Thank you for creating these sounds and demonstrating how you got there, Richie. Still heightening my interest in the Variax itself. Instead of a neutral body setting, I would have elected to use the body of an ES-335, since the body that Brian May built features a hollow cavity in it. He was intending to carve out an f-hole, but never got around to it before he started taking it out on stage and into the studio.
Definitely the best Brian May HD500 tone I've heard. Great video, super informative and easy to follow. Awesome job man. I'll be making this patch tomorrow.
+joe threlfall oh yeah, Joe....your out of tune guitar along with your incessant mumbling in your video really cleared up how Brian May is supposed to sound. Try a little humility and respect with your Red Special!
Awesome demo! 'Just bought the Pod HD500X to use with my JTV-59 and DT-25. How long did it take you to become fluent with the Workbench software for the JTV and editing software for the HD500X? Keep the tutorials coming!!
The software is really easy to use. Everything is just point and click. The only tricky concept is sending and receiving presets from the software to the hardware. Until you hit "upload to variax" or "send selected to pod," the preset only exists on the computer. Once you get used to that, it's really easy.
Another great vid !! So I see what you mean, tone is different, then again your not playing what you did in other vid. It sounds through my TV stereo system more processed than the other video. I got a great deal on a open box L2M so now I'll have 2 L2's !! I guess I can run them in stereo. Looking forward to more of your videos, Thanks !!
Could you try to create classic Slash tone..example you could be mine from illusion albums and nightrain from afd album that would be fucking gr8. Btw have you ever try It hd500x using dt25 AMP ? Just wondering how much have to tweak patch between lt2 vs dt amps...?
I do have one for the Helix, but I'm hesitant to share it. People didn't love this sound on the customtone site because the preset is only half of it. You kinda need the Variax or a Red Special to get the full effect.
Richie Castellano iv set my variax up as per your instruction so I'm good to go 😉 I have tried myself basing it on what you have done here but it's not quite right 😕 be scouse and share it with a brother. Happy new year from Liverpool, England.
Richie - Any particular reason you've opted to go full-range only? I have a DT-25 for live work and may get a FR at some point in the future. Ideally, I'd like to switch between the two for my gigs. Any advice on how to route acoustic guitar to one analog output and thru the Line6 connector to the DT-25 would be appreciated! Now if can do Boston and VanHagar-era tutorials and maybe a Brad Paislry, I'd be over the moon! Thanks for the great tutorials!
2GoldensTosa This is what they sent me. I find it's very important to make your presets with whatever your speaker system will be. Sounds I made with my studio speakers didn't necessarily translate well to the full range system. It's better to tweak it on the final medium.
Nice vid . .I 've had the Vetta, Vetta II, POD HD 500, DT25 and eventually got rid of them all. I have found Line 6 gear to be ultimately disappointing in the end. The POD especially as the DSP limit was not hard to hit. Line 6 gimped the unit with a very weak chip, which is the shame of it. I'm a big Brain May fan, have a Red Special. I wish you would've played your Red Special in this video as a comparison to the Variax. The undistorted guitar sound in the beginning sounded like the Line 6 Resonator. I have an old Variax 700. Nice work Richie, you got real close to Brian's sound. I've been looking at the Kemper . .pretty interesting gear and it sounds real good, at least on TH-cam. Cheers.
Hey Russ, if you like Brian May, I have a few videos on my channel of me playing the Red Special. My Bohemian Rhapsody cover has a good red special tone. But even using that, it takes a lot of coaxing. I've been using an HD500 on tour for 3 years now, and I've never hit the DSP limit. You must have been doing some pretty heavy duty processing. The HD500X has more DSP than the HD500 if that makes a difference to you. I think in 2015, all of the amp modelers sound much better than they did when they first came out. The Kemper, AxeFX, Eleven, and Pod all sound good to me. It's just a matter of how long you're willing to sit there to get what you want out of it. I think my favorite thing about Line 6 gear is how easy it is to program. I can make a patch in under a minute. On my old rig, it took me way longer and it was a drag to program new sounds. Thanks for watching the videos. Let me know what you end up getting!
Richie Castellano Thanks for the response . . I bought the POD HD 500 because Line 6 was pushing the "dual amp" capacity of the unit. When I did use 2 amp models I could only add a few effects to the chain and from what I saw in forums and online many people were hammering Line 6 about this, and deservedly so. So Line 6 issues the POD HD 500X with a 20% increase in dsp I had to fork out another $500 for it. I can't help but feel resentful for such a crass move by Line 6. They need to do what Cliff at Fractal has done and have 2 dsp chips in the unit. I did love the Vetta II and was hoping that the DT25 amps would be like them, they weren't. I wonder if you always play thru the speaker you use in the video or if you ever use your POD rig thru a real amp. I've seen bands use the POD thru FoH systems with no amps onstage and it sounds OK but it doesn't feel the same, if you know what I mean. There is no fullness to the live experience when this happens. I'm glad you are happy with your rig and you do make it sound pretty good. Currently I have 2 Vox AC15c1x amps and bunch of pedals. I was trying to go analog as much as possible. And I'm sure you know that once you start to buy effects pedals it can take on a life of its own and really get away from you. :) It's an imperfect world. Cheers.
When I play live, I have to play through the band's backline cabinets. I have a matrix gt1000fx which works great with the pod. Since the rest of the band are using real amps, it gives me some volume on stage so I don't get buried.
Richie, I got the POD500X and L2M. Went to go hook it up and ??? What are you using to connect from POD to the L2M ? I can't believe LINE6 doesn't include the correct cable .. I'm already getting upset and haven;t even powered it on yet.
Oh wait i have two l2. So i come out the pod via the L6 then into the l2 then i guess out the l2 into the other l2 ? I got two L2 so i could run in stereo.
BostonMikeMarauder I only have one, but I found this in the L2 manual: If a second L2t is connected via L6 LINK, stereo signals will be split automatically between the two speakers. So pod out into speaker 1 (this will be Left) Then speaker out into speaker 2. (this will automatically configure to be right.
That's not necessarily true. Many of the Queen guitar parts were recorded through a non-Vox solid state amplifier that John Deacon built for Brian May. I think the treble booster is more of a key ingredient. Without a treble booster a Vox AC-30 sounds nothing like Queen. On my Bohemian Rhapsody video I did use an AC-30 with the Brian May Treble booster, and it did sounds pretty close. But I've done other projects that required a Queen tone and I've also gotten close with modeling amps. The point of this video is to try to get as close as possible with the Dream Rig. While it's hard to compete with the real thing, the benefit of this rig is that you can get in the ballpark with many different classic tones, and you can do it without having to bring a ton of gear to your gigs.
the amp be can other, but the simulation speaker Ac-30 not, I have seen work in this brian may tone, I have digitech BM and two Dimarzio BM in my strat, see my Brian tone in my videos, thank you.
I tried to watch your video, but for some reason it says "unplayable." Anyway, I still think you're missing the point here. In 2014-2015 modeled amp simulators have come a long way. The fact that you can get this specific tone out of a digital rig shows major improvement since the early days of amp modelers. Many home studios don't have the luxury of cranking tube amps for recordings, and many gigging guitarists don't have the luxury of bringing 4 amps and 10 guitars to every gig. This is an excellent alternative to recreating the sound of a miked amplifier. To say that you can't get close is a sort of an elitist mentality and in most cases people who trash digital guitar technology are more used to using their eyes than their ears when it comes to gear.
Richie, you ROCK!!!!!!
Thank You for all the QUEEN content in your channel..
Thank you for creating these sounds and demonstrating how you got there, Richie. Still heightening my interest in the Variax itself.
Instead of a neutral body setting, I would have elected to use the body of an ES-335, since the body that Brian May built features a hollow cavity in it. He was intending to carve out an f-hole, but never got around to it before he started taking it out on stage and into the studio.
Definitely the best Brian May HD500 tone I've heard. Great video, super informative and easy to follow. Awesome job man. I'll be making this patch tomorrow.
a bm guitar a treble booster an ac30 is what i use up full. this sound isnt even close
+joe threlfall oh yeah, Joe....your out of tune guitar along with your incessant mumbling in your video really cleared up how Brian May is supposed to sound.
Try a little humility and respect with your Red Special!
Excellent work, Mr. Wizard!
Wow - great video with such a lot of information. Thanks!
Well done! Must have taken a lot of time to nail this on the head as you did.
As promised: line6.com/customtone/profile/RichieCastellano/
Excellent video, Richie! I've just picked up the HD500X and I'm scouring for ideas. Thanks!
Just superb!
Just awesome ! I would love to see Møre these kind of videos.
What an incredibly informative video.
Wonderful!
Thank you very much Mr. Castellano
Excellent work. Sounds close.
Awesome demo! 'Just bought the Pod HD500X to use with my JTV-59 and DT-25. How long did it take you to become fluent with the Workbench software for the JTV and editing software for the HD500X? Keep the tutorials coming!!
The software is really easy to use. Everything is just point and click. The only tricky concept is sending and receiving presets from the software to the hardware. Until you hit "upload to variax" or "send selected to pod," the preset only exists on the computer. Once you get used to that, it's really easy.
incredible job !!
Any chance you can do one of these for Vito Bratta's sound?
Another great vid !!
So I see what you mean, tone is different, then again your not playing what you did in other vid.
It sounds through my TV stereo system more processed than the other video.
I got a great deal on a open box L2M so now I'll have 2 L2's !! I guess I can run them in stereo.
Looking forward to more of your videos,
Thanks !!
Could you try to create classic Slash tone..example you could be mine from illusion albums and nightrain from afd album that would be fucking gr8. Btw have you ever try It hd500x using dt25 AMP ? Just wondering how much have to tweak patch between lt2 vs dt amps...?
Pretty amazing, can you do it for helix 😀
I do have one for the Helix, but I'm hesitant to share it. People didn't love this sound on the customtone site because the preset is only half of it. You kinda need the Variax or a Red Special to get the full effect.
Richie Castellano iv set my variax up as per your instruction so I'm good to go 😉 I have tried myself basing it on what you have done here but it's not quite right 😕 be scouse and share it with a brother. Happy new year from Liverpool, England.
Ac30 Helix love to have your helix Brian may tone ,to use with my helix and red special guitar.🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
Richie, i do have both, plz share with me @ antonacci.roberto@gmail.com , thanks!
richieeeeeee cmon, give us Helix version :D
Wow!! Thanks man!
Richie I just got a 500x because I can’t afford a helix. How far away is the 500x sounds compared to the helix?
amazing!!
Richie - Any particular reason you've opted to go full-range only? I have a DT-25 for live work and may get a FR at some point in the future. Ideally, I'd like to switch between the two for my gigs. Any advice on how to route acoustic guitar to one analog output and thru the Line6 connector to the DT-25 would be appreciated! Now if can do Boston and VanHagar-era tutorials and maybe a Brad Paislry, I'd be over the moon! Thanks for the great tutorials!
2GoldensTosa This is what they sent me. I find it's very important to make your presets with whatever your speaker system will be. Sounds I made with my studio speakers didn't necessarily translate well to the full range system. It's better to tweak it on the final medium.
Are the tones stored in the line6 cloud?
Nice vid . .I 've had the Vetta, Vetta II, POD HD 500, DT25 and eventually got rid of them all. I have found Line 6 gear to be ultimately disappointing in the end. The POD especially as the DSP limit was not hard to hit. Line 6 gimped the unit with a very weak chip, which is the shame of it. I'm a big Brain May fan, have a Red Special. I wish you would've played your Red Special in this video as a comparison to the Variax. The undistorted guitar sound in the beginning sounded like the Line 6 Resonator. I have an old Variax 700. Nice work Richie, you got real close to Brian's sound. I've been looking at the Kemper . .pretty interesting gear and it sounds real good, at least on TH-cam. Cheers.
Hey Russ, if you like Brian May, I have a few videos on my channel of me playing the Red Special. My Bohemian Rhapsody cover has a good red special tone. But even using that, it takes a lot of coaxing.
I've been using an HD500 on tour for 3 years now, and I've never hit the DSP limit. You must have been doing some pretty heavy duty processing. The HD500X has more DSP than the HD500 if that makes a difference to you. I think in 2015, all of the amp modelers sound much better than they did when they first came out. The Kemper, AxeFX, Eleven, and Pod all sound good to me. It's just a matter of how long you're willing to sit there to get what you want out of it. I think my favorite thing about Line 6 gear is how easy it is to program. I can make a patch in under a minute. On my old rig, it took me way longer and it was a drag to program new sounds.
Thanks for watching the videos. Let me know what you end up getting!
Richie Castellano Thanks for the response . . I bought the POD HD 500 because Line 6 was pushing the "dual amp" capacity of the unit. When I did use 2 amp models I could only add a few effects to the chain and from what I saw in forums and online many people were hammering Line 6 about this, and deservedly so. So Line 6 issues the POD HD 500X with a 20% increase in dsp I had to fork out another $500 for it. I can't help but feel resentful for such a crass move by Line 6. They need to do what Cliff at Fractal has done and have 2 dsp chips in the unit. I did love the Vetta II and was hoping that the DT25 amps would be like them, they weren't. I wonder if you always play thru the speaker you use in the video or if you ever use your POD rig thru a real amp. I've seen bands use the POD thru FoH systems with no amps onstage and it sounds OK but it doesn't feel the same, if you know what I mean. There is no fullness to the live experience when this happens. I'm glad you are happy with your rig and you do make it sound pretty good. Currently I have 2 Vox AC15c1x amps and bunch of pedals. I was trying to go analog as much as possible. And I'm sure you know that once you start to buy effects pedals it can take on a life of its own and really get away from you. :) It's an imperfect world. Cheers.
When I play live, I have to play through the band's backline cabinets. I have a matrix gt1000fx which works great with the pod. Since the rest of the band are using real amps, it gives me some volume on stage so I don't get buried.
Richie, I got the POD500X and L2M. Went to go hook it up and ??? What are you using to connect from POD to the L2M ?
I can't believe LINE6 doesn't include the correct cable .. I'm already getting upset and haven;t even powered it on yet.
I use a standard XLR (microphone) cable.
NICE!!!!!!
could i get this sound with the 2 humbucker James Taylor vari axe model or do you need a 3 pickup model?
Yes, I'm only using the modeled pickups here, so you can absolutely get this sound with your 2 humbucker variax.
Are you related to big Paul?
Thanks Richie, So it looks like I go out the ballenced out on the back of the pod or should I be looking for 1/4" to xlr cables ?
No, there's an L6 link connection on the back of the pod. Connect that to the L6 link connection on the speaker.
Ok thanks
Oh wait i have two l2. So i come out the pod via the L6 then into the l2 then i guess out the l2 into the other l2 ?
I got two L2 so i could run in stereo.
BostonMikeMarauder I only have one, but I found this in the L2 manual: If a second L2t is connected via L6 LINK, stereo signals will be split automatically between the two speakers.
So pod out into speaker 1 (this will be Left) Then speaker out into speaker 2. (this will automatically configure to be right.
Awesome at guitar center now buying xlr cables. Thanks for help.
Nice job;-)
very cool! i wish the line 6 guitars weren't so ugly, maybe they will make their electronics available for all guitars as someday.
They make a lot of different body styles now, so if you don't like this version, you might like the others.
why arent you using the red special tgsts on your wall an also use a treble booster an a ac30 up full. your sound is not even close sorry
joe threlfall ugh...look out, we got an expert here!
dose the job tho fp :)
No Vox amp, never Brian May tone.
That's not necessarily true. Many of the Queen guitar parts were recorded through a non-Vox solid state amplifier that John Deacon built for Brian May. I think the treble booster is more of a key ingredient. Without a treble booster a Vox AC-30 sounds nothing like Queen. On my Bohemian Rhapsody video I did use an AC-30 with the Brian May Treble booster, and it did sounds pretty close. But I've done other projects that required a Queen tone and I've also gotten close with modeling amps. The point of this video is to try to get as close as possible with the Dream Rig. While it's hard to compete with the real thing, the benefit of this rig is that you can get in the ballpark with many different classic tones, and you can do it without having to bring a ton of gear to your gigs.
the amp be can other, but the simulation speaker Ac-30 not, I have seen work in this brian may tone, I have digitech BM and two Dimarzio BM in my strat, see my Brian tone in my videos, thank you.
I tried to watch your video, but for some reason it says "unplayable." Anyway, I still think you're missing the point here. In 2014-2015 modeled amp simulators have come a long way. The fact that you can get this specific tone out of a digital rig shows major improvement since the early days of amp modelers. Many home studios don't have the luxury of cranking tube amps for recordings, and many gigging guitarists don't have the luxury of bringing 4 amps and 10 guitars to every gig. This is an excellent alternative to recreating the sound of a miked amplifier. To say that you can't get close is a sort of an elitist mentality and in most cases people who trash digital guitar technology are more used to using their eyes than their ears when it comes to gear.
you could rewrite this video with Vox simucao?
Richie Castellano you email ?
BRIAN MAYBE LOL
You're such an inspiratin for me but why don't you use a "Lester" body for this model? That's the closer one to the original red Special. Cheers,
I think a Gibson Thinline body is the fitting one.
I would try both and decide! Cheers!