phil_m

Or don't put abrasive paper on top of the HD400 when transporting it... I've had my HD500 for almost three years now, and the printing looks pretty like it did when I bought. But if you have something like paper rubbing against one spot for a long time, it will scratch it. Have you had a CD case in your car for a long time? If you have the case stored vertically, over time the insert will scratch up the inside of the jewel case. It acts like sandpaper.

I never played a 700, but I did have the 300. They all had the same electronics, though. I actually did like the neck of my 300 quite a bit, but as far as the sounds, they were OK, but not up to snuff with JTV. I think a lot of it had to do with the piezo saddles Line 6 used on the original Variax. I definitely noticed more "plinks" with the original Variax than I do with the JTV even before the HD update. With the HD update, I have to say they're all but gone.

Paper can actually be pretty abrasive... And a manilla folder actually does have some grit. I had a guitar that was shipped with a bunch of paperwork in an envelope in bottom of the case, and it was enough to cause some noticeable wear on the back of the guitar. You have to figure it's like a very fine grain sand paper.

Does the HD500 show up as an audio device in your Device Manager?

Generally, the issue has been taken care of. Line 6 located the faulty piece and addressed in production. That doesn't mean that there still aren't some guitars being sold with the bad switches out there, though. You never know how long a dealer has had a guitar in stock. Plus, even with the newer models, there's still a chance of that part failing, I suppose. With electronics, there's always going to be some parts that fail early on.

Did you see the post I made comparing the Variax Spank model to a real Strat? They were pretty darn close. The biggest difference to me actually was the output level. The Variax model is a little hotter than the real thing, but that can vary from Strat to Strat. I'm not saying you're wrong, per se, but I don't how you can say the HD Spank isn't accurate.

No. Workbench HD only works on the HD update.

You're welcome to your opinion, but I'd say your opinion is extremely short-sighted without having actually played a JTV with the HD models firsthand. You're basing it on a few Youtube videos and clips and whatnot. I'd say you have you to play a guitar to know if you like it. Personally, I think the HD models are a whole other playing experience to the first gen of modeling. I had a Variax 300 for a while, but I never got to the place where I could play it consistently because while I thought it sounded OK, it always felt like I was making quite a trade-off between playing it and the real thing. I think there's always going to be some trade-off, but the question is how big can we tolerate. With the HD models, though, I feel the gap has gotten pretty small. There are some models where I can tell very little difference between the JTV and the real thing.

In that video, the difference between 1.9 and 2.0 isn't that dramatic to me, but still, I think in general the HD just feel more realistic while playing. The sound is only one side of the playing experience. The way the guitar reacts to my playing is just as important.

Well, it's been over 24 hours now, so I guess I'll reveal what's what. Quack1 is the Variax, and Quack2 is the American Standard Strat. More people ended being wrong than right in the poll, so I guess kudos to Line 6 here. There is actually a giveaway in the tracks if you listen close enough. On the real Strat track you can hear the hum from the middle pickup kick in when I slide the 5-way switch past it. In the Variax track it's quiet through the change.

Well, I don't think it's normal behavior, but I don't usually power up my HD500 with the JTV attached. I'm wondering if perhaps having the JTV attached while powering might not be causing a spike which is causing the HD500 to cycle again.

Changing strings on the 69 is probably easier than most guitars out there because of the locking tuners. I recommend changing the strings one at a time in order to avoid worrying about the trem being pulled back. To remove the old string, simply loosen the thumb screw on the tuner, pull it out, and pull it out of the bridge. Snap the new string into the bridge, pull up through the locking tuner so there's tension on the string, tighten the thumb screw, and essentially that string is done. The nice thing with the locking tuners is you don't have to have extra slack at the tuner to wrap around it. The locking tuner does that work for you. Repeat this process for every string. Once you have that done, tune the guitar and cut off the extra at the tuners.

Regarding the Strat 2 & 4 positions, take a look at this thread I started here: http://line6.com/sup...-of-the-quacks/

Nothing has been altered in Workbench in the model recorded here. It's just the stock HD Spank model.

The presets are stored on the amp, not on the Shortboard. You can save, copy, and rename the presets with the Shortboard if you want. It is probably easier to do it through the Line 6 Edit program, though. The manual can be found here: http://line6.com/data/6/0a060b316ac34f0593541385a/application/pdf/Flextone%20III%20User%20Manual%20-%20English%20.pdf

Good call on the poll... I've added one.

I took some time today to record a few samples of the infamous 2 & 4 posiitons from the Variax and compared them to the real thing. The real thing in this case is a 2012 American Standard Strat with Fat 50s pickups. I recorded these going through my pedalboard into my Deluxe Reverb Reissue (using a Cannabis Rex speaker in case anyone cares). I used a Sennheiser E609 along with an MXL ribbon mic. Those are going into my UX2, and I'm using the Modern preamp on both mics with the compressor in the chain just to prevent clipping. The only effect I have on in my pedalboard is a clean boost going into the amp. The reverb is from the amp. I'm not going to say which is which at this point. On each clip I start in position 4 (neck and middle) and then go to position 2 (middle and bridge). I tried to play pretty the same thing in both clips, but they are a little different. Quack1.mp3 Quack2.mp3

The DB-90 can't send MIDI clock data, but it does respond to it. So it's similar to the M9 in that sense. If you want to sync everything together, you'll have to have something to generate a MIDI clock signal - something like this: http://www.kaom.com/TEMPODE_Pedalboard_MIDI_Clock_Injector_p/built_009.htm The other issue is going to be how to split the MIDI signal, then. The M9 doesn't have a MIDI thru, so you're looking at another additional box - something like this: http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MIDIthru2?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=PPC&utm_campaign=none&device=c&network=g&matchtype=&gclid=COPy2ZKTqLkCFdBaMgodwBMAiA So you'd take a MIDI cable from the MIDI clock pedal to the MIDI through box and then one cable from that to the DB-90 and another to the M9. Personally, it seems like a lot of cabling and a lot of extra work to accomplish something relatively minor. I would probably say "forget it" and stick to tapping the beat in manually. As far the M9's looper, it doesn't have a quantize function, and there's no way to sync it to the tap tempo.

The industry standard for doing this is called MIDI clock. The M9 will respond to a MIDI clock signal, but it doesn't send its own. The other way you can sync the M9's tap tempo with another device is by sending the tap signal with MIDI. Before I go too far down the road of getting into details, though, I'd need to know what other pedals you're looking to sync with the M9.

Fractal also only makes one product - two, I suppose if you count the foot controller. But, still, it's not quite a fair comparison. Their user base is a fraction of the size of Line 6's. I just think that for all of the different product lines Line 6 has and the size of the user base, it would be pretty hard for them to interact a lot on the forums.

Do you have a cord plugged into the 1/4" jack and have the guitar's volume knob turned up?

Well, you definitely need phantom power on for that mic, but I don't know why you wouldn't be hearing any sound. Are the meters on the front of the UX2 moving?

What type of mic are you trying to use? The +48V button isn't a boost, btw. It's the phantom power switch. It provides 48V of DC power to mics that need it.

You'd have to choose whether or not to use the pedal as an expression pedal or a dedicated volume pedal. If you use it as an expression pedal, you'd take a cable from the output to one of the M13's expression pedal jacks. If you use it as volume pedal, you'd put it somewhere in your signal chain like you would any other effect pedal. You can use the expression pedal to control the volume pedal effect in the M13, but this uses one of the slots in your scene, so that may be a deal-breaker for you. BTW, I'm not saying whether or not this specific Boss pedal is compatible or not with the M13 as an expression pedal. If I remember correctly, I believe it may be, but I don't know. Actually, the Ernie Ball Jr. sells for $84. It's cheaper than this Boss pedal.

That seems like a great solution, actually - cheap and easy. What may be even slightly better is a self-adhesive felt washer to stick on the surface of the trem cavity.