silverhead

Yes - reinstall firmware. Save your presets first and choose NOT to keep existing presets when prompted during firmware installation.

I would open a support ticket to work directly with Line 6 on this. http://line6.com/support/tickets/add.html If your guitar was under warranty when you first took it in for repair to the line 6 shop, you are entitled to have the problem resolved. If your local shop can't do it, it is Line 6's obligation to arrange to have it fixed properly or replaced. If it's not under warranty you will have to pay for the proper repairs.

A single studio monitor is fine for your purposes. Make sure you feed it with a summed mono signal from the HD500 output; that means the L/MONO 1/4" output rather than one of the XLR outputs. Also, placing it on the floor will add a 'boomy' sound emphasizing the low end. If you don't like that you can raise it off the floor somehow. Also be aware that you will hear a different sound from the monitor than you do from your headphones. This is normal, and due to the different characteristics of the devices. You may find you want to maintain two sets of differently EQ'd presets; one for headphones and one for the monitor.

Here is a preset I put together some time ago to do what you want. Just customize to suit for electric guitar. http://line6.com/customtone/tone/215659

I presume you have used Line 6 Monkey to ensure that your UX1 driver and Pod Farm software are up to date?

Yes. After installing Pod Farm on each computer you want authorized, connect your UX2, register your gear and update using Monkey. Then run the License Manager on each computer before the first use of Pod Farm.

The looper on the HD50 is a great tool for practicing solos over a backing chord sequence, and is also great for auditioning and tweaking tones to hear the changes in real-time without having to stop playing to tweak. It is not so good as a real-time looper in a performance/live situation.

Can't help with your 48v question, but I can tell you that the M20d is not a good audio interface for general recording purposes using a DAW. The latency is just too high; synchronizing overdubs or additional tracks to the original recording is very troublesome. Switching to Ableton won't help.

I believe that if you zip the setlist file you will be able to attach it to a post in this thread. Then interested readers can download and unzip it.

.... thought you said in your initial post that you didn't want a bitchfest......... Line 6 is not going to answer you. Anything else is pointless speculation. Let the bitching continue...........

You can use it on multiple computers. Run the License Manager to authorize your different computers.

If you still have your X3 you can connect it, run gearbox, and view the tone details. Simultaneously you can run HD500x Edit without theHD500x connected and recreate the tones manually. They won't sound the same, and you'll have to make your own trials in terms of similar sounding amps that the X3 has and the HD doesn't but it's a starting point for tweaking. Then you can save the HD presets as files to your computer and send them to your HD device when you connect it later.

I think Phil and I are interpreting this question differently, based on what you mean by a workbench preset. The pod has no concept of things like guitar body, pickup styles, etc. that you can adjust using workbench. You can't select or modify those things using a pod. All it can do is tell the Variax which bank on the knob to select, and the few other things described above. With the original Variax ALL you can do with a pod is bank/knob selection. With a pod HD and a JTV you can also specify alternate turnings and knob controllers. That's all. The pod is not an alternative to workbench in terms of building Variax models, if that's what you are hoping.

Another thing that needs to be understood here is that the Pod HD (and the Pod X3/xt) does not actually store a JTV (or original Variax) model definition in the Pod preset, and does not 'load' a new model into the Variax. It stores and sends information that identifies which Variax model (already loaded in the Variax) will be activated, and parameters for that model. The Variax responds by activating the identified model and adjusting its parameters as ordered. In the Pod X3/xt a preset stores the location ID of a model in the Variax, determined by the positions of the Model Selector knob and the pickup switch. It also stores the position of the Tone (and, If I recall, the Vol) knob. Any alternate tuning is contained in the Variax model; the X3/xt knows nothing about this. Using Variax Workbench you can customize all 60 models that are stored in the Variax, including the factory models. Each model may or may not contain an alternate tuning as part of its definition. When a Pod X3/xt is used with a JTV, the X3 preset cannot control the newer JTV capabilities such as model-independent alternate tuning and the use of the Vol/Tone knobs as controllers. In the Pod HD series, a preset stores the above information as well as additional Variax model parameter information including features that apply only to the JTV: alternate tuning that can change the tuning stored in the Variax model, and Vol/Tone knob controller information. When the preset is recalled, all of this information is sent to the Variax, which responds by activating the identified model and adjusting its parameters accordingly. When a Pod HD is used with an original Variax it cannot force the original Variax to behave as if it had the new capabilities of the JTV in terms of alternate tunings and knob controllers. In both original Variax Models and in the JTV, the only way the actual models are loaded into the Variax is by using Workbench. No Pod device accepts or stores actual Variax model definitions in its presets. It stores information - model identification and parameter settings - about models already loaded into the Variax, and uses this information to control Variax model selection and parameter settings when the preset is recalled.

Here's a weird thing: just yesterday I was using my JTV-59 connected to my Pod HD Pro, and running POD HD Pro Edit. All firnware is up to date. In HD Pro Edit I was able to see and assign models from two full sets of Model Banks in the Variax - a total of 120 visible models in the 10 named banks and the 2 Custom banks of each set. One set had the u- prefix. The other set had no prefix; I assume these referred to the factory installed models. I did not pay particular attention to it at the time, other than to note it, and I did not do any testing to see if I actually had access to a specific factory installed model that I had since overwritten, but the potential certainly seemed to be there. As I said, I wasn't paying much attention. It is possible that, although I had my JTV connected, in HD Edit perhaps I had an older Variax guitar selected in the HD Edit panel as the source instrument. This, in turn, might have opened up the two-sets of models possibility. Is anyone able to reproduce this?

Yes, the HD500 can do anything on the older Variax models that the X3 can do.

None. All new features take advantage of the new JTV platform/technology (e.g. model-independent alternate tunings, Vol/Tone knobs as controllers). No feature additions or associated firmware updates were made to the original Variax, and hence the new features cannot be exploited by the HD500.

Line 6 are the only ones who can give you a definitive answer (and what's the point of a non-definitive opinion) - and as you point out they are not forthcoming about it. That's not going to change just because you've asked. This thread is pointless, other than to initiate the bitchfest you say you don't want.

You access the factory models in the Pod Edit program (the mixer panel). They are saved with the preset and recalled in the Variax when the preset is selected.

My understanding is that the mixer on the L3t only affects the channel inputs on the L3t - the inputs built in to the bottom of the mixer panel itself. The L3t mixer does not affect the sound coming from the M20d mixer over L6 Link, nor the rear panel inputs on the L3t.

I would try restarting the Mac. if you haven't already.

Don't use your old X3 power adapter; the Pod HD uses DC not AC. You could cause damage to the Pod HD. Otherwise, it seems you have a potential diagnosis. Continue to test that and let us know if the problem persists without using the NosePedal.

I know what you're trying to do, and I appreciate your disdain. But the HD Pro is designed to use an external foot controller rather than just an expression pedal. It gives the user full control over all functions of the HD Pro: recalling patches, operating the looper, turning FX on/off, .... almost anything you can do on the HD Pro itself. That simply can't be done with a standard 1/4" jack/connection. I agree that it would be nice if the HD Pro had a connection for a simple external expression pedal. But it doesn't. And the idea of an adapter is just not feasible because the features and capabilities of the FBV connection are way beyond a simple expression pedal. An expression pedal like the FV-500 is not nearly the same animal as the FBV foot controller. The reason the FBV is proprietary is that it controls the full functionality of the HD Pro; it can't be an industry standard until/unless Line 6 controls the majority of market share in this space and the rest of the industry accepts its technology as the industry standard. I think Bill Gates was able to do that with DOS, at least until that upstart Apple came along............ ;)

If you can't hear anything wrong it's possible that the light itself is simply malfunctioning. I'm no audio engineer, but I think clipping may be evident in the recorded wave pattern of the audio. Try recording a clip and doing some research on whether/how clipping appears in a wave pattern. (Or maybe someone else can chime in here?)

As you note, there is no 1/4" jack for an expression pedal on the HD Pro. I don't think the issue is TS vs. TRS. I think you need to use a compatible Line 6 pedal with the RJ-45 FBV connection; I'm not aware of any way you can use your FV-500.