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I have found a local tech, that I trust, to do this mod. I need to get the switches. Any idea as to which kind I need? Momentary? SPDT? DPDT? Carling? Thanx.

I found two places and wondered if anyone had experience. R3FX is one, and JHV3 (http://www.jhv3.com/m-series-mods/). Wondered about quality of mod, turnaround, etc., I'm sure I probably could do it myself with all the tutorials, but don't have a bunch of experience working on circuit boards and do not have the patience. I'd much rather spend the $75-$100 for the mod. I could also continue to realign/adjust the current switches when they fail because of a jar or such, but would really rather be done with the plunger system. Thanx!

Well... it works fine with the 1/4"... power supply, or batteries. The VDI finally worked and it was nice to be able to use it with the X3 Live. However, half way through the night it died. Haven't had time to check anything else. The 700 is definitely the better guitar, but not glitch free. Have brand new cables been known to fail immediately? I noticed where the shrink wrap stops, it looks a little bent... kinda like the cable had been bent at a 90 degree angle. More as I know it.

I recently acquired a used 700 on eBay for an amazing deal. 1st impressions... it plays and feels better. The controls feel much tighter and better. I was able to load a recent bundle backup from my 600 to the 700 so I'd be familiar with what was on board. Used it at a few rehearsals with the battery pack, and the power supply at different times; solid as a rock... no issues. On 11/2, its first gig was at a private party. I ran it via the VDI cable, as I had earlier while loading the new bundle and playing with it at home. Half way through the night, it just quit. I'm not positive if I had not programmed the X3 Live to allow the Variax as input, or what, but I had to switch to my standby guitar. I have not had the chance to plug everything up and see if it still fails. I notice that I had trouble getting Workbench to discover the Variax via the VDI/X3L, but figured it was the computer I was using. The VDI is brand new and has only been used since I bought this 700 a few weeks ago. Could I have a bad cable? I was beginning to think the 700 was going to be an error free experience... obviously I was wrong.

Reading through the manuals... it appears the X3L Bubble Eko is a modified Sweep Echo. I guess I could mess with that. Has anyone else done something similar? Thanx.

No, huh?

I have two rigs; one that has an M9 for most all effects and one that is just the X3Live. Depending on the size of the room, or the band I'm playing with, I bring both, but use one or the other. Just found a patch I like on my X3L, Bubble Eko. There are a few tunes that would work well on. Checked on my M9; not there. Also found out pitch shifter and harmonizer that I love on the M9 aren't on the X3L. Has anyone come up with something that sounds close to the Bubble Eko on the M9? Thanx

Nope... not at all. When you take between $400. - $600. and split it between 5 or 6 people, a sound company, and an agent... it doesn't go very far. If you do get them up to a reasonable amount, then they cut your shows down. Good thing I enjoy playing... I do that for free... they pay me to haul all the crap, set it up, and tear it down.

The tape didn't hold. As the night wore on, I guess the heat from the LEDs or something loosened it and the foot switches began to fail. So... now, I am going to try something else. I have these self adhesive backed anchors for cable ties. I will attempt to attach them to the chassis under the circuit board, then use a cable tie to snug it down. Found the springs and plungers but Full Compass sells the complete foot switch, stand-off, spring, and plunger as an assembly for $5. I've e-mailed them to see if they sell the springs and plungers... more as I know it.

Being unemployed and getting paid the same for gigs as I did in 1982... gotta save money where I can.

The foot swtches are not real stomp box foot switches. You have a spring and a plastic plunger (kind of like a tack) in the foot switch itself. When you press on the foot switch the spring and plunger press on a rubber touch switch mounted on the circuit board. I dropped mine about 3 feet from a cart and have had trouble with it since. The circuit board for each row of switches is mounted on plastic stand offs that click into holes on the board to hold it. The factory also put some sort of goop on it to keep it locked in place. When that goop comes off, the circuit board comes loose and the springs/plungers fall out. The bottom row has supports pressed into the bottom plastic to help keep things in place; the top row does not. I recently used some dense speaker cabinet insulation foam to keep the top in place. I also taped the top circuit board in place. The tape wasn't that good an idea. Even though I used black electrical tape, and used an alcohol wipe to clean before I mounted it, things didn't stay. Still trying to figure out how to make sure it stays mounted. I had thought about using Loc-Tite or hot glue to seal the circuit boards to the stand offs, but have been scared to do so. The X3L is a fine unit, but you need to treat it gently to make sure it continues to work. This guy (http://r3fx.com/shop/index.php?route=common/home) replaces the similar switches in the M9 with real stomp box switches for $70. Once I get to the point where I am not playing a lot, I am going to inquire about the X3L and get a quote. Hope this helps.

Worked great! Thank you for the input.

Ever since I posted this, I have not used the power supply. The Vax has worked flawlessly... until a few weeks ago. It then began doing the same thing I described. I opened up the input jack plate... everything looks fine, but I really don't know what's going on. Nothing is loose and nothing looks damaged or burnt. This, more than likely will require a trip to the service center... I just have to make sure all my other guitars are ready to take over. You don't realize how attached you get to taking just one guitar instead of 3-6.

I think I understand... kinda what I had planned; Left 1/4 output to the guitar amp, Right XLR output to the board. My rig is mono, so stereo would mean completely rewiring everything. Thanx.

Terminal laziness...

True,,, did not get the point across. It was in my head, but didn't make it to the post. Old age sucks... Basically, I want to pan Tone 1 to the Left and run that into a guitar amp (using only the effects and no amp models). I want to pan Tone 2 to the Right and run that directly to the board. That way when I want an acoustic, I press Tone 2. Otherwise Tone 1 is my main electric. I know how to set up the one tone vs dual tone thing, just wasn't sure if Tone 1 would bleed into Tone 2 and vice versa. I depend on the experts on here to save me time before I try something I've thought about. Thanx. L

Thanx! Anyone on here dealt with this place?

I usually play my X3 Live mono. When there is room, I run it into my Boogie SOB head and just use the effects portion. When there isn't room, I plug into my PSM200 and direct to the board, using the amp models. I just thought of something... probably can't do it, but I thought I'd ask. I want to have Tone 1 be my electric signal path. I want Tone 2 to be my acoustic signal path. That way, Tone 1 and Tone 2 work like an AB switch. I know I can do it with my Variax and the power supply, but have been having trouble with using that and have been using batteries. I guess I could go down and mess with it, but figured I'd ask if it was possible. Thanx. L

I love my M9... the small footprint is perfect for my pedal board. One thing that has plagued me with the unit is the damn foot switches. Springs and plungers to hit a circuit board mounted touch switches is a fine idea, but not practical for something meant to be used for live performance and actually toured with. My 2 4-space SKB/Gator racks fell on my pedal board and caused all kinds of problems. I'm sure it knocked the circuit board loose from the plastic standoffs. I had to take it to service and he fixed it. Now, the switches are acting up again. More than likely the plunger/spring has moved and doesn't always make contact with the touch switch. I also have an X3 Live mounted on a PedalTrain pedalboard that has its own padded briefcase. Recently, the X3 was on top of other cases on a cart. I was loading out, and the case fell about 2 feet to a concrete walk. The top row of switches stopped working. Opening it up, the circuit board had come loose from the standoffs; the goop they used to hold it on there, had flaked off. Not knowing what to use as the goop, I mounted it on the standoffs and used electrical tape to ensure it stayed. noticed the plastic bottom cover had little risers under the foot switches to give that circuit board some support; nothing similar for the top row. I had some firm foam I purchased to insulate a speaker cabinet. Sliced off a section to fit under the top board to do like the risers. It worked. Now, after all that crap back story... my main question is... I saw, somewhere out there, where someone had replaced this system with actual Carling foot switches like most stomp boxes have. It's a big PITA, but seems like it would be worth the effort. Has anyone seen this procedure out there? I can't find the site. I'm seriously thinking of doing this to the M9 and the X3 as soon as I can afford it. Really tired of the quirky nature of these two fine units. If they could fix that and actually have an editor for the M9, I'd be in heaven. Alas, I doubt that would happen. Thanx! L

I own an M9... when I first bought one, withing a week, I had to take it in for repair because the expression pedal didn't work, no matter what. Ended up having it replaced under warranty because the original one was toast. I had it in my pedal board and had my racks on a keyboard stand. The keyboard stand fell on the pedal board and screwed up a bunch of stuff. Back to repair. Now, the damn crappy foot switches they use are causing me headaches. With all these trips to repair, it would really be wonderful to have an editor that can dump everything, and load that dump back to the unit via MIDI. I'd also love to be able to edit the patches, scenes, as you do with GearBox. I have an X3 Live and use GearBox to edit it and back it up. Since they are supposedly similar (have the same effects), why can't an add-on to Gearbox be made? Something? anything? Ferris?

This was answered on a previous version of this forum, but I'll be damned if I can find it. Anyone? I remember, it was the same size as the bridge height screws.

Since I need to replace some plungers and a spring, I was scared to put any sort of goop on the circuit board. I replaced all the plungers I found... two were still missing. I found two screws that I kept when I had some Radio Shack 1/4" phone plugs and wanted to solder instead of screw on. I put a piece of black tap on the heads in case they would come into contact with the circuit board. Put it all back together and then used electrical tape to hold it to the chassis. It worked great.... until the middle of the 1st set. The original goop on the circuit board, near the ribbon cable connector, didn't come off easy, so I left it. Well, the footswitches on that side, are the ones that failed. Could not get them to come on. I had to reach down and edit on the board to turn things on and off. Since I won't need it again until September, and I'm still out of work, I'm going to take it apart again, but this time after securing the circuit board, I'm going to put some foam in there to support it. I have some I ordered for my speaker cabinet that I've not installed. It's firm and has adheasive on it already. More as I get to it....

Well, you learn something new every day. Set everything up tonight to do some last minute tweaking and rehearsal before a gig tomorrow night. The X3 has been in its case since I fixed it and has been treated very gently. Well, things, once again, weren't working right; the same as before I "fixed" it. Opened up the case and discovered that the goop they used to lock the top board to prongs had come off when I took the board off. The prongs appeared to click, so I didn't worry about it. Now, I have lost a couple of springs and plungers... I know they are down there somewhere, but can't find them. Found a few, but not all. So, I guess my new question is... what is this goop they use? Hot glue? Gorilla glue? Loc-Tite (blue)? I'm going to fix the buttons I use the most and forget the rest until I can get some parts from Line 6, so it will have to be strong enough to hold it for the gig tomorrow/today rather, and then come off so I can replace the parts when I get them. Just curious what I can do to make sure it stays together so I can get through the gig. I guess I could take my big pedal board, but the X3 fits this particular venue, which is very small. Thanx. L

Well, I saw a video showing how to take it apart and what to expect. To me, as simple as the AX2 Floorboard. The upper circuit board had popped off the plastic support/lock things. Pushed it back on; still didn't work. Took the board off and noticed that a few of the springs and little plastic plunger things were gone. Searched around the case and cover; found all plungers and all springs, but one. Since I don't have the money to take it to a shop, I made a spring out of a single strand of MIDI cable... no, it's not perfect, but works. I put it on the Compressor/Boost switch that I don't use much. I'll have to see if I can get some spare springs and plungers from Line6. Hopefully, if I don't drop it again, it will work fine until I get a job.

Well, I updated and reflashed via Monkey and nothin. I guess I can tear it apart. I repaired my AX2 floorboard numerous times, even at a gig. Let me do some more searching. I think I saw a site that showed how to replace the switches with real ones.... that should tell me if I need to be extremely careful of anything. Thanx.