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Hi, is there any documentation with the exact neck dimension for the JTV-69S? I know there are many people who don't like the neck but personally I like it a lot. I like the form and also the little chunkier feel. I know it is some kind of C shape but it is quite a bit junkier than the neck on my vintage strat. I plan to build another strat with warmoth parts and would like to have a similar neck profile / shape than the variax has. Thanks a lot!

Yeah, I can totally understand your anger. In July I decided to give the variax a try and bought a used JTV-69s on the net. The guitar arrived and it had a very bad painting job (see picture). I thought i give it a try anyway because it's just an optical issue. After some time though the variax got mad and I had some really bad noise on the modelling and also some drop outs from time to time. Also the modelling doesn't sound and feel good. Since I bought the guitar used I had no change for sending it back and wrote Line 6 Support an E-mail to ask if it is possible that they sell B-Stock or guitars with bad quality. The answer was short: "There's a chance there was some quality issues with B-stock, but there's really no way for me to tell." So for me this means: 1) Line 6 doesn't do quality controls on the gear before shipping. 2) They do not care about angry customers if they get a bad gear 3) Support is near to non existent I use Line 6 gear since the POD (Bean) and still use a HD500 which is a great unit. But costumer service gets worse from year to year. I don't imagine it now when the company is owned by Yamaha.

No unfortunatley I don't ;-). But I had a lot of Line 6 Gear and quiet some experience with their support. And had 2 out of 3 Guitars I had where bad - so eighter I'm very unfortunate or they don't do a good quality check

That's one thing I don't like about Line 6. They have a very bad quality control, if any. Normally a seriouse company doo intense quality checks before the gear left the factory. I never had any issue with the PODs I had (I had them all from the bean to the HD500) but with guitars I had no luck. Had a Variax 600 that changed presets on it's own all the time. Have a James Tyler that has electronic issues and bad paintig job. I asked the support if there are shipped some B-Stock Items from the factory and they just told me that it is possible that there are guitars with some issues around. No solution for that. That is a no go for a professional company. I'll stick with the PODs because I like them and always was very lucky with them.

Hi, I have a problem that I don't understand: I always use the VDI Cable to power the Variax without using the battery. When working in HD500 Edit and change patches the Variax always turns on. I mean I'm working on a patch using the real pickups with the variax modelling turned off. As soon as I change to another patche the variax modelling turns on automaticly. This happens even if in the input sources only guitar is selected. I could understand when "Variax" was selected but it happens on all sources. Is there a way to turn off that behavoir or is it a bug or worse something wrong with my variax? Thanks for your help

Nice tone - thanks for sharing!

I'm glad to hear that ;-) Thanks

Yeah - and that's why I think it would be more important to model the pickup height than the angle. Of course it's not easy but it is essential for the guitar tone.

Thanks for the answer jandrio. I know that it's possible to adjust the level but it is not the same as adjusting pickup height on a guitar. When adjusting the pickup height not only the volume changes but most notably the sound changes.

Hi, I was wondering if I'm missing something in Workbench. Is it possible to adjust the pickup height of the models? I mean there is an option for the position and you can adjust the angle but no height? For me the height adjustment is one of the most important things to get the desired sound on a real guitar. For example on my real strat the change of the pickup height can affect the sound a lot. I would drop the adjustment of the angle (you can't do that on a real guitar anyway) If I would get the option for pickup height. Thanks

Thanks for answering here. I feel really reassured hearing you're still working on the POD or a successor. For me what it makes me unsure is, when people places question and wishes and there is no reaction or short answer from Line6 itself. The followup is very unsure and confused customers. Some of them even leaving because of it. So a short CLEAR statement now and then it wouldn't hurt and it causes more trust. Just my 2cents. I still have my HD500 and I'm still satisfied - even if there are some (even major) things that I like to be done and they are requested since the HD500 came out. But they are all in the list - so there's some hope.

I think you really can't compare those units by listening to a youtube video or a sound example. After using modelling devices since the first hour they came into market, for me it really comes down to how they feel when playing. There is no way to say that by listening to sound examples. You have to try them in real. It happens to me all the time when listen to some software modelles or VST-PlugIns. They sound nice on the recordings but when trying them out most of them don't feel right to me. Sound examples are a good way to make a first choice though. Between: Nothing wrong with the playing for me in the video for me.

Hi, I just got a newsletter of fractal announing the FX8 Multieffects pedalboard: http://shop.fractalaudio.com/FX8_Multi_Effects_Pedalboard_p/fas-007.htm For me it looks like a copy of Line 6 Boards. I do not know of what is inside but for the price I buy 3 Line 6 boards?

I can understand you moving on if the unit isn't for you but don't understand your reasons. The adjustment possibilites in the amp section for me is the most important to get desired tones. And the point it is too complicated makes me think you didn't put too much time in understanding the unit and reading the manual. But I totally understand people who say I wanna less tweaking and more playing. For me it actually works great and after years with my HD500, most of the time I'm looking for a tone I'll tweak it in less than 15 minutes. But I also was thinking chance to other units but for other reason. For example I was near to buy an Elevenrack for better recording options like direct reamping and better software for tweaking.

In my personal opinion it is the better choice to buy a HD500 if you find one. Unless you are a effect freak and using lots of effects there's no need for spending extra money. I very rarley run into DSP overload but must confess I don't like too much effects in my sound. For me it is even a advantage to have the HD500. I try some sounds from Custom tone regularly and also download patches that where created for the HD500x. I convert them (or just rename) for the HD500. Not too many of them create a DSP overload. So from this point of view you even have more patches to choice from. I'll keep my HD500 until the next generation of boards comes out - if that ever happens. Unfortunatley Line 6 dosn't listen to their customers that much anymore - but we'll see.

I had much Line6 gear in the past. Guitarport, XT Bean, XT pedal, X3 Live. Now I have the HD500 and a James Tylor Variax. Never had to give one of them to the service. The XTs I bought used both of them and both where fine. The X3 Live I sold a few years ago I know it's still working. I might have been lucky or you might have to be unlucky. If you have bought all your gear in the same shop you really might try to buy on another or online. I also had a Variax 600 that had many Problems and I had to sell, though.

Very good advice :-)

This was an easy one for me. I listend with the headphone - the real one has a bit more headroom.

I am in the same situation and play only at home at the time. Just got this electro voice speaker: EV ZLX-12P This is not a small speaker but got a good deal so I couldn't resist ;-).

+1 I use the silver edition of them.

This is great stuff - thank you!

Come on - we don't need another thread like HD500 vs whatever - there are millions out there already. Or open another thread if you really need to ;-) Everybody can decide for itself which gear makes him / her happy. I'm using the HD500 since it came out and even if I miss some things (most of the recording related) it works great for me as a currently bedroom player. I believe that you can get a reasonable sound out of every decend device if you just spend enough time with the gear and take the time to learn it in and out. For me it actually took quite a long time to get the sound I like from the HD500 but after years of using it I'm pretty fast dialing in any tone I like. Also if I have to say I think less is more when it comes to effects. Just my 2 cents ;-9 @cclement I use the Sennheiser HD280 too and I think it is a great Headphone for the HD500. I already used it with the X3 Live before and never got dissapointed. Also agree about the "artefacts" in some tones. Never figured out where they come from. But they appear only in some patches - not all. Just like the often discussed fizz that appears in some patches. With the fizz I think it comes when using too much gain in combination with lots of Highs.

I use it for micing up acoustic guitar and record vocals. Just wish the hd500 had phantom power.

This online tuner is my favorite: http://www.seventhstring.com/tuner/tuner.html Other ones http://www.gieson.com/Library/projects/utilities/mic_tuner/ http://www.gieson.com/Library/projects/utilities/tuner/

I also think it is still there but maybe not as strong as in the example