cruisinon2

Zombie Thread.....

I use the VDI exclusively, as I don't trust batteries. Never had one...Duracell, Diehard, or otherwise...that didn't decide to crap out at an inopportune moment. Carrying around spares, constantly having to charge them...no thanks. Plus, the VDI allows easier control over the Variax. I'd much rather change models and tunings via the POD, than be fumbling with knobs and dials on stage.

Lol...it finally happened! We've officially run out of semi-worthwhile topics on which to speculate about Helix. What we should really focus on is whether or not the guy who came up with the "Helix" name likes broccoli.

I'm sure others will tell you otherwise, but I seriously doubt it matters one way or the other as long as the claw is appropriately adjusted for whatever gauge strings you've got on there. Back in my pointy black Ibanez w/Flood Rose days, I would set it up one way or the other...can't say I ever noticed a difference either way.

This is true for any guitar with a floating bridge (which is why I can't stand them), it's not a Floyd-specific problem. I suppose if you never do any double-stop bends, it might be less of an issue for you, but it drives me nuts.

Unless you require an extraordinary variety of tones, you'll probably find yourself settling in on 3 or 4 models after a while. I like the blackface for cleans (Hi way occasionally too), Marshall for dirty rhythms, and Solano and Bogner Shiva for most leads.

That's to be expected. The other output modes are designed for traditional guitar amps, be it a combo or a head and cabinet, and the comparatively narrow frequency responses that they have. Full amp models and studio/direct mode is what the L2 is expecting to see.

Your not doing anything wrong. The biggest misconception about FRFR speakers is that they're all gonna sound identical. They won't. And some PA's don't have as flat a response as you'd think. You had your POD dialed in for the speakers you were used to...now you're running it through something else. This will always require some adjustments.

That being the case, the only other possibility is that the mags and models are blending...this is a controllable feature that you can access in Workbench, though it seems unlikely, unless you had deliberately created such a model and flashed it to the guitar at some point.

Which is precisely why it's a waste of time to report anything. The guesswork from unverifiable source #1 won't be any better than the guesswork from unverifiable source #2...The only one(s) who actually know ain't talkin', and they're not gonna start.

There's nothing particularly mysterious about leveling the relative volumes of patches. Same as any other unit that stores multiple preset tones. Balance them either with the individual chanel volumes, the mixer block, or some combination of the two...but if you're having issues at stage volume, then do your leveling at those volumes, assuming that you will want at least some patches a few dB louder than the others for solos. The dB curve is logarithmic. If you level everything at bedroom volumes, the boosted patches will seem much louder (relative to the others) when they're cranked than they did at lower volumes.

This too...I've had nothing but good experiences with them. I have several of their necks, one of which is now about 15 years old, and still pin-straight. It's on a Strat, and hasn't even developed the typical "hump" near the heel that so often plagues bolt-on necks. It's worth a phone call.

Generally, I'm loath to accept the set-up excuse as well. Alt. tuning problems wouldn't have anything to do with that anyway. Set-up related problems (fret buzz, etc) could conceivably result in some harsh artifacts in the modeling, but it has nothing to do with the tunings. That being said, you have a guitar that is over 2 years old and you said that you haven't changed anything since it was new. Most guitars that are rarely played and have been sitting for that length of time are gonna be in need of a set-up. Things change on their own while it's sitting in a case. Wood is a like sponge. Changes in temperature and humidity can wreak havoc even if you never touch the thing. As for the "discord" you describe,it is very possible that you are hearing the guitar acoustically, on-top of what your amp is spitting out. It fooled me at first. Unless you are playing at a volume suitable to drown out the guitar itself, you'd be surprised at how much you hear directly from the guitar. Try playing through headphones...crank it loud enough that you don't hear the raw guitar. Also, record something direct using one of the alt. tunings that is giving you trouble, and listen carefully to the playback. If the playback sounds normal, then the dissonance you're hearing is the result of hearing both the raw guitar and the altered notes simultaneously. If you have a POD, you can test this easily with the looper.

Huh? I never suggested that you didn't "care about" the frets. Of course you do...that's you're whole complaint. I said: "it doesn't make sense to toss an entire neck because you don't 'care for' the fret wire". If you "don't care for" something, it means you don't like it...very common phrasing. As for email...not always the best way to get things done. I realize it's not fashionable anymore, but you might actually have to pick up the phone and speak to a human. It's a lot easier to ignore an email than a person.

No need to apologize, I'm sure that's exactly what they told you. I just have trouble believing anything that comes from a guy who's trying to sell me something...it's a safe bet that it isn't the truth.

This is like throwing out the bed because you don't like the sheets. Why give up because they didn't answer one email? Make a phone call...perhaps a mistake was made. If it was their error, they'll probably re-fret it for you. It's a bit of a stretch to conclude that the entire company is worthless because they didn't answer an email, and even sillier to ditch a neck you like just because you didn't care for the fret-wire. Unless they're stainless, frets are a consumable item...you'd be replacing them eventually anyway.

Ding, ding, ding!!! There it is, summed up nicely. You nailed it. The notion that it's an entirely mechanical, set-up related issue is equal parts wishful thinking and cop-out. There are only so many things on a guitar that could be rattling to this extent. Once they're all either ruled out as the cause or remedied, all that's left is the electronics. Yeah, yeah the OP already had the guts of his guitar replaced. Proves nothing. Personaly, I don't think anybody knows why this afflicts some instruments and not others, or it would have been fixed already. And I can accept that...sometimes things just aren't that neat and tidy. What strains credibility however, is the default response of "You're set-up must be f@$!#d". I suspect the truth is that some of these instruments just aren't gonna work right no matter how "dialed in" the set-up, or how many times they swap electronic components, most likely because of some combination of issues that exist in certain individual guitars and not others. I won't pretend to know they are, but the evidence leans heavily in this direction. You've got some guys trying to get the same guitar fixed multiple times, others going through 3, 4, and 5 different instruments before they get one that works. What does that all suggest? That there is some set of conditions that exists in certain units that results in a guitar that doesn't function as advertised. And when attempts at eliminating potential causes repeatedly fail, it suggests more than one cause working in concert...which may or may not be the same from one defective guitar to the next. All of that would make one universal fix very difficult to find, if one exists at all. Now getting anyone to actually admit that will, in all likelihood, prove even more difficult to come by than finding a fix that actually works.

Two hundred of them to one store? That seems unlikely to me. I told y'all before...retailers are full of lollipope, now and forever. Listen to nothing they tell you. All your gonna get is wishful thinking, or outright lies.

"The one that fits" ;) I've probably lost as many Allen wrenches as guitar picks over the years. Finally broke down and bought a big set with both US and metric sizes, as I have a bunch of guitars, all with different size bolts for the truss rod. Usually can't remember what size is for what guitar..."Nope, not this one"... Someone here will know and chime in...fear not. Or you can get a set that will cover all your bases for $10-$15 at Home Depot, and you'll never have to think about it again.

You can do that for two separate patches, yes. But the OP is talking about a dual-amp patch, for which there are many uses. The expression pedal method allows for a seamless fade-in/fade-out transition from one tone to another without the (sometimes) audible gap that accompanies switching between two patches. It's a game-changer for live players who switch between clean and dirty tones a lot...it allows for a much cleaner execution of those changes.

EDM is probably wonderful if you have a head full of ecstacy, or whatever club drug(s) is fashionable these days. Otherwise it's push-button noise. Don't forget your giant mouse head... Imho, the words "rap" and "music" should never appear in the same sentence. "Rhythmic entertainment" is a better description. One of my favorite musician interview moments was with Adrian Legg (wonderful acoustic guitarist for those who don't know him), commenting on his former label going to a mostly hip-hop roster...he said that they would have to re-name the company "Screaming Misogynist Records".

OK, fine. The problem couldn't possibly reside "downstream" in the bowels of the electronics. Don't know what I was thinking. And for God's sake let's not examine all the possibilities...that might lead to progress. Just go with the assumption that the problem couldn't possibly be after the piezo. To the OP, you'll be happy to know that your guitar is actually fine. It's your head that's vibrating funny...run full speed into a brick wall, maybe it'll jog something loose. ;)

OK, so there are discrete channels each carrying the signal from an individual piezo, yes? So if you then swap two wires, those signals might be in the "wrong" place, but that in and of itself does not explain why the offending noise is then somehow piggybacked on top of a different pitch. How does re-routing the piezo signal to a different channel manage to separate the offending wave from the pitch with which it originates? Just doesn't seem to make sense. And yes, I understand this is not a "solution"...it was never offered as such, but rather as a means of troubleshooting the problem.

If the noise can be made to hop from one string to another just be moving wires around, it ain't mechanical...

That was my rationale too...it's a great sounding unit, and I use mine exclusively as a monitor as well. It's plenty loud though, and unless the band is trying to set a record for ear bleeding dB levels, you could use it in the backline, even without running the POD straight to FOH. Just cross your fingers that you don't get one with the original rattling fan assembly, they're still out there.