phil_m

Frankly, I'd say you're not in a position to say what most of the users want. I get it. You're upset that there aren't new amp models or whatnot. But I suspect Line 6 has its reasons for doing what it's doing.

It's not quite that old... 2007, if I remember correctly. The XT was the end of 2002, I think.

Well, technically they did that a long time ago. They no longer use the forums for support, really. They're simply called "user forums". People do get questions answered here. Regarding the original topic, I imagine that the numbers of calls that Line 6 received about these was rather low, anyway. Most of these have been discontinued for quite a while now.

I think you misunderstand the purpose of the StageSource stuff. It is certainly meant to be much more than an amplification system for the POD. If that's all people want, you're probably right - they might look elsewhere. But the StageSource is a top of the line PA system (top of the line as far as portable systems go). And actually when you price it against a decent PA setup including everything that Line 6 offers, it's actually a pretty good deal. I mean, it's OK if you're not interested in it all, but don't assume your preferences are universal to everyone. I have to believe that no one knows the market better than those whose survival is actually pinned to it.

Well, the M13's MIDI map is kind of setup like you're describing. Record and overdub are controlled by the same CC# (50; Record is 0-63, Overdub 64-127), just different values coming from that same number. A lot of MIDI controllers will give you a "Toggle" option so that if you hit the switch once it sends out one value on a CC# and if you hit it again. So, I guess the answer to your question is yes it can be done, but you have to make sure the controller you're looking at has the feature.

The question has kind of been beaten to death here already, but since you asked - I'm extremely happy with the 2.0 sounds. To me they seem much more realistic and responsive. I've been gigging with them since July, and there hasn't been one time I've missed anything from the earlier firmware.

It's not really the power section of the amps you need to be so concerned with as far as power quality issue. It's the digital side that are usually more susceptible to power quality things like voltage drops or high order harmonics coming back on the line. In really bad cases, dirty power could be a nuisance to tube power sections in the way of noise. But dirty power isn't really going to affect the life of the tubes. I suppose if it was an extreme over- or under-voltage situation, it possibly could, but those sorts of things are relatively rare. A tube amp isn't like a computer where doing a hard shut-down will hurt something. A surge upon the power coming back on again would be the bigger worry. That's why power companies sometimes recommended unplugging stuff during a power outage. Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about power conditioning unless you're taking the amp to a lot of different clubs and you have good chance of running into issues. For home, I don't know if I'd worry about it.

Well, what pedal are you using? The onboard expression pedal? It actually has an audio taper, similar to most wahs, so its response should be similar. I've got to say that I haven't had an issue with the wahs. I find most of them pretty useful. Where are you putting it in your chain?

You can set the toe position of the wahs to be whatever value you want. The lower you set it, the less harsh it will be. This goes for all the wah models.

Are you sure you're using the same account? I know it may sound like a dumb question, but I think quite a few people use different accounts to register their gear and to put posts up here.

On some the first M9s made there was a hardware issue with the inputs that caused what you're describing. I believe it's a relatively simple fix, so you're probably going to have to take or send the unit to a service center.

You should be alright as long as you don't try to save the Spank model back to JTV. So I'd only upload the models you want to work on rather than hit "Upload all". If you do want to mess with the Spank model, all you have to do is swap the positions of the neck and bridge pickups. I actually think that all three pickups on the Spank are identical, so if that's the case, you're not really losing anything compared to the factory model by doing that.

Yep, that will work.

The only thing I'd say is that if you have the HD500, then you should just use its VDI port to do the update rather than the Workbench interface. I don't have hard data or anything, but it seems overall that people have far less problems doing the update through a POD than through the WB interface. I think some people have gotten the mistaken impression that because Workbench HD won't work through the PODs yet that they can't do the update through them either. But you can.

I know it's a minor thing, but the max loop length is 48 seconds, not 40. Just saying it for the sake of clarity when other people see the thread.

The problem is that the DT25 and the L3M each need the HD500 to be on different output modes to sound right, and you can only have one output mode running at a time. I agree with the suggestion above about using the DT25's XLR out to feed the L3M. That's probably the only way you'll get them both to sound right.

The JTV is pretty magical, but not this magical... :)

My bad... I actually did not realize ethercon was the standard name for that.

Well any ethernet cable will do as long as it has the Neutrik ends. Using a cable without those end can actually damage the ports on the guitar and/or the POD pretty easily.

Yeah, it should turn off when you unplug the cable. It could be something relatively simple like a loose connection or a faulty relay, but it's not expected behavior.

Yes, I'm sure. I had someone from Line 6 who would know confirm it for me. I actually confirmed it to myself as well by doing a comparison between the 2.0 model and a real Strat. I made clips and put them up here. http://line6.com/support/topic/2351-battle-of-the-quacks/ When asked to guess which one was which it was about split between people saying the 2.0 Spank was a real Strat. That seems to be the purpose of the Variax to me, so I it's doing what it should.

Just to clarify, though... When you install the HD firmware, what you hear from the 2 and 4 positions is correct. The bug isn't in the firmware. The bug is in Workbench (or at least only happens when used with Workbench). It seems that if you connect the Variax to Workbench and try to alter the Spank model, it doesn't let you save the model with both pickups on. The workaround is to flip around the neck and bridge pickups, I believe. This will let you save the 2 and 4 with both pickups on. But if you don't try to alter the Spank model in Workbench, the stock Spank model is fine. Both pickups are on, and what you hear is what you're intended to hear, not a bug.

I don't think anyone is blaming you... But it could very well be an issue with your JTV, computer, or something else in the chain. The thing is it's a complex issue with lots of things that can go wrong. I guess I don't understand why you'd insist "it's a firmware problem" if Line 6 says it isn't. I would think that if there were something inherent in the firmware that was causing problems on some JTVs they'd admit to it. They wouldn't really have a good reason not to.

Well, I don't think you do have to do this... I don't know why that seemed to be the thing that was the trick for you, but I'm glad you got it to work.

No, they're not broken... The issue with them had to with a bug in Workbench. It seems that Workbench was turning off one of the pickups and that people were loading that back onto the guitar. But the stock sounds from positions 2 and 4 are correct.