cruisinon2

There's a way around that...set up dual amp chains, one clean and one dirty. Then assign the channel volumes to the expression pedal. Heel down for clean, tow down for dirty (or vice versa if you prefer). Seamless transition between the two tones...one fades right into the other. Priceless feature...

I've never managed to get satisfactory results trying to "dirty-up" a clean tone with pedals...whether it's old school analog, or modeled. I've always found that setting things up that way (especially using actual pedals into a clean amp tone) takes away from at least one, if not both tones. So I've resigned myself to having my clean patches, and my dirty ones...and never the twain shall meet. It's less tap-dancing anyway...

Electrical specs aside, imho it's not a good design, and it doesn't surprise me that people are blowing them up inadvertantly. Requiring the amp to be run in stereo to avoid roasting it doesn't make any sense to me at all, since the overwhelming majority of guitar rigs are mono. Yes, I know the cabinet that L6 sells with the HD 150 is wired in stereo, but this is now, and always was pointless. It's one box...there's no separation, so any stereo fx are effectively rendered mono anyway. And suppose I didn't want to be forced into that cabinet? Maybe I have a nice Marshall 4x12 that I've been using for 20 years that I like...which happens to be mono, surprise, surprise... Most tube heads and power amps that are capable of running stereo, have discrete channels and master volumes. No risk at all using just one. You use one or the other, run in bridged mono if it's an option, or use 'em both independantly into separate cabs if you want to run stereo (but how many people actually do that? When was the last time you saw anybody drag a full stack to a local gig?)...this is what most players are used to.

If you're gonna be using it strictly as a guitar rig with the POD and the JTV, then you're right...PA reference mode is what you will want to use anyway to take advantage of all the modeling you have at your disposal. Unless you also want the flexibility to use it with a real acoustic guitar for coffee-house kinda stuff, you can certainly find less costly FRFR options. The only other thing it really offers that most powered speakers don't is the L6 Link if you ever wanted to add on and make it part of a larger set-up, and the on-board accelerometer. It knows when it's lying on it's side, and will compensate for the low-end coupling that you get lying speakers on the floor...that's nice if you decide you want to use it just as a monitor for stage volume (I do), and run your POD straight out to the FOH.

I read that differently...I think he's using the SVT cab with other amps for metal tones. Perhaps he'll clarify...

http://line6.com/support/topic/12670-part-2-of-my-pod-hd500x-demonstration-video-now-uploaded/ Dial out what you don't want...good tutorial. Quick and easy. Well, "quick" by POD tweaking standards anyway... ;)

Well depending on the problem it may or may not help, and whatever problem you had may have gotten worse, but it's unlikely to have had anything to do with the cleaner. I've used it countless times for decades and it had never once worsened a problem.

A blast of contact cleaner is always the first thing to try with volume/tone pot, or toggle switch issues.

That's good to know...if it fits, it fits. Stay tuned for someone to claim that there will be a tonal difference on that one string with the off-brand screw, though... ;)

Most rehearsal studios have gear that hasn't been serviced since the Reagan administration...

Can't say I've noticed that...then again if I put it on the stand to do something else for a minute, I'm not staring at the knobs. Good question...

Must have been government funded...

Music store gear-jockey strikes again! Was the guy old enough to shave? I stopped listening to anything the staff at the various MegaloMusics of the world have to say years ago...they almost never know anything about the gear they're peddling.

I can't get enough of the Shiva...especially for leads, and it was way down on my list of things that I was looking forward to...you never know. And I know it's an older model, but the Variac'ed Plexi is great for mid-gain ryhthm tones, and cleans up nicely rolling off the volume.

Can't wait for the tsunami of whining that another device would create, so soon after everybody just dropped coin on the model packs... :P More, more, more!!!....just not yet, lol.

Well at least we all have you to set us straight. Whatever would we do otherwise?

Your only real option is to get ahold of a used Variax to canibalize...or if you get really lucky, you can occasionally find somebody selling the guts to one on eBay, but they don't show up all that often.

I'm writing that one down...lmao :lol:

Can't say I agree. This is precisely what the POD is designed to do. I do it live, and have done it in the studio, with excellent results. Plenty of others do too. As for EQing out the harsh frequencies, that only has to be done once...hit 'save',and you're done. EQing for the room is not a Herculean task, and can either be done at the board, or with the new global EQ if there is no sound guy (or if there is one and he's deaf, ;) ).

If you're under a time crunch, I suggest you take it to any decent luthier, and see if they have something on hand that fits. Judging by some recent complaints around here regarding support ticket response times, your Saturday deadline is likely to come and go before you hear from L6. I seriously doubt there's anything exotic about those screws...any half-way respectable repair shop should have something that will work in a pinch. If you want you can always get a matching one later...

It's so subjective...the litany of things that affect your sound from day-to-day (aging strings, beat up picks, whether or not you've got your chops that day, etc, etc) almost makes this a pointless discussion. Unless we're talking about some glaring and obvious malfunction that generates hideous noise, minor nuances that changes from one day to the next can be blamed on a thousand other things which are far more likely than updating the firmware. Just my 2 cents... But Bigfoot is real man...saw one myself, deer hunting in WV. Never been so scared in my life. Just couldn't get the phone out in time to snap a picture, but I know what I saw! :P

It's not at all uncommon to notice a difference in how a patch sounds from one day to the next, even if you haven't done anything to the firmware at all. Ear fatigue is usually the culprit..it happens to everybody, no one is immune. Play for several hours, even at sane volumes, your ears get tired and you will start to perceive things differently...then you tweak to compensate. Fast forward 24 hours, dial up the same patch, and there's a good chance that you won't like what you hear. I'll bet money that this is what the majority of people who think the firmware changed their existing patches are actually experiencing. Hell, your mood and whether or not you happen to be playing well on a given day are likely to affect your perception of how the rig sounds...

I wouldn't feel too bad...there are "golden eared" engineers and producers who get fooled by modelers.

I can see all the tube Nazis getting in a twist already...lol http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/04/marshall-goes-digital-with-its-first- official-software-amplifier/ This would be an interesting A/B test...a Line 6 vs. Marshall cage match! Price is amusing... $199 for the plug-in, and another $300 for the only sound card that it will work with. Anybody still think our model packs are overpriced?

The whole point is anything is reasonable if it works for you and gives you the sound you're looking for. There is no point in getting hung up on the "right" or "wrong" way to set up a patch, because there really is no such thing. That's all I meant.