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Up to Discussions in James Tyler Variax Guitars
945 Views 12 Replies Latest reply: Mar 30, 2012 5:04 AM by krismaciejewski RSS
toasterdude Just Startin'
toasterdude
745 posts since
Oct 23, 2006
Currently Being Moderated

Mar 8, 2012 10:48 AM

Possible first JTV transplant? Almost done. . . .

IMG_2268.JPG

 

I should be able to pick her up next tuesday.

 

Some basic math:

 

Warmoth body and neck - $2200

 

Custom shop pearloid prails, not in photo and not finished yet - $380

 

Planet waves locking tuners - $60

 

JTV 59 TSB at original $1300

 

Labor to build, not done yet guesstimate - 500 - 800

 

 

 

So adding that up I get between $4,340 and $4,640

 

Now, I would have changed the tuners anyway as I have planet waves on many guitars and changing strings on the 59 can be a pain. Locking tuners help. I would have also changed pickups to prails any way, as I have on my CSB 59 right now. I could have used just stock prails at 380 per pair instead. So for me a US JTV 59 would cost $4899 plus 60 plus 380 if I bought US. That would be $5,340 or so.

 

$5,340 minus what I paid for my USA made xplant would mean I paid about 700 bucks LESS than if I bought a USA JTV.

 

Buying that USA JTV, I would not get:

 

Body style I wanted

 

Color I wanted or finish. . .not the explorer has flamed back as well as top.

 

Neck contour  that I wanted

 

SS frets

 

25.5 scale on neck

 

A decent LP copy made from the "donor" guitar and stock pickups.

 

I have been playing my CSB 59 for months and can handle the neck but last night I went and broke out my old Vax 500 xplant

 

tele-axe-PC_full.jpg

 

I much prefer the warmoth compound radius, SS frets, flame maple, and 25.5 scale of that guitar over the 59.

 

So. .  ..I got a guitar . . .or will have the guitar next week, that is pretty much exactly the guitar I want. It will be more comfortable to play as well as be way more "unique" looking. .. .and it cost me LESS cash. Probably at leats 700 bucks less than buying a US JTV.

 

Seems like a no brainer to me. . .

  • toasterdude Just Startin'
    toasterdude
    745 posts since
    Oct 23, 2006
    Currently Being Moderated
    Mar 8, 2012 10:54 AM (in response to toasterdude)
    Re: Possible first JTV transplant? Almost done. . . .

    Shot of the back of the xplant awaiting the JTV "Guts".

    IMG_2270.JPG

  • johnnyayyy Iknowathingortwo
    johnnyayyy
    1,170 posts since
    Feb 24, 2010
    Currently Being Moderated
    Mar 8, 2012 1:40 PM (in response to toasterdude)
    Re: Possible first JTV transplant? Almost done. . . .

    toasterdude wrote:

     

    IMG_2268.JPG

     

    I should be able to pick her up next tuesday.

     

    Some basic math:

     

    Warmoth body and neck - $2200

     

    Custom shop pearloid prails, not in photo and not finished yet - $380

     

    Planet waves locking tuners - $60

     

    JTV 59 TSB at original $1300

     

    Labor to build, not done yet guesstimate - 500 - 800

     

     

     

    Good to see this, I have been wondering about the status of your build.

     

    You might not be the first... : http://line6.com/support/thread/68653

     

    But to my knowledge you are the first to post pics of the transplant in (near) finished form. Kudos, it looks great - you should repost over in the Transplant forum, that place is DEAD lately and maybe this will help stir things up.

     

    Thanks for the inspiration. For those of us willing to spend that kind of money we could start with almost any brand of US made guitar -  I am really looking forward to seeing more of these.

     

    Are you going to transplant the other 59 as well?

    • toasterdude Just Startin'
      toasterdude
      745 posts since
      Oct 23, 2006
      Currently Being Moderated
      Mar 9, 2012 3:34 AM (in response to johnnyayyy)
      Re: Possible first JTV transplant? Almost done. . . .

      johnnyayyy wrote:

       

       

      Good to see this, I have been wondering about the status of your build.

       

      You might not be the first... : http://line6.com/support/thread/68653

       

      But to my knowledge you are the first to post pics of the transplant in (near) finished form. Kudos, it looks great - you should repost over in the Transplant forum, that place is DEAD lately and maybe this will help stir things up.

       

      Thanks for the inspiration. For those of us willing to spend that kind of money we could start with almost any brand of US made guitar -  I am really looking forward to seeing more of these.

       

      Are you going to transplant the other 59 as well?

      Yeah the build has taken much longer than I hoped but my guy has been in uncharted territory with this thing. The 59 switches are big, he was worried about them not fitting in thr warmoth or having to take too much material away to fit em. The control cover may actually lay on top of the control cavity and not be recessed because of this. I should have asked if warmoth could have left the guitar normal thickness when I decided on maple cap and back. That would have goten me a few more millimeters.

       

      I will post over in the xplant threads.

       

      Since I first started talking about doing xplants the response has invariably been, "WTF". Why would some dope plan on xplanting a perfectly good guitar he had never played. . . .lol.

      OTOH, when  aguy says he has a USA JTV, everybody seems to understand. So, for basically the same price or even less I get a guitar that I pretty much designed rather than one I can live with. I also get a guitar that nobody else has, and makes people say WTF is THAT when I take it out of the case.

       

      The second JTV will be xplanted into the purple tele above that currently houses vax500 guts. The problem there is since the explorere is not easy to travel with, I will not have a JTV guitar to travel with. So, I may try and get a 3rd JTV, probaby in black. Then I could travel with my CSB with prails while the tele is being worked on.

       

      Obviously I could have built a guitar for much less than this one. Flame maple top and back with double binding costs more. A basic strat, tele or LP in a less crazy finish would cost way less. Or as you suggest buying an off the shelf US guitar and using that as an xplant. The JTV bridge may be the issue there.

       

      As I said above I have been playing the JTV almost exclusively for many months, so one would think I would be used to it and another guitar would feel "weird". Howveer when I picked up my purple tele pictured above, within minutes I felt more comfortable. It felt like "my guitar", and not a guitar I can live with.

      • johnnyayyy Iknowathingortwo
        johnnyayyy
        1,170 posts since
        Feb 24, 2010
        Currently Being Moderated
        Mar 9, 2012 12:16 PM (in response to toasterdude)
        Re: Possible first JTV transplant? Almost done. . . .

        Or as you suggest buying an off the shelf US guitar and using that as an xplant. The JTV bridge may be the issue there.

         

        The bridge could always be replaced with an aftermarket piece, BUT... after using Graphtech Tuneomatic style bridges on both of my transplants I have noticed the bridges seem much more microphonic/susceptible to handling/picking/fingering noise than what  I remember experiencing with the original Variax saddles. It might just be my imagination or faulty memory, but I am thinking the JTV bridge might be superior in that respect.

         

        Just realized looking at your pics, the JTV bridge could probably be used in place of a TOM bridge with a standard stop tailpiece.

  • toasterdude Just Startin'
    toasterdude
    745 posts since
    Oct 23, 2006
    Currently Being Moderated
    Mar 9, 2012 7:08 AM (in response to toasterdude)
    Re: Possible first JTV transplant? Almost done. . . .

    Another way to look at the whole xplant thing. From reading these forums and TGP I have seen JTV owners that have:

     

    Put on locking tuners

     

    Swapped pickups

     

    Swapped necks on their 69

     

    Guys wanting to change pick guard colors

     

    Even one guy that wanted to swap the bridge for a graphtec

     

     

     

    So. . .the only thing I have not seen people wanting to change is the body.  On the 59 there is no way to change the neck without changing the body. . . .so. . . .

    • linz Just Startin'
      linz
      27 posts since
      Feb 12, 2007
      Currently Being Moderated
      Mar 9, 2012 10:53 AM (in response to toasterdude)
      Re: Possible first JTV transplant? Almost done. . . .

      Looking good!

       

      I'm just curious, is there any particular reason you went with the 59 rather than an 89?  The 89 seems the obvious choice for a transplant as it's cheaper but I guess if you really want a 3-way toggle and chrome bridge it might be worth it.

       

      I transplanted my 600 into a custom strat body and it worked out really well but my 59 just feels a bit more 'solid' so I'm happy with it for the moment.  I'm thinking an '89 transplant with internal GK kit and a sustainer would be awesome though!!!

      • toasterdude Just Startin'
        toasterdude
        745 posts since
        Oct 23, 2006
        Currently Being Moderated
        Mar 9, 2012 3:34 PM (in response to linz)
        Re: Possible first JTV transplant? Almost done. . . .

        Rich Renken had advised that the 59 may be best for xplants as the pots are separate and not board mounting. That would give more flexibility as far as routing etc. Also I hat black hardware. . . .lol.

        • litesnsirens Iknowathingortwo
          litesnsirens
          649 posts since
          Mar 20, 2010
          Currently Being Moderated
          Mar 13, 2012 8:02 PM (in response to toasterdude)
          Re: Possible first JTV transplant? Almost done. . . .

          Hey Toasterdude, looking awesome so far, did you do all the routing yourself?  I already purchased a new neck for my 69 and I have it installed, but I would love to get a really pretty strat body to put all the guts in and then just put the warmoth neck on the warmoth body.  I wish Warmoth would get busy with some pre-routed JTV templates, you know so that even a dummy like me could do my own transplant.  And don't anyone get me wrong, nothing wrong with the designs on the JTV's but they are all plain flat colours.  I own a nice Paul Reed Smith and a nice American strat, I hardly ever touch either of those guitars anymore.  The JTV is the only guitar I take to gigs anymore, it's my number 1 in a major way, so of course I want it to be as super awesome as it can b.  Warmoth has some damn nice woods and finishes to choose from.  But I would have to get it specially routed on top and bottom.

          • toasterdude Just Startin'
            toasterdude
            745 posts since
            Oct 23, 2006
            Currently Being Moderated
            Mar 13, 2012 9:17 PM (in response to litesnsirens)
            Re: Possible first JTV transplant? Almost done. . . .

            litesnsirens wrote:

             

            Hey Toasterdude, looking awesome so far, did you do all the routing yourself?  I already purchased a new neck for my 69 and I have it installed, but I would love to get a really pretty strat body to put all the guts in and then just put the warmoth neck on the warmoth body.  I wish Warmoth would get busy with some pre-routed JTV templates, you know so that even a dummy like me could do my own transplant.  And don't anyone get me wrong, nothing wrong with the designs on the JTV's but they are all plain flat colours.  I own a nice Paul Reed Smith and a nice American strat, I hardly ever touch either of those guitars anymore.  The JTV is the only guitar I take to gigs anymore, it's my number 1 in a major way, so of course I want it to be as super awesome as it can b.  Warmoth has some damn nice woods and finishes to choose from.  But I would have to get it specially routed on top and bottom.

            I had warmoth build the guitar and only route for the 2 humbuckers. John over at Guitartex in san antonio did the routing and assmbly. I just picked it up today but it is not 100% complete. In his haste to get it ready for me to pickup today we forgot to put strap buttons on! I am dropping it off in the am to get schaller straplocks installed. I also could not find the truss rod cover for my warmoth neck so I just ordered 4  white pearloid  truss covers online. I figure they will come in handy.

             

            I agree on the variax being the coolest guitar on the planet and although I dig the 59 body well enough, it is sort of plain and to me isn't as exciting as the technology is. It looks like a LP copy which was the idea. I am sure when I pull that purple flame explorer out of it's case people will ask WTF is that. . . .

             

            I'll be back in san antonio in 3 weeks and will likely bring my original variax xplant and a black 59 JTV I just won on ebay to do JTV xplant number 2. I need a good commission check to place an order for the body and neck for number 3!!!

  • krismaciejewski Just Startin'
    krismaciejewski
    1 posts since
    Oct 13, 2010
    Currently Being Moderated
    Mar 30, 2012 5:04 AM (in response to toasterdude)
    Re: Possible first JTV transplant? Almost done. . . .

    Man. Thats so cool. I am definately gonna look into making my own transplant now that i know its possible. I just find it impossible to choose from those 3 oryginal versions. I want the guitar that will look awesome to play any style. I just cant imagine myself playing Killswitch type of metal on JTV-69 or some Jimi blues on JTV-89. JTV-59 wouldn't be that bad for both but it doesn't have the trem :/ Also i'm not a big fan of sunburst colors :/
    So i guess transplant would be perfect solution for me.
    Can you maybe post some pictures of finished guitar. Or even better, some video? That would be awesome.

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