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Piezo rattle or buzz affecting the sound of my JTV-69. Anyone else? Plus is there a neck variance on JTV-69s?

support@line6.com — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 22:31:07 GMT

I recently bought a JTV-69 and find myself still struggling to love it as much as I do my PRS/GK-3/GR-55 setup. First of all, I guess I'm just used to the slimmer neck on my Paul Reed Smith which isn't as fat as the JTV. Second of all, there is a kind of ringing or clanging or buzziness, for lack of a better word, that just seems to permeate the sound of the JTV-69 and shows itself particularly in certain models and in particular on the 5th and 6th strings from the 5th fret and up. For instance, when I play one of the Les Paul models, the tone doesn't sound like the tone coming off a fixed bridge guitar. It has a buzz-like quality that is okay with a Strat model but completely ruins any illusion I try to sustain of playing a Les Paul. I talked to the salesman at GC that I purchased this from and tried a candy red JTV-69 at the store and not only did I not hear the buzz but the neck didn't feel as fat as the sunburst JTV-69 I have.

Is anyone else experiencing where the JTV is too resonant or buzzy? Maybe I just need a decent setup to be done on the guitar. Still, I can't get over how different the candy red JTV I played felt. Does anyone know if there might be differences between production runs on these guitars?

Piezo rattle or buzz affecting the sound of my JTV-69. Anyone else? Plus is there a neck variance on JTV-69s?

support@line6.com — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 22:30:30 GMT

Piezo rattle or buzz affecting the sound of my JTV-69. Anyone else? Plus is there a neck variance on JTV-69s?

support@line6.com — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 22:30:24 GMT

Piezo rattle or buzz affecting the sound of my JTV-69. Anyone else? Plus is there a neck variance on JTV-69s?

support@line6.com — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 22:29:21 GMT

Re: Can the JTV-69 do the Fripp tuning (or the New Standard Tuning)?

support@line6.com — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 18:55:46 GMT

I finally did get my hands on a JTV-69 and, yes, you can use that tuning on it but there's sort of a catch. You have to crank the volume to your headphones or speakers as the sound of the guitar strings can blend with the altered tuning making it sound warbly and distorted. I tried recording and the recording only picks up the altered tuning sound so it works fine though disconerting to the ears when playing if the volume isn't loud enough. Also, not every guitar sound really works with this tuning especially as you move up the neck. Forget the 12 strings. The Les Pauls and some of the single string acoustics work pretty well.

JTV 69 won't accept power from HD500

support@line6.com — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 12:26:55 GMT

I bought a new JTV 69 from Guitar Center in NYC yesterday. First of all, when I took the guitar out of it's soft case, I found that there were scratches below the tone knobs. Not terrible gashes but still when you buy a new guitar, I would think there wouldn't be any scratches.

More so the problem is that when I connect the JTV 69 to my HD500 via the VDI cable, there is no power supplied to the guitar even though the JTV 69 manual says that the HD500 will power the guitar. You hear the magnetic pickups coming through this connection but pushing the model selector button has no effect. I have an old Variax 300 which powers from the HD500 using the VDI cable so I know the HD500 works though I should say that the Variax 300 sounds warbly through the VDI connection so I just use it ot power the 300 while I connect a guitar cable for sound instead. So as far as powering the JTV, am I missing something here? I am waiting for the JTV battery to charge to try this out but for home use I want to power the guitar via the HD500.

I'm wondering if it's possible that this could be an issue with the HD500. I've tried two different VDI cables with the HD500 and my Variax 300 sound warbles through the connection but at least receives power. The sound on the 300 is fine through the 1/4" conneciton to the HD500 while being powered via the VDI connection. I would think the JTV would at least power via the HD500 since the Variax 300 powers up.

Any ideas?

Re: Can the JTV-69 do the Fripp tuning (or the New Standard Tuning)?

support@line6.com — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:55:13 GMT

Fripp's been using that tuning since 1985 so he might have been using it for more than half of his career by now. It works well in an ensemble group of all guitarists where you would have four parts for guitar in different ranges as it expands the bottom and high range of the guitar. It's actually closer to a classical string instrument tuning of 5ths rather than the standard guitar tuning of mostly 4ths. Anyway, the reason I wanted to know if the Variax could do it is so I didn't have to dedicate a guitar to that tuning but pull it up when needed. I ordered a JTV-69 and am looking forward to trying all sorts of tunings with it.

Which color to order non-U.S. JTV-69 in?

support@line6.com — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:40:59 GMT

I know this is just a matter of taste but I'm curious to know what color in the Korean-made JTV-69 people have been ordering? The choices are 3-tone Sunburst, Black, Candy Apple Red, or Lake Placid Blue. I'm leaning towards the 3-tone but haven't seen it. The only color I've seen in person is the Candy Apple Red and it actually looks better than I thought it would. Any opinions?

Re: Can the JTV-69 do the Fripp tuning (or the New Standard Tuning)?

support@line6.com — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:34:13 GMT

Well, I guess I'm replying to my own post. I talked to someone at Line 6 and told them the tuning and they tried it on a JTV-69 there and played it for me over the phone. Not a great sound source to determine but the tech told me that it sounded fine with no warbling so based on that I decided to order it. Fortunately Guitar Center has a 30-day return policy in case it doesn't work well with that tuning.

Which color to order non-U.S. JTV-69 in?

support@line6.com — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:23:24 GMT

Hi,

I decided to purchase the non-U.S. made Line 6 JTV-69 from Guitar Center and the GC near me only has the candy red model to show. The candy red actually looks better than I thought it would as it has a nice sublte glitter sheen to it but I wish I had the placid blue, black and 3-tone sunburst to compare with. I'm leaning towards the 3-tone though I did like the red and if the blue had the same sheen that could be really nice as well. I know this is the least important aspect of buying a JTV-69 but if I'm going to live with this guitar, I might as well pick a good color. I know this is a question of opinion but I'd like to hear what others who've see the different colors think.