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1522 Views 25 Replies Latest reply: Jul 7, 2012 11:02 AM by jackoloki RSS
jackoloki Just Startin'
jackoloki
47 posts since
May 4, 2007
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Apr 30, 2012 8:38 AM

My JTV-69 doesn't sound that good. Any advice?

I purchased my JTV-69 US at Sweetwater. When it first arrived about 5 months ago, I played it as much as I could without it being plugged in. I just to see how it *felt*... and it felt great.. wonderful craftsmanship. I plugged it into my HD500, just because I *had* hear the different models, and I played it, but only for a very short time. My day job took over and I had to set it aside without ever really making a full assessment of how it *sounds*.

 

I picked it back up about a month ago and started playing it a lot. And, honestly, I'm kind of unimpressed. The B and E strings sound extremely thin, like rubber-bands. All the other strings sound nice and fat, and I get a good response from the amp model, but the moment I hit the B or E string, I lose volume and the characteristics of the amp model. You know how with certain amps, like the Fender Deluxe Reverb, you get that clean and sparkly sound when you play it lightly, but then it gets that nice, fat, biting sound when you start bearing down on the strings a bit harder, well, when I'm playing a phrase that spans multiple strings, I lose that sound... it goes from fat to thin. No matter how hard I pick the B or E strings, they don't 'bite'.

 

And no matter which *guitar* model I switch to, that thin sound prevails, adding a characteristic that makes any other charm that the various guitar models should have take a back seat.

 

Now Sweetwater supposedly did their 55 point inspection process before shipping it to me, and I wasn't to eager to ship the guitar back to them, so I took it to the local Guitar Center; the guy there has a lot of experience working with electric guitars, but not Tyler Variax specifically. He more or less raised the pickup on the low strings and I didn't really notice any improvement.

 

So now what?

 

Mind you, I've played acoustic guitar for most of my life, and I haven't educated myself adequately on how to set-up an electric guitar to get good tone out of it. I'm hoping that with some help, knowledge, and tweaking, I can get it sounding good, but man am I unimpressed at the present.

 

So, has anybody else experienced this problem with their JTV-69, US or Korean? And is there anything that can be done about it? I have to believe there is, I mean, this is a very nicely made guitar. It just sounds terrible.

 

Thanks in advance,

Rob

  • silverhead Expert Line 6 User
    silverhead
    9,592 posts since
    Apr 1, 2009
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    Apr 30, 2012 9:12 AM (in response to jackoloki)
    Re: My JTV-69 doesn't sound that good. Any advice?

    I don't mean for this to sound trivial, and please don't be offended, but you don't mention a very important factor: are you using new strings?

  • fr0sty Just Startin'
    fr0sty
    26 posts since
    Jan 29, 2007
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    Apr 30, 2012 8:05 PM (in response to jackoloki)
    Re: My JTV-69 doesn't sound that good. Any advice?

    Check to see how close the mag pickups are to the strings on the treble side.  I just put new strings on my 69 and also was experimenting with the pickup height.  I had a similiar problem, but on the the bass strings.  The bridge pickup was my problem.  I lowered it as I played and could hear the models come back to life on the low strings.

     

    ymmv

    • jackoloki Just Startin'
      jackoloki
      47 posts since
      May 4, 2007
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      May 2, 2012 7:43 AM (in response to fr0sty)
      Re: My JTV-69 doesn't sound that good. Any advice?

      fr0sty wrote:

       

      Check to see how close the mag pickups are to the strings on the treble side.  I just put new strings on my 69 and also was experimenting with the pickup height.  I had a similiar problem, but on the the bass strings.  The bridge pickup was my problem.  I lowered it as I played and could hear the models come back to life on the low strings.

       

      ymmv

      So your pickups were too close? You 'lowered' them? Are you suggesting that my pickups might be too close on the treble side?

      • fr0sty Just Startin'
        fr0sty
        26 posts since
        Jan 29, 2007
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        May 3, 2012 1:14 PM (in response to jackoloki)
        Re: My JTV-69 doesn't sound that good. Any advice?

        Yes, my mag pickups were too close.  I used the screw on the bass side to lower just that side.  I lowerd it until the strings sounded correct to me (not choked off sounding).

         

        RafikiRob wrote:

        So your pickups were too close? You 'lowered' them? Are you suggesting that my pickups might be too close on the treble side?

  • gene1714 Just Startin'
    gene1714
    30 posts since
    May 4, 2007
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    Apr 30, 2012 8:34 PM (in response to jackoloki)
    Re: My JTV-69 doesn't sound that good. Any advice?

    If it is happening on both the mags and models my vote would go for the strings being too light as well. Try going back to 10s as a test and if that doesn't help it may be a nut or bridge issue with how the strings sit.

     

    As an acoustic player you know how sensitive the guitar is to string gauge. 12s on my Breedlove are the bees knees, 11s sound like utter garbage. The same can apply to an electric and the problem can be amplified with the processing done in the modeling.

    • variaxlover Just Startin'
      variaxlover
      323 posts since
      May 19, 2007
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      Apr 30, 2012 11:35 PM (in response to gene1714)
      Re: My JTV-69 doesn't sound that good. Any advice?

      Me and Billy Gibbons use 8's.  Yup, .008 on the high E string.  Sometimes Billy uses 7s, yet we both get a big fat sound.  25% of your sound is in your fingers, 25% is in the weight of the pick you use, 40% is in the tone settings of your amp and the other 10% might be in the strings.  But yeah, throw some 12s on that 69 and see if it helps.

      • gene1714 Just Startin'
        gene1714
        30 posts since
        May 4, 2007
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        May 1, 2012 8:36 PM (in response to variaxlover)
        Re: My JTV-69 doesn't sound that good. Any advice?

        Just trying to be helpful, my actual advice would be to first try a set of 10s to see if that fixes the issue (5 bucks), if not then look elsewhere for the problem (unless you are Billy Gibbons, I'm not, maybe change your picks?).

        • zeddd Just Startin'
          zeddd
          385 posts since
          May 12, 2006
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          May 1, 2012 11:31 PM (in response to gene1714)
          Re: My JTV-69 doesn't sound that good. Any advice?

          gene1714 wrote:

           

          Just trying to be helpful, my actual advice would be to first try a set of 10s to see if that fixes the issue (5 bucks)...

          I would agree with that fully. JTV and previous generation Variax guitars have all come stocked with 10 gauge strings. Presumably the development team deduced that 10 is the lowest gauge that can be used without sacrificing some of the tone. Numerous users have reported weaker sounding tone with lighter gauge strings, so I wouldn't go lower than 0.10s myself.

           

          Would love to hear back from the OP to see if the issue disappears with a string change.

          • markcockerill Just Startin'
            markcockerill
            246 posts since
            Dec 7, 2007
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            May 2, 2012 3:44 AM (in response to zeddd)
            Re: My JTV-69 doesn't sound that good. Any advice?

            I tried 9-42 then hybrid 9-46 and now I use 10-52 hybrids and they sound great. There is a difference between them but as expected the best tone comes from the heavier guage strings. Of course I had to re intone and adjust spring tension on the variax for each guage change and buy heavier picks and of course torture myself for a while re learning bending but it was all worth it. After just a couple of weeks I was as happy playing them as the previous countless years on light guage strings. It's difficult to see now how I could possibly go back.

             

            It's definitely worth a try.

      • jackoloki Just Startin'
        jackoloki
        47 posts since
        May 4, 2007
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        May 2, 2012 7:53 AM (in response to variaxlover)
        Re: My JTV-69 doesn't sound that good. Any advice?

        variaxlover wrote:

         

        Me and Billy Gibbons use 8's.  Yup, .008 on the high E string.  Sometimes Billy uses 7s, yet we both get a big fat sound.  25% of your sound is in your fingers, 25% is in the weight of the pick you use, 40% is in the tone settings of your amp and the other 10% might be in the strings.  But yeah, throw some 12s on that 69 and see if it helps.

         

        As for my 'fingers', I fret pretty cleanly. I'm a good guitarist (not great, but good). I may be more accustomed to bearing down on acoustic strings, but I have learned to play with a lighter touch when playing electric. As for 'pick', I'm using a Dunlop Ultex pick 1.14... it's pretty heavy. As for the 'amp', it sounds wonderful on all the other strings; just the B and E sound weak and unresponsive. Besides, I've plugged my Gretsch in and it sounds great with the same HD500 patch. As for 'strings' I've got some 10s on the way. I'll start there.

         

        I am interested in how much control one has over pickup height. Is it really just that you can raise or lower the top and bottom ends, or is there any way to adjust individual strings (other than Variax Workbench, which I will also try)?

         

        Rob

  • jackoloki Just Startin'
    jackoloki
    47 posts since
    May 4, 2007
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    May 2, 2012 7:41 AM (in response to jackoloki)
    Re: My JTV-69 doesn't sound that good. Any advice?

    Thanks to all for their input. I haven't gotten around to trying anything yet. Day job, ugh. But I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I'll definitely be addressing this soon and updating everyone on my status.

     

    Rob

    • edstar1960 Iknowathingortwo
      edstar1960
      712 posts since
      May 25, 2010
      Currently Being Moderated
      May 3, 2012 3:52 AM (in response to jackoloki)
      Re: My JTV-69 doesn't sound that good. Any advice?

      Hope you get the issue resolved Rob.  Certainly changing from 9's to 10's on my Variax 700 improved the sound of the models for me.  Having said that, I have noticed that with my JTV59, using standard supplied 10's, through my HD500, that the B and E do not sound as full as I would expect, particularly on the Lester models when I would expect them to be nice and beefy. Generally the bass strings are really prominent, probably too much so with some amp models, and the top strings do sound lacking esepcially when compared with how my other electric guitars sound. Up till now, I have just accepted it as normal thinking this was just a characteristic of the way the models get rendered or the way the piezo's work - but maybe it isn't and maybe you have highlighted an issue that needs attention Rob.

      I need to do some tweaking in Workbench to see whether that makes any difference although I would want to boost the high E and B rather than lower the other strings to compensate, so I don't think that will work.  Maybe my JTV59 is slightly faulty.  I will have to research further when I get a spare moment.  Meanwhile, I will be interested to see whether you fix your issue Rob.  Good luck.

  • jackoloki Just Startin'
    jackoloki
    47 posts since
    May 4, 2007
    Currently Being Moderated
    May 27, 2012 9:25 AM (in response to jackoloki)
    Re: My JTV-69 doesn't sound that good. Any advice?

    My apologies to anyone who was waiting with bated breath to hear back on this. Life just gets in the way sometimes.

     

    Anyway, so I put the 10s and the problem persists. I did use Workbench to indivdually adjust the string volume, and that did improve the volume inconsistences, but it still sounds bad. Very raw... cheap. So what next, I'm thinking. A recording engineer friend of mine who has a Variax 700 asked me if the strings were buzzing at all. I really wasn't aware of it but – as I listened closely (unplugged) – I could detect a slight buzzing and deadening of the strings after they were struck. It was so subtle that I just didn't notice it. My friend says that digital signal processors don't quite know what to do with that.

     

    So, I guess a little neck or string height adjustment is my next step. I had really hoped the initial set-up would have taken care of this. The strings do not buzz when open, merely when I fret, especially in the area around frets 5-10. Can that be corrected by raising the action or is a neck adjustment in order?

     

    Thanks,

    Rob

    • silverhead Expert Line 6 User
      silverhead
      9,592 posts since
      Apr 1, 2009
      Currently Being Moderated
      May 28, 2012 6:03 AM (in response to jackoloki)
      Re: My JTV-69 doesn't sound that good. Any advice?

      RafikiRob wrote:

       

      ...

      So, I guess a little neck or string height adjustment is my next step. I had really hoped the initial set-up would have taken care of this. The strings do not buzz when open, merely when I fret, especially in the area around frets 5-10. Can that be corrected by raising the action or is a neck adjustment in order?....

      Hard to tell unless you are epexrienced in performing what's called a 'setup' on your guitar. It involves three things: neck (truss rod) adjustment, action adjustment, and intonation. All three are best done together unless you have the experience to assess exactly what is causing the buzz in your particular situation. If you are not experienced in doing this I suggest you take it to a local guitar tech in your area. It's not expensive nor particularly difficult. You could take this opportunity to learn more about it so you may be able to do it yourself in future.

  • jackoloki Just Startin'
    jackoloki
    47 posts since
    May 4, 2007
    Currently Being Moderated
    Jul 7, 2012 11:02 AM (in response to jackoloki)
    Re: My JTV-69 doesn't sound that good. Any advice?

    Well, for anyone who cares to finally hear where I ended up on this (hope no one was holding their breath : ) In the end, I simply raised the action. It took all of five minutes. The slight buzzing went away and it made a vaaaaaast improvement in the sound. I played with some old buddies over the July 4th holiday and they were blown away by the tone coming out of my rig (Variax and HD500 straight into the mixer). And I was also blown away. I had created a few patches prior to going and they all sounded great... amazingly great.

     

    I think I will eventually have the neck looked at to see if it is set-up correctly, and then adjust the action accordingly. I tell you, the slightest buzzing will undermine your Variax tone. If anyone out there is experiencing lackluster sounds, minimize or eliminate the string buzzing and you'll experience a noticeable improvement in tone.

     

    Thanks to everybody for their input.
    Rob

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