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Hi all I'm brand new to the Variax and was thrilled to receive my new JTV69 a couple of days ago. After charging the battery I gave the JTV69 a run out on the first evening and everything was fine - model selector knob lit up and switched perfectly between the models, alternate tunings worked etc. Unplugged it from my amp overnight. But when I came to it the next day it was dead. I thought it might be the battery so recharged for a few hours and replaced - all four green lights are coming on at the back when I test so that looks OK. But the model selector switch and tunings still aren't working - it's like they're dead. It plays fine through the normal pickups however. I've looked through the forum and seen the tips on sticking a bit of paper into the end of the knob - that hasn't worked. My question is this: as I'm getting no "life" at all from the Variax functions, might a restore/flash refresh work? Or does that only work when the basic modelling functions are already working and there are other problems? I've (obviously) not done this before, but have seen the instructions on doing this through Line 6 Monkey on the site. I've opened a support ticket about the problem but no answer yet and I just want to do what I can to get it working over the weekend. Any advice on this (or indeed any other bright suggestions) greatly appreciated! Many thanks. Rupert

Can anyone give me some pointers on how to get the best sound out of my JTV-59? After watching more videos showing off the sound, I'm convinced something is not right, maybe its the Amplifi amp I'm using (which means I can't use the VDI cable, WHAT???), or is it the 20 year old 1/4" that I play through, or is it just me...I cannot get mine to sound anything like the sounds in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meqkcELwew0 I'm mostly referring to the acoustic models that sound amazing in the Line6 video - 1:20-2:25 is a great example of the acoustics that I bought this guitar for! There are some cords that when I play I can tell that the modeling is dropping some strings like it can't process all 6 at once. The 12 strings are the worst by far, in the video you can hear some pretty harsh strumming tones as he plays, I have to play mine SUPER light to get 75% of the sound that he is getting in the acoustic models, and my latency is terrible on top of that. My intent is not to bash on this guitar, I love it, or at least I'm trying real hard to keep loving it. And to be fair, most of the NON-Acoustic models seem totally fine to me. I am desperately hoping that someone can give me some pointers on places I can look to get a better sound, something doesn't seem right to me. FYI, my serial number dates my "NEW" JTV-59 as a November 2012 build if that's any clue as well. Thanks!

Hello All, The webpage says it comes in 5 different finishes, but it only shows 2. Is there any place where I can see the other colors? Finishes Black Metallic finish with black hardware Blood Red finish with black hardware Blue Pearl over Black finish with black hardware Transparent Black finish with black hardware Natural Satin finish with black hardware source:http://line6.com/jtv-89f-us/ Thanks,

Hi guys. I wanted to share this quick clip I made of me jamming with my AMPLIFi 75 through my recording setup. I have the AMPLIFi 75 going out stereo from the headphone jack and into my Zoom R24 recording interface. Then, I put it into two tracks and pan left and right. It sounds AMAZING! And I just got these Presonus Eris 5 monitors and it sounds great. The AMPLIFi sounds great and I cn edit everything from my new iPad. I also used the HD500x for my bass tone. Here is the video.

To date I have never used any of the reso models but now want to give them a try. I would be interested to know what type of amplification people use, especially if using an HD500. Do you use amp models (if so, which ones) or do you treat them like the acoustic models and go direct? Thanks, in advance.

This is more or less a feature request, but if you folks ever decide to update the JTV models again, it would be wonderful to have a Nylon string acoustic in there. (e.g. Spanish guitar or Django Rheinhardt). I myself would gladly give up the acoustic-3 "Parlor guitar" for something with a little more flavor. I'm sure others would disagree, so I'm not sure about replacing existing models, but it seems like a nylon string model could be done, and it would open a huge creative world. There's nothing but steel string models now. Let me know if that's possible. Thank you.

I've found a couple threads here on hooking up a guitar synth to HD500 and Tyler Variax, but using the roland hex pickup. Seems redundant, since Variaxes already have individual string pickups. Any ways to leverage a guitar synth utilizing the existing Variax pickups? Some way, maybe through the CAT5 out of the guitar to an adaptor/converter to the pin connector Roland uses, etc.? Any way to bypass using an HD500 or the like? I currently use Variaxes through a Flextone III Plus. I'm looking to use the guitar as a synth for some simple lines where the keyboardist in our group is already using every appendage (lol). Not looking to blend guitar w/ synth or anything like that, just switch back and forth between the two. Hoping for a possible and most direct path of least resisteance. Thanks!

Afternoon all; I have a fairly new JTV-89F that has a D string that is much quieter than the other strings. All the strings ring out clearly via the magnetic pickups, but the D string is considerably quieter than the rest through the piezo. The problem exists whether I'm connected via the Line 6 digital interface cable or via a regular 1/4 inch jack. I have verified the issue is also present on two different rigs. Firstly on an old Marshall VS65R amp with no pedals, and also on my new Line 6 DT50 with an HD500. I have tried changing the strings and reseating them several times without any sucess. I have also upgraded to all the latest revisions of the Line 6 Monkey and all of the other associated software/firmware/drivers. I believe doing so does the equivalent of a factory reset on the guitar. I found a settings box in the workbench software that appears to show the individual string gain, and they were all set to 0 dB too. I can't imagine how the settings would have been anything other than the defaults, since I really haven't had a lot of time to dink around with this gear since I got it. Any ideas what I can try to get my D string to normal? Thanks.

I love my JTV-69. However, I have felt like the E and B strings just don't sustain like they should. They sound fine, just don't sustain well. I've tried adding sustain with compression with a little success but still not right. I've also played with the height of the strings. If it helps, I ALWAYS use the VDI connection to a HD500x because of the ability to store guitar models in the patch. Any suggestions?

Hi. I just plugged my JTV-59 into my POD HD500 using the VDI cable, and I got a green light under the tuning knob (the model knob was the usual orange colour). Monkey didn't recognise that it was there. Pressing or rotating knobs didn't do anything, so I unplugged and replugged and it went normal. I'm not fussed as there's no ongoing problem, but I've never seen a green light on the guitar before. Has anyone else had this or does anyone know what the green light is for?

Has anyone experienced their variax causing the amp to ring almost as if the tubes in the amp wer going bad? I had two guitars plugged into the hd (variax via VDI and an ultra III via 1/4") I started getting this increasing in volume feed back through my DT even as all guitar volumes were off. As soon as I unplugged the variax it stopped. Thoughts?

Folks, here are a couple of videos to introduce you to Workbench HD: Introduction to Workbench HD Software for Variax Guitars Introduction to Workbench HD software for Variax Guitars (en Espanol)

Hey guys, Check out this recording I did today using the HD500x, JTV-69, and Variax 700 bass with Addictive Drums 2. Tell me what you think. Thanks. https://soundcloud.com/chris-arnold/song-idea-762014

So I'm wondering if this is normal. I have a JTV 89f, Pod HD500x, into a DT 25 head. My problem happens power everything up. If I have the JTV plugged in using the Variax cable when I power up then try and change tones on the Pod Via footswitch the Pod freezes up and goes to the line 6 reboot screen. Once it reboots the tones switch correctly but I'm not sure if everything sounds quite right but that could be my ears just assuming something's off because of the reboot. Now if I turn everything on without plugging in the JTV first everything works great. It's not that big of a deal other than having to unplug my guitar when I'm done. I'm just hoping that it's not a symptom of another problem. For a long time I thought that something was wrong with the Pod until I got into a kick of playing my Les Paul instead of my JTV for awhile and noticed the issue was gone. Anyway I was just wondering if anyone has had the same issue or if this is just the order it's supposed to power up my rig. I know that your supposed to power things up in a certain order according to some of the other forums but is plugging in your JTV part of that order? Thanks in advance.

I bought the DT25 head a few days ago, for the sole purpose of playing in church where I intended to use the Cabinet Simulated Output (Direct Out) straight to the PA. We're going to an In-Ear Monitor system and want to eliminate all speaker amps from the stage. I thought the DT25 would be perfect since it's still a FULL TUBE amp with no speakers that I can control from my POD HD500X. However after connecting via the POD via the L6 link and then the Direct Out to a recording audio interface (Presonus Firepod), I realized the Direct Out is only usable in "Low Volume Mode." Come to find out when using this configuration I'm only using the amp Pre-Amp section and not the power section of the amp. So my question is am I really gaining anything by using the DT25? I was just plugging my POD HD 500X straight into the PA and getting decent sounds. I thought getting the DT25 would step it up a notch, but if I'm not using the Power Section of the amp I don't know if I'm really gaining anything. Anyone that can chime in would be helpful!! Thanks

Hi guys, My recently aquired Jtv-59 won`t connect with the Usb Interface. I get the flashing red light on the VDI side of the interface. This is what I have checked: The battery is charged (i get the green leds flashing once, when I put in the compartment) I have a regular jack plugged in to the guitar as well as the VDI cable . The Firmware in the Usb Interface is 1.03 , the newest - though strangely, only my macbook will recognize what firmware is on it. When I connect to my Mac Mini it cannot see if it is up-to-date, but it will see the interface itself) I have not tried the guitar with a POD, since I only have the Desktop HD and I don`t think it supports it? (I did plug it into the cat5 connector on it, but no reaction,...) One question: When I press the modelling-knob on the guitar - should I see some light go on? I see no reaction when I press on them, perhaps the variax brain is not on? Any advice greatly appreciated! Thomas

I've just completed my Dream Rig with the purchase of a shiny new L3m, no DT. I was playing around to get my patches to sound right when it occurred to me that there are a lot of you guys who have already gone through that pain and nailed their tones. I have looked through Customtone and a lot of the Dream Rig patches are to be used with a DT amp so are only of limited use. It would be great if there was a resource for us 'Stagesource Dream Riggers'- there is no apparent way to search for this type of thing in Customtone so how about sharing in this thread? I will get some of the patches I have tweaked on the thread when I get home from work. I'm currently on a (ahem) break......

Last night I was using Workbench HD to adjust the string levels for models on my JTV59. The JTV59 connected with VDI into HD500 then via USB to Win 7 PC running Workbench HD. Everything running latest firmware levels. I adjusted string levels on quite a few models and reviewed all of them. The ones I changed I transferred (uploaded) to Variax - and I did this several times. Most of the time it was fine, however, sometimes it seemed to take a few seconds to recognise when I had selected a different bank and model and the Workbench HD would grey out and appear to hang but then a few seconds later there would be a click and everything would be in sync. Once I was happy with my string volume adjustments I then thought I would try out swapping a body on one of the models just to see how it worked. I had noticed that whilst adjusting the string volumes that whichever model I had selected, the body type on the Workbench HD screen would always show as Neutral, when I thought it should show the body of the actual model selected. Anyway, I had SEMI bank selected and position 1. I had just tried swapping the pickup from SEMI HUMBUCKER to LP HUMBUCKER and then swapped it back which I did by downloading the SEMI pos 1 model from the JTV59 rather than re-updating the Workbench HD definition. So everything seemed fine at this point and I could see the SEMI model chosen in the main window, and NEUTRAL showing as body type in the bottom part of the window, so I clicked on the slider and rotated through the different models and noted that the main window did not change and still showed the SEMI body type. I just happened to stop on the CHIME body type and decided to use that - so I clicked on the body icon - this seemed to take after a pause and the chime model body was shown but now the sound I could hear sounded like the Chime 12 string model. Odd, so I decided to reset it but then discovered it would not change even when I selected the Semi body type or any other body type. So I tried to download from Variax again and received a popup which I think said Midi time out error with a code. Oh no. So I then tried switching model banks on the JTV59 and using the pickup selector switch and discovered that all positions now just played the Chime 12 string model. So I tried switching off the modelling on the JTV59 and discovered that the push down knob would not disengage modelling mode. Oh no again - what had happened? So I ended Workbench HD on the PC, and again tried to switch off modelling and to select a different model on the JTV59 and found that all I could get was the Chime 12 string model. So then I decided to disconnect the VDI cable and power off the JTV59. I did that and waited for about 30 seconds to make sure that all power had gone, then I reconnected it and to my great relief it reverted back to normal and the settings that I had previously made before messing with the BODY option. PHEW! Unfortunately, I panicked at the time and did not make a note of the popup window and error code or an exact note of every single step I had taken to get to the problem or every step I took to resolve the problem. The description above is what I remember but I am not too keen to try it again in case I break the JTV59 more permanently next time. I am on latest firmware for everything - so I was not expecting any issues. Has anyone used the MODEL BODY Selection with Workbench HD without any issue or has anyone experienced this problem or something similar? Is the MODEL BODY selection part of Workbench HD broken - or was this just a one off glitch that hit me - or was it a particular sequence of actions that caused the problem? Thanks.

There has got to be a better way to plug in my HD500 and JTV 89 and edit. Yesterday I was in the studio and had some clicking issues when changing patches and I also wanted to write a DADGAD patch for my JTV. So when I got home... I started Monkey and had to update several things. I forget exactly what I needed to update, but it took a while. Then I needed to open Workbench. So I opened the program and realized that it doesn't work with JTV, (but I need to keep it because I still have a Variax 500.) So I opened Workbench HD. I can't find the JTV Interface and cords. I search for about fifteen minutes and it is where I looked the first time! Oh yeah, I have to have a 1/4 cord plugged in to the guitar jack. Oh no, my battery is dead. I have to charge it overnight... Today, battery charged and ready to go. Everything is plugged in. I open Workbench. It seems to be working so I do some edits and I get a message saying it can't send the preset to the guitar... I go to Line 6 Support and do a search for the exact words of the error message and nothing comes up. I do another search and I'm searching within my current results, so I back out and try it again in the forum, in the knowledge base... Nothing. Am I the only one having this problem? So I try the "Error Code." No luck. I put my problem in my own words and finally get a result that seems to apply that isn't in Japanese or German. The guys ultimate solution was sending his guitar back and getting a new one!? Somewhere in the responses someone mentions a JTV firmware update. I go back to Monkey to see if I have the most current firmware for the guitar. Now the interface is only showing one green light and one red light. I unplug. I plug. I remove the battery. I put the battery back. Somehow I get Monkey to find the guitar. But in the process I realize that I'm now installing the midi interface, which I don't need, and it is telling me I'll need to reboot the computer to complete the installation. Rebooted and read to check Monkey! I have 2.0, I need 2.1. Now Monkey isn't recognizing my guitar again. I unplug. I plug. I remove the battery. I put the battery back. Two green lights! I update the guitar! I go to Workbench HD and it works! ...Almost 24 hours later. "Elegant and user friendly, this is not," said Yoda. I don't even remember why I wanted the DADGAD patch and I'm too frustrated to play even if I could remember. Then end result is fine. I'm a big Line 6 fan. Nice guitar, great versatility, but there has to be a better way to integrate all these updates. I'll bet you Line 6 guys know I'm right and you probably wish it was better as well. I'll bet you'd have a lot more customers. $$$

I was just playing around with workbench and HD edit and I thought of something I think would be a cool idea. Add HD500(X)/JTV functionality of assigning controls to certain positions of the JTV's pickup selector. For example you could assign a distortion box to the bridge position of the JTV patch. When you switch from the neck pickup to the bridge pickup it automatically would turn on the distortion box. There are countless more examples you could use with this functionality, but I think this explains it. If anyone thinks it's a useful idea here's the link to the ideascale page. http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Ability-to-change-HD500-X-settings-with-Variax-pickup-selector/623066-23508?submitted=1

Dear all, I've a few quick practical questions. 1- I see that Amplifi can successfully separate core guitar tone and effects, so as far as I understand, if I don't use any stereo effects or reverb etc. it only uses celestion speaker right? Or it also uses other 4 speakers even you have no effects and amp modeling (like bypassing modeling section)? 2- If I connect a multi-effects processor/amp modeler (pod hd500 for example) in "guitar-in" and use Amplifi as a speaker (again by-passing it's modeler section), does it use all five speakers or only celestion? 3- Is there any difference between connecting an amp modeler through guitar in vs. aux in regarding the speaker utilization, frequency range/distribution etc? 4- Elaborating question 3, if I connect variax through guitar in and use one of acoustic models, which speakers does Amplifi use, all speakers or only celestion?

Some people have reported that after a JTV flash upgrade usually to v2.0 or v2.1, that the B and E strings have very low volume levels in comparison to the E,A,B,G strings on some models. Some have reported that a subsequent reflash or two fixed the problem, and others that they had to roll back to v1.9 to obtain models that had balanced string volumes, and finally some dived in to Workbench HD and tweaked the affected models to balance out the string sounds. I recently hit this issue when I upgraded to v2.1 and a subsequent reflash did not fix it, and as I had a gig coming up I had to roll back to v1.9 as a quick way to get back to balanced string volumes as I did not have the time to go in WB HD and manually adjust for the differences. I think It would be very useful to find out why this problem occurs and why it only affects some users and hopefully Line 6 can then fix the problem. So if we can gather plenty of useful data in this thread then we can pass it on to Line 6 to investigate. Please answer the following questions: if you have you ever had E and B strings at very low volume immediately following a flash upgrade? (a) what flash version were you upgrading from and to? ( B) what model JTV were you updating? © were you updating directly via JTV dongle or indirectly through an HD500 or HD500X or other device? (d) how did you fix the problem? (i) reflash firmware? How many times? (ii) tweaked string volumes global and models in Wokbench HD? (iii) roll back to v1.9 or another fw level? (e) have you ever experienced this problem on a fw release earlier than v2.0 and if so, what level was it? (f) which models had the problem? My answers: (a) v1.9 to v2.1 ( B) JTV59 © updated via HD500 (d) attempted 2 reflashes, but then rolled back to v1.9 (e) no (f) T-MOD positions 1,3,5 and SPANK 1 though 5 Thanks in advance for your help and answers.

With the great new firmware I have finally had a chance to play around with Workbench while connected to HD Edit and the JTV/POD/DT rig. Really happy with what can be done now. Finally realized what many had been saying about adjusting string volumes and it really helps to bring out string definition during play. However,I tried using the blending feature at the bottom left of Workbench and a strange problem has come up. No matter what model or mag combination I try, if I blend the mags in say to 50%, my D string sounds like it is actually a different model to the rest. For instance with Lester 1 and HB pup on my 69 - Play a scale up from the bottom E and it sounds fine on E and A, rich, warm, but as soon as I hit the D string it sounds like a Strat/single coil. G,B,E all back to the Lester/HB tone. Turn off the mags, it sounds Lester all the way up, turn off the models it sounds Lester all the way up, blend them together and D string quacks. Similar stiuation with other models and pup combinations too. it's not a big deal really, I don't plan on making use of this blending feature other than goofing off, but I would like to know if anyone else experiences anything similar. Other than that I am very happy with this latest update, I almost feel like I have a new guitar in my hands, it sounds that much better to me. The whole package has suddenly come to life.

Hi. I'm new to this (forum). Has anyone had any luck trying to get anything similar to a Gibson SG sound? Any tips? It seems to me that this is the only card missing from the deck. :ph34r:

Hello everyone! I'm guitar player and I'd like to complain about the support of Line 6! I own an Line 6 JTV-59 and POD HD500.I bought the guitar because I saw many demos in YouTube and I really liked what I heard! At the time when I bought the guitar the latest firmware was 1.71 and I was amazed of the good sounding accoustic guitars (Exactly what I heard on YouTube)! I'd like to say,that I really love that guitar! For me JTV-59 is one of the best instruments now in the world,but...The guys from Line 6 decided to change the sound of the accoustic guitars in the next update of the firmware (I guess it was FW1.80 ) and that was a BIG problem for me!!! I really don't like the sound of the new accoustic guitars! There are a lot of people around the world who share my opinion too and there were at least 4-5 ideas in http://line6.ideascale.com from guitar players who wanted to have the old sound of the accoustic guitars! Now I'm stuck on FW 1.71 because I can't and I don't want compromise with the sound and because of that I can't use a lot of the new futures on my guitar in conjunction with POD HD500! I wrote 2 or 3 tickets,on that issue,but the guys from support center said to write this as an idea in http://line6.ideascale.com/,so I did it,but as you can guess with no success! So I'd like to say to the guys from support center one "BIG Thanks" just keep screwing up your customers...! P.S. I forgot to say,that I've suggested the guys just to give to their customers to choose which guitars to install when they upgrade to the new FW,or just to choose for example to keep the guitars from FW 1.71 , but to upgrade only the latest functions!