FINALLY got my POD HD500x

[destroythevoice]

So it took me quite some time and research but I finally made a choice and got the POD HD500x... I GOTTA tell ya. I've never been more satisfied.. Blows my line 6 Spider III head out of the water. I made previous posts on here before about looking for the tones I wanted to achieve and I've gotten really close now with 3 of them...

 

I NOTICED ONE thing though.. Band called Twelve Foot Ninja uses their POD HD500x live and changes the tuning if their guitar through the POD itself... But he does apparently use a Variax guitar. Im wondering is this ONLY possible with the Variax? Or can I ultimately change my tuning without it through the POD?

[bjnette]

The variaxe has that feature, all sorts of tunings including custom ones as well as differing guitar emulations.

The HD500X has the tuner, pitch shifting and harmonizing FX.

Congrats on your purchase.

I used to have a Spider II which I couldn't stand the sound of and really was not a Line 6 fan.

Then I demo'd the HD500 and was blown away at how good it sounded compared to the Boss and Roland compatables.

[Mainframemac]

I play live also with my HD 500x and I use a JTV 69 Variax. I was a little skeptical about leaving my (modified) Tele at home and using a guitar that plugs into my pedalboard with an ethernet cable! But the variax has become my main guitar, I use as many different pickup, tone, modeling sounds that I can think of.

 

I play in a Praise Band/Orchestra, we have trumpets, violins, clarinets, tuba 2 keyboards and much more. I commonly use the banjo setting, acoustic 6 and 12 string settings, killer clean strat and tele sounds, and since our band is considered a hybrid band, I use Lincoln Brewster patches for some crazy  distortion leads.

 

I even brought my tele once and hooked it up to the pod at the same time as the Variax. But I have such great fender sounds mixed up I no longer feel the need. I have become so adicted to having a diferent sound for each song I can't imagine being without the Jtv 69.

 

I am the guy in the room who would have told everyone I would NEVER be using a modeling guitar and ONE pedal! But I have grown to LOVE how the JTV 69 feels in my hands, because I spent the cash on it I forced myself to get used to it and I feel it has made me a much better player. If you ever get the chance, grab the "other" piece of the puzzle and treat yourself to a whole new world.

 

just saying

[amsdenj]

Anyone know how the JTV 69 compares to the old Variax 300 for tones?

[DarrellM5]

I have the Variax 500 and the JTV69 and I believe the JTV69 sounds considerably better.  The older Variax still sounds really good though.

[silverhead]

@ amsdenj

 

Depends on the JTV firmware. Initially there was no difference in the modeling; JTV was a much better build quality with the alt tuning at-a-touch feature as well as mag pickups. Still, some people seemed able to distinguish a difference in the sounds, probably attributable to the different body and neck of the guitars as well as upgraded piezos. But the underlying modeling did not change at first.

With JTV firmware 1.8 the acoustic models changed. The guitars modeled remained the same (I think) but the modeling technology was upgraded to HD and the Tone knob as a mic position adjustment had much more effect. Some people prefer the pre-1.8 acoustic models.

JTV firmware 2 included HD modeling for all other models, and changed the underlying guitars being modeled in several banks. Especially noticeable was the Spank bank. Again, some people prefer the older models.

Because there's so much subjectivity involved, as well as familiarity with the sound of the previous models, there is no correct answer to the question 'Which is better?'. There are technical differences; the newer models have more data sampling behind them. That doesn't necessarily make them sound 'better' if you are used to the sound of the previous models.

[jandrio]

http://line6.com/support/topic/10312-thinking-of-upgrading-to-a-jtv-69s-black-maple-fretboard-next-year/?do=findComment&comment=84818

 

 

...This guitar is genius! Miles ahead of the old Variaxes....

 

[DarrellM5]

By the time I purchased my JTV69 last year, the firmware was already to the point that I had different guitar models right from the start.  So I never got to experience it with the identical firmware to my Variax 500.

[Charlie_Watt]

Me too.  I had mine upgraded to 2.0 before they sent it out to me.  Never went back.  Don't plan to  ever go back.  I like the HD models better than those on my old 500.  No they are not perfect.  Workbench allows enough tweaking to get them the way I want them though.

[amsdenj]

Thanks for the great information. I have a Variax 300 that I did some work on and it actually plays reasonably well. I put locking tuning gears on it, added a bone nut and set the depth correctly, use some lemon neck oil on the fret board (it really works!) and did a good setup and set the intonation. I recently added a Fishman Triple Play as well. So this guitar will now make a LOT of different sounds. 

 

What I'm struggling with is should I gig with it or not. I currently use a Variax 700 Acoustic and Strat Deluxe (with Tom Anderson stacked humbuckers). The Variax 300 doesn't sound as good on the acoustic or electric tones - but its not that bad either - to some extent, just different. Of course the strings are very different on the 300 vs the 700, and so it plays different for acoustic sounds. 

 

Its nice to get some advice from pros who do this for a living and have more experience.

[cruisinon2]

Thanks for the great information. I have a Variax 300 that I did some work on and it actually plays reasonably well. I put locking tuning gears on it, added a bone nut and set the depth correctly, use some lemon neck oil on the fret board (it really works!) and did a good setup and set the intonation. I recently added a Fishman Triple Play as well. So this guitar will now make a LOT of different sounds. 

 

What I'm struggling with is should I gig with it or not. I currently use a Variax 700 Acoustic and Strat Deluxe (with Tom Anderson stacked humbuckers). The Variax 300 doesn't sound as good on the acoustic or electric tones - but its not that bad either - to some extent, just different. Of course the strings are very different on the 300 vs the 700, and so it plays different for acoustic sounds. 

 

Its nice to get some advice from pros who do this for a living and have more experience.

 

For gigging, it's about your comfort level. If I bring gear that I'm not happy with, or otherwise unsure about to a show, it's usually reflected in my performance...now there may or may not be anyone else in the room who can tell, but I certainly can. Whenever I get a new piece of gear, I work with it for a quite a while at home and at rehearsals until I'm comfortable enough to gig with it. I've often felt that it's one of my shortcomings as a player...being a little too dependent on "my" gear. I've known guys who can sit it with a band on someone else's axe, amp, etc...and kill it. Not me...lol. No familiarity, no good.