Charlie_Watt

I may be wrong but I do not believe that any Variax was ever made in China. (Thank the lord!)

You're welcome. Enjoy your 500!

I don't think the calibration works with any of the newer FW. Have you had any success moving the model pot relative to the detent?

IMO the difference between US and Korean is trivial. Same exact electronics and modeling. I am not sure anyone could tell the difference if the labels were removed.

USB creates a ground loop. Using the XLR outputs really helps this.

If they are just shifted you can loosen the nut and move the detent slightly. I don't think the calibration works with the latest FW anyway. It used to work when the 500 first came out. The model selector is just a pot. There is an A/D on the board that reads the pot voltage and selects the models based on that. That is much cheaper and simpler than a selector switch for that many different positions. That is how all of the Variax's work. If you shift the pot slightly relative to the detents, you can get the models aligned with the knob.

Crosstalk is a problem from string to string on the piezo pickups when you are using alternate tuning. Crosstalk from the mags is not an issue. It only happens if you blend the mags output with the modeling output inn WB.

Best-tronics sells very nice VDI cables that look and feel like a standard guitar cable. I have one of those and I really like the quality. They make great guitar cables too.

I would recommend getting a spare battery. I like the battery batter than the power supply.

They did mention that Helix doesn't have WB support yet. I think you get a very skewed viewpoint when you read the Variax forum. Many happy owners never visit here. Grumpy ones do - asking about problems they are having. Most of us have had a great experience with Variax. Mail order guitars are always a crap shoot because you don't get to play it before hand. When I have gone to a guitar store I usually try out several of the model I am buying and choose the one I like best personally. It's hard to do with Variax because not many guitar stores carry them and the ones that do often don't have them even set up with a charged up battery. I bought my JTV from Sweetwater. I looked over the pictures at least and had their tech look the one I picked over - and flash it with the latest FW. It arrived in perfect condition and the fit and finish is as good as any other high end guitar that I own. If you mail order, go with somebody like Sweetwater that will let you return it if you don't like it. More likely than not you will love it.

I would wait to do the update if you are worried about anything messing up your upcoming gig.

I'm sure it came with 10's. If you want something different you will have to adjust the setup and intonation but you can do that. The acoustics tend to sound better if you go up a little but I stick with 10's on my Variax (JTV not Std)

Again, neither of those green wires are there on my 500 so I suspect that somebody added them trying to improve grounding. Since they are not hooked up, they did not do anything useful. Use it the way it is. I have had mine apart and the bridge plate is grounded through the flex circuit that goes to the board from the bridge.

But you still can't run WB with Helix!

The bridge plate on my 500 certainly is grounded. There is a flex cable that goes between the bridge and the board and there is a ground in that.

I highly recommend downloading the file before updating!

I think it is through the flex cable. By the way I put Ghost saddles in mine a few years back. Each Piezo has two wires - one a ground. The standard piezo only has one wire and it relies on contact through the bridge for the ground. I run my 500 on rechargeable batteries - 2500 mAH AA NiMh (6 of them) I never use a TRS cable - just a standard guitar cable.

That green wire must have been added. It is not on my 500. I just pulled the cover and looked. I would tape the ends and leave it disconnected. All of the 500's tended to pop when going to the Acoustic models for the first time but only on those models.

Yes - a standard Cat5 cable - not a crossover cable.

Sorry but folks vote with their wallets. I would love to see nice Variax guitars at a reasonable price point but the sales volumes probably don't support that or Line6 would do it.

I am a bit bummed that they have not added any Variax USB functionality yet for Workbench.

Link is still to the revA manual

IMO Line6 thinks that the price point for JTV's was too high to get a significant sales volume so they came out with a bargain basement model. I don't like it and I don't think too many guitar players will like it either. Adding the electronics boosts the MFG costs significantly so if you want a decent quality guitar it's going to cost more than the Std.

Diodes don't take sides. There is either a forward voltage (diode is conducting) or reverse voltage (diode is off). The reverse voltage rating is typically at least 100V on any general purpose silicon diode. Forward current of 1 Amp is typical and more then enough for that application. You are making much more of what that diode does than necessary.

I use an EV ZLX-12P powered speaker with my HD500x (soon to be Heliix I hope). It sounds very good - especially with my Acoustic patches. That is where FRFR really shines.