Tboneous

It would have been nice to see a Variax in one of Yamahas signature line guitars as opposed to one of their budget lines. This is supposed to be the guitar that changes the game for guitarists. One that even the Pro's are considering. Seems like a step backwards to me. But this is the first offering. I hope there is a more "Pro" version on the horizon.

WHAT? Grow a pair buddy! Who is running the show over there at case de Irwin? When I'm ready to crank up the rig and belt out some tasty licks, I better not hear anything out of my Old Lady! Besides…I got really Bad @ss Head Phones!!!! She can't tell me NOTHIN! :P

If you are using dual paths then 2 amps would be better. But you can use dual amps on 1 DT25. Not sure about your distortion issue. Does a treadplate get clean? I've never used that model. Try assigning the output of amp 1 to amp A instead of left/right which I believe is the default. Assign amp 2 to amp B. This will cut off all FX after the mixer block so be aware of that. Then assign exp 1 to control the volume of amp A and use the second external exp to control the volume of amp B. Maybe this way you can find out the bad distortion culprit. Also it will allow you to blend the amps together better. Give it a shot and see what happens.

none close enough to tweak?

Try em both. I would tend to believe the pre models are the way to go but trust your ears.

Curious, the pickups are the same, there aren't extra models, there aren't exotic wood options, the bridge is the same, the necks are the same....$2100 extra dollars for a wider color selection and possibly some different tuners? That seems a bit of an overreach to me. I just paid a good chunk of change on a Fender Strat. But it has A bunch of extras and exclusives that you can't get on any of their other American made products and far more that what you would find on Mexican or other Asian made products. To me a $3K+ guitar should have some exclusives that are not offered on the Korean made sibling well above and beyond some extra color selections. Else, why pay that?

I don't like the sound of the DT alone. Too compressed and thin sounding to me. But with the POD, I can work that out and get a much more open, warm and less analog tone

I like and have the HSS. To me, it's the best of both worlds. The first 3 positions on the selector switch are all Strat. Very seldom do I use the 4th position (too hard to quickly move the switch to that position while playing. Much easier to slam it into the 5 position) but when I do, it sounds good. A bit different than an SSS, but good. And for lead the humbucker has more body and volume than a single coil. For lead work in general, I like the HSS set up best. It seem to have a wider tonal palette. You can go from Jimi, to Jimmy (Page) on one instrument.

Try customtone

Rats!

Yikes! That seems to be the case all over the world. Mom and Pop Shops are out and Walmart is King. Unfortunate. I still stand by my thought process while remaining open to new input. I just came back from our local Mom and Pop music store. My 8 year old practically grew up in this store; what with me there every time something new came out. I can't imagine not being able to easily zip to The Haight Ashbury Music Center or Bananas or Fat Dogs and chopping it up with the shop keeps about music stuff. I feel for you guys!

I got the Cindy Lauper Part!…..well, Well, WELL, WEEEEELLLLLLLL……..

I understand the thought process. I just think it's flawed. Whose to say, even if Line 6 has an unwavering history of "iterating and improving on its products" that they will iterate and improve a product in a way that is going to satisfy the dude who started this thread? Truth of the matter is, Line 6 DID "iterate and improve" the POD. Remember life without the Soldano? Variax users, remember having to find that silly little plastic interface you needed to use the Variax edit software? Unfortunately, none of those iterations satisfied the dude who now is exploring new gear. The point being, don't purchase something that you don't like thinking that Line 6 is going to make it what you want later based only on what you think you saw them do to some other product in the past. Time and time again that thought process is proving to not work well for people. We all know what you call someone who does the same thing over and over and expects a different result.

Respectfully, I don't buy that. If I may…There is an old saying in the world of Wall Street that may be appropriate here…."Past Performance Is Not An Indicator Of Future Results". Why would one pay $500 for something that they hate in the present in the hopes that its going to blow the doors off the house with a few firmware updates sometime later? That makes no sense. Further, these hopes for the future "Pimp'ning" of the HD are based ONLY on the though process of the purchasers. Nowhere anywhere does Line 6 promise to turn what the original poster of this thread might liken to a Pinto, into a Ferrari. And really, if someone hates this gear as much as was stated, there aren't enough updates on the planet to make this your Ferrari. Can't speak to the lack of places to demo ones purchases in the UK. If it is as scarce as you say, then that's unfortunate. I wouldn't pay for something that I didn't play with. But I have a music dude in my hood. It seems that the original poster of this thread kept the gear long enough to be past the return policy window. Not completely sure of that. But if so, why keep the gear you dislikes so much so long? I can play with a piece of gear and know within a few minutes whether it's for me or not. I would have returned it pronto. But again, I speak only for me. Gosh, there are so many incredible guitarist that have come from across the pond. Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Brian May, Gary Moore, Tony Iommi, John McLaughlin just off the top of my head. How did they get their gear as young guitarlings? The internets and Amazon didn't exist then. There HAD to be some music stores other than Andertons SOMEWHERE? right? None of this really matters to the dude who hates his gear. Since the HD isn't his Ferrari (to stay with the analogy) he should by all means go for what works for him. I would again suggest that he takes his time and get something that he likes right now and not purchase some self made idea of what he thinks a piece of gear may become sometime in the future.

Free Shipping?

Not sure. It is conceivable that this is just the first offering now that Yamaha is in the mix. I could see a release of something more Pro in the future. I hope...

Good Point! Though, some of us don't want 7K options for $8. I just paid $3K for the baddest Strat I have ever played in my life! Why? Cause it was bad @ss! Give me a few things done extremely well, and I along with others would gladly come out of pocket for it!

Let the games begin! There is no "should". Use your ears to determine your settings. Welcome to the tweaking stage. One thing that may be helpful is to go to Custom Tone and start demoing patches. Find the ones you like and look at how they are set up. Go from there. I have to ask… You really think the L2T sounds better than your tube amp? Were you using pre models or full? I have a L2M and 2 DT's and there is no way in hell I would use an L series speaker as my main mode of amplification. I use ONLY for acoustic work. Nevertheless, to each his own. good luck

I'll be quit now…..Sorry…. <_<

I don't want a cousin! I want a frikkin' bad @ss new addition to my Dream Rig! Where is that? This new budget Yamaha Pacifica Variax? Is that my new Dream Rig addition? Where is the attention to the Flagship line? Where's the new DT? No more "cloud" devices! Gimme some good high end and quality gear.

Will the FHawk power work with my 2 DT's and L2M? No Dual paths? No L6 Link? um…..er…..What?

Rats! I was looking forward to trolling the internets looking for JTV deals. I am so wanting Line 6 to plant a firm foot in the high end quality gear category. This Variax offering falls well short of that. Seems they are more interested in shiny bells and whistles; Cool graphics for your phone editing software and being able to access the "cloud". I get it. Shiny is temporary because what is shiny today is dull tomorrow. But quality can last for a really long time!

Well that was kind of a let down :( ! I'm glad I like my HD 500, L2M, and my DT amps. Looks like I'll be saving some money 'cause none of that is sexy at all! I remember when the HD and the DT and the JTV's came out, I was like…."WOW! I've got to get this set up!" This release?….meh Firehawk? I get it. This is the direction that a lot of companies are going. My Eventide H9 Max has IOS capability. I'm just not that impressed with that type of stuff. I mean ..Ok, I can edit something on my phone. So what? Is that a Yamaha Pacifica? :wacko: If it is, that ain't world class Yamaha anything. That is their budget line of craptar. I've got a fantastic 1976 Yamaha SG 3000 with fantastic mother of pearl inlay. Now THAT'S world class Yamaha craftsmanship. This looks like a garbage guitar to me. That's cool though, I can't wait to scoop up all of the JTV's that are going to get blown out! In one mans never so humble opinion……Boooooo

…Ok, I'm your Huckleberry….Why did you purchase the Line 6 Pod HD 500(X)? None of what you have stated is new. When you decided to purchase the HD, it did't have JCM-2000 series. It came with the SM 57 that you hated from jump. The HD JCM 800 was the JCM that you demo'ed at the music store which sounded like a constipated cow. And yet….you purchased it. Just sayin'... Forgive me If that sounds jerkish. It is not my intention. I am genuinely curious about people on this forum who hated this gear from day One, and STILL came out of pocket for it. More power and good fortune to you on your future processor exploration. But do yourself a favor…. Purchase something that you actually like.

Why?