Where are the guitars?

[meuste]

I see the dates for the JTV - 59's, particularly the cherry sunburst, keep getting pushed farther and farther out. I'm looking to get one and I've almost "settled" several times in the last couple of months. It's not encouraging when the online stores change the expected time from "coming soon" or showing a date to "there is an exceptionally long shipping delay on this item, order yours now!". I'm not ordering until I see the tops available. Some I have seen online are pretty bad, whereas others are quite striking. Some retailers actually show the serial number and the pictures of the actual guitar and not a stock photo. This is where I will buy. I wish there was more of a flow from Line 6 on these guitars. They are obviously in demand and I hope I do not see a price hike if and when the new ones come in.

[Charlie_Watt]

Sweetwater will post pictures of the actual guitars when they have them in stock.  Look at the Serial Number.  Many I have seen lately are 2012 builds.  That is 4 years old and you don't want that.

[meuste]

Yes. That's where I first saw a place that shows the actual tops for each guitar for comparison. Plus they set it up for you for free. Nothing worse than getting a new guitar that's not playable out of the box. What part of the serial number is the date? The first two numbers? They have good financing available there too. I signed up for notify me when they are in stock so I'm still hopeful.

[Charlie_Watt]

W?? the ?? is the year.  Eg 12 = 2012.

[cruisinon2]

They are obviously in demand and I hope I do not see a price hike if and when the new ones come in.

No they're not. What they are is a tiny niche product with a minescule market share, in a industry overflowing with options in every imaginable shape and color in the rainbow. They ain't running 3 shifts at the factory to try and stave off a rioting mob of Variax seekers. Nor will there be unscrupulous retailers engaging in price wars. They're making them in small batches, then waiting for more orders.

 

Most guitar players have no idea that they even exist. I have have never seen one hanging on the wall at a music store, and I live within 10 miles of 3 huge music retailers, all L6 dealers. You can't find any because most places don't want to stock them. They sit around. Guys are still buying "new" JTV's, with serial numbers that date them back to 2012 and 2013.

 

It's not a knock...I like mine. It gets a lot of use, but it is what it is. There just isn't a huge audience for these things.

[Charlie_Watt]

As cruisinon2 says lack of supply does not mean high demand.  In this case it doesn't.  I am sure that these guitars are made in limited production runs when the supply on hand runs low.  Places on line sell most of them and they have to wait to get a few when the limited supply runs low.  The novelty has worn off on these JTV's in the 5 years or so that they have been out.  Nothing new has come out of line6 in this area other than the Standard which isn't anything new at all.

[meuste]

I guess just because I think one of these would be the cat's lollipop, doesn't mean every one else does. Thanks for the insight guys. One of these will help me not have to go out and get more guitars for different situations. I did a major downsize about 6 years ago when I was out of work and am starting to play again. I just got a firehawk and am delving into that to save on all the fancy pedals. So far so good there.  This will be for the guitar gap. I'll just have to stay alert when they come in to get a nicer top.

[PierM]

W?? the ?? is the year.  Eg 12 = 2012.

Wow...this means the 59 I bought this year has been made in 2011!? Interesting. At least looks like hardware is pretty damn good to not rust after being parked for 5 years. :)

[cruisinon2]

Wow...this means the 59 I bought this year has been made in 2011!? Interesting. At least looks like hardware is pretty damn good to not rust after being parked for 5 years. :)

Don't say stuff like that out loud, man. ;)...these guitars can suddenly get weird if the wind changes direction.

[meuste]

Yeah, don't phart.

[Charlie_Watt]

Old "new ones" have been showing up lots of places.

[amsdenj]

I think part of the problem is the models are OK, but not great. I have a new Variax Standard that I use with Helix as my backup and acoustic guitar in the rock band I'm with. It works great for that. But comparing the spank model with the magnetic pickups tells the story. The richness and high end are just not there. I don't know if that's because of the guitar Line6 modeled, a result of the modeling process itself (likely IR based), or a compromise they have to do in the DSP to keep latency and cost down.

 

If the models were better, pros might make more use of them, and that would get the rest of us interested in buying them. Until then, the market is likely to remain small and possibly shrink as the available pool of customers saturates. This creates a negative feedback loop where decreasing demand reduces supplies, updates and innovation which further reduces demand. That's the wrong side of a product lifecycle to be on.

 

My Variax Standard fills my needs, plays reasonably well, the magnetic pickups are quite good, and I suspect no one in the audience notices the difference between my Les Paul and the Variax Lister model. The point is to play the music and leverage the tools for what they are and how the contribute. I want to focus on the music, and have the gear just not get in the way too often.

[Charlie_Watt]

I think the Spank is way better on my Variax 500.  (With probably half the DSP)

[amsdenj]

I think the Spank is way better on my Variax 500.  (With probably half the DSP)

I tended to agree until I actually used the Variax Standard at rehearsal. The Spank model came through the mix much better then the same model on my Variax 300.