Charlie_Watt

Only the JTV Variax has real pickups in additional to the piezo pickups. All previous Variax models only had the piezo bridge pickups. I use my older pod X3Live to interface with workbench with my older Variax. I don't think the HD500x will work with the old workbench.

Lack of editor is a non starter for me. I will wait. I can't bend down and tweak. Too $%^ old to do that.

As long as you get a neck that fits, it's an easy swap. Pickup swaps are easy also if you use passive pickups that are the same physical size. I agree with cruisinon2 though that the neck is the critical interface between you and the guitar. If you don't like the neck, get one that you like and you will like the guitar a lot more!

The real pickups are a very nice feature. I use the modeling almost all of the time though.

I think so if you have the modeling off.

Sounds painful. :-)

Sounds like a power supply problem to me.

The model of the guitar cable capacitance (and pickup resistance and inductance) is a resonant LRC circuit so a cut won't do it. I agree that they should model this with the VDI but I don't think they have that option. With a regular guitar, they model the input impedance which does affect the tone. I don't think it does squat with active pickups though.

The sound is a relay that activates when you power up the modeling. The mags are passive when the modeling is off. Have to be because they work without the battery. The Mags go through the electronics when powered up so that they can go down the VDI cable. Since that is digital, the mags have to go through an amp and A/D converter. So yes you are right that the relay isolates the mags when the guitar is not powered.

The Cable capacitance won't do much at all even using the 1/4 inch with a Variax (in modeling mode). The output impedance is low because it is amplified not passive. With passive pickups, it is the inductance and resistance of the pickups and the cable capacitance that causes the tone changes. IT is a tuned LRC circuit. Not so with active pickups or with modeling. No L and no R so the C doesn't do squat.

Unfortunately, the USB interface does not power the guitar. You need to power the guitar with batteries and turn it on with the jack.

I could not agree more! People that spend a fortune on Monster Cables are smoking rope if they think they can tell the difference in sound. Wire is wire!

Saying the Variax is not a good choice because it is too versatile is pretty silly. If you like playing it and you like how it sounds go for it. I suggest you buy it online from a place like Sweetwater that gives you an extra year of warrantee and also will take it back if there is anything at all wrong with it. Yes you might pay more than the best deal you can find but I think it's worth it. I never set foot in Guitar Center myself.

OOPS! - I did that the first day I got my JTV. :-)

Something is out of whack if you had to adjust the bridge so much that you had to remove the springs. I would send it back. It should stay in tune as well as any other guitar with a floating bridge. Locking tuners are an improvement (standard with the JTV 69)

Whammy bar, battery, charger, usb interface, VDI cable, gig bag, tools for setup.

I have had no reliability issues with my JTV69S (2 years) or my 500 (over 10 years). I personally like the 69S neck. I have small hands and it fits me nicely. Build quality is fine. I play my JTV 90% of the time. Modeling is dead silent. I don't use alt tunings much. The 12 string models don't cut it IMO. The mag pickups are very good also.

No editor is a game breaker for me. I don't want to bend over and try to fiddle with knobs. I will keep my HD500x for now.

Alternate tunings are somewhat of a compromise because the strings and the guitar are vibrating at one frequency and the sound out of the amp is at a different frequency. This affects feedback and as long as the sound out of the speakers dominates, it sounds good. With normal tunings, everything is in tune so you get feedback interaction between the speaker sound and the guitar and strings.

X3 Live works fine as a USB interface for the Variax. There is no "Direct connection". You have to have a Line6 USB Interface to connect a Variax to a PC. Either a Pod that supports Variax or the USB Dongle.

It's almost always your windows or virus software firewall that prevents this. You have to allow the updater to talk to the line6 website. Also I always download the FW and update it from the local copy rather than let it try to update over the internet.

Lube it?

Dynamic range is a big deal since you never actually get to use all of it. You only use all of the bits when you are about to saturate.

I would recommend paying full price from Sweetwater. Saving $100 isn't worth it when you can get full support.

In my experience, the battery works great. I don't like having to remove it to charge though. I only have one JTV battery because I mostly use the VDI with my HD500x.