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Showing results for tags 'piezo'.
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Hi all. I recently bought a second-hand JTV-59. I was hesitant about buying it given they seem to be largely discontinued now but decided to take a chance on it. Worked great for the first two weeks then this week the Piezo for the high-E seems to have suddenly died. If I tap it, I'm getting no signal at all compared to the others which have an audible tap. I've read a few threads here today and see some people suggest using contact cleaner which I'll try, but to be fair the guitar is spotless and was largely unused by its original owner. The only supplier I can find for a replacement piezo is Full Compass which gets mentioned here a lot. However the part is out of stock now and regardless, they only seem to ship to US destinations https://www.fullcompass.com/prod/234088-line-6-11-00-0010-piezo-pickup-for-jtv Is there any European supplier for this part these days? Or even a full saddle? I'm based in Ireland so we don't even have a Line6 service centre here. I'm concerned by the amount of threads on this subject though - it seems to be a very common issue with them. Though I don't see too many people replacing them in a '59. Thanks, J -
My primary guitar is an Ernie Ball Music Man JP-15 equipped with a piezo transducer bridge. I've been using a Fishman Aura Spectum DI profile in my Kemper Stage to achieve a very convincing acoustic sound. I'm finding that the acoustic simulator based on the AC-1 in the HX Stomp is not really compatible with a guitar equipped with a piezo (transducer) bridge. It's my understanding that the AC-1 is really designed to work with the magnetic pickups of an electric guitar, so I guess this is to be expected. Does anyone have a good solution for getting an good acoustic sound with an electric guitar that has a Fishman/piezo bridge in the HX Stomp? I'm also trying a TC Electronic Bodyrez pedal in the FX loop, which does add an IR that brings a richer body sound, but with the acoustic simulator seems to make the acoustic sound brittle.
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Hi folks! I've recently started using my Variax Standard for a 60s tribute band, and a few weeks ago I had a string break at the bridge (4th). Today the same thing happened at exactly the same spot. There's no rough or sharp point at the saddle, so, has anyone got any ideas? I've just restrung with Elixirs. Is this a common thing with Standards? I sweat a fair bit so is it my sweat causing the string to fail? Chris - Nottingham, UK
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Hi everybody, I've had a JTV-89F for 5 years, among several other Line 6 products that I own and enjoy, and after I learned how to set it up correctly in Workbench HD I've always been happy with it. Together with my POD HD500 first and my Helix Floor now it's my guitar-equivalent of a gold plated Leatherman tool. My problem at the moment is that after 5 years of sweaty and sometimes beery gigs the piezo pickups are starting to fail. There's no visible corrosion anywhere and the powder coating held up surprisingly well, but humidity might very well have deteriorated them internally anyway. I've swapped the piezo connections around to check, and the volume problem follows the piezos, so at least I know the board should be fine. With the individual pickup volumes in Workbench HD all over the place now, when they used to be pretty close when it was new, I'm unfortunately at a point were I can't gig it anymore. And I indeed do miss those instant 12 strings, acoustics and alternate tunings. Instant Nashville tuning, anybody? It made my life so much easier, and it messes with the head of so many people asking themselves who's playing what that it's a lot of extra fun to play a Variax on stage too, lol. I've already tried to clean the piezo inserts and the contacts to the board with a good quality no-residue contact cleaner, used sparingly, reseated the saddles on the trem plate, and I change my strings quite regularly, but no joy. So I was wondering if any of you peeps went through the experience of replacing their piezo pickups on a JTV-89F, especially if it was the individual piezo inserts, and if they could share the details with me. Forewarned is forearmed after all. I've already found a set of complete Graph Tech saddles online but they're quite pricey, and I'm almost positive that it's possible to replace just the piezo inserts on the Graph Tech Floyd, as I remember reading about it somewhere in at least two separate occasions. I'm also almost positive that I've already seen this exact same question asked and answered, possibly here or probably in another forum, but I couldn't find it anywhere anymore. If anybody, and I was thinking about dear Mr Sarkissian in particular, has an exact part number and possibly an European vendor from whom to order them online to suggest it would make my day. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide. Keep on rocking. -
I have piezo transducer equipped mandolin, bouzouki and tenor banjo currently using a K&K preamp into a Bose system. I also play acoustic & electric guitar & bass. Can I create IR’s of my acoustic instruments and use the Go as an IR loader? If so will I still need a preamp?
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Variax 500 piezo on G string issues
gnostiquette posted a topic in Variax Guitars / Bass / Workbench
I'm having a very specific problem with the G-string piezoelectric pickup on my Variax 500. Much of the time, the signal goes dead; there is no sound coming from it. However, after pressing down on it, for a few seconds to a few minutes the sound will return, but it will then get fuzzy and fade out to nothing again. This started a week or two ago. Is this a grounding issue, a signal wire issue, or something entirely different? And how can it be fixed? Thanks! -
Hi guys, The D string on my Variax Acoustic 700 is electronically barely audible. I don't believe it's anything more than a problematic connection between the D piezo and the bridge PCB**. Can anyone name guys in or near Sydney Australia who've got experience with the insides of this guitar? And for the interim, any troubleshooting methods to help further diagnose where the problem sits? Thanks all, much appreciated. -Dawes **My reasoning for this is due to my experience with the guitar in the few months I've owned it. - Purchased in March/April from an interstate seller. - A friend living near seller tested guitar on my behalf, gave it the ok. - Friend loosened strings before he shipped the guitar to me. - Upon arrival, the D string piezo was barely audible. - I loosened string, carefully applied pressure to piezo and retightened string onto it. Success. - Some intermittent dropouts for a few days but got it under control and have had no further problems since March/April. - I recently loosened the strings; now D string is once again not working, this time it seems unfixable. (I did manage to get a very, very distorted -but appropriately volumed- note out of it briefly but I think that was a death rattle; hoping it's not the ribbon or PCB!) -
Hello everyone, i have to say i am loving my Firehawk FX! and the wealth of information on this forum as well. Here is my question I can get great tones with my strat as well as really good acoustic tones. I am building a custom strat with an LR Baggs piezo bridge in it, because i go from acoustic to electric quite often. How would you guys approach getting a good blended tone? something that sounds like an acoustic and electric are being played simultaneously. I go direct to pa w/ IEM so i am not worried about amplifier coloration. thanks!
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I have an old POD 2.0 bought circa year 2000 which was purchased for recording on my electric guitar (magnetic coil pickups). Doing some research for when I get my self an electric violin which will have a passive piezo pickup. I understand that compared to the magnetic coil pick-ups which act as a low pass filter, for piezo pick-ups the capacitance adds a high pass filter creating a band-pass filter. So now the question is whether my POD 2.0 will be suitable for passive piezo pickup gear for violin, could not see any thing in the manual mentioning piezo pickups. I also have an acoustic guitar and blues harp which could be connected to a separate passive piezo pickup. For the violin do not want to loose the lower frequencies, the lowest string is G at 196 Hz. Also want to ensure the signal is not weak requiring the POD Output Level to be turned all the way up, leaving little room for adjustment. The outputs from the POD would either go to ear phones or the stereo line in on my iMac. Or is a Pre-Amp needed for the piezo before connecting to the POD, see that there are a number of Pre-amps available from other manufactures that specifically say they are for piezo pickups and violins.
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Hi, I have just purchased a Helix and have been having great fun working with snapshots, in particular changing parameters and bypassing blocks so that I can switch between rhythm and lead tones. One thing that I would like to do is be able to switch the input from 'Guitar' to 'Aux' by means of a snapshot as this would enable me to switch from the mag pickups on my guitar to the piezo. Is this possible? Thanks Lewis
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Clang tone, a.k.a. plink tone, a subtle ringing pitched sound caused by the longitudinal wave travelling along the string, is a phenomenon inherent to all vibrating tensioned strings. Piezos and microphones can pick up clang tone, but magnetic pickups will not. Variables that may exacerbate clang tone include: · Piezo saddles that are not properly seated · Playing techniques · High-gain amps or high-gain amp model usage · The strings themselves · The individual composition of the guitar · The setup of the guitar or any combination of these contributors. As such, there is no one-size-fits-all way to address the clang tone phenomenon. With Variax being a piezo-based guitar, we've built filters into the firmware to address clang tone. We have recently reviewed these filters and have come to the conclusion that they are already optimized, and further adjustments to the filters would not be beneficial. Each case of clang tone is unique, so we cannot guarantee that any or all of the actions below, when performed by Line 6-authorized service technicians or a luthier, will result in addressing clang tone: · Running the latest firmware (v2.22 or newer) · Replacing strings · Using at least a .010 gauge string set. · Cleaning out the cutout in the saddle where the piezo element sits (use pot/fader cleaner, not WD40) · Replacing piezos (available at www.FullCompass.com, part number 11-00-0010) If none of these actions resolve the issue, please contact Line 6 support at www.Line6.com/support, detailing your actions taken, if any. -
I got my JTV59 soon after they were first released - probably within 6 months - and I have used it regularly but as I am a hobby player it has probably only been played on average about 3 to 4 hours a week over last 6 years, and there have probably been weeks at a time when it has not been played. Bottom line is it has not been heavily used like a professional instrument would have been in that time. I noticed that the tops of the piezo's on the low 3 strings seemed to have a copper colour reflection and looked a bit dull and so I got out a magnifying glass and had a good look at them. I could see that the silver covering had been completely worn away, showing a copper and metallic inner layer on the crowns of the piezo's. When I moved the string out of the slots, I could see that the string windings had left an impression behind in the groove on the top of the piezo. I rest my hand on the bridge when I play but I know that I do not sweat acid as my strings never rust and last for weeks, so the only thing coming in contact with the top of the piezo's is the skin on the side of my hand. That skin is not made of sandpaper and I can't see how that contact could cause the covering of the piezo to wear away in that way - even if I spent weeks just rubbing the top of a piezo with my finger I would not expect any material to get worn away. Also, I can't see how the string windings of the LOW E could cause an impression on the surface of the piezo. Just how soft are they? My piezo's appear to be working perfectly well - although all models seem to have a metallic overtone that I have never managed to remove regardless of what I have tried - sometimes I have reduced the metallic overtone but never eliminated it. The plain strings have also bitten into the body of the piezos which may explain why they sometimes don't ring cleanly on the modelled sounds. I am concerned that the strings biting into the piezos may be the cause of the metallic overtones I hear on the models and would love to resolve that if I can - but I can only think the solution would be to file out the grooves which would only be temporary because as soon as I restrung the guitar the new strings would start creating new grooves. I am also concerned that eventually this gradual wearing away will cause the piezos to fail at some point. What are the piezos covered with? Is it normal that this covering should wear away just from skin contact? Remember I don't sweat acid and never have problems with strings rusting or going dull quickly. Is it normal that the strings bite into the piezos and create their own grooves? Although certainly that must create problems when changing string type or gauge because if the new wound strings don't match the existing grooves then artefacts will get picked up and transmitted through to the modelled sounds? Maybe that is why the metallic overtone on mine has got worse over the years? Each string change contributing to the problem? I am attaching a picture taken using the magnifying glass and my mobile phone for everyone to see the problem. Although I have to reduce it's original size due to the file size restriction - I only have 339 KB left and the image is 1.7 MB ! Hopefully it will be good enough to demonstrate the problem. -
Hi fellow variax freaks, I have a conundrum, and wonder if anyone may be in a position to help out in return for some unwanted piezos from Variax 300 and 600 - see piezo details below. *** I enquired at a local (Australian) Line 6 distributor regarding buying a jackplate assembly for a newly purchased second hand vaxplant, which has the original variax 300 jackplate assembly, (which requires surgical precision to get the little rubber boot provided to cover the RJ45 connection), and I figure since I already have two other vaxplants, I may as well buy two, so I have a spare. I already bought two, (around three years ago), for less than $30AUD each, though as it turned out, (legacy version no longer available), they were the bass versions, which are interchangable with the 300-700 series (with a little chisel handiwork). See link.. http://www.fullcompass.com/prod/218353-Line-6-50-04-0181-4 Yesterday, the local supplier quoted me $100 each, and they would be for the JTV69 model version - apparently also interchangable....(?) So, I'm a little old fashioned, in so much as I'm not really that interested in lining people's pockets in arbitrary ways, such as this kind of price hike would suggest is occurring, and it would appear I can't order from Full Compass, cos I don't reside in the requisite 50-odd states.... So, it brings me to this random, weirdo request for someone who may may fancy some 2nd hand L R Baggs piezos (14 in total - (new RRP circa $13US each - http://www.fullcompass.com/prod/114557-Line-6-11-11-0001 ), worth around a hunjee in anyone's terms, in exchange for acquiring a couple of the jackplate assemblies, and sending them to me in Australia. I'm happy to despatch first, via registered post, and send you an email showing tracking information. In fact, I have other hardware, eg unused variax 300/600 bits I could throw into the equation also, just to inspire some mutually satisfying trans-global weirdness. ***I upgraded to Ghosts while doing transplants, and have unwanted (but still fully functioning when removed), L R Baggs piezos - a total of 14, including 2 brand new, unused, that I bought as spares. I initially thought that two piezos were failing in a second hand 300 that I bought, and upon installing the new graphtechs, while I did a transplant, the problem disappeared for a short while, but soon returned. The first E and B piezos take some time (15 minutes) to wake up, after the variax is plugged in. They then become fully operational, and because the same problem still exists, it must be a problem with the PCB, not the piezos. I get around it, by plugging it in, while I continue my setup at a gig, and as such is a non-issue. Yours, in weirdness, Ian. -
Clean piezo signal from JTV Idea Actions JTV guitars have a great option - to play with modelled sound or to use real pickups ("mags"). It would be useful to have the same opportunity for piezo pickups - to play with clean piezo sound without modelling You can vote here: http://line6.ideascale.com/a/dtd/Clean-piezo-signal-from-JTV/515946-23508
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The issue I'm having with my JTV-89F, is that when my modelling function is turned on, several of the strings do not respond properly and do not have consistent output. I can assume this is an issue with the piezo. Is there a way to reset the piezo to respond properly? I don't have a reason why this happened as it worked one day and then the next, not so much. I have searched for a solution but haven't found a resource that pertains specifically to my problem. Any thoughts? Thanks \m/ -
Hi. On my Variax 600 the tone of the G-String temporary fades away to 10% and crackles. If I hit the bridge with my palm several times and/or let the string slap hard everything can be fixed and the tone reanimates. I know there are problems described with sweat and dirt, polluting the piezo. Also there are issues with grounding or loose cable-connections. Can somebody please give me a hint or provide some links so I can figure out some solutions? -
Attention all you two-voice-at-the-same-time-junkies. Here are some alternatives for you. They are derived from Mama Bear. I used Logic Pro's Impulse Response Utility, they are all 32-bit (recorded at 24 and converted) 48K (recorded that way NOT converted) 2048 (a couple are 2047 or 2046, they work the same, it's just really hard to crop exactly 2048 in that clunky program) IRs. All of them work in Helix. I tested them. Here's the thing. Mama Bear makes you not only choose the model, but the input device. I chose the setting that matched my PowerBridge, with EQ flat, captured all the IRs 100% wet (of course), and named them in a manner that should make total sense (ros means rosewood, mah means mahogany, etc. let me know if you can't figure the name of one of them or just download the Mama Bear manual). The number at the front is the number of the model in that manual. A few really cool and different ones are the Gypsy Jazz, Archtop Jazz and resonator models. Very surprising. What surprises me even more is that even though they were made with the "wrong" input selected for a "real" acoustic guitar, they seem to work great in that way! I tried some with my Crowdster and they worked really well. More subtle, I think, than the Fishman Aura ones floating around, and you may like those Fishman ones better (for certain things I think I still do). I will make a sample video when I can, and will probably capture another set with the under-saddle input circuitry selected to see if it works better with acoustic guitars. I attached a zip file if you want as well. same files as the link above. 2 things. 1. Let me know what you think and if they are useful and 2. post a ridiculously overstated compliment right here if you download them. Something like "Peter Hamm is the most amazing human that has ever lived and I want to be like him when I grow up", you know... something like that to make me feel good about myself. Here's the link again. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B5YMP7cdVF-LTWE5TkFrb0ZTUGc?resourcekey=0-aHwTzPqpm6djoyONpGhDNw&usp=sharing
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Hi, is it possible to use only the piezo direct output without modelling involved? Thanks -
Just wondering if any JTV59 owner has actually replaced their entire bridge assembly with an alternative - and if so which one and how did they do it and did the replacement perform better than the original? Pictures too would be great. Thanks.
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I have seen several JTV59 owners report the problem of the piezo elements moving within the saddle casing of the JTV59 bridge and several people have reported fixing it by applying glue or wrapping plumbers ptfe tape around the piezo. I can see that my piezo elements move just by tugging on each string laterally just in front of the bridge, so I would like to know the best way to address this problem and exactly how to fix it. I have never taken the bridge apart so have no idea how the piezo elements are fixed in or how they come out. So please could anyone that has hit this problem and addressed it, add their solution with detailed steps to this thread? That way anyone that hits the problem in future will be able to easily find the suggested solutions all in one place. Thanks in advance everyone! :)
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just picked up my new jtv-89f today, got home. plugged it in and the A-string piezo pickup is not working, anyone have that problem? -
I think I may end up returning this 59 after all. There's a strange harmonic "ping" or "tang" sound on the low E string, especially on the frets from 5 down to open string. Very harsh and digital sounding. Extremely noticeable on the single coil tones, but even shows up on the humbucker models as well. You can actually hear it a little even with the mags, so I can only assume it's something with the piezo saddle and bridge. Sympathetic vibrations? Voodoo? Anyways, I can't imagine playing this thing live and having that sound assaulting the audience. Suggestions before I make the short drive to Guitar Center to return it would be great. Guitar plays like a dream with no fret buzz, but man, I can't take that sound. Even my wife can hear something is weird with it. I'm going to change the E string and see if that helps and look the saddle over while I have it apart, but if you guys have had this issue or heard of it, please shoot me some links or suggestions. I found a lot of issues with folks with the 69, but not much with the 59. Thanks. -
I have a JTV-89 (korean - stoptail) running 2.0 firmware. Strung with DR Pure blues 9's. I don't play metal so this isn't the classic palm muting scenario, but I just have a habit of resting my hand across the bridge saddles when I play (pick or fingers). This results in the occasional pop and click at random when the modelling is turned on. I am not actively putting pressure on the saddles, it's just a comfortable place to rest hand that developed over years of sitting on a couch with a les paul. The further away I keep my right hand from the bridge the less it happens but it's still annoying. I have tried lowering the global string volume to -3db and -6db but neither made the problem go away. Are the piezos that sensitive to direct downward pressure? Any info would be helpful. Problem number 2: I'm a bass player. Problem number 3: I like to occasionally slap/pop on a guitar as if I would on a bass. The modeling system REALLY doesn't work with this technique. The mags work fine. Again, I suspect it is an issue of the direction of the force. All the modelling seems to pick up are the harmonics, very little fundemental and no attack. It is an interesting phenomenon to me because I have an NS CR4 electric upright wich also uses a piezo system but has a variable control for how the system deals with attack (bowed or pizz). Since guitars largely aren't designed for this sort of anything perhaps there should be no expectation that in the future this would be a consideration but I wouldn't complain as I like using bass techiques on guitar from time to time. -
I have a solid-body Nashville Deluxe Power Telecaster with a fishman piezo under the bridge, so it has the attack regularly associated with an acoustic guitar, but because of the light strings and solid body, it doesn't sound much like a true acoustic. I have played around with effects and downloaded patches, but have not been able to find a satisfactory setting. What are the keys to making an electric guitar with a piezo sound like an acoustic? I've added reverb, but I don't have the foggiest clue how to dial in EQs.
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i'm really upset with line6, after changing a piezo, spending time and money i found why sometimes i cant ear the sound of a cord. as you can see from pic1 there is an almost fully cut between letters A and N of the word BANDO from the other side you can in pic2 what line6 did, instead of changing the part (that i think it cost about 0.20$), they made this: thank you line6!
