HD500, but keeping the piezos / variax models all digital. likely something that splits the chain up front and then recombines it post-amp to run through reverbs and delay input 1=variax input 2 =variax mags VDI > HD500 > split dual amp path > .. input1 (variax) > wah1 > tube drive(fs1) > amp model > input2 (mags) > wah2 > fx loop out > keeley overdrive > keeley 4-knob comp > keeley chorus > return > noise gate > amp model > > reverb1:'63 spring (fs2) > reverb 2:particle verb > digital delay. Variax_Split Mags.zip

my M20d touch screen is on the fritz again :( I had to reboot it *several times* last night (more than 10 to 15), It took almost a half an hour to get from first boot up and attempt, to actual calibration success. It would load fine, then the touch screen wouldn't respond to anything. I would then load it into the "setup / calibration" mode, pressing the setup button on start up. I had to do this over and over before it would even properly run the touch screen configuration. I would press the perform button to start the touch screen calibrate, and it flashed the cross mark for less than a second, then snaps back to the main screen, but booting from there still left me with a non-functional touch screen. Then after several reboots it would sometimes display the first (top left) calibrate red cross, but touching and holding didn't function properly, it's supposed to switch to green and say release, and it just stayed red and was stuck - rebooted over and over and over again. It finally, randomly, for no apparent reason, eventually allowed me to perform the screen calibrate. Needless to say, it's going back to Sweetwater tomorrow, to get repaired or replaced. :(

Ok mixed bag, but I did get a chance to hook up my rig at home, and run some pedals in the FX loops. First thing, dannnggggg, Blackhawks lost 0-4; glad I was playing guitar that whole time.. ;) Anyway, in short, here's what I got -DT25 FX loop works just fine while using L6Link from the HD500. -Placing the Keeley 4-knob compressor in the HD500 effect loop also works nicely, with: --- noise gate after the FX loop block --- hd500 drive FX before the FX loop (screamer, tube drive,etc) -Keeley (bootlegger) overdrive also did well in the FX loop, before the Keeley compressor Some interesting things occur when you set the Keeley to clamp down the output volume somewhat, while juicing the sustain and input gain. *Almost* allowed me to control the volume jump from the magnetic pickups to the modelled variax. But not quite - though tamed that a good bit - may be time to update the JTV firmware and take a pass at learning Workbench HD.. I tried using HD500 drive effects before and after the Keeley with mixed results. Before actually warms them up nicely, and keeps volume jumps from getting to severe. Allows rolling off the guitar volume to clean up the tone without dropping much volume. Using the HD500 drives/boosts after the fx loop block acted more like a clean boost; I ended up trying different boosts and compressors here, with also mixed results. Wah through the fx loop into the Keeley was a bit weird, I need to tweak some settings there, try different wah models, and maybe even control the sweep range to keep it from getting too treble or bass intensive. Chorus pedal in the DT25 effects loop seemed to be the best place overall for it; though it did weird things (not all bad) when I used the looper, and the playback went through the chorus pedal. I also moved the chorus to after the Keeley compressor in the effects loop, and that sounds pretty nice - though it definitely wants to be a post-amp effect rather than pre-amp model. Last but not least, my M20d touch screen is on the fritz again :( I had to reboot it *several times* (more than 10 to 15), load into the "setup / calibration" mode, and do this over and over before it would even properly run the touch screen configuration. I press the button to start the touch screen calibrate, and it flashes the cross mark for less than a second, then snaps back to the main screen, but booting from there still left me with a non-functional touch screen. Then after several reboots it would sometimes display the first (top left) calibrate red cross, but touching and holding didn't function properly, it's supposed to switch to green and say release, and it just stayed red and was stuck - rebooted over and over and over again. It finally, randomly, for no apparent reason, eventually allowed me to perform the screen calibrate. It took almost a half an hour to get from first boot up and attempt, to actual calibration success. Needless to say, it's going back to Sweetwater tomorrow, to get repaired or replaced. :(

You will need to set up a dual-amp, dual-path, panned hard left and right patch. I created a quick "Sample" patch which illustrates this in a basic manner. Input 1= variax Input 2 = guitar FS1= boost comp / red comp FS2 = tube drive / screamer FS3 = '62 spring / hall reverb FS4 = digital delay / dynamic delay I set the footswitches in a simple way, it's not ideal for actual playing, because each FS turns on/off both channels effect. IE, fs1 will toggle both compressors, fs2 will toggle both drives, fs3 both reverbs, fs4 both delays. You need to, as you will see in the patch (it's in the attached .zip file) drag all the pre and post FX blocks into the two amp channels so as to keep the two inputs divided. The mixer also needs to be panned hard left and right, as it's set in the patch. In this case "path A" is panned left, and that's the Variax, "path B" is panned right, and that's the Guitar. Keep the output mode as "studio direct". Run the left XLR out to the PA. Run the right 1/4" out to the FX return on your amplifier. Dual Tone_Left-Right.zip

Yes- to stay more on topic, I should have focused on that among the Keeley pedals I got is an sweet overdrive pedal! It's actually a Sweetwater exclusive from Keeley, they did a germanium transistor version of the 'Red Dirt' overdrive pedal that Keeley makes. (germanium in place of the silicon) I will finally get a chance to mess with all of this stuff *tonight*! Our rehearsal on Saturday had to be cancelled; the drummer sold his house! So I was moving a car full of my gear out of there last night, so I finally have my HD500, all my Keeley pedals, my DT25, my pair of L2t's, and my M20d all at home to mess with. Planning to do some recording samples tonight of what happens when I plug all this stuff together. I got a little off topic with the Neutrino, and the chorus pedals and stuff - although, the Keeley "fx loop" pedal actually turned out to be pretty interesting, it runs either with no power, or with standard 9v power - but not with battery. It may be not needed for going this route meshing pedals into the HD500 and DT25 FX loops. But will give it a good test run tonight, focused primarily on the Keeley overdrive pedal in the HD500 FX loop - most likely right after the wah FX block. (using VDI from the JTV to the HD500, so can't put pedals between the guitar and the HD500). The Neutrino hasn't arrived yet, alas, so getting super funky will have to wait... I feel about the same way about the HD500 mutron / qtron type envelope FX as I do about the HD500 overdrives and distortions - they work, they sound decent, I tend to not dig as deep as is possible with them though, and that's where the Neutrino fits into this discussion, it's an envelope type filter that I am interested in using in conjunction with drive pedals, to get that "sound"... Thing "Estimated Prophet" Grateful Dead, or even some of the tone Jerry used when they would play "Dancing in the Streets". Touch senstive effect, the harder you hit the notes and guitar, the more the effect opens up. Last but not least, in more of the overdrive world, will be pairing the Keeley four knob compressor as an outboard effect right after the overdrive pedal. I Like the HD500 compression effects as a "boost", almost like a clean boost with some EQ shaping, but it doesn't come close to that sound you get with a Keeley; the "Ross clone" kind of thing. The four knob is a touch better than the two knob- it takes the two settings which are internal in the two-knob version, and makes them external. I like the sound of a overdrive pedal hitting a compressor pedal, where you can drag out the sustain by 'holding back' the output volume while juicing the input level and sustain / compression effect. That's what I am hoping to achieve anyway - may also try running the HD500 overdrive / distortion blocks BEFORE the FX loop send, so those also get 'tamed' by the outboard Keeley comp, but quite frankly I have no idea what those will do with each other - could be brilliant, could end up a noise inducing mess with too much A<D and D<A conversion going on. We'll see... Here's to true bypass, playing with pedals and watching playoff HOCKEY!! (Blackhawwwwkkkkkkkssss! ) :)

Definitely worth spending a little extra $$ on a proper VDI cable, especially if you are going from the JTV to an HD500. The chinese made Line6 brand cable is acceptable, but it's not great - I started with it, then someone here pointed me towards a company in Illinois, called BestTronics. Wayyyyyyyyyyyyy better quality. http://btpa.com/98-030-004-XXX.html

Yeah, that makes sense - I didn't have a good sense of scale until I saw them all in a Guitar Center. The L3S (subs) are *really* big, much larger footprint that the L2t and L3t. I have read that people are using L3t as a bass amp actually; there is a cool article on the Line6 news section about bassist Abraham Laboriel, Sr using one: http://line6.com/news/general/1465 I haven't pumped alot of real low end through my L2t's, just a touch of bass guitar DI and kick drum mic when we rehearse.