Charlie_Watt

Did you verify that battery voltage is getting to the switch in the 1/4 inch jack?

It is certainly your right to not buy Line6 products. We do not need to hear about it though.

One big difference is neck and scale length. This really affects feel and you should know what you want here. The 69 has the same scale length as a Strat and the 59 is the same as a Les Paul. (I don't know about the 89 scale length but you can look it up) If you are not sure what you like you need to go play them. You will get the total spectrum of answers here if you ask which is "Best".

Sounds like something is preventing good string contact with the piezo's. They should be in good contact with the strings. I retrofitted the strat type ghost pickups to my Variax 500 and they are great. Way more output and better sounding than the originals - and they are all grounded! I had to dial the string volumes down to 50% in Workbench to keep the electronics from saturating.

Yes it's also possible that the switch on your input jack isn't closing when you plug into it. That provides battery power to the board. Yes the board is under one of the plates on back. I have a 69 and I could not resist taking the covers off when I first got it. On mine it's the large cover on back. There is a set of wires from the battery box to the board. Another set to the input jack. If the rest of your guitar is the way you like it, I would take a shot at fixing your problem. If not, send it back.

Sounds like a battery connection problem since the models work when powered by the VDI cable. Sounds like a defect. You might want to check that everything is plugged into the circuit board. The battery lights are part of the battery holder and they indicate that your battery is charged but not that the battery voltage is getting to the main board. There is a plug that connects the battery holder to the board. Maybe it's not making good contact. I think you can check this without voiding your warrantee.

What you are calling the "nut" is actually the "Bridge". Truss Rod adjustment nut is not easy to turn. You would want to loosen it to add more relief. If you are not comfortable doing this I would recommend that you take the guitar to an experienced luthier (Get some recommendations!!!!) to have it set up. He can find any problems with neck or frets.

My bet is Slim to None. Too bad because the Acoustic Variax had some very nice models. Since there is no Acoustic Variax available it would be nice if there was a way to have more Acoustic models.

You should go to a guitar store that has JTV's and play them. They are all different physically even though they have the same electronics.

Yes my new JTV69S came with a different USB interface. 1/3 the size black plastic with a dongle cord for the USB side. It works the same and I think it is interchangeable with the old unit shown here. I bought workbench years ago for my 500 and it came with the clear plastic interface.

The new JTV interface may be electrically the same as the old Variax USB interface but it is a small black thing about 1/4 the size of the original and it has a USB dongle hanging out one side. I have not tried this with my old Variax but I am sure it will work. Neither one powers the Variax through USB. I suspect that the reason is that the Variax violates the USB spec on 5V current. (too high)

Most of us have no problems. The discussions here are skewed towards problems. My 69S is perfect and has been since I got it. Running latest 2.0FW

If this limitation bothers you then stick with the old stuff until Line6 finishes the support for WB from Pods. I agree that it is NOT a bug. They elected to release WB with partial support rather than wait until the drivers for Pod were ready.

The cable that comes with the JTV isn't really robust enough or long enough for playing. If you go the pod route I would invest in a better VDI cable with a shell on both ends.

Well if 2.0 installed the processor electronics is running. It is probably a problem with the switch itself. Try removing the knob and pushing on the shaft. Many here have experienced this problem with that switch not activating. If that doesn't work send it back.

My guess is that the problem with Variax is that there are not that many sold and the repair centers do not get enough in for service to justify stocking spare parts for them. From the forum here it does seem to be worse outside of the US.

I just use a piece of scrap fabric about a half inch wide that I interleave with the strings above the nut. It is loose but it touches all 6 strings enough to dampen any vibration. I started with it on my Variax 500 but I use it on all of my guitars now. I have an acoustic that I could really hear those short string sections singing. It was very annoying.

It could be the nut but it could be anything in the guitar that is loose and free to vibrate. It could just be a resonance somewhere. Once you find it you can damp it out easily.

Guys - this was a Free update. They could have waited another year and made it more bug free but I am glad they did not. I am happy with 2.0 and anybody that isn't can go back to what they had before the "Free" update. Sometimes the best way to find bugs is to let the users have the release. (as long as it's a guitar and not an airplane :) )

If it does it with the mags it is not the electronics. It is mechanical.

Sounds like it has a problem. Should not cut out. Mine has never done that and it's 10 years old.

The strings are the piezo inputs. Turning them down lowers the signal through the modeling.

I think I would recommend moving the high amplitude models down to match them rather than moving the low amplitude ones up. Any clipping will cause lots of distortion and bad sound.

I believe what he means is X3L which is a Pod.

It would be nice if the Variax had a way to indicate that clipping was happening anywhere in the signal chain. (Like the Pods do) Then we would know to reduce the string volume settings. Piezo outputs vary quite a lot from unit to unit. (I use them at work) Vendors often sort them into bins that are close to each other but from bin to bin they vary a bunch.