Charlie_Watt

Did you try to measure resistance between the third terminal and the negative terminal? Thats where I was seeing the 9.5K resistor. The Battery itself is compatable. Same voltage and capacity. Measure voltage between third terminal and negative first. IF it's zero, then try measuring ohms. Don't measure ohms if there is any voltage reading at all between the third terminal and the negative. You can try that on the Line6 battery too. You should see about 9.5K ohms between the negative terminal and the third terminal.

I don't think that reset proceedure works after you upgrade. I think the only sure way is to reflash.

OK I measured my Line6 JTV battery. The third terminal is connected to the Negatiave (-) terminal with about 9.5K ohms. It reads 9.5K in both directions so it's probably just a resistor - no diode. My fully charged battery reads about 8.3V (4 LED's on the Variax test button) Maybe rchibnik could compare readings on his Line6 and Mavica battery.

Turns out I lied. The Variax battery box does contact that third contact on the battery. Not sure what it does. I will try to make some measurements. From the above pix it does look like the contacts are slightly different. Maybe the third element is used differently. (The charger does not contact the third element) I will make some meter measurements on my battery and see if I can see what is on the third element.

I would like to hear from rchibnik about what voltage he measured at the terminals of the battery. My guess is that the pins in the battery box are smaller than the holes on the battery and they don't make connection. I doubt that Line 6 has any mechanism to sense what kind of battery is inserted. The bottom of that battery is slightly different and maybe the terminals are too.

The third battery contact does not make a connection to the Variax! Only The Plus and Minus.

That's a bummer. It sure looked like it might work. Did you read the voltage on it after you charged it?

May not be helpful but it's true!

You have NO idea what it takes to do Firmware development and testing if you think a month is a long time. Be patient and be glad you have WB without the pod for now.

If your guitar is new, swapping it out makes more sense than trying to get it repaired. My experience with "repair centers" is that they don't know how to do anything but substitute parts and that can take forever if they don't have them on hand.

I am not crazy about the mag pickups either but I am not sure how much I will use them. I can't justify replacing them now.

Cool! I assume you reversed the piezo connections and installed a new nut.

I have a perfectly working JTV69S. Had it almost a month. Love it. Bought it from Sweetwater - a Demo -saved $400 over normal price too. Came with 2.0 installed. I had to do some tweaks to the action and intonation but it was in very good condition.

Not needed for me. I travel by Minivan. :) I just wanted something better than the Gig Bag for my Car trips. I spend winters in Arizona, summers in Colorado. I take a couple guitars back and forth.

I ordered this SKB case from Sweetwater. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/1SKB6/ They say it will fit and the latches look much better than the ones on the cheaper Fender cases.

If you don't have a pod I would consider buying one rather than buying the interface. The pod makes a good interface AND it's a great amp and effects modeling platform. The interface is just an interface.

Thanks - sounds like I have a few options. I have one of the molded Strat cases for an American Standard from about 10 years ago. The JTV almost fits but not quite. The cases that are designed for both a Tele and Strat will probably work fine.

I see no way to change the piezo's on the 69 due to the very unique bridge and saddle design. The old Variax was very Strat like and the Ghost Strat saddles would go right on the Variax bridge. Playing style with the Acoustic models is an issue. You can't play it hard like a real acoustic (IMO) and have it sound good. This may be mostly due to the setup.

Sorry I missed that. That should work. My stock plastic Strat case exactly shaped for a Strat and the 69 doesn't fit.

In my 500, the difference was big because of two things: Graphtech ghost piezos are grounded and the Variax ones were not. The Ghost are potted into the bridge pieces - the Variax ones are just spring loaded and can move around or lose contact with the string. I am not sure how the JTV piezos are grounded. They can still move around in the bridge which I don't really like but they do sound as good as my 500 Ghost pickups.

I did not see any 69 options there. That's why I started a new thread.

Has anyone here found a case that properly fits a JTV69? It almost fits in my Strat case but not quite. The body shape is just enough different to prevent using that. I plan to travel with my JTV and I don't really want to use the Gig bag when I do.

Graphtec was easy conversion on the old Variax 500, 600, etc but not so at least on my JTV 69s. The bridge is way different.

What created the wear marks on the piezo's??

I have no idea how many JTV's are out there. I was very interested in them back when they came out but did not buy one. I saw a local band last spring and one of the guitar players had a JTV and the renewed my interest. I finally bought a 69S three weeks ago. I really like it. I am not a very good guitar player but I have run none the less. The whole idea of modeling really interested me and I did buy one of the early 500's and I still have it.