gbr13697

Tyler was probably aiming to be close to a Gibson Les Paul in terms of neck and string configuration. You will find that the high E on a Les Paul is very close to the edge - Les Paul players just get used to it. A couple of years ago Gibson introduced a wider fretboard (along with several other changes) to alleviate the problem. The modifications to a classic design were not very well received, and Gibson have reverted back for most of the LP range. I think you can still get the wider neck on the High Performance models.

It might not be the strings. I have a few guitars with rosewood boards that always leave my fingers black, no matter how often I have cleaned them.

In my case the battery was OK. Charger unit was faulty. Red light was on all the time indicating charging, even if there was no battery in the cradle. The shop has agreed to replace it.

Not just me then. I reported a similar problem on this forum a couple of weeks ago.

On the 4th attempt the battery did end up with a full charge, so the battery looks OK. However, the charger cradle indicator just stays steady red all the time, either without a battery in the cradle, with a battery that needs charging, or with a full battery. Consequently it is impossible to tell if the battery is taking a charge, or when it is fully charged. Makes charging a very hit and miss affair. I have notified the shop - I am hoping that I can just get a replacement charger, and that I don't have to return the guitar as well for the second time in a couple of weeks.

I bought a Variax Standard a couple of weeks ago. Within 24 hours it developed a "white noise" problem when in Variax mode, which I reported on this forum. I returned it to the online supplier, and they quickly replaced it without quibble. The new guitar seems fine (so far) but there may be an issue with the battery and/or charger. The indicators on the charger and guitar do not seem to correspond with the manual. The charger instructions say that it will flash red once when first connected to power, steady red when charging, and flashing red when fully charged. When the replacement guitar arrived I immediately put the battery on charge. It was still steady red after an overnight charge of around 16 hours - no flashing full charge indicator. I tried the battery in the guitar but only got 1 flashing green light, indicating minimal charge. I put the battery back in the charge cradle, and immediately got flashing red indicating a full charge, but still only minimal charge detected by the guitar. Now I find that I get a steady red light on the charging cradle when it is connected to the mains WITHOUT the battery inserted. If I disconnect the power and reconnect it, I get various red flashes for a minute or so, then it goes back to steady red. If I insert the battery again, it just stays steady red, even though the battery has had over 16 hours charging. Battery faulty? Charger faulty? Or both? I am very happy with my Helix, but I am beginning to lose my faith in Line 6 with my experience of the Variax. Two brand new guitars with problems is a bit much.

It is certainly in the return period - brand new and I only had it a day! It is certainly going back. I am pretty sure that the Workbench was open when the problem started, and I was running through a VDI cable and a Helix. Incidentally, the computer on which the Workbench was running was only connected via the Helix's USB. The Variax was not connected via the supplied interface. However, in fault checking, I disconnected the computer and the Helix, and the VDI cable, and just tried a simple 1/4" jack straight into a different amp. Noise is now always present when in Variax mode, but not in magnetic P/U mode. I then did a firmware flash directly using the supplied interface. This did a factory reset, and deleted all custom settings that I had created, so it can't be a corruption arising from any setting I put on. I will be happy if I get a replacement that works trouble free for a reasonable period. But given that it broke down so quickly, I was starting to wonder if these things are just unreliable and I might be better to just ask for my money back.

I bought a Variax Standard last week after seeing a good deal online. I started using it through a VDI cable into a Helix and a Blackstar Artist 15. Going into the second day I was exploring the Worbench editor, and added a couple of tunings. I also created a custom guitar for Keith Richards Open G tuning, by reducing the volume on the low E string to zero - nice easy way of doing it without actually having to take a string off a guitar. It was all going wonderfully until a loud "white noise" started. I think I was just turning the Guitar Selector when in cut in. The noise is almost as loud as the strings. It is only present in Variax mode, and changes in tone as I turn the Guitar Selector and Tuning knobs. I have tried changing to a 1/4" jack cable, going straight into the amp without the Helix, and using a different amp, but nothing made any difference. I also did a firmware upgrade flash, which additionally served as a factory reset, in case my custom settings had caused something - no joy. The noise is not there in magnetic pickup mode, so it is obviously something in the Variax system. It will obviously have to go back to the shop for a replacement. However I am rather concerned that this should happen on a brand new instrument after only 24 hours, and that these instruments may not be very reliable. I can fix most things on my conventional guitars myself, but I can't fix this. If this guitar (or replacement) is going to keep going wrong, particularly after the warranty expires, it is going to become a very troublesome and expensive liability. Is this sort of problem common, or am I just unlucky?

I must admit I am confused with these presets. I updated the Editor firs, and did a backup. I then did the 2.30 firmware upgrade, and I saw the presets rebuilding. However, when the Helix rebooted, all my user presets etc were still there, without having to do a restore. The Helix has certainly updated to 2.30, and I have the new amp and pedal models, but not the new presets detailed above in either Factory 1 or Factory 2 banks. The 2.30 firmware upgrade does not seem to have touched my presets at all.

I have now found some notes that indicate you only have to do a Factory Reset if you are updating firmware earlier than 2.2. However the notes for updating 2.2 still say you should restore all the patch lists, but not restore Factory 1 if you want to keep the new patches. My confusion arises from the fact that all my patches are still on the Helix, without restoring anything. I can see the wisdom of doing a backup before an upgrade,but not in restoring afterwards if it is not necessary. The 2.30 firmware update DID NOT wipe all my user patches - they are all still there without restoring.

I followed the advice to install the new Editor first, do a backup, and then update the Helix firmware. I expected to have to restore all my patches, having regard to not overwriting the new Factory patch set list. However, when my Helix rebooted, all my User Set lists and patches were still there. I have the new amps and pedals, but I am not sure if the Factory 1 Set list has changed as I can't remember what was in there before. I am assuming that this is because I haven't done a Factory Reset after the firmware upgrade. Is this an essential/advised step? The Helix seems to be functioning perfectly, so why should I need to wipe everything just to put it all back again? It obviously is not the firmware upgrade itself that wipes all the user patches and just updates the Factory Set list - it must be the Factory Reset that does this. But is the Factory Reset necessary?

A lot of the "signal-out" blocks and "path direction blocks", including loop sends have several parameters and options. Some of these split the signal between the intended obvious routes and the final output. Check all the blocks in your signal chain to ensure that all the signal is actually going where you want it to. You may find that there are blocks where it is being split.

Hi jmp - re the noise on your loop It may be a long shot, but I had a similar problem on a Blackstar loop. The amp went back to the factory but they couldn't replicate the noise I was experiencing. It turned out that the noise was caused by mains power interference from internet power line networking. If you use this, or it is working through any part of your mains circuit, get rid of it. What threw me off the scent was that the noise was only present when the amp's effects loop was in operation. It was perfectly quiet with a guitar and effects straight in. Like you, I tested with just jumping the loop with a plain cable, and the noise was there immediately. Obviously I got the same noise or worse when there were pedals or a Helix etc in the loop, but just jumping the loop was enough. This is what made me sure that it was a fault with the amp - until I tested the amp in someone else's house - no noise. The power line networking never caused any problem with any other amp, including other Blackstar amps. I ended up running a 30m Ethernet cable all through my house so that I could get rid of it, but it cured the problem. It just seems that the effects loop circuitry on some amps is particularly susceptible to interference via the mains.

Hi DarrellM5 I'm struggling to see the logic in your suggestion above. As far as I understand it, an attenuator just reduces the power out of the power amp into the speakers. This is normally used so that you can really crank the amp creating the warm distortion you get power tubes are really cooking, without the associated speaker volume. Much like some amps have switches to attenuate output volume to several reduced levels e.g. 40w, 10w,5w.1w to reduce volume whilst still getting the tone of volumes at 10. This is a useful feature, and a power soak can be used if the amp doesn't have attenuation switches built in. However, I really can't see how it replaces the functions of an effects loop. Can you explain?

A technique that I use a lot with the 4 cable method is to have both a modelled amp and an FX Send/Return in the preset. I assign one footswitch to both turn on the amp and turn off the loop at the same time (or the opposite). With the modelled amp off and the loop on, I can use the Helix as an effects unit and select which effects are placed before and after the loop. This gives me my own guitar amp's natural pre-amp and EQ on both the amps channels, and all the effects on the Helix used as a conventional pedal board. If I press the assigned switch, the FX Loop is switched off, and the modelled amp is switched on. The signal now bypasses my guitar amp's pre-amp and EQ entirely, and goes directly to the power amp stage. It obviously isn't FRFR, but it is as close as I can get with my rig. The effects now interact with the modelled amp, either before or after. I tend to place the FX Loop and modelled amp adjacent to one another in the Helix signal chain, so that the pre and post effects act in the same way whether using the modelled amp or my guitar amp. You have to be aware that when the signal is taken directly to the guitar amp's power stage via the Return cable, you lose the volume control on the amp (and the pre-amp channels). All the volume control, and EQ, has to be handled on the the Helix, so you do need to be aware of levels. I am rather lucky in that the Master Volume on my Blackstar Artist actually operates on the power stage, so I do still have an overall volume control. This does not apply to most guitar amps, and I have to be a lot more careful with levels and volume matching when using my Egnater amp.

Thank you all for the replies. That's what I needed to know, but isn't easy to glean from the info/reviews etc. I like my amps, and I only use the emulated amps occasionally for special purposes. Otherwise I'm just looking for a stomp box with easily accessible "multi-effects" to a reasonable quality. The quality of most on the POD or the GT100 is reasonable with exceptions. It was just that the POD makes them very hard to use efficiently, and I didn't want to spend a lot of money to get better effects if the were just as hard to build into versatile patches.

I am thinking about getting a Helix. I have used a POD HD500X for a while now, having also used a Boss GT-100, and I have found the number of slots available for effects etc rather limiting. 8 slots seems fine at first, but comparison with the GT-100 shows that it is far less generous. On the GT-100 there are “built in†slots for Compression, Pedal, Overdrive, EQ, Foot Volume, 2 x Noise Gates, an additional amp, Send/Return, Chorus, Delay, Reverb. That’s 12 slots (all of which have choices of pedal/amp within type) plus FX1 and FX2 which can be assigned from a large selection of pedals. That’s 14 in all. Many of these are items are “bread and butter essentialsâ€, particularly when using just effects and no amps with the 4 cable method. On the GT100, all the essentials are there, with a few luxuries, and still space for the odd gimmick. With no amp in the POD HD500x, and using the 4 cable method, slots have to be used for EQ, volume, Send/Return, and Noise Reduction. Most people would struggle without Delay, Reverb, Compression, and Overdrive, and that’s all 8 slots gone. There are lots of other effects available on the POD, but the only real way of using them is by devoting a patch to each and dumping something else. Not a very convenient solution for a “stomp box pedalboardâ€. How does the Helix compare in practice?

Thank you again Hurghanico. I'm pleased it's not just me. As you say it is a nice amp model, but the lack of EQ means you have to use it with the right guitar. Funnily enough, it sounds great with a Strat and awful with a Les Paul! Given that you can't turn down the treble, I thought it would be the other way around. Line 6 do seem to have got a bit pedantic in the pursuit of accuracy with some of these models. The example they had to profile might have been faulty - I don't think it's really necessary to faithfully reproduce a Soldano with a faulty pot!

I have been building a number of patches combining my selection of most-used effects with each of the pre-amp models. The plan is to try go through them with my guitars to find the best sounding pre-amps for each guitar. When I got to the Soldano models I found the I was unable to adjust the Treble tone setting. The screen display shows the Treble knob turning, but it makes no difference at all to the sound. The Treble control seems to work fine on the other amp models, just not the Soldanos. I am using my POD HD500X into a Blackstar HT5R with the 4 cable method. The pre-amp model patches are going straight in to the power section of the amp via the effects return, so the amp EQ can't be affecting anything. Is anyone else getting this?

Thank you for the explanation Hurghanico. I can see the reasoning in there, provided that the adjustment really is in the output stage of the POD. However, I still don't think it is a good idea to put EQ in globally, where the less initiated user might be totally unaware of it. I would think that the advice you quote of turning down the bass and treble on the guitar amp at the end of the chain is by far the better option. You also have the option of EQ in the modeled amps. If the same uninitiated user is just using effects and no amps, it's just a tone sucker. Once you have taken tone out of a signal you can never put it back. Thanks for all your input to my queries. You have been a great help.

Hi Hughanico (again!). Why would there be a distinction with using amp models that would make the attenuation more appropriate? If you are using the POD as a stomp box with amp modelling into a normal guitar amp, most people would set the EQ on the real amp. If they were also using the amp models, they might also use the EQ in the amp models, particularly if they were creating patches for a number of different guitars. However, if the high and low parts of the guitar's natural characteristics have already been taken out in the Setup>Output settings, nothing you can do of the amp models or on the real amp will ever properly put them back. The user's perception will simply be that the POD has sucked all the tone out. Most new users will have accepted the manual's recommendation to set the output for Combo, Stack or whatever, and are unlikely to choose the transparent Studio/Direct option. They might also accept (or not even notice) the Low/High attenuation on the basis of thinking that Line6 probably know best. This default setting certainly has a detrimental effect on the sound of my guitars. I am struggling to see the reasoning behind tucking away such a major EQ adjustment in a global setting, and how it could be better for using amp models into a real amp.

Atomant - If you persevere with the POD HD500X I have found (with the help of others on the Forum, and particularly Hurghanico) that you can get your sound back to pretty much what your straight in guitar sounds like. In Setup Inputs set the Guitar Z to 3.5M In Setup Outputs adjust the Highs (and possibly Lows) much nearer to Flat as opposed to the Default -50 attenuation. In each preset adjust the both the Mixer Pans to 0 (i.e. middle as opposed to Left or Right) In each preset adjust both the Mixer Volumes to somewhere between +3.5 and +5 depending on you guitar output. It can also help to put a Noise Gate in as the first item in the POD signal chain, to avoid the risk of getting a low impedance item appearing as the first link. With the Blackstar you also have the option of using the Effects Loop. This gets complicated, and there are contributions on this Forum. I have tried putting my GT100 straight in the the Effects Return of the amp with good results, if you can live with just using the amp as a power amp and having all the controls on the POD. You can also use the 4 cable method to have some of the POD effects going straight in to the front end of the amp, and have others inserted into the effects loop. This can be done with the POD or GT100.

Hurghanico - as you say, that is interesting, and largely confirms what I have found by ear as opposed to accurate instrumentation. I have adopted the suggestions you brought to my attention, particularly the mixer panning/volumes, impedance setting, and putting in a Noise Gate as suggested by Tyler. This certainly brings the gain/volume into line. The other notable item I have found is Settings > Outputs > High where Line6 have put in a default substantial attenuation. After restoring this to Flat my Strat sounds like a Strat again! It seems strange that Line6 would have chosen such a tone changing setting by default. It is nice to have some adjustment available for particular guitars and rigs, but to have a default substantial attenuation for Highs and Lows is an odd starting point.

Thanks Hurghanico. I can't use the 4 cable method with the Bassbreaker 007 as it doesn't have an effects loop. I can try it on my Blackstar HT5. I am already experimenting with the Mixer volumes and pan, and impedance settings. I will get there eventually. I'm pleased that I'm not the only one seeing signal loss and tone suck through the POD, and that there are solutions. I was thinking I had a faulty unit, given the assurance in the manual that turning volume and master up to 100% should give signal parity. Even without adjustments there can benefits such as the increased clean headroom on the Bassbreaker.

Thanks for the replies guys. On comparing results on other amps, including my Blackstar HT5R, I now realise that there is a significant signal loss through the POD. I get more volume, gain, and frequency response, with the guitar straight into any of the amps. With no effects or amps on the POD chain, I have to increase the Mixer volumes by 6-8db to achieve the same volume and gain and, even then, there is noticeable tone suck. I think I have found and adjusted the "usual culprits" listed by Guru. You can obviously get acceptable volume, gain, and tone, by inserting boost, EQ, and amps into the POD signal chain, but I think the natural characteristics of different guitars will inevitably get lost. I have some nice guitars, so that is a little disappointing. However, I have now been reminded of the obvious - that putting anything in the signal chain will change the sound, and almost nothing is really transparent. I will just work on getting some new and different sounds from the POD, and use other effects or amps for other sounds. At least this has prompted me to just plug my guitars straight into the amp occasionally!