pheld

Let me know if I should open a new thread instead of resurrecting this old one, but the above is what I experience too except that swapping cables make no difference. My G90 has acted up producing horrible pink-noise some 10-20 times in the 4-5 years I've used it. When it happens the noise is only emitted when the transmitter is on, but my testing(below) clearly isolate the problem to come from the receiver. I have not been able to isolate an exact cause, but I have been able to rule out certain things. The unit is being used with a Kemper amp-sim, and is normally connected to the Kempers alternate input. When the problem occur I have never been able to resolve it other than leaving the unit off for a while. I usually resort to a using a regular cable and find that the G90 works fine next time i try it, a few hours or days later. It may be worth noticing that for me the problem always has appeared when the transmitter has been turned on after a pause/break (10+min) during which the receiver has been left on. The noise has never started while playing. Testing: Changing channels makes no difference. Swapping the transmitter and or instrument2transmitter-cable makes no difference. My transmitter works fine on a different receiver (G50/55). I have never had access to another G90-receiver for test when I've had these problems. Power-cycling the G90 makes no difference. Replacing the patch-cord from the receiver to the amp makes no difference, yet plugging the patch-cord directly into the guitar works fine. I've seen other people with the same problem suggesting on forums that moving out of reach with the transmitter active may trigger this problem, but anything intermittent should at least be solved by power-cycling the unit. I also find it hard to believe that such a problem would not be caught in product testing. My remaining theory is that it either is some kind of environmental (radio/electromagnetic) interference causing this, or that something happens within the G90 so that it ends up in a bad state that takes a long time to clear. It should be next to impossible to inject noise into the encrypted stream between a digital transmitter and receiver. It would have to be something that directly affect the receiver. At a public venue just about every person present is carrying a radio-unit (smartphone) operating at nearby frequencies, but I have also experienced the problem at home. I live in the middle of nowhere and tried to turn off any 2.4GHz-gear in the building when the noise appeared, but that made no difference. For a while i suspected a ground-issue in the receiver because I once noticed that the power-cord was not properly seated in the receiver when it happened and that re-seating the cable and power-cycling unit seemed to fix the problem. However, I have since experienced the problem regardless of whether the unit is connected to a grounded outlet or not, and regardless of whether the power is supplied directly from the wall-outlet or via one of my Furman power-conditioners. I don't have a XD-V75 which according to the documentation I've seen is required (horrible design) to upgrade the firmware in the G90-receiver. I do however believe that my G90 is more recent than the last firmware I've found that is issued in 2012.

I'm curious about how the new line stacks up quality-wise. I owned a JTV59 for about a year, and loved its versatility as a backing instrument. The electronics however was horribly unreliable. In particular the model-selector-knob just never lasted long. Its construction seemed pretty weak. My guitar spent most of its time in workshop, or waiting for parts to be delivered. In addition to repairs I received 2 replacements, but all had the same problem and I finally gave up. My hope is that some of Yamaha's attention to factory-standards and build-quality has rubbed off on L6. For now I'll hang out and keep an eye on peoples experience with the new product-line through the forums, but I may get one if it turns out to be significantly improved.

I can only speak for myself, but in my experience that is not the case. The on/off push-switch gets stuck when pushed in any but one or two of the rotary positions. It gets stuck even if you operate it with without the plastic knob on the shaft so it is definitely a problem inside the switch itself.

I'm in Norway. Yes, service levels seems to vary between locations, but there's no excuse for not selling spares. Even a ship doesn't take 3 months or more to bring parts from Korea to anywhere in the world. My fear is to be stuck with an instrument that is impossible to repair once the warranty runs out.

1. It may depreciate a bit faster than a classic model/brand, but it's not bad. 2. There seems to be bit of variation in quality, or maybe I was unlucky with my first. The 5 upper frets on strings 1-3 were unusable due to buzz. I had to send it off for fret levelling (plek). The electronics are supposedly the same on both Korean and US-made models. 3. I'm a sceptic wrt repairs. Parts availability is questionable and may also vary a lot between locations. I've been told by my supplier that L6 is very restrictive wrt the distribution of parts and will only deliver parts to approved workshops. The electronics broke on my first JTV-59 within a few weeks. It took almost 4 months before I got a replacement. The distributors workshop was unable to fix it, which can only mean they had no access to parts. I got a new guitar under warranty, but that won't be possible once the warranty runs out. The replacement guitar was broken on arrival and I'm waiting to have it fixed or replaced again. I've been able to use the guitar for about 3 weeks in the 6 months I've owned it. I could have used it most of the time if I could have had access to parts to fix it myself as I do with the rest of my collection. 4. I like the neck. It is almost as chunky as my '89 LPC (50s neck-shape) and slightly wider which works well for finger-style. 5. It's a real guitar all-right. As a regular guitar, with magnetic pickups, it compares to other well-made Korean models such as the PRS SE-series. Then you've got the variax-electronics as a "bonus". The magnetic pickups are a bit hot if you are after classic LP-tones, but they can be swapped with whatever HBs you prefer. At this point I'm on the fence wrt whether I'm going to keep the guitar or get my money back. The reason I got it was to be able to manage with just one guitar on a few occasions. It defeats the purpose if it is so unreliable that I always have to bring another acoustic and electric for backup.

If that is the case I wonder why my first JTV59 could not be repaired. I had spent $400 on a plek-job (fret levelling) so I told the distributor I really preferred to have it repaired instead of getting a new one. I also had a look inside, and the modular construction with little ribbon-connected circuitboards makes it trivial to repair if there are spares available. It took them 3-1/2 months to produce a replacement which should be more than enough time to ship parts all the way from Korea to Europe by boat if necessary.

I've notices this issue, but it isn't the problem I've got. The switch sticks in the down-position, and operating it even without a knob on the shaft changes nothing. Raising the knob on the shaft wont change a thing. When stuch it can be pulled back out without too much force. It is only in the custom1-position that the on/off-switch pops back out by itself. I hoped it would get better with some wear, but after a few weeks it only seems to get worse.

I've yet again received a faulty JTV59 (stuck push-switch on the model selector). A previous guitar with a dead variax-circuit was written off as unrepairable by the L6 distributor. Repairing it should have been very simple with access to spares so this can only mean that even a L6-partner distributor is unable to get parts. Where does this leave a variax-owner once the warranty runs out? I'm hoping that someone with some insight into the L6 logistics-chain can contribute some information about the availability of spare-parts. Although I like the guitar when it works I see no point in hanging on to an instrument that can not be repaired (preferably by myself as with the rest of my guitar collection) in the future if necessary. I may ask for my money back instead of a repair/replacement this time.

JTV-59 #1 (April 2013): Needed fret levelling ($350 plek job) to get rid of buzz. Lasted 3.5 weeks, then the variax-circuit died. 4 months wait for a replacement. Official L6 distributor was unable to repair the guitar. They were in fact not able to get spares. JTV-59 #2 (September 2013): Neck and fretwork on this one is perfect. On-off switch in the model-selector gets stuck when pressed in most positions other than custom1. No obstructions around the knob or shaft so the problem is inside the switch. Was hoping it would get better with some use, but after 2 weeks it is only getting worse. When the guitar works it does what I expected it to. Modelling can't compete with the real thing, but in many settings it works fine. Magnetic pickups, although a tad hot, works well and makes this a viable alternative to a LP with modelling turned off. Wrt construcion and sound I'd give it 4/5. Factory QC and the distributors customer service otoh deserves no points at all.

If they want to be that restrictive maybe L6 should act responsibly and find a distributor for their products that offer decent service. In my country they've made the worst possible choice and most people I know avoid all products (not just l6) handled by this distributor. When my 3rd JTV-59 arrives 4 months from now I will have enjoyed playing the instrument for 4 weeks in 9 months. That hardly counts as a recommendation to potential buyers.

I didn't ask for genuine parts to be carried by the local hobbystore. I'm requesting spare parts from Line6. The repairer in my case is the national distributor of line6 products. If they can't handle it I'd have to ship the guitar abroad, and then we're looking at repair-costs of $500-1000 or even more for an instrument that was broken as it left the factory.

I just received a JTV-59 with a bad model selector switch (as replacement for one that was written off as unfixable). When pushed to switch between magnetic pickups and modeling the switch doesn't move equally well in all positions. In fact, it is just in the custom1-posistion that it reliably pops back out after being pressed. I've been looking for obstructions and not found any so it seems to be a problem inside the switch. I've also seen suggestions that problems with this switch may be caused by the knob being mounted to low on the shaft, but raising the position changes nothing. The switch does get stuck just as bad in the down position when operated with no knob on the shaft. This may seem like a simple warranty case, but I'm reluctant to send the guitar back given my track record with the local distributor (Norway). The modelling circuit on my first JTV died after about a months use, and it took the distributor nearly 4 months to replace it. They spent almost 3 months diagnosing before finally reporting that they were unable to repair the guitar and had to order a replacement. This seems odd considering the modular construction of the instrument and that it should be e simple operation for anyone with a bit of insight to replace components one by one until the problem is solved. I'm not too keen on 4 more months without the instrument, so it leaves me with the following questions: 1. Is there something else I can try that won't affect the warranty, like electronics cleaning-fluid (isopropanol) or some form of lubrication on the switch. 2. Does line6 supply parts for these guitars at all? I can't see why the distributor would be unable to repair the guitar by swapping the electronics if they do have spares. It would otoh be problematic to maintain the guitar in the long term (when the warranty runs out) if there are no spares available. I haven't seen any 3rd-party rotary-switches on the market that would work as replacements for the model and tuning-selectors. 3. Is is possible for me to order the necessary parts to swap out the main selector myself so that I won't have to be without an instrument for months? I can't get a straight answer from the distributor. I do understand that l6 may not want people to buy complete electronics kits to install in other instruments, but individual parts must at least be available somehow.

I got a JTV-59 in April. The variax circuit died a month later and it was returned for repair. 3 months later I was told that the repair-center used by the Norwegian distributor was unable to fix it and that I would get a new guitar (not Line6's responsibility I know, but lousy service from a national distributor does hurt a manufacturers reputation). A month later the new guitar (s/n w12020981) arrived and within a couple hours use it developed a problem with the model selector. Switching models work fine, but pushing the knob to switch between magnetic pickups and modelling only works reliably in the Custom1-position. In other positions the knob often gets stuck in the down position, and if I pull it up it may jump to programming mode (blinking LEDs). I tried the paper-trick mention in this thread to raise the knob on the shaft but that doesn't work. No wonder really as I discovered that the problem is just as bad when I operate the switch using the shaft with no knob. I'm reluctant to send it back again if that means another 4 months without the guitar. Is there anything else I could try myself?

The guitar was shipped off for repair on June 7. Today I finally got a message saying that the distributors rep-centre is unable to fix it, so I will receive a new guitar. I've examined the internals and can't really understand why it should be hard to fix if only L6 can produce spare parts. I just hope the fretwork is a bit better on the next one so that I won't have to shell out for another plek-job. There were none in stock atm so it'll take a few weeks still.

This is a common problem on many trem-bridges if they are set to float. My solution to this problem is to install a tremol-no . It is a device that installs on most trem-bridges with traditional springs (including floyd-rose) that makes it possible to lock the bridge in position so that it becomes possible to use different tunings etc despite the bridge being set to float. For string changes you only have to remember to lock the bridge before you start, then rip off all strings, clean the fingerboard etc, restring, tune, loosen the lock and fine-tune. The tremol-no doesn't hamper the operation of the tremolo or affect tone when it is unlocked. When locked it may add a touch more sustain on some guitars, but in most cases changes to tone are unnoticeable.