cruisinon2

Yeah...it's a nasty sound. There are obviously a lot of units out there with the original fan assembly. Mine had to be replaced twice. 1st attempt at my local "authorized service center" didn't work. 2nd time it made a cross-country trip back to the mothership, and that repair seems to be holding so far.

I'll get nervous when the Freemasons start talking about Helix...;)

Apart from guitar magazines, which I probably haven't purchased in 20 years, I wouldn't really expect to see ads anywhere. It's not like L6 is gonna be buying ad time on Monday night football...they'd be throwing money away.

I'm not convinced there is a universal solution. Nor am I convinced that there is one universal cause for the symptoms. If I'm right, it helps to explain why a fix has proved to be so elusive. If you can't sufficiently isolate a problem, or it could have one or more of 9 different causes, a standard remedy will be hard to come by...if not impossible. Sometimes that's just how life works. Hell, it's difficult to keep a "normal" guitar from making noise you don't want to hear...60-cycle hum, fret buzz, dirty toggle switches, creaky tremolo springs, etc etc. And these guitars have a lot more than that going on. "The more complicated the plumbing, the easier it is to clog the drain" - Capt. Montgomery Scott ;). The evidence clearly suggests that some guitars have/acquire this disease, and others don't. If anyone knew why, or had a legit fix for afflicted instruments, we'd all know about it by now. Cross your fingers and hope it gets fixed...seems that's about all you can do.

Interesting article. And I think you're right. Obviously it affects some guitars and not others, and frankly I don't think that even L6 knows why. If they did, it would have been rectified by now, if for no other reason than to shut us all up. It would also explain why some users have attempted to have the same guitar fixed multiple times with no luck, and why replacing components doesn't always seem to be the answer. What's really disappointing however, is not that some of these guitars seemingly can't be fixed, but rather that the default response is to blame the set-up. If ya don't know what the cause really is, or you know but don't have a reliable, universal fix...just say so. It'll sting a little, but at least it would be honest.

Gotta hand it to you. Your commitment to dancing around the issue is unwavering. Makes my feet hurt just reading this. He never suggested swapping the wires as a solution to the problem, and anyone reading this thread knows that. So raising the spectre that doing so might cause additional problems, really serves no purpose. He never said: "Here's the answer folks! Just swap couple of wires and all will be right with the world.". It's troubleshooting, and a perfectly legitimate means of demonstrating that the issue is in the electronics. Everyone knows that, too. Continuing to blame it on the set-up sounds less feasible each time it's repeated.

I have it on good authority (from a guy down at the bar) that they all forgot to try that. Now it won't ship until Memorial Day...and it's all your fault. ;)

Everybody is missing a power switch, and yes it's the most asinine thing ever, and a common gripe. There's never been a satisfactory explanation offered as to why they didn't bother to put one in the unit, which suggests top me that it was a pathetic attempt at cost-savings, but we'll never know. They do seem to have learned their lesson though...enough people have complained about it that I recall one of the L6 guys who posts on here regularly had said that they won't be doing that again, lol.

I'm confused...USB is USB. What difference does it make whether it's an iOS device or not?

Just for my own morbid curiosity...which six notes? ;)

There are basically 2 guys in the universe who use that technique (no, I'm not counting the Chapman Stick dudes ;) )...Stanley Jordan as you mentioned, and TJ Helmerich. Might help to research their gear...don't know how much help you'll get from those of us who have a more "standard" approach.

Something on the pole rattling, perhaps?

Congratulations, I'm sure your research was exhaustive. And you're right...racing slicks and all-season radials are indeed different. So are a #10 surgical scalpel and a Swiss Army Knife. But Dean Markley's 10-46 round wound nickel strings, and Ernie Ball's 10-46 round wound nickel strings are for all practical purposes, the same thing...I don't care what the advertising blurbs claim about their legendary uber-hexanifty Kryptonite cores, and proprietary winding processes. And I don't care how good your ears are, you'll never stand in front of 2 guitarists on a stage and be able to say "the guy on the right is playing D'Adarrios, and the other dude has GHS Boomers". There is not now, nor will there ever be a universal, objective truth here...only opinions, and personal preference. Discussions about the "best" strings, pickups, cables, fretwire, picks, etc. are meaningless. If something works for you, wonderful...doesn't mean the rest of the guitar playing world will agree. And nobody is "right". And not to put too fine a point on it, but the idea that it's possible to arrive at any meaningful conclusion about what will suit you, merely by soliciting someone else's opinions on the matter, is utterly ridiculous. Until you actually try these magical strings you've discovered, you're just regurgitating something you read. May The Tone be with you...

For the most part, Customtone is an exercise in futility. 98% of the time, whatever a patch sounded like to whomever crafted it, is not how it's gonna sound with your guitar(s) and your rig. I've wasted hours loading up patches that were supposed to sound like one player or another, only to be left wondering if the guy who uploaded it was deaf. The are just too many variables. You will find what you're looking for a whole lot quicker if you build patches yourself. Unfortunately, it's mostly trial and error. The other option is to find a tone that is close to what you need, and then season to taste...but relying on somebody else's idea of "the most fantabulous Slash tone ever" will usually be disappointing, and a serious time-waster. As for the compatibility between devices, I'm pretty sure you're out of luck...but if there is a way to make them work, somebody will chime in eventually.

I don't think it's as easy to do that as you think. Never been a problem for me.

OK, that's weird. Sounds nothing like the fan rattle I had, so I stand corrected. Wish I had something to suggest, but I'm fresh out of ideas. Good luck.

I'm the farthest thing in the world from a computer guy, so maybe I'm nuts...but I would have assumed this to be the case. iPads are designed to do a million things. By comparison the 500X is a one trick pony. Hell, in the speed department, my phone out-guns the 4 year old desktop machine currently collecting dust in the living room. Doesn't surprise me that the 500X comes in 3rd in a race with an iPad.

It seems odd that the kind of electronic crackle you're describing would only occur with certain frequencies. Symptoms associated with only certain frequencies (especially on the low end) are almost always caused by something vibrating that shouldn't be...I've had the aforementioned fan-rattle with my L2T, and a similar issue with a rattling brace inside a Marshall 4x12 years ago. I'd be very suspicious of the fan...even if it seems like something else. Aim it away from you and listen behind the fan vents as you play some of the offending notes...if it is the fan, it should become more obvious when you're right on top of it.

You know, I don't know why, but it never occurred to me that I'd need to update or re-flash the firmware on my L2T. But, I don't own an M20D...I only have the one speaker, and use it with the 500X. Why would they deliver a piece of gear that absolutely can't have the firmware updated without access to an M20D? There are plenty of guys who only use one of these things in a guitar rig...we're not all using them as part of a full PA.

Sorry, but the idea that one brand of strings "must" be better than another is just plain silly. What feels and sounds "better" to me might not work for you. It's entirely subjective. Try a couple of different brands, and use what you like. And for what it's worth, I've used just about every brand of string out there at one time or another, and with the exception of Elixirs, which feel very different to me due to the coating (and definitely last longer), the rest of them are pretty much interchangeable as far as I'm concerned. I've never picked up a guitar and said, "These must be Ernie Ball's". Imho, gauge matters...brand? Who cares...

True, but that assumes that a retailer's goal involves something other than money. Sadly, it does not. A sale is a sale, and the sooner they get it, the better. Step 1: Give a concocted estimate for delivery. Accuracy not required. Step 2: Run the card. Step 3: When that day comes and goes with no product, craft an excuse which sounds sympathetic and contains just enough plausible deniability to pacify an irritated customer. Step 4: Chuckle quietly to self while cashing commissions check.

But WHICH island...(cue Law and Order "dun-dun" bumper) ;)

People say lots of things. Take it all with a giant mound of salt. Let's suppose that there was some unforseen delay, totally unavoidable, and not the fault of anyone at L6. Why would they announce it, inviting criticism and endless whining? There's no upside to doing that. It's a lose-lose proposition...which is why you'll never get anything but vague estimates like "the end of the summer", which could have about six different definitions, depending on who you are and where you're standing. This giant game of Internet telephone is hilarious though..."I heard", "this guy said", "I'm thinking it'll be released on International Street Sweepers Day because that's when the moon opposes Neptune, and everybody knows that's a good time for selling electronic devices and the planting of asparagus". Keep it commin'!!! ;)

I didn't notice any appreciable difference in tone, but playability is a whole other ballgame. May as well splurge on the neck...you'll save a small fortune in fretwork over the years.

It's a union thing. D# Local 8113 felt their pitch was underrepresented in the tuner community, and threatened a strike. ;) Who knows, it's one or the other, right? They had to pick one...