Charlie_Watt

I am in the same shoes you are and I have JTV69, HD500x, powered PA Monitor. I went this route because I wanted full range for acoustic models. I play my PC based songs through the same speaker via the 500x. I also have a keyboard that I can plug into the CD/MP3 input on the HD500x. That being said I am interested in the Amplifi but I won't buy it until it supports something other than IOS.

Then the other option is to get one from a mail order place that has a good return policy. Lots of us are satisfied with their purchase but some are not and buying a guitar sight unseen is always a crap shoot.

You need to go try one. You may not like it either. I love my 69 but I play with a pick and not terribly aggressively. The piezo pickups will behave the same on all JTV's.

I think l6t are HD500x tones. h5e are HD500 tones. You should be able to use both though.

JTV works well with alt tunings. Of course you can't alt tune the mag pickups so you can't blend them with alt tuning UNLESS the alt tuning is in harmony with the standard tuning.

I don't think the footswitch cleaning applies to the HD500x switches.

I cannot tell from the picture what that defect is but I know that they use CNC to position the frets on guitar necks. That doesn't look like a goof to me but again I can't tell for sure from your pix. Bottom line is that if you like the guitar keep it. Every guitar has it's own personality due to mfg tolerances and due to the variation of the wood they use to make it.

When you save the patch it will come back in whatever state it's in when you save it.

I have the Best Tronics VDI cable and it works well for me. I have not run over it but it seems to be as robust as a normal guitar cable. The connectors on the ends are solid and should protect things from getting damaged if you yank on the cable a bit. I use the 1/4 inch jack some of the time when I am not using my Pod HD500x but I leave the VDI plugged in most of the time.

The 500x footswitches are a significant upgrade IMO. They seem very solid to me.

How does the 150 compare to the Yamaha 10THR? I have neither and I have been considering both. I am waiting to see what Line 6 does for further connectivity with Amplifi before I make my decision.

Locking Tuners and Graphtech nut will improve tuning stability.

Should be fine as long as your pedal doesn't cause clipping on the Pod inputs. IT won't sound good if it does clip at the inputs.

It probably won't work very well. Most reverb paths kill the low frequencies before they get to the tank.

There is probably a broken connection in the battery tray. Capacitors charge up almost instantly when you insert the battery. It makes no sense that it would take more than a few microseconds - certainly not minutes or hours. The battery try includes a circuit board that could have a failure.

I like to do my own setups if they just involve adjustments. I don't have the tools to level frets or replace them. From the Pix here I would say that the nut is too low relative to the first fret. That requires removing the nut and shimming it - or making a new one. I normally set the action height with a capo on the first fret. The nut height should be just a bit higher than that so that the strings don't buzz on the first fret when you play them open. The nut height was perfect on my JTV 69. I had to fiddle with the saddles to get the action the way I like it but that was all. Neck relief was fine with 10's.

From the pix it looks to me like the nut is too low. That is not a difficult adjustment to make. If the neck is straight and the guitar is otherwise fine you might want to get it set up properly. I agree that you should not receive a guitar this way though.

Your guitar needs a setup. Neck relief (truss rod adjustment), Bridge adjustment, and maybe Nut adjustment. This is not uncommon for most guitars out of the box. Many are set up very conservatively when you get them - opposite of your problem but just as unplayable.

You can tilt regular mags to get more volume from the B, hiE strings. Many players like it that way.

It appears like he gutted the electronics and just has mags in his 500. Sounds good though. I really like the JTV with mags and models though.

Sorry but I am not in the camp that believes in reflashing to fix problems. Once should do it unless it craps out during the process. They may have retuned the string volumes of the models when they went to HD models but the effect may be different on different JTV's. Also, some may be more bothered by it depending on what kind of stuff they are playing. I agree that the B and E should be louder on some of the models - especially those with Bridge pickups. Nothing on my 69S changed between the 2.0 and 2.1 FW release and I am happy with the models. I never experienced the earlier FW because my 69S came with 2.0 installed at my request. I do have a Variax 500 to compare it to and I think the JTV sounds better on everything. (And I have upgraded my 500 to Ghost pickups)

I'm afraid that the answer is in the piezo's themselves. You will have to adjust the string volumes of the models to your liking. I like the E and B loud on the tele and strat models.

All piezo equipped guitars I own have their own piezo amplifier. Is there an amplifier designed for your pickup?

Maybe a set of Monitors is the best way. It won't sound like your amp though without some tweaking.

Apple are control freaks and they do things their way with ITunes and the App Store. It usually works pretty well though so this is a bit unusual. It's probably bad timing to have an Application update on top of an OS update.