Line-6 UX1

I have just purchased a Line-6 UX1 interface to allow recording of electric guitar (this was a late birthday present!). The UX1 is a USB interface with inputs for guitar, microphone and line level (for keyboards etc.).

The interface comes with the POD Farm software which is basically an implementation of the POD modelling software running on the PC. POD Farm gives all of the usual Line-6 implementations of virtual amps, cabinets, speakers and stomp boxes provided by the hardware POD family.

So far I have not done any serious recording with the UX1 but I have auditioned some of the sounds and, to my ears at least, they are very good. It more interesting to practice when playing through a (virtual) Marshall stack than through my crappy practice amp 🙂

It Might Get Loud

I have finally got around to buying the “It Might Get Loud” DVD. This features The Edge, Jimmy Page and Jack White telling the story of the electric guitar from their own unique points of view. There is some interesting stuff on the DVD including some fantastic guitar playing both with the guys together and via archive footage.

The main part of the DVD is set in a warehouse type building with some armchairs in the centre. The amount of guitars, amps and effects that these three guys can bring togeather is amazing!

One of the things that caught my interest was the fact that some of the guitars played by White were of very low quality. His main stage instrument with the White Stripes is a plastic bodied mail order catalogue “own brand” very cheap guitar! If he can make a career with that then there is hope yet for me and my Chinese made Squire Strat!

Truss Rod Adjustment

I played my acoustic guitar for the first time in a while this weekend and noticed that it was suffering from fret buzz all the way up the neck. I am sure that it was not like that the last time I played it!

A little investigation, with a capo at the first fret and fretting a string at the 14th fret showed no clearance at all at the 6th and 7th frets. Looks like the truss rod needed adjusting to give a little neck relief. I have never attempted to adjust the truss rod on any of my guitars before but there has to be a first time for everything!

I took the adjustment one step at a time; slacking the strings, loosening the truss rod by 1/8 turn, re-tuning and checking. I went through this cycle three times before I was happy. There is still a little buzz on the D string around the 10th fret when playing hard but I am going to let things settle down for a few weeks before I make any more adjustments.

The guitar now plays great again. All in all, a good couple of hours work.