Question:
Ok...this is yet another XTLive thread. Sorry for all you non-xtlive owners, you probably get way tired of it.
In pursuit of 'the' tone for me, I had tried a bunch of different setups...At first, I had the guitar straight into the amp with the XT Live in the effects loop. This sounded alright, but I got some strange interference for some reason.
So, I read up and asked around, and many people suggested me running my guitar straight into the XT Live and that straight into the power amp in...basically bypassing everything on the amp but the power amp.
Well, this mad the models sound the most realistic, but it also gave me MANY disadvantages...these were the 2 main ones...
1) Volume control - My primary venue of playing is at church. We don't have a very complicated setup, and my amp is un-mic'd. This left me with only 3 volume controls...the volume knob of the guitar, the expression pedal on the XT Live, or the little volume control on the back of the xt live. None of these are ideal.
2) Patch consistency - When I was playing, switching effects/patches on and off left me with many different types of sound... I don't really know how to explain it other than the sounds didn't gel together. Switching on and off things in the same song makes it sound like I'm playing different setups all together...again, thats the idea of it (versatility) but I want and need a more consistent sound. Also, volume and dynamics from patch to patch would be WAY different.
So, What I ended up doing, was keeping the XT Live in the power amp in mode, but just plugging my guitar into the XT Live and plugging that into the front end of the amp. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! I am in love with the XT Live again!
Now that the preamp stage is working in the sound, I had the signal going through all the tone stacks and such. Now the downside for the 'hardcore' modeling guys is that you aren't as close to the exact model sounds because of the preamp stage's processing
What this means for me is that every patch sounds different, but still retains the same flavor across the board. Switching amp models (for instance) will voice my amp differently, but it will still retain some of its hot rod deluxe character.
It also means I can tweak on the fly. I have my amp on an amp stand. The controls are right there in front of me. Volume is a delicate situation at my church, as we've to many older folks who don't like loudness. I KNOW my patches, but from time to time, I will get a surprise. The hi's may spike too much for my tastes, or I may not have as much bottom end as I had hoped. Well, now I can just tweak my hot rod's eq just a hair for quick on the fly adjustments.
Wow...thats a long post. I'll stop now.
Answer:
Originally Posted by RipVanWinkle 1) Volume control - My primary venue of playing is at church. We don't have a very complicated setup, and my amp is un-mic'd. This left me with only 3 volume controls...the volume knob of the guitar, the expression pedal on the XT Live, or the little volume control on the back of the xt live. None of these are ideal.
Could I ask how you were adjusting the volume before this?
Does your amp have a master volume control? If so, it's one possible volume control you'd be leaving out - if it's a master volume, it should affect the level of a signal that is only hitting the power side of your amp.
Nate
Answer:
The hot rod deluxe does not have a master volume.
Before I was just using bending down and using the screw-type knob on the back of the xtlive to control volume. The expression pedal wasn't very good, because I need it for wah every now and then.
Answer:
Originally Posted by nate95366 Could I ask how you were adjusting the volume before this?
Does your amp have a master volume control? If so, it's one possible volume control you'd be leaving out - if it's a master volume, it should affect the level of a signal that is only hitting the power side of your amp.
Nate there's only one volume control on a Fedner HRDlx, and IIRC, it's pre-EQ.
Answer:
I've experienced the exact same predicament you have, and my solution has been with my amp, to run guitar>pod>volume pedal>fx in, since my volume pedal has much nicer action than the PODxt Live's built in pedal. However, with a few amps, particularly the solid state ones, I choose to run into the front of the amp from the POD. You really gotta switch it up depending on what amps you use.
Answer:
hmm... i'd say do what rainer said, considering even though i don't use an XTL (or own one at least, i have one borrowed) i am having the same volume issues at my church and need to buy a volume pedal for that reason.
i do have a little tip though, once you control the volume like that it frees up the expression pedal on the pod, so you could set it to control, say gain, and gradually put in gain if you wanted to switch fx during a song. i always thought that would be tight.
Answer:
You can set up the experession pedal to control most parameters. Some interesting uses include varying the speed of delays, tremolos, choruses, and the like.