Achilles61

Sent mine in mid-late December and just received an email stating my rebate is on track to be delivered 8-10 weeks from submission. Thought they had forgotten about me! Quite pleased.

Changed all of my strings for the first time and noticed it was pretty difficult because of the lack of angle. I hate to use the term, but between the tuner string hole location and the headstock angle...design flaw. It happens. Nevertheless, I really do love the Variax. Just looks a bit of an ongoing project. Glad there are a lot of people on this forum with ideas.

I can't say for sure yet that I've fixed the problem, but there are a couple important notes that have brought me closer to solving the plink/honk issue on the low E string. I noticed posts about damping the strings above the nut. I used an elastic and it helps with the audible acoustic overtones, but I don't think it affects the Plink/honk. However, vibrations below the bridge makes more theoretical sense to dampen. So I happened to have some silicone tubing .062" dia. and I fished it underneath the small space beneath the bridge so that it dampened the strings below the bridge. I feel like there has been an improvement in the sound. A larger diameter tube is ideally needed, or a 2nd .062", but that's a tight fit. I'll continue working on that. Next, I cannot get rid of the fret buzz on the low E, no matter how uncomfortably high I set the action at the bridge. I know that contributes to the odd overtones. I may loosen the truss rod although there seems to be enough of a arc in the neck. Anyway, it's a 69. If anyone else gives the bridge dampening a shot, please shout out. Maybe we're on to something here.

I have the JTV69 and the aforementioned sound is painfully obvious on the Lester low E string. I started a thread on this before and received very little feedback. It's obvious that many players can hear it and it is amazing to me that the response from Line6 is that it's a setup issue, but only after how much denial? It appears to me that there are design flaws or idiosyncrasies that make these guitars erratic. But, since the flaw we're discussing here is prevalent in a number of guitars, there must be a specific reason for the dreaded low E "honk" as I call it, which should be fixable. I am still fiddling and hoping I can fix mine without sending it back for weeks on end to have it "repaired". Returning a guitar for 7 weeks and having it "fixed" yet not really, is a bit scary to me, because apparently Line6 doesn't yet have a handle on the issue. I have strayed from the Lester sound unless it's a song where I don't dwell on the low E sound. Avoidance. Playing a song like "runnin done a dream" sounds pitiful. If the 12 string warble and the low E honk were fixed, this guitar would be everything I imagined. For now I can only hope a fix is coming.

I have the latest software version prior to HD. My plan is to change the strings, make sure they're seated properly in the bridge, adjust the height of the string and if that fails, fiddle with detail settings in Workbench, but I'm thinking it's a hardware issue. Thanks for the advice Clay-Man. I'll report back later on either my success of defeat.

Exactly! Very pronounced on the les Paul setting. I had a used variax 700 for a few weeks and no such issues. You think it's permanent and nothing can be done to fix it? Is this why they are marking down the 69's and the other models are still over 1k? That would be very sad, as I like a Strat style guitar. There has to be a fix.

How about a quack? It's the sound of the piezo which is independent from the modeled sound.

Really? Am I the only one?

Just bought a JTV69. I enjoy playing it, I love the modeling...just what the doctor ordered. But, the low E string has a honking sound that really detracts from the sound of the guitar, obscures the attack actually. I'm hoping someone else has experienced this and has a fix so I don't have to choose between living with this irksome sound or returning it and losing the benefit of having this versatile guitar. It has to be an overly sensitive piezo. Can that be adjusted or is the entire bridge bad? Thx for any help you can muster.

Well let me close out my own inquiry. I found a CAT5 cable laying around the house. I hooked it up and lo and behold, the pedal works perfectly. Even the Wah feature which I assumed was a mechanical issue, is in working order. What a relief. Now to go purchase a spare CAT5 cable!

So, was this in fact a cable issue? My FBV express and Spider III 75 worked fine last gig. I just plugged it in a week later and I have the identical issue. all LED's come on for startup calibration and all promptly go out, except for the VOL LED which lights up about 5 seconds after the startup calibration. Switches still select channels on the amp (but no LED signifiers on the pedalboard ), the volume pedal does nothing and no LED's so no tuner. Cable? Software update? Or just plain shot? Really a drag since I just bought a Variax and now I'm frustrated by a pedal. Thx in advance.