Question - Line 6 Tone Port Ux2

Ok - I think I may have jumped the gun a bit.

I wanted to be able to record guitar parts (and the tone that comes from my amp) to my pc, but I cant seem to do this very easily. Im really hoping that I'm just misunderstanding something.

Let me list all the stuff I have to work with first.

I have a digital multi-track recorder, its a Yamaha MD4SE - here is a link to its owners manual -
Yamaha MD4SE Manual

Line 6 Tone Port UX2

PC sound card - Soundblaster Live Audigy 2

Microphone - Shure Beta 58A

Guitar Amp - VOX AD30VT

I also have some software - Ableton Live 7


Again, all I wanted to do was make high quality recordings to my pc, so that I could then monitor them and play other parts to them. Laying down multiple tracks in Ableton.

Ok, so i started off trying to hook up the monitor out of the mixer to my sound card. The manuals for the recorder/mixer says that using the headphone jack (output) in the front of the unit is the same signal as the stereo monitor out on the back of the mixer. If I plug a 1/4 inch jack into that and then try to connect it to my pc ( the other end is 1/8 inch), I have one of two problems. If I connect to the "Line In" on the sound card, I get no sound whatsoever coming to the computer, even if I select it as the recording input in the sound option in control panel. It cant be heard. If I connect it to the "Mic" input on the sound card, its as if the mixer is giving it an amplified signal, and when I try to monitor it in Ableton and get a good recording level it is distorting WAY before a good level is achieved. This is reguardless of wether or not I use the +10 db boost option for the input in windows.
Was this becuase that output (on the front for headphones) of the mixer is the same signal as the one on the back of the unit BUT its "powered" and not passive, creating that distortion?

I was thinking, why dont I just mic my amp and then send that to the sound card, but again I have the problem of getting the sound into my PC, as I the input doesnt seem to be working correctly for me.

Well like an idiot, I threw money at the problem. I thought if I got the Line 6 Tone pro all my problems would be solved. I thought it being a USB device that if I used it, I would simply play the guitar through it, and I could monitor the sound "live" in Ableton. Well, you cant to do that according to everything I've read. In fact the first thing in the manuals says its important not to connect speakers to your sound card, but rather the device itself. By the way this thing came with some software that has Amp models, Pre-Amp Models, and FX Models. The software seems good and the sounds it makes sound AWESOME through the headphones on the Tone Pro. Comes with a ton of preset sounds, makes ya sound just like whoever, and they have an online database that you can get more from.

Does this mean I MUST use external monitor speakers to hear what Im playing through the Tone Pro while recording it in Ableton? Cant I listen to it through my pc speakers as I play though it? If not, that really sucks. I dont have have the money throw down on some powered monitor speakers when Ive got a perfectly good set on my pc, and two guitar amps.


Anyways - All I want to do is get good sounding guitar sounds to my computer so I can play other stuff to them.

Realistically, I could do without this Tone Pro, I had fine tones coming out of my amp, just couldnt get them to the pc. Maybe I'll return it, unless its the best way for me to record.

Got any suggestions?

Long Introduction

Hey everyone -Just wanted to take the opportunity to introduce myself, but I thought it would be cool to give you some background and tell you how I ended up here at GMC. Its long, but you may find it interesting.

My name is Frank, I live near Cleveland, Ohio U.S.A. I work as an IT Field Engineer. I foud this site a few weeks ago and have been in love with it ever since. This is a really great site - Hats off to its creator(s).

I've had a guitar for about eight years, two of which I actually played all the time, and the rest was hit and miss. My first guitar was a very cheap Samick acoustic (I stress cheap - it was so hard to play). I eventually traded that in and bought an electric guitar, a Peavey Predator (which I still have). The first "riff" I ever learned was taught to me by my best friend - It was a 12 bar blues progression E - A - D.
He and I and a couple of other people spent every weekend playing together - two guitars, bass, drums.
I never "practiced" much then. I only goofed around during the week when I as by myself, and really tried hard on the weekends (by the way that does NOT work). If you want proof that does not work, I have to tell you we never learned a complete "cover song" as a group, and played only songs that my friend and I had arranged on guitar and written lyrics for. After a while that whole thing fizzled out, as I got a little more mature and the "extra" activities that went along with playing together got old for me.
The shame was that as I put the partying behind me, I sort of lost my interest in my guitar, I have no idea why that happened, becuase I truely love music and guitar.

The following years I was playing in spurts, and eventually put it down for years at a time. Somehwere in that time, I bought a really nice mid-range Fender acoustic/electric (which i still have and love).
The old habits I learned when I first started playing continued through those years up until recently. A really sad thing is that I've know the "proper" way to practice the entire time I've owned a guitar, I just wasn't doing it. Here is what it was like: I'd go to play my guitar, maybe pick it up to play a few riffs (not the whole arrangement) of a song or something and then somehow, I'd get side tracked to either playing something different (not following through) or playing stuff "I knew" which was "my stuff" which is basically "nothing".
I hope you understand what I'm saying by that.

In other words, I spent a LONG time, playing meaningless things that were not a cover song (that you could actually learn from) or it was a whole arrangement (because they were mine and EASY to me). You know what that equals? No progress.
I know some scale patterns, I can play all types of chords, I can bend, vibrato, slide, pick up/down/alternate, I can rip out some cool Metallica riffs, and much more, but with absolutely no structure what so ever. I've got individual skills -but not the whole package. I cant string anything together enough to do what I want to do - which is have the skills to play any style I want to learn.

Thats why I'm here.
I finally made the commitment to myself - I'm going to actually practice and "structure" my playing time so I can be as great a player as I know I am capable of.

I think Kris is so right when he says, it's not about "talent". If you want to play guitar very well you can, all you have to do is direct your efforts correctly and then commit to it. It's really cool how he made a site that proves it.

Anyways, Just thought some people might find it interesting or maybe even inspiring to hear someone elses story of how they ended up at GMC.

On another note, I came to realize recently what types of music I really enjoy to play. Dont get me wrong I have an appreciation for ALL guitar music and I've tried a little from a lot of styles, but certain styles are what I hear in my head most times. Its heavy stuff, heavy metal, hard rock etc. I love the powerful feel of that type of music, and even in those styles good arrangements have excellent mixes of style inside them.
There are way too many to list and I cant put them in any certain order but here are the bands I'm enjoying "currently": Chevelle, Metallica (old stuff), Tool, Rage Against the Machine, Velvet Revolver, Static-X, Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, Wolfmother, Heart (i have no idea why),...and the list goes on and on lol.

Oh I almost forgot, when I started to really pick up my guitar a lot recently I was craving to play my electirc. I dug it out and had to completley disassemble the bridge set-up and it took an entire day of tweaking it to get the bridge height and intonation correct. It better than when I bought it actually. I was playing with it for a few weeks, and I was just not happy with it at all anymore. I realized that it just could not be what I wanted it to be. Being that I can "afford" something better now, I went out to the local guitar super store and played about 20 guitars over a weeks time. I settled on a Jackson DXMZ. It just felt awesome every time I picked it up. I dont want to mislead anyone by saying better equipment makes you a better guitar player (it doesnt), but for me equipment made a huge difference in my playing. Mostly because I've never owned a guitar that was capable of a "good setup" and with JUMBO frets - OMG what difference in how relaxed I can play. It also sustains much better than my old guitar, and with the locking tremelo I can bang and bend like crazy on this thing and it stays in tune. I also got a new amp, a VOX AD30VT. It's a modelling amp with tubes in it. This set up SCREAMS compared to what I used to have, and I can get so many sounds from it, from blues to heavy metal. I love it !



Anyways, if your not sleeping by now - see ya around !

Frank