Community: Message List

Re: Why is there still no Telecaster JTV?

support@line6.com — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:58:53 GMT

You're right, I have come across a huge number of Tele transplants. My guess is it came down to a number of things:

They likely wanted to stick with 3 basic body designs, as adding a 4th would mean extra design, logistics, cost, marketing, etc.
In keeping it to 3, it would've been a choice between the Strat-like and Tele-like body. However, if the Tele body was chosen, naming it the "69" wouldn't have made sense. You could name it the "JTV-52" (which I'll refer to it as from here on out), but then you've got two guitars in the series from the same decade.
A JTV-52 would have been yet another 3-way switch, unless done Nashville-style, but that breaks the thematic design somewhat. Not a deal-breaker, but not as advantageous as the JTV-69's 5-way.
With the JTV-69, you had three 'pots' already, so you only had to find a place for the tuning wheel, and they were able to borrow from similar period guitars (i.e. Jazzmaster/Jaguar) to make it make sense. With a JTV-52, you now have 2 extra controls you have to figure out where to find homes for with no other period designs to borrow from.
Your typical Tele doesn't have a tremolo. Unless they added one, it left them with no models having a tremolo and alienating those who demanded tremolos. With the JTV-69, the tremolo already fits the thematic design of the guitar.

So I figure some or all of those reasons kept a JTV-52 from coming to pass. Still, it would be pretty cool if they came out with one (if it's called the JTV-52, I demand full credit from Line 6).

Re: Dream rig, 1 month post purchase...

support@line6.com — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:45:22 GMT

Thanks for sharing your joyful experience on here; admist the various complaints about manufacturing issues, dissatisfaction over neck profiles/pickups/etc., and inability to get desired tone, it's nice to have a reminder of how candy-coated awesome this rig can be.

My rig is similar to yours, with a few differences; I have a JTV-69, HD500, and DT25 head/cab (I haven't bothered with an attenuator yet, but I might look into it). I'm thoroughly delighted with each of them, and combined they're incredible. I haven't suffered any of the problems other's have complained about, beyond some slightly unseated tubes when I got the DT25. Admittedly I haven't had the opportunity to really exercise the rig to it's fullest, but when I have had the chance to fire it up it's been phenomenal. I have pretty eclectic musical tastes, and the gear can always seem to keep up, and at the best of times push me into new territories as I experiment with what it has to offer. It is inspiring in every sense.

Can you get a better sounding rig for the same price, or possibly less? Probably. But I'm not sure you'd ever find one as versatile.

Re: VDI cable geek question(s)

support@line6.com — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:22:30 GMT

I can't remember if I ever ended up giving my final verdict (maybe I should track down that thread), but I bought both the Best-Tronics made with Belden 1305a and one from a seller on eBay made with Duracat. They were both very good, with the Belden 1305a one being somewhat more flexible than the Duracat.

Re: Used Variax 700 v new JTV?

support@line6.com — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 15:50:12 GMT

The HD acoustics are definitely better in my opinion; others may argue that, but I like them better. It'll be interesting to see how much of a difference it'll be on the electrics.

Also consider some other benefits of the JTVs, such as the tuning wheel and virtual capo. If you don't make any real use of alternate tunings, maybe not much of a draw, but I love being able to flip to an open tuning for slide work on the fly or drop to a baritone for some spaghetti-western vibe or simply to play in a different range than the other guitarist(s) I'm playing with. The rechargeable battery was also a huge draw for me; I do have an HD500, but there's plenty of time I bring the JTV to jams and such and it's nice to not have to remember the XPS box or chew threw 6 AAs. And unlike a large contingent on here, I love the neck on my JTV-69 (though I do have a love for chunky necks and didn't have the high-E string slippage problem that some did).

You could set up patches in the HD500 that route the signal one way for electrics and one way for acoustics (i.e. pan the signal 100% left on electric patches and 100% right on acoustic patches). Someone correct me if I'm wrong on this.

Re: Where are the Sean Halley Patches For The Dream Rig

support@line6.com — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:59:02 GMT

Hopefully he gets them up there. I'm also hoping the ones from the "In The Studio, Part II" video make it up; the "SkaTele" and "FunkWah" patches rocked. At least "Funky Growler", "Yo Cat", and "2nd Line" made it up from the first.

Re: JTV 2.0 Firmware Update

support@line6.com — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:25:36 GMT

It does seem like an odd move to say something on a third-party forum before making a statement on your own.

Re: It's been 2+ yrs of HD already

support@line6.com — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 12:29:06 GMT

I guess it really depends if Line 6 has managed to already tap out the processing power of the HDs. In some ways they have, of course (it's not like you can chain together 5 spring reverb units without maxing the DSP), but for the most part the HD500 has been able to handle a lot of what they've thrown at it, including the deep editing parameters, Dream Rig capabilities, etc. If they can get away with software upgrades to sell more units, it's a hell of a lot more cost effective for them then designing and manufacturing a new unit.

Re: Just bought it and REALLY annoyed with huge preset volume differences and lack of gain

support@line6.com — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 18:40:34 GMT

#1 - I tend to agree with you on this. If you program the patch yourself, sure, you're to blame if you don't balance it right. But if you're creating a set of patches that are supposed to showcase what your product is capable of, having one patch be so quiet you can barely hear it while the patch next to it practically shatters your eardrums is not a good first experiance. I'm not sure how prolific I'd say it is in the HD series, but there's at least a few.

#2 - Really? Between the high gain amps and multitude of overdrives, distortions and boosts, I wouldn't have figured this to be a problem. There seems to be a fair number of guys posting clips and YouTube vids getting some significant high gain tones. Meambobbo has an entire guide on the subject.

#3 - Might just need some EQ-ing to get just the right midrange boost in there for appropriate warmth.

#4 - Can't comment; my HD500 has generally behaved itself.

Re: Dream Rig - Conections and Best live setup

support@line6.com — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 18:34:44 GMT

Yeah... but part of the problem there is - like any rig - each venue is drastically different from the next. Sure, they could talk about using EQ to fix this problem or that problem you might find at a particular venue, but it would probably be regurgitating the same information other videos impart. I suppose they could point out the specific equalization effects/blocks of the HD series, but that's about it.

On the other hand, if we're talking specific features of the Dream Rig - like routing the mags through the DTXX while routing modelled acoustic into the PA, using the DTXX simulated cab/mic out directly to the PA, chaining DTXX for a stereo amp setup, etc. - that's something they'd probably be into showing.

For example, one example - to show off my Canadian colours - would be demonstrating a song like "Just Came Back" by Colin James. The studio recording has a resonator-driven version of Robert Johnson's "Stones in my Passway", right before going into the main song with big rock tone. You could potentially do this readily with the Dream Rig; if set up right you could even use the expression pedal to perform a fade from one sound to the other.

Re: WHAT IS THE NEW OF LINE6 2013 ?????

support@line6.com — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 14:02:57 GMT

Sorry to go off. It seems like "Line 6 doesn't do anything for it's existing customers" is a frequent complaint around here, and I guess Wednesday was just the day I decided I had to say something. I'm all for tar-and-feathering Line 6 when they deserve it (dragging their feet creating 64-bit drivers when the 64-bit era was already upon us so that we could no longer use our devices properly, leaving many users in the dust for software necessary for DT-2.0 customization, etc.). I just feel it dilutes those arguements when we complain about things that are unfair to complain about.