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jambo175

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Everything posted by jambo175

  1. To the question of, "is this guitar obsolete?", I believe that is completely up to the player. If you use it, play it, and love it than there is nothing obsolete about it. Granted they are no longer produced or have any updates for the firmware. I purchased a lightly used Acoustic 700 15 years ago, and still occasionally use it live and in the studio. This guitar plays well and has a few tones not available on the new HD tones in the JTV series. My own personal pet peeve is they never included a nylon string patch in the HD variax acoustic set, oh well. Here's a snippet I recorded not that long ago using the 700. The early post from psarkissian was absolutely correct, the only reliable way to upgrade or reload firmware is to use the original interface and cables that came with this guitar using power from the adapter and a guitar cable to "turn the unit on". (been there). Good luck.
  2. Unfortunately, piezo pickups will eventually fail, not a matter of if, but when. A piezo pickup works by being ‘deformed’ (alternately squashed and stretched microscopically) by string vibrations passed through the saddle. Made of ceramic, these vibrations create tiny fractures that over time will diminish the signal they are able to produce. (great article here if you want to learn more. https://hazeguitars.com/blog/acoustic-power-the-magic-of-piezoelectricity) I have three Variax guitars, the Variax Acoustic, the JTV89-F, and a JTV-59, I love these guitars and have gigged with them for years, but all three have this piezo issue to one degree or another. Originally I used the workbench software to adjust, but found that tedious. I now have a Helix floor which makes this issue much more manageable. However, adjustment will only work for so long, eventually they need to be replaced. The good news is the process is relatively simple with a little patience and time. I have had to replace two of the piezos on my JTV-89F with very good results. You can buy the parts here from Full Compass (https://www.fullcompass.com/brand/ln6-line-6/accessories/parts-replacement-service/musical-instrument-parts/guitar-parts/ Pay attention to which string you are replacing as there are three specific part numbers. On this guitar you remove the whole saddle, the wires feed through the tremolo cavity to a wiring assembly in the main control section, no soldering required. Here is a video I did playing some acoustic patches after replacing two piezos, I think it sounds great. Although I bought a couple spares for next time... Good luck! P.S. If an alternative pickup design could be developed, the Variax would truly be the most amazing guitar ever! (just saying) :-)
  3. I know this is an old topic, but just came across it as I was looking up more Piezo replacements for my JTV's. You can buy individual replacement piezo saddles for the JTV products and they are very simple to replace. They are available from FullCompass.com; https://www.fullcompass.com/prod/284908-line-6-30-51-0691-piezo-d-g-string-saddle-for-jtv89f Perhaps someone hear can explain why the JTV89 has three distinct piezos, labeled as "HighE/Low E, A&B, or D&G"? Since string gauge is not the issue, should these all have the same output levels? Seems unnecessarily confusing? My ONLY real issue with the Variax products is the rate at which the piezo saddles seem to fail. You need to constantly make sure your string output levels are normalized for realistic model tones. I have replaced a couple on my JTV89F and was going to post a video. I just bought a couple of "spares" for my JTV59 also, good to have on hand just in case.
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