RNRage

Messed around more with the Super Strat pickguard and I have come to a conclusion.. It won't fit unless I route the cavity bigger. So, that will be tomorrow afternoons project. I was able to run the LR Baggs piezo tremolo through my acoustic Preamp/DI today, through my studio PA.. Sounds fantastic!

L.R. Baggs X-Bridge installed.

I got the Super Strat pickguard wired up and ready to go.. But it's near impossible to get it to fit. So, there it sits, all wired up.. Not put together. Got aggravated and didn't want to break it so I put it down. Got the LR Baggs tremolo on my other Strat. Didn't do any wiring up on it yet. Don't think I'm going to use the push pull pot to switch back and forth, though.. Just going to use a stereo 1/4" to dual mono 1/4", run to 2 different sources. It will be easier for my application, anyway.. As I have to run the piezo through an external preamp before it hits FOH.. I opted to not put a preamp in the guitar itself. What I might do, is put together a pedal that is similar to a channel switching pedal.. 2 inputs and outputs (one for my piezo signal and the other for my magnetic pickups signal) and wire in a switch to choose either acoustic signal or electric signal.. Or both.. Unless they make something like this already. I plugged in the TASCAM today, through my PA. I can't believe how authentic some of the sounds from JamUp pro and Ampkit are. I'm gonna gig it Friday just for the hell of it and see how it goes. It'll probably end up being my backup rig.

For one of my Strats: LR Baggs Piezo Tremolo for one of my other Strats, TASCAM audio interface for the iPad, and a small mixer for the bedroom micro studio.

It doesn't work. I tried one at GS with my Mini Retina. Rule of thumb, anything that says iPad Air support.. Will work with a Mini Retina.. Anything that doesn't, will not.

It's a very heavy room.. Especially for my bad back, lol. I just sold the Triple Rectifier and the Marshall 2x12 cab not too long ago. The blue Jackson and the black Epiphone LP are gone, as well. Bought myself quite a bit of goodies to replace them, though. The Marshall head and Mesa 4x12 cab are the next 2 pieces to hit the road. I have an old Yamaha 2x12 combo and a 2x12 cab that aren't in that picture.. They don't fit in the room. I have 2 bigger keyboard amps that aren't in that picture either. As well as a 3 space rack with an old Behringer V-Amp Pro. All 5 of those things are getting incorporated into my setup. The keyboard amps for the V-Amp.. The 2x12 for my Fender tube head I have sitting there.. The Yamaha combo because the thing is absolutely fantastic for Jazz cleans.. I'm just going to need a head to push those 2 oddball cabs that I have. That Marshall 4x12 is getting the front bezel pulled out of it and I'm installing a shelf into it.. It'll act as a shelf for my Fender head and inside, will house my pedals that I'm not using. I can always put the front bezel back on then, if I ever wanted to use it.

Unless you're using the Spider Jam which has a higher range driver in it as well as a 12 inch driver.. I don't think you're going to get an accurate sound.. Not to say that it will sound bad or good.. It just not might sound exactly like an acoustic guitar. That being said, I have run my acoustics through electric guitar amps before.. You can definitely tell that it is an acoustic guitar. I've gotten away with using them before to monitor my sound on stage.. Sending a separate line to FOH.

I'd try doing the 'pencil' test on your tubes.. You lightly tap the tube with a pencil or your fingernail.. If you hear all kinds of funky noises, you know you have a bad tube. You should hear a slight pinging of the glass and a tapping sound consistent with the pencil tapping the tubes through your connected cab.

Sounds like tubes to me.

Nah. I have 2 cabs.. Both have a 12 and 2x8's. One reads out 10.21 ohms on the meter.. The other, 8 ohms even. Run in parallel, that's roughly 4.5 ohms.. Which should be safe to run.. I'm just checking here first, lol. Attached a pic of the 2 cabs. . They're between the Mesa and Marshall 4x12 cabs.

4 Ohm minimum impedance when running a cabinet into both speaker outputs??

I've been curious about these.. What exactly are they similar to? Just a glorified Spider head with more I/O?

I spent some time with the Spider. Took it to the bands practice last night. We ran through 2 full sets of material at our gigging volumes.. And the amp worked out in a rehearsal environment. Saturday will be the test. I found Blues tones to be easier to dial in at higher volume.. Actually using some of the green metal channels with the gain rolled way back. I actually found that being limited on effects has made life easier.. I have 2 clean and 2 dirt channels set up.. Generally with moderate chorus on for both clean channels and a very sleight chorus on dirt to fatten up the tone a little. Little bit of reverb on everything.. Delay is generally reserved for solos.. And I have a tube screamer set up on my dirt channels for a little more oomph.. And a compressor on my clean channels. Very basic. Very simple. It cut through the mix at rehearsal. We usually record everything through a handful of MICs placed throughout the room and you were able to hear my guitar just fine. Sent from my iPad.

Fwiw, I've uploaded a video to YouTube before that had roughly 2-3 seconds of a guns n roses song that got pulled off because it violated copyright policy.

My nephew will love it, I'm sure of that. My brother doesn't play guitar and can't remotely come close with playing anything.. My nephew and I have been very close because of music.. I'm glad I have someone of youth to bond with, with it.. Someone to pass gear down to. Someone to teach and help.. And be able to watch them progress for a long time. I spoil the kid, lol. I bought him 2 guitars and an amp so far. And one of the guitars, I modded for Christmas this past year (MIM Strat). Between that and his Jackson that I upgraded pickups in for him.. He'll be set for a little while with guitars. The amp he's upgrading from is a Tech 21 Trademark 30.. Which he loves (for good reason). I told him that it is definitely a keeper amp. He has one of them Fender Champion 45's as well. His father got him that one. Can't wait to give this to him.. I might not be able to wait till May. LOL

The MP3 input is post preamp/FX so I guess you could say that it kinda acts like the return on an FX Loop.

Did it sound as good as running it with a regular amp through the FX Return? I understand that this is more full range oriented.. But just as far as quality of what you are hearing. I'm still pondering over the Amplifi. Picked up my nephews Spider IV 75 today and really like it. Like the 500x through the MP3 input.. But I'll have another iOS goodie to mess around with if I get an Amplifi instead.

So the Shortboard will allow you to toggle effects on and off on the amplifi?

Bought my nephews Spider IV 75 today when I returned my DT25 Head to GC. I must say that after about 5 hours messing around with it.. It's absolutely fantastic. I bought the FBV Shortboard MkII as well. Connected the Shortboard to the computer.. Fired everything up.. Then connected the Shortboard to the amp and did the updates.. Opened the editor.. And started tweaking away. It is much easier to get sounds that I like using the computer editor.. In similar fashion to the HD500x. I got 4 outstanding cleans, 4 mid gain (edge of breakup), and 4 heavy gain sounds dialed in and saved for him. I'm hoping to have everything dialed in and ready for him by his birthday in May, which shouldn't be an issue at all.. I'll have more trouble trying to not keep it for myself. This thing is such a damn good little practice amp! I might just get one for the bedroom. Maybe I'll even (gasp) gig with it, if all goes well on Saturday when I take this thing out for a test drive. ;) I know I'd definitely use it for practicing purposes. Any who.. My experience with this amp is a very positive one. Way to go Line 6! PS: The HD500x doesn't sound too shabby through it. Connected via MP3 input from the 500x's output. I was surprised. Sent from my iPad.

So I bought the Spider IV 75 this morning for my nephew when I returned my DT25. Holy crap is it a neat little amp.. Especially with the FBV Shortboard. I got some very usable tones with it. Saturday, I think I'm going to gig it since it's a relatively small bar gig. I'd take it to my Friday gig but it's a wedding.. And I'd rather have something that I won't have to mess around with. +1 to the Spider amps. I might just buy one for myself to mess around with after my nephew gets his.. I have 2 months to tinker with it before I give it to him for his birthday. Sent from my iPad.

No need to be sorry, lol. Different strokes, they say. It is an awesome setup, no denying that. I just built myself a snake for hooking up via 4cm so there is zero cable clutter. Still loving my HD500x though. The damn thing kicks some serious.. You know what. :) first gig with this setup is Friday. I have pretty much all of my tones dialed in and ready to go. Sent from my iPad.

Yes, I tried hooking it up both ways. L6 Link, then 4cm. I was trying to get Blues tones out of it. It just didn't do it for me. There was something about the sound of it. It's rather depressing because I really wanted to like the damn thing. My buddy came over last night with the combo version and I had the same feeling towards it. However, when he played through it.. Same patches, same guitar.. I liked it. It has to be something to do with how I play. I can't think of another explanation, to be honest. It's a great product.. I won't ever push negative feedback on it.. It (live many other products) just wasn't for me. I'll stick with running my HD500x through my Mesa Subway Rocket via 4cm. Sent from my iPad.

Took it back about an hour ago. It just wasn't working out for me. My Buddy came down from Maryland last night with his DT 25 combo. I still couldn't seem to get any kind of sound that I like but my buddy would play through the same patches and it would sound freaking awesome.. So I guess my playing style doesn't like the amp? Sent from my iPad

Do let us know.. I'd be interested in one if you had the same functionality of say.. The Spider series.. Being able to turn FX off and on.. Switch between the four channels.. Noise gate on and off.. Tuner.. Use of pedal to control wah and volume.. Also to control parameters within effects.. You get the idea. I do think that Line 6 will make this happen in the future.. At least, I'd like to think that they will. I'd be getting this for my nephew over a Spider if this was already implemented. Sent from my iPad.

I personally own an HD500x and found it very easy to use and set up. If you use the edit software, setting up your own sounds is a breeze. The amplifi for me would be too limited.. Especially since I own a bunch of amps already.. Have a PA set up in my studio.. And have studio monitors or some sort of substantial playback set up more or less everywhere where I would want to plug my guitar in. On the fly (on my RV or other various places) I just bring my iPad and sonic port. Pair it with headphones or studio monitors and I'm good to go. Fwiw, I have one of the newer Marshall MG series heads.. The one with the silver bezel on it.. It works great as a cheap amp to power my DX500x. I plug the output of the POD into the FX Return on the Marshall and I'm good to go! Sent from my iPad.