phil_m

Many rechargeable batteries don't have the same initial charge as alkaline batteries. That's the issue, I believe. Personally, I think you're better off simply picking up the power adapter and plugging to Pocket POD in when you can.

What physical outputs are you using on the HD500? Are you using the XLR outs for one side and one of the 1/4" outputs for the other? If you're using only one of the 1/4" outs, the left and right outs are summed, so that could be one reason why you're not getting separation you expect. The solution is to put a dummy plug in the 1/4" out you're not using.

Do you have the footswitch for the Egnater connected? There's a switch on there to turn its effect loop on and off. It's just labeled "Effects". It sounds as if you may have the Egnater's loop off.

I've never had any problem not having the string tree. Haven't really even thought about it, to be honest.

The M9's expression pedal inputs are controlled by CC#1 and CC#2, and they send messages on the commands when you have expression pedals attached and rock them back and forth. I don't know if you could get those inputs to respond to latching footswitches or not. You could try. As far as getting those CC messages to the POD, neither the M9 nor the POD have programmable MIDI maps, so there's probably a very good chance that they won't line up like you want them to.

The license for the software is tied to the device, so as long as you have the device, you'll be able to use whatever software was licensed with it. All the software packages can be downloaded for free from here: http://line6.com/software/

Well, you can only use one ASIO device at a time. That's simply baked into the ASIO specifications. You could try a third party driver like ASIO4ALL, but that's really not a great solution.

Pretty sure they're using this technology:

It's the same interface that comes with the JTVs. The original Variaxes didn't come with the interface, so you either had to have a POD or amp with the VDI interface or you had to purchase the interface separately.

I suppose it could probably be done relatively easily by a guitar tech who was familiar with doing such things. The question I have, though, is have you tried doing what you want to with the modeled versions of these pickups in Workbench? If you like the results, you can always save them as a custom model. It would be a lot cheaper than having the guitar modded.

No, you can't. Output mode is a global setting.

Workbench HD is free software. To connect to it, you need the VDI interface. This comes with the JTV along with a short VDI cable. So you'll have everything you need to connect to and use Workbench HD when you buy a JTV.

Well, you have to do whatever you're comfortable with. Lots of guys have used the Vettas live over the years with the longboard, so I'd say it's not impossible. I think you just need to time your preset changes accordingly.

Are you connected to your computer via USB when this happens, or this something that happens every time you use it regardless?

Where is the 10% number coming from? It's estimated that 7 - 10% of the total population is left-handed. I don't know how that translates to guitarists, though. It seems like the percentage of guitarists who play left-handed would be much lower than that, though. There are plenty of left-handed people who play right-handed. I write left-handed, for example, but I've always played guitar right-handed. Actually trying to play a left-handed guitar was nothing I ever considered. I'm not arguing against a left-handed Variax. I just doubt that 10% number listed above.

You know, I was thinking that the GX had 1/4" outputs similar to the UX-1 and UX-2. I forgot that it only had that 1/8" stereo out. But it doesn't change that much. You would have to get an adapter to go from that to dual 1/4". If you wanted to run both to the board you could, or you could just do one. And, yes, by direct box I do mean a DI. You could try going into amp and cab if the amp head has an effects return. You could try taking a 1/4" cable into that (again, you'd have to get the correct adapter to go from the 1/8" out). If you do that, you'd probably want to try disabling the cab model in POD Farm. You might get that to sound OK, but I think the PA would probably sound better. The PA would also be easier in the sense that you wouldn't have to necessarily change anything with your existing tones to have them sound right through the PA.

It would be pretty easy to connect to a PA system. Just take a 1/4" cable from one of the outputs to a direct and into the PA. Of course, you'd to have a computer there, too. You could go into a guitar cab, but it probably wouldn't sound right. The POD Studios don't have different output modes available like the hardware PODs, so going to the PA is probably you best bet.

Well, that's the thing, when these amps are tested, they're tested I imagine for running for very long periods of time - probably days, if not weeks. The solders, transformers, and other electrical are designed for continuous use. The thing that degrades electrical components is heat, and the components in the DT50 are designed to withstand the heat the amp produces for an indefinite time period. What happens with electrical equipment is that it warms up to a certain temperature, and then basically stays at that steady-state temperature until turn it off. There may some fluctuation in temperature based on how loud you're playing the amp, but it's probably not all that much. Basically what I'm saying is that I wouldn't worried about playing the amp too much. It was designed to be played through. As long as you do the common sense things like use the standby switch when turning it on, avoiding turning the amp on as soon as you bring it in from a cold environment, and other typical tube amp care things, I don't think it's something you should really be worried about.

There really shouldn't be a problem with using it continuously. In some ways, continuous use means less wear and tear on the components. But tubes do have a lifespan, so every hour you use it is using tube life, and eventually they'll have to be replaced. The more you use it, the faster that will happen.

I imagine the limitation to 24 presets was probably because that's how many scenes the M9 is limited to. The M13 has 48. It would be nice if there were more available, I suppose. The M5 would just ignore those messages and stay on whatever preset it's on before it receives the out of range message.

I don't think you need above 50W to get a good clean tone with a tube amp and still have a decent amount of headroom. One amp I'd suggest checking out is the Bogner Alchemist. They go used regularly for around $450 anymore, and for that price, they're an awesome amp. It's 40W and can be reduced to 20W with a switch on the front panel. It's two channels. These amps were over $1,000 when they were new. I got one a few years ago when they were being blown out, and it's a great sounding amp. The one drawback about the Alchemist is that its effects loop is parallel rather than serial, so that really prevents you from using the 4 cable method with it. You could still take the HD500 directly into the effects return, though, and use the Alchemist's power section, though.

If you put the FX loop block after the mixer in your tone and have everything panned correctly, you should be able to get this to work. You'd have to use a dual signal path through the POD with two amp, though.

The XLR outs on the HD500X are not line level. They're mic level, meaning that you should treat the same way you would a Lo-Z output from a dynamic mic. You'd need a preamp to boost the signal before going to your monitors. The 1/4" outs can, however, be set to line level. You just need to hit the little switch next to the expression pedal from "amp" to "line". The 1/4" outs are unbalanced, though. So you kind of have to pick your poison.

Well, I imagine like most companies, Line 6 doesn't want to pay people to do a job unless they're actually doing something that's useful for the company. All I'm saying is that it doesn't seem like having a full-time employee focus on the forums would be necessary. The fact is, too, that Line 6's product line is so diverse, it would be hard for one person to actually know the ins and outs of every product. I think this is why they switched over to a support ticket system. It's just a more efficient way of dealing with real issues. I don't think having someone on the forums to essentially do PR for Line 6 would help that much. There would still be just as many people complaining.

I've never been able to come close to maxing out the master. The loudest I've had it was near 12 o'clock, and that was outdoors on a huge stage. But, generally, the DT25 likes pedals.