Charlie_Watt

It should not do that! That is usually the result of a bad part or bad connection somewhere.

The ghost saddles just replace the saddles on the same bridge piece. That part is easy. The harder part is dealing with the connections to the flex circuit under the bridge. If you are not good with small wires and soldering, it's best left to a pro. I did mine and it turned out fine but it was a bit of a challenge even with my years of soldering experience. (And I have a microscope and the right equipment to do it) That being said, it is really a major improvement over the standard piezos. Each has it's own ground wire so there is no flaky ground through the bridge or strings to worry about.

IMO the 700 sounds just about as good as the JTV and it's a heck of a nice guitar.

When I was doing my own SW projects at home I kept backup disks at work. I don't always have a full backup offsite but that is always a good idea. Theft, fire, etc can trash your whole system and backups if they are all in one place. I also always verify my backups and keep at least the last two versions. Call me paranoid. By the way, I work for a company that makes hard drives. I know what can go wrong with them!

If I only use one of the new Amp models, the cost of a model pack is worth it to me.

My computer advice: Backup Often, Backup the Backup frequently.

I have not found any low end acoustic amps that I would recommend. A keyboard amp will work as will any acoustic amp but I think you can find a studio monitor for a reasonable price. You only need one but two is nicer for stereo effects and a fuller sound. The trick for good Acoustic is to have a full range speaker system. A home stereo will work too. I used to use my pod with an old home stereo with a decent set of speakers.

I don't have a problem with the model pack pricing. I will buy the Classic one. I have no use for Metal so I won't go for the whole package.

You can always get a pair of powered monitor speakers. They will sound great with acoustic. I went for a powered PA speaker and it sounds great. I got an EV ZLX-12P and that is all I use with my Pod. Gives me full range for acoustics and sounds great with my regular electric models on my Variax.

I personally think extended warrantees are a rip-off. I never buy them. Figure I am self insured. I am way ahead on that front.

You need a USB connection to your PC to use Workbench. You can do that with a Pod or with the USB interface that goes with Workbench. That interface is sold with all JTV Variax guitars but you have to buy one if you have one of the older models. You still need to plug your guitar into an amp if you don't have a pod to hear any sound. It won't come through the PC.

GEQ is an EQ that is there for all of your patches. That is what they mean by Global.

Toggle switch??? I think you mean the 5 way selector switch. No I have no idea where you can get the right end for that.

I would love to see the numbers - how many US JTV's were made and sold. I bet it's a real small number. Way too expensive for the market that is interested in this stuff. And the difference between the reasonably priced models and the US models is not going to be that great. On any guitar, the neck is what makes it IMO. You can buy a top of the line replacement neck for a JTV69 if you don't like the one that comes with it for a fraction of the price difference. The electronics are the same. The FW is the same.

I agree that once you learn the pod you want to build your own patches from scratch but when you take it out of the box and plug it in, you want to try it out before you learn to drive it. I was really disappointed when I did that. The plain vanilla amp patches are the only useful ones when you are starting out. Most of them are total garbage with the effects way overdone. To my taste, underdone is much better than over the top when it comes to effects. With so many patches to choose from and I'm sure Line6 had many good beta testers, you would expect them to include some good sounding patches. No they would not be perfect but they could sound decent.

Learn to live with some amount of noise. It is hard to avoid. (Unless you have a JTV!) That is one of the things that I like about my Variax. I have had a Variax since the original 500 came out and they are the quietest guitars out there. (when you don't use the Mag pickups)

I really like everything about my JTV69S. I really like the neck. Fits my small hands well. Finish is flawless. The 12 strings modeling still isn't that great. Sounds a bit to fake I think. The alternate tunings work but they are a compromise. I don't play alternate tunings that much and I would rather use a real capo than use pitch shifted capo. I have been considering getting a 59 but I don't really need one.

I wish that some of the factory presets were usable so that you could get decent tone out of the pod before you learn to tweak it properly. They are not usable! This is a turn-off to many newcomers and some never overcome this.

High end guitars are no more immune to buzz than a squire strat. Pickups are all noise receivers as you found out. You have to live with some noise if you are using Magnetic pickups. That is the great thing about the Variax. It is much quieter than any mag pickup guitar out there when you use the piezo pickups and the modeling. My worst guitars for noise are my more expensive Les Paul and American Strat. I have gone with active pickups in my Strat and my G&L and they are much better noise wise. I am not sure I like the sound of the pickups any better though. I went with EMG's. These pickups have the preamp in the pickup and they are powered by a 9V battery. There is still some slight noise pickup but it's far less than with the pickups they replaced.

A DC supply will probably work in place of the AC one but you should use the proper supply. Going the other way will screw up your pod for sure. The X3 Live uses an AC supply so the conversion to DC is inside the X3 Live box. (diodes, caps, regulator) The newer HD pods use a DC supply.

I agree that the Vette to Ferrari is a better comparison.

I never saw a 300 but the 700 is solid with a fake sound hole. The bridge is mounted on the solid part. I still have my 700 but I usually play my JTV.

Return it for a replacement or a refund if they hassle you.

This is like saying "I am tired of my Volkswagen I'm getting a Ferrari.

Let me back up a second after thinking about this. I can't tell how loud your volume is since you did not play any notes. There is an annoying buzz no matter whether you have modeling or Mags. Can you make a recording where you play a couple notes and then mute the strings and see how loud the hiss is relative to the notes? I never notice any hiss with mine unless I have something high gain set up on my pod. Then you need a noise gate to make it quiet when you are not playing.