cruisinon2

Regarding string gauge,....

 

If you want to use 9's, that's okay,.... but you'll need to take it to a guitar tech to have the

set-up adjusted for that gauge set. When you change gauges, you change the tension,

when you change the tension, the set-up is off and needs to be adjusted.

 

That info might not be in the brochures, because it's just a common aspect of all guitars.

Change anything that alters the string tension, and you alter the set-up. It's like that on all

guitars, not just JTV's.

 

Also, climate of your location also affects the set-up. When you get a guitar back from a

distant shop, the set-up should be done with your location in mind, so give it a couple days

or more to settle in. If it is still a little off, take it to a local guitar tech for that final dial-in.

Any thoughts on the crosstalk issue?

 

 

Being the JTV service guy at Line 6, yes,...

Please tell me you're not the only one.... ;)

And since you've unveiled yourself...any thoughts on the crosstalk thread? I saw you posted in that one too. I'd love to figure out if my drop D issues are curable, or if it's peculiar to the way I play and would plague any JTV I tried...

Yup, I've definitely seen this movie... :P

I want my 2.1 firmware YESTERDAY!!!!! Preferably hand delivered and uploaded by Line 6 personnel. I'd also like them to bring me a pony...a white one.

So is this thread gonna be the Reader's Digest version of all the other whiney ones, or will we be covering new ground here?

Nothing wrong with a PRS...but it will be a PRS, and nothing else.

If versatility is something you're looking for in a recording guitar, the JTVs are the way to go. They are quite well made, very resonant guitars, even without all the DSP goodies.

I just don't feel right about taking advantage of liberal return policies.  Also, that wouldn't have given me both instruments side by side to play with.

You're a better man than I....lol. True, you couldn't a/b them, unless you bought both, knowing you'd return one (even I wouldn't do that). But even if you did, you're not taking advantage of them...they make their own rules.

After driving 250 miles to Boston in order to find a store with both a 69 and 59 in stock,  I bought the former for two reasons:  The neck was replaceable if I didn't like it (and it turns out I didn't) and you could select all five positions with one hand.  It just seemed like having to use both hands for pickup changes would be problematic.

250 miles? Wow...man on a mission. I don't think I'd drive 250 miles if I needed a kidney transplant, lol.

Next time just buy whatever it is from Sweetwater, play it for a month and return it no questions asked if ya don't like it. If nothing else it'll save you about $80 in gas...

Unfortunately I cant fin either in local stores here. Is te modelling the exact same on both models? Does the 3 way switch on the 59P provide huge limitations?

99.68% of this decision will boil down to personal preference. The switch thing too...as far as I'm concerned, one 5 way switch is infinitely easier to operate on the fly than a 3 way switch plus a button, but thats just me...you might not care, and obviously there are plenty of guys for whom its not an issue. I'm also not a big fan of the Les Paul-like ergonomics of the guitar itself...so I never really looked at the 59.

The models and tunings are all the same, and you shouldn't notice much of a difference, except perhaps with sustain. Generally a set neck will give you a little more sustain than a bolt-on, but the 69's are very resonant guitars and they ring like a bell. Mine sustains better than my Am. Std. Strat.

Relying on Line 6 to store them for you is not likely to end well. Been tons of complaints about the website lately, specifically many patches disappearing from custom tones. Save them in HD edit and store them on your computer, at least that way you'll know where they are.

It will depend largely on whether or not you're a Les Paul guy or a Strat guy...different scale lengths, neck profile ect. If you can put your hands on them both, then do that first...easier said than done though. I've never seen one hanging on the wall in a store.

75 solid state watts will only take you so far...might be time to upgrade to something bigger.

Unfortunately, you will have to experiment with the different options and find what sounds best to you. Someone else's settings may or may not sound good to you. There are no right or wrong choices. Try both preamp and full amp models...play around with everything and see what you like. There's no escaping that phase...and get used to the idea of having different banks of patches...one set for headphones, one for bedroom volume through an amp, and one at rehearsal/gig volume...no getting around that either.

You short circuit a regular guitar it'll just start buzzing or not making sound most likely.

 

You short circuit a computer system and you can possibly fry or damage components that are getting voltages that they're not supposed to. This can result in it not working properly or not working at all.

I don't think anyone is arguing that short circuits are a good thing, and I'm sure its possible to produce them by shoving metal stuff inside the guts of a Variax. However, I maintain that unless one is truly spastic, an incredible slob, or deliberately trying to ruin the guitar, using a little steel wool on the neck with no exposed electrical components poses near zero risk to the guitar. If not, then perhaps mine will fry one day...but I seriously doubt it.

O.K. the guitar is back from Line 6. Guess what? IMHO they did not fix anything. It sounds exactly the same!! Again to recap how I test it. (and I hope I am missing something)

Tones on all magnetic pickups  -  great. (remember, this is coming right off their bench and set up the way they say it is supposed to be)

 

Piezo mode. On the Alt. Tuning Knob it is set to Standard. On the model knob, set to Spank  -  Spank model and all others sound perfect. No ghost tones anywhere. 

 

In Piezo mode, turning the alt. tuning knob to any other setting, say "Blues G", I get double tones on the High E and G strings. Note: I get the multi-tones even when I pick the one string with my hand laying over all the others. This rules out the sympathetic response that was mentioned earlier. 

 

I will experiment a bit more. Recheck the settings in the Workbench and make sure nothing is set up to blend with the magnetic pickups. I am open to ideas - other then hitting something with the guitar!!

Sorry to hear that, but I'm not surprised. Their diagnosis made no sense in the first place.

make sure you do not get any of the steel wool inside the guitar. I'm sure it can short circuit it if you do.

I suppose it could...if wou wedged an entire pad of the stuff in next to your switches and pots, but I don't think the little shavings pose much of a risk. I've been using ultra fine steel wool to get crud off of fretboards and to smooth the backs of necks for years, and never gave it a second thought....unless you have the pickguard or backplates off at the same time, it's nearly impossible to screw anything up. And even then you're using it on the neck.

I was thinking "is there a common starting point?" but yeah, I know what you mean.

If you think of it in the terms of an amplifier, you turn on your amp and it sounds like XX when it's clean.

Then you add effects, distortion, etc. But you've got that clean, punchy amp as a starting point.

With the HD500, it seems like you're always starting at ground zero. I need to find the "clean, punchy amp" and build from there and I guess that's what I'm finding hard to do.

I realize it's an odd and somewhat basic question,

Well, you're right, you are starting from scratch each time...the HD500, 500x are quite different anything else I've used. Definitely not plug-and-play. I tend to think of the clean and dirty tones as completely different universes. I almost never use the same amp model(s) for both...but your mileage may vary.

get some 0000 steel wool or even some very very very fine sand paper and make it silky smooth :) 

yeah, that works well. been doing that for years. I don't think the OP likes the satin feel though...

Hello.  I have an older JTV-69 that I bought used (not sure year, but probably when they first came out), and the neck finish is on the glossy side (maybe more like semi-gloss).  From playing a new model JTV-69, I noticed that the neck finish is very matte, almost feeling like bare wood.  I much prefer the feel of the older neck with the glossy finish.

 

Does any one know when Line 6 switched finishes? 

Can't say for sure, but they may not have changed anything. That satin finish doesn't last long. Oils and perspiration from your hands will literally polish it for you over time. Every guitar I've had with a satin finish neck [as opposed to a heavy, polished laquer] has been like that. Had mine little more than 2 months, and even in that short time, just from daily use the neck now looks and feels much different than it did out of the box...more of the "glossy" feel that you describe. Difference can easily be seen comparing the neck to the back of the headstock, which isn't getting handled at all. Don't even have to touch it...it's easily visible. So if the used one you bought was played a lot, it doesn't surprise me that it feels different from a newer guitar.

On my 500 I get that when connected to workbench.  My JTV pots are silent when connected to my Pod500x.

On my 500 I get that when connected to workbench.  My JTV pots are silent when connected to my Pod500x.

I've noticed that with the JTV, too. Odd, but never happens without being connected to Workbench, so I can deal with it while tweaking things...as long as its quiet through the amp.

To be fair.. As far as "gain" goes.. Most Nickelback and Dream Theater tunes are probably close to the same. Tone and technique absolutely varies.. Which is the perceived difference to our ears. I'd like to think that most folk understand that "high gain" is anything "Metal" or heavier. Personally.. It doesn't matter to me weather It's Black Metal, Death Metal, Heavy Metal.. Pink, Blue, Green, Orange, or Purple Metal.. It's still Metal.. And Metal equates out to high gain no matter what shade of the rainbow type of Metal it is.

 

Also, FWIW.. I thought Dream Theater was Prog. Rock and Nickelback was Rock.. Or did they create a few hundred more genres to classify music into?

All I meant was that "high gain" tends to mean different things to different players, depending on your style/taste.

As far as what "Metal" is...according to an 11 part documentary series [i'm sure that wasn't an accident...lol] from a few years back, there is a dizzying array of sub-genres...enough to make you laugh sometimes. Don't remember the exact title, but that series categorized everything up the yin-yang, with a flow chart of sub-genres that can make your head spin...many I'd never heard of before.

But anyway, I really just curious about how much gain you can really get out of the 11R...if it's high gain capabilities and with Stones-y/ Zep kinda tones, then it wouldn't be for me. Love Zeppelin, just don't play that kinda stuff much.

That's actually a really good idea.. Especially since they have voyaged into those waters with the AmPlIfI gear

That's actually a really good idea.. Especially since they have voyaged into those waters with the AmPlIfI gear

And the Sonic Port...odd that iOS would be embraced for some products and not others. I know a bunch of guys who all keep an iPad on a music stand on stage for lyrics, set lists, etc. Wouldn't be that hard to build an app for HD edit.

I don't think they advertise that P/N on their website, but it is orderable. I got the P/N originally from a Line6 Support person. I'm pretty sure I got it right - I just re-checked it against my order acknowledgment from Full Compass. It would be nice to see a pic ahead of time...

 

If you call Full Compass, you can order it over the phone. 608.831.7330 or 800.356.5844.

Ahh...that explains it, thanks! One more question. I'm assuming that the new one will include only the hardware, and not the board mounted to the sustain block that all the piezos are soldered to, correct?

 

• Most of the pickups sound very good :-)
• Two of the Graph Tech pickups sound kind of lifeless or have a high frequency resonance. I can change that somewhat by moving the pickups slightly from side to side, but I can't make all of the pickups sound good at once.
• I am really not sure what the cause of the funky sound is. It could be the angle of the string over the saddle. It could be something else (theories?).
• The pickups are definitely higher toward the rear than the original pickups (see pics in the links below). This causes the screw to run up at angle from the back side of the bridge, which may be putting force on the pickup. I bought some nylon screws (4-40 3/4") to see if the flexibility might help. Haven't installed these yet.
• I also put nylon washers under the Philips head end of the intonation screws on the back side of the bridge.
• I discovered that there has been a bridge update by Line6 since I got my JTV69 (mine was a very early model). Not sure of everything they changed, but one thing they did do was move the PCB to the back of the block, apparently.
• Suspecting that the bridge itself may be affecting the tone/sustain, I ordered an updated one from Full Compass. About $185 with piezos included, so not too horribly overpriced. P/N 50-04-0066. Should be here in a week or two.

Anyway - haven't found the Glail yet. Still searching :-)

Pics here: https://app.box.com/files/0/f/1705119386/Variax_Pics

 

Sorry to hear that you're still having issues...

I'm curious about the bridge you ordered. That part number doesn't turn up in the search at the full compass site. I scrolled through every Line 6 part they claim to have, and didn't see an entire bridge. Maybe you got the last one...lol. Could you point me to it? Thanks...

AGREE  !  PLEASE LINE 6 make a master list of tones to audition evaluate  - how can that NOT be available ??

Either because there are just too friggin' many to catalog, and it's not worth the man-hours paying somebody to do it (I wouldn't want that job...), or there are frighteningly few, which would be lousy PR for their latest "re-invention". Either way, you're not terribly likely to get your list...

Hi-

I've had a JTV59 for about a year now. I LOVE it. I used to have to carry a ton of acoustics along with my electrics and the JTV/HD500 Combination has made my life so much simpler, thanks Line 6.

 

My issue is this- I use it through a Bose system. I'm a multi-instrumentalist and so my keyboard and mandolin go through it too, along with the HD500/Variax. The rig has made my life much simpler.

 

For the Acoustic sounds, this combination works pretty well. For the electrics, not so much.

 

My QUESTION is this:

 

When you guys set up your sounds in your HD500 for your Variax's- do you pretty much leave the EQ flat or does each patch get EQ'd differently?

 

If I take the sounds straight from the Workbench into the HD500, that's obviously pretty simple, but while these sounds are great through headphones, sometimes in the live situation it's not that great. It's almost like there needs to be a basic amp setup in the HD500 that is just killer, then all the sounds from the workbench go there to take advantage of those great amp settings.

 

I'm probably looking for an overly simplistic answer here, I just tend to get wrapped around the axle trying to dial in perfect tones.

Not really sure what you're driving at...I've never had two different patches with all the tone controls set in exactly the same spot. Especially switching from one amp model to another, one size definitely does not fit all. If the problem is that your acoustics patches (which ideally won't be using any of the 500's amp models anyway) sound good running direct to a PA, but not the electrics with amp models, then the answer likely lies with whether or not you're using full amp models or pre-amps only, and also what output settings you are using...studio/direct, combo/front, stack/front, stack/power amp, etc. Each will color the tone differently, and some experimenting is usually required to get it to work with the rest of your gear.