cruisinon2

I'll be filling this one under, "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should"... And depending on just how little audible difference there is between a mic distance of 87.0 mm and 87.1 mm, this one could easily promoted to "Really?!?!?", and possibly even "Gimme a f#@%!ng" break😤", depending on how many beers I've had...ðŸ˜

Yup, works fine for me, too... and I can't argue with the price of $0. 😉 An infinite improvement over the case for the 500X... "tight fit" doesn't begin to describe that thing. You needed a fistful of Crisco and a running start to get the POD in there, and the zipper pulls were worthless, flimsy metal...they all snapped off within ~4-6 weeks of regular use. But the Helix bag seems much more durable and has that "bungee cord-ish" material for zipper pulls, so there's really nothing to break. And I don't get winded trying to cram the Helix in there...it's a much better bag.

If you're having issues registering a product, you have to open a support ticket. No one is gonna respond in here.

Normal? No, but a well-known problem for a long time. Had same issue with my L2T when it was new, 3+ years ago. Fixed under warranty, and no problems since...trouble is, older units with the original fan assembly are obviously still being sold. Sometimes stuff sits in warehouses forever, and while newer production runs are supposed to have the upgraded fan assembly, there's really no way to tell what you're getting. The retailer certainly isn't gonna tell you the truth about how long something's been rotting in the stock room.

Yes...of a sort. When it's an 8 year old who says he didn't knock over the lamp it's a "fib", under oath it's "perjury", and on Madison Ave...it's called "advertising". So like I said: Different processing chip, beefier footswitches. Otherwise, it's the same damn thing.

No mention of what are you listening through...studio monitors, headphones?... if it's not some sort of FRFR speaker solution, you can kiss any attempts at convincing acoustic tones goodbye. Crappy desktop PC speakers aren't gonna cut it either.

They could, but they won't... having decided long ago that mere mortals cannot be trusted with such knowledge. Fortunately, it matters little. If you can setup the rest of your guitars, you can setup a Variax. If not, then you're handcuffed no matter who's instrument you buy, whether it's got fancy electronics in it or not.

There's nothing to debate. Functionally and sonically, there's nothing different between the 500 and the 500X. The only thing that changed was one of the chips that runs the thing, the previous one having been discontinued by the manufacturer, and some slightly more robust footswitches. Everything else is the same... amps, fx, etc. As far as the sounds you can squeeze out, there's not a scrap of difference between them. Wouldn't matter if it came out yesterday, it's an 8 year old platform.

Strings are razor wire though, and you can only play it through an old Crate...bring gloves and earplugs. 😂

Leather...and it has to match the hood. Oops, wrong forum...😉

This is officially the weirdest resurrected zombie thread I've ever seen. And while I'm beyond curious about the destination of the "301 moved permanently" link above, and whatever "motor boating" might be contained therein...I think I'll pass. 😂 Click away, those who dare! VROOM, VROOM!!! Lmao...

Measuring relief on a Variax is no different than on any other guitar...you need a precision straight-edge to really see what's going on. As for how much relief, there's no universal answer for that. Relief goes hand in hand with the action. If you like your action super-low, you'll need a little bit more relief than somebody who prefers their action a bit higher. It's not a "right" or "wrong" thing, nor is it instrument specific... it has more to do with HOW you play, rather than what guitar you're playing it on. Guys with a really light picking hand can get away with action that's a dime-high, and a pin straight neck. If you beat the strings to death, that set-up won't work for you, and you'll be buzzing all over the place. And all of this applies to any fretted instrument under the sun...Variax has fancy guts, but it's still a guitar. Part of it is also just preference for the way the neck will feel, especially when bending strings. There needs to be enough relief so that notes don't fret out and die, but not so much that you could use the neck at an archery competition. If it's comfortable to play on, with minimal buzzing, then it's set up properly...regardless of what a bunch of numbers on a spec sheet dictate.

Yup... I've been missing that one too. Great for clean tones. That, and the tube driver. Not crazy about it's Helix counterpart, but I loved it on the HD. I'd be happy to update just for those two things. I usually don't do the updates right away, until I've seen that the forum hasn't erupted in hysterical, unfocused rage over any bugs that might appear... but between these and the reverbs, I might not wait too long, lol...

Things are starting out awfully cranky in here, for a Friday...😂

Yeah, obviously...those 6 sentences were just too much for my feeble old brain to dissect. Guess my tubes ain't biased right either...

lmao...

Do you want cheap, or do you want good? I've tried Zoom stuff over the years... and while I won't go so far as to call it awful, nothing was particularly inspiring either. You get what you pay for...

I hate to rain on your parade, but "I'll look into it" is a politician's answer, and as such, pretty much always a lie. It's what somebody says when either: A) They haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about, but don't want to admit it, or B ) They know what you want, have no intention of giving it to you, but are keenly aware that you probably won't go away unless they throw you a bone and offer some glimmer of hope. Conveniently, it also provides future plausible deniability..."Well we 'looked into it', but currently our resources are allocated elsewhere". In this case it's most likely code for "The POD is old...don't bet on any more updates".

Lol... someone would complain if the update came with a $100 bill.

Yup...if you buy the big brother, they give you a break on the price for Helix Native.

Just in case we all needed any more evidence that trying to use someone else's patches is generally a complete waste of time...

I'm sure its possible to "de-authorize" the old one, if you will... but exactly what the process is, I don't know. Somebody will chime in. But, unless there's something wrong with your 500, there's not much point in getting the 500X...functionally, there's nothing different... just slightly more robust footswitches, and some internal chip(s) from the 500 that are no longer available. It's not really much of an "upgrade".

lol...Yeah, hanging names on stuff I'm never gonna look at is not exactly what I'd consider "time well spent". 😉

The whole point of gear like this, with onboard amp, cab, and mic sims, is to allow you to show up to a gig with nothing but a guitar and the POD. No need to mic a cabinet on stage if you've got virtual ones at your feet. If it's a venue that already has stage monitors, great...you're done. Run the POD straight to the board, and have the sound guy give you enough guitar in the monitors so you (and the rest of the band) can hear yourself. If it's a smaller PA without monitors, then you need something for stage volume. Now you could use a traditional 2x12 cab and power amp for that, BUT...passive guitar cabinets and PA speakers have VERY different frequency responses. If you run the POD into both at the same time, you're going to hear two very different tones. Get one sounding "just right", and it's a virtual certainty that the other is gonna sound like baked a$$. Obviously, this makes creating patches next to impossible, because if you're dialing in your tones listening through your 2x12, you never know what that same patch will sound like through the PA, and vice versa. The only way to avoid this is to have whatever you're using for stage volume be the same type of speaker, with a similar frequency response, as the PA...ie, some sort of FRFR solution. This way you're hearing the same tone that's going out front. Otherwise, all bets are off. I've since retired my POD for a Helix, but I did exactly as described above for years with the POD. Straight to the PA, with either my L2T as a floor monitor, or depending on the place, just using whatever wedges were already there. It's the simplest rig I've ever had, and it can't really get any simpler... As for the routing, there's nothing magical about it. The output of your choice running to the PA (typically one of the XLRs), and another to whatever you're using as a monitor.

I've got IR suggestions, but I'm afraid that I'm fresh out of suggestions for IR...😉 IR's are not really genre-specific any more than a particular amp model would be. Hell, Metallica used to use Roland JC120's for their clean tones...an amp officially branded JC for "Jazz Chorus". Similarly, some IR's will be better suited to dialing in the tones you're looking for than others, but much of that will also depend on you, your guitar(s), and myriad other stuff already in your signal chain. Trying a few out is really the only way to know. Best thing to do is audition some of the free offerings from 3 Sigma, Ownhammer, RedWirz, Rosen Digital, etc etc, and see what you like. If you're trying to emulate a particular player's tone, knowing what gear they like to use, and finding some IR's made using something similar is a place to start...