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Up to Discussions in James Tyler Variax Guitars
972 Views 16 Replies Latest reply: Apr 6, 2012 3:18 PM by ChristianArnold RSS
litesnsirens Iknowathingortwo
litesnsirens
649 posts since
Mar 20, 2010
Currently Being Moderated

Apr 4, 2012 5:07 AM

Discussion / Thoughts / Opinions on the new acoustic models.

I'm looking to get people's thoughts and opinions on the new acoustic models.  Personally, I think they sound really good, less of the piezo boomy sound and more like a natural acoustic tone.  The problem is the acoustic patches that I set up on the HD500 are no longer valid as these models need far less EQ'ng to sound good.  I realize this isn't really a problem, I mean we all want better sound, it's just that with a gig this Friday I'm gonna have to spend some time re-doing some patches.  I'm pretty sure I'm gonna start with the new tube pre-amp and go from there.  In a quick test last night just the mic pre by itself sounded much better than the previous acoustic patch that I had.  It really is amazing the change in these acoustic models, that patch I had was the best I could get the acoustics to sound now that patch sounds terrible and the acoustics sound better with nothing at all than they do on the patch.  On the plus side, previously you would need a different patch to go from say the Martin D28 to the Gibson J200 mainly just trying to tame the boomyness of the sound.  Now I think with a little tweaking you could create a patch that sounds good with all the acoustic models.

 

What does everyone else have to say???

  • Nick_Mattocks Best of the Best
    Nick_Mattocks
    9,065 posts since
    Mar 26, 2007
    Currently Being Moderated
    Apr 4, 2012 6:13 AM (in response to litesnsirens)
    Re: Discussion / Thoughts / Opinions on the new acoustic models.

    I think the new acoustic models are a huge improvement all round FWIW.  Much more natural sounding.  I set up a couple of new open tuned acoustic presets and uploaded them to Custom Tone this morning.  It's all a matter of personal taste at the end of the day though so they may sound OK for you or they may sound meh!

     

    You should try a couple of the HD500 factory acoustic presets with the JTV acoustic models as a starting point. They sound pretty good IMO

     

    Nick

  • stevekc Just Startin'
    stevekc
    114 posts since
    Feb 7, 2007
    Currently Being Moderated
    Apr 4, 2012 11:57 AM (in response to litesnsirens)
    Re: Discussion / Thoughts / Opinions on the new acoustic models.

    There are very mixed reviews on the new Tyler Variax Firmware 1.81 Acoustic models:

     

     

    Five updated models. The updated models are based on* the Martin® D28, Martin® D12-28, Martin® 0-18, Guild® 12 String, and Gibson® J200 acoustic guitars.

     

     

    A fellow JTV-69 owner at my VGuitarForums (Germanicus) wrote:

     

    I'm not thrilled with the new acoustic models. I may roll the firmware back. The new acoustics have a more 'roomy' sound, as if the mic was placed farther away from the soundhole. Its a nice sound for some uses, but I would much prefer have a more direct sound. 

     

     

    I will load into one of my Tyler Variax's and make  A/B comparisons of the old vs new Variax Acoustic Models.

     

    I sure wish they would provide Tyler Variax owners the same controls as the old 2005 era Variax 700 Acoustic - with variable Compressison, etc.

    • johnnyayyy Iknowathingortwo
      johnnyayyy
      1,170 posts since
      Feb 24, 2010
      Currently Being Moderated
      Apr 4, 2012 12:41 PM (in response to stevekc)
      Re: Discussion / Thoughts / Opinions on the new acoustic models.

      stevekc wrote:

       

       

       

      A fellow JTV-69 owner at my VGuitarForums (Germanicus) wrote:

       

      I'm not thrilled with the new acoustic models. I may roll the firmware back. The new acoustics have a more 'roomy' sound, as if the mic was placed farther away from the soundhole. Its a nice sound for some uses, but I would much prefer have a more direct sound. 

       

      Isn't the modeled mic distance adjusted by turning the tone knob? Or is he saying even with the mic at its closest position it sounds too distant?

    • NathanShane Just Startin'
      NathanShane
      14 posts since
      Jan 31, 2007
      Currently Being Moderated
      Apr 4, 2012 12:54 PM (in response to stevekc)
      Re: Discussion / Thoughts / Opinions on the new acoustic models.

      I agree that the new acoustic models do seem to have far too much "room ambience" to them. If you mute the strings and strike them, you can hear the level of room ambeince more easily. I wish that Workbench provided us with a way to adjust the level of room ambience but until that level of control happens, we're left with the models sounding as they do.

  • silverhead Expert Line 6 User
    silverhead
    9,592 posts since
    Apr 1, 2009
    Currently Being Moderated
    Apr 4, 2012 12:45 PM (in response to litesnsirens)
    Re: Discussion / Thoughts / Opinions on the new acoustic models.

    I posted what I think is an interesting comparison in Post#7 in this thread:

    http://line6.com/support/message/367764#367764

     

    (aplogies in advance for the low volume of the recordings. I did it quickly and posted without checking the output levels.)

  • bob1474 Just Startin'
    bob1474
    19 posts since
    May 22, 2007
    Currently Being Moderated
    Apr 5, 2012 3:24 AM (in response to litesnsirens)
    Re: Discussion / Thoughts / Opinions on the new acoustic models.

    It IS all individual perception in the end, but I've found the new sounds to be MUCH inproved from the originals, (especialy the 12 strings). I do agree that the level of control that we have in the acoustic 700's would be nice on board, but I'm fortunate enough to have the HD500 which yields the same results. I guess that was thier thinking when creating the system. It's probably  the same logic they used when they moved from the acoustic 300 to the 700's, removing the reverb and tuner. Might seem a little wierd to others, but I still do use my 300 for some stuff, and really prefer my acoustic 700 over the JTV for my "unplugged" gigs, although I'm starting to like the new JTV 12's better than the 700. There's a wish that won't happen-put the new JTV acoustics on the old 700!!  Haven't tweaked any of these on workbencht, but also haven't found them to be "off center" enough to require it yet. I'll be rebuilding my acoustic patches this week-end and that will tell the story. As of now KUDOS to line 6!!!

  • PeterHamm Just Startin'
    PeterHamm
    38 posts since
    Nov 12, 2007
    Currently Being Moderated
    Apr 5, 2012 4:17 AM (in response to litesnsirens)
    Re: Discussion / Thoughts / Opinions on the new acoustic models.

    With the old models, I had to use 3 FX: volume pedal (I use EXP 2 for acoustic volume), tube comp (very subtle, didn't always use this), and parametric EQ.

     

    With the new models, I have to use only one... the vintage pre.

     

    I'm ecstatic.

    • edstar1960 Iknowathingortwo
      edstar1960
      712 posts since
      May 25, 2010
      Currently Being Moderated
      Apr 5, 2012 5:03 AM (in response to PeterHamm)
      Re: Discussion / Thoughts / Opinions on the new acoustic models.

      I am pleased to hear that some people are confirming the new models are an improvement but I am concerned that some people prefer the v1.71 models and have rolled back the v1.8 change BUT at the expense of losing all the extra HD/JTV functionality that it provides.  Furthermore, there does appear to be an issue with applying alternate tunings with the v1.8 firmware as documented in another thread (http://line6.com/support/thread/83140?tstart=0) and this issue definitely deters me from even attempting the firmware upgrade.  Good news is that Line6 are looking at that problem and will hopefully provide a fix asap.  However,even if that is fixed that still leaves the conundrum of what to do if I decide I prefer the older acoustic models?  I have an HD500 so I would very much want to explore the enhanced functionality that v1.8 will bring to the HD/JTV combo, but I don't want to end up with acoustic models that I may not like.  It does seem unfair that there is no provision for keeping access to old version models - because at the end of the day it is very much down to personal choice and preference - and the PODs and the Variaxes are all about giving players ultimate choice with their vast array of parameters to allow us to tweak and customise to achieve our own preferred tones - so it does seem at odds with that philosophy to force everyone to always have the latest version of a guitar model when some people may prefer the older version.  It would be very nice to give us all that extra choice especially as we all have such varied preferences for tone.

       

      I am going to wait a while and see how things are when the dust settles - hopefully all issues will be resolved - and maybe there will be an option to get the feature updates without updating the models OR at least the ability to store and recall earlier models if we so desire.

      • litesnsirens Iknowathingortwo
        litesnsirens
        649 posts since
        Mar 20, 2010
        Currently Being Moderated
        Apr 5, 2012 7:09 AM (in response to edstar1960)
        Re: Discussion / Thoughts / Opinions on the new acoustic models.

        I agree the best of both worlds solution would be ideal to meet individual players tastes and needs.  I don't know how hard it would be to accomplish but it seems to me that if they created a v1.75 that had the new HD interactive features with the old models it would offer a solution until they can add some more power to work bench if that is even possible.  Of course I would love to see the ability to add more pickups into workbench so there are even more options for building your own guitar.  The inherent problem may be that there is only so much on board processing in the variax and that work bench can only manipulate the internal workingsof the variax.  This would mean that it would be somewhat impossible to do something like setting up your acoustic bank with the old 018 and the new D28 and the new D28 12 string etc.

        The only work around would be if they could add parameters in workbench that would allow you to manipulate the new models so that they sound like the old ones and then offer presets in work bench for such.  There is still a lot that could be done with workbench.  For instance where is the control for the alt tuning knob?  It's going to be a PITA to always have to go in and re-do all my special tunings everytime I do an update. I have a gig tomorrow night, so if I go and re-do all my special tunings and then they come out with a fix of some sort for 1.8 I'll have to do it all again.

  • ChristianArnold Just Startin'
    ChristianArnold
    111 posts since
    Oct 15, 2009
    Currently Being Moderated
    Apr 6, 2012 3:18 PM (in response to litesnsirens)
    Re: Discussion / Thoughts / Opinions on the new acoustic models.

    I am sure you guys have already checked out my video for the comparison between the new and old acoustic models. If you have, thank you, if not check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkHLW2cYqLM .

     

    It could just be my Easter break, but these new updates are making me a youtube freak. I have a new video coming tonight around 10 o'clock that shows off some new acoustic stuff as well. A good slow jam that should put you to sleep. Kept almost falling asleep while recording it. lol. Subscribe and keep in touch because there will be a lot more in the future. I love these new updates!!!

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