zaphodboy

It also seems a bit harsh invalidating the warranty for a fret dress and set up.

No worries. If you're not gigging it might be worth bearing in mind that like any tube amp you'll have to really crank it to get that lovely tube warmth. It might be too loud for your surroundings, or your neighbours ;) The DT does have a low volume mode (a switch on the back I think) but my understanding of that is that in this mode the DT uses modelling to get the overdriven tube effect.

Hi Smrybacki I have had a similar set up to the one you are talking about JTV55-VDI-HD500-L6 link-L3m. I gig once or twice a week playing lead in a 4 piece in an indie rock covers band so I need the full pallet of sounds from acoustic to fairly heavy. I had been working with the JTV and HD500 for a couple of years going through a tube Marshall and was pretty happy with my tones except for the acoustic stuff so I apprehensively bit the bullet and went for the L3m (not the L3t, I don't need the mixer). Going from a real amp to FRFR meant I had to modify all my patches but you may not need to do that as you are already FRFR. That said some systems are more FRFR than others so there may still be slight tweaks to do. It took me a week or so to really nail the sounds but now I have the rig sounds awesome, and I regularly get compliments from musos in the crowd about my tones (if not my actual playing lol). The thing the L2 will give you that your Tech 21s don't apart from the mixer is the smart speaker modes. These can be controlled per patch using Line 6 link and I have found they really bring the tone to life and seem to add another dimension. I went for the L3 in case the L2 wasn't loud enough. In hindsight the L2 would have been plenty loud enough as the L3 is insane even 'competing' against another guitarist, bassist and drummer. I set the speaker to 12 o'clock and the master on the pod never gets above 11 o'clock. I could have saved myself some money and weight. Setting up is ridiculously easy using a VDI between JTV and HD500 and L6 link between HD500 and L3m. Literally 2 minutes and you're finished....it will take you longer to tune up! Downsides? As mentioned I had to almost start again with my patches but they were easier to dial in on this rig than my old one (I'm a bit of a tweaker anyway so it was no hardship). The only other thing is that the first unit I received was faulty, it kept cutting out. I sent it back and the replacement hasn't missed a beat in 8 months regular gigging. I have seen a lot of posts about build quality on Stagesource so it's something to bear in mind but in my experience people tend to shout a lot louder when things go wrong than when things go right so I suspect this skews the posts in a negative way. In short as far as I'm concerned it's all good. Good luck whatever you decide to do.

Heck the variax doesn't even do nylon string where the GP-10 has a beautiful nylon model." Yep no nylon model is a glaring ommision, especially when it has so many reso models and a sitar which are probably more niche than a nylon.

You might want to try it through headphones at a reasonable volume if you haven't already. I have seen previous posts with similar symptoms and it has turned out to be the natural or 'real' tuning overlayed on the pitch shifted note at low volumes. Good luck

Sounds really fizzy! You might have too much gain on the amp or might need an eq. I was struggling with fizz at one point with my rig (no more, I am now FRFR with Stagesource speakers) and I managed to dial it out with EQ. I consulted meambobbos guide which has a step by step way to do it. It might be worth a look. http://foobazaar.com/podhd/toneGuide/ Good luck

I get where Slooky is coming from re option paralysis BUT I have (to my ears anyway) found exceptional tones without tweaking any of the sag, hum etc etc parameters. The unit is as complicated as you want to make it. The problem may be that now the DEP stuff has been tweaked it could be difficult to get it to sound 'right' again? Maybe a reflash and start over?? Anyways if you jump ship to Boss good luck dude...hope you find tone nirvana.

Hi Mastersonics I started a thread a few months ago about Q2 when I got my L3m. It relates to an HD500 not HD500x but the principle is exactly the same. Hope it helps. http://line6.com/support/topic/8144-what-are-the-recommended-settings-for-an-l3m/

in answer to my own post, I have now had the rig for around 4 months and this is what I have found, with help from you guys on the forum on various threads POD set to studio/direct L2m set to electric guitar mode with volume in the 'notch' position at 12 o'clock. Use the POD volume as master. Usually, but not exclusively, full amp models. This goes against what should work. My understanding is that if in electric guitar mode you should use the pre models as the L3m is emulating a cab. Occasionally I find the pre models sound better, mainly on the cleaner amps. Acoustic guitar mode on the L3m when using acoustic models on the JTV (obviously). A little reverb and compression and it's good to go. That's my take on the set up but as many posters have said in the past, there is no 'right' way to set up. It's what sounds best to your ears. Thanks for all the input, it has really helped.

The only thing I can think of is when saving the speaker modes per patch you have to do it on the HD500 unit itself, not through HD edit otherwise the speaker mode defaults to p.a. Maybe it's a similar issue i.e. if you are saving the global studio/direct via edit, try it on the pod itself. That said, this doesn't happen on my rig which is similar. Good luck

My experience with L6 is bitter sweet. My first JTV had to go back immediately due to a switch fault and my L3m had to go back immediatley due to some sort of electronic gremlin. Both were literally days old so a courier was sent by the supplier and I received replacements within a couple of days. Since then everything has worked flawlessly. It seems to me that you're spot on with your QC observation but I would counter by saying that, in my experience, once you get a good unit they are really reliable. it shouldn't be this way but there you are....

Really interesting guys. You seem to be boosting by 3-5db. I am boosting 4db so that would seem to be ok but the thing I may have been missing is giving an extra boost to the mids. I've got a gig this weekend so I'll give it a go and report back.

I am having trouble cutting through the mix during my solos. I play in a 4 piece (drums, bass and 2 guitars) playing indie rock. I generally cut through just fine and in fact get regular comments from musos in the crowd complementing my tone. The problem comes in when I hit the 'solo button'. The result is either ear bleedingly loud or non existent. My rig is JTV 59 into an HD500 into an L3m. The nearest I have got to the boost I'm looking for is kicking in a screamer at the beginning of the chain to add a bit of grit, a studio eq after the mixer block with a 2db boost and a digital delay before the reverb. All these are turned on and off with one of the footswitches. What do you guys do to melt your audiences faces but keep their eardrums intact?

Put the volume pedal in your effects chain (easier in HD500 edit than on the unit itself) either at the beginning or end of the chain and you should be good to go.

Hi. I have copied a reply I made from a similar query which might help... Run a DMX cable between the Pod and the L2 using L6 link. This way you can switch speaker modes per patch depending whether you want electric or acoustic tones. You cannot save the speaker modes via HD edit though. To get the Pod to change modes dial in your tone as normal using HD edit, manually switch to the required mode on the Stagesource speaker the hit save on the Pod, not HD edit. If you save via HD edit the speaker mode will default to PA mode. Hope that helps, good luck

+1 to that. I had exactly the same experience.

This is a real shame DMKA1 because I have had my JTV since release date, it's never had a glitch and sounds awesome! You're in a bad place right now but hopefully you'll get the problem sorted and never look back.....good luck!

My L3 lights up the number one in the LCD panel next to the Stagesource L6 link input and I notice your doesn't. Could it be a connection problem? Have you tried a different DMX cable?

Plug the power lead into the POD whilst holding down the left arrow navigation button. That should do the trick. Good luck!

+1 to that! I replaced my Marshall tube amp with an L3m to go with my JTV and HD500. With the L3 I find it easier to dial in the tones I need and they sound more transparent and less muddy to my ears. Whether you go 't' or 'm' really just depends on whether you need the built in effects on the 't' version (some guys hit the DSP limit on their patches, use the built in reverb on the speaker and take it off the HD patch saving some DSP) and whether you are likely to add vocals or an acoustic i.e. using it as a traditional p.a. I just wanted a stand alone unit which sounded kick lollipop and IMHO my L3 delivers in spades! The only disadvantage you have is that you don't have access to L6 link so won't be able to change smart speaker modes on the fly. To be honest though my L3 is set to 'electric guitar' mode 90% of the time anyway so it's probably no big deal.

That's interesting. It honestly never occurred to me not to use amp models for synth patches. I know what I'll be doing when I get home from work tonight!!

I have an JTV-HD500-L3m rig. The L3 replaced my Marshall tube amp. When I first plugged in the L3 my old HD500 patches needed a bit of work to sound the same as through the Marshall but surprisingly little....a bit of EQ pretty much did it. You may need to do a bit more tweaking than I had to as I was only running the power amp of the Marshall. Volume wise the only thing to bear in mind is that at low volumes you won't get as much perceived bass as at gigging volumes (Fletcher-Munson effect) so you'll probably have to roll off some of the bottom end to compensate if you're creating your patches at home. Apart from that it's all good!

In general I use electric guitar mode. In theory you should use the PRE amp models (without cab emulation) in this mode but I also use full amp models on a couple of patches and they still sound great. If you have a variax the acoustic guitar mode sounds fantastic.

Stagesource certainly did it for me. It was a hefty lay out for me too but I'm glad I did it! Good luck.

Hats and gloves....!!!! Sign me up!!! ;)