LDBecker

Brand new HD-500x, new cable, surge protector, jacks are fine. I find it a little odd that there is no on/off switch on the HD-500x. I was worried that plugging it in to power it on would be a bit of a shock to its system - but I think even before I started this session something had become corrupted in the memory of the unit. The Edit software was having trouble reading it, and when I did as the software suggested - plugged and unplugged the system, it went into the endless Line 6 start up screen. Oh well - seems ok now, and I know how to reset the unit. Thanks! Larry

Just a quick note to say that this thread helped me - I was about to work in Edit and when I booted up my computer I got a message that Edit couldn't load from the HD-500x, and I was to shut it off and restart it. Then I started getting the flashing Line 6 message on the POD. I knew there would be a reset procedure but didn't see it in the manual anywhere. A quick Google search found this thread and I'm back in business by holding the left direction key as I powered on and using Monkey to reflash. It asked if I wanted to save the presets, which I did, and in a few seconds all was well. Not sure what I did to merit this drama but glad it was an easy fix. This forum is a really helpful thing! Larry

Someone else also suggested just dragging the HD-500 tones from the download folder directly onto the HD-500x's edit window (assuming a PC - Mac, no idea). That worked seamlessly for me. Larry

So... I got ambitious and changed the strings to Elixr 11s, then had to adjust the action and intonation - I think it went ok - but I'll still probably send it to a luthier. Not sure if the action is as good as it could be. Got it as low as possible without buzzzzzzzzzing.... I didn't mess with the truss rod - it seemed ok, but a luthier would probably disagree. I should be good for another 40 years or so (jk). Running the 69 through a POD500x and into a L3T - it generally sounds pretty good! After the adjustments, I spent the evening playing with the presets on the POD. I don't know how to get the best acoustic sounds yet - going to try Sean's patch that he mentions in his blog to see what that does. He did it for the POD500, and mine's the POD500x, and I see how to make it compatible. Where do you put the files for the software to load? Any other suggestions on acoustic sounds? :D Thanks for all the encouragement! Larry

I just this week picked up the Sennheiser EW 300 G3 IEMs and am really impressed - lists for about $1k. I use it with a Presonus 24.4.2 board in church (and my personal 16.4.2 for off-site stuff) and found it easy to set up, clear and good coverage in my church's sanctuary - I'm about 100' from the mixer when I'm using it. I also have the Sennheiser G3 wireless guitar setup, and a Sennheiser G3 ENG mike kit for my Canon XF 300 video camera - so I also ordered the charger and a couple of rechargeable battery sets for it. Pricey - but since I have several Sennheiser sets that use identical batteries - and I'm tired of replacing the AA batteries - I thought it would work out well. I'll be doing my first church service with the IEMs tomorrow and am looking forward to it. I preach every week, as well as play guitar and sing. My singers have a monitor and my keyboard player has one, but I haven't had one - This should be great... I also got the wifi hookup working on the Presonus so I can control the monitor mixes from my iPhone 5s, and the whole thing from my iPad if I want. On that subject - what a needless pain it is to get the Presonus working with a computer. It requires a firewire port, and a VERY SPECIFIC chipset (TI, I think) in that port. I'm a PC guy - Have you tried to find a laptop with a firewire port lately? The one I found, a Sony F5 i7 laptop, has a not quite compatible firewire port - I can get the mixes going, I can save settings, but - after some upgrades to the OS (Win7) and the Presonus software, I haven't been able to record at all - and it was sometimes a little iffy when it did work. It sounds like the Line 6 mixer has really sorted some of that stuff out - I'm envious! Larry

No worries - it would have been pretty much miraculous to go 40 plus years without changing strings. I have faith - but not in guitar strings' ability to last that long! Think I'm going to spend some time with the 10's on my 69 before I have the gauge changed to 11s. I want to give the guitar a fair chance before I start messing around with it too much. Larry

Ha! Thanks for the chuckle, Rewolf - no, I change strings about once a month - but on this particular Martin HD-35, I had it set up by the factory for light gauge Martin Marquis strings - as well as having them install a pickup. That was 22 years ago, and the D-35 I had before that I had for 17 years, and the Fender Newporter (eww... I know, but it had a great neck and played well - bought it used...) - so, at about once a month, I've changed A LOT OF STRINGS!!!!! But, as Charlie said, I've not changed the gauge of string - and not done anything significant on an electric guitar at all. I have, in the past year or two, gone to Martin's Lifespan coated strings and they seem to keep their tone better - but still, about once a month, I need to change them. I tried the Elixir strings, and they seemed to buzz a lot - maybe heavier with the coating? Charlie - My local Guitar center had only coated 11s in Elixirs, so I bought a set of them to change tonight, but you raise an issue that I'm concerned about. I probably should play a bit with the 500x, 69 and 3LT to see what I can really get out of it before I start messing with the guitar. I don't want to mess it up. Sean, in his Line 6 blog post WAS pretty insistent, though, about going to 11s. I spoke to my luthier yesterday (Westwood Music in Westwood, CA). They've done a lot of work on my Martin (authorized repair center), and I think would do a good job on the 69. Maybe I'll just have them change out the strings and do a setup and fret dressing. Guitarno - I was all set to buy a DT25 with the 69, but went instead with the Stagesource L3T. I had thought that maybe I could get by with just using my Fishman SoloAmp (aka, "The FishStick"), but decided to go for more power and maybe start replacing my portable soundsystem (Mackie 450v2's/1801 sub/Presonus 16.2.4) with the Line 6 speakers/mixer. Anyway, the L3T is more portable and powerful, and seems to sound MUCH better than the Mackies do. My Martin HD-35 plugged directly in to the L3T, with just a little juice on the Variax control on the speaker, sounds really great. Even my feedback monster, my nylon string Taylor NS-32CE, was pretty easily tamed. To use the Taylor on my SoloAmp, I had to get a Fishman Aura pedal and tweak the dickens out of it to get nice tone and no feedback. I hit the anti-feedback button, dialed back the bass and mids a bit, then opened up the sound with the Variax knob, and added a little "mod and verb," and in 3 minutes I had it sounding better than ever. I had never heard of the Earvana intonation system - it does sound similar to the Buzz Feiten job I had done on my Martin - the Earvana LOOKS a lot nicer than what they did on mine something about wanting it to be reversible when they did mine. Not sure, but it certainly plays a whole lot better. Thanks, all, for the welcome and advice! Larry

Just an absolute newbie here... But the Variax signal coming out of the Variax guitar is digital- it has to go through something to convert it to analog- or , if you don't want to use a POD, you would have to just use the quarter inch jack with a normal guitar cable to go into the m20d. There isn't a digital interface for the Variax guitar in this, or any, mixer. I have a POD HD 500x and would have to plug into that to access patches, then XLR out to the mixer. Since you don't want to use a POD, why don't you want to use a regular guitar cord in Variax mode. Or am I misunderstanding something? Larry

Hi! First post here - I'm a pastor, been playing acoustic guitar for over 40 years (Martin HD-35, lately into a Yamaha acoustic stomp pedal board, into our PA - Presonus board, Nexo amps and speakers), and decided to trade in an old Yamaha 12 string on a Variax. I ended up with a scratch and dent 69 (humbucker, two single coils, upgraded to HD 2.0 firmware) from Sweetwater - also a POD 500X and L3T. My preferences and experience is with acoustic, so I'm looking first for great acoustic sound - and I find the Variax a little "thin" - not quite there. I read on Sean's blog where he insisted that stringing it with 11's is the way to go for acoustic sounds - mine came with D'Addario 10's. I also haven't been able to get into the POD 500X much yet. So - a basic question - are people happy with 10's on the 69, and are able to make it sound great with the 500X? Or should I go to 11's? I downloaded Sean's patch and will try that. I plan to get into it in a big way this weekend and over the next couple of weeks. Following on that - what adjustments need to be made to the guitar to accommodate the 11's, and how do you do it? I've never actually changed gauges of strings on a guitar - I had mine set up by Martin when I ordered it, and have stuck with basically the same strings. I did have some trouble with intonation on it and had a luthier set it up with the Buzz Feiten system - MUCH better. Is it advisable to take the Variax to a luthier to be intoned and set up? Thanks so much, Larry