Variax 500 Firmware 3.10 - Firmware issue identified!

[simonhpieman]

Hi all,

 

New here, what a first post this is gonna be... I think I've found a pretty major flaw in the latest Variax 500 firmware and as yet, I don't know how to reliably fix it, though if you've been having issues with 

 

I got an old Variax 500 before Christmas. I really enjoyed messing around with the different sounds and once I realised it would be great to integrate with my Helix for live work, I dug out and old laptop and got the old version of Workbench working. I updated the Variax Firmware when prompted, loaded up the software, levelled out my string volumes, made a few presets and set to work twiddling with the Helix.

 

Some point after fiddling around with Helix presets, I found the D and G strings were suddenly LOADS quieter than the rest. Thinking this was strange, I switched all the cables and fired Workbench back up. The D and G had been set to 100 and 80 respectively, with all the other strings much lower between 40 and 60.

 

Failing piezo saddles, perhaps? Not sure if what I found is better or worse...

 

If I turn either the D or G to 0 while leaving the other at 100, the string balance becomes much better. This works both ways round. I can have string balance set to 0 and it's one of the loudest of the 6. It's not possible to turn off either the D or G string while the other is still on. They're now somehow linked. Put both up to 100 and they get quiet again, like they're out of phase with themselves and have suddenly gotten really weak and thin.

 

Anything with altered tunings - including the 12 string models - sounded terrible at this point so having done a quick Google and re-flashing the latest firmware through Line 6 Monkey twice, I resigned myself to not really using them and carried on optimising my Helix patches then went to bed.

 

Next day, I'm sitting here finishing work on my Helix patches. Everything sounds great, I can switch from Strat to Acoustic to Les Paul at the touch of a footswitch. Heaven! Then the G goes quiet again after loading a patch for the song Yellow by Coldplay (this has the high E detuned by a semitone).

 

IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE: I can tell my piezo saddles are all working fine as when you first connect the Variax to workbench and it takes 15-20 second to load up, I still have a jack connected to my Helix and am able to hear the piezos on their own with no Variax processing. Playing a quick scale, the string balance is perfect.

 

So I plug back into Workbench AGAIN and manage to level the strings. The weird D and G glitch has gone and I set them to something like 80 and 60 respectively.

 

To make sure everything's working, I test the Strat model. Play a scale or two, lovely balance and response. Check the Acoustic bank. Scale is great and I can hear all the notes in the chords I'm playing. Brilliant. Les Paul? Also fine.

 

Then I load up a Custom patch with a Drop D Les Paul. And suddenly the D and G strings are quiet again.

 

PATCHES WITH TUNING SCREW THE WHOLE GUITAR STRING BALANCE UP! The problem is that I'm not entirely sure I know how to fix it. I'm about to try removing any custom tunings and see if that works.

 

One thing that did work is I had a problem with a custom Strat model I'd made - I wanted a humbucker in the bridge position to suit a certain song and had only put 250k pots so wanted to change it to 500k for a bit more brightness. I hit Sync and found string volume odd again. When I went into the string balancing window this time, I was able to adjust the strings normally.

 

I'm going to do a bit more experimenting and see if I can fix the problem but if you've been struggling with your Variax sounding terrible on 12 Strings and alternate tunings I may have at least figured out why, if not how to fix it!

[silverhead]

It’s quite simple- the Variax 500 is not supported with Helix. If you are able to get the Variax to respond to model changes from a Helix footswitch that’s not expected, much less guaranteed; it’s a lucky holdover from earlier technology. Custom tuning in a Helix preset will certainly not work. That’s not a firmware issue. Interaction between the two devices is simply not supported. Variax firmware was never updated to be compatible with Helix, and Helix firmware was never designed to be backwards compatible with Variax guitars earlier than the JTV series. Don’t waste any time trying to figure it out, and don’t bother opening a support ticket. It’s not supposed to work.

 

You need to control all aspects of the Variax 500 using the original Workbench program (not Workbench HD) and manually. Do not expect any sort of reliable or predictable control using Helix presets.

[simonhpieman]

Thank you for your kind interjection. I'm aware the Helix isn't designed to work with the older Variaxes, though for what it's worth the actual model changes per Helix Preset/Snapshot have worked seamlessly thus far. But the Helix isn't really the issue. Ignore the fact I have a Helix for a moment, that's just background info.

 

As you rightly state, it's not possible to apply custom tunings via Helix on an old Variax. That's why any "custom tuning" I use has to be saved as its own model in the custom model bank in the Variax. That's the only way it'll work. You can't simply load up, for example, SPANK 1 and apply DADGAD to it then save that. That's a limitation I'm very much familiar with.

 

The issue with the strings going out of balance and the tunings sounding bad happened when the Variax was connected to workbench and I was changing model within workbench. The Helix wasn't even in the room at the time. All the changes of string volumes I describe are done in Workbench in the string balance menu, not on the Helix. As you will no doubt be aware, trying to change string volumes on an old Variax using Helix do absolutely nothing.

 

So, I still have a very strange situation that I'm sure I didn't have before I updated to the latest firmware. Ignore the fact I own a Helix for a moment. The issue still stands. And it seemed to rear its head when I was in Workbench and loaded up a Custom model that had the E string detuned a semitone to Eb. After that the 12 string models sounded unusable and the strings were out of balance as described in my first post.

 

I realise this guitar is coming on 20 years old and was never updated to work with Helix et al. I wouldn't raise a support ticket (it's hard enough getting current Line 6 gear looked at in a timely manner at all in the UK, let alone legacy stuff!), I was just hoping the Variax enthusaists here might have some input or experience that would help. I've read other threads with people suffering similar issues with the 12 strings sounding bad but with no solutions. Hoping this at least helps diagnose the problem, then maybe someone can chip in and offer a solution.

 

I'll certainly update if I find anything useful.

[silverhead]

OK, thanks for clarifying. The only other observation I can make about custom tuning is something that is quite common. Often the player hears a dissonant sound because the ear hears the actual physical vibration of the strings as well as the processed detuning. That’s not likely your situation since you said it only became apparent after a firmware update, but worth eliminating. You can rule it out by making a recording, using closed back earphones, or turning the processed volume up really loud.

 

Hope you get it worked out.