cruisinon2

Well therein lies the confusion...I was addressing the resurrected post from a couple days ago, not the stuff from 18 months back.

Well maybe it does and maybe it doesn't... unless that guy returns and clarifies his issue, we'll never know. Till then we're all guessing aren't we? If I'm wrong, so be it... but I can only go with what's written. And just for the record, I couldn't possibly care any less who wants what features, or why...it's no skin off my a$$ either way. And of course we all need to occasionally tune at a less than opportune moment... but if this guy has an instrument that goes out of tune every time the sun moves behind a cloud, no amount of additional Helix features will make his gigs go any smoother... but I digress. What I was reacting to was the description of a scenario that seems to be considerably worse than "normal", and quite out of the ordinary. Because just as you say that no guitarist is immune to the occasional need to tune, I can state just as unequivocally that in 25 years of performing I've never once been on stage when another band member has had to repeatedly launch into protracted comedy routines while I deal with an out of tune guitar. Nor have I ever seen another band with a similar problem. So no matter how you slice it, that ain't normal...yet he says that's what has been going on. Perhaps there is some other bizarre cosmic trigger, but all things being equal, the simplest explanation is usually correct. And in this case, you have to concede that a problem with the instrument is at the very least a possibility.

That's all well and good, but I don't think that's what the guy a few posts up was referring to, and it certainly isn't what I was talking about. He seemed to be talking about a lack of tuning stability and the need to persistently re-tune between songs...not switching to a different tuning altogether on the same guitar, between songs. Because if that's what he's actually trying to do, it's nuts. You can't do that in front of an audience. It's totally impractical, ridiculously time consuming, and more than a little unprofessional. You either grab another guitar already in the tuning you need, or employ a technological solution like the Variax, as you said.

I'll second that... once in a blue moon I'll need to make a slight tuning adjustment between tunes, but unless you're beating on the strings with a sledgehammer, a properly maintained guitar just doesn't go wildly out of tune after every song. Zero tuning stability generally indicates some sort of problem with the instrument.... dead strings, intonation problems, an improperly cut and/or insufficiently lubricated nut, etc etc. Whatever the issue is it's usually correctable unless it's a genuine piece of crap.

As I said, I'm sure it's a nice instrument. And it's entirely plausible that I'd like it. But the issue for me is whether or not it's genuinely worth $2K...I realize that's largely subjective, but having been at this for 3 decades, having owned at least 2 dozen guitars over that time, and test-driving countless others, I've come to the conclusion that precious few "premium" instruments are actually worth the asking price. And as long as I can find and/or assemble an axe in the $1K-$1500 range that does what I need, and that I like just as much as something that's twice the price, I'm never gonna dump all the extra cash just so I can say "I've got one of these". As always, ymmv.

In my experience, there can be a significant difference between a $1K and $2K guitar... really depends on the 2 specimens in question. But past 2 grand, for any factory produced instrument, it's rapidly diminishing returns.... and I agree, once you're in that price tier, you may as well start looking at a one-off boutique pieces. Otherwise all you're paying for is the logo on the headstock.

I seriously doubt they're gonna start blurring the lines between the HX FX and the Stomp...it would only create confusion amongst potential customers, especially those new to modeling altogether. The HX is a multi-fx unit, targeting the "I love my tube amp + pedalboard" crowd. It's not an amp modeler...including cab and mic sims doesn't make much sense.

The only problem I've got with this is the pricetag... most of the bigger guitar manufacturers comically over-value their products. I've owned several Ibanez guitars, and I'm sure it's a nice axe, but $2K for a bolt-on Strat clone? Can't do it. You can build yourself the exact same thing from Warmoth for $1200, maybe less depending on how pretty you want it...but for a solid color, opaque paint job, we're not talking premium figured wood anyway, so the body wouldn't be terribly expensive. And, as far as I'm concerned you'd be sacrificing nothing in terms of build quality. Plus, all the little details are yours to choose...neck radius and profile, nut width, fret size and material, etc etc. Buying off the rack, you're stuck with what they give you. And not for nothing, but that mini toggle switch could be dropped into any HSS Strat on earth, and give you the same # of pickup combinations. The way these companies price stuff is highway robbery sometimes...

Studio monitors, and/or a FRFR PA speaker or monitor wedge.

I have two Warmoth parts-casters... and you're not really "building" anything in the strictest sense of the word. It's really just assembling fully finished parts. There's no sanding, staining, or finishing... unless you want to. You can buy unfinished parts, but most of their stuff is done and ready to go, so aside from wiring up the electronics, there's really not a whole helluva lot to it. They'll tap and drill all the necessary holes. If you can turn a screwdriver, you're eminently qualified. And quite frankly, imho Warmoth "out-Fenders" Fender...and at a half to two-thirds of the price. They're two of the nicer guitars I own, and they won't be the last ones I "build". Already mapping out the next one...

You're over thinking it. Anything can play at bedroom volume, so forget about that. If you need to be heard over a drummer, as a general rule go with anything 50W and up if it's a tube amp, and 200W or more if it's sold state... and bear in mind that these are very general numbers. I've played through 15W tube amps that could melt concrete, and 200W solid state amps that were "loud enough", but didn't have a tremendous amount of headroom left at typical stage volumes. Just make sure the impedance ratings match, and don't worry too much about it. In 25+ years of gigging, I've never had a situation where I had wrung every last decibel out an amp, but still couldn't be heard. You're not trying to fill a stadium with noise from one amp and a 4x12... almost anything that's readily available to Joe Average will be sufficiently loud.

Have you ever seen two guitarists on stage playing through one amp? Me neither. Try it out and see how great it sounds. And I wouldn't waste my time playing to a backing track through a single speaker either...a stereo mix with no stereo separation, a live guitar piled on top, all stuffed through a single speaker isn't exactly what you'd call optimal either.

As stated above, any latency experienced while connected to a computer is always an issue with the computer and/or software settings. It's got nothing to do with the POD. A factory reset won't help you.

You do realize what you've just started, right? lol...

"The Shuriken and the 4mm Hex Wrench"....a long lost Sherlock Holmes manuscript. ;)

Variax is an option, too. I like mine... but they have their quirks and limitations, and not everybody warms up to them. Definitely takes a little getting used to, same as an amp modeler. And while they are quite versatile, it's still not my workhorse. But definitely a useful tool in the arsenal.

An HSS Strat is about as versatile as it gets. I've just recently acquired my first Tele (30 years in, and never owned one... lol), and fell in love with it for certain things, but for clean tones you'll never get rid of the "twang"... and that just doesn't work for some stuff. So if you're looking for a "Swiss Army Knife" guitar for the various genres you listed, an HSS Strat is as close as you're ever gonna get. Stand by for 8143 wildly different opinions...;)

Doesn't matter... everything tends to sound a bit brittle/ harsh when the source is right on top of your ears. Problem is nobody's used to listening to themselves play guitar that way. Before all this stuff existed, we were all sat in a room, a good distance from the cabinet, and way off-axis. Try sticking your head right up against the grill of a guitar cabinet though...I guarantee you're gonna hear the same harshness. Headphones will typically require a bit more high end roll-off than you'd use with monitors, straight to PA, etc. My band just bought in-ear monitors... and patches that I've been using live for 2 years, which sound great through the PA, quite frankly sound like boiled $hit through the buds. And I bought some decent ones....I'm gonna have to tweak everything, split the path right before the output and use a separate EQ block for the path going to the in-ears. It's a pain in the a$$, and I resisted the in-ears for a long time for exactly this reason. But we're adding some sequenced keys now, so I don't have much choice.

Don't have a Powercab, so I won't speculate as to the design's purpose... but I do know one thing: Even if it "works", in the sense that sound comes out, piping two guitars though a single 12" speaker is a guaranteed mess. Both instruments occupy the same sonic space and will be constantly fighting with each other. You'll be lucky if you can distinguish who's who.

Depending on exactly what/ how you're playing, it's very likely that your problem is due to the fact that it's not a polyphonic pitch shifter. It's not intended to drop-tune the entire guitar. It might work passably under certain circumstances, but artifacts and tracking issues are inevitable if you're playing more than one note at a time. If you really need polyphonic shifting that's clean and reliable, with minimal latency, the Digitech Drop is still the best option out there. Something similar might come to Helix eventually, but if/when is anybody's guess. And imho, any pitch shifting effect (polyphonic or not) needs to be the first thing in the chain. If you try and feed a pitch shifter a signal that's already heavily altered, particularly with distortion or any other modulation FX, they tend not to track nearly as well.

Well there is a parametric EQ with which you can notch filter your brains out, but there's nothing automatic that will identify problem frequencies and smite them on contact.

Yes, they're in order of increasing terribleness. ;) Don't waste your time...

The original quote wasn't exactly the distant past, and were not talking about a simple one way signal. The device would still have to do considerably more than any current wireless unit in existence. So I'll believe a $250 wireless VDI when I see it... but I'm reasonably confident that we won't see one anytime soon, for all the reasons I've already mentioned. It's not just a tech issue. In order for L6 to go to the trouble of bringing such an item to market, there has to be sufficient demand... and that's what I believe is largely missing from the equation. When Variax joins the list of "must have" instruments, like Strats, Teles, and LP 's, and a significant percentage of the guitar playing world owns one, then there'll be a demand for wireless VDI. Till then, it's a non-essential accessory for a very niche product. And stuff like that never comes cheap... If I'm wrong, so be it...and we'll all find out soon enough. But I wouldn't bet the farm on it.

Try recording a clip and posting it so we can hear what you're talking about, because it's rather vague. It'll be difficult for anyone to help you just based on your description.

Well if you want sustain but no crunch, a distortion box won't help you. Try a compressor at the beginning of the chain.