cruisinon2

First, forget downloading someone else's patches. It is a colossal waste of time. There are a thousand reasons why it will never sound the same for you, as compared to some demo video. What are you playing through? Amp/cab, studio monitors, headphones, FRFR speaker? The output mode setting (studio/direct, stack/front, etc) makes a HUGE difference. If you're listening through headphones, studio monitors, or an FRFR rig and using anything but "studio/direct", it's never gonna sound right.

If you thought the 69's neck was a baseball bat, then the 59 will probably seem like a telephone pole. Coming from slim Ibanez necks, I suspect anything but the 89 is gonna be a chore. In my experience, trying to "make do" with a neck you don't like is roughly equivalent to attempting to run a marathon in shoes that are 2 sizes too small. The nice thing about the 69 is that you can replace the neck. Warmoth makes Strat replacement necks with a variety of profiles and radius options that will fit the 69. I hated it too...replaced it after a month or two. Problem solved. As for palm muting, "plink", and other assorted funky noises...you either get a good one, or you don't. And aside from various homespun "fixes" that vary widely from one instrument to the next, there really is no cure. L6 has formally announced that they've given up investigating the issue, much to the chagrine of affected customers...and what little is offered as a cause, along with what to adjust to make maker it go away is both comical, and insulting (and will probably appear later in this thread). From the available evidence, it seems that there are a variety of things that contribute to it, which vary from one unit to the next...hence the absence of a universal fix. Lots of them work just fine though, some don't. Nothing to do but cross your fingers and hope yours doesn't suck.

Very true...although I think the Big Boys are somewhat reluctant to court the demographic that wants this stuff because it'll ruin the whole "tradition" sales pitch upon which their empires are built. It's the same reason Harley won't build liquid-cooled bikes...the one model they do have generally isn't considered a "real HD" amongst the purists who keep them in business. If it won't overheat and sputter to a halt in traffic on a hot day, they don't want it, lol. Baffling...

The price structure for that stuff is absurd...it's also very new, in the grand scheme of things, at least as far as guitar players are concerned. That's why I hate buying first generation anything...you always over-pay. 5 years later the same thing is magically half the price.

Like I said, I never really bought that explanation anyway...

The powers that be like to blame the proximity of the mag pickups for the warbling...personally I remain skeptical, but I suppose you have nothing to lose by lowering the pickup height a bit. And no, nobody will divulge the "official" optimal pickup height...it's a closely guarded state secret, and L6 steadfastly refuses to give the specs. Apparently access to such info will curve your spine... Check your intonation, too. If that's way off the mark, it can cause problems.

Same answer...the 500X. You're already running an FRFR rig, so another modeler is your best choice. And the 500X is the best bang for the buck. The Amplifi stuff is geared more towards Bluetooth connectivity, app-driven editing, and "insta-tone" searches, none of which I see as being particularly useful in a live setting. But the 500X can give you great tones, and wouldn't require anything more than what you already own. You can grab a used one for $200-$300...for a back-up, there aren't too many other options in that price range that will sound as good, or be as versatile. And it's what, an extra 4 or 5 lbs to drag around?

Except that's not a JTV, though...it's a Standard, same as the others except it's green...and as we all know, all green things are special. 😜

500X... But really, the answer is the same that's it's always been: anything that works and gets you through the gig. Tonal nirvana is not the goal of a back-up rig. The concept of having a backup is nothing new. If you gig regularly, you need a plan B, because sooner or later, something will go south on you...and if you think that analog gear can't fail, guess again. It's usually the power sections that go. I've had 2 tube power amps crap out on me on stage, plus a JCM800 head that decided it would rather play the role of "fog machine" on that particular evening. Damn thing nearly caught fire. I always had something else just in case. For a long time it was an old Peavy Bandit 1x12 combo. I was a rack guy for a long time, and that little thing had an FX loop, and it was loud. I could always run whatever preamp/fx unit(s) I had into the FX return, and retain the basic functionality of the rig. Was it ideal? Far from it, but that's not the point. A back-up need only be functional for one night. If you're the kind of guy who can't bear the thought of changing gears completely on a moment's notice, then pony up for a spare Helix...otherwise just accept the fact that gigging is unpredictable, and stuff breaks. Sometimes you just have to make do with what's available.

You answered your own question. A company has absolutely nothing to lose extending a 5 year warranty on a bulletproof product that will probably last 25 years or more, because hardly anyone will ever cash it in...but on stuff that's less robust and prone to long-term issues, having anything more than a minimal warranty period is a good way to go out of business. Does that suck? Sure. Is it fair? Not particularly. But it's also par for the course...

Well its good luck if a bird craps on your head, right? If you get strafed by a giraffe, buy a lotto ticket...;)

Amen...there are tons of guys out there, even good players, who've spent years not really knowing what they actually sound like. Personally, I don't miss my "amp in the room" at all. Consistency is priceless. For me, reproducible results are far easier to obtain running direct, with just a floor monitor for stage volume. No futzing around with mics and minimal (if any) EQing at the board. I'll never go back to an amp.

That would be delightful, but I suspect we'll all be ducking out of the way of airborn giraffes first. It would beat out the standard new car warranty, and that's for a product a whole lot more complicated, and with a price tag orders of magnitude beyond that of a Variax.

Well I won't rest until there's a ukulele model. How else am I supposed to get my Tiny Tim tribute band off the ground? ;)

It was the same pitch with the 500X...though I've been using a pair of 55 ohm AKG240S cans for years without a problem. Sooner or later, with super-high impedance headphones, you'll start to have level issues unless you add a separate headphone amp. Not worth the trouble as far as I'm concerned. Low impedance cans work just fine.

I hate to rain on your parade, but I'd happily bet every cent I have that the sun will go nova before there's a bouzouki model in the Variax...

Or just a good pair of wife-canceling headphones for him...;)

POD was exactly the same for me. I've had separate set lists for phones, amp/cab, and studio monitors for years.

Every time you change what you're listening through, expect the tone to change...sometimes radically so. Especially switching from a "real" amp, to headphones. The cheap cans probably aren't helping, but don't expect a nice pair to sound identical to your amp either...they never will. Guitar amps and headphones (crappy or not) have very different frequency responses. Or, you could always just put the wife out in the yard....;)

I remember it being discussed...don't think it had anything to do with the charger though. If i remember the conversation, the claim was that the guitar won't recognize a 3rd party battery somehow. I forget the specifics...don't even know of its true. But there was a thread about it, once upon a time.

OK...but they already have. And as unfair as that is, short of a class-action lawsuit (which like all class-action lawsuits, MIGHT net you an $8 gift card to The Sizzler after the lawyers are done pillaging the settlement) nothing will ever come of it.

It's baffling to me how often this seems to happen...if it's a new guitar, I'd tell them to acquire another one if its been "lost". Regardless, you'll be able to power and control it, but Workbench connectivity is still a no-go. You will need that USB dongle, which L6 will be happy to sell you for the absurd "don't drop the soap" price of $100!

I wonder why this is still a discussion. Gents...the carnival came to town, the guy who runs the tilt-a-whirl slept with your daughter, and the next morning they folded up the tents and moved on. They're not coming back. So if you can't look her in the eye anymore, ship her off to live with old spinster Aunt Martha...no amount of discussing the problem is gonna change anything at this point.

Everything eventually breaks...if you gig, you need a backup. End of story. Worrying about it is a waste of time though. My car might die on the way to work tomorrow, but I'm not gonna lay awake tonight wringing my hands over it. Besides, with the pace that technology evolves, you're far more likely to lose interest in a unit in favor of the "next big thing", long before it craps out on you...just play the damn thing.

I've owned and played more guitars than I could ever count at this point. Everything from cheap Squires to one-off cu$tom$...not a single one was set-up "just right" out of the box. It's impossible. Wood moves. Temperature changes, humidity changes. By the time you get an instrument, weeks, months, and sometimes years have passed since it was "sent out". Stuff sits in warehouses under conditions that are almost guaranteed to be less than ideal for guitars, for God knows how long...In other words, what was or wasn't done to a guitar before it left the factory is basically irrelevant, because it's gonna change long before it gets to you anyway. If it's even half playable the first time you pick it up, it's just dumb luck.