cruisinon2

You seem to have ruled out all the other components...maybe try updating/reflashing the latest firmware on the HD. Other than that I'm out of ideas.

Eureka!!!!! Ok...so I finally found a way to get a decent acoustic sound, particularly when using really percussive strumming. I started with a stock patch on the 500X. Its in the BASS/ACO/VOC bank : 7B Solo Acoustic 2. The unaltered preset is useless and sounds like someone stepping on a duck, but with enough tweeking I was finally able to get a pretty convincing scooped tone that I can use with a fairly percussive attack. All it really is, is 5 EQ modules strung together, along with a tube compressor and a little reverb, no amp model. Each EQ module is the same (parametric+preamp), but targets a different center frequency. So its a different approach than than the one in the blog which has been discussed above. A bunch of EQs all strung together seems redundant, but it worked for me. With enough twiddling of knobs, I bet some of you guys who've been having trouble will be able to find a usable tone. I'd post all the specific settings, but everybody's setup is different, I doubt these will work for everybody anyway...that and I did it all listening through a pair of cheap $40 cans, my good AKGs having gone to that big studio in the sky a couple months back. I encourage anybody who has had issues with this to give it a try...I spent more than an hour making really small changes, and playing the same part repeatedly, so dont get frustrated if it takes a while.

I'm completely addicted to the total lack of hum with the JTV...picking up any of my other guitars is almost a nuisance now. Sad in a way...

I don't know about you guys, but half the reason I like Line6's stuff so much is that I don't have to carry around a duffle bag full of 9v batteries to feed a dozen different pedals. A wireless unit + the JTV battery is already 2 more batteries than I like to be dependent on in live situations...

Interesting, but I don't really see a company like Fender ever developing and kind of tech that gives you access to anything but other "Fender sounds"...and while it would be nice, they almost certainly wouldn't allow anybody else's electronics to be the "brain" of one of their guitars. To many, that wouldn't be a Fender anymore, and would be considered sacrilege. Personally I think that's ridiculous, but that's a whole other discussion. Companies that have been around forever all seem to suffer from the same creativity stifling disease...IMHO, the Fenders and Gibsons of the world are always way too attached to "tradition", and their "classic" status to ever develop anything truly innovative. "New" ain't in their vocabluary. They're always terrified of offending the traditionalists and being labled sell-outs. I really don't think they want to build anything that doesn't "sound like a Fender"... Besides..."retro" is IN! That's why you can walk into any big-chain music retailer and see a whole wall of "vintage" instruments, many of which appear to have been dragged behind a pickup for 6 miles, with $3K pricetags. Why would you want new, when old is so "cool maaaaaaaan"...lol

Every guitar player I've ever met (inlcuding myself) is a crybaby about the action...we like what we like and that's it. The 11s is a good idea too...then again, I think that's a good idea for all the world's guitars, but that's just me...

I can't say the same for mine...I find the neck and middle pickups to sound a little thin and "tinny"...even for single coils. I do like the sound of the humbucker though.

Don't get me wrong...I love technology. I love what Line6 has been able to produce. However, there's more than one kind of progress. And to the CEOs and bean counters of the world, the only kind of progress that matters is the kind that makes them more money. This is easily achieved by convincing (and it doesn't take much) our "keeping up with the Jone's" culture that only the latest and greatest will suffice. Like it or not, this is what keep our economy going. I'm not saying it's good, bad, or indifferent. It just is. If you don't think that Apple already has a 5 year plan including the next iThingy and iThingy 2 that we'll all be told we "need" to have, then I don't know what to tell ya...agree to disagree I guess.

I've found that setting the 500X's outputs the "correct" way based on my amp/cab setup sounded like boiled a$$. I run studio/direct outs straight into a power amp. It may not be the "right" way to do it, but it's what sounds good to me...bottom line is there's no right or wrong here. Whatever sounds good to you is the way to go. The tweeking will go on forever anyway. What sounds good today might horrify you tomorrow :wacko:

Planned obselescence is the name of the game in everything electronic since the transistor. Good or bad, it keeps the merry-go-round running.

C Crackling and/or hissing sounds usually mean one or more bad piezos, according to conversations I've had with Line 6 tech guys. Intermittent problems are unfortunately difficult to diagnose, be it a guitar or a yacht. If you send it back to Line6 now, invariably it'll work fine when they get it on the bench and they'll send it back, having proclaimed it is "functioning normally". Good luck.

Yep...there will always be a corner cut somewhere. They could make the knobs bullet-proof, but then we'd be paying $650 for he thing, and we'd all be bitching about that instead, lol

As far as I known those strat issues can happen if you overwrite the individual Spank model and save it to position 2. Adjusting the global string settings shouldnt do that since you're not changing the models themselves. Didnt affect mine any, and I've played with various volume levels and havent noticed anything funny about the strat sounds.

I've got the HD500X, and personally, I hate the way it sounds running into the front of a head, or to a dedicated tube power amp (I've tried both) when using the "correct" output settings on the 500X. However, if I leave the POD output set to studio/direct, I have no problem dialing in tones I like. I realize that this is not the way it is "supposed" to be done, as I'm running cab and mic emulations through an amp and cabinet, but for me and my ears, it works (perhaps I'm going deaf...I've been at this a while, lol). The band has yet to complain about anything sounding funny though, so it might be worth a try before you decide to toss the POD...but as always, your mileage may vary.

It may be worth messing around with the string volumes in Workbench before you return it. I adjusted the global string volume to lessen the piezo "quack" in certain models. Lots of others have done the same and seen improvements. I think that the piezos are just too hot on full blast, particularly if you're used to picking hard.

Does this happen with or without palm-muting the string(s) in question? I had a similar issue that turned out to be odd noises coming from the adjacent string that I was resting my palm on. Drove me nuts till I figured it out. Not sure if your problem is the same...

Apologies if this was already raised in this thread, but I'm too lazy to read thru 6 pages of posts to find out. I've been running 2.0 since the guitar came out of the box a month ago. Wanted to try an earlier version just for a comparison. Rolled back to 1.9, and without touching a blessed thing on the HD500X, right away I noticed a HUGE increase in sustain across most models, but particularly all the Lesters. Notes ring for days now....I like it. Anybody else notice this? Also enjoying the lack of popping when switching patches on the 500x. Think I'm gonna leave it on 1.9 for a while. Acoustic models may not be quite as convincing as 2.0 versions, but not bad enough to make me switch back.

No idea what their plans are, but I seriously doubt Yamaha had anything to do with this particular product at all. They've been in charge for what...a month, five weeks at most? No way this thing went from concept to release that fast. I'd be surprised if Yamaha has even gotten their name on Line 6's stationary yet. At this point they're still trying to figure out how many people they're gonna let go...mundane things like the future of various product lines will have to wait until all the hiring/firing/cost cutting gets sorted out.

What he said...lol. Difference in volumes doesn't really bother me. I find it easier to compensate with the volume in each individual patch on the 500x rather than relentlessly tweeking the guitar models in Workbench. Your mileage may vary...

All I know is that Line6 claims that the models all reflect the output of the guitar they are trying to emulate. Thus models with humbuckers can be expected to be louder than those trying to mimic single coils. It says it in the Pilot's Handbook somewhere. Whether or not that's a convenient excuse for the disparity in volumes, or a deliberate design is anybody's guess. I haven't tried the bundle though...

OK...noted. Never played a 700, so I have nothing to compare the JTV to. Fanboy signing off.

When you say "swap the pickups around", what do you mean exactly? I havent experimented with workbench all that much yet...

Look, I'm not shilling for Line6, but I think you're asking a bit much. There isn't a single guitar on the planet that is 100% suited to anyone who touches it. That doesn't exist, and it never will. Guitarists are the pickiest/craziest people on earth.

1) Popping is annoying. No fix I know of. 2) I wish I could get the 500x to do this...less thinking (it hurts me head...especially live, lol). I'd love to not have to worry about where the knob on the guitar is. Generally speaking, if I start with a Les Paul patch, Les Paul is where I'd like to stay. Sucks if you forget to set the knob to the same model before the tunes starts...then you suddenly find yourself whisked to Acoustic Land when you thought all you were doing was changing to the neck pickup