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Variax Standard April 11


ColonelForbin
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  • 4 weeks later...

Yikes....Now Zzounds says end of May!

 

"More Expected

We have been given a date of May 25 for the arrival of this item. This date is not guaranteed, rather an estimate based on either information obtained directly from the manufacturer or historical delivery data for the specific manufacturer."

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I see that Zzounds website shows shipping in May, yet M.F. has "shipping by July" .  I have one of these on pre-order so this mystery waiting game is kind of odd since I would think Line 6 most likely would not show favorites with any specific retailer.  My guess is that even retailers have no idea what is going on.  M. F. must be playing it save while Zzounds posts what Line 6 tells them...

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I would think Line 6 most likely would not show favorites with any specific retailer. 

 

You're dreaming. "Favorites" make the world go 'round. Every company in the world charts out, down to the penny, which retailers have the most success peddling their wares. Guess where the first production run goes when a product launches...to the place that is calculated to sell out first and place another order.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I see that Zzounds website shows shipping in May, yet M.F. has "shipping by July" . I have one of these on pre-order so this mystery waiting game is kind of odd since I would think Line 6 most likely would not show favorites with any specific retailer. My guess is that even retailers have no idea what is going on. M. F. must be playing it save while Zzounds posts what Line 6 tells them...

I think they are all guessing at this point, most likely trying to estimate the west coast port backlog

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I asked DI about which model Pacifica they used and he told me flat out that while it looks like one, it was designed by Line 6's industrial and product designers in conjunction with Yamaha's custom shop in Burbank, CA. He told me it's Line 6's pickup design, Line 6's neck design, Line 6's headstock and pickguard design, and the body style is Line 6's too (their industrial designer was obviously inspired by Pacifica, as they knew Yamaha was going to manufacture it). The Burbank Custom Shop created Line 6's initial prototypes and made some suggestions.  He also recalled a conversation where the product manager said it's definitely closer to the $500 Pacifica than the $300 one, build-wise.  Hope that helps! 

 

If they offered it with the black quilted finish and matching headstock I would be sorely tempted...

 

That's about the most un-inspired custom shop design work I've ever seen. Must have taken up a good couple of minutes to scribble out !?!?!   Right click....Copy as something new ??? Tell everybody what it ain't and now there's a mad rush to get our eyes checked. Looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, but NOOOO duck here!  :P :lol: :rolleyes: !!!! 

Seriously, we're gonna have to see one first. If it's well made it should be a good deal, but time will tell.

With all the price drops on the JTV's being offered.... it seems the value of our used gear is plummeting downward as we speak. I paid $1500 for my 59 before they came out with the rebate and price drops we see now. MSRP was $2099.Maybe if we all wait long enough we'll be able to get a new Pacifica, oops i meant Standard, for $399 soon ! B)

 

IMOHO I never thought of any L6 guitar as expensive. Other than the American made models.It is-was the cheapest one I have ever bought but I still find it to be a good, not great, guitar that I would buy again.

 

                                                                Kylling It

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Meanwhile, Musicians Friend is now running the price for a new JTV69 sunburst at $899....

 

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/line-6-jtv-69-variax-electric-guitar

 

And Sweetwater is doing the black JTV69, new, for $748!

 

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/JTV69BK

 

Just as a point of conversation here.......That makes a used one worth   ?

 

                                                       Shawn

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depends....

and i know nothing on the matter so don't read into it.... just speculation....

 

if thats the close out price and they are getting rid of the stock... the used prices will only suffer short term...

if they are just settling into a lower price point for the long haul then used priced will probably take a more permanent hit.

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Just as a point of conversation here.......That makes a used one worth ?

Shawn

More than it seems, less than most of us paid.. I have a JTV59, slightly different, since the strat style is taking the direct hit from the yet to be available 'standard'.. does seem like stock liquidation. weird prices imply, not sure.

 

A side note, L6 could take a page from the PRS book:

 

"All SE products that are shipped in the USA are individually inspected and play tested at PRS's Maryland facility before shipping to dealers."

 

The PRS SE guitars are made in the same factory by the same people who make the JTV guitars...... I still maintain a Line6 PRS Variax would be AWESOME

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depends....

and i know nothing on the matter so don't read into it.... just speculation....

 

if thats the close out price and they are getting rid of the stock... the used prices will only suffer short term...

if they are just settling into a lower price point for the long haul then used priced will probably take a more permanent hit.

 

At some point one would hope that the prices stay stable so that our old gear has some of it's value retained. To find out it has lost half it's value in just two years, from $1500 down to $750, is discouraging. If the JTV's were/are the flagship guitars, then why let them be sold below the price of the new standard model ? CURSE you guys for these fantastic deals!!!! I'm kinda smelling CLOSE-OUT here. Maybe we will see other new cheaper models to replace the 89&59 soon? I'd hate to see that as the 59 I got is a nicely made guitar, and I was hoping to see L6 take a step up, not down with their new offering. Seems more like it's back to the bedroom than," Welcome to the big show". Entry level stuff is great for newbies, but don't forget the folks that have invested in your gear and use it as a more professional instrument. I use/play mine 4-5 days a week and would hate to see this stall out.

Maybe the next step is to reissue the 700 ???

 

                                                                    Kylling It

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If you are buying a JTV as in investment you are making a big mistake.  They will not retain value like a standard namebrand guitar.  I could care less what my JTV is worth.  I would rather have the next generation be better and cheaper.

 

Better and cheaper? Usually, those two terms are not synonymous! I recall it was mentioned that the 6 screw trem on the new Variax was a bit of a downgrade from the two point trem on the JTV69.. Odd things like that; if they really wanted to pitch the new 'Variax Standard' as a guitar 'everyone' can have (I think the exact phrase is "Now Every Guitarist Can Break The Rules"), then they need the an alternate that "Not Every Guitarist Can Have, Since that's what the Standard is For"...

 

If it came to it, not seeing an obvious incentive to go with the standard over the nearly identical priced JTV..

 

Personally, GAS got the best of me in March, so instead of waiting for the Standard, I bought a second DT25 combo, a used DT25 head, two DT25 1x12 extension cabs, and two PRS guitars; a US custom 24 30th, and an S2 custom 22 semi.. Go figure!!

 

I still love my JTV59, it rocks, and I feel like it offers some amazing options I will never have with ANY 'regular' guitar, whether it costs $1600 or $38,000 or $800, or $999, or whatever. And that makes it priceless, regardless of what anyone would pay me for it if I was to sell it..

 

My newest wacky JTV rigging idea, is to use a wireless to send the 1/4" to my HD500, and the VDI to my HD500x. Run one linked to DT25's, the other direct to the mixer for 'full range' stuff - both acoustic, reso, but also just rockin' whatever sounds, that will sound killer paired with the DT25! My band is only a four piece, with one vocalist, so, we can do some interesting stuff like that to fill out sounds..

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If you are buying a JTV as in investment you are making a big mistake.  They will not retain value like a standard namebrand guitar.  I could care less what my JTV is worth.  I would rather have the next generation be better and cheaper.

 

Then they could have just put new Variax inerds, and pick-ups on a 700 and BINGO!

Cheaper AND better is a poor juxtaposition at best.  How is a $800 to $900 guitar going to be better than a $2000 one?? If it's worth isn't important, then anything you paid for it is too much.

Value retained reflects a quality product. Here, L6 seems to be it's own worst enemy.

 

                                                Anybody interested in a 1983 Yugo???

 

                                                              Kylling It

 

 

Ps    I agree with the first half of your post though.

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Just as a point of conversation here.......That makes a used one worth   ?

 

                                                       

 

Currently, somewhere in the $600 - $700 range, depending on which model and finish. The Guitar Center in Naperville near me has had a used JTV59, black, for $699 for a couple months now. The guy working there at my Naperville store has a 'new' JTV69 that he said he would do a crazy deal in just to get rid of it..

 

That $699 seems to be some kind of 'magic' GC price, there are several in various GC stores around the US of A, in various models and finishes, all for $699.. GC in Jacksonville, FL has a used JTV69 (HSS) for $649.

 

http://used.guitarcenter.com/usedgear/index.cfm?page=1&sort=price&dir=asc&srch&q=jtv&distance=100

 

Sadly, I hate to think what Gtr Centre paid the folks who sold that gear to them - usually their deal is offer you half of what they can sell it for..

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Currently, somewhere in the $600 - $700 range, depending on which model and finish. The Guitar Center in Naperville near me has had a used JTV59, black, for $699 for a couple months now. The guy working there at my Naperville store has a 'new' JTV69 that he said he would do a crazy deal in just to get rid of it..

 

That $699 seems to be some kind of 'magic' GC price, there are several in various GC stores around the US of A, in various models and finishes, all for $699.. GC in Jacksonville, FL has a used JTV69 (HSS) for $649.

 

http://used.guitarcenter.com/usedgear/index.cfm?page=1&sort=price&dir=asc&srch&q=jtv&distance=100

 

Sadly, I hate to think what Gtr Centre paid the folks who sold that gear to them - usually their deal is offer you half of what they can sell it for..

 

Nobody that don't have sugar honey iced tea for brains would pay that for a used one, when for $50 bucks more you could have a new one with a 2 year guarantee and your pick of the litter.........................................would they?

 

                                                                    Still Kylling It

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Partly Moore's law but it's also due to high volume automated manufacturing.  I think I spent over 3K for my first useful PC.  My current one set me back about $800 and it's at least 1000 times more powerful.  On the other hand, things like regular electric Guitars have doubled in price in that same period with no change in performance.  I work developing Hard Drives for a living.  The first ones I worked on in the early 80's were 1K$ per MB.  Now they are $50 per TB.  I can't even calculate that difference without a good calculator.

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Partly Moore's law but it's also due to high volume automated manufacturing.  I think I spent over 3K for my first useful PC.  My current one set me back about $800 and it's at least 1000 times more powerful.  On the other hand, things like regular electric Guitars have doubled in price in that same period with no change in performance.  I work developing Hard Drives for a living.  The first ones I worked on in the early 80's were 1K$ per MB.  Now they are $50 per TB.  I can't even calculate that difference without a good calculator.

 

Yeah, I hear ya! The first computer my Dad bought when I was a kid was an Apple IIe, or IIc? I don't even know how much more powerful the modern computers are by comparison. Those old beasts were expensive, used both the large size 'floppy' disks, and then later the smaller 'hard shell' floppy disks.

 

I mean, hey! Those had "64kb, with up to 1MB of memory!"  :)

 

snap20.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

I don't think you could put more than 64KB of memory on those.  I had a TRS-80 with 48K of Ram.  Before that I had an Altair S100 machine that I built from a kit.  I had 4K of ram in that one.

 

You obviously cannot directly access more than 64k of memory with a 16-bit address bus, but an "aux slot" memory expansion would let you bankswitch a window over a much larger span.  I have a 3 MB Applied Engineering card in one of my beloved //e machines.  Indeed, bankswitched memory was relatively common back in the heyday of S100 as well (as I sit here admiring my Northstar Horizon).  Sorry to digress, but classic computer collecting is almost as much fun as vintage instruments - and generally a hell of a lot less expensive.

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