Charlie_Watt

When I got mine from Sweetwater I specifically asked them to put 2.0 on it as it had just come out. They did that and were very responsive to my requests. At least they make an effort to find obvious defects. I still held my breath from when I ordered it until I had it fully checked out. Mine was a "Demo" unit but there was no sign of use. The plastic was still on the pickups, pickguard, and the back panels.

XLR is a better connection - eliminates ground loops. I would run XLR where you can for that reason. If you are using both 1/4 outs they are the same as the XLR outs. (Stereo)

Not fair to blame Line6 on that kind of damage. That happened after it left the factory. That is the unfortunate reality with mail order. I trust Sweetwater to check out the guitars. They even take a bunch of pictures of the actual guitar and post them so you can look for any obvious things you don't like about it. When I bought my 69S it was right after 2.0 came out and they upgraded it and tested it for me. I have not had a single problem with it.

I do not think that the hardware can do that. Studio/direct and combo pwr amp use different filters / models.

Glad it worked! Once you get the hang of Edit it is very easy to modify patches. I probably downloaded over a hundred tones from Customtone to see how others were programming this thing. It got me up to speed very quickly and I found a few tones that I like much better than any that came with the pod. I am surprised at how poor most of the tones are that came loaded on the pod. Most are totally unusable for anything. It's too bad because I am sure that most new owners try those before making their own and it makes a very bad impression. That being said, once you get the hang of it and get some decent tones the pod really sounds great!

My model and mag volumes are similar on my JTV69S with V2.0. I would say the models are a little louder than the mags. This is EASILY adjusted by adjusting the string volumes anyway since the string volumes only affect the models and not the mags. The mags sound very good to me but not as full and interesting as the Spank models. I plan to experiment with some blending on my HD500x.

Unfortunately, all of the old Variax Piezo's ground through the bridge and strings by contact. There is no ground wire on the piezo's themselves. This contact can get interrupted by dirt and grime. A good cleaning will restore operation for a while. I went through that with my Variax 500 for years until I upgraded to Ghost Piezo saddles. Those piezo's each have a ground wire. It was a trick to get them all connected since there was no place to connect them easily but they work great and I have not experienced a single event of noise or dropout since.

With my PC I just copy them to a file and drag and drop it into Edit. Works fine every time.

I'm with you. Running 2.0 and not looking back.

With the HD500 you cannot change the output mode based on a setlist. You have to manually change it and it is global. You can have a setlist that is dialed in for Direct and another that is very similar and dialed in for Amp Input but you have to change the output setting when you move from one to the other.

The models obviously should sound GREAT - if they don't something is very wrong.

They do seem to be very slow on bug fixes and updates for JTV lately: WB HD bugs - discovered right after release. No Pod Driver for WB HD (everyone is waiting for this one!)

If they don't know about this they are not playing their JTV's because they all seem to do it. They should be more careful about this because it is important to folks that are playing live and switching models. This is one of the coolest features of the JTV! It's all about controlling the DC levels of the models I believe. The Variax500 only did this when first switching to the Acoustic bank. It did not pop when switching to any other banks and it only popped once switching to acoustic. I always found this to be annoying.

The headstock has enough angle that it really doesn't need a string tree. If you want one that's fine though.

Did you try a reboot?

Been playing the Acoustic models of my JTV through a HD500X into an EV ZLX-12P PA speaker. Sounds as good as any mic'd acoustic I have heard. I am not crazy about the 12 string models though. The lower notes sound electronic to me.

Use the HD Edit program and drag and drop the files into the preset you want to replace.

What do you have your Input2 set to????

That interface is dead simple so anyone making a pedal should be able to say it works for xxx versions of the Line6 Pods. I don't think Line6 is hiding anything. Sure they would rather that you buy their pedal and they don't want to support damaged pods due to plugging in something that isn't designed for their interface.

Playing my Iphone through the MP3 input seems to be loud enough for me. I do not use the EQ in my iPod/Iphone.

Why not make two patches and switch between them?

Think about it! Why should Line 6 support competitor's products for use on their products???? They designed their product so they know how to design an external pedal for it. It's up to the competitor to say whether their product is designed to work with Line6 Pods or not.

I use no amp all the time for Acoustic patches. Lets you add effects without limiting the bandwidth.

That is perfectly normal. It is an unregulated AC supply. The voltage will vary depending on your line voltage. I also assume you measured it unloaded - unplugged from the X3. It will drop down some when you plug it in.

Check the G string at the nut and bridge. If the contact isn't perfect it can cause problems like this. If it 's the nut it will only do it on the open G note and not a fretted note on the G string.