psarkissian

" I think I'm starting to get why this is a "touchy" issue! It's the digital vs analog thing! "--- close,... it's an impedance, current draw, load thing. Running both outputs simultaneously puts a current draw load that it was not designed to handle. Good guess though. "... should only be one power source at a time. "--- yes, very good, that too. It goes back to the load thing. Also TS vs TRS. Since the mid 1970's, when us crazy circuit geeks did active guitar circuits, TRS (tip/ring/sleeve) plugs have always been used. It became something of the de-facto standard back then. The same pin-out is used today,... tip= signal, ring= +Vdc, sleeve= the return (ground). " First the A2D converters are probably different - Helix might have better converters. Second is the Helix 1/4" input has wide dynamic range and programmable input impedance, the input preamps might be better in Helix than in Variax. Finally, the Line6 VDI cable is 25' long. That's a lot of opportunity for jitter and noise to get into the digital signal and cause errors at the Helix input. "--- good guess, not quite. Sync issues were a bit of a glitch with the X3 Live a while back (USB recording). I made a big deal about it, engineering has been more aware of sync issues since then. When using the VDI, use the L6 25ft cable, that's for playing through. Don't use that short thing that comes with the guitar, that's for connecting to Line 6 Monkey for Updates, and Workbench HD for doing custom patching, uploading and downloading patches,... don't play through that. Very good, nothing gets by you two. Keep it up. :)

Yes. But it will have a very dark tone to it. And remember the caveats,... Line 6 does not support modifications to it's products. If it adversely affects the function of the guitar, the modifications would void any warranty. So be careful what you modify, and how you modify it. The postings in the Knowledge Base are an informative. We do not know the abilities of, or vouch for those not part of the network of authorized service centers. I see too many who tell us they know what they are doing, only to have their guitar on my repair bench a couple of weeks later. BTW,... cannot send it to me to do the mods, we don't have a custom shop for that (everybody asks that). Want you to go into this with eyes open. This is not the usual passive guitar electronics of old. It's a whole other critter, so treat it as such. Just a few things to be aware.

At a DCR or DC/Bulk resistance spec of 15.2k-Ohms, that will have a very dark tone to it. Variax is not a guitar with passive electronics, the active circuits require impedance matching. So keep it in that 6k-Ohms to 8k-Ohms range.

For single coil use this diagram,... For humbucker, use JTV69 humbucker on this diagram,... And make sure the pick-ups you are using have a DC/Bulk resistance specification of between 6k-Ohms to 8k-Ohms, or the tone colour (EQ) won't sound right.

Hanex Waaier 36 VW Leimuiden, 2451 Phone: +31172506993 Email: info@hanexservice.nl URL: http://www.hanexservice.n https://line6.com/find/service_center/

cbrillow,... correct. Anything below v2.00 will not work with Workbench HD, so the original Workbench would have to be used. There is no compatibility or portability between the between the two versions.

Main board or the controls, some short or control failure. Log a Support Ticket in your account. Also check for the nearest authorized service center in your area that deals with our guitars. https://line6.com/find/service_center/ This is not a user repairable issue.

Follow the instructions on re-Flashing the firmware to the factory defaults.

Are you using original Workbench or Workbench HD?

What arislaf said. I've only seen that happen once.

Yes, but have the set-up checked afterwards, as the tension will change, and the set-up along with it. And what arislaf said.

Leaving it in the guitar unplugged will take about a week to trickle away and run down even with nothing turned on. If you leave batteries in a flashlight for a long time, they too will trickle down over time. It's not a perfect brick-wall shunt. Use only the "real" specified 98-034-0003 batteries, no cheap substitutes or video cam substitutes, they are nothing but trouble. Internal current controls in the battery, battery box, the charger and the Variax processor board are matched to function optimally with one another.

Try saving it thru Workbench as part of a custom patch.

Luck.

Frankg111,... it may be a case of an intermittent connection, the battery box circuit might be sending a false low battery signal to the processor board.