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Tech Tips

inSync Tech Tips cover over 3,800 music and audio topics spanning 15 years of technological development. Look here to find answers to your tech questions, cool tips and tools for making music, and more.

Guitar Tech Tips

Sep 4 2012, 12:00 AM

Line 6 Variax Expression Control

Did you know that with the latest Variax software (v1.8 at this writing), you can use the volume and tone controls on the guitar as "expression pedals," controlling up to 50 parameters simultaneously from each knob, allowing you to "morph" between POD HD settings (requires POD HD with Variax... Read more »
Aug 31 2012, 12:00 AM

Guitar and Bass

If you're a guitar player looking to be able to cover bass parts (or bass range parts) while still playing your regular 6-string guitar, consider the Boss Super Octave pedal. The Super Octave has a unique "Range" setting that allows you to specify exactly which notes on the fretboard will be... Read more »
Aug 23 2012, 12:00 AM

Cool Tools: Mighty Bright Lights

Shed a little light on the subject! Whether you're lighting up sheet music on a stand, illuminating the back of a rack, or lighting a pedalboard — or in search of any other illumination solution, Mighty Bright clip-on lights are a quick, easy, and affordable solution! Models are available... Read more »
Aug 20 2012, 12:00 AM

Amp Won’t Power On, Pt. 2

Continuing our series on troubleshooting tube instrument amplifiers, what to do when your amp won't power up at all? The second consideration when troubleshooting this problem: If the fuse keeps blowing, the output and rectifier tubes are the next suspects. Preamp tubes don't often blow fuses... Read more »
Aug 17 2012, 12:00 AM

Amp Won’t Power On

Continuing our series on troubleshooting tube instrument amplifiers, what to do when your amp won't power up at all? The first thing to do is to check the fuse. Replace the fuse if its blown and try again. If a replacement fuse fixes the issue, you may have experienced a power surge or some... Read more »
Aug 16 2012, 12:00 AM

Tube Amp Troubleshooting

Our Tech Tip from a couple of days ago dealt with troubleshooting a tube amplifier that developed noise issues. As we said in that Tip, the first thing to try is to turn all gain, channel volume, reverb level and master volume controls all the way off. If the noise persists, the problem is... Read more »
Aug 14 2012, 12:00 AM

Amp Noise Troubleshooting

If your tube amp starts developing noise issues, the first things to suspect are the tubes. When troubleshooting, here's the first thing to try: Turn all gain, channel volume, reverb level and master volume controls all the way off. If the amp still makes noise, the problem is very likely with... Read more »
Aug 13 2012, 12:00 AM

Mountain Lion Compatibility: Native Instruments

Native Instruments has found in testing that some USB devices are experiencing issues with Mac OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion). At this time, they are working with Apple to resolve the issue. According to NI, these devices are affected by USB compatibility issues when used with Mountain Lion: AUDIO 2... Read more »
Aug 6 2012, 12:00 AM

DD7, Tap Tempo, plus Expression?

Q: A while back, you ran a Tech Tip on using an expression pedal with a delay stompbox to control parameters. My favorite delay, the Boss DD7, can accept an expression pedal. But, I want to do tap tempo as well as the expression pedal. On the DD7, there's only one control jack, which can take... Read more »
Aug 2 2012, 12:00 AM

POD Firmware

Line 6 has released the free version 2.0 firmware update for the POD HD300 and POD HD400. The new firmware includes five new HD guitar amps, two new Plexi amps, an HD bass amp, eight new microphone choices, a vintage mic preamp, the Hard Gate effect, and the ability to bypass the speaker... Read more »
Jul 31 2012, 12:00 AM

More Pedalboard Sticky Stuff?

Q: I want to mount my new pedals (purchased from Sweetwater, of course) on my pedalboard, but I've used up all the "hook-and-loop" tape that came with the board. Where can I get more? A: You should be able to find a variety of suitable "hook-and-loop" tape products (sorry, we can't use the... Read more »
Jul 25 2012, 12:00 AM

No Input with Guitar Interface and iPhone

Q: I have a little guitar interface box that I connect to my iPhone for practicing. It hooks up to the iPhone headphone jack with a 1/8" cable. It was working fine, but now I can't get the guitar signal to show up inside my iPhone. What happened? A: We're betting that you switched cables and... Read more »
Jul 11 2012, 12:00 AM

Delay Levels and Expression Pedals

Need to use multiple delay settings, but your delay stompbox doesn't support preset storage? Here's a manual solution that we've been finding works very well: choose a delay pedal that either has a built-in tap tempo switch or a dedicated jack for tap tempo input as well as an input for an... Read more »
Jul 5 2012, 12:00 AM

sE Electronics Egg Mids

Q: Why does the sE Electronic Egg monitor system have a Mid EQ control? I've never seen one on a monitor before. A: The 3-position Mid EQ switch on the Eggs provides slightly shaped midrange for comparison purposes when tracking, mixing, and mastering. In the middle position, the response is... Read more »
Jun 29 2012, 12:00 AM

Cool Tool: Tone Preservation

If you're using more than a pedal or two in your guitar or bass rig, then you may be familiar with sonic destruction resulting from "tone suck" — the loss of your precious tone due to long cable runs, pedal circuitry, loading, and other problems. But now we have the cure! The RJM Music... Read more »
May 17 2012, 12:00 AM

How Pedal Stacking Effects Tone

Q: Good article on the pedal stacking. In your experience with professional guitarists have you seen the best results with higher gain pedals before medium gain pedals in the sequence or to sequence from lower gain pedals into higher gain pedals? A: In our experience, it works better to run... Read more »
May 16 2012, 12:00 AM

Easy Guitar and Bass Adjustments

This one simple but often ignored or overlooked tip will make setting up your guitar or bass so much easier and will also prevent damage to bridge and tailpiece components when making adjustments. Loosen the strings before making bridge and tailpiece adjustments! It only takes a second to... Read more »
May 15 2012, 12:00 AM

Guitar Tuning Tip

Literally...for maximum tuning stability on a stringed instrument such as a guitar (acoustic or electric) or bass, approach the final in-tune pitch from below. If you tune a string down, it's likely that there will be extra slack caught in the string, and when it releases, the string will end... Read more »
May 14 2012, 12:00 AM

Expression Pedal for Line 6 Devices

Looking for an expression pedal for your Line 6 device? Not all pedals are created equal, and some definitely work better than others with Line 6 gear. We highly recommend the Mission Engineering EP1-L6. This heavy-duty, made-in-the-USA pedal is designed specifically for controlling parameters... Read more »
May 9 2012, 12:00 AM

Fulltone Clyde Standard True Bypass?

Q: Is the Fulltone Clyde Standard wah pedal a true-bypass pedal, or does it have a buffer? A: The Clyde Standard and the Clyde Deluxe are both true-bypass pedals.

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