clay-man

Yeah please exchange, you're going to end up not being happy with what you have, and you can get a JTV in better shape than that.

Graphtech FAQ states to use PN-8000-00 Ghost saddles. Basically Graphtech Ghosts are a lot better quality than the LR Baggs piezos in old Variaxes. Switching them will do 2 main things: 1) It makes the models sound much better in quality 2) eliminates the ground problem forever if you wire it right Another benefit is they use String Saver saddles with piezos in them so it should help reduce string breakage.

Oh thank you! You didn't have to. Just thinking about stuff out loud. I know In Flames uses EMGs which are not exactly high gains but I'd say it's more close. I wonder if they could model active pickups.

If it is software then yes you are correct. I just don't understand what is causing people's firmware to f up to cause that problem. I still stand by my claim that the original Variax's global string setting is to calibrate the piezo volumes

Very awesome! Thank you so much. Seems the 89 is a bit brighter. I'd probably try to stick 89 pickups in a LP body to make an In Flames-esque metal patch. I'm not sure. It's times like this I want to have my hands on a JTV.

Lovely. You're completely missing my point. I'm saying it was originally for optimizing volume on your guitar ON THE OLD WORKBENCH, not new. Perhaps the new volume levels are for adjustment and not preference, but it would indicate laziness on their side. I don't see the point in having hardcoded some volume defaults for it to be the correct volumes on the strings on a patch by patch basis. If they honestly said "Throw this in and let them figure it out themselves" it's a pretty bad resolve for the problem.

Then why doesn't everyone complain about the volumes? It can't be software if it doesn't happen to everyone. Also, it's not an assumption, it's a fact. It's why the original workbench has a global string setting but not a patch-by-patch string volume ability. The update for HD to adjust string volume is most likely for further customization.

How about anything that goes from the 5way to the board? Anything there? Try to check that before you replace it, I mean you said it started after you done the coffin thing.

You're missing my point. Why are some people not having trouble with the E & B string then? If it's a hardware issue with the piezos being unbalanced then why aren't they complaining about the LP being too loud on the E & B strings? All I'm saying is try and see if it DOES fix the problem. The main reason why the string volume existed wasn't for preference but to balance out piezos being uneven in volume. All I'm saying is give it a try. Maybe you just can't hear it on the LP because it's more compressed. The whole problem could be that the E and B string volumes are too low in general, not for that set. You understand?

You do have string volume adjustments on a patch-by-patch basis so you could always use that, you know. The problem is not impossible to address, but the guitar should definitely not have the problem if your strings ARE balanced. Like I said, it could be a hardware problem with the piezos, so why would it be that the people who aren't having the volume problem not be complaining about the other models being too loud on the e and b strings? Just give it a try, that's all.

Really? Working on it for 2-3 years and they're crap? Perhaps rushed, but not crap. I agree they need to fix some of the unrealistic issues the guitar has. One thing I have to question is this "sustain" emulation. First off, what if we have a 69? That's a strat guitar already, wouldn't the hardware already compromise sustain? If anything, Strat needs to be left alone and LP and others need to be boosted in sustain with a subtle compressor. I also agree with the string volume issue. Unless they're absolutely sure that's how a strat acts, then I don't think it should be doing that. It also doesn't count if it's because the guitar you modeled has the pickups extremely low riding on the treble side. Set the guitar up properly. I wonder if they still did things through algorithmal frequency analyzing processes and if they did something strange to some of the guitars that makes it a bit off. I'm not sure how that all happens, but obviously if it's doing something it shouldn't do, they need to be fixed. I think disregarding that, they sound really great, like I said, they need to fix some of the glitches, and yes there are glitches whether or not you want to admit it. Perhaps it's hardware issue as well, that for some reason there's a difference between piezo e and b on people's guitars that gets thrown off harder on 2.0/2.1 than 1.9 and below. If that IS an issue though, I highly suggest adjusting the global volumes on the E and B even if it sounds fine on the LP and other humbucker guitars. What you should do is run it into a DAW or something you can analyze the volumes with. Hit each string and make sure they're at the right settings you'd like. I prefer all the volumes to be even so that a string doesn't drown out another string when playing chords. Play each string as hard as you can and even out the volumes between them all. It's how I set up the string volume on my 600, sounds great. Just high enough to be loud and just low enough for all the models not to clip the signal.

Ouch. I did think the volume knob looked way too close to the strings, I already have some problems hitting my volume on my 600 and lowering the volume on accident. I totally agree about the headstock. The high e slippage thing sounds like a pain, and that trem block issue sounds awful. For a guy who is an acclaimed luthier guitar designer, he sure has a lot of problems with his guitar. Made me want to get a 59 over a 69, I mean I don't have an LP style guitar yet so why not, but I love fender-esque guitars a lot. I've heard they fixed design issues in later versions but it seems like it still causes problems. Like I said though, that alt tune knob is a hell of a deal breaker. I need that feature really badly because I don't like wasting banks for duplicates of guitars I already have on the Variax that is just simply a different tuning. I literally have 2 banks filled with Les Pauls tuned to C standard and Drop A# for playing In Flames, and while that is what I put on top priority, I still want more at my disposal.

Ah. Yeah, my 600 is the best playing guitar I have, even though the b string has level issues near the 12th fret from trying to level out a ding in it, but after messing around it is pretty great, just needs to be shaped a bit better with a crowning file. I can also agree about the missing pickups, it makes the guitar look mysterious, though I did make decal pickups after some guy did that to his Variax on youtube, I was bored I guess, comes right off fine though.

Can someone do a dry comparison between an LP and the 89 pickups? Just wonder how different they sound.

What affects the tone rolloff on the volume knob and the volume rolloff on the volume knob?

I really don't know why you'd want to use an old gen variax over a JTV. Even if you think it sounds better ,you can just switch to old firmware on the JTV and it'll sound the same. The hardware is more nice, the trem actually works and stays in tune, and you have an alt tune knob which is insanely helpful. I'd kill for a JTV for the alt tune knob alone.

That sucks. I was going to say try contact cleaner but you said you already did. I have a problem where once in a blue moon position 1 reads as position 2 until I flick it back again, but it's nowhere near that bad. Do you see anything else possibly messing with the selector?

Maybe if you use a trem a lot, that's the only thing I can think of. Any place that is a sharp angle with the strings put on it can cut the string overtime, but the nut should prevent most of the vibrations really going to the tuners, so yeah.

Are they breaking at the pegs? Like he radatats said, you don't need to wind extra around the posts if it's locking. My 600 used to have a string breaking problem but that's because the action was so high at an angle it would choke and cut the strings over time. Lowered my action and haven't broken a string yet, always change dead strings before I break them now.

I'm glad it seems to be working better for you. Hopefully you can resolve the other problem. I might be having a coffin problem as well, because once in a blue moon my Variax will have a fix of noise in the signal for like 1-3 minutes and then stop. This only happens when I use a power source instead of a battery.

+1 for using a torch. I used a lighter to strip my new piezo wire cause the thing is insanely thin to snip without cutting off the wire.

I use Elixir Polywebs now too. Regular strings will die in 3 days to a week for me. I can't deal with that. Also note that dead strings on a Variax sound 2-3 times worse than dead strings on a regular guitar. I've had them on for a month. I've recorded a clip of the strings on the acoustic model day 1, and when I do an A/B of them today, they sound EXACTLY THE SAME. All the rich harmonic content of a new string that would die in a day of playing is still there.

If you use an old Variax or anything below 2.0 firmware than you cannot use a POD HD500X as a workbench interface. Take that into consideration before buying a POD. If this isn't a problem for you and you want the best POD, get a HD500X. If it is a problem and you still want the best POD, HD500. If it's a problem and you don't want an HD, get a POD XT Live. Just my 2 cents. Hex pickup gets fed into the DSP/CPU to be processed to sound like the guitar model you have selected. That is all digital. Using a VDI gets rid of extra Digital-to-Analog and Analog-to-Digital stages that happen when the Variax converts digital to analog when sending to a guitar cable, then the audio interface turning the analog back to digital for the computer to work with it. While the quality between the two may not differ significantly, it probably does help. It does mean you get absolutely no signal degradation from what exactly your Variax purely sounds like. It also means you might cut off 1-2 milliseconds of latency caused by the D/A and A/D converters which is nice. It's nice if you want to try to be more professional with the Variax. Some people say they can hear a difference. The biggest advantages when using a POD is mostly being able to switch patches and change tunings if you're using an HD500 with a recent firmware JTV.

The USB hub is not an audio interface. It is a data interface for workbench and monkey only. You need to buy an audio interface to use the Variax. You CAN however get a POD and send the digital audio to the pod via VDI cable. The problem is that the USB device is not an audio device so it can't work as an audio interface.

Does 2.0 have more lag than 1.9? I have a 600 and I have virtually no problem with selecting pickups at all.