Tboneous

The only time I had this issue was when I forgot to hit "save" after tweaking my Firehawk patch.

Hi Tboneous 

Sounds like we have a similar 'modest' approach to using the amp and Pod. I'm still finding I get some digital clipping, which seems to be to do with input levels.  I need to do some more playing.  What settings have you got for input and output? Do you use L6 link?

 

Yes L6 link. Input 1 guitar/Variax. Input 2 aux. Center the mixer block. Crank the master volume on the amp (3 o'clock) heat up the power tubes. Pod volume at noon. Crank gain accordingly.

 

Hopefully that works for you

Crap! I missed a gig? I guess I was too busy lookin up big words and on wakapedio...wikapicio...wiki...wikeee....uh...on the internets!

I knew exactly where you were coming from with your post! My resting state of being is a$$ whole! I can't help myself! I particularly like it when people bite on the hook and bait I throw out! Way entertaining!

 

But you see through my baiting attempts like Super Man sees through Lois Lanes neglige! Well done my man! Well done!

 

You were doing nothing less than preaching the gospel truth!

That survey was a little lacking in specificity. And although can say that I Love my gear, I shamefully have to add "when it works!" to the end of the statement. Not so much about the Variax, but certainly about everything else Line 6 that I own.

 

Europe? They let you in? To teach!?!? WTF! No wonder the EU is falling apart! Hee-hee!

 

Stay safe and be well!

 

Ps...I love it when you call me "Big Boner"

"No one here wants to discus real life accounts about the durability or reliability of their gear."

"So, in closing my man, I might be the only person here, that you will get to agree with you in public. But we are supposed to be able to express our opinions here too, along side of those who might feel differently".

Whatchu talkin' 'bout Willis? There absolutely no shortage of critique of Line 6 gear here on this Line 6 hosted forum. After you stop patting yourself on the back for being the only "truth to power" speaker on this forum, take some time to actually read through some of the posts. I guarantee that you will find kindred spirits here. Like me!

 

Aside from what I perceive as a bit of self aggrandizement, (I had to get you on that one!) I whole heartedly agree with you! The quality control of Line 6 gear, (particularly the DT series amps, The L- series speakers, the Pod HD 500 and Firehawk 1500) is horrid!

 

I have not had any issues with my JTV Korean or my JTVUS. But both of my DT's my Pod Hd and my Firehawk have ALL gone in for some repair within the first year of ownership. I've done shows where the amp would turn on, but no sound would come out. Weird pops and other unwanted noises, hums, whistles and screeches. Tube rattling and on and on all within the first year of ownership!

 

To me and to all of us....totally unacceptable!

 

To make matters worse, the tech staff will tell you to do the hokie pokie wire wiggle, reboot because clearly the customer is doing something wrong. News flash Line 6...maybe it's not operator error. Maybe it's just a brilliant idea paired with shoddy craftsmanship.

 

I've actually sent my amp in to be repaired and the amp came back without the speakers being hooked up! Clearly no one plugged a guitar into the amp to check their work! I'm convinced that the tech staff does not take a comprehensive approach to repairing their "faulty in the first place" gear.

 

Example, I took my Two Rock amp in to get some replacement speakers installed, when I got the amp back, I got a laundry list of repairs that they did on the amp. The re-soldered this, tightend up that, changed a dying tube and rebiased the amp. No Charge!

 

Line 6 returns my "fixed"amp with new issues that they will tell me is my fault! (That's only a slight exaggeration)

 

I am over a hump with my gear at this point. With the exception of a new popping sound from my out of warrantee DT-25, the DT-50 and my Firehawk 1500 have performed quite well over the last year. I got a new JTV-69US that is a stunning guitar. Fingers crossed that this streak will continue. Breath is held EVERY gig I play that this junk will turn on. The fact that crossed fingers and held breath are my reality is totally unacceptable! Having someone from Line 6 tell me that I must be doing something wrong is totally unacceptable. Unacceptable because we, the customer, have a lot of good money invested in Line 6's flagship gear!

Good Job!

Here's another attempt at Baritone Guitar. Not nearly as ambitious as yours Phil! But an attempt nonetheless. Just the intro and somewhere again later in the song. Not higain at all. Just a dab of dirt.

 

https://www.reverbnation.com/dylanblack7/song/23491511-cadillac

 

Anyone else want to share their Baritone Guitar recordings?

...with the steam spicket for steaming milk please!

...and I want it to carry itself to gigs, and I want it to self adjust to any room, and, and come with an espresso maker! Just kidding, but not by much. Try the Firehawk 1500...oh, it's to heavy. Try the Amplifi 150, oh...not loud enough and limited outs. Try a L series speaker, oh, not a real amp. Try a DT25...oh, not frfr enough for Helix.

 

You gotta pick your poison. I think your best poison is the Firehawk 1500. It's heavy, get over it! And get that new carrying case with the wheels! Makes it way easier to transport.

I did a similar setup with my Dream Rig. A couple of things that helped me....

 

I stopped focusing on getting my modeled amp to sound exactly light the original. instead, I focus on getting my amp to sound good. I ask myself, " what kind of tone am I looking for"? If I'm looking for a "chimney" tone, I go to the models that are going to give me that and so on.

 

If I'm using pre amp models , I turn off cab simulation.

I like using LVM on my DT50. I use full models with and without cab simulation. Whatever sounds good.

 

I primarily use 3 amps and I use none of the high gain stuff.

 

Fender

Vox

Marshall

 

So my set up is very simple:

 

Clean Fender

Pushed Fender

Clean Vox AC 30TB

Pushed Vox AC 30TB

Clean Marshal J-45

Pushed Marshal J-45

 

I add FX as needed for a song.

 

I have one set up for pre models and full volume and one with full models and LVM

 

Setting up an amp for each guitar seems like too much work to me. Just because you can do it with this Rig doesn't mean you should. When I used my Two Rock exclusively, I plugged my Strat into it and rocked the house. I didn't scrap that amp during a show because I want to plug up my ES 335. I just did a quick tweet to the treble , bass and mid for that guitar and off I went!

 

Sometimes it gets lost amongst all of the cool things theses amps can do, that the DT's are real amps with knobs you can turn on the fly and get some great tone out of it.

 

Thanx for sharing. I love hearing how other people are using their gear. And since it seems that Line 6 has abandoned the whole Dream Rig concept, (no love coming our way anytime soon!) it's good to hear from others because I, for one, am still inspired and excited evertime I plug up my gear!

That is very cool! Just make sure they don't research the amp on the internet and find this forum chocked full of horror stories like:

 

"My DT50 Stopped Working!"

"DT50 Topology III Ringing Noise Extremely Annoying"

"DT50 Discontinued?"

"Why is my DT50 Droping Volume?"

"DT50 Lights Come On But There Is No Sound"

"DT50 Stopped Working At A Live Gig" (this one is my personal favorite cause it happened to me on more than one occasion)

 

I'm not a hater mind you! I love my DT50 and my DT25. When they decide to work... no, scratch that...when they decided to turn on and stay on at the volume I set, then the amp is brilliant! But my truth with these amps is that Line 6 has payed for a lot of shipping for both of my DTs' in my first year of ownership while under warrantee and now that they are out of warrantee, I have to pick up the shipping dime.

 

Right now my Firehawk is on its second trip to Line 6. (I know, right?) While it's gone, I've been rocking my DT50! Dusted off the old "Dream Rig" and it sounds absolutely amazing! Until, for whatever unprovoked reason, I switched a patch, and the DT made a loud humming noise and no sound came out of the amp. I had to turn everything off and on to get it working again.

 

Line 6 can send them all the free DT50s they want, I doubt they will get used or receive ringing endorsements if they have 1/10 of the problems so many on this forum have experienced.

 

But the amp does sound good!

So after about two weeks of playing my JTVUS, here are some random observations...

The build quality is head and shoulders above the Korean counterpart.

Example..on the Korean, you can feel the sharp edges of the frets on the neck. Not enough to make the Korean unplayable. It's just something you notice when you play a guitar where the frets that aren't sharp.

 

I have 10-46 gauge strings on both guitars. I'm not sure why, but the US model feels like I'm playing 9's. There is a fluidity when bending strings. It almost feels like the neck is scalloped. There is no resistance.

 

The neck on the US is way better. All strings stay in the nut without jumping out. I am a satin finish neck person as opposed to gloss. My US is satin. Not sure if the fret material is different but the frets feel better.

 

Acoustically, the Korean is louder and the US sounds broader if there is such a thing. Maybe even warmer sounding, and that translates to the guitar when amplified. The US sounds much warmer than the Korean even though the pickups are the same.

 

I've also compared the JTVUS to some of my better guitars (particularly my Tom Anderson, Fender Select, Pearlcaster and Suhr)

and this guitar sits firmly and comfortably with those.

 

It's awesome to go into my guitar dungeon and pull any guitar off of the wall and have it be amazing. The JTVUS is that. You pick it up and it feels like butter.

 

While the Korean model is a good guitar, it isn't amazing compared to my Suhr. My Suhr is Amazing! And now so is my JTV US. It is on par with the best of my collection.

 

But the $4000 question is, "is it worth the $4000 they are trying to sell it for? HELL NO! Not to me.

I'd say if you can find one in the $1,500-$2,000 range, you are getting a really well made guitar that is on par with some of the best guitars out there without a doubt.

I not able to see the video you are referencing...

 

Sorry! I forgot to post the YouTube link!

Having a lot of fun making Helix patches on my HD 500. They sound really close! I'm struggling with one. In this video at 3:15 is a patch called "M'erican Tycho" I can see that the amp is an Engl. I need the rest of the Fx and their perameters I suspect there is an Octafuzz in the mix somewhere.

 

I was able to dial in most of these tones using the exact same perameters shown on the video. The Helix perameters are almost identical to the HD.

 

Any help is much appreciated

 

I cant find many of Halley Presets in the cloud. It seems they were removed. Why aren't all of those presets available. His presets are way better than the presets that come stock for certain!

At 1:50 of this video, Sean refers to a "Mikey kind of tone". The patch he uses is called "Mikey Neck". What is a "Mikey" tone?

 

I'll take feel over looks to certain degree (I don't want a great feeling guitar in the shape of a flying orange cycle) but I do apreaciate the craftsmanship and detail put into my Tom Anderson Tele or my new New JTV-69US for that matter. I built a partscaster once where I cut my own pickguard, did my own inlay and a few other really time consuming tasks. My goal was to see if I could make a guitar that looked original and "right and tight" enough to pass for a major manufactured instrument. It took forever because I'm an OCD perfectionist and it was never good enough. (I didn't have the right tools for a lot of the work). Long story short, if there is still time, if I make it, it has to link like I didn't make it. That takes me too long. A credit card at Bananas in Santa Rosa CA. gets me what I want PDQ!

Thanks for the pics! I'm glad that the Variax transplant works for you. No way in hell would that work for me. I gotta have my stuff right and tight. Those are just a bit too rickety for me.

Well personally, I wouldn't buy any of the JTV "impersonations" of a Strat or a Les Paul. So, no, you can't get "anybody" to buy one, but I get your point.

 

To the best of my knowledge:

The Shuriken was already designed, and was going to be released to the buying public as a stand-alone product by Stevic (and whoever else he had on board). He was endorsed by Line 6 to the extent that they were happy for him to utilise the HD Variax electronics in his guitar design. They then decided to go ahead and produce the Shuriken themselves. This was not a concept instigated by Yamaha/Line 6, and as such, stands alone. You or I may transplant the guts of whichever model variax into whichever "traditional" or even unique guitar style we choose, if we are able. It's not exactly rocket science, and is achievable for anyone who cares to do it. I have one Tele style, and two Strat style vaxplants.

 

I wouldn't have any expectation to be truly happy with any Variax aesthetics in the future, but that's just me I guess....

Any pics you'd like to share of your Vaxplants? ( I like that word!) not everyone is a tinkerer. Some of us would rather plunk down the cash and have it done correctly with a warrantee.

 

I think a classic line of gear would be a great move for Line 6. They've got the chugga chugga dudes with this Shrunken, Schrekin...? See what I mean? Telecaster is even easier to say!!!!

Nice video. I really like the white and maple US that you bought. I put a really nice Warmouth neck on my Korean JTV69 and it's now my #1 for gigging. Since I set all of my Helix patches up for the Variax, I'm concerned that if something happens to mine, I'll be in a panic for the next gig. So, I'm thinking of getting a backup. But since I still only have about $1,200 in mine and have a neck with SS frets which I love, I'll probably go Korean again and change the neck. But for home use, I would consider a US version. I'm sure a lot of guys will find your video useful when trying to make that decision for themselves.

I'm slowly entering the same boat with needing my Variax for songs and if something happened to it during the set, I'd be screwed without a backup. Problem solved for me! If you are looking for a backup guitar, you could get the new Variax standard and save yourself a few bucks.

I took delivery of my new JTV-69US. Its a pretty darn good guitar.

 

I did a video of the differences I noticed between the two guitars.

 

Hopefully it is helpful!

 

Let me know if you have any questions!

 

Yeah. I didn't pay $4K either! Nowhere near $4K! It was the color combo of this particular guitar and the maple neck that sold me!

 

My guitar will be delivered sometime early next week. Cant wait! 

 

Question: What made your purchase a "no brainer" aside from the good deal you got on the price? Were you able to play it prior to purchase? 

 

I have NEVER in my life purchased a guitar without playing it first. My thought is that it should feel as good as my Korean but better. Is that too much to expect?

 

 

I think its great - for me it was a no-brainer (but I did not pay 4k$ for it)

 

I would rather have a white one though, mine is red. But I can live with that :D

Ohhh! That's a beauty!

Thanx! 

 

How do you like your JTV-69US compared to the Korean?

Yep! It's 'Merican! Looking forward to getting it. I wish Line 6 offered a gold bridge. That, with gold tuners?....Now we're talking Mary Kaye!

Picking this one up.Got it for a decent price. Will share my thoughts. I like the color and the maple. Fingers crossed!

Line 6 seems to be all about high gain chugga chugga detuned to Q flat players. How's bout something for those who like nothing better than a cranked up Bassman and a tube screamer? Hows bout a Tele configured guitar or maybe even a semi hollow?

If there is I haven't found it. I find it necessary to use a temporary patch location. Rearranging two patches is a 3-step process (unless both patches are already in My Tones): copy the first patch to the temporary location, copy the second patch to overwrite the first patch in its original location, then copy the first patch from the temporary location to its destination.

That sucks! I know what I want in the next update!