cruisinon2

I suppose that is a possibility...I'll burn that bridge when I come to it, I guess. Just seemed odd that they continue to sell ones for discontinued guitars, but not the current ones.

Pretty sure its a Tyler custom part...its got his name carved into it, lol.

Unfortunately, even if there were the exact tone you're looking for in the custom tone library, the odds of downloading it, and having it be "perfect" for your guitar, amp, and fingers is close to zero. I've downloaded tones claiming to be this guitarist, or that song...only to find it so far off that it would have taken me less time starting from scratch than tweeking what was already there. Dont get me wrong...thrre are plenty of good, usable tones to download...but just because it sounded exactly like "Crazy Train" to the guy who created it, doesn't mean it'll work that way in your hands. You'll learn more by experimenting with the unit than trying to find ready made sounds...tedious, but ultimately its really the only thjng that works, imho.

Meet the Digitech GNX1...and it's power button. A floor pedal fx unit. Not the only other one I've owned, but the only one I still have with which to provide photo evidence. Certainly not the finest piece of gear ever, but decent for it's price which I doubt was much more than $250 or so a few years ago. This thing had a big brother with a few more footswitches...it had a power button too. And these ain't the only ones in the universe. I fail to see anything "not smart" about the design.

1) Safety? This being the pathetically litigious society that it is, if safety were a concern, nothing would have power buttons. I've purchased half a dozen other units from Line 6 over the years...they all have power buttons. And, I've been walking the earth since before Rush's first album...still waiting for ANYTHING electronic to be destroyed by a lightning induced power surge...or any other power surge for that matter. Do you really run around the house unplugging everything at the first clap of thunder? By the time you're done, it will probably have stopped raining. I just don't see this as having been a big topic of discussion amongst the engineers over at Line 6...and if it was, then they need to switch to decaf. "It can't HAVE a power switch, Bob!!! WHAT ABOUT THE LIGHTNING?!?!?!" 2) Maybe I'm lazy, but I really don't want to have to reach behind all the gear to pull the plug from the wall when I'm done playing. It's just a pain in the a**. And if we're gonna talk about risk of part failure, if you're pulling the plug from the back of the unit instead of removing the wall wart from the outlet, then I can easily see the solder connections for the jack becoming loose LONG before a simple rocker switch would fail...they design those things to move. And for what it's worth, after 25+ years of buying gear, and countless things needing repair (including one amp head many years ago that actually started to smoke onstage, lol) I still await with bated breath, my first power switch failure. 3) Cost savings? How much cost savings could they possibly pass on to us from a 1/2 cent piece of Chinese plastic? Are you telling me that you honestly think the Axe II is 4 grand because it has a power button? Or that it would cost you $500 next month if they started cranking them out without one? Nor do I listen to the "cork sniffers" (I'm a beer guy)...in fact, I never said I didn't like the 500X. Quite the opposite, I think it's well worth the asking price and produces some amazing tones. I simply found it odd that after buying gear for more than half my life, this unit is the first thing I've ever owned that didn't have a simple way to turn it on and off from either the front or back panel. So in that respect, the 500X is most certainly the odd man out. Is it s deal breaker? No...but if someone had bet me $50 that I couldn't guess what simple feature was missing from this unit before I opened the box, "power switch" would have been the absolute LAST thing that I'd have thought of. And this is just me... but nothing about Steve Howe's playing ever gave me goose bumps, but to each his own, ;) .

Scroll up...top right of menu selections , next to blog link.

Can I get an 'Amen'?!?!?! As upset as some folks seem to be, you'd think Line 6 was sending someone to their house every morning to p*ss in their Wheaties... But I would still like someone to explain the no power button thing...I gotta know, lol.

I do it the "wrong" way and leave everything on studio/direct...cab emulations and all, sometimes into the front of a head and cab, sometimes into a separate Carvin tube poweramp and cab. Why? I like the way it sounds, and I find it easier to tweek...and that's really all that matters. I've talked to a few others on here who run similar setups (into cambo amps, etc...but all running studio/direct). All boils down to what you like...I find that using just the preamp out has all the aural appeal of a bandsaw...particularly with high gain patches, but that's just me. Your mileage may vary...but there's no "right" or "wrong". There are other threads around where this is discussed...just not sure which ones, lol.

Might depend on the board, I dunno. We've got a small PA we use just for vox and my singer's acoustic guitar, for the smaller joints. For bigger places with in house PAs, everything is more or less permanently set up already...just throw my cab in front of the mic and let Mr. Soundman do his thing. I don't usually run the HD direct. Those guys often get pissy if you ask them to deviate from the usual set-up, lol.

Whoever figures that one out will be a millionaire. Hell, if you're using a tube rig, that thing might not sound quite the same from one day to the next...I've had that happen a million times. Same guitar, same amp, same strings, sometimes even the same venue...one day great tone, next day crap. Tone gremlins...

Everything you run it through will sound different. Combo amps, a stack, headphones, whatever...all will color the sound one way or the other. It's very subjective. There's really no "right" way to configure everything, and it all boils down to what other gear you're using, and what sounds good to your ears. Personally, I hate the way the preamp only output sounds going through either a head/cab or power-amp/cab set up, so I leave everything on studio/direct and tweek from there. All the models sound overly harsh and chainsaw-ish to me without the cab simulations, even if I'm using an actual cabinet. The manual will tell you this is the "wrong" way to do it...but who cares if it sounds good? Try out various combos until you hit on something you like.

Anyone know why you can't buy a replacement piezo saddle for a JTV69? I see that they sell them in the online store for the older Variax models...are they gonna make us all buy an entire bridge if one pickup craps out? Mine's working fine, just curious...

You got it.

No doubt...and it's probably because that Frankenstein gutiar of his had one of the pickups wired out of phase with the other(s) for years, and he didn't realize it...just liked the way it sounded. I remember reading it in an interview in some guitar rag years ago. So if you wanna even get close, you'll have to f*** up one of your axes first...lol.

I was able to get a slight improvement in sustain by throwing a tube compressor at the front of the signal chain in the 500X...it's not a drastic difference, and certainly not as good as the 1.9 models, but it is a little better. That or it's wishful thinking and I talked myself into it...

Most likely...does Line6 warranty the tubes themselves, or are they considered a "consumable"? Eventually they'll all crap out, especially if it's well-used.

Sort of...there's sales tax (in most states, but not all) if you're actually walking into a store and buying an item, or having it shipped from a retailer located in your state. However, purchasing online from an out-of-state company incurs no sales tax...but the powers that be are trying to change that of course. Till then...click and buy!

I'd like to order a 25' cable...color doesn't matter as long as it ain't pink, lol. What would the price be with shipping to NY?

You may have a dead switch then...open up a support ticket with Line 6 and see what they tell you. Good luck...

I got the $30 one from musicians friend...it's better than what comes with the guitar (but then again smoke signals or a carrier pigeon would also be an improvement over that one...), but still not great. Not the same feel as a standard 1/4" cable and it gets twisted too easily. I'm thinking a braided cover would be better, and I recall seeing one on the forum somewhere...not sure which thread tho.

Close Workbench, then try connecting to Line6 Monkey first. If that recognizes the guitar, then reopen Workbench. Failing that, reboot the whole computer and try again. The whole setup gets cranky sometimes and doesn't want to cooperate...I've had to fiddle with it to get it to see the guitar as well. Don't know why it works one day and not others...but most likely it will work eventually if you poke at it long enough.

You need a fully charged battery AND plug a 1/4" cable into the jack to turn the Variax on, otherwise the USB dongle will think that nothing is connected.

Ghost in the machine...it happens.

It sounds like you already tried removing the battery and putting it back in, but if not its probably worth a try. Beyond that, I have no idea. Good luck... What kind of amp are you using? Anything that can connect with VDI?

Well theres always the semi-official Line 6 formula that the JTV's MSRP is based on a $700 guitar with another $700 worth of electronics...