Why you bought a JTV?

[sabastiane]

So being new to the forum and buying my 69S about a month ago, I was curious why everyone bought a JTV. I'll tell you my reason.

About 4 years ago I started playing guitar and I was lefty. I was single and I had bought a Telecaster, American Stratocaster, a acoustic and a Kurt Cobain Jaguar. Well during that time I also got engaged and move in with my future wife. I wasn't really playing anymore and we needed the money so I sold all my guitars.

Since that time I always had that urge to start playing again. Three months ago I was able to talk my wife into getting me a 100 dollar no name Strat. Since I was starting over I decided to start playing right handed. The guitar wasn't horrible to play, but it had its issues.

So I started looking at guitars and found the 69S. I was able to talk my wife into purchasing it by telling her that I would have all these guitars on one guitar. She was worried that since I started playing again I would "go crazy" and start buying a bunch of guitars again. So that is my reason with going with this guitar and I've really enjoyed it so far.

[cruisinon2]

Jeez....I work all day, and I'm betting you do too. If I had to talk my wife into letting me spend a hundred bucks, it would get spent on a divorce lawyer...

 

Next time you need cash, tell her she has to sell off her shoe collection.

[Palico]

Well I started with a Variax 500. The reason I purchased it was because I at the time I played with a church worship group. I was already using a POD X3, I had a POD XT before it. The reason I when with the POD was because it was a lot cheaper and easier to have all those pedals in a single box. The bang for the buck was too great. Once I had X3 Live, the Variax seemed like a natural extension of that. And when I had the opportunity to buy a early Variax 500 used, I jumped on the possibility of having more tones in one instrument.  Playing the music I was at the time, going acousitic tones to electric ones was very useful.  To boot, my Variax 500 played really really well once I got a setup done it too. Plus I still had my Old Les Paul if I didn't like it. I ended up playing the Variax more than the LP. Fast forward a ways and I'm not playing P&W music but back with a band playing secular music out again. My FRFR tube/speaker box died and I moved to the DT25 amp as I never really like the FRFR setup that much anyway. Wasn't long before I wanted to move up to the POD HD500x as it intergrated over the L6 link the DT25 and sounded better than the X3 unit. Finally I ordered my JTV 89f because of the "F" portion of it. I had been playing songs that really needed the tremolo and dive bombs etc.... but just getting by without one. My JTV I acutally think the modeling is not as good as my old Variax 500. Althought part of it might be because it has pickups and I can switch to them and really hear the difference. Today the only reason I keep my JTV 89f is because it really is an outstanding guitar all on it's own without the modelling. And the only Floyd system, I can do alternate tuning without switching guitars. Today I split show time with the JTV 89F and a Gibson 50s P90 Reissue.

[CipherHost]

I bought it for its flexibility. It is really convenient when learning a new song that is in a different tuning to be able to just twist a knob into drop D, half step down or open G tuning. It has great integration with the 500X as well. The mags on my 89F and the Lester or 89F models are very close. The mags sound pretty good IMHO. Blending the mags and acoustic model can sound great using the 500X. Wish there was a small pedal sized box I could use to provide separate mag and model signals to other equipment. I got a good deal on a used 89F with a couple extras, so I am happy with it.

[regalpierot]

Slightly different question, as a very happy Helix owner I kinda started to take a look at Variax for the first time today. Tp be honest always thought they looked a bit strange but never saw beyond the standards. The JTVs are nice and the black 59 looks pretty sweet (couldn't justify the US, but maybe the Korean. 

 

So I guess the question is, are you happy owners. My main desire is to be able to get an acoustic sound for some songs without having to swap out guitars. 

[Matt_Brown]

I'm very happy with my 59. I've always played in groups/bands playing a really wide variety of material. The sort of thing where you need to swap guitars mid song rather than mid set! My Dream Rig allows me to do this with the press of a footswitch. It also allows me to change turnings or use a virtual capo without that embarrassing 'retuning gap'.

 

 

Ok, it's not the most engaging guitar to play and you can argue till the cows come home that it 'doesn't sound like (insert guitar name here)' but I'm usually playing to a happy group of dancing punters, not to a bunch of beard stroking musos who are analysing my sound. In this domain having the ability to switch from a (very passable) acoustic sound to jangly tele to gutsy overdriven humbuckers as described means my '79 Strat and '00 Taylor invariably get left at home...

[sabastiane]

I'm very happy with my 59. I've always played in groups/bands playing a really wide variety of material. The sort of thing where you need to swap guitars mid song rather than mid set! My Dream Rig allows me to do this with the press of a footswitch. It also allows me to change turnings or use a virtual capo without that embarrassing 'retuning gap'.

 

 

Ok, it's not the most engaging guitar to play and you can argue till the cows come home that it 'doesn't sound like (insert guitar name here)' but I'm usually playing to a happy group of dancing punters, not to a bunch of beard stroking musos who are analysing my sound. In this domain having the ability to switch from a (very passable) acoustic sound to jangly tele to gutsy overdriven humbuckers as described means my '79 Strat and '00 Taylor invariably get left at home...

Good point on the sounds. I think the average person couldn't tell the difference between certain model guitars. Let alone name each type that the Variax plays.

[brue58ski]

I had rewired my SG so that every possible wiring of the split coil seymour duncan JB pickups could be had. Each pickup could be parallel in phase, parallel out of phase, each coil seperately, in series in phase, in series out of phase using a 4 pole six throw rotary switch for each pickup. I also swapped the pickup selector for the 4 pole 6 throw switch so i could do the same with each pickup. Put them where my tone knobs and pickup selector switch was so i didn't have to do any drilling. I always wanted to get as close as I could to several guitar sounds. Wanted to sound like everybody. Was already into the POD XT. I was just getting ready to replace my bridge with a piezo bridge for an acoustic type sound when the original Variax came out. Got a 500 and I haven't played my SG since. Now have a 69 and an 89f.

[arislaf]

I bought it for the version2.0 I loved my 700, and when the L6 announced the new version I get it on an instance. I am happy with my JTV though.

[grandinq]

I got it for the versatility. In my band I wanted to access different sounds easily. I already had the hd500 and the DT25, and this completed a great live rig. I love being able to go from one completely different setup to another with one patch change. At first I thought I'd mainly use LP and Strat sounds but I love getting different textures from models I would have never actually played like a Gretach or Rikenbaker or a coral sitar. Although my go to guitar at home or for recording is my PRS, my JTV59 is a fun guitar to play in its own right.

 

In my live setup I found the acoustics most disappointing. I send the acoustic signal into a pa speaker, but despite various EQ experiments I still find the acoustic models don't cut through well and tend to sound brittle. They are the least likely sounds to pass off as the original.

[Rewolf48]

You do need to tweak the acoustic sound by having compression, eq and a little reverb before sending to PA, the similar to how a real microphone acoustic guitar would be treated - the HD500 can do this.

[clay-man]

I upgraded from a 600 to a JTV69s because I wanted:

1) a better guitar

2) tuning know

3) HD firmware

[mcbeddall]

Slightly different question, as a very happy Helix owner I kinda started to take a look at Variax for the first time today. Tp be honest always thought they looked a bit strange but never saw beyond the standards. The JTVs are nice and the black 59 looks pretty sweet (couldn't justify the US, but maybe the Korean.

 

So I guess the question is, are you happy owners. My main desire is to be able to get an acoustic sound for some songs without having to swap out guitars.

I have a black 59 and love it, I only tried one out because my singer got one, never would have looked at it otherwise.

Acoustic sounds are very usable live if your sending straight to pa or using a powered speaker, through a regular guitar amp they don't sound so convincing because the amp won't reproduce the high frequencies

[leemh]

Acoustic sound

Alternate Tunings

[DarrellM5]

I had the 500 and loved it.

 

I bought the JTV-69 because I wanted:

• Alternate tunings without having to set them up in advance in Workbench
• The latest models
• Magnetic pickups
• The rechargeable battery

[d1stewart]

So being new to the forum and buying my 69S about a month ago, I was curious why everyone bought a JTV. I'll tell you my reason.

About 4 years ago I started playing guitar and I was lefty. I was single and I had bought a Telecaster, American Stratocaster, a acoustic and a Kurt Cobain Jaguar. Well during that time I also got engaged and move in with my future wife. I wasn't really playing anymore and we needed the money so I sold all my guitars.

Since that time I always had that urge to start playing again. Three months ago I was able to talk my wife into getting me a 100 dollar no name Strat. Since I was starting over I decided to start playing right handed. The guitar wasn't horrible to play, but it had its issues.

So I started looking at guitars and found the 69S. I was able to talk my wife into purchasing it by telling her that I would have all these guitars on one guitar. She was worried that since I started playing again I would "go crazy" and start buying a bunch of guitars again. So that is my reason with going with this guitar and I've really enjoyed it so far.

 

You know why I bought the first Variax (the 500) in 2005? Because I wanted all those guitars, and I didn't want to buy a lot of electric guitars. It worked, pretty much. When I bought the Variax, I had a Strat (1986 purchase) and a Tele (2003 or 2004 purchase), and a Takamine dreadnought acoustic. The Variax let me have the 25 or so guitars in it, and the models are for the most part excellent. I did not buy any more electric guitars until I bought a JTV-89 last year. I sold the Tele a few years ago.

 

So I find the Variax to satisfy my guitar acquisition syndrome. You can tell your wife that a bunch of us here testify in your defense---it didn't ignite, in fact it doused, electric guitar acquisition syndrome for us.

 

If only I played only electric guitar... But I don't. So I also own three acoustic guitars (6, 12, travel), two basses (in two different locations), and a couple ukuleles. But you know, all those are strictly necessary as they do things that the Variax can't. That's inarguable, no?  :)

[cruisinon2]

So I find the Variax to satisfy my guitar acquisition syndrome. You can tell your wife that a bunch of us here testify in your defense---it didn't ignite, in fact it doused, electric guitar acquisition syndrome for us.

 

Ugh, wives...whenever I get the incredulous "Another guitar?!?!" whine, I just walk over to the closet and start counting pairs of shoes and handbags. By the time I get to double digits (it doesn't take long), the conversation is pretty much over...;)

[TR_Line6]

I bought my first JTV-89f as a kind of gamble, but when I got it I was over the moon. So much so that I bought a second one as a spare. You should always take a spare for each guitar "sound" you need at a gig. So now I only need to take two guitars in total to any gig, instead of two acoustics, two strats, two les pauls, two others for different tunings on the locking trem... etc.

[Boydbob]

I ordered a JTV69 and a POD HD500 yesterday. The Pod should be here in a few days, but the JTV69 won't be here for two or three weeks.

I was able to buy it for 0.00% financing and low payments, so no strain on the budget.

 

As for why: I was pretty impressed with the modeling (I watched a LOT of videos) and reviews (some critical, but most love it).

I'm a singer, songwriter, and recording hobbyist, and the Variax looks to be a great tool for recording.

I have some VSTi guitar synths that sound extremely convincing, but putting true feeling into a midi file is way more work than just playing the part.

I also think the variety of sounds will be inspirational.

 

I wasn't able to play one before ordering (Not within 500 miles of here anyway), but I have a MIM Strat, which should play a lot like the JTV69.

But I'll let you know how it all works out.

[Leftzilla]

I had dragged my feet on Purchasing the original VAX 700 because it would have replaced my 3 other guitars, and then had a gig where my Parker Nite fly was not available so I pulled the trigger and never looked back.  I went for the JTV59 because of the upgrade in firmware, addition of pickups and the guitar was gorgeous, soon added a JTV89F due to the Floyd Rose and that has become my indispensable instrument.  IN fact I would not be able to play live with Elephants of Scotland without it.  All of our songs have multiple guitars in them.  In combination with the VDI and Helix not having that capability is unimaginable at this point.