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843 Views 6 Replies Latest reply: Aug 29, 2011 8:29 PM by davidb7170 RSS
guitar4u Just Startin'
guitar4u
142 posts since
Jan 26, 2007
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Aug 29, 2011 8:33 AM

Strange behavior of tone knob (JTV 59)

I've noticed that when I adjust (back off of) the tone knob on my JTV 59 the volume increases a bit, right around position 9. This happens only on the Variax models and NOT on the standard pickups. It sounds like the tone is set to max at 9 and going past 9 has no affect on the tone; it only drops the volume a touch. Weird!

 

Is this normal behavior? Maybe it's some kind of feature? Has anyone else noticed this?

 

Rich

  • Nick_Mattocks Best of the Best
    Nick_Mattocks
    9,065 posts since
    Mar 26, 2007
    Currently Being Moderated
    Aug 29, 2011 8:59 AM (in response to guitar4u)
    Re: Strange behavior of tone knob (JTV 59)

    It's normal behaviour.  The tone control may act differently depending on the model you're using - for instance it adjusts the position of the virtual microphone for the acoustic models

    • guitar4u Just Startin'
      guitar4u
      142 posts since
      Jan 26, 2007
      Currently Being Moderated
      Aug 29, 2011 9:05 AM (in response to Nick_Mattocks)
      Re: Strange behavior of tone knob (JTV 59)

      Thanks Nick but to clarify....

       

      I know that different models behave differently (I had the original Variax); what I am talking about is a consistent drop in volume across ALL models EXCEPT the acoustic models which behave uniquely due to the mic positioning you mentioned.

       

      It's a tough thing to describe but as I am rolling back the tone knob, the volume literally increases a bit right around position 9. Past 9 it behaves normally (as you would expect based on different models). This odd behavior shows up on all electric models and was not prevelant on my previous Variax (version 1).

       

      Make sense?

       

      Thanks for your feedback

       

      R

      • Nick_Mattocks Best of the Best
        Nick_Mattocks
        9,065 posts since
        Mar 26, 2007
        Currently Being Moderated
        Aug 29, 2011 10:02 AM (in response to guitar4u)
        Re: Strange behavior of tone knob (JTV 59)

        Yes - perfect sense.  I get similar results if that helps with the default models.

         

        You can play around with the Volume and Tone pot values in WorkBench and you may find this yields a significant change in behaviour.  I haven't made any significant adjustments there just yet, but I guess that's would be a good place to start.  It may be that the tone control adjustment curve could do with a minor tweak in firmware to possibly correct any minor inconsistencies in behaviour if it is in fact unintentional.

         

        Nick

  • frenchfries Just Startin'
    frenchfries
    71 posts since
    Jan 28, 2007
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    Aug 29, 2011 10:52 AM (in response to guitar4u)
    Re: Strange behavior of tone knob (JTV 59)

    It's something that I notice in my Variax 500 since the 3rd firmware update...

     

    I think that the behavior of the tone knob has been designed to work like that:

     

    from 10 to 5: the knob emulates an increasing "cable capacitance", as if you were adding a lenght of cable between your guitar and amp (because yes, when you add cable capacitance between a passive pickup and an amp, it shifts down the resonant frequency and reacts like a passive mid boost, producing a bit more level).

     

    From 5 to 0, the knob works like a regular tone control.

     

    It's a way to make the tone control a bit more interesting and useful, since a regular tone pot does nothing but flattening the resonant peak between 10 and 3 or 4.

     

    FYI, it's not a fantaisist hypothesis : it's something that's I've reproduced with real electric guitars, when I've intentionally changed the capacitance of my cables in order to measure their effect on the tone.

     

    Hope to be useful... :-)

    • guitar4u Just Startin'
      guitar4u
      142 posts since
      Jan 26, 2007
      Currently Being Moderated
      Aug 29, 2011 11:25 AM (in response to frenchfries)
      Re: Strange behavior of tone knob (JTV 59)

      Thanks guys! That's great feedback

       

      I hope Line 6 will confirm or deny these statements. It's a small concern but a point of confusion for me because I don't remember experiencing this on the Variax 300. If in fact, this is a feature then it makes good sense

       

      R

      • davidb7170 Just Startin'
        davidb7170
        253 posts since
        May 3, 2008
        Currently Being Moderated
        Aug 29, 2011 8:29 PM (in response to guitar4u)
        Re: Strange behavior of tone knob (JTV 59)

        I have the JTV-59 and the Variax 300. My 300 does the same thing as the JTV -- if you roll the tone control back just a bit, you get a bit more volume, then if you go past the point it backs back down to the same volume. Rich R also noted that months ago -- probably early this year on the forums here... I've always run with my tone and volume pots turned full up on my guitars. The roll back of the pot to about 90% or so doesn't really affect the tone that much, but I would use it to get a little more "umph" in the output of the models -- did it on my 300, and do it on the 59 as well.

         

        Dave

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