snhirsch

That's a very odd symptom. Can you post a recording somewhere? I do realize the difference between synth tracking and Line 6's real-time processing, but it's near impossible to do pitch transposition in real-time without an initial delay. My band does several tunes where I have to drop a whole step and I've learned to "lead" the beat a bit to make up for it.

I'm really sensitive to mistracking, but have never heard so much as a hint of it on my JTV-69. Can you be more specific about the settings and model you are using? There is a mild sampling lag on the lower strings when pitch-shifted down, but it's easy enough to compensate for and nowhere near as pronounced as the Roland GR-55 synth modes. I like my GR-55, but find that I have to play certain things an octave higher on the guitar and transpose the synth down in order to get reasonable tracking in that register.

Buy a Mighty-Mite neck from Stew-Mac. I have the rosewood fretboard, compound radius version on my 69 and would never go back. Maple fretboard is a few bucks more.

Does it seem affected by which particular patches are involved? I routinely use the HD-500 to switch, e.g. between six and twelve-string Rickenbacker models and don't recall ever hearing any artifacts. Can you tell me what models you are switching between when this occurs? I'll try it on my setup.

I agree. Line 6 exhibits many signs of an under-capitalized company. This can only be good news - although not perhaps for Line 6 employees. The axe always swings after corporate aquisitions complete. Let's just hope that Yamaha management is wise enough to retain the key people.

Currently, the HD500 is your only choice for footswitch control of presets. But, it's hard to see why that would be a benefit in a recording situation since you could always layer on a different setting in another pass. It also lets you tie the volume and tone control on the guitar to any controllable parameter, which might open up some interesting possibilities to real-time recording.

That's what duct tape was invented for :-)

Nice licks! You have a great touch. On a related subject, wasn't it Jay Graydon playing guitar on the original Steely Dan recording?

The JTV69 tuners (I assume the S model is the same as the original) are quite good. For starters they are three-step staggered which gives an optimal wrap angle. When I put the Mighty-Mite strat neck on my JTV69 I re-used the original tuning machines and they have been very stable and smooth to work with. The "Sperzel-like" machines sold by Guitar Fetish sound similar, but they differ a bit visually. Could be the same OEM manufacturer (Chinese?).

Those are the low-priced units I recall seeing before. Let us know how they work out? I'm really curious what the tradeoff might be between those and the Schallers / Grovers of the world.

That price is about average for US or European made precision tuning machines. I have seen some Chinese knock-off tuners for $30-40, but YMMV in terms of quality and longevity.

Ack, sorry. Misread HD400 as "HD500". The other answers were correct - I hang my head in shame...

Yes, but unless Line6 has changed suppliers that cable is as stiff as a garden hose. Check out Best Electronics for a more reasonable cable.

You are likely suffering from a common defect. Pull the knob off gently and try pushing the metal shaft with your thumb. If that toggles the mode reliably then drop a small disc of thin cardboard (like from a cereal box) in the knob and push it back on. The problem is that the knob itself hits the bottom of the cavity before it's had a chance to push the shaft far enough to engage the mode switch.

If you have large fingers (like me) you may find the 69 to be a bit narrow at the nut. But, the nice thing about it is that a strat replacement neck will bolt right on. This is a fairly common mod on the instrument and a number of us on the forums have done it.

Does this happen only when you change banks or pickup settings manually? Do you see misbehavior when you use the HD500 to change Variax presets by assigning them to patches?

It's interesting that you're hearing a difference in the acoustic models. From what I've read in the forums and elsewhere there have been no changes in their modeling since 1.9. The acoustic guitar models were claimed to be the earliest release of "HD" modeling technology that takes full advantage of the DSP horsepower on the JTV.

I don't have a 59 to look at, but is it possible you could engage it with a thin-walled socket wrench? Or, does something completely block the shaft nut?

It sounds like you did everything right, but good luck getting UPS to fork over. In my experience, when you deal directly with them they always find a way to make it your fault for not packing correctly. I packed my JTV-69 myself when it went out for Plek-ing, but it's considerably more difficult to break a Strat-like instrument with no cross-grain at the headstock. When it came to my beloved PRS Custom 24, I sucked it up and had the UPS Store pack it. I would rather not have spent the extra $50+, but their deal with UPS guarantees that damage claims will be honored - if you let them do the entire job.

I'm generally happy with my JTV69 as well, but ran into the "usual" problems initially: Strings sliding off the ends of the frets when fingered near the top of the neck and a model/mag switch that quickly become intermittent. Solved the first one by swapping in a MightyMite strat neck and the second with a small shim. If you want sophisticated modeling, Line6 is really the only non-Midi game in town. But that still does not excuse the lack of quality control. If I didn't basically like the instrument so much, I wouldn't bother raising issues. The fact that so much is right about it just makes the annoyances that much more obvious.

Ack, sorry. I read your posting too quickly. I thought you physically switched the pickups :-) So, yes, I agree it's probably not the pickup itself.

Chalk up another one for World Instrument's inimitable quality control. I do not understand why Line6 doesn't partner with a more capable OEM manufacturer.

The JTVs use an odd mix of SAE and metric hex key sizes. If you pickup Allen wrenches locally, be SURE that you have a good, solid fit before torquing anything or you run the risk of stripping the screw head. ISTR that Line 6 had a table of wrench sizes on their website, but I don't have a link for it.

Greetings, fellow Burlingtonian. I feel your pain. Guitar Center in Williston stocks essentially nothing but low-common-denominator items and wants a credit-card imprint just to try out anything that needs to be shipped in. I ended up driving to Boston to buy my JTV-69. The GC folks there knew nothing about it or the HD500 that I was interested in, but at least they had the bloody thing hanging on the wall. I'm going through the same issue now with the l2t speaker system. Will probably end up taking Sweetwaters up on their generous trial terms for the unit.

Huh? If the problem followed the pickup then how do you come to the conclusion that the piezo is ok?