cruisinon2

Don't give up on FRFR yet...There's a learning curve. But just in case there's always this thing: http://www.amazon.com/Electro-Harmonix-Magnum-Guitar-Power-Amplifier/dp/B003VCCUKM Don't let the fact that it's the size of a stomp-box fool you...this thing is stupid loud, and it's $150.

I haven't used the Alto, but generally speaking, red-lining the master volume on anything powered is not a good idea. Start with the Alto's master at 12 o'clock. Then look at your patches...specifically the channel volumes, and the mixer block volumes. You may have those set lower than they need to be. With my L2T, I set the master volume at noon, and leave it there. I never really touch the thing unless the knob got moved in transit. Level all your patch volumes, and use the POD's master to set your stage volume. With the L2T's volume fixed, I rarely get past 12-1 o'clock on the POD...sometimes don't even need that much. Are you running the POD to the PA also, or relying only on the Alto? You'll get extra juice that way too.

Forget the edit software and the input settings for the moment...what happens when the POD is NOT connected to a computer, and you plug in either the VDI, or a 1/4" cable (with the battery in), and you press the model knob? Regardless of what the input settings are, or whether or not you can hear anything, you should be able to toggle the model knob on and off manually as long as the guitar has power. Narrow down one thing at a time.

I sympathize with you, but it's not a surprise. Lefty guitars are a tiny market share, even amongst "normal" guitars. For a niche product like this, that most players don't even know exists, there's just no money in it.

Does the model knob light up if you engage it manually? If it does, it should be fine...but with POD'S input is set only to "guitar", you still won't hear anything thru the VDI, even with the models engaged. Set it to guitar+Variax, or just Variax. They only come with one battery, so that's normal.

There are two ways to ask for things: One is pleasant and contrite, and the other is pitching a fit. Declaring that the company "isn't doing anyone any favors", and demanding that they conform to his arbitrary deadline ("I won't wait a year...") for adding things he has decided "should" be included, is the latter of the two. No way to open a conversation. Threatening not to buy any more L6 products whilst referencing previous instances of getting "burned" by the company, is childish. No one will be inclined to help you if you behave that way. L6 doesn't care if you pout. If pouting worked, my daughter would have gotten that pony she wanted when she was 6. (In my defense, it was a small apartment at the time ;) ). It's not endearing, and will be about as effective as consulting a Ouija board, or dancing over a pile of chicken bones and goat's blood while chanting supplications to the Gods. As for the dishwasher and the helicopter...it's called sarcasm. Buying any device and expecting it to become something other than what it was the day you bought it is silly, and deserving of a silly analogy.

Same rules apply. It'll either be fine, or it won't. New is nice, but if it was in fact made in 2012, and Sweetwater "just got them", then obviously the guitar has been spending it's summers elsewhere for the last several years. Probably sitting in a warehouse...though it does seem odd that L6 would sit on inventory for that long. Anything is possible, however...and you'll never figure it out anyway. You can guess until you turn blue and pass out, and you still won't know a blessed thing until you open the box.

I bought a dishwasher almost a year ago, and it STILL isn't a helicopter. A year! Makes me wonder if Whirlpool cares about their customers at all...;)

You're wasting your breath...the powers the that be will never stop trying to convince you that the spam you've just been served is actually beef Wellington.

One of two things will happen: 1) Everything will be marvelous. or 2) Something will be amiss. The good news is, I seriously doubt the risk is any greater than if it had left the factory yesterday. Some of these guitars have issues, some don't...and you won't know till it gets there. And fwiw, a whole bunch of those pretty guitars on the wall down at MegaloMusic have been hanging there for EONS, sans anything that resembles suitable maintenance...and they'll still charge you full price.

Oh good, I was afraid I might have missed the season premier of "It's Not Your Granddad's Archtop"...

Never tried it, but its not really gonna solve your problem anyway. Turning the amp model off will leave just the raw guitar signal, plus whatever fx you have in the chain, which is gonna be just as jarring as switching between clean and dirty patches. Not much tone to speak of either, with just raw guitar and fx. Dual amp patches are quite versatile, and using the expression pedal to morph between them gives you really smooth transitions, no "pops", no drop-outs. You'll have to fiddle with it for a while to get the volumes right between clan and dirty, but in the end it's worth the time.

Lol...there will always be that guy who insists on having the 200 hp scoot with racing slicks, so he can putt-putt to work at between traffic lights, topping out around 42mph.

I wish I could say analog stuff never failed me...I once had a tube power amp fail at sound-check. Thing actually started smoking, lol. Oops, now what? Point is, anything can die on you, and it will probably be mighty inconvenient when it does. When was the last time you got a flat tire in your driveway instead of on a 12% grade, in a driving rain? ;) Most of the time though, stuff works as it should. My 500X and L2T is the smallest rig I've ever had. My back and I are on speaking terms again.

There's really no point in trying to go stereo in a live situation. Aside from the fact that the only person who's gonna get the full effect is the guy who happens to be standing dead center between your speakers, you run the risk of irritating your bandmate(s)...as whomever is on the opposite side of the stage is only gonna hear half of your stereo FX. That can get confusing with a lot of other noise swirling around.

It's no different than creating a single tone. You will have two isolated signal chains within the same patch...one clean, one dirty. Assign the channel volumes for each amp model to the expression pedal, and you can morph seamlessly from one to the other. Almost all of my patches are set up this way. No drop-outs. The only time it gets dodgy, is if you rely heavily on multiple FX. You're still limited to 8 FX blocks, so you have to pick and choose what fx you want with which tone. Having 2 amp models in a patch eats up more DSP also, but I've made it work quite nicely 98% of the time.

I'll preface this by saying that I really like my Korean JTV69, and I consider the $1K I paid for it to be right on the money as far as build quality and the modeling engine are concerned....but they want nearly 4x the price for the US version. That's insane for a guitar with identical specs (albeit with a quarter-sawn neck), just assembled state-side. Find the right luthier and 4 grand buys a lot of guitar...and you'll actually have a say about the finished product.

I get bored with stuff long before 10 years goes by anyway...and even if I didn't, the pace at which this stuff keeps improving makes me want to upgrade sooner. 3 or 4 years, and I'm moving on anyway...generally keeping the most recent thing as a backup, unloading whatever I had as the previous back-up. Round and round we go, stimulating the economy...;)

Or you could think of it this way...if your Helix craps out, the Firehawk is your back-up. While the modeling might not be as robust as Helix, in a pinch it could rescue you from a horrible Spinal Tap moment at a gig.

Nice! Contact cleaner, WD40, and duct tape should all be supplied at birth. Between the 3, you can fix 90% life's problems. ;)

"Reasonable" being the operative term. Demanding more stuff every couple of months for a product that took 6 years to develop? Doesn't strike me as particularly reasonable. You mean as compared to stamping one's feet and publically declaring to a bunch of fellow users that you're not gonna buy any more L6 products? Gee, I guess you're right...my statement wasn't nearly as helpful as that.

Oh no, now it's Chapter 11 for sure. Buying things because of what they MIGHT become one day, is an excellent way to spend the rest of your life being chronically disappointed. Better odds in a casino.

You will have to experiment with the EQ...not all FRFR speakers are created equal. It's not unusual to find your patches to be a bit bass-heavy (especially at higher volumes) if you've dialed them in using a traditional guitar amp. Using a low cut filter can help tame some of that boominess, but there's no magic frequency setting. You just have to listen, and adjust accordingly. You may find that the settings will change depending on which amp model your using, as well as the guitar you're playing. Every piece of the puzzle has an effect.

It will take some getting used to...your patches, as they are now will likely sound very different, especially if you're not using cab/mic sims. On the bright side, your Variax acoustic models just became much easier to use. It's nearly impossible to take advantage of those without FRFR.

Damn it! That was my initial reaction, just seeing the title of the thread...beat me to it, lol ;)