leesteel Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 I have never owned a 300 but a friend of mine is telling me that his HD500 would not power the 300 through the variax cable. He has upgraded to a 500x now but can any of you verify if the 300 power should be supported by either unit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb7170 Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 I have 2 JTV's, but also still have my Variax 300 -- bought it in 2005. I assume you mean the solid body 300 -- there was also a 300 acoustic -- dunno why they had the same number on 2 models.... I also have the 500 & 500X. I just pulled the 300 out about a month ago -- plugged it into my 500X and it ran fine via the VDI cord & input. I know I ran it on my 500 as well in the past. I've powered my 300 and JTV's with the POD XTL, X3L, 500, and 500X all along. They all have the same VDI specs, including the power. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leesteel Posted April 13, 2015 Author Share Posted April 13, 2015 Thanks for the quick reply Dave. I will pass that info on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leesteel Posted April 13, 2015 Author Share Posted April 13, 2015 OK so he says that the VDI cable with his 300 and XT LIVE works perfectly. He says that his 500 only works for about 5 minutes and shuts down (the power to the variax). He is getting ready to try his new 500x this afternoon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb7170 Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 That IS odd... I know I was dinking around with my 300 -- probably not hours, but longer than a few minutes. I was making sure it still worked and was comparing the models as they were on the 300 versus how they are on the JTV's. Pretty sure I was hooked with it for maybe a half hour to an hour. Does he use a JTV with the 500 VDI, or just regular guitars into the guitar input? Maybe his 500 VDI has a defect. The 500X should be ok if the unit is up to snuff.... If you have a JTV or other Variax, you might want to try yours in his 500, then 500X to see if your units make his pedals mess up, and vice versa... Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leesteel Posted April 13, 2015 Author Share Posted April 13, 2015 Thanks Dave, Unfortunately he is in Florida and I am in Connecticut. I believe he only has one Variax. the 300 (solid body). He does also use regular guitars. I will post the outcome of this afternoon's test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdmayfield Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 I recognize the description of that issue. Apparently, a small number of Variax 300s had some kind of grounding problem with the metal "cage" that surrounds the electronics - for some reason, they would die after about 5 minutes, and come back if disconnected and reconnected to the power source. For a brief time several years ago, there were a lot of forum posts about it on the old forum. I'm not seeing the thread(s) now, though. If I recall, the solution was to apply electrician's tape or duct tape to the metal shield inside the guitar which enclosed the Variax guts. I never had that problem though, so I don't remember specifics (such as whether the inside, outside, or both surfaces needed to be insulated). Does anyone else remember that? Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb7170 Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Matt -- Yeah, I remember that issue being talked about on the 300's. Luckily, I never had it happen with mine. Think they called the metal box a "coffin" on the 300. The later models 500's and 600's had that design, as well. It unitized the assembly to the face plate. On the earlier version and the I believe the 700, they had the face-plate, but had the control knobs on the body, off the face-plate, so had more assembly to do on those, The 300's etc were obviously done with the coffin to simplify manufacturing them -- plug in the bridge leads, drop the assembly onto the guitar body, on to the next one... Though if the 300 coffin short were the case in this instance, then it wouldn't matter which POD -- XTL or HD500, it would do it in both cases, but it messes up only on the 500, the XTL is fine. I do know that my 300 did not do it with my 500X when I last hooked it up a month or 2 ago, and don't remember it happening with my 500, though I couldn't swear I hooked it up, but I'm pretty sure I would have compared the 300 with my 59 & 69S at some point. I mess with stuff like that -- see what different combinations do.... I'm thinking it's probably an issue with his HD500 or it's VDI jack/cable combination - power connection heating up, then opening? Worse yet, an internal component in the 500 power path to the VDI? I'm hoping his experience with the 500X was successful. That would point to the 500 as the culprit again. If it does turn out to be the 500, I'm guessing it could be fixed. It would not show its problem if he only used his 500 with regular guitars and his 300 only with his XTL. Only when he tried it the 300 with the 500... Anyway those are my thoughts, for what they're worth. Looking forward to hearing back from leesteel... Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tfarmer0417 Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 FWIW, the Variax 300 -> Pod HD 500 (over VDI cable) was my standard rig for about 2 years worth of church worship services, and a number of practice sessions on top of that. It never failed for me in the manner described (or any manner), so I can't really help troubleshoot - I just want to second the notion that this setup can and does work, generally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leesteel Posted April 14, 2015 Author Share Posted April 14, 2015 Matt -- Yeah, I remember that issue being talked about on the 300's. Luckily, I never had it happen with mine. Think they called the metal box a "coffin" on the 300. The later models 500's and 600's had that design, as well. It unitized the assembly to the face plate. On the earlier version and the I believe the 700, they had the face-plate, but had the control knobs on the body, off the face-plate, so had more assembly to do on those, The 300's etc were obviously done with the coffin to simplify manufacturing them -- plug in the bridge leads, drop the assembly onto the guitar body, on to the next one... Though if the 300 coffin short were the case in this instance, then it wouldn't matter which POD -- XTL or HD500, it would do it in both cases, but it messes up only on the 500, the XTL is fine. I do know that my 300 did not do it with my 500X when I last hooked it up a month or 2 ago, and don't remember it happening with my 500, though I couldn't swear I hooked it up, but I'm pretty sure I would have compared the 300 with my 59 & 69S at some point. I mess with stuff like that -- see what different combinations do.... I'm thinking it's probably an issue with his HD500 or it's VDI jack/cable combination - power connection heating up, then opening? Worse yet, an internal component in the 500 power path to the VDI? I'm hoping his experience with the 500X was successful. That would point to the 500 as the culprit again. If it does turn out to be the 500, I'm guessing it could be fixed. It would not show its problem if he only used his 500 with regular guitars and his 300 only with his XTL. Only when he tried it the 300 with the 500... Anyway those are my thoughts, for what they're worth. Looking forward to hearing back from leesteel... Dave I'm waiting to hear back from my friend. He was working with his new 500x yesterday. I'll keep you posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leesteel Posted April 14, 2015 Author Share Posted April 14, 2015 Ok, so he's telling me HD500X did the same thing. Works for about 5 minutes and dies. His tech guy says the new power supplies aren't powerful enough to sustain a charge on the first model of variax?? Something sounds fishy to me…I suggested yesterday that he try a different cable. Like a typical CAT5 (just for a test). He also says "I may have a new issue with the input on it. It sounds like a bad connection somewhere as unless I give it a loud input it breaks up ever so slightly. When I open the volume control ( active lace pups on 4 different guitars) it goes away when I turn up the pre channel on the virtual amp. Struggling to get a clean country/ mark Knophler Sultains tone. He's saying that his 300 is the very first model and may have different requirements than a later model 300. Can anyone confirm? Says he's tried 2 different VDI cables and both cut off after 5 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_Watt Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 The 300 should work fine. It does not draw any more power than the 500 or 600 or 700. They all run on batteries or VDI. He either has a bad cable or a bad Variax. The 300's did have problems with shorts in the "coffin" case. I use my 500 with VDI all the time and it has never had a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leesteel Posted April 14, 2015 Author Share Posted April 14, 2015 The 300 should work fine. It does not draw any more power than the 500 or 600 or 700. They all run on batteries or VDI. He either has a bad cable or a bad Variax. The 300's did have problems with shorts in the "coffin" case. I use my 500 with VDI all the time and it has never had a problem. Charlie, you know me, I'm all about my 500's and I use the VDI to HD500X exclusively. He can get a whole new coffin at Full Compass. He still says that it works perfectly with his XT LIVE though? It's very odd. He just got his 500X yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cindylu Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 IVE HAD IT PLUGGED IN FOR AN HOUR ON THE XTLIVE NO POWER ISSUES BUT IT STILL ONLY LAST ABOUT 5 MINUTES ON THE HD500X THEN SHE GOES DEAD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_Watt Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 That is very strange. It almost sounds like a problem with the HD500x if it works on the XTLive. The interface should be the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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