phil_m

If Monkey isn't showing the latest version of things, it probably means you need to update Monkey. But you usually get a warning when you start Monkey. Also, Workbench and Workbench HD are completely different programs, so Workbench HD doesn't show up as an update for Workbench.

What do you mean by "non-standard" RJ-45 port? They are regular old RJ-45 connectors... They're just using them to send their own communication protocol. I don't see what's so bad about this. A lot of Line 6 amps also have MIDI ports, so if you want to use some other third-party controller, you certainly could. I don't see how you're taking this and turning it into a rant about the evils of Corporate America.

Not really any way to do it without micing the cabinet.

There are two places you can adjust the volume without affecting the tone (mostly). The first one is the volume control in the amp model itself. You can consider this the volume for the amp/cab block. It doesn't change anything associated with the amp modeling. It simply changes the volume coming out of that block. There is a chance, however, that if you have the channel volume up too high and certain effects after the amp block, that you can clip them. The other way to adjust the volume is using the mixer block. You can boost or cut the volume of each tone path by +/- 12db here. This is probably the easiest way to get balance in a dual tone.

The answer you probably don't want to hear is that there really isn't a way to get an acoustic electric to sound good through a regular guitar amp. Even though the Spider is a modeling amp, it's still essentially a guitar amp using a speaker designed for electric guitar. For acoustic guitar amplification, you generally need something that is full spectrum, full range. That's why acoustic guitar amps have tweakers built in. They'll reproduce the high frequencies that help make an acoustic guitar sound the way it should. The one thing you could try is bypassing the preamp on the Spider III. If you hold the tap tempo button down while powering the amp on, it turns the amp on with the preamp section bypassed. It's essentially a relatively flat powered speaker at this point. The only control that will work on the amp is the master volume.

Are you talking about the A/B footswitch? You can buy those directly from Line 6 here: https://www.globalfulfillment.net/gfsnet/line6/10Expand.aspx?ProductCode=98-034-0105

If you want to have the effects after the amp model play through the DT25s, you need to set them as "Left", "Right", or "Left/Right" under the L6 Link menu. Setting them as A and B makes them essentially the last thing in the chain. If you want to keep them separated simply make one "Left" and the other one "Right". You just have to make sure you have the separation you want in your tone on the HD500.

This is pretty sweet... I'd go for that finish!

There really isn't an easy way. You just have to do your best through a process of trial and error with adjusting the channel volume and mixer settings on each patch. One thing to realize is that adjusting the volume control, or the channel volume, in the amp model itself doesn't affect the tone coming from the amp. The two controls that will affect break up and gain (mostly) are the drive control and the master volume deep editing parameter.

Well, and I think that's the issue... There's no such comparison being made. The Variax isn't "listening" to the pitch of the note coming from the string in any way. It's just taking the pitch and shifting it by a certain amount. Now, there is some sort of technology for pitch detection in the current algorithm because it detects pitch when you set up a virtual capo. But I don't think it being used at all when the Variax is "live". The Variax is unlike other MIDI guitars in that regard. If your strings are out of tune while playing the Variax while using an alternate tuning, you'll be out of tune. There's no pitch correction going on. I'm not saying it's impossible altogether. I'm just saying it would involve changing the way the pitch shifting works currently.

The trem bar actually screws in. It does seem upon first looking at it that it just pushes in, but there are threads at the bottom of it, and it screws in similar to a typical Strat trem bar.

I understand what you're wanting, but I don't think it would ever be possible unless Line 6 changed the way they handle pitch shifting in the Variax in general. I don't believe the Variax is tracking absolute pitch when it does pitch shifting. All it's doing changing the pitch relative to note being picked up. For what you want to be possible, it would have to track absolute pitch in some way so it could differentiate between the note generated from an open string and a fretted one. I imagine Line doesn't do this simply because doing it would add latency.

For whatever reason, the HD line just reacts this way to the EX-1 expression pedal. There's a "dead zone" at the top of the pedal sweep. It doesn't really bother me all that much, but what you're experiencing is normal. The only way to workaround would be to modify the pot in the external pedal in some way.

Well, poop is three dimensional and organic... So maybe if someone describes a guitar tone in those terms, they're trying to say it's a real crappy tone. :blink:

I think that the floorboards are essentially using a MIDI protocol, or something very close to it, but whether or not it could easily be sent wireless, I don't know. I saw this wireless MIDI setup the other day. Pretty darn pricey: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MIDIjetProUSB/

What are you trying to do exactly? Create an automation track for the Variax? Or you expecting the Variax to send MIDI note data? In either case, the Variax doesn't send MIDI data like that to the XTL. The Variax isn't a MIDI guitar, so you can't use it to control other MIDI instruments.

I've got to say I don't know of any other company providing firmware updates to a digital multi-effects pedal 4 or 5 years after it was released. I doubt Fractal will be releasing updates for the Axe FX II three years from now... But, who knows? Maybe they will. Anyway, I still think the M-series stuff represents the best bang for the buck in the effects world at the moment.

I won't say that I don't hear it... I do hear a certain amount of fizz or hash or whatever you want to call it, but I don't find it all that objectionable. I hear the same sort of thing if I plug a guitar with humbuckers into a Fender amp a lot of times, too, though. So I guess my feeling is that there are some people who seem to be really bothered by this for whatever reason, but thankfully, I'm not one of them. One thing I would ask that original poster is if he tried switching Input 2 to something other than "Guitar" or "Same". That would make a difference in the gain staging through the unit, definitely.

1. If you don't want to keep the licenses for the model packs, you can gift them with the Pro XT. It requires the person buying it to have an account set up with Line 6 though. It's described here: http://line6.com/support/page/kb/_/general-faq/model-packs-licenses-faq-r490 2. This is correct. You can remove the serial number from your account, and the new owner should be able to register it. They would have to have access to the model packs, I believe. 3. Not really. When you get it and hook it up to your computer, Line 6 Monkey will ask you if want to register it. It's pretty painless.

Well, Marshall's standard warranty is 5 years parts, and 3 years labor, I believe... I don't know what they would do after 10 years. A 10 year old Marshall amp is probably more easily repaired than a 10 year Variax, though, simply because of the nature of what they are. Although, many of Marshall's amps do use printed boards now, and I imagine they have limitations as to how long they keep such things in stock. Well, they are completely different boards. I imagine that there is some overlap between the components on the boards, but that's kind of a moot point. Beyond some very easily fixable things, virtually no one does repairs on the boards themselves. They'll replace the whole thing. That's kind of the way the world works now.

The sound you hear isn't just because the POD is digital... It's because it's not dialed in correctly. There are ways to get a cleaner tone with the HD series, but you don't seem to be interested in actually finding solutions. The thing is if you have the drive around 40%, that can actually be pretty high on a non-master volume amp. On a Deluxe Reverb, for instance, that very well may be past the point where you start getting power tube break up depending on what type of guitar you have plugged in. Have you tried adjusting the deep editing parameters on your tones? Anyway, it's not my place to try to make you like the product. If you don't, you don't. I just think you're selling it a bit short. I think you're making a bit too much out of what the Line 6 people said. They were affirming that nothing in your clip was the result of defect, but it is possible to have sounds where the crossover distortion isn't an issue. It's not always there. Forgive me if you said already, but what type of guitar did you use to record these clips?

How are you controlling it? With MIDI or with one of the Line 6 controllers?

They very likely could be. Somehow Line 6 takes into account the actual loading and interaction of the cab with the power amp in their modeling. So I don't know what happens when you disable the cab, really.

What do you mean by "the hollow body is not possible at all"? Are you getting no sound when you try to use that model? If that's the case, than something isn't right.