pfsmith0

And if it helps any, I imagine most of us here use only a small portion of what the HD500 has to offer, so don't let that aspect stop you.

Well, actually a live situation is probably one of the main reasons it's there - to correct for room resonances and feedback nodes. If the sound guy's not fixing that problem, or his equipment isn't sophisticated enough to do a satisfactory job, or if you don't even have a sound guy, then the Master EQ is what you'd use.

Yes, I use the Fishman Rare Earth Pickup with my HD500. In the studio I crank the volume, hold the banjo up to the speakers and use the Studio EQ to notch out the resonant frequencies as the banjo is prone to feedback (the entire head is sensitive and prone to feedback). There were a LOT of feedback nodes to null out - maybe 4 or 5 (compared to 0 for guitar, 1 for mandolin, 3 for ukulele, 0 for dulcimer). Once you get those tamed you will need to cut the lows around 220 Hz or so (the low D is ~150 Hz). When I move around on the stage as I approach a music stand (or whatever) the sound bounces off the music stand back onto the head enhancing the bass. Sounds really bad and echoey so just cut the bass. The banjo is a bright instrument anyway and hardly anything is lost. Good luck and have fun! This setup has worked really well for me and sounds very natural when picked close or far from the bridge.

The lights on the HD500X foot switches are nice, tho. And knowing the failure modes of the switches it may be worthwhile to go ahead and spring for a new unit.

+1 piano guy. You can use just a single amp and use the EXP to control the gain. You will also need the EXP to adjust the channel volume so the gain/no gain levels are the way you want. You may also need to use the EXP adjust your EQ to get sculpt the gain/no gain sound the way you like. By moving the EXP heel to toe all the parameters will gracefully move from one setting to the other simultaneously. Works quite well for me.

Try changing your picks as well. They make a big difference, too. Some have a gritty attack, some a softer attack, some make you hold them differently so you hit the string differently, etc. There are LOTS of things besides gear you can use to change your tone. To the question at hand, I use SD P-Rails on my SG. Made it come to life and the tonal options are plentiful. Edited: software -> softer

I would think so, assuming the XLR output of your amp is at mic level, which it should be. You may need to adjust the gain of the HD500's mic input (that little black knob on the back next to the XLR input) to optimize levels. But it should work fine. It's just another HD500 input.

Probably can, assuming the XLR output of the amp acts like a DI. The XLR Mic Input is just another input although it has variable gain. You may need to turn the mic gain down a bit.

One trick to potentially save an FX block is to use the amp Channel Control as a Volume Control. No separate volume control FX block needed for that. Also, be aware that calling up a patch (in ABCD mode) invokes a slight mute to your signal (5-10msec). Many people are able to incorporate this into their playing style so it's effect is minimal. I cannot. That mute drives me nuts so I don't use ABCD mode, only FS1-8 mode. An extra benefit is I have independent control of 8 different FX blocks.

Thank you for the part#. I'll store this away for when I'll need it.

Right, that's why I often set the gain of the Mid-Focus EQ at +5dB so I can also cut the highs and lows a bit at the same time. That way I don't get the TONE INTERRUPTION I normally would when switching in an entire new patch. :)

I use the Studio EQ (set flat) last in the signal chain with 5dB of boost for solos with no tone alteration.

For the PSU I used one of these.

I also use a right-angle RCA phono connector for SPDIF and a right-angle plug for the power supply - all for exactly the same reason.

The input impedance of the FX return should be much, much higher than 600 ohms. Probably more like 100k - 1M. I would not concern myself with that aspect.

The HD500 has certainly been worth it to me. If I needed to buy something today, I would get the it all over again, even with all the other options available now.

USB port - mine broke, too. In exactly the same way.

If you look at the thread I mentioned earlier you can see that the clip levels are very, very high. So the available signal swing itself should be fine. The next question is how big is the signal out of your guitar and how much gain will you need? Gain is easy to get in the HD500.

The vibrato channel has another tube in it, so it has a different response. You can see that in these measurements.

Switch your input setting to Aux/Variax. If the Guitar Input connector is bad then your problem should go away. If the problem is still there then it's not the Guitar Input connector since it also shows up on the Aux connector.

You will find max levels in this discussion. The 1/4" and XLR, outputs can go as high as about 25Vpp, but only if you use the CD/MP3 input. For other inputs (Guitar/Aux and Mic) the input stages or data converters clip before the output stage does. Basically the input stages are designed to clip very near 0 dBFS, fullscale on the USB and SPDIF outputs.

Look at the waveform in Audacity. If it looks clipped then the signal coming out of the HD500 (via USB) is too big. Arislaf above has some good ideas to reduce it.

I had to set the inputs to Guitar/Variax to reduce the signal enough to keep the signal chain clean. Guitar/Same is effectively a 6dB boost. You can also switch to the Guitar Pad (from Normal) to get another 6dB cut.

I find the HD500x extremely useful for acoustic instruments,. I don't use any amp models but just EQ for feedback control. I play guitar, mandolin, ukulele, lap dulcimer, and banjo thru it, switching in different patches as I switch instruments for different EQ settings and gain equalization. Very nice.Very helpful.

I haven't tested the new model paks but so far the flattest amp I've found is the Class A-15 with these settings: Bass = 25% Cut = 70% Treble = 18% Pres = 40% Hum (DEP) = 0% The rest of the DEP parameters can be kept at their default settings as they effect dynamics more than frequency response. As far as I can tell there are no cabs with flat frequency response, but arguably the closest seem to be the 1x12 Celest 12-H and the 4x12 Tweed B-Man. The 121 Ribbon mic is the flattest of the mics.