I've been gigging with a PS1 (w/ one bass unit), Podxt Live and Variax 700 for most of 2005 and wanted to share my experience with others and also hear what others have discovered using them together in a live environment.

In my opinion, the PS1 with one subwoofer is versatile enough to meet the needs of the average gigging guitarist weekend warrior. I've been able to use it on all kinds of small stages when my trio had to provide it's own PA and also as my complete backline and vocal monitor system when we played large venues with existing sound systems. Sound engineers with the larger systems have taken a direct feed from my guitar signal in the PS1 but have rarely turned it up in the main mix since my guitar tone from the PS1 has cut through so clearly. The only concerns I have had with volume is that some of the younger audience clubs have wanted the band to play at volumes which tire out my ears from the stage (we are a trio using three PS1s), yet the club has always been pleased with the overall volume from the band and not many have asked for such high volumes. Feedback has not been a problem once we used the mics suggested by Bose and only creeps up when we play too loudly on small stages where the units are 2-3 feet behind us. Although everyone has different taste, it's difficult for me to believe that a decent guitar player can't get their tone to sound excellent through this setup to at least 95% of the audience. The remaining 5% will be fellow guitar player tone freaks, and die hard SRV fans, who appreciate slight differences in tone that an average audience doesn't care about as they enjoy drinking/dancing on a night out. I have a little experience with the former crowd as my band was an SRV tribute band for the past few years before changing focus to classic rock covers in 2005. While doing the SRV tribute I used high quality tube amps and analog effects from all the popular people on the internet (Analogman, Keeley, Reese, Klon). Although I admit that the rig sounded great when set up properly, I don't think it sounded better enough to miss all of the pre-gig setup hassles I abandoned by switching to the PS1, Podxt live and Variax. My setup now takes 20 minutes and all the equipment fits in the trunk of a regular car. I power the PS1 through a furman power factor pro and regardless of the quality of electrical current available at a venue, I now have a guitar rig that consistently sounds live like I intended it to sound.

After much experimentation, I've settled on using my Podxt Live in the Bose output mode instead of Studio Direct. There is no strong reason I can give for this decision but you need to choose either one or the other if you intend to use all the patches at a live gig. I had an easier time developing patches that I liked in the Bose output mode (maybe because you don't need to tweak mic type, mic placement and % of room). The downside to exclusively using the Bose output mode is that all song patches I have carefully tweaked while listening through the PS1 don't sound as good in other applications (ie, recording direct, direct out to house PAs, rehearsing with the band through headphones) as they would with the AIR modeling. I start out creating a new cover song patch by researching what equipment the guitarist used on the recording, then I play a recorded version of the song in my iPOD through the Aux Input of the Podxt Live and work toward matching the guitar tone as closely as possible with the pod and variax. I usually also further tweak it live because what sounds good by yourself does not always sound good when playing with drums/bass. I find that most of my patches through the PS1 start behaving like a real guitar amp (ie, sustain notes & feedback if I want it) when I use the Pod's main compressor (not stompbox compressors) to boost gain (from 4-14) with 0db threshold. After playing around alot with the Pod's main EQ, I've settled on using it flat on almost all electric guitar patches and using the amps tone controls and/or the stompbox "fx boost + EQ" when I need tweaking beyond the amp. Since I've been working on guitar patches for almost all cover songs we perform, I try to match all levels before hand but always set volume pedal min on 50% so that I can adjust as necessary during songs and have plenty of room for solos. I use the Podxt live's mono output into channel 4 of the Bose system with the level set at about 2-3 and appreciate that I don't need to worry about overdriving the channel input even with the volume pedal at 100%.

Playing live the Podxt has been very reliable but early on I had difficulty activating only the buttons I wanted. In contrast to my analog pedal switches, the Pod's switches were larger, closer together and only required light foot pressure. A few times while both singing and adjusting volume with the pedal, I inadvertantly activated the adjacient tuner switch and killed all sound from my guitar. I fixed this by purchasing the Line6 external pedal and using that exclusively for volume control on all patches. This has also had the benefit of always leaving the other pedal available for wah use without changing the overall volume when first activated. It used to drive me nuts activating the wah and getting a simultaneous boost to 100% volume. I can't say that I'm completely happy with the tone from the podxt Live wah as compared to my Reese TMC3, but I hope line6 updates the software in the future and allows for greater control over Q frequency and bass/treble. In the meantime, I find solace in the belief that 95% of the audience won't notice the difference even if I could adjust the wah in the future. I also got used to lightly touching the patch buttons with the side of my shoe to avoid hitting surrounding ones. The only other consistent problem has been using the Podxt Live at outdoor daytime gigs. The sun reacts with the orange LED window in such a way that you can't read what it says anymore. I solved this problem with a five inch high cardboard square (from shoebox) that fits around the Podxt live display and I tape it there for live daytime gigs to shade the display. Although the Podxt Live doesn't have a metronome for rehearsal, I've set all of my cover and original song patches with delay settings set to note values and then input the song's actual tempo in bpm at the "pedal/tweak/tempo" screen. When the patch is then selected, it shows me the preferred song tempo by the rate of the blinking red LED near the Tap button even when delay is not selected as an active effect. Setting the tempos invdividually for songs also has the side benefit of making the Stomp, Mod or Delay effects which use tempo to sound consistently great. I can always adjust tempo live with the tap switch if the band performs the song at a different tempo and then the patch tempo reverts back to the original song tempo if I don't save the new tap setting anyway.

The variax has taken me the longest time to warm up to but I'm finally at the point now where it's my primary gigging guitar. My SRV strat still kicks it's *** when directly compared through the system and I think it has something to do with the Workbench's inability to model the Texas Special pickups. Maybe a future version will allow the user to adjust pickup height, inductance, etc. to exactly match Fender's Texas Special PU specs. Also, the variax pickup selector doesn't create the same sound on the Spank model as it does when you rapidly flick it on the SRV strat during a song like Voodoo Chile. In the meantime, I bring my real strat to gigs as my backup to use on all SRV tunes and then use the variax for everything else. I've been frustrated with string breakage on the Variax and have not been able to solve it by using graph tech saddles like my other guitars. After the years of copying SRV's style, I tend to use an agressive pick attack and this shortens the life span of most strings. Prior to performing with the variax, I used inexpensive bulk generic strings on all my guitars and changed them after every gig, but these broke within the first hour of playing the variax. I then started using more expensive Elixir and/or Firewire guage .011-.049 guitar strings and can now get through one 3-4 hour gig without breaking a string. Also, a few months ago a guitar tech carefully filed the saddles smoother and that has helped as well. Maybe a future variax model will feature graph tech saddles. The acoustic models sound great on the variax and I use the patch that someone from Bose posted. It's very cool to play a Queen song like "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and switch guitars mid-song from acoustic to Tele by stepping on one switch during the lead. I love going from an open G tuning to regular tuning just by stepping on a Podxt live pedal and never take my Gibson ES335 to a gig anymore for slide work. Also, I like to tune down a half-step for my vocals and our female bass player prefers cover songs in their original key. With the variax, I can remain in half-step down tuning throughout the entire gig and play in regular tuning for her lead vocal songs just by stepping on one button. The foregoing versatility has saved me from hauling 3-4 guitars to each gig. I don't miss the whammy bar on my variax as the maple neck is securely attached to the body and easily takes the abuse of using your right or left hand to bend it forward to lower string frequency. I didn't like the metal volume/tone control knobs on my variax 700 because you couldn't look down and see what state they were in. I recently replaced them with traditional knobs with numbers and would recommend this to anyone who likes to adjust vol/tone during songs. I haven't really experimented much with Workbench but would like to know if anyone has created a guitar patch that sounds like Brian Mays red special. I also haven't used Line6's "Edit" program much except to save my patches in order of setlist and move them around before a gig if something changes.

Anyway, I look forward to continuing to learn how to best use the PS1, Podxt Live and Variax together and hope I'm even more satisfied by next year. I'd be interested in hearing others practical tips they have picked up through using the combination at live gigs.

My trio's Setup with 3 Bose systems:
Drummer-- 1 PS1 with 2 bass units, his crown CM310 vocal mic is in channel 1, his bass drum is in channel 2 with a preset.
Bass player-- 1 PS1 with 2 bass units, her vocals are in channel 1, active bass goes direct into channel 2 with a Fender preset, her keyboards go to channel 3.
Guitar Player-- 1 PS1 with 1 bass unit, my vocal goes to channel 1, drummers pair of SM57s placed between cymbals and drums go to channel 2 through a Horizon Combiner with the preset, my vocal delay effect goes into channel 3 from the insert of channel 1 and my guitar signal goes from the mono podxt live output to channel 4.

Wow, what a great post! Thanks for sharing your experiences. I have the same setup, and sometimes there are just too many choices and I go into brainlock for a while. However, the more I use this equipment, the less I want to use anything else.

I recommend you try some of Steve-At Bose's patches too. His PS1 Metal is a lot of fun.

D.W.

WOW. I read every word. Great stuff. I've always been goo goo for the SRV Strat but never found someone who owns one. Sounds like you're happy.

I love the way you're using the Variax to do 1/2 step down too for singing. Very clever.

Thanks for the great post,
Steve

Great post indeed, Inna!

I still can't get over the sound and feel of my Variax in a drop C (like a whole step down with a drop D). That low C note crankin' while the string is still at E tension!

I've said it before and I'll say it again. These are truly GREAT days for guitarists...

Wow! What a great review. Your thoughts mirror mine almost exactly, right down to your dislike of the volume and tone controls having no reference markings and your use of cardboard to shield the POD's display in bright sunlight. And your tip using the tap tempo light for song tempos is brilliant. Thanks!

I guess I really liked the post 'cuz I read it again and here's an idea I'd like to share ...

I wanted to create a "solo" setting (gain boost that did not change tone) for my models and finally figured out how to do it very conveniently. It turns out you can use the "AMP" footswitch as intended (amp model on and off) OR you can reassign it to "Comp" which has a "threshold" and "gain" setting.

I reassigned the "amp" switch to be a "comp" switch and add gain to the "comp" setting (usually 3 to 6 dB) and, ta daaaa, instant volume increase when you step on the pedal. So if/when I want to jump out on top (leads, fills, etc.) I just tap the "amp" button and I'm there.

I leave my volume pedal at 100% (wide open) so that I can use the wah without the volume spike problem you mentioned (when running it at 50% then trying to switch to wah).

Thought I'd share,
Steve

Thanks for the positive feedback and I apologize for the length of the post. I didn't realize it would look so long when I was typing in that little message box. When I'm not playing dive bars on the weekends, I work as a lawyer/lobbyist and you can see that clients pay me by the word. ;-)

I didn't realize that you could reassign the "AMP" footswitch and appreciate that tip. I actually used two replicas of SRV's #1 in the tribute band to account for string breakage and stage surfing at the end of the set. You can check out the guitars at my band's website innaRudeMood

Thanks,
Scott

HEY!! When you said "replica" I thought you meant another way of describing the SRV production guitar, but you mean two of the SRV replica guitars!!! WHOOOOOAAAAALLLLLYYYYY COW!!!! How did you get one of those. They sold out in about 3 seconds from what I heard ... never mind that, how did you get TWO??

Cool shots of the band (I like the speakers too).

Steve

Great site, Scott! And thanks for your resounding endorsement of our product on your Gear page. I hope you don't mind if I quote you here:

quote:

You have got to check out this system before allowing preconceived stereotypes deny you the pleasure of pure consistent tone as far as the eye can see. Whether miking a low-powered tube amp or playing direct through a digital modeler and Variax, this new system rocks.

Yeah, baby!

If I ever paid $10,000 for a beat up guitar (never mind $20,000 for two), my wife would have me in divorce court before I wore through the first set of strings. The two guitars I used for the SRV tribute were "relic'd" versions of new production Fender SRV model guitars. They are often offered for sale on EBay and it's likely the reason for Fender believing there would be a market for the 100 SRV #1 relics the custom shop recently sold for an outrageous markup. My local guitar tech who made the first one did things like remove everything from the body, sand the finish into the SRV #1 pattern and then leave it on his back lawn for a week even when water sprinklers were going off. He also put it in his freezer to crack the remaining finish like an old strat would have. It's great to gig with a guitar that you don't really mind when the drummer trips over your guitar cord and sends it crashing from the guitar stand. BTW, I just found out from graph-tech that you can substitute their Ghost system string saver saddles for the Variax Biggs saddles, so I might have the guitar tech take on that project next to resolve the string breakage issue.

Scott

Cool!!!

I've gotta try and find one of these eBay SRV Strats. I've never seen one. Thanks for the lead!!!!

Also, I've got to respectfully disagree with this on your site:

quote:

(Note: Of course the band can sound even better when a sound engineer mixes the music through his own sound system.)

How does the sound guy know what you, the artist, want the mix to sound like? Something to think about. What if you start playing softer? He/she will ride the fader up and the audience won't hear the change in volume. Then, when you punch it loud (ouch, my ears), he/she will panic and turn it back down, right? See where I'm going? Am I making sense?

If you have a sound person who knows your act, and you don't change things with each performance, I might agree with what you said above, but most of the time ...

Is that a convincing rebuttle? Was I respectful? I'm really trying to be.

Steve

You are right and it's more a matter of just breaking down one more of my stereotypes about playing live. Last evening my band played an outdoor concert at the same location we played on July 4th. The only difference between the two gigs was that we used our 3 Bose units as our backline and monitors with a large PA run by a professional sound company on July 4th, and last night the 3 Bose units constituted our entire PA system. Audience members who attended both gigs told us afterwards that the band's mix and overall sound was much better with just the Bose units. I wouldn't have believed that the three units could throw out so much volume and clarity to fill a large blocked off city street, but they do and we only had the master volumes at noon. We will turn down future offers of outside sound company use for large venues and I'll remove that incorrect statement from the website.

You guys need to design a portable light show that attaches to the top of the Bose speaker column and then we'll really have a one stop shop for gigs.

Scott

quote:

You guys need to design a portable light show that attaches to the top of the Bose speaker column and then we'll really have a one stop shop for gigs.

Great idea! We'll get right on it (well, probably not).

I've got to say Scott, you're a VERY BAD MAN!! I'm now VERY interested in the SRV relics you showed me in your post (bad man, bad influence!).

I found on eBay, just like you said, one of the "relic" guitars and I'm totally in love with the idea of owning one ... now how do I convince my wife that $1500 for a guitar that looks like its been dragged behind the car to the gig, is a good idea when it is actually more expensive than the brand new ones? Hmmmmmmmm. I'm seriously caught between the logic and emotion parts of my brain.

Logical brain -- ARE YOU KIDDING, no way!
Emotional brain -- ARE YOU KIDDING, it's an SRV relic!

You're a bad influence my man. I know if you and I got together for a frosty beverage we'd blah, blah, blah about guitars, amps, PODs, SRV, etc. until the sun came up ... then we'd go for coffee and keep the blah, blah going.

Bad man, bad influence ... and thanks a ton! Seriously! I'm stoked.


Steve

I finally got around to having a guitar tech replace the Variax's metal LR Baggs saddles with Graph Tech Ghost saddles. The "Ghost Saddle Pickups Import Strat" (PN-8000-00) retail for around $100 and are excellent replacements for heavy-handed guitarists plagued by premature string breakage. Prior to the saddle change I could only get one gig out of my strings before breakage began occuring on the variax (even with Firewire strings gauge 10-52). Now with the graph tech saddles they last until grime deadens them and/or I choose to change them.

Only two problems came up during the saddles replacement. First, the LR Baggs saddles have a different grounding mechanism and second, the graph tech pickups have a hotter signal. I'm not exactly sure how the guitar tech (Tracy Longo) overcame the grounding issue but he got advice directly from graph tech and there continues to be no pickup hum from the variax regrdless of volume or podxt setting. The hotter signal threw me off because my podxt was clipping through the Bose and it took me a while to determine that the problem was from the variax clipping upon input to the podxt live. Using Workbench, I was able to reduce the variax string volume individually and apply it universally to all variax models. I didn't know that workbench could do this and it also allowed me to reduce the volume from the low E and A to better balance in a full chord with the lighter gauge top four strings. Try doing that with a normal guitar beyond tediously adjusting the pickup and pole piece height. I then went through each variax model and increased pickup db and/or overall volume to even out every models patch. BTW, I found that the stock signal for the Lester-1 is the hottest variax model and if you can play that without clipping, than every other patch will likely be ok with the univeral string volume except the 12-string chime models that tend to clip with the high E string.

Going through the foregoing exercise exposed me to capabilities of the variax that I had yet to explore and I was amazed by how much you could tweak the models that used two pickups (ie, Spank 2 & Spank 4) to change the resulting guitar tone. Increasing or decreasing the db of one of the two pickups altered the mix of the tone and allows a guitar player to customize Spank-2 to sound like Mark Knopfler, SRV or Hendrix (all of whom have recordings with a unique pickup tone from that position). Similarly, increasing the db on the middle pickup for Spank-4 enables it to cut through the mix much better rather than getting buried in the bass players tone. As I tweaked workbench on my computer, I had the variax playing through the Bose with no amp or coloration. This really led me to appreciate how great the guitar models are capable of sounding before you mask their root tone with podxt amps/effects. I was especially impressed with the tone for Reso-5. You can hear and feel the "wood" in that tone even though you know that you are playing through a totally digital environment. Unfortunately, now that I'm happy with my new guitar models, I'm not happy with all of my old patches and plan to rebuild from the ground up during the holiday break. My goal is to add back the amp/effects without masking the generic tone of the different guitar models so much.

The next project that I gave to the guitar tech is to do a variax electronics transplant into one of my SRV replicas. This will be the ultimate gigging guitar, allowing me to play roots blues through the passive texas specials and then everything else through the active variax saddles. I'll no longer have bar patrons come up during breaks to ask where are the guitar pickups, although they might ask how I pulled all those tone/tuning changes from a fender strat. I'm using the graph tech saddles on that one as well but I think the stock tremolo will work. For the first time, the SRV "custom" sticker parallel to the bridge will not be an exaggeration.

Hey Scott,

Thanks for this detailed report. Ain't Workbench da coolest?! I'm a 'set of strings per gig' guy myself and never even considered swapping out the saddles, for fear that I'd be causing more problems than I solved...

I gotta ask - Where's your tech (Tracy Longo?) located and what would it cost me to have the same done to my Strat?

I like a new set of strings per gig but I also like to continue using that same set until the next gig comes up. We sometimes play two nights in a row and I never thought that a set of strings could sound great beyond one gig until I tried Firewire strings. They're kind of expensive but they sound great through a few gigs and they're the best strings I've ever used. Check them out at http://www.firewirestrings.net/
I think Tracy charged me $150 for swapping out the saddles. He is located in Ventura CA and can be reached through http://members.aol.com/gtctracy/.

Tracy Longo finished the Variax 500 brain transplant into one of my relic'd Fender SRV strats. Check out the pictures here http://innarudemood.com/photos-group-28.html

Wow.

Wow.

I've rarely - if ever - seen anything that I'm so freakin' jealous of.

Wow.

Scott,

Man, you are FULL SPEED AHEAD!

Great site, band, pics, gear, attitude...

Rock ON!

Mike

Or another direction - RMC equipped birdfish.


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