davidb7170

Respectfully, I do not believe it is exclusively one or the other, mags or models -- as there are numerous threads on this forum that discuss the various ways to set up parallel path patches to make use of models on one path and the mags on the other at the same time. Plus in the HD Worbench software there is a specific setting for the ability to mix mag level with the model level, so no I don't think it's one or the other exclusively. One of the first questions raised when someone is complaining about the dissonances heard when in an alt tuning is first - is the amplified signal louder than what is heard acoustically from the JTV, then is the mag/model mix on it's normal mag = 0 setting in WB. Some discussions were also folks wondering how to effectively use alt tunings to play harmonic offset models against the mag signals..... On the HD500(X) input parameter, we have VARIAX, MAGS, VARIAX+MAGS, etc. so we can send them down different routings when using the VDI.... The WB mix parameter would apply to both the VDI and the 1/4" route that is an analogue combination signal path. The VDI has 2 separate digital signal paths, should you choose to use them both. Dave

Hate to wade in here, but I still have a Roland GK2 Midi Pickup and the Roland GI10 midi interface. They are 2 totally different technologies. In midi, the "note on" signal is the "trigger" -- it only detects that a note is "on", and the velocity or volume of the attack. In keyboards where midi was developed, the key was the note on trigger, and the striking velocity was, well the velocity of the note. Which key was hit was the note (or frequency) value, and when you released it, the note off midi value was sent. the midi module or synthesizer takes it from there and generates the actual audio signal. Electronic drums use the trigger and velocity only, and you route each drum trigger to the drum module, each assigned to a particular drum sound and cymbals etc. Even in my Roland SC-55 and SC-88 modules, midi channel 10 is the default drum channel. Each note value is a different drum or percussion sound - pretty ingenious. The way guitar synths and midi pickups work is they are hex - or 6 individual pickups that sense (in theory) only their string -- which is why you have many conductor pin jacks. It is actually taking the audio signal -- and it could work if piezos were used as well, again - some guitars with piezos have the many pin cables for a synth module. The interface has to decide for each string that there is a note present and its relative strength to generate a note on and velocity value, and also has to analyze the frequency to decide what note value to put out, and then decide when the note stops. It generates midi data which the synth module then puts out an audio signal for a trumpet or piano, or guitar.... All this has to happen in as near to real time as the processing can manage. In my experience with it, it tended to lag, as there is a lot going on before it ever gets to the audio output. They get fooled easily by harmonics, overtones, and string noise that is the bread and butter of a real guitar. I've heard some really well done midi or synth guitar, but it takes a lot of effort and quite a change in technique. The notes you hear are not the guitar's actual signal, but the module's voices that were triggered by the guitar's generated midi signals -- Note On, Velocity, Note Value, Note Off. With mine I was always fighting spurious notes. I did a few midi sequences with it, but never took it out live. I have about 3 midi guitar examples on my midi site www.davidbmidi.com if your interested -- they're in the country section. Most my sequences are Beatles, Billy Joel, Steely Dan etc... The variax is a DSP -- digital signal processor - it takes the actual vibrations of the strings and modifies them to make them sound like different guitars, but not like a drum, or a piano. The 6 piezos do put out 6 individual signals and each is processed within the guitar then combined into a total signal and send out the jack analog in the 1/4" output, and digitally down the VDI cable. The 6 individual string signals can be processed to increase or decrease their frequency by set amounts, which is why they can achieve the alternate tuning, and by differing amounts on each string to get open tunings and such. The piezos grab the signal at it's most basic, but does capture a bit of the body of the guitars -- my 59 and 69S models are damned close to each other, but not identical on the same patch, IMO. Anyway, the processing in the internals of the guitar itself combine the total signal. To try to break that out would be possible, but it would take a total redesign of the whole DSP of the guitars. I don't think that's very likely. It'd be easier to add a midi hex pickup an run it into a guitar synth, like those who have done it already. Variax users like us are a fairly small subset of guitar players, and those who use guitar synths are an even smaller subset of guitar players, so Variax players who also do synth guitars is a smaller still subset of a small subset. I'm kinda doubting there's a huge market out there for it, so I'm doubting they'll tear apart a perfectly good design and do redesign for a very very small market segment... My 2 cents... Dave

Sweet! Nice job! Were you also looking for 500 jack assemblies? Someone was.... I found the following at Full Compass - you probably have too, but just in case: http://www.fullcompass.com/prod/218353-Line-6-50-04-0181-4 "Jack plate assembly for Line 6 Variax Bass. Also fits the 300, 600, and 700 guitar models. Includes 1/4" and RJ45 jacks." -- has the hinged cover, and oddly doesn't include the 500... I'm surprised they would make a difference for just this one model... The body contours were that the plate had to fit to were the same for all the 300 - 700 line. You can see the Warmoth modified the edge to make the plate fit -- they were for the 500/700 guts... http://www.fullcompass.com/prod/238699-Line-6-30-27-0052 "Jack plate for Line 6 Variax 500 guitars." -- the plate only, if your jack plate is buggered, you could transfer the jack guts to a new one -- no cover... Dave

Lee -- I have a 300 I bought in 2005, and the main thing I see that's different (other than body woods - mine's basswood) between my 300 and your 500 is the placement of the knobs. Your 500's are mounted on the body, like the 700's. My 300 has the knobs mounted on the face plate, same as the 600's. This was to unitize the manufacturing, so they could mostly assemble the face plate as a whole and drop it into the routed cavity without having to mount the volume, tone, and model selection pots and knobs and connect to the pcb's. To me it looked like a simplified manufacturing process, nothing more, but could cause issues with compatibility between models. The 300 & 600 had what was called the "coffin" inside to shield the electronic guts. Don't know if the 500 & 600's had this, but in the days when people were doing Warmoth body replacements -- Warmoth made bodies for Variaxes, and the offerings were different due to the "coffin". For 500's & 600's, they offered a Tele style and a Strat style. For the 300 (don't recall if for the 600) only the Strat style replacement bodies. I was THIS close to doing a Warmoth body and neck transplant (even thought it was not too economical), then L6 announced the JTV line, so I backed away. I notice Warmoth no longer offers the Variax compatible bodies.... I bought my 59 first, then a 69S about a year and a half later. I don't know what other differences between the 300 pcb's inside the coffin are compared to the 500... Just an observation. Dave

I had the same thing happen with my 59 the first summer (2011) I had it -- they had a problem with their first subcontractor casting & plating the 59 bridge. My bridge started corroding, and that affected the case ground contact between the low E piezo on mine, where you lay your sweaty hand. I had several conversations with Rich Renken at the time. He ended up sending me a new bridge. I could tell they changed their parts vendor, as the casting marks were different. It has remained as bright and non-corroded since then -- 4 years out now. I've never had any piezo issues with my 69S I purchased in Oct 2012. One design problem I see with using the case of the piezo for the ground path is the contact issues with the bridge. The printed circuit board (PCB) on the Variax guitars all have 2 contact pads - hot & ground, but the piezos they use have a hot lead and case ground. My 300 has the B string lose contact in humid environs and fade away. It comes back when I have it back in my air-conditioned house. One forum member soldered wire leads to the piezo cases and soldered those to the pcb ground pads. I would be cautious as you could fry a piezo if you us too hot a soldering iron -- it takes some skill to keep the temps down and still get solder to bond properly. Other piezo mfr's units have 2 leads rather than a single and relying on the case ground. L6 would pretty much nip this problem in the bud if they would spec their piezos with 2 leads and make an explicit soldered ground path... This problem could show up again for you, but at least you know the deal now, and how to rejuvenate the dead string, which is a good thing. There are other threads here on the forums on this. You may want to read up on others' experiences. Dave

69 or 69S Model Knob - http://www.fullcompass.com/prod/259570-Line-6-50-03-0074-1 I bought one as a spare. Dave

Just more proof we are all different. I have always been in the practice of showing/knowing my file extensions. I always back up my data. I always note in my storage which set of settings & patches are currently in my 500 & 500X and my JTV 59 & 69S. It keeps me straight in what's up with what. My experience with drag & plop is that I have dropped files in the wrong place and wiped out what I didn't mean to that was there before... My preference is to explicitly know what I'm placing where. It's habit I have developed over the years - not just with this software. It's MY standard operating procedure - not everybody's.... There is no one BEST way for anything in my opinion, only what's best for yourself. Discussions of what's the best guitar, best pickup, best amp, best toothpaste, WHATEVER -- all depend on the particular person, and are all moot. They are really "what's YOUR favorite whatever and why" discussions, not what's the best. And that's cool -- love to hear others' opinions, just not put forth as the only right answer. You pick what works for you. Dave

Or copy the file & change the file extension. I've also done this with whole set lists between my 500X and 500 backup unit. I've only had it choke once on a 500X to 500 move, because I had one patch with just a wee too much DSP for the 500... Dave

Ummm... something sounds wrong here... If you fixed the broken USB port on your HD500, and you now conclude you need to replace the USB controller chip, the unit should not still be working as a soundcard when connected to your laptop, as this happens as a digital communication between your 500 and your laptop... This tells me they are in fact communicating. Before you go to the expense and trouble of a controller chip please examine the usual suspects in the USB problems (discussed often on these forums). Some times has to do with pc drivers, etc., etc. I'd recommend you rule those typical issues out way before going the controller chip replacement route.... My 2 cents.... Dave

I'm likely to get a Helix, and am expecting to have to re-construct my favorite patches, but in reality, I'd think it would be theoretically possible to import patches. The patches are nothing more than spec's or instructions for the HD500(X) to put together this amp and that speaker with this DEP setting and that mike, and that FX block with these settings in these block positions... The Helix has so many more possibilities that if you make use of them, there'd be no way to export back to a 500(X). This is somewhat analogous to when the 500X came out -- the saved 500 patches themselves were not loadable from the PC directly to the 500X, but it was only the file extension. If you copy the patch file and rename it with the new file extension, or drag and drop, the file works in the 500X. With the expanded DSP of the 500X though, if you loaded a patch up close to it's DSP limit, if you went back to the 500 with the patch from the 500X, it would error out, as it would not have the DSP to do the deal.... I have a 500X and a backup 500 -- I keep them in sync fairly regularly -- back & forth with set lists and patches, etc. I don't make use of dual amp patches, so rarely have I had issues with files from the 500X not working in the 500 -- once, I think, I had too many FX, or DSP heavy FX and the 500 choked on it. I think I went to a less DSP intensive reverb -- it was no biggie, as I recall. I would expect the Helix to be capable of doing what a 500(X) would set up to do, and much more. If they changed the internal file structure of the patch backup to be incompatible (more than just a file extension), then not likely unless someone would create some translator app. Now -- I'm betting all of this is moot, as the Helix "HX" amps & FX were all modeled from the ground up. Even if they could receive the patch setup instructions, they would likely not sound the same at all, so you'd end up tweaking anyway... Dave

One such company has been discussed many times early on when the JTV's first came out. A lot of guitar players like to customize their axes for many reasons. None of your applied decorations will harm your guitar or get anybody in trouble. This company (if it's the same as was discussed years ago) also makes more traditional fret board markers -- several folks showed the 59's with the traditional trapezoid markers from this company -- they looked good.. I haven't gone that direction yet, but the dot markers don't bug me much. The one I'm talking about is http://www.inlaystickers.com/ -- their may be others, but I haven't bumped into any.... Other ways to customize is to swap necks, or take the guitar apart and have a custom paint job done. This is pretty mild by those standards -- plus if you decide you want something else with these, just peel 'em off and do something else.... Dave

Narrow Nut Syndrome - I hate when that happens.... :(

The HD 300 & 400 models do not have the VDI - Variax Digital Interface, so do not integrate directly with the JTV's or other Variax's. You can use them, of course, but like any other guitar with a 1/4" plug, and the pedal will not control the guitar. The units that have the VDI are the old POD XTLive & XT Pro, POD X3Live & X3 Pro, the HD Pro & 500 line -- HD 500, HD 500X, Firehawk, and the newest on the horizon Helix. NONE of the desktop bean style PODs had VDI, only the floor models and rack models (Pro's). Don't know where you would have gotten the impression that the HD400 has VDI, but a good resource for seeing what's what with the different models is Line6's manuals section in the support area of this website: http://line6.com/support/manuals/ http://line6.com/support/manuals/podhd400 Here's the POD HD400 Quick Start Guide: http://line6.com/data/6/0a060b316ac34f05938560c41/application/pdf/POD%20HD400%20Quick%20Start%20Guide%20-%20English%20(%20Rev%20C%20).pdf The next to the last page shows the front of the unit where the connections are made -- there is no VDI connector for the Variax's & JTV's on that unit. Dave

Quick note -- I had an POD X3Live that acted up in sunlight -- heat didn't seem to bother it. The bright sunlight would cause me issues with the pedal -- I always assign it to volume... Anyway the pedal uses an optical sensor, and the foam rubber sleeve that shades it under the pedal apparently was not right or got worn, but the effect on mine was that I could not roll back to zero volume at the heel. I took to shading it from the sun, and if I couldn't, I cut a piece of cardboard and placed it in front of the unit to shade it. It was fine at night gigs, but a PITA on outside bright sunlit days.... I could tell it was light-related, because if when it was happening, I would have my foot off the pedal and shade the pedal opening with my foot, the volume would change.... Fast forward -- I've had both the 500 and now the 500X -- they also use optical sensor expression pedals -- I continue to always use it as a volume pedal, but have not had the sunlight issue like I had with my X3L, so either they did the light shielding better, or the shading has not worn to a point of being a problem yet. As far as heat, I've been using the 500 or 500X since 2011, and have played some hot ones in the summer with no issues so far. I am in Iowa with typically hot 90F+ & humid summers, but not the 110F days like say, the southwest has.... Don't know what kind of heat you're experiencing. I also do not like playing in hot direct sunlight and always seek shade on hot daylight gigs, not because of the gear as much as for me.... With sweating while playing anyway, any relief in hot conditions is something you need to avoid dehydration everyone should keep in mind... If none of the above is similar to your situation -- it is conceivable that a component could react badly to hot temperatures, but I've not had that happen. It could be an indicator of a part going out of spec due to heat, and may need repair or replacement. The trouble is tracking it down.... The unit being black will absorb more heat and definitely be hotter than the ambient temperature if it has the sunshine beating down on it -- like wearing a black shirt on a hot sunny day is not a good thing to do... Just some thoughts.... Dave

Thanks Charlie. The math works out... I'd bet the 6 AA are all in series at 1.5v x 6 Batteries = 9 volts. In series, the total capacity is still 2100mAH for the single 9 volt pack. 2100 mAH/500 mA = 4.2 Hours theoretical, and with minor inefficiency or slightly degraded capacity due to age, 3 to 4 hours seems reasonable... To gain more capacity, the batteries would need to be in parallel, but would not provide the needed voltage level to run the Variax... In series, the total capacity is limited by the weakest link in the chain... When one is discharged, the voltage drops to an unusable level... Dave

Just a quick tech note -- mAH ratings are capacity ratings -- so many milli-amp hours. So a 2500 mAH battery will put out 2500 milliamps for an hour before it's totally discharged. The draw of the equipment it's powering defines the draw on the battery, so if a device draws only 2.5 milli-amps, the 2500 mAH battery would power it for 100 hours. 1000 mA = 1 Amp, so a device drawing 1 Amp would discharge the 2500 mAH battery in 2.5 Hours. Most 12 volt car batteries are rated like 600 Amp Hours for cranking the car to start it. Math is fun, and us engineers are geeks.... ;) Dave

Kinda covered that ground -- obviously there are those who don't care for the 69 necks and change to something else. But there are others like me who don't have a particular problem with them. There were a lot of comments wishing for the maple neck/fretboard when the black 69S was issued as the only one with that option. This is a chance for those who want the maple fret board to get it on theirs. I've got 2 Fenders with maple/maple necks and love 'em. They both have the bigger 70's headstock that I don't care for as much as the smaller 60's and now current headstock shape. Many don't like the 69/89 headstock shape -- doesn't bother me. Each to their own... Would be interesting to find out how many 69 owners as a percentage of the total have hated the neck enough to switch it out... Have not really heard of 89 owners changing their necks out for something else -- wonder if there is much of that. Anyway this at least offers those who want to, a not horrifically expensive option to get what they wanted.... They know the other options as well, I'm sure. Dave

The HD500 also remembers the unsaved altered patch if you turn it off then on again later (without making a patch selection change). Pretty much comes back in the state it was turned of in... This helps if I have to leave the editing session then come back later to pick up the process. I mostly edit my 500X on the unit itself. Dave

You won't get away from the Line 6 company line until they release it for purchase and it gets into the users hands... Even when released to reviewers prior to general release, do you think they'd give it to a L6 hater for review? Kinda doubt it.... The real test is the users who actually buy the thing and run it in the real world, so unfortunately there has to be someone willing to buy it right away on faith/hope that it is what it's advertised/marketed to be, then report their true experience. No way around it. Dave

I will, just not sure how soon -- gonna let it cook for a while. I have the 500X, and a 500 for its backup, and they have served me quite well. I gig for 2 main reasons -- 1) because I love it, and 2) it supports my GAS.... Been a weekender for over 40 years, and it's allowed me to have very decent equipment. I probably won't be able to wait long before I get the Helix, just want it to get into players' hands and get over the initial un-expected whoops' moments that all new releases seem to have. I got my JTV-59 early -- ordered it in Oct 2010, got it May 2011, sent it back right away as it had the 3-way switch soldering problem that was the hold-up from switch replacements on that model initially... The wait from October to May was excruciating, then the switch SNAFU was again agonizing. The guitar has been a solid performer, so much so that I got the 69S in 2012 when it first came out as a backup (no problems with that one - TG). I like pretty much everything I've been able to find out about the Helix, and just hope it lives up to the expectations. I'm definitely in the floor unit camp, as floor space is taken up with either it or the controller pedal for the rack version. I run a very downsize rig -- HD500X into a Quilter Tone Block 200 (or Crown XLS1000) into a Yorkville PA/Monitor on a stand. I take my 59 and 69S - the 69S is my main guitar with the 59 on the stand for broken string contingency. I get that in the hatchback of my Honda CRV, with the spare HD500 and Crown Amp in there. 3 trips from the car and I'm in. Bada-bing, bada-boom. Dave

I was just poking around at www.fullcompass.com and saw they have the maple neck for the JTV-69 (or 69S) available for order - http://www.fullcompass.com/product/444864.html I know a lot of you have swapped to other necks of your liking -- Mighty Mites, Warmoth, etc., because you just can't stand the 69 neck. I really don't have a problem with my 69S's neck, and I have big hands... I haven't had the string falling off the neck issues either. My Gold 69S has the rosewood fingerboard, and I like it -- the dark fingerboard against the gold of the guitar body is pleasing, but damn.... I have maple neck/fingerboard on my 1973 Tele Deluxe and my late 70's Strat -- I like both of those.... Just thought I'd throw it out there. Haven't seen it brought up on the forum, so far... I poke around at that site from time to time because what they have available changes from time to time. Dave

Humbucker covers were actually discussed much in the first year or so of the JTV's, though mostly about the 59. Matter of taste, mostly. Seems someone then found a place to get HB covers, but standard Gibson ones don't fit or the pole spacing is different. I have the 59 and the 69S (SSS - not HSS configuration). The open coils of the 59 never bugged me. I'm not a fan of the HSS superstrat config on any, whether JTV or other brands.... Not to my taste. Unfortunately unless some knows of a link to the old forum for viewing, those posts and discussions are no longer available -- anybody? Honestly, I don't much recall discussion on the 69 open coil HB looks or the color mismatch between the 69 HB and its SC's... Some folks' solution (on the 59) was to replace the HB's with ones of their liking. I'm sure this would also be an option for the 69. I replaced the 3 SC's on my 69S with noiseless DiMarzio SC's. Yup - you could do black covers on your SC's -- those aren't expensive, but don't know if standard Fender covers will fit, though I don't see why they wouldn't. You can also get replacement face plates to get it to your liking -- there have been different threads on that here in the forums. I got a white pearloid face plate for my 69S at www.fullcompass.com -- One thing about Full Compass -- they are not speedy with filling orders - the times I ordered from them, they didn't ship out for about a month. I think it's because they are a Warranty repair center for Line 6, so they often have to wait for L6 to ship to them before they can send it on to the final customer... The faceplates I just scoped out for the 69 HSS config: White Pearloid: http://www.fullcompass.com/product/474295.html White: http://www.fullcompass.com/product/476461.html Black: http://www.fullcompass.com/product/456850.html Dave

It used to be normal... My 300 does it, and my 59 (2010) & 69S (2012) did it initially, but with firmware updates (later couple - can't remember which one exactly) that mid-range boost before roll off went away, and it now acts like I would expect it to. Check which firmware you have -- I'm guessing not the latest.... Even though you purchased it in 2014/2015 -- check your SN -- mfg date is in there.... Nobody really mentioned it was fixed, that I recall.... As I also recall forum discussions back when the JTV's came out, it was a result of first generation modeling first used in the JTV's transferred up from the 300/500/600/700 series. Dave

Radatats -- I wouldn't be embarrassed -- the Tone matching you were talking about is from a select group of pre-made tones defined in the metadata of the sound files they used for the examples, as I understand it on the Firehawk and Amplifi - based units. I don't have that, but the concept is a canned response, seems to me as limited as just getting tones from L6's customtones -- too many variables for them to sound good on each person's equipment. I've been disappointed with the vast majority of my attempts to find useable patches for my equipment. I'm sure they sound fine to the originator.... The other mfrs' methods are totally attacking the problem from another approach as DI pointed out.... Apples & Oranges.... Dave

You'd need to assign a footswitch on the remote unit. I do it on my 500X, as well, as I always use my 500X expression pedal to ride volume. If I set an external pedal up as a wah, I then set a 500X FX footswitch as the on/off toggle. The thing I don't like about using the onboard pedal as a wah with the toe switch is you go up to 100% volume to toggle the toe switch, so are blasting out at that point.... I have also tried using the pedal as volume/wah with an FX FS to toggle between volume & wah, but the volume always goes to 100%.... I'm sure if you use your guitar to ride volume and only use the pedal for wah or some other parameter, you could get away with one external expression pedal and the remote, but my way, I'd need 2 external expression pedals. I'm definitely more in favor of the Helix floor unit than the rack mounted version with remote controller pedals. Same as my 500X. They eat up about the same floor real-estate have less functionality as far as on board expression pedal. The rack cost the same, but for the same functionality, you need 1 or 2 external expression pedals. I was surprised the remote didn't have that on it for the $500 price tag. The HD Pro (X) remote has it, I believe, but again you pay $100 more for the Pro X and have to add the pedal to it ($$). That's my take on it. YMMV.... Dave