Drawcut Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 Hi all. I just got a JTV-89 from Zzounds. This is the earlier non Floyd Rose version - a 'blemished' unit. When I first was handling it I noticed something was rattling around inside. I pulled the back cover and found a small black piece of plastic broken off from something. Looking around, I identified it as the latch on the battery door. Except that the battery door wasn't broken and had it's own latch working fine. I'm guessing (hoping) that is the reason it was sent back and the retailer just replaced the battery door without noticing the broken part inside. So now the issues. I tested the models briefly when I got the battery charged and I was impresed with all the variety. I then tried to update the firmware and I got a failure to update 'unknown MIDI error'. I restarted things and decided to check the unit in Workbench HD and it saw the guitar but as it downloaded the guitar presets they each changed to ???????. Back to the Line Monkey and it reports firmware 2.21. Strange but when I tryed playing the models they all sounded exactly the same. And none of the alternate tunings changed anything. The update didn't just fail but also screwed up what I already had. Many more update attempts all fail. I can get things to see the guitar by pulling and reseating the battery, the USB interface will get two green lights but during the update the VDI side will change to red flashing and update fails. Tried multiple computers, been reading the FAQs, forum, etc. Using a charged battery, volume turned up, 1/4" cable pluged in, not using a USB hub. Now the funny thing. I decided to try to upload models from Workbench HD to the guitar (since it is reporting firmware 2.21 anyway). And that seems to have worked! Different models are back and alternate tunings also work. Things are sounding good again. But now I'm not even sure if I have the 2.21 FW or not. I wouldn't be able to hear the difference in the models (it reported FW 1.71 before updating) from the little I messed with them before updating. I'm worried now that future updates are going to fail. I hate to do it but I'm going to have to mess around some more and make sure I can do updates. I really like the guitar overall and I'd hate to have to return it. If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clay-man Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 That's really strange. I had my 600 say it messed up an update but the firmware seemed fine and everything worked properly. Running Monkey again said the firmware was on there just fine. What did you use to connect to the computer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drawcut Posted April 4, 2015 Author Share Posted April 4, 2015 I am using the USB interface and cables that came with it. It has the clear plastic USB box. Today I was ready to try a bunch of things with swapping cables, trying different settings like keeping the presets, etc. The first thing I tried was to roll back to the 2.10 FW (no other changes to anything). This updated successfully! The Line Monkey did reportan error at the very end but it also reported update successful and FW at 2.10. Everything seems to be working well now. Also found my battery was in need of a charge this morning. I had left it in the guitar overnight but I had the volume turned down which I thought was supposed to save the battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clay-man Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 I am using the USB interface and cables that came with it. It has the clear plastic USB box. Today I was ready to try a bunch of things with swapping cables, trying different settings like keeping the presets, etc. The first thing I tried was to roll back to the 2.10 FW (no other changes to anything). This updated successfully! The Line Monkey did reportan error at the very end but it also reported update successful and FW at 2.10. Everything seems to be working well now. Also found my battery was in need of a charge this morning. I had left it in the guitar overnight but I had the volume turned down which I thought was supposed to save the battery. That's sleep mode. Always unplug. Don't rely on having your volume turn down. That's just if you want to save energy for a short period, not something you can rely on to save power through the night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_Watt Posted April 4, 2015 Share Posted April 4, 2015 You need to unplug the 1/4 inch plug to shut off the battery usage. Turning the volume down reduces it but it not to zero. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drawcut Posted April 4, 2015 Author Share Posted April 4, 2015 Ok, I'll unplug from now on (or pull the batt). Thanks guys. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clay-man Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 Yup, consider it sleep mode, not off mode. Only use it if you're putting your guitar down for a few minutes. I believe the reason it doesn't shut off completely is to detect when you roll it back up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drawcut Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 After pulling the plug last night, I checked battery this morning and still have a full charge. Everything seems to be working well now. BTW: Is there any way to check the battery charge other than pulling out the battery and reinserting it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clay-man Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 After pulling the plug last night, I checked battery this morning and still have a full charge. Everything seems to be working well now. BTW: Is there any way to check the battery charge other than pulling out the battery and reinserting it? There's a button you can press on the battery compartment case right by the LEDs. Have you always been doing this before you updated? You want a fully charged battery when updating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_Watt Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 There is a button on the battery box that lights up the LED's. I would not remove the battery any more than needed. That battery box is not the more robust thing I have seen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drawcut Posted April 5, 2015 Author Share Posted April 5, 2015 I hadn't noticed the button. Actually when I was getting all the failed updates it was fully charged. When I finally got it to update to 2.10, the battery was mostly drained (whick I didn't realize until afterwards). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clay-man Posted April 5, 2015 Share Posted April 5, 2015 I hadn't noticed the button. Actually when I was getting all the failed updates it was fully charged. When I finally got it to update to 2.10, the battery was mostly drained (whick I didn't realize until afterwards). Hm. Sometimes stuff just gets weird, but I would think the Variax wouldn't be brickable unless you did something really bad to the hardware needed to communicate with the computer properly. To be safe, I don't mess with writing firmware onto the Guitar unless it's an update. I suggest you do the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsiegel2015 Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 I am waiting for my JTV 89F to get here tonight. Have an HD500X into a DT50, the Variax was too interesting not to try but I have no idea how to use it productively. Any tips, tricks, bits of user knowledge that I should know before I start the process? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palico Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 I am waiting for my JTV 89F to get here tonight. Have an HD500X into a DT50, the Variax was too interesting not to try but I have no idea how to use it productively. Any tips, tricks, bits of user knowledge that I should know before I start the process? Check each of the Variax postion carefully on every fret. I'm replaceing a Piezo becuase one was oversenstive but only on the open D note and more pronouced when I tuned it (manually not knob) to Eb. FYI I have the 89f, the mags are quite good. I also had 3 high frets, which my local luither fixed and the nut need to have shim removed. They really are great gutiar and if returning is not option, if you have any peizeo problems GraphTech support is very helpful. The bridge itself works really well once you get it set right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jsiegel2015 Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 A follow up after receiving and playing the JTV89F. At first I was like this is silly, played it a few times, tried different models, wasn't super impressed but kept playing around. Then started loading custom settings, playing around with acoustics, 12 string, etc.. Gained a little interest. Then loaded a high gain bridge in position 1, acoustic 6 string in position 2, 12 string in position 3, SRV strat on it's neck pickup on position 4, and a high gain neck pickup (actually a Lester neck) at position 5. Very, very interesting. Of course I then had to load that to Custom 2 because I couldn't figure out why it kept resetting Custom 1 settings (thank you to another thread). Now I started playing in different modes, in drop C, drop D, etc. and am pretty impressed. Listen is it my 6 string with Bill Lawrence L500XL's, thru my pedal board and rack into my Mesa Dual Rec? Not quite but does it weigh 500 lbs less and fool your average listener? Hell yes it does. I'm running the JTV89F into an HD500X with an L6 link to a DT50 1x12 combo. Have a safe case for another combo that it fits into, the HD500 fits in the utility compartment in the top. I don't think I have ever been so portable and set up so fast. The mags on the JTV bother me a little as I don't model all the time but I may try swapping them out. The other thing I don't really get is why would you want to have the Variax cable attached all the time? Once you have it loaded, it pretty much can be used with the 1/4 only, models and everything. Is it due to power? I get decent battery life. Maybe I don't do something that others do that needs the Variax cable? I realize you need it to update, load it, make changes, etc.. This is definitely cool and I'm really thinking of trying just the Variax and that set up at an upcoming gig. I may actually keep this thing. Just need a little more experience and good feelings. Thanks for the tips and insight to play all settings, modes, etc.. Almost did not and was going to send it back after a couple days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_Watt Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 Most people use the VDI cable to power the JTV so that they don't have to deal with the battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinon2 Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 The other thing I don't really get is why would you want to have the Variax cable attached all the time? Once you have it loaded, it pretty much can be used with the 1/4 only, models and everything. Is it due to power? I get decent battery life. Maybe I don't do something that others do that needs the Variax cable? I realize you need it to update, load it, make changes, etc.. This is definitely cool and I'm really thinking of trying just the Variax and that set up at an upcoming gig. I hate relying on batteries, ever diminishing life, and the need to constantly have 2 charged and ready to go for gigs just in case would drive me nuts, but I could live with it if I had to...it's really the ability to have the POD force model and tuning changes that keeps me connected through the VDI. I love being able to go from Strat, to Les Paul, to acoustic, to a Tele, and back again with just the tap of a footswitch. Trying to do that all live is way too much twiddling of knobs...ymmv. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_Watt Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 I just play at home and I still always use the VDI cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clay-man Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 I use the battery when connecting to an amp, VDI when using the POD or connecting to my DAW. You think the battery situation is bad, it's 12 hours, which is astonishing, especially compared to using freaking Double A batteries on the old Variax. If you truly hate charging to make sure you have juice to run on, just get more batteries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brue58ski Posted May 2, 2015 Share Posted May 2, 2015 One big reason to use the VDI is it will change guitars with the patch. Press one footswitch...Marshall with a Les Paul, Next switch...Bassman with a Strat. Next footswitch...an acoustic. Next...a Twin Reverb with a Tele...etc....etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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