eenymason

1/ The user defined variax patch must be created within Workbench, and saved to the variax. On the original vax this is the only way to create an alternate tuning, or mod a vax patch in any other way. You need to connect to the computer via the XT/HD. 2/ Within the XT/HD edit computer software, as you are setting up your amp/fx patch, you can select which vax patch you want to save within that patch - there you will see the choice of (U) or (F) options. I rarely edit my HD500 directly on the unit itself, and I don't know if you can select variax patches that way. Hope this clarifies for you - I figure the process would be pretty much the same whether using XT or HD.

By this comment, do I assume the JTVs (and Standard), that the factory patches are no longer available to you within the HD500, once they're overwritten with a user defined patch?

I don't know if the XT shows what the HD does, but when I am selecting a variax patch that I want to be saved within an HD500 patch, it gives me the option of selecting from the variax presets as either U (user defined) or F (factory preset) - e.g. F Spank pos 3 is standard middle pickup which is still available via the Pod patch setup process, even though the model may be over-written by you as a user defined (maybe open G or the like) patch on the variax itself. Sorry, I've never used Gearbox, but I assume it should work similarly - if Gearbox is the computer based editing softwear for the XT, then it should give you that option when scrolling through the variax models.

It sure can - as the OP said, Adrian Belew had a custom model Parker Fly with the original vax guts, a sustainiac, and a Di Marzio humbucker, plus midi output - must've been no wood left in the body... no longer available, but here's the specs... http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/parker-guitars-adrian-belew-signature-fly-electric-guitar

You let me know when you've invented that pedal that "knows" when you're changing interval, and I'll order one direct. Meantime, I'll continue to use a system that works for me, even if I have to inform it when I'm changing interval.

Hats off to Mr Saxman - someone's gotta stick their head outta the bunker sometimes and tell it how it is. There are a lot of people around forums such as these that take information/opinions proffered by other forum users, (regardless of whether it's good or not), and don't offer anything in return - ie thanks for good advice, or even criticism (good, or bad), when they learned something (good, or bad). Nice tips above Ed - I am in the midst of setting up patches to try out with a new band which is evidently a lot louder, and heavier than I've played with before, and I think the patches I have setup at low/moderate volume on my stereo speakers at home (and earphones), are going to sound off when I pump them through my stereo valve power amp and two speaker cabs at higher than usual volume. My usual modus operandi is to use full amp modelling, and also leave cab/mic simulation on even though I'm going through guitar speakers. Reason being, I don't usually go very loud (50 watts per channel amp set around 3-4, Pod HD500 output volume set around 1-2 o'clock), and one speaker cab I use is the open back cab (minus amp section) of a Spider IV 120 watt stereo with 2x10" Celestion G10P-80 speakers, which I figure must be pretty flat response as far as guitar speakers go. The other one is a Marshall JCM800 2x12 extension cab with G12-65's, which can sound a little dark on their own, but together with the other cab it's a good combo. I guess I could experiment with dual amp more, and run pre only on the Marshall cab side. I also agree less is better in the effects area, but I have some songs which have a fair bit going on, and as the sole guitarist, I find sometimes I have to layer stuff to fill the sound. I'm going to set up duplicates of these patches I'm creating, and maybe with pres only, and the power amp channels up around 7-8, and and the Pod output around 3-4 o'clock, it'll sing like never before. I'm pumped!!

A SOLID read through and you will find what you need to know.... Phil M says "Twin Harmony and Harmony Delay both have intelligent pitch shifting." Refer to my (and previous comments by others) that there will be the facility create the effect you want with this unit. It will however require you to take one foot from the foldback wedge mid solo, and place it on the expression pedal - heel, toe, heel, toe......(toe down being 3rd interval, heel down being 4th, or however you program it). I currently use this very technique in a pretty corny Rod Stewart song called Tonight's The Night (although using HD500). Apparently chicks dig it. :rolleyes: Otherwise, being that every other man and his dog play guitar these days, I'm sure there will be plenty of guitarists willing to jump up on stage with you just to play the second part. :lol:

If it's simply alternating between intervals, the expression pedal option is not too hard - FFS - you've learned the individual parts of the solo to Boys Are Back In Town haven't you? You've done the hard part - rock the damn pedal - toe/heel/toe/heel. Don't expect a direct reply here from Line 6 staff - although having said that, you never know, you could be pleasantly surprised!

Perception can be such a frustrating thing sometimes... I certainly didn't assume "I still find that there is not that much difference to the HD500 though." referred specifically to the Univibe simulation abilities of the units - rather to the "perceived quality" of the units generally. Expectations too.... How long is a piece of string? As long as you want it to be, pretty much...... My perception is that my first experience of owning and using regularly a "Univibe" effect (the HD's version of said effect) pleases me. Particularly since Hendrix's magical use of the Univibe on "Maching Gun" and other delicacies from the late sixties, (e.g Robin Trower etc), the effect was obviously mono, but still had a real "3D" organic feeling kind of thing going on - and I can hear from the sound samples, that the Helix really does do a stellar job of reproducing that organic 3D swirling thang. My perception tells me that's a pretty big improvement, and one of the boxes ticked for me on the list of reasons to (one day) flog off an HD500 and fork out the rest of the big bucks for the Helix. My expectation that the Helix supports the original variaxes though, it seems is setting me up for a huge disappointment - far more than any quality of any specific effect in the new flagship product, if I then have to go out and buy another couple of variaxes, then I may as well just give up now.... G.A.S. BEGONE!

I have been ruminating on the issue. I figured it's only when neighbouring strings have a different detune value added to it's processed signal, that the cross talk is really obvious - as is the case when you set up an open G tuning. When all strings are dropped a full tone (or the like), it's not noticable, as all processing is the same on each string, and any cross talk is processed in the same way. As the audio snippets show, even though there is a decent gap between saddles now, the problem still exists, so there are vibrations travelling (I guess) down through the height adjustment screws, throught the steel plate the saddles are sitting on, and up through the neighbouring height adjustment screws, and into the piezo still. Thus the problem will probably never fully be resolved, only improved upon. :rolleyes: Hopefully this helps others out with this issue, and feel free to add to the pool of info peeps!! Now on to the second vax before tonights gig!!!

Agreed - if you don't use alternate tunings, leave well enough alone.

Ok, despite common sense as prescribed by well intentioned sources of information, I used a sanding bit in my dremel tool to sand off about .5mm from each side of the A,D,G and B piezos, and off the "inside" edge of the two Es. So all up I have around 1mm extra gap in between piezos. I found this to be both quicker, and actually much easier that trying to sand by hand, with the piezo having limited mobility due to it's still being attached to the guitar by it's wiring. Light touch - easy job really, once you get the hang of it. The aural results are attached - for some reason (as I've already mentioned elsewhere), it seems really obvious when I use an open G tuning. This one is using a Tele with a P90 near the bridge through a Blackface 'Lux Vib with a bit of bite dialled in - think "Keef". Other detuned choices sound far less "off" to me. In the attached recording I have played each string individually, the first instance of each note is the pre-sanded sound, the second is the post-sanded sound, to make it easier to hear the difference. It's only when picking individual notes, that any of these sound "off". As a chord, they're totally acceptable. Piezo bleed_less bleed examples.mp3

I turned mine down to 70% - to my ears that was about the same output as the L R Baggs output. I may experiment a bit with this though. Having said that, I can't see how it could affect the "bleed" problem - maybe someone with a bigger brain than mine could explain any possible improvement in this strange phenomenon.

Pics and sound samples - couldn't figure the attachment process before... :rolleyes:

Ok, despite common sense as prescribed by well intentioned sources of information, I used a sanding bit in my dremel tool to sand off about .5mm from each side of the A,D,G and B piezos, and off the "inside" edge of the two Es. So all up I have around 1mm extra gap in between piezos. See pics of one of my strats pre-sanding, and the other post-sanding. I found this to be both quicker, and actually much easier that trying to sand by hand, with the piezo having limited mobility due to it's still being attached to the guitar by it's wiring. Light touch - easy job really, once you get the hang of it. The aural results are attached - for some reason (as I've already mentioned elsewhere), it seems really obvious when I use an open G tuning. This one is using a Tele with a P90 near the bridge through a Blackface 'Lux Vib with a bit of bite dialled in - think "Keef". Other detuned choices sound far less "off" to me. In the attached recording I have played each string individually, the first instance of each note is the pre-sanded sound, the second is the post-sanded sound, to make it easier to hear the difference. It's only when picking individual notes, that any of these sound "off". As a chord, they're totally acceptable.

Thanks for chipping in LeeSteel - have you actually done this - I'm unaware how soft these saddles are, and how much time will be used to simply use sandpaper, or if a mechanical abrasive would be better, (eg dremel type tool with a tool sharpening bit installed), or would that be overkill? NB I am not removing the piezos from the guitar - too much faffing around , de-soldering, re-soldering etc - I'm just going to loosen the saddles enough to turn em on their sides, and set to with whatever abrasive method I find is best suited for the job. I'd just jump in and do it, but don't want to mess it up....

I thought I'd start a new topic on this as it could be missed in my reply to another thread... Copy/paste from Graphtech's response to my query regarding the piezo bleed problem in alt tunings: Thank you for the email and support of Graph Tech. I would be happy to comment on your predicament. I have heard some industry feedback that the Line6 platform is somewhat susceptible to some moderate cross-talk (especially when it comes to alternate tunings). Although you can add a mechanical divider of some kind, the best option is to create space between saddles to reduce "bleed". You can remove small amounts of material off the side to improve coupling I hope that helps I responded asking the best way to attack it without damaging the piezos - I await with bated breath, before sallying forth with the bastard file... :ph34r: Can't wait to get rid of the cross-talk problem in alternate tunings - it was there before changing to the Ghosts, but I think they make it worse than the L R Baggs piezos - the only way in which the original piezos were better than the Ghosts IMO. As soon as I get the reply to the latest query to Graphtech, I'll put it up here.

Copy/paste from Graphtech's response to my query regarding the piezo bleed problem in alt tunings: Thank you for the email and support of Graph Tech. I would be happy to comment on your predicament. I have heard some industry feedback that the Line6 platform is somewhat susceptible to some moderate cross-talk (especially when it comes to alternate tunings). Although you can add a mechanical divider of some kind, the best option is to create space between saddles to reduce "bleed". You can remove small amounts of material off the side to improve coupling I hope that helps I responded asking the best way to attack it without damaging the piezos - I await with bated breath, before sallying forth with the bastard file... :ph34r:

1 - I have a Pod Hd Bean, is that enough, because I see always that de HD 500 is using with it ? You can use it with whatever you want - obviously the user friendliness is increased when it's paired with a Pod of some description - HD or otherwise. 2- Is it possible with the workbench to customize a Drop C and A ? Like all variaxes it does alternate tunings albeit with SOME limitations. I know some users when using a lot of drop tunings, they physically tune to say a drop D, and then modify within Workbench to make it Drop (X), and good results are reported. An example is Stevic from Twelve Foot Ninja (check em out on youtube for reference sounds. He is using a custom made guitar nowadays, with Variax guts onboard, but he used to use an 89F before this. Variax Standard is the same sound wise (modelling), but obviously has single coil magnetic pickups as well, which would be less useful for heavy metal and the like. - not live sound unfortunately, but good live vid of 12 Foot Ninja 3- What about hard metal like Hardcore and very loud metal play? is this guitar good enough? Modelling wise - of course - for Djent playing, maybe not so - maybe try it in a store before you buy to see if it's good for your particular style. I' say the 89 or 89F would be better for your purposes, as the stock mag pickups would be better suited to Djenty stuff. Others would be better positioned to comment - I like and use a Strat style variax transplant, and don't play much in the way of real heavy stuff. Having said that, I'm loving learning some Clutch right now for a new band.... 4 -Is there any usb connection to connect it on PC ? I see just a dvi? is there a dvi to usb adaptor? Connect to PC/Mac via your Pod HD. Variax via VDI to Pod - USB from Pod to computer.

I've gotta say "how " you (and others) hear your guitar sound is a BIG part of how it's perceived, and also I believe this is relevant to the discussion related to the perceived "latency", or disconnectedness we feel from what we're playing. I think that particular discussion is on the Helix forum, and I don't want to get bogged down in relation to that topic here. Personally I hate in ear monitors, (IEMs) - but I can see a use for them. Indispensable for singers when they get used to using them, but for guitarists, they're the worst way to hear, and respond to your guitar. It's imperative for true electric guitar tone (regardless of the type of stage amplification - ie FRFR/SS, or even (my preferred choice), into a stereo valve power amp, into a couple of 2x12s or the like, the guitar NEEDS to interact with it's signal being fed back to it by speakers. It allows for good clean sustain right through to full solo/feedback type scenarios you just can't replicate without that interaction. Low stage volume is good for some band members, not so good for others. It doesn't have to be overly LOUD either - just so everybody in the band can both hear and feel it sufficiently. My suggestion is either move your monitor further away and turn it up a bit (for the others), or if stage size is restricted, another monitor on stage somewhere just to allow the others to "feel" it (or if there are already enough monitors - get the soundguy to add more of your guitar in them).

I know - some people want REAL guitars - I get that.... I just noted that the OP mentioned using an 89F ( I bet IT's pointy and black too), and if he hasn't figured out that much yet, then maybe somebody needs to point it out to him... :rolleyes: Now, if I can just figure out how to get those xmas tree lights to hang just so, without getting in the way of my fretting fingers.....

I just lodged a support ticket at Graph Tech regarding the "bleed" scenario in alternate tunings. For some reason it seems to be really noticable in open G tuning for me. I'm hoping something can be inserted between the piezos (which ARE very close together - I'd even say touching each other), which will remedy the situation. Here's a sample recorded just now with the first half showing two things: 1/ The A (detuned to G) sounds as it should - (G), and the 1st E sounds as it should (D) 2/ Also audible is the bleed through of the D,G, and B strings, when only the A and 1st E strings are at 50% volume and all others at 0%. The second half shows bleedthrough in all strings (though not really audible on 6th E), with all string volumes at 70%, which is my "match" to the original L R Baggs output. Piezo bleed examples.mp3

I wonder why you don't use the Variax's ability to give you a detuned patch and switch between the two - that's assuming you need to change within the one song. I do this in Every Breath You Take - I play it in G instead of G#, and in the bridge, switch to a patch which allows me to play an Eb chord in the open E position. Kaching!

On a lighter note (Bb), I must admit it's been a little like watching a train wreck in progress - or like the sore tooth you can't help but touch constantly to see if it still hurts - ow... ow...ow...(thanks again Bill Hicks). I still peek through my fingers that are covering my eyes from time to time to see how far the debris has been strewn throughout the ballpark. :lol: Now hurry up and get it out there so we can see users' youtube videos of the damn thing in action in all manner of styles! PS thanks for the continuation of the Hicks theme - chirrup chirrup

I may have worded that a little obliquely. I see a huge difference between what you're doing DI (disseminating information, which I should add you're doing a superb job of under the circumstances), and "sneaking out information" - ie marketing. Yep ok, I'll out myself here, and admit it's a pet hate. My mind wanders to a particular Bill Hicks skit here, but I'll try and remain on track. Your team sure as hell opened a can of worms when they decided to go public on this a couple of months ago - that's all I can say. :rolleyes: