cruisinon2

Yep, it's a Carvin TS100...you know your gear! I should clarify...when I said "screetch", I just meant it sounds God-awful, lol. It's not feeding back, and nothing is malfunctioning near as I can tell...I have a couple other preamp/fx units that I have used with this rig with no issues. They weren't modelers though, so I figured that the 500x is just a different animal.

OK...I'll apologize for the length of this post up front. The only nagging issue I have with my JTV69 is as follows: Problem is limited to all the drop D tunings (drop D, drop Db, DADGAD, open D). Basically, when palm muting the open A string, and some fretted notes as well, with a high gain amp setting, I get some odd overtone(s) coming through...almost sounds like more than one string is being played...horribly muddy. Easiest way to hear it is crank up the gain, and just do some palm-muted chugging on the open A string...if I toggle back and forth with the alt tuning wheel between standard tuning and drop D while chugging away on the A string, its terribly obvious. I can work around it under certain circumstances by positioning my picking hand so that there's no contact at all with the low E string (which I kinda discovered by accident), but for some tunes contorting like that just doesn't work. Initially I had suspected that since avoiding the low E string seemed to fix it, that perhaps it had something to do with the piezo's sensitivity, picking up accidental noises just from resting my palm on the E string while playing. It never happens in standard tuning, or any of the other alt tunings...and this is what was nagging at me. Why some tunings, and not others??? And why only the various drop D tunings? I figured an overtly specific problem must have a specific cause. So I went into Workbench to do a little experiment.... I pulled up Lester-1, and I brought the A string volume all the way to zero. I then played just that string, carefully muting all the other strings down by the nut so nothing else would start ringing, also being careful not to touch anything with my picking hand but the A string. As expected, total silence. BUT...as soon as I layed the palm of my picking hand across the rest of the strings, (normal palm-mute, "chugging" position) playing the A string now produced clearly audible notes. With that string's output at zero, the only possibility that I can see is that enough vibration is being transfered through my friggin' hand that is then propagating along the low E string to that piezo saddle (possibly others as well?). I suspect it's mostly by the low E saddle, because one's hand will rest mostly on that string almost by default, when palm-muting anything...mine does anyway. It explains why this is only happening in the drop D tunings...when I palm mute and play the open A string, any resonance being grabbed by the low E saddle is then being detuned, and this has to be what's bleeding through. It also explains why it does not occur in any of the other tunings...in those cases, the low E piezo saddle is probably still picking up resonance from the A string, but since its not being detuned, is passes through unnoticed as the same pitch. I'm no engineer, but I'm pretty sure that this is what's going on...the quesiton is, is there a fix? Do I have absurdly sensitive piezo(s)? Or is my right hand too dense? :P Any thoughts would be appreciated....and thanks for reading if you managed to stay awake through all that!!

Thats what I thought, but he had mentioned "swapping the bridge" in his last post, so maybe he knows something we don't?

Looking ahead to various changes myself. I have a couple of other question, if ya don't mind. Do you plan to swap out the entire bridge on the 69 (and if so, does Graphtech make an entire compatible bridge), or just the saddles? Also, do you know if anything else is required, electronics wise, for the Graphtech piezos to work with the rest of the JTV hardware (like their Ghost preamp, for example)? Thanks...

Do you have them in a JTV, or an older Variax?

Well I set everything up completely "wrong", lol. I run the 500x through a Carvin 100w tube power amp and a 25th Anniv. Marshall 4x12, leaving the output on studio/direct. Sometimes a preamp only, but mostly full amp models. All I have to go by are my ears...any other output setting, and I've tried them all, and the amp screetches like a f***ed cat.

You're not alone...I'm not using a DT series amp, but it has been my experience that using any of the amp models without cab sims produces tones that are downright horrid. Not sure why this is, as Ivve used other preamp/fx units, which had no modeling capabilities at all thru the same power amp/cab set-up, and didn't have a problem getting a decent tone, so who knows?I aboslutely cannot get a tone I like without the cab models. But with either the pre only, or full amp models running studio/direct out, I'm quite happy.

When all else fails, reboot. Try updating to (or reloading if you've already done so) the latest firmware.

Graphtechs are looking better and better as the days go by...

ok...I understand now. Had no idea how the connections were made. So it seems that perhaps just that one wire is the problem then. If the noise follows wherever you connect that wire, then that at least solves the mystery. Its the same logic that rules out the piezo itself. You might be able to fix the whole thing for 2 bucks at Radio Shack. Why couldnt it be as simple as that? Worth a try anyway for a few inches of wire.

I got it now...I didn't understand what he was saying at first. And I'm the farthest thing from an engineer there is, but if he's saying the noise moves when the cables are swapped, doesn't the problem have to be the cable itself then? I misunderstood initially..I thought he was moving the piezo elements from one saddle to the other, but from the last post it seems that they stayed put. Apparently itvs possible to leave the elements where they are and just swap out connectors between the circuit board fixed to the front of the sustain blockand the main board inside the cavity. He just moved the leads around.

Still not getting it. Exactly how much surgery did you do? Where did you have the leads connected? Did you leave the piezos in place, and swap the wires, or did you solder the 6th string piezo to the 5th string input on the board, and vice versa? Seems like that would create a whole host of problems aside from the dreaded "plink". Maybe it's me, but I'm having trouble picturing exactly what you did.

I'm confused...what exactly did you do? If you swapped the piezo elements between the 5th and 6th string saddles, and the noise followed the piezo, then it seems to me that the piezo element is the problem.

Thats the piezo curse. They are ultra sensitive as compared to mag pickups. Any accidental noises/vibrations will be picked up. Try using something to dampen vibrations behind the nut (I use a thin piece of grey foam cut from an air filter element) Also, the typical way you are used to palm muting with high gain can be an issue sometimes. Might require a lighter attack (perhaps a thinner pick), or positioning your picking hand slightly differently that you're used to. Try turning down the global string volume in workbench also, as it has worked for quite a few people.

Experience. It's not entirely universal, of course. Some companies, and some people still have a work ethic, but many more do not. If I had a nickle for every customer service rep I've dealt with who simple didn't give a $#!@, I'd never have to work again. Such is not the case here, as the company stepped up and made good on their mistake, and I've said exactly that more than once in this thread. This is a good thing, and they should be commended for it. I would not hesitate to order products from them based on this guy's experience. All in all, a good omen, and I wasn't criticizing Graphtech's response. What I was addressing, is the "who knows what the future will bring" comment, when asked a specific question about the prospect of a particular product being offered. It's not an answer. We all know there is no crystal ball to consult. Is it a problem for someone to say..."Gee, I'm sorry, but I just don't know"? Because in all likelihood, that's the truth. It's honest, and it won't keep people guessing, or worse, standing around waiting for a train that ain't coming. Plus, I just don't see one customer's issue, despite being resolved to everyone's satisfaction, translating into a change in a 3rd party company's product line for what is someone else's niche product...but perhaps I'm wrong. The 89 has a Graphtech bridge, doesn't it? Maybe they will start selling saddles for the 69s...who knows.

It's good that they took care of you...as it was their mistake. And I've been acused of being a "glass is half empty" guy before, but this sounds like Retail Speak for "That's not my department, you'll have to talk to Bob over in Product Development". But it sounds better, gives you hope, and gets you out of his email in box. Hope I'm wrong, but I've been on this roller coaster before with other companies...usually ends the same way: dizzy, nauseous, and a few dollars poorer. :wacko:

OK...lets settle this once and for all. Everybody drop your pants and get a tape measure...and remember, we're on the honor system here, gents.

Nice...but something tells me you're only getting them because it was their fault that the picture and description were screwed up on the site. Anybody else is gonna be out of luck...congrats, tho!

I want L6 to pay me to use their amps...and a pony. I will accept no endorsement deals that don't include a pony.

Lol...

Wow...that looks like a fun room! I got a Mesa 2x12 cab I'm getting rid of...seems to be the only thing you ain't got, you want it, lol?

I've tried that thru a million different amps over the years. It'll work...in the sense that sound will come out, but don't expect it to sound too good. Acoustics through any electric guitar amp will never give you a true "acoustic" sound. They just aren't designed to reproduce that wide a range of frequencies. You need either a dedicated acoustic guitar amp, or run it through the a PA.

Don't think I've ever had an amp with anything less than a 4 ohm minimum load. 8 ohms seems to be more common, but i've seen 4. I'm guessing you've got a single cab wired in stereo with two ins?

Before you pull that trigger, make sure you dont mind that the USA model has the truss rod adjustment at the heel. From pics I'e seen, is looks like theres a recess to accomodate adjustments without removing the neck, but I'm not sure. That would be a deal breaker for me. I have an older Warmoth neck on a Strat, before they moved the adjustment screws to the headstock...makes me insane. What should be a 4 second process can take a half hour, especially if more than one turn of the screw is needed...and taking the tension on/off the strigns like that deadens them. Never understood that design.

Been playing 11s so long anything lighter feels like cobwebs to me. Put D'addario 11-50 balanced tension set on the 69 before I played a note... they work just fine.