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I run a HD500x and a L3t I record with it and it is my main amp... I have Four Electrics I play my ESP and my new Epiphone Silverburst Custom Les Paul mainly... However I have a cool Epiphone ES339 Ultra with Acoustic pickups and a USB port and a G&L Asat Bluesboy Semi hollow which is cool but collecting dust... The local guitar center has a Sunburst JTV69 with the humbucker and a Cherry burst 89.... After dealing with them and for a while they for some reason lowered the price on them and they are willing to go STRAIGHT ACROSS for the ES339 and the G&L for either one of the Variax... What do you think?

I have an "open box" JTV-69 on the way, but it doesn't include the USB interface. Does anyone know if this version work with it? http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Workbench

Personally, I have a Variax 59 JT , and when plugged it in HD500 by RJ45 cable could use it without the drums and playing normal, now of nothing if euconectar it only by cable RJ45 , she just connects Variax more no sound no to work must connect another cable p10 to output the sound , and yet she is having a hiss , something that previously had not when he called simulations , someone knows what might have happened? thank you

When I tweak a Helix preset, it automatically loads the current Variax model when I save the preset. This did not happen with the HD500. The Variax model is not saved with the Helix preset Am I doing something wrong, or can this not be changed? When I want to use several different variax guitar models with a Helix amp model, I don't want the Helix to save the currently loaded one.

For those who, like me, want to memorized all the possible Variax HD models/presets available. Enjoy! http://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=16495.0

Hey guys...so I now have MY dream rig (at least for now). Helix, Variax JTV and decent set of studio monitors. I would like some suggestions for cool ideas to integrate Helix with Variax. question, -when using Variax with Helix: a)should I be using both cables (VDI and 1/4")? and sending both inputs simultaneously to my effects loop? b)should I be able to VDI to my Helix and my Helix to my computer to recognize the Variax (I think that works for POD) Please shoot me your Helix/Variax integration ideas! Thanks!

In the November issue of Premier Guitar there is an article about Tone and Volume Pots and Capacitors and the effects of modifying them; essential information for anybody wanting to get into tweaking their Variax using Workbench: http://digital.premierguitar.com/premier-guitar-november-2015/0957504001444836288/p135

Variable patch change with vdi does not seem to work, i.e. changing patches on Helix has no effect on Variable patch. I set the patch I want but my JTV doesn't change. Perhaps I am doing something wrong. I saw some traffic about this being part of the update but could be wrong. Any feedback would be appreciated.

so i just bought a new variax standard to use with my pod hd500. everything seems to be working fine other than i can't save any guitar models to the presets on the pod. for example, if i wanted to change from a lester on one patch then switch to acoustic on another. the tunings change, the knobs can be assigned to certain effects, but for some reason, i can't change the guitar models. any idea why this might be? thanks!

I have a HD500x. Just brought home a Variax Acoustic 700 Natural. It appears you cannot use workbench with this combination. Workbench version 1.75 - No support for HD500X It doesn't look like anyone cares about fixing this because they've brought out the wonderful: Workbench HD - No Support for Variax Acoustic Am I missing something or is this combo just not gonna work. It seems Workbench 1.75 came out 3 years ago so I'm guessing it's safe to assume there's no upgrade in the works. Seems a waste...love Line 6 but can't keep up with buying the very latest of each piece of gear just to be sure they're compatible. Fortunately haven't had to pay for this Variax Acoustic yet and not likely I will keep it as I haven't really managed to find the right sound yet and was really hoping the workbench might help me with that.

I discovered something quite disturbing this week. In order to put stomp box pedals in front of the HD500, I was testing my Variax JT69US and HD500 by plugging in both the VDI and 1/4" cables to the guitar and setting the HD500 to accept only the GUITAR input. The result was an electronic sounding noise bed so loud, it was unbearable. This happened with both the Mags and Variax PUs. Unplugging the VDI connection and operating on just the battery works fine with no noise. There's obviously electrical interference causing this issue. Has anyone else experienced this or can reproduce it on their rig? Any Line 6 techs have an explanation and/or fix for it?

My JTV-69 has developed a serious noise issue when playing with mags. I was getting a lot of noise with mags and it seemed to vary depending on where my hands were, where I had the guitar positioned, like it was totally intermittent. Last night I finally isolated the problem. It only happens if any part of my picking hand touches the humbucker pickup trim ring. No issues touching anything else, bridge, knobs, trem, all good. But while I am playing, if my pinkie resting on the pickguard touches the trim ring or my palm on the other side of the strings, I get a loud hum with static. This only happens when I turn off the modeling. Modeling on, no noise ever. Modeling off, it happens every time I touch the trim ring. I am connected by VDI to my HD500, with a fully charged battery. Any suggestions on where to begin with this?

Just got done refinishing one of my 500s with nitrocellulose purchased from Guitar Re-Ranch. This is Fender "sea foam green". The pick guard is from Chandler. Not finished yet. Still need to c-sink the pick guard screws but you get the drift. Prepping another body now that is going to be TV Yellow with the original black pearl pick guard.

Hey guys, New member here from Canada. Not sure if this is the right place to post this but a few days ago I bought a used Variax JTV-69 but the guitar did not come with the USB workbench interface. No big deal I thought to myself as I assumed the interface would be around the 20$ mark. Called today a Canadian Line6 dealer and the Workbench interface is a lot more :( This is to much money for me as funds are currently a bit tight and I want to edit the parameters on my Variax JTV but I can't :/ I don't have any POD either... I was wondering if there is a forum member who already uses his Variax through his POD willing to donate or sell his (now unused) Workbench interface on a fair price. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

I love being able to control HD500 parameters with my Variax tone and volume knob and look forward to doing it with Helix too. What I really want is to be able to control the Variax tone, volume and even tunings, models and pickups with the POD or Helix either with the expression pedal or with a foot switch. Using the exp pedal to control guitar volume has a totally different effect than changing amp volume or drive but for me its a PITA to get it consistently right. And being able to hit a FS to change tuning and guitar model or pickup would be amazing! http://line6.ideasca...508?submitted=1 Vote it up!

Hi, I want to use my variax tone knob to control various settings from the HD500x, unfortunately the "tone lock" (which is supposed to keep the tone set to a fixed level at all times) "resets" when switching pickups on the variax: in HD500x edit, set the "Local control" to "tone lock" Set the tone knob to control (for example) the chorus mix Lower tone knob to 0% on the variax -> no change in tone, but chorus mix drops, as expected... so far so good :) Now... Change the pickup (using the selector) on the variax... sounds as if the "real" tone control has been rolled down to 0! I expect the guitar's tone (in "tone lock" mode) to remain the same regardless of what I do to the tone knob. BTW, the same problem happens in "Vol + Tone lock" mode. My setup: POD HD 500X Flash Memory v1.32 Variax JTV-89F firmware v2.10 Would be great if this was fixed in the upcoming v2.6 :)

Cool Variax... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgZN8nD6Frw

I tried to set up my JTV TMOD-5 (neck pickup) model to be similar to my Fender 60's Player Tele neck pickup. I had my JTV connected to my HD500 with VDI and my Tele connected via 1/4" Guitar In. The HD500 connected to my PC via USB and Windows HD running. I had L mono out going to a mixing desk connected to a reference amp connected to Tannoy Reveal monitors. I just wanted to get the model strings balanced and sounding similar to the real thing - I didn't think I could get them to sound identical, just similar. So I was just using the same CLEAN sounding amp model patch in the HD500 for the comparison. Both guitars had Volume and Tone controls on Max. First off, I was surprised by how different they both sounded - the Fender Tele with rich warm notes on the 3 low strings and treble attack on the high strings but the JTV model just had high treble attack across all strings. So I looked at the GUITAR-IN-Z setting and it was set to AUTO. So I tried removing the fx blocks before the amp in the patch and when I was left just with the amp, I was getting a brighter sound but still nowhere near as bright as the JTV model. So I tried manually setting the GUITAR-IN-Z value and even with it on the highest level of 3.5M the Fender Tele did not sound quite as bright as the JTV model. It was getting closer but still far enough apart to easily be able to tell the difference. Nothing more I could do to adjust the Fender Tele tone, so I looked at options for the JTV model, and the only things available in Workbench HD are the Volume pot resistance value and the Tone pot resistance and knob position. As I always have my Tone on max, the Tone pot value was not going to be of any use, unless I decided to save a lower Tone knob position with the model. This prompted me to ask "why can't I set the input impedance for the Variax VDI just like I can with the Guitar In?". Surely that would be the best option? But it's not available. So the next question "why is it not available?". My testing with the GUITAR-IN-Z showed that those changes made a big difference to the tonal input of the guitar. Surely we should be able to do the same with the JTV? Or if not, then surely the JTV models should be very similar to the equivalent standard guitar models without any need to tweak - but they are not - they are much brighter and full of high end - well the Tele Neck pickup model certainly is. So - I could go into Workbench and spend some time experimenting with the different volume pot values to see if I could match the tonal qualities of the model with the real thing, or I could experiment with the tone pot values and setting of the knob position to achieve a similar tonal quality. But these options seem way over the top and time consuming and unnecessary when the Variax models should have the input impedance modelled in some way already or at the very lest they should respond like the AUTO setting does for Guitar In and match chosen fx or amp, but they don't. They don't appear to have any modelled tonal attenuation due to "lead length" or "Input impedance" - they seem to be constant with no high end attenuation occurring as with a real guitar/pickup/lead combination. Does anyone know why the VDI implementation does not allow for any impedance matching like Guitar-In-z ? Does anyone have any suggested values for volume and/or tone pots that I could try in Workbench HD to make the JTV Tmod-5 model behave tonally like a real Fender Tele neck pick up in terms of attenuated high end? Thanks in advance.

I've been using a POD HD500X and Variax through a PA for about 6 months. Yesterday I bought a DT25 combo and my mind was blown by the possibilities. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole thing. My rig is at the rehearsal room so I can't test this. Can someone tell me if the following is possible or if there is a workaround. I have the POD connected to the DT25 via L6 LINK. I have the Variax plugged into the POD via VDI. When I was playing with acoustic patches they sounded like crap going through the DT25. Acoustic guitars (even models) never sound good through a guitar amp. Can I specify for the Acoustic patches, that the output is the XLR (to the FOH mixer) and for the guitar patches, the output is the DT25? Is the output setting "GLOBAL" or is it by patch? I thank you in advance for your help. Nick Paonessa

I have my HD500 set to input 1 Variax, input 2 same and yet when I turn off the modeling in my JTV I can still hear the mags. Is this normal? Shouldn't the mags only be heard if I select Variax Mags in the POD? How does it work for anyone else with a JTV/HD500? Does it matter if the battery is installed or not? I just feel like there is a faint ghost note coming through and I think it is the mags bleeding through. PS - all firmware is up to date and I am connected only using the VDI cable.

I say almost pristine because for a short while my left-handed (and upside down) guitar playing dad was borrowing it and there is a second strap pin on the lower horn. Of course it can be removed but tbh the pin looks nicer than the hole. No paintwork was cracked in the drilling of the second hole so you could quite easily cover it up, paint over it, or just leave it. Otherwise the guitar is in excellent condition. I have the original gig bag (although it was never gigged) and all cables, including the Variax interface and a battery. I also took the liberty of surrounding the pickup mounting springs with foam so it will no longer chime like a bell if you attempt to play choppy/staccato rhythms! I'm looking for £480 but I will take sensible offers. Collection would be preferable, but courier is an option (for a fee), or even driving to meet halfway. I like to drive. Hit me up if you're interested. I can supply eBay feedback/references if necessary!

hi I have a Variax 500 and it worked well with XPS-AB until now: XLR thru PA - 1/4" trhu a Marshall Amp. Recently, if I switch XLR to PA, it works well and the 1/4" signal is mute; but when I switch to 1/4" the sound thru the amp is good, but at the same time in the XLR signal (that goes thru the PA) there is a noise and not mute. Help! Frank

Hi. I updated my POD HD500 and JTV-59 recently to the new firmwares. Now when I turn it on with the Variax plugged in it just constantly reboots - doesn't get far enough to make a sound. As soon as I unplug the Variax (VDI connected), it starts and I can plug the guitar back in and it works. Anyone else in this boat? I haven't tried reflashing anything but will soon I guess.

I am running a JTV-59 through a Yamaha THR 10C into an iMac via USB or just jamming with headphones plugged into the THR. The magnetic pickups sound great with the amp sims built into the THR. In fact, I'd say the tube amp sims in the THR are some of the best hardware or software (external device or computer plugins) I have come across so far. Granted, I don't have an Ax FX or Kemper Profiler. But when I switch over to the Variax models with the same amp sims (both THR and Guitar Rig), it just doesn't sound that great. The mags sound much better. Then I finally got around to turning the THR to the "FLAT" setting where no amp sim is applied to the signal. I only had a light hall reverb on. When I started going through the models I was blown away! Especially by the SEMI, JAZZBOX, and ROCKABILLY models. To me they sound so much better without an amp sim coloring their sound, even when the amp sim is set to low-gain, clean tones. The sound is more expressive and sounds less "gimmicky". I am starting to have more respect for what Line 6 has accomplished here. I am not disappointed at all because I really like to play with very clean tones, and no distortion. I know this probably has a lot to do with the preference of my ears. I'm just very puzzled why there would be such a difference between mags and Variax models when using amp sims. Do we get better results using simulated instrument and real amp, or amp sim and real mags, but things start to break down with simulated guitar AND simulated amp?

I think this has just started happening...Whenever I change the patch on the HD500 the Variax switches to a model (even though the guitar is set to magnetic pickups only). I have double checked the Variax controller window in HD500 edit and that says "Don't force" for model selection. So if the Variax (JTV59) is set to magnetic pickups then changing the patches on the 500 shouldn't have any effect on the guitar - but it does. I feel I must be missing something simple. Any ideas?