phil_m

Somehow I've managed to spend the last two months gigging and rehearsing with a totally un-giggable guitar... How did I do it? Seriously, I do think there may be an issue where some people are having some sort of corruption come through in the update or something, because the experience you're describing here is totally the opposite of my experience when I installed the new models two months ago (beta firmware version back then, but the overall sound of the new models didn't really change much throughout the process). To me going from 1.9 to the HD models was like night and day for the better. There was much more distinction between models and they all seemed more realistic to me. It's almost embarrassing in a way because I thought the old 1.9 models were good, too. But the 2.0 were/are just a lot better. I should also add I have the JTV69US as well, so I don't think it's anything inherent to any of the specific models. It seems like issues are probably with individual guitars more than anything. The one thing I will say is that the majority of my playing hasn't been with the Dream Rig. It's been with my usual gigging rig - an M13 and other pedals with a Deluxe Reverb most of the time. So it wasn't like I had a huge collection of patches I was basing my experience on. I have tried it with the VDI cable and the HD500 just to make sure it was OK. And it seemed OK to me then, too.

Frankly, based on that video, I don't know how anyone could prefer the Strat sounds in 1.9 compared to 2.0, but it's all based on personal opinion. But my personal opinion is that the 1.9 Strat sounds in that video sound somewhat lifeless compared to the 2.0 ones. But, yes, the sounds in this video pretty much square with my experience from going from 1.9 to 2.0.

The first Strat reminds me a little more of my American Deluxe which has Fender's Cobalt Noiseless pickups. The second one reminds me more of the 2012 American Standard I have. It has the Fat 50's, which despite their name sound a little thinner to me. That's the thing, though, it's all subjective, and there are variations between what people want in a Strat. To me the ideal Strat sound is something more like the Edge's tone on "Where the Streets Have No Name. Have you tried adjusting any of the capacitance values, etc. on Workbench?

I prefer the second of those sounds in your video... Even though they do sound a bit thinner, they sound more in line what my real Strats sound like. They have more of the bell-like quality I associate with the 2 and 4 positions.

I'll try to record some samples sometime this week.

The problem is that there are so many different factors that could be causing differences reported here. I do suspect that some of these issues have to be more than simply a difference of opinion, though. One thing I am wondering is that when everyone does the update are they sure to pick the option to not save the existing presets on the guitar? That can cause some problems if you don't do that. But personally, I've got to say I was playing my JTV last night some more, and I think the models are pretty spot-on. To me the Strat sound much more authentic than before. I also took some time to compare some of the models to the real thing. I have an Epiphone Casino, for instance, and the Variax model pretty much nails what I was hearing with the real thing. To compare, I would record a loop on my M13, unplug the original and the plug in the Variax to compare. That way I can do a true A/B and not just depend on my memory. But, yeah, to me the differences are so minor between the Variax and the real they would be pretty much indistinguishable in a recording or live situation.

Are you sure that there isn't a sleep mode on the 89. I don't know why there wouldn't be. It's on all the other models. The thing is that even in the sleep mode, the battery can drain pretty quickly. It's still drawing power, just at a slightly slower rate. It's really just meant to be something you use during a gig between sets. Even then, though, I usually will unplug mine. It's not really a big deal to pull the cable out. Then you know the guitar is really off.

So, what happens if you have the 1/4" cable plugged in first and then plug the VDI cable in? I'm wondering you're not seeing a slight power bump in the Variax when you're plugging into the HD500. Also, are you using a regular guitar cable? You're not per chance using a TRS cable?

Well you're not really paying for the software... You're paying for the device. The software can be downloaded for free. They just happen to give you a copy of the software when you buy the device, but even that is kind of silly, because the software that comes in that package will be out of date.

I doubt it. I think they already have enough headaches with dealing the different guitar models. I can't ever see them going the a la carte route with models for the Variax. It seems that the potential for problems is too great. I'd say you have two choices - roll back the firmware or tweak the Spank model in Workbench to get something more to your liking. I must say, though, I still don't get the criticism of that model. I love it. Had a show last night, and used it all night. I really like the way it sounds and responds now.

They didn't model the 59 or 69 pickups, just the 89.

The acoustic models were updated to HD in the 1.82 firmware. Whether or they changed at in the 2.0 update is a matter of discussion at the moment. If they did change it was more in way of tweaking them not completely remodeling them.

Yeah, that's right... It took Line 6 eight months since the time they announced the update to add a room reverb to all the models. Those engineers - so silly! B)

I actually play my Variax apart from my HD500 more than I play it with. The things that's nice about the Variax is that's it's pretty easy navigate through the different models and tunings just on the guitar itself. With the lithium ion batteries (I have two) I don't really ever have to worry about not having enough charge to get through rehearsal or gigs, so I just use much like I would any other guitar.

You can easily put a humbucker on either of the jazzbox bodies in Workbench.

Think of it this way - everyone who has a JTV has the Workbench interface. Not everyone has a POD. Hence the priority to the Workbench interface.

Every JTV comes shipped with the interface, though... I guess I'm not sure what you're getting at with that statement.

Download and install Line 6 Monkey. Once you have it installed, you can connect your Variax to your computer using the Workbench interface, a VDI cable, and a USB cable (have a 1/4" cable plugged into your Variax, too) and start the Monkey software. Once you do that, everything is kind of self-explanatory. Monkey will tell you what needs updated and how to do it.

The comments on the Strat genuinely puzzle me, to be honest. When I did the update (several weeks ago) that was what I went to first. Like I've mentioned, that's probably the model I use most. I use it quite frequently at shows. I've gigged my Variax with the new models for the last 6 weeks or so, and it seems fine to me. Perhaps people have different ideas of what a Strat should sound like?

So this is what happened after you hit the "Upload to Variax" button? Did you try to send them all at once or one at a time?

If you hit the "more reply options" button next to the "post" button below, you will be taken to another dialog box, and you'll see a button to add attachments to your reply. That will let you upload an image from your computer without having to have it hosted somewhere else.

If they did change, it would be relatively minor tweaks. The versions in the 1.82 firmware were already the HD models. My guess is that they may have have made some optimizations in regards to the pitch tracking, and there may be some differences in levels to help even everything out a bit more.

Probably the positions I use most on my Variax, honestly, and I love 'em. Sounds much more authentic to my ears now than before. I have five other Strats currently, and I've done A/B comparisons - pretty darn close now.

With the old FW the modeled JTV89F PU-selector settings were assigned to CUSTOM 1 on my JTV89F. With new FW CUSTOM 1 this is different. How do I reset the JTV89F 1-5 models to CUSTOM 1 ??? This update frees up the Custom 1 bank on the JTV89 & JTV89F. Rather than having the modeled versions of its magnetic pickups automatically hardwired to those positions, you can save anything you want there. If you want to put the 89 pickups back in there, you can download the Custom 1 bank here and plop into the Custom 1 position in Workbench. This was noted in the FAQ link for the upgrade:

I would try re-installing the firmware. That doesn't sound right at all. The levels between models should pretty equal now.