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Line 6 POD XT
Variax 700
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By Andy Z - June 2004
What do you do when you're at rehearsal, recording some demos or doing some songwriting and you realize that a part would sound great with an acoustic type of sound. You can simulate some pretty decent acoustic type sounds using your electric guitar to get you by. In all reality, we're not talking about duplicating some typical acoustic guitars. (I'm using only the Variax's electric sounds, to live within the restrictions you'd have if you only had a standard electric with you. The Variax is, of course, also capable of duplicating the sound of an acoustic guitar with much more accuracy than what we're going for here. See the Line 6 web site's Variax pages for more info about its unique acoustic guitar modeling capabilities.)
We're really going to get something sounding much more like an electric/acoustic type of guitar. A sound probably more steely than woody sounding, but it will get the flavor across in the event you just need it for a minimal part. Who knows it could be a major part, if it's really working for you!
For the purposes of this example, I'll be using a PODxt displaying the settings using the GuitarPort software. I've also included MP3's, so you can hear the differences explained below. The audio samples were played on a Line 6 Variax 500 guitar.
USING SINGLE-COIL PICKUPS: In this sample, I'm using the Variax Spank model on pickup position 3 (middle pickup). The amp model is the 1967 Class A-30 Top Boost using No Cabinet. The picture below shows you where to roughly set your EQ and compression. By using an amp that typically has a lively and responsive characteristic, you can sort of get the feel of an acoustic guitar's EQ patterns. Also, by adding a bit of Drive it gives the impression of heavier strumming on the higher strings. The slightly higher mid and treble has a bit of the upper register woody timbre, without sounding too britle.
The patch details you don't see are as follows: A.I.R.=75%; Reverb set to Medium Hall with Predelay=76%, Decay=87%, Tone=43%, Mix=26%, Config=POST; Delay set to Digital Delay at 100ms with Feedback=10%, Bass and Treble=50% each, Mix=11%, Config=POST. The Modulation is turned off, but to get a nice Chorus effect added in, set it to Sine Chorus at a speed of 0.57Hz with Depth=55%, Bass=50%, Treble=79%, Mix=35%, Config=POST.
Click here for the Acoustic Top Boost MP3 sample
Acoustic TopBoost Setting...
USING HUMBUCKER PICKUPS: In this sample, I'm using the Variax Les Paul model on the pickup position 3 (middle pickup). The amp model is the Line 6 Piezacoustic 2 using No Cabinet. The picture below shows you where to roughly set your EQ and compression. By using an amp that typically has a brighter characteristic, you can sort of get a humbucker guitar to get some woody tone to it. Also, by adding a bit of Drive it gives the impression of heavier strumming on the higher strings. The slight Drive breakup has a bit of the upper register woody timbre, without sounding like distortion.
The patch details you don't see are as follows: A.I.R.=85%; Reverb set to Medium Hall with Predelay=76%, Decay=87%, Tone=43%, Mix=26%, Config=POST; Delay set to Digital Delay at 100ms with Feedback=10%, Bass and Treble=50% each, Mix=11%, Config=POST. The Modulation is turned off, but kick in the Chorus for some swirl. It's set to Sine Chorus at a speed of 0.57Hz with Depth=55%, Bass=50%, Treble=79%, Mix=35%, Config=POST.
Click here for the Acoustic Piezo HB MP3 sample
Acoustic Piezo HB Setting...
The patches for the soundbytes in this article are below. These files can be loaded into the Guitarport editor or the Line 6 Edit software. Even though these were done on the PODxt, with minimal tweaking you should get close to a decent sound if you open them up using a Flextone III, HD 147 or a Vetta.
Go to the Line 6 CustomTone page.
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