snhirsch

Definitely not necessary, but there appears to be a failure mode where a steering diode can fault to ground through the sleeve of a mono plug. This is related to Mr. Sarkissian's cryptic warnings about running with both Digital and 1/4" cables attached. They could admit that there's a design flaw, but then they'd have to kill you... One of my sources who's in a position to know what he's talking about has suggested that using a 1/4" plug with the ring floating is a safe way to have both DVI and 1/4" signal leads in play.

Weighty reading :-). My only formal exposure was a graduate course in networking implementations - circa 2002. Even at that time, who knew there were so many? And internet long-haul carriers have a whole slew of standards that most customers have never heard of - mostly synchronous packet protocols (SONET and the like).

I didn't realize anyone was still providing satellite based internet! In the past, this type of service was a hybrid arrangement where incoming packets come down from 24,000 miles up to your dish and outgoing packets use a dial up modem over copper telephone lines. Is that what we're talking about here? If so, there is a huge difference in throughput and latency between paths and it can create all kinds of havoc with TCP connections.

I will take another look, but I seriously do not think this is a case of collapsing probabilities falling out in an undesirable state.

News to me. My JTV-69 certainly did not.

Any possibility that the acoustic sound of the guitar itself is now louder? Perhaps the dissonance is due to the fact that you hear more of the original tone along with the amp output. To rule this out, try recording the guitar output and listening to see if the artifacts are there when you play it back. I've been fooled by this effect more times than I can count.

Yes, "cash-flow protection mechanism" prevents use of non-Line6 batteries.

Based on everything you've said, I would think the Fishman Triple-Play is most appropriate. It is reported by many folks (I have never used one) to have much better tracking than the GR-55. I do own a GR-55 and it's only marginally useful for emulating orchestral instruments. A triple-play feeding a computer or tablet-based soft synth should give better results. How realistic the sounds are will be a function of your skill in both playing the guitar and programming synths. But, don't take one person's word for it. Hop over to VGuitar Forums and solicit opinions there. VGuitar was nominally started as a forum for discussion of Roland 13-pin gear but has grown into a high signal-to-noise ratio resource for anything related to guitar technology. There are quite a number of forum regulars involved in "New Age" and ambient music production. www.vguitarforums.com (You are hopefully aware that the Variax has no guitar-to-MIDI capability. It's just a very versatile guitar and in no way equivalent to a guitar synth.)

..for which you will be billed a usurious price.

Are you sure you have the battery latched in correctly? It almost sounds like the rails on the battery haven't properly engaged with the case. It requires a little bit of force to snap it in correctly. Are you feeling that resistance? As stated already, third-party batteries are a non-starter. Line6 batteries are equipped with a special "cash flow protection" chip to ensure that nothing else can be used in the JTV and (I assume) Variax Standard guitars.

Is there enough room between the Line6 holes and the originals to simply leave the old ones, or did you need to plug them? I finally wore out the frets on my Mighty Mite neck and am looking at Warmoth. Unfortunately they charge extra for undrilled necks and consider them a long lead-time custom order. Would be nice if I didn't have to bother with that. Finally, I assume the top holes line up correctly? My tech didn't seem to think that any of the Variax holes were on standard Fender center locations.

The JTV-89 w/ fixed tailpiece are widely available. Just sent you a PM with a link to one that appears to be a terrific deal.

Agreed. Cover the electronics under extended terms. Alternatively, Line6 might consider reclassifying out of warranty repairs as customer service and marketing tools rather than a profit center. If the failure rate is really as low as some would like you believe then this shouldn't be a stretch.

Trying to have a technical discussion on the dual-output issue is obviously futile, so I'm done. But, please, don't insult the user community by claiming "No secrecy". When it comes to just about any aspect of Line6 instruments beyond playing them and turning the knobs, it all appears to be secrecy.

Right. Good thing that the typical load one might have on the end of the 1/4" cable isn't within 2 orders-of-magnitude of presenting a "high current pull-down". Nothing would please us more than to have Line6 actually be forthcoming with technical details instead of obfuscating what may well be a very logical and simple underlying design issue. But, the inane level of secrecy goes hand in hand with the decision to withhold the JTV guitar setup specs (string height, trem adjust, etc.) because once upon a time someone, somewhere did something dumb that ended up creating a problem.

Line6 has to be one of the least forthcoming vendors I've seen in this field in terms of sharing even modest amounts of technical information. If I"m to take you at your word, then you have a serious design flaw on the JTV electronics. I cannot even visualize how one could design an audio driver circuit that fragile.

Let's assume the 1/4" cable is to be plugged into a guitar amplifier. Worst case, that will be ~100k ohm input impedance - and probably a lot higher. You still insist this is an excessive load? I do not buy that explanation, nor would anyone else with a background in audio circuit design and application. Line6 can put this issue to bed in a hurry by explaining the science behind these claims.

In case anyone else has the same question: "Float" is a commonly used electronics technical term meaning "not connected to anything" :-). Essentially, you connect the cable shield to the shell of the connector (as always) and the center conductor to the tip. The ring connection simply goes nowhere. Having said this, I cannot take any responsibility for problems that might occur. Since Line6 is not forthcoming with technical details and schematics of the JTV Variax electronics are not available I am going by my own 45+ years of electronics technical background and a clear explanation from a third-party with good reason to know what he's talking about. All I can say is that if I had a need to use both outputs, I wouldn't hesitate to take this approach. I want to tread carefully here: I'm not saying that anyone is deliberately misrepresenting matters, just that blanket statements about output stages being stressed don't jive with anything I know about audio circuit behavior. Connecting a 2-ohm load to a power amp designed for 4-ohm minimum is definitely going to cause stress. Connecting a 100K ohm load (worst case guitar level input impedance) to an audio op-amp output? Not likely. It's not even in the right order-of-magnitude to cause loading issues. The steering / blocking diode explanation makes far more sense.

I would love to see the physics behind that statement. In the worst case, an additional audio load might be as low as 100k ohms which isn't about to stress anything. I am told by a third-party that the real issue is a handful of cases involving steering diode failure. I believe the doomsday scenario was a mono 1/4" plug in the analog signal output while power was being supplied over VDI. There is a diode that's supposed to prevent +7V from the guitar electronics from finding its way to ground through the barrel of the 1/4" mono plug. If that diode breaks down, I can well believe that something will get toasted. The same source points out that using a TRS stereo plug at the guitar (with ring floating) will completely sidestep the already small chance of a problem. In that case there is no path to ground through the 1/4" jack. Line6 does no one any favors by obfuscating the issue.

The little box does not support MIDI interface. Line6 knows that folks want MIDI control of the Variax, it's been requested for years. They aren't likely to do it for marketing reasons. Such is life!

Amen. The 1500 is just too bulky and heavy. Complete overkill for club gigs. Would consider a mono version with half the number of drivers and power, but same basic modeling features.

What you describe has been suggested / requested numerous times. I think there's little chance of Line6 taking action, since they want you to spend the long dollars for the top-of-the-line pedals. It's more likely that some enterprising soul will reverse-engineer the signaling protocol and produce a third-party device.

Are you sure about 3 of 4 lining up with standard Strat hole positions? I don't recall that being the case on mine.

Heh, my '68 Les Paul Std. weighs almost 13 lbs. Makes you appreciate the value of a wide, padded strap.

Unfortunately, relying on incidental metal-to-metal contact (between dissimilar metals in some cases) is a terrible design choice for audio ground return. It's probably behind a good percentage of dead or weak transducer complaints with '59s and '69s. Those of us with bench skills have added dedicated ground wires to our instruments and don't deal with this chronic flaw.