Flextone 3

[Jonjump]

Hi

Am a proud new owner of a flextone 3 - which I LOVE!

Pod-ui is a fantastic project. I am very keen to help with adding support for the flextone 3. I am a (retired) dev with a small amount of Rust knowledge.

My current plan is to get pod-ui running on in debug mode, plug the flextone 3 in, and see what happens. Is that a sensible plan?

regards

Jon Jump

[arteme]

Hi,

Welcome to pod-ui development! Adding Flextone III support is a wonderful idea and should be pretty straight-forward.

First off, you do not need the debug mode as such, but you need a working rust tool-chain. Please see https://github.com/arteme/pod-ui/blob/master/DEVELOPMENT.md for the first steps. You will want to look at the Flextone III docs at https://line6.com/legacy/flextoneiii, especially the MIDI Continuous Controller Reference.

Typically, adding the support will involve cloning an existing POD model and modifying the config and the UI files.

Running the project using cargo run should give you the console output, which also contains all the MIDI messages sent back and forth, which is the primary tool when adjusting the config for a new device.

I'm not sure, what device is better to start with - a POD 2.0 or a PODxt - the devices have a slightly different set of messages https://github.com/arteme/pod-ui/blob/master/core/src/midi.rs#L24 (the 6 program messages on line 17 vs the Xt... messages on line 24). The best way to check is to configure a POD 2.0 device in the settings and check, how much data does the "get edit buffer", "load patch" and "load all patches" buttons trigger. If the device starts answering with long SysEx messages, it is safe to assume it follows the POD 2.0 messaging. Otherwise, you will want to configure a PODxt. My gut feeling is that Flextone III is a part of the PODxt family as it features some controls similar to Bass PODxt.

The next thing to do it to figure out the model's family/member ids. Configure the MIDI in/out settings in the settings dialog and click Test. You will see something like this in the console output:

2026-07-08T13:53:37.925Z TRACE [pod_core::midi_io] >> [f0, 7e, 00, 06, 01, f7] len=6
2026-07-08T13:53:37.937Z TRACE [pod_core::midi_io] << [f0, 7e, 00, 06, 02, 00, 01, 0c, 03, 00, 02, 00, 00, 03, 00, 01, f7] len=17 ts=22861

The first message is the outgoing UDI (universal device inquiry) message and the next one is the incoming UDI response. The MIDI protocol is described in core/src/midi.rs and particular UDI response decoding can be found here: https://github.com/arteme/pod-ui/blob/master/core/src/midi.rs#L259. In this example, bytes 03, 00 are the family id and 02, 00 are the member id corresponding to PODxt 0x0003/0x0002 (little-endian).

From there onward, you may want to clone the mod-bassxt folder and modify the config to suit Flextone III. As I explained above, I expect this to be part of the PODxt family. If it is not, your best starting point mod-pod2. Modify the config by ripping out the controls your device doesn't have and adjusting the ones it does have...

Let me know how you get on with this and I'll be happy to help you along the way...

Cheers,
Artem

[arteme]

Here's one more thing -- straight from the Line6 own knowledge base (https://kb.line6.com/flextone-iii-faqs.md):

Q: How can I transfer sysex information from a Flextone III?

A: There are 3 special hidden functions on the Flextone III that will transmit a Sysex message that can be recorded by a MIDI application, or sent to another Flextone III amplifier.

1. Presets & Amp Setups - To transmit all of your custom presets and Amp Defaults: press and hold theTap Tempo, Comp & Mod Select buttons while powering up the amp. Connect the MIDI out of the source amp to the MIDI In of your computer or another amp. Press the Delay Select button to send the message.

2. The Whole Enchilada - To transmit the entire memory of the amplifier including your custom presets, amp setups, and DSP software, (the brains behind the operation): press and hold the Tap Tempo, Gate & Mod Select buttons while powering up the amp. Connect the MIDI out of the source amp to the MIDI In of your computer or another amp. Press the Mod Select button to send the message.

3. The Edit Buffer - To transmit the current state of the amp, press and hold theTap Tempo and any of the A, B, C or D buttons.

I wonder, what's the difference between number 1 and number 2. For this it might be useful to connect some sort of a MIDI traffic dumper to the MIDI out or your device and capture a log...

[Jonjump]

Thanks. As you suggested, I cloned bass pod xt, and changed the new module. Recognition and "test" now works. I was not surprised it was more like the pod xt; I had done a little bit of hacking around in the "line 6 edit" java. I will work on the messages next. Thanks so much for this. Regards, Jon

…

On Wed, 8 Jul 2026, 15:12 Artem Egorkine, ***@***.***> wrote: *arteme* left a comment (arteme/pod-ui#84) <#84 (comment)> Hi, Welcome to pod-ui development! Adding Flextone III support is a wonderful idea and should be pretty straight-forward. First off, you do not need the debug mode as such, but you need a working rust tool-chain. Please see https://github.com/arteme/pod-ui/blob/master/DEVELOPMENT.md for the first steps. You will want to look at the Flextone III docs at https://line6.com/legacy/flextoneiii, especially the MIDI Continuous Controller Reference <https://l6c-acdn2.line6.net/data/6/0a060b316ac34f0593546810e/application/pdf/MIDI%20Continuous%20Controller%20Reference%20(%20Rev%20F%20).pdf> . Typically, adding the support will involve cloning an existing POD model and modifying the config and the UI files. Running the project using cargo run should give you the console output, which also contains all the MIDI messages sent back and forth, which is the primary tool when adjusting the config for a new device. I'm not sure, what device is better to start with - a POD 2.0 or a PODxt - the devices have a slightly different set of messages https://github.com/arteme/pod-ui/blob/master/core/src/midi.rs#L24 (the 6 program messages on line 17 vs the Xt... messages on line 24). The best way to check is to configure a POD 2.0 device in the settings and check, how much data does the "get edit buffer", "load patch" and "load all patches" buttons trigger. If the device starts answering with long SysEx messages, it is safe to assume it follows the POD 2.0 messaging. Otherwise, you will want to configure a PODxt. My gut feeling is that Flextone III is a part of the PODxt family as it features some controls similar to Bass PODxt. The next thing to do it to figure out the model's family/member ids. Configure the MIDI in/out settings in the settings dialog and click Test. You will see something like this in the console output: 2026-07-08T13:53:37.925Z TRACE [pod_core::midi_io] >> [f0, 7e, 00, 06, 01, f7] len=6 2026-07-08T13:53:37.937Z TRACE [pod_core::midi_io] << [f0, 7e, 00, 06, 02, 00, 01, 0c, 03, 00, 02, 00, 00, 03, 00, 01, f7] len=17 ts=22861 The first message is the outgoing UDI (universal device inquiry) message and the next one is the incoming UDI response. The MIDI protocol is described in core/src/midi.rs and particular UDI response decoding can be found here: https://github.com/arteme/pod-ui/blob/master/core/src/midi.rs#L259. In this example, bytes 03, 00 are the family id and 02, 00 are the member id corresponding to PODxt 0x0003/0x0002 (little-endian). From there onward, you may want to clone the mod-bassxt folder and modify the config to suit Flextone III. As I explained above, I expect this to be part of the PODxt family. If it is not, your best starting point mod-pod2. Modify the config by ripping out the controls your device doesn't have and adjusting the ones it does have... Let me know how you get on with this and I'll be happy to help you along the way... Cheers, Artem — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#84?email_source=notifications&email_token=ABHKPYFPO4G34SIB6FE37Q35DZJFRA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTIOJRGU3TAMRQGA22M4TFMFZW63VGMF2XI2DPOKSWK5TFNZ2KYZTPN52GK4S7MNWGSY3L#issuecomment-4915702005>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ABHKPYEEBJPDTDFZI7Y2W4D5DZJFRAVCNFSNUABFKJSXA33TNF2G64TZHM2DINZSHA2DMOJXHNEXG43VMU5TIOBSGY3TSMJRGAYKC5QC> . You are receiving this because you authored the thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>