mcbeddall

Are you using amp models in the firehawk or just effects? If your using amp models you should get better results by plugging into the fx return of the peavey if it has one , this will bypass the tone stack of the peavey. Also try turning the cab models off as it can sound washed out if your running your signal through a cab sim and a real cab as you're effectively filtering the tone twice. You can also press the volume knob in once and see where you have the white led's set, I find 50% gives me the best sound. I don't know the reasons why but if I have it set too low or too high it can do horrible things to the tone

Yeah I think you pretty much nailed your explanation , much clearer and more detailed than I could have managed

Yeah it's the same for me, to work around it I put a number at the end of the patch name , so crunch1, crunch2 and so on , then I go to my tones and delete the ones I don't want. Renaming is really clunky and could definitely be a lot smoother I'm hoping for some improvements further down the line to the whole saving and locating of patches

I've found backing the master off usually cleans the amp up a bit ( so the opposite to what you're saying I think ) but the amp seems to lose a bit of liveliness also , for me it's a real balancing act with the master parameter on each individual patch, sometimes it doesn't seem to do much and other times the slightest adjustment can really help find a sweetspot. Same with presence, that can also add a lot of feel and liveliness to the amp but it has to be balanced by turning the treble down otherwise it sounds too harsh

Just thought of something else it might be, You need a regular guitar cable plugged into the variax while you are connected to the pc. It acts like a dummy plug and wakes up the electronic circuitry in the guitar. Sorry for the vagueness of my help , it's been a while since I connected to workbench and my memory of it is a little hazy

Yeah that's exactly what made me think registering was a requirement as like you , I never register anything but my line 6 stuff is registered so they must have made me do it lol

Have you registered the guitar with line6? I think maybe I remember something about having to register the product first? I could be mistaken though

I have a black 59 and love it, I only tried one out because my singer got one, never would have looked at it otherwise. Acoustic sounds are very usable live if your sending straight to pa or using a powered speaker, through a regular guitar amp they don't sound so convincing because the amp won't reproduce the high frequencies

Yeah I'd also really like to use firehawk to connect to workbench

Now we're getting there lol Its the volume parameter that you can find in the amp block on the app ( it is designed not to change the tone, only the volume , if it IS changing the tone then maybe that's because you're driving your speaker/headphones harder?) I realised early on that any volume alterations to my tones worked out much better when I made the changes at gigging volume levels (doing it with headphones didn't work out nearly precise enough) So for instance if I have 2 tones that I intend to use in a song I will do the following Select first tone (let's say it's a clean tone for a verse riff) Play that tone and switch back and forth between that and a tone that I already have at the right volume. Normally I find clean tones usually need a boost using the compressor to keep up with my dirty tones so I'll boost the output of the compressor by a few dB and try and be conservative with the amp Volume parameter, I aim to have the amp Volume set between 50-70% so that I have room for manoeuvre later on. Once the volume for the clean patch is set I hold the patch footswitch down for 2 seconds until the display flashes showing the patch location, then I select where I want the patch and hold the footswitch down for 2 seconds again, and that is then saved. Then I select the second patch and see how it feels for volume , if it needs to go up I double tap the volume wheel and the led's turn pink, I turn the volume wheel up to make it louder and save by pressing on the footswitch for 2 seconds as before. For me the beauty of doing it this way is that I don't need to get tied down with the app while at rehearsal and for most of the procedure I can keep 2 hands on the guitar, I know it sounds long winded when written down but in practice it takes me 30 seconds maximum to dial in the exact volume I need and get it saved. Another volume related issue I experienced which might save you some time is that I never took any notice of where the white led's were set on the master volume wheel, and I found that it can alter tone dramatically , so now whether I'm creating tones or rehearsing I always try and make sure it's set to halfway, I know this setting is supposed to balance the guitar with mp3 playback and shouldn't affect tone but I found that if it was pushed too far past halfway it made my tones sound cold and harsh.

OK I'm gonna leave you to it I've tried to help Got no thanks But just to be clear using the method I've described I regularly change patches 4 times in one song and use 14 banks in one set without ever having to bend down and adjust the volume. Ever.

Dude you need to take a look at the instruction manual The big volume knob with the red led's around it is the output volume ok (global setting) Push it in once and the led's turn white to show that it is now controlling the guitar output relative to mp3 playback (also a global setting) Push it in a second time and the led's turn pink to show you are controlling the amp block volume parameter (not a global setting) This is the amp Volume and is saved per patch So if the patch you have selected at the time is too loud or quiet just double click the big wheel and adjust it to where you want it and save the patch, next time you switch to that patch it will be at the volume you set it. Honestly of all the units I've owned they have all had this problem of having to balance the patch volumes but firehawk has been by far the easiest and quickest to set up , just follow the steps and once you've done it a few times its second nature

Use the volume parameter Master alters the tone and the way the amp behaves A quick way of doing it is to press the big volume knob in twice so that the led's light pink to signify amp Volume, adjust that to taste and re save the patch

For firmware updates

Yes it makes sense for sure , I just hate recording my guitars dry but I'll definitely try it without reverb or delay on the next track So can anybody recommended a good plugin for reverbs and delays? Cost is an issue at the moment but if it's something that's undoubtedly worth the money I'll raise funds somehow

OK thanks, so recording without reverb on the guitar would be a good idea? I suppose I'd have more control if I remove it from the patch and add it later

Hi , I'm using a firehawk at the moment but I always get good informative answers from this forum , so I have a question. I'm relatively new to recording into a daw (recorded tons of times in studios) and have recorded a few tracks recently and while I'm fairly happy with the overall result, as a band we all feel the guitars could be better. Currently I've been using tones that I've created for live use , they have been road tested and tweaked and everybody loves the tones I use, I play through an lt3. However when recorded they just don't quite hit the spot. When recording into a daw is it better to create the tones using headphones? Or am I better off creating the tones while using the powered speakers I use for mixing? Any thoughts or ideas will be greatly appreciated Thanks Matt

Cool , thanks for the info, I'll get some ordered

The strings that came fitted on my 59 lasted ages , I was really surprised at how long they kept their feel and tone , but eventually I changed them for Ernie ball 10's , they lasted 2 rehearsals and 1 gig, so changed those for some rotosound strings ( were on offer at the time ) and they lasted a little longer but so far I haven't found any strings that lasted as long as the factory fitted ones

I've officially retired all my other guitars since getting a variax (a 59) It plays and sounds as good as anything I've ever owned (the tele model sounds so close to my real tele that I only keep the real one for its sentimental value) Being able to switch a complete virtual rig with one footswitch on the firehawk is awesome, going from plinky verse riffs to a thick soaring chorus is so satisfying The only down sides I experienced were that after getting used to how easy the firehawk app works, setting up guitars on workbench is way more cumbersome and there was a fair bit of setting up required, all my string volumes needed balancing and it took a few attempts to get it right, also I turned up all the models as the mag pickups tend to be a fair bit louder and I wanted to be able to switch between mags and models without a jump in volume

I'm satisfied also , sure there are a ton of improvements I can think of but I get what I need out of it as it is. To be honest I'm yet to own any product that I couldn't think of ways to improve it but sometimes those improvements can be a personal thing that not everybody needs

Defo double check your firmware as it sounds like your not on the latest version

Are you sure it's 1 second? It used to be that slow for me but since the update it's much less, probably a third of a second at worst and a tenth of a second at best

Yeah try it through the pa , that's how I set it up , it sounds horrible through my headphones , I have a different version of that tone for when I use headphones

The build quality of my 59 is at least as good as , if not better than my fender tele