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Up to Discussions in James Tyler Variax Guitars
1209 Views 19 Replies Latest reply: May 30, 2012 1:42 PM by JCJCJC RSS
Sean_Clarke Just Startin'
Sean_Clarke
65 posts since
Jan 24, 2009
Currently Being Moderated

Mar 28, 2012 5:15 AM

Line 6 - Guitar Strings 'Slipping Off the Neck' is 'Within Tollerence' and acceptable.

My JTV 69 was unplayable, the E strings slip of the neck when pressed down with even a hint of upwards pressure; it is not even possible to put a fast open G on in normal play.

 

It is a common problem reported on this forum and a manufacturing defect was openly reported on this forum by Line 6 (the frets were being filed to far in at an angle, so basicly when you press the sting it is almosyt on the downwards slop of the fret!)

 

I reported my problem on this forum and was told to return the guitar to line 6 (UK). It has just been returned after 2 weeks with a simple note saying 'witin tollerence, nothing done'

 

In addition to wasting £1000 on the guitar, I have wasted a further £30 on postage. I am going to complain to Trading Standards as I (and an indipendant luthier I knwow) dont believe the guitar is fit for putpose,

I am also posting it on youtube with a copy of the letter from Line 6 stating this is how their necks should be, at least other pottential users will be warned and possibly look at a class action if others feel as I do (and there are certianly a few on this forum.

 

Its a shame, I am a HD500 and DT25 owner. I wont buy Line 6 again and I sold a nice Taylor to complete my 'Dream Rig' which turned in to a nightmare.

  • stumpsout Just Startin'
    stumpsout
    895 posts since
    Jan 28, 2007
    Currently Being Moderated
    Apr 1, 2012 5:48 PM (in response to Sean_Clarke)
    Re: Line 6 - Guitar Strings 'Slipping Off the Neck' is 'Within Tollerence' and acceptable.

    Sorry to hear this, Sean

    I hope something will work out about this for you

  • litesnsirens Iknowathingortwo
    litesnsirens
    649 posts since
    Mar 20, 2010
    Currently Being Moderated
    Apr 1, 2012 8:13 PM (in response to Sean_Clarke)
    Re: Line 6 - Guitar Strings 'Slipping Off the Neck' is 'Within Tollerence' and acceptable.

    Also sorry to hear this.  I love my JTV but I don't believe for a second that all of us that noted that the high E string slips off the fretboard can be wrong.  I mean REALLY???   No one is ready to admit this is a design flaw.  IF it's not the neck then the the bridge has the strings spread out too far or the nut is the wrong size. But it is SOMETHING!!!  Look at this thing, analyze it and offer a fix.   There are so many stories on here of guys having to deal with this problem.  WHY???  I get this board is only a fraction of people.  And I know the argument that the happy people aren't on here complaining. But I have seen a bunch threads on here started by one person and others that didn't start one of their own chiming in with the same problem so maybe a bunch of people won't speak up on their own and just put up with it. 

     

    Personally I'm tired of hearing it's James Tyler's specs.  I have nothing but respect for James Tyler and other than having to buy and put a new neck on my guitar I love my James Tyler Variax '69.  I have really hard time believing that he would spec a guitar so that the high E string can't be played without fear of it slipping off the fretboard.   This guitar (JTV Series) was delayed for release because Line 6 had to go back to the drawing board, and fix some things.  And when the 59 had issues with the model selector knob, they went back to the drawing board and looked for the issue, and fixed it.  Please look at this and find us some solutions.

  • Iknowathingortwo
    MerlinFL
    1,667 posts since
    Jul 17, 2007
    Currently Being Moderated
    Apr 5, 2012 4:07 PM (in response to Sean_Clarke)
    Re: Line 6 - Guitar Strings 'Slipping Off the Neck' is 'Within Tollerence' and acceptable.

    Okay - well goes goes nothing...

     

    To all the gentlemen who have posted prior to mine.  I am in agreement that there MUST BE a problem.  BUT I'm NOT in agreement that any who buy the guitar are responsible for discovering what that problem or problems are.  That is CLEARLY and WITHOUT QUESTION the PROBLEM of the manufacturer.

     

    Do I think James Tyler designed any guitar to have problems?  Not for one second and I don't even know who he is/was.  I never heard his name until two years ago when I joined the JTV Beta forum.  I was given a Wikipedia link to learn about who James Tyler is and why he was chosen to work with Line 6 for these new guitars from the OUTSIDE ONLY.  The guts have been and are still ALL Line 6 engineering people.

     

    Perhaps the problem lies with Quality Control at the World Music Factory in Korea?  Is there anyone from Line 6 there overseeing the production line?  Anyone guitars being sent to the Line 6 HQ as spot check of quality?  Anyone from Line 6 doing ANYTHING about the problems that have been reported?

     

    I've been playing Line 6 guitars since 2006 with the Variax Electric Model 700.  I have two of them and NEVER had a physical problem like the ones posted here with the various JTV guitar line.  I had one electronically fail AFTER I had it for a year of playing it everyday day and tons of gigs.  It was taken back by Line 6, a REPLACEMENT was sent to me as a courtesy (and I'm NO ONE SPECIAL in the music world, yet the company did this for me because of the situation I was in.  This was 2007.) and then my original guitar came back, the replacement went back to Line 6 and all was perfect.  No hassles, no headaches, no dozens of postings complaining about all the physically wrong things about the guitar.

     

    I suggest finding someone on the retail or at Line 6 who will PERSONALLY check out a guitar for YOU and make certain that the guitar IS PLAYABLE by ANY REASONABLE STANDARD.

     

    Best of luck to you all,

    Neal

  • Paul1307 Just Startin'
    Paul1307
    9 posts since
    Mar 29, 2012
    Currently Being Moderated
    Apr 11, 2012 3:24 PM (in response to Sean_Clarke)
    Re: Line 6 - Guitar Strings 'Slipping Off the Neck' is 'Within Tollerence' and acceptable.

    Not that it's much help, I know. While researching a replacement neck for my Fender Strat I noticed a number of people praising their replacement neck in terms like "replaced the neck on my Line 6 JT-69 with this neck and was very pleased, better tone, and easier to play" and etc. Also noted, as has been discussed here, numerous references to both JT-69 necks and replacement necks having fret ends that stick out past the edge of the neck. This is far more common than imagined and appears to be (mostly) related to humidity issues. I bought an '83 Strat in Prescott, AZ last year, and in an area where the humidity is routinely in the 20% range, guess what? The frets stuck out the edge of the neck, causing severl wounds (ouch!) until I bought a fret finisher file/holder designed for the express purpose of finishing frets, from Stew-Mac, (not cheap) and finished them myself in about 10 minutes. Correct angle and correct length and no more "blood on the tracks."

     

    I suspect the factory is simply finishing and sealing the necks before the wood has dried to the correct level of moisture, and as it dries it shrinks away from the frets which, of course, won't shrink at all, leaving them outboard of the fretboard. It's also quite possible that the neck wood was dried correctly, shipped to Korea and stored in their (humid) "sweat-shop" where they swelled up before being finished and fretted, then shrink back down upon shipment to Line 6 in CA. This may also explain why - in addition to the fact that the frets appear to be filed at the incorrect angle - the strings end up so close to the edge of the fretboard, "within tolerence" as they say, though, arguably unplayable. Isn't there something somewhere stating that all guitars are checked and set up properly prior to shipping by Line 6? At these prices, you could buy a brand new, Made in America Gibson Les Paul Studio at a guitar center and have enough left over to buy a POD HD-500.

     

    Though Line 6 has some of the most loyal customers I've ever seen there seems to be a level of corporate arrogance about what they sell or provide those same customers that's surprising and somewhat distressing.

     

    Some replacement neck suppliers selling "licensed" (made my Mighty Mite) Fender replacement necks sell units they claim have been filed, leveled and properly set up by them before shipping. Normally, a replacement neck might need some refining on delivery, but a new, out-of-the-box guitar?

  • gtrnstuff Just Startin'
    gtrnstuff
    9 posts since
    Apr 5, 2008
    Currently Being Moderated
    Apr 26, 2012 5:54 PM (in response to Sean_Clarke)
    Re: Line 6 - Guitar Strings 'Slipping Off the Neck' is 'Within Tollerence' and acceptable.

    Fortunately I was able to try one in person at a local Guitar Center.  The string spacing at the nut was uncomfortably narrow.  And I noticed that the fret ends were beveled in so far that simply cutting a new nut wasn't going to help.

    I have asked my rep at Sweetwater if the USA models are any different. No reply yet.

    I did get a reply from Tyler.  They, of course have no direct control over the Line 6 production and quality control.  They did say that the string spacing at the nut was narrower than they do it, and that some Line 6 necks "were being replaced" as a result of extreme fret beveling.

     

    I could buy one and take it straight to my repair guy for a re-fret and new nut.  But I won't.

    • gtrnstuff Just Startin'
      gtrnstuff
      9 posts since
      Apr 5, 2008
      Currently Being Moderated
      May 9, 2012 3:02 PM (in response to gtrnstuff)
      Re: Line 6 - Guitar Strings 'Slipping Off the Neck' is 'Within Tollerence' and acceptable.

      Well, now I have a JTV 69 that is acceptable   Just took some serious set-up work.  Using the close-up photos of the nut area on Sweetwater's site, I found one that looked better than some others.

      After receiving it, I noticed that the neck was skewed toward the treble side.  Normally that's no big deal, just loosen the bolts and shift the neck.  But then it shifted itself back after strings were tuned up to pitch.

      Turns out a lump of clear finish in the neck pocket was acting as a fulcrum, forcing the neck to shift under string tension.  After scraping that smooth, all is good.

      I installed a new nut since the original was narrower than the slot.  Filed the string slots lower, where I like them.

       

      The frets are beveled in farther than I really prefer, but with the neck now centered and the nut fixed, this thing plays great.  I was sort of expecting to take it to my tech for a Plek job, but it may not need it.

       

      Most of the models are useful, and the tunings, while adding noticable latency, are still going to come in real handy.

       

      The pickups are quite good, and sound good together.  Rare in a HSS type guitar, in my experience.

      • litesnsirens Iknowathingortwo
        litesnsirens
        649 posts since
        Mar 20, 2010
        Currently Being Moderated
        May 9, 2012 6:32 PM (in response to gtrnstuff)
        Re: Line 6 - Guitar Strings 'Slipping Off the Neck' is 'Within Tollerence' and acceptable.

        Are you really noticing latency with the tunings?  I notice none at all. In fact mine is in standard tuning and I spend most of my gig nights on half step down, as well as open E and open G... no latency at all.  Have you updated the firmware, I had heard that the older firmware may have had some noticeable latency.  I'm glad you got it all worked out though, they really are a treat to have.  I can't imagine going to a gig with anything else now.

        • gtrnstuff Just Startin'
          gtrnstuff
          9 posts since
          Apr 5, 2008
          Currently Being Moderated
          May 9, 2012 9:01 PM (in response to litesnsirens)
          Re: Line 6 - Guitar Strings 'Slipping Off the Neck' is 'Within Tollerence' and acceptable.

          Some latency, yes, but not so much I can't deal with it.  Even with a fast processor, it has to detect the starting pitch of the string and then shift it.  That takes time.  Latest firmware seemed the same as far as that goes.

          • litesnsirens Iknowathingortwo
            litesnsirens
            649 posts since
            Mar 20, 2010
            Currently Being Moderated
            May 10, 2012 6:35 AM (in response to gtrnstuff)
            Re: Line 6 - Guitar Strings 'Slipping Off the Neck' is 'Within Tollerence' and acceptable.

            Ya, I understand the physics regarding the processing but but for me it's like how long I have to wait after I turn on a light bulb for the light to reach the floor, I really can't detect it.  Just wondering what might be going on with your variax.

            • gtrnstuff Just Startin'
              gtrnstuff
              9 posts since
              Apr 5, 2008
              Currently Being Moderated
              May 10, 2012 8:45 AM (in response to litesnsirens)
              Re: Line 6 - Guitar Strings 'Slipping Off the Neck' is 'Within Tollerence' and acceptable.

              I doubt my variax is slower than any others. I'm very sensitive to latency.  Simply running through a couple of DSP-bypassed Eventide Factor pedals is noticable to me.  I just have to ignore it

              The first two versions of the POD were intolerable to me.  By the XT, the latency was acceptable.  I'm used to analog monitoring of close mic'd amps through headphones.  What can I say?

              • litesnsirens Iknowathingortwo
                litesnsirens
                649 posts since
                Mar 20, 2010
                Currently Being Moderated
                May 10, 2012 10:44 AM (in response to gtrnstuff)
                Re: Line 6 - Guitar Strings 'Slipping Off the Neck' is 'Within Tollerence' and acceptable.

                I notice latency sometimes when recording. There comes a certain point in milliseconds where I can't even record the track. A small window in which I can notice it and tolerate it, that is to say it's not so distracting that I can't record the track.  And, thanks to the speed of processors today and the improvement of interfaces, I can lower the buffer size so that the latency is undetectable, only a few milliseconds.  I know there's latency only because my computer shows me the calculation of what it is when I am setting the buffer size.  I know through today's interfaces you can monitor latency free but I prefer to record using some effects. I know there must be some degree of latency in the JTV even for the models when not using an alt tuning.  I'm not sure what the readings would be with or without the alt tunings engaged but as I stated it's not noticeable.  I would be interested to know what the latency actually is.  If you have the latest firmware then I would agree your JTV is no different than any other.  I only mentioned the firmware because there were a lot of people noticing latency on the original firmware that the JTV's shipped with.  There was an early revision that took care of it.

  • JCJCJC Just Startin'
    JCJCJC
    44 posts since
    Dec 6, 2006
    Currently Being Moderated
    May 10, 2012 5:54 PM (in response to Sean_Clarke)
    Re: Line 6 - Guitar Strings 'Slipping Off the Neck' is 'Within Tollerence' and acceptable.

    Hi,

    I know that someone from our UK team has reached out to Sean.  If any of you others feel you have a problem with the string slipping off the neck, , go here:

     

    http://line6.com/support/tickets/add.html

     

    start a ticket and tell them that JCJCJC sent you.....  I'll work with the you and rep for a good resolution.

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