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Who sold all their pedals and went HD500X?


jpjr50
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Well I've had 5 hours with the 500x and so mad at myself for not buying this sooner. I'd probably have a Helix by now for sure.

 

 

Why waste money. 

My rig hadn't been updated in over 20 years. When I needed to make a change, I did. 

And I never once cried at not having this or that. I had everything that was needed, otherwise I wouldn't have bought it. 

 

Think about all of the money I saved by not chasing technology. 

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I've always downloaded the manuals for major purchases like processors or synths in advance to see if they would do what I want, then I'd go try it out in the store just to hear the outcome.

 

I had a slight compromise going from the Johnson Millennium J250H head to the POD XT Live only in that I was missing the Dual Signal Path and the Smart Pitch Shift, but I compensated slightly with my Whammy Pedal.

 

I have all of that back, & a tad more in the HD500X, certainly more than I had in my "fridge" rack, including a better tracking, software version of the IPS 33B or H3000 harmonizer.

Back then, I couldn't afford to keep up with technology because it was so compartmentalized rather than what we have now in consolidated form.  There certainly was a transitional period of time where dedicated processors were better quality than multi processors, but here we are, and I'm quite happy to be here.  Gives me far more options to create with, and a much simpler load in/out with a smaller footprint on stage and in the vehicle.

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Why waste money.

My rig hadn't been updated in over 20 years. When I needed to make a change, I did.

And I never once cried at not having this or that. I had everything that was needed, otherwise I wouldn't have bought it.

 

Think about all of the money I saved by not chasing technology.

I'm just not an analog pedal person. In my home studio I've been using Guitar Rig 5 and TH3 while my analog pedals collected dust on the floor. I sold all my pedals to buy the 500x and couldn't be happier. This is exactly what I needed, to simplify my tones.

 

I no longer have to chase tones as I have my Set list saved with 40 of them now. In the past while recording with pedals I'd have lots of down time dialing in knobs for certain tones. Now it's a foot switch away, zero down time.

 

I don't see myself going back any time soon. In fact for sure I'll be moving to a Helix or Axe FX rack. It could have been soon if I had the 500x when I started a year ago.

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Sold what was probably $800 worth of pedals for less than half of that, along with a medium-grade tube amp and moved to the 500x.  Loving it.  Mostly running dual amp patches now and when I use an overdrive effect before the amps, I place  a parametric EQ right after the OD to tame any ugly frequencies.   Better tone by far than I was ever able to achieve with the pedals.

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  • 7 months later...

My chain is Guitar > HD500x > PA. It's been this way since i got my PHDX over a year ago. It's been a learning process for sure, but nothing steep. Just read up and put in the time.

I used to use a Carvin MTS3200, two cabs and a board with a bunch of pedals. Now I can carry my entire rig in one go up a flight of stairs. I didn't sell anything though. I just don't use them much.

I'm tempted to do this. Couple of questions;

Any tips on getting a good amp tone through the PA? I'm concerned it will sound too digital

How do you hear yourself on stage? Just through a monitor? Again, any tips as I find venues and sound engineers vary hugely. Last thing I want is not to be able to hear myself clearly

 

C

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Only because I had to sell my pedals to get the HD!

I had an M9 for a while but then got a variax and also wanted more control over patch switching.

I'm in a covers band and have one main patch I use, but then need a few special patches for particular tones. Sometimes I just run the HD into the DT25 with the 8 pedal option and have three almost identical patches but with three different amps, a Vox, a Fender and a Marshall.

I'm tempted to get a minimal board of boost, compression, chorus and delay and go into my AC15. But then I'd want to go for high end pedals like strymon!!

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Try running dual amp patches and use some of the suggested mic/cab combinations here:

http://foobazaar.com/podhd/toneGuide/cabsMics#dualCab-faves

 

You really need a good cab/mic setup to sound good through a PA.  I use in-ear monitors where I play.

 

Not all combinations available sound decent so I started with the offerings at that link.  If it mentions "add one EQ" easiest thing is just avoid that particular combination because what he's saying is you need to put an EQ effect in the patch to even things out with that particular combination of cab and mic.    I'd probably start with a simple patch like this:

 

noise gate>compressor>overdrive>  dual AC30 amp models>delay>reverb   + suggested mic/cab options.  

 

Keep the bass on both amps very low unless you only play in the bedroom --- in a band you don't want too much bass on guitars.  Later on you can add a parametric EQ after the overdrive and use it to notch out some ugly frequencies. Assign both OD and parametric to the same footswitch so they come on together.
 

Using parametric eQ to notch out frequencies

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if you want to create presets that sound good live, loud, and through a PA system then I suggest you create presets loud and through a PA Wedge. I bought one soon after I bought my HD. I use it to monitor myself at gigs and practices, and to build presets. The Meambobbo guide posted above is a great resource. I demoed all the amps inside the device and made presets for each, and tweaked every single one of them until I found my favorites.

 

I would start out with a SINGLE INPUT of Guitar, with simply ONE amp block and the high-cutting EQ of your choice (I used the Para EQ), get that to sound good and comfy, then start adding OD, etc..

 

Low and High cuts are key after the amp. The Cabinet section has a low cut parameter and I usually use a parametric EQ after the amp (to dial out harsh mids and to cut highs). Low Bass, Kill the Hum, Low Res Level (I didn't like to cut it completely).

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I sold my pedals and pedal board, then started using the HD500X via 4cm with my EVH amps. Now I am using a Soundstage L2T with the pod and getting ready to see if I can get by without actual amps. Scary but exciting at the same time.

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I sold my pedals and pedal board, then started using the HD500X via 4cm with my EVH amps. Now I am using a Soundstage L2T with the pod and getting ready to see if I can get by without actual amps. Scary but exciting at the same time.

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Just for the heck of it I plugged some of my old pedals straight into my Marshall amp/cab just to remember how it sounds.  It sounds good, really good.  But it doesn't sound better than the PODHD.  Actually I still think the PODHD sounds slightly better and is a lot quieter.

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  • 1 month later...

Well I did, just sold all my pedals.  I'm really lazy when it comes to physical amp heads, cabs and pedals.  It seems I don't want to dial them in.

 

I've been using Guitar Rig 5 or TH3, they have hundreds of presets so I use them or alter the tone in a few clicks.

 

I have a home studio, I don't gig, I play 95% of the time in my studio.  I like to record tracks and make YouTube videos, etc.  I have an audio interface / FocusRite Scarlett 18i8, PreSonus 5.25 Monitor / Speakers (35W), Audio Technica Mic's, my amp head is just an Orange Micro Terror (with 12au7 tube) and Panama 1x10 Cabinet.  Eventually I'll upgrade the head to a Panama Conqueror or Loco but for now the Orange is plenty loud for my room.  Again, I rid of my pedals because when I want to do multiple tracks with different tones I have redial knobs.  I like presets.

 

I want to give this a go but everyone is telling me the learning curve is quite steep.  They also said the same thing about my DAW (Reaper) but I figured it out just fine.

 

What do you guys think?  Was is worth the change to the 500X?

 

Sure! :)

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For recording get some good IRs and dont use the ones in HD500x and you will get great results.When I play my HD500 live I use an ADA

cab simulator or my Palmer to send to the PA.I got tired of fiddling with the HD500 cab models.

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Well I did the opposite, I kept my HD 500x but bought analog pedals like 2 weeks ago (Boss, Ibanez, EHX, MXR, EB among others) . To be honest, I am repentant/frustrated, because my POD sounds A LOT BETTER!. Thank God I did not sell my POD. What is giving me headaches in my analog rig is 1) There are no EXP pedals that can control the GAIN/MIX/TONE in the effects, I know there are some options like the EXP-OD by Ernie Ball (But that means more money and probably poor sound). 2) Analog Rig is NOISY! even when using the BOSS DS-2 (with dist/od in loop mode) you can hear all kind of noises inside. 3) NO Global EQ! and the last thing... 4)If you think "true bypass" is the latest glory you are WRONG! when using TB if you switch on your effect you will hear a big explosion which compromises your sound every time you use that pedal (MXR reverb 300 & Ibanez Screamer TS808DX, to name some) also, when switching off that effect the sound simply dissapears (no "trails" function) NO THANKS! I had to switch some of my pedals to "Buffered mode" to keep a "decent tone".

 

So my advice to anyone out there thinking to move to analog, please DON'T DO IT! save your money and buy a HELIX or keep your current rig.

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LOL If you are using a guitar amp with your "analog" pedals, you DO have a Global EQ. That's what those knobs are for on your amp.

 

Haha, yes... those knobs sometimes are not enough. 

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