MarioJr64

I've been using the official live CD for reference, where the quality is much better, but without uploading it, that video was the best I could find. Let's see if there's a CD version of the solo hiding in the dust... Here you go. I'll replace the one in my OP with this, too. Thanks for the suggestion, aggravation, I'll give that a try! Should I try that model with both Grant and Paul's lines? I'll be recording both guitarists' lines separately, so I'm not looking to cram both of their tones into one patch.

Hiya, I've had my HD500 for a couple months now, but I've never really jumped too deep into editing my guitar tone. I bought it to replace my amp as I wanted to practise and play my guitar in private with headphones, but on the odd occasion I'm recording with it, I find getting a good tone to be difficult. It doesn't help that I've only been an electric guitarist for just under a year, so I have next to no experience with pedal boards, etc.. Usually, I can get a tone that's passable, but these two tones are proving a right problem. It usually ends up that I just get frustrated and give up for a few days. The problem is, I need to get this cover done before Chirstmas, and I've always been a believer that when it comes to learning anything related to the guitar; never look at the calendar… but I have a target that must be met and it's less than 20 days until Christmas. :o If I had more time, I'd try to figure something out myself, but I fear that I'll meet the deadline. Can anyone here help make the patches or at least a starting point with advice? I don't like to ask as I know I should learn how to make my own decent patches, but with less than 20 days remaining, with countless of attempts the last few weeks, AND a lack of experience with guitar tone; you guys really are my last resort! I'm trying to emulate Taylor Swift's guitarists Grant Mickelson and Paul Sidoti's tone from their guitar solo-duet during the Speak Now World Tour. Here is the best quality video I can find: Skip to 4:10 for their solo. As far as gear goes, Grant Mickelson is using a Duesenberg Mike Campbell signature model; and Paul is using an EVH Frankenstrat. I tweeted Paul about the tone to which he replied he used a 5150 III on ch 3. I'm not sure what amp Grant used, though. I only have a Les Paul guitar, but I can't afford to buy a new guitar right now, unfortunately. I plan to record the cover straight through USB, and listen through headphones. I know I'll have to tweak patches made by someone else, but at least I'd get closer to the tone that way. If you guys can help me out with this I'd be extremely grateful! :) Thanks in advance.

Hi Zap, sorry for late reply. Yup, all drivers, etc., are all fully updated. Yeah, I have noticed that sometimes on my Mac there will be a lot of latency and other times pretty much none at all, even though the environment on my Mac is exactly the same. I usually just turn everything off and go back to the recording later if there's too much latency to work with. Usually the latency just magically disappears then! (I know I should be listening through the headphone port on the Pod, but I don't have any decent monitoring headphones yet, as I just started getting into home recording; quite enjoyable, so far!) Unfortunately it's not possible to change the sample rate on Garageband, but thanks for the suggestion as I'll be upgrading to a better DAW once I have some money to spare! Garageband is a great place to start for a newbie like me starting to learn the ropes of home recording and mixing, but not sure how it will hold up once I get more experienced. IF I get more experienced, that is! :P Thanks for your help, K-9 Zap! :)

Hiya, TheRealZap. Thanks for your reply. I tried headphones and everything was working perfectly so it must have been the Mac. I managed to fix the issue by restarting the audio driver in Garageband for the Pod. Turns out it wasn't as major as it originally seemed, which I'm glad about. I'm a little confused what could have caused the issue in the first place though. I'm still having the tuning problem, where after turning the tuner off there is huge latency and then the sounds starts to sound like bitcrusher which gradually gets louder and more violent sounding, until dying off and going back to normal. It's not a huge issue as I never tune during a recording, but it is a slight nuisance, kinda like when you get an itchy nose during a solo. Any technical idea what could cause this? It doesn't do it through headphones, so must be an issue with my Mac. I'm not looking to remove it, I'd just like to know why it happens in such a way, and if anyone else has that problem. I'll post a sample if you need to hear it. Thanks again.

Hello. I've not had the greatest experience with the Pod HD500, but I stuck with it as I have seen people getting really good results with it and I know it's just down to me not dialling the right tone in. Today I sat down as usual to do some recording and noticed the sound wasn't right. It was muffled and dull, so I disconnected it. I reconnected it to my Mac and suddenly now everything sounds like a static/bitcrusher-like noise making it unusable. I've tried power cycling both my Mac and the Pod, but the problem still exists. I'm scared to try another USB port in case the Pod somehow fries it. I don't have anything on hand right now that I can use to make sure no damage has been done to the USB port that the Pod was plugged into. I shall test that once I get home. I also don't have another Pod USB cable to try. What is wrong? How can I fix this? I hope the Pod hasn't somehow overloaded and fried my USB port?? I've attached an MP3 to show you this horrible static noise. In this recording it doesn't sound as bad as it usually is. Sometimes the pitch is distorted and wavers between being sharp and flat (kinda like when batteries start to go flat in things can emit sounds, like doorbells, etc. Sorry, that's the best way I can describe it.) Also to note, before this problem arose, after using the tuner, the same sound happened, gradually getting more violent and then dying off and then everything went back to normal. This doesn't happen now, though, it just stays static-y and distorted. I'm incredibly worried more about the USB port on my Mac rather than the Pod itself, though. Please help! :( Static.mp3

Very weird, as I am 100% sure that statement was included in my post the moment I created the thread. Perhaps it was a first post bug or something of that nature? I am sure you would not have missed it, but I am also sure it was there from the start. A bug seems the only reasonable possibility. Thanks for attempting to help me, anyway; much appreciated. I'll let you guys know how my new Pod goes once it arrives. :)

Actually it was. :P No big deal though, thanks for trying to help me anyway. :)

Sorry for the late reply. I've decided to send it back for a replacement. When I called the technical support at the place where I bought it, they said there was definitely a problem and it is not right. I will have to wait even longer to get my hands on the Pod, but I am happy to do that to be sure that the next one that arrives will be in perfect working order. Thanks for your help!

Hello, I came to receive my new Pod Hd500 today after a very long torturous wait over the weekend. I was very excited, but when I plugged it in for the first time... the screen hung on the logo. I figured it was probably taking a little longer as it was the first time booting, but nope. I waited a solid 20 minutes and nothing happened, so I was forced to unplug it. Upon switching it on, everything started normally and was fully functional. The first thing I did was connect it to my mac and update it, which was successful. I played with it awhile and then powered off. The next time I switched it on, however, the same thing happened: froze on the logo. This is not to be confused with the looping logo where global resets fix things. Again, powering off/on fixed it, but I was not amused at this point. Later on, I powered off to go have supper... again, after powering on, it hung on the logo, only this time powering off/on did not fix it. It took FIVE attempts before everything booted properly. There has been the odd occasion where it has booted first time, but this tells me that it is extremely unreliable if you were to gig with it. Please help me with this problem; I have searched all over the net to find a fix but have been unsuccessful. If my Pod is truly faulty, then please let me know the best ways to go about replacing it, if need be. I would rather we ran ourselves dry with possible fixes before I have to go to the hassle of boxing everything up and sending it, possibly with a large postage fee. What went from extreme excitement quickly u-turned into utter disappointment. Thank you in advance. Note: I have already tried a global reset.