edstar1960

I have raised a support ticket and provided them an audio file demonstrating the problem. Within the DAW you can clearly see the steady increase in volume from high E through to low E revealing the fact that it is not just the high E and B that are low in volume - it's just they are the most noticeable - but each note gets louder and louder with the low E being clearly much louder. I have attached it for everyone to listen to hear and see for themselves. JTV59-v21-String-Vol.zip This demonstrates a T-MOD pos 1, I play twice from high E to low E on the 5th fret, using an AC-15 model, then I engage default NOISE GATE and TUBE DRIVE and play the notes twice again which just serves to emphasise the effect.

From all the reports I have read it seems that the problem has varying degrees of severity - for most people it's so subtle they don't even register it unless they go looking for it and even then it doesn't bother them - for others the difference in volumes is so significant they have to be fixed and people either tweak in Workbench or they roll back to v1.9. And some people have reported that reflashing the firmware several times either resolves or significantly reduces the problem. Nobody can understand why a reflash helps but it seems it does. So the evidence does seem to point to a software glitch that has varying effect on users. Bottom line is that something is wrong and it should be fixed, we just need to narrow down where Line6 need to look for the problem and help them reproduce it and then hopefully they will fix it for us. I have raised a support ticket for the issue and they are looking into it. I will be providing them an audio file with evidence of the severity of the issue today, as my JTV59 did have a significant string volume difference on E and B for T-MOD 1,3,5, and SPANK 1-5 . when I rolled to v2.1 - I had to roll it back to v1.9 for a gig - but now I need to reflash and recreate the issue and record it for them.

You can boost the mic signal path by using the VINTAGE MIC PRE model in the lower path after the split before the mixer. You will find it in the EQ model bank. It will allow you to add gain to the mic signal before the mixer just like a stand alone mic pre-amp would do, as well as adding vintage pre-amp warmth to the signal apparently. In fact there are several EQ models that will allow you to boost the gain prior to the mixer - so just pick the one you prefer that gets you the result you are after.

As silverhead stated - for the JTV to play with the tunings set for a model in Workbench you need the alternate tune knob set to MODEL. If it is set to STANDARD Then it will override any tuning and enforce standard EADGBE tuning. If you are connected via the HD500, then make sure that the patch you are using is not forcing a tuning change on the JTV - page through the setup screens until you find the Tuning screen for the JTV - it should be set to DONT FORCE if you want to observe the MODEL tuning on the JTV.

They are exactly the problems of the original pick up switch issue - which is why they upgraded the switch and swapped the switch on all the early models. Sounds like you just need to switch replaced with the new version - perhaps your guitar was old original stock - contact Line 6 support and they will sort it for you - especially as its within its first year warranty - they can tell from the serial number and the switch itself if it was an original.

This has happened again with v2.1 I am trying to gather info and ask Line 6 to fix the issue, and I am gathering info in this thread to hopefully get it fixed: http://line6.com/support/topic/7445-who-has-had-b-e-strings-very-low-volume-after-flash-upgrade/

Problem is back with v2.1. I am gathering info to see if we can work out the cause and hopefully get Line6 to fix it. Here is my thread: http://line6.com/support/topic/7445-who-has-had-b-e-strings-very-low-volume-after-flash-upgrade/

Was it Soundslive? I have dealt with them in the past and they have been good at resolving problems, so hope they are good for you, if that's who you bought from. If you have ordered online then as long as you complain immediately then they should be happy to send you a replacement rather than try to fix this one. Pretty much every guitar I have owned has had too much clearance at the first fret as set by the factory - and usually my luthier takes that clearance down a touch to make it more comfortable to play at the lower frets and also to provide lower action. I have never seen one straight from the factory with no clearance at all like in your picture. I would think it buzzes when playing open strings and it gives you no leeway to lower the action at the bridge without the strings choking completely at the first fret. Hope you get it resolved.

If this is brand new, then I recommend asking your dealer to perform a full professional setup for you. If that is not possible, then get a luthier to perform a full setup OR ask the dealer to give you a replacement. From the pic's it looks like the slots in the nut are too low, resulting in strings having no clearance at the first fret. Either a new nut is required or the existing nut could be raised up by someone who knows what they are doing. A luthier will be able to determine exactly what is needed to fix it when he sees it first hand.

The amp models on the HD500 provide you with speaker and mic modelling as well when you have STUDIO/DIRECT output mode selected - so if you want a mic'd amp sound to record then just use an amp model and don't use your physical amp. . Or do you not want to use the HD500 amp models? Is your intention to just use the HD500 fx and then pick up your own amp's mic'd sound which you will then record via the USB interface of the HD500?

You sure can - and I wonder exactly how the mags were tilted on the models that Line6 used for v2.0. I would have assumed that they were evenly balanced when they captured the model sounds, but perhaps they were tilted in the opposite direction and therefore gave the captured model louder responses for the low strings? Unlikely, but ..... Line6 would know for sure.

Thanks for the update - that is an interesting observation. I wonder whether there are varying degrees of this - some have minor and some major volume differences. The minor go unnoticed and the major ones cause affected users to take some action. Could it be that everyone does have the same issue but for most it is subtle and it goes unnoticed but for some it is really exaggerated which is possibly caused by another factor, such as a component or an install glitch? But that does not explain explain the incidents where a reflash fixes the issue and all string volumes are then nicely balanced - or does the reflash correct the item that exaggerates the issue and it then simply becomes a subtle effect that is generally unnoticed? Just thinking out loud here .....

Thanks for the responses - keep them coming! :)

Ah! Thanks for clarifying. The solution is the same as others - just lower the string volumes of the louder strings. Merci! :) What I want to know is why do only some people have this problem with v2.0 and v2.1 firmware? Most people don't have a problem. So what is causing the problem for the few that have it? And why can't it be fixed? It is great that we can go in and edit the parameters for the models to personal taste BUT we should not need to do that to fix a problem that may be due to an install fault or a physical component or the firmware or a combination. If the string volumes are installed incorrectly who knows what other more subtle parameter changes may not be working as intended? Line6 need to understand what causes the problem so they can determine the best way to solve it or to advise users on how to avoid it happening in the first place.

Merci .... Thank you for your comments. Translation into English courtesy of Google translator for the English speakers on the forum: This is my case. But this is not necessarily a problem of piezo sensor. This is the modelling of the body of the guitar that produces this effect. It is sensitive to the simulation strat and a telecaster. When we take the simulation of a masonite or another guitar, this problem is much less important I do not see how it would be possible ... This problem was not generally in the 1.9 version, but very important in version 2.0 on the 3 high strings! To adjust the strings can proceed this way: - Adjust the level of the high E string so that it sounds as strong as the magnetic pickup is used. The general level is high (6 db for example) - Adjust the volume of the other strings in the same manner, one after the other. So the trick is to identify over magnetic pickups that are supposed to be balanced. Of course if the strings are adjusted on a single microphone, it will be based on a simple magnetic pickups ... This is what I did for the position Spank-4 and the result is much better because the balance of volumes allows to find the next "spanky" the strat .... **** END TRANSLATION **** azur1964 - how did you increase the volume of the high E by 6db ? In Workbench HD, I can only see options for reducing volumes at both global and individual strings at the model level. I know you can increase the output of the entire pickup and also the output of the model patch, so did you just increase the pickup output and then go back and reduce the E,A,D,G string volumes so that the end result was that the B and E were 6db louder than before? If that is how you achieved the fix, how much lower did you need to set the E,A,D,G strings ? And di you need to set GLOBAL string volumes differently as well - and if so by how much? Thanks a lot. (Merci beaucoup)

Hi Charlie - this is not a matter of taste believe me - it is a problem that quite a few people have encountered and it should be fixed. Believe me - nobody could be happy with the difference in string volumes I encountered when I went to fw 2.1. I spotted it immediately on the T-MOD position 1 because I use it a lot and it's one of my favourite go to models and I have several patches that use it on my HD500. The B and E were barely loud enough to open the noise gate on my patch but the low E, A, D, G were at an equivalent volume to the bridge mag humbucker pu on the JTV59 - and that cannot be correct. This was with my global string volumes that had the several db's already taken off the low strings but 0 dbs off the B and E, so in fact the difference was greater than I was hearing. Something is very wrong here. Some users have reported that the problem resolved itself after they had reflashed - I don't understand why that should be, and I can't see why it would make any difference - but I believe these users because I have experienced a reflash mysteriously fixing problems. EIther way - I should not have to resort to messing with global string volumes or individual model string volumes just to get to a standard starting point for a model. Sure, if I have some problem piezo's or I particularly want a model to have certain strings more or less pronounced then yes I would go to WB and tweak, but straight out of the box they should be usable for everyone without a glaring discrepancy. I would like to get to the bottom of it and get it fixed. Certainly, plenty of people do get clean installs first time that produce correctly balanced string volumes for each model, so it is achievable, we just need to work out why for a small number of people something goes wrong and produces this issue, on just the high E and B. Kind regards Ed

If it was the piezo's then I would have the same problem with whatever firmware I had installed. Also if it was the piezo's then different people would have volume issues with different strings and not always B and E on the same models. With v1.9 the string volumes for the affected models are fine - with v2.0 and v2.1 for some reason they become very quiet and the low E becomes as loud as the JTV mag humbuckers. Also, some people have reported that reflashing with v2.0 or v2.1 fixes the problem and the string volumes are balanced ok on a 3rd or 4th reflash, and this would not happen if it was the physical piezo's causing the problem. There is something else going wrong here and it should be fixed so nobody gets hit with it.

You have created a perfect feedback loop which is why you get feedback. You have the mic in front of your amp but running back into the HD500 - then you have the output of the HD500 running into the amp - which gets picked up by the mic and sends it through the HD500 to the amp etc etc etc - instant feedback. So I would highly recommend that you don't do it as you are just going to damage your gear. Anyway, what exactly are you trying to achieve by placing the mic in front of your amp and then feeding it back to the HD500?

Thanks for your answers arislaf, but I forgot to ask which models were affected by the problem. I have updated my OP to add that question.

I am sure the luthier that you get to do the fret lowering will also sort out the nut for you. It will just be a matter of filing down the existing slots in the existing nut to match the new height of the frets. No need to get a new nut in this case.

Some people have reported that after a JTV flash upgrade usually to v2.0 or v2.1, that the B and E strings have very low volume levels in comparison to the E,A,B,G strings on some models. Some have reported that a subsequent reflash or two fixed the problem, and others that they had to roll back to v1.9 to obtain models that had balanced string volumes, and finally some dived in to Workbench HD and tweaked the affected models to balance out the string sounds. I recently hit this issue when I upgraded to v2.1 and a subsequent reflash did not fix it, and as I had a gig coming up I had to roll back to v1.9 as a quick way to get back to balanced string volumes as I did not have the time to go in WB HD and manually adjust for the differences. I think It would be very useful to find out why this problem occurs and why it only affects some users and hopefully Line 6 can then fix the problem. So if we can gather plenty of useful data in this thread then we can pass it on to Line 6 to investigate. Please answer the following questions: if you have you ever had E and B strings at very low volume immediately following a flash upgrade? (a) what flash version were you upgrading from and to? ( B) what model JTV were you updating? © were you updating directly via JTV dongle or indirectly through an HD500 or HD500X or other device? (d) how did you fix the problem? (i) reflash firmware? How many times? (ii) tweaked string volumes global and models in Wokbench HD? (iii) roll back to v1.9 or another fw level? (e) have you ever experienced this problem on a fw release earlier than v2.0 and if so, what level was it? (f) which models had the problem? My answers: (a) v1.9 to v2.1 ( B) JTV59 © updated via HD500 (d) attempted 2 reflashes, but then rolled back to v1.9 (e) no (f) T-MOD positions 1,3,5 and SPANK 1 though 5 Thanks in advance for your help and answers.

I upgrade to v2.1 and immediately hit the problem with the E and B string being much lower in volume but only on the T-MOD positions 1,3,5 and also the SPANK 1 through 5. I did reflash once and it was still a problem, so as I had a gig coming up I was forced to roll back to v1.9 as I did not have time to go into WB HD and adjust string volumes accurately for affected models, and then counter by boosting overall model volume for the adjusted ones so that the total model sounds at the right level in comparison to the non-adjusted models. It would be good to know what causes this problem so we all know how to avoid it - from the forum it seems that it only affects some people, so maybe there is a common component with those that get affected.

It is only on the T-MOD 1,3,5 and SPANK bank ...... LOL ..... :D And the high E and B are way quieter than the others. Never had the problem with earlier fw releases or 1.9 and I am using same strings, so I don't think it's my piezo's or my playing style, it is a direct result of fw 2.1. I may try resetting gloabls to 0 and just pulling sliders down on the T-MOD and SPANKs but then I think they will all be too quiet and I will have to boost the model patch setting in WB by abput 6dbs to get it to the right level which I don't think I should have to do, especially if others are getting perfectly balanced T-MOD and SPANK models straight off the bat with fw 2.1.

Has anyone reinstalled the JTV fw 2.1 as a precautionary double update or has everyone had a successful first flash install? I have installed just the once and I have encountered the string volume balance issues with the 1st and 2nd, High E and B, being much quieter on the T-MOD and SPANK models. I have played around with the global volumes in Workbench HD but just wondering if it's worth a second flash install to see if I end up with correctly balanced string volumes. Thanks.

Are they snapping at the point the locking mechanism holds the string in place or after the final wind of the string as it straightens up to go down through the nut? If they are snapping at the locking point then maybe there is a sharp edge on the locking shaft that is biting into the string and making them easily snap off once they have been tensioned and loosened a few times? I assume you are just hand tightening the locking mechanism at the back of the tuners just enough to keep string in place? Check out the locking shaft to see if it does have a sharp edge to it.