rchibnik

Just thought I'd recount my experience repairing my JTV89 which had an unreliable VDI connection pretty much since I got it. This guitar was an open box from Sweetwater so I saved a couple hundred bux on it. I was sure it wasn't the VDI cables since I also have a Standard and the cable works reliably with that guitar and the Helix. I figured the pins in the RJ45 jack in the guitar were bent - often I could get it to work by fiddling the VDI jack. Full Compass is a great source for parts for the JTV and line 6 stuff in general. I found a replacement input jack there - $52 seemed like a lot, but shipping was free. The 69 jack is slightly less expensive. Shipping was pretty quick and I had the new device in about a week. To replace the jack, I needed to open the back as well as remove the four screws securing the input jack. The Jack assembly has to connections, a six or so wire electronic PIN socket and a ground wire which screws to the guitars ground. No soldering is required. Disconnecting the PIN socket required a needle nose but came out pretty simply. The new one only goes in one way. I noticed that the old jack was not grounded- the green ground wire was not connected to the ground on the jack - it was loose connected to the guitar. This might explain the defect, but I'm not sure why it was intermittent. Rather than trying to re-attach the ground to the old input jack I went ahead with the replacement because I was unsure of any other issues, and i already had the replacement part. After the replacement, which took about 15 minutes, the guitar worked perfectly again. The component based design makes the JTV a very serviceable guitar. Of course, on a standard guitar, the wiring is far simpler and repair might be less expensive.

I've noiced a slight jumpiness but it never bothered me that much. I post only because I notice that using a 1/4" out of the Variax was less jumpy than the VDI which I usually use. I didnt check, but I'm probably set to Multi since I never changed it.

probably should have said "Replaced" as I already have it. I use it mostly for rehearsals with a drummer and would use it for an occasional gig. There's a couple of things I dont like about it - the EQ is ONLY available through the iPad bluetooth interface which is unreliable; Would have preferred to have bluetooth receiver making it a little more versatile. I can see what you're saying - for the budget, it suits me well, but if I was putting together a full gigging rig I'd probably go in another direction, as you point out.

I have a JTV-89 and recently got a Standard. I prefer to play the standard, probably because its lighter and I prefer the strat body style. While I like some things about the 89 neck, the E strings are close to the edge and tend to slip off if I play sloppily. I dont have that problem on the standard. I got the standard during the recent price reduction / 100 off sale from Sweetwater. I just missed a B-Stock model that was around $500. So, for that kinda money, I think you can't go wrong, even if you have to pay for / do a fret dress. I'm considering selling the 89 with my HD500; I use the standard with the Helix into an FRFR (Lunchbox or EON 610). Overall, this is my true dream rig - I sold my DT25 to help fund the other purchases.

SOLD my DT25 when I got the helix, replacing it with a EON610 Also had a Marshall JTM60 that I never used, so sold that to an aficionado Still have a Spider Jam, my first LIne6 purchase - its not a tube amp, but I still have it. Clearing out my collection of multi-effects pedals. Primarily I use the Helix with its built in looper or Trio+ through an FRFR - either the 610 for playing with a drummer, or a Lunch box for practice.

@deadlocked I followed this, downloaded and installed the patch and it worked for me, first time. Thanks for positing this - very clear and highly useful.

I make up my own device stencils and connect them using different colored lines and annotations. Please, Would you share your stencils? Thanks

Well, that's for sure. I created a patch with the JTV pitched down an octave, a compressor and a bass amp and it played MUCH better. Now I'm using two patches for my looper exercised (mostly I use this for practice, but sometimes for jams with other players.) So I guess I need two inputs, a Variax normal into a guitar amp and a variax down an octave into a bass amp and A/B those two. Havent had too much time to futz with the routing because this thing is so addictive to play through. I thought I'd have some buyers remorse because of its cost and the fact that I dont really NEED it, but I'm just so happy with it. I'm making up for the guilt by selling off all those other multi-efffects pedals I've collected in the past. Its really a sweet piece of kit.

Do you have any sample patches posted that I could look at - this sounds like a good approach. I agree that there are some remarkable things you can do with this unit - SOOO much easier than the HD500 (about 3x easier, by my estimate - maybe more, which makes it a bargain.)

Thanks for everyones suggestions - I haven't had a chance to implement them all, but the solution that seems to work is the A/B split path. Just to be clear - there's only one instrument - a Guitar - and I want to set up a rhythm layer (scratching/tapping the neck) and a bass line using a pitch shift, then a rhythm guitar accompaniment using a clean tone, then solo using an overdrive. The bass / rhythm will be on the B path, which I'll start with, then switch to the A path for standard guitar. Another possibility that I didnt consider at first was using the Variax pitch shift to create a bass model on the Variax - I havent been keeping up with JTV Variax firmware - is there a bass model available?

I want to use Helix to support playing solo with an external looper I’d like to have a patch with two paths, - one for guitar with Eq, FX and amp - another for Bass with pitch shift, bass amp and FXs. I’d like to use a bypass switch to toggle between the paths but can’t figure out how to assign bypass to the Y-Paths. Is this possible? Anyone built a patch like this that I can use as an example?

$20 + 0.87 / ft - a 10' cable was 28.70 or so - $20 + (8.70 for 10 feet)

Any interest in trading a "like new" DT25 for a working L2T? I think the L2T would better fit my needs. I'm in the NJ area and would prefer a local trade (NY/NJ/CT/PA) PM me or reply if any interest. Thanks

I think the guide pre-dates some of the newer amp models that were added in a (fairly) recent firmware update.

DT50 for $1000 is a very good deal. The DT50 is LOUD. I have a DT25 combo and HD500 that I am very happy with - together they make a very flexible rig. If you like the tone, I say go for it. $1500 for HD500 and DT50 is a very good deal, IMHO