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Variax Standard OR JTV 69?


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Hi I have been using a Variax 500 since they first came out with great results and am still using it in my performances and I am very happy with it But would like to have a vibrato bar version. Now given the same price of a NEW Standard OR a refurbished JTV69 what is the best choice as far as construction (build quality), support for the future (parts availability)  and how much of a weight difference is there between the Standard and JTV69. Thanks in advance for the suggestions

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"Refurbished" is Latin for "RUN! BUY SOMETHING ELSE"....;)

 

But seriously...I like my JTV69 a lot. It gets tons of use...but at just 3+ yrs old, it's developing some issues. Intermittently now, sound just starts cutting out when using the models. No rhyme or reason to it that I can find. So far re-flashing the firmware has "fixed" things...but eventually it'll do it again. No idea why. Sooner or later, I expect the modeling will crap out entirely. Hasn't happened yet, but since intermittent problems are nearly impossible to genuinely "fix", I'm waiting till it sh!ts the bed completely before pursuing a repair. But I am a bit reluctant to gig with it at this point. Never know when it's gonna happen.

 

Point is, these guitars are quirky on a good day. No guarantees, even with a new one. I'd be very skeptical of one sold as "refurbished". If there hadn't been something wrong with it at some point, then there wouldn't have been anything to "refurbish".

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Thanks for the replies guys. Yes cruisinon2 I had the same thought when I saw refurbished but then again the factory is refurbishing them so I thought I would ask. The thing is I have gigged with my Variax 500 from the day they came out it is my oldest guitar I own, 14 years now and never had any trouble or glitch with it so i assumed that the newer instruments were of the same build quality. The one thing I have noticed is the newer guitars have plastic two piece knobs on the model selector and the two I have seen locally have the top missing ,fallen off I guess, my Variax 500 has metal 1 piece knob so that dosn't impress me with the new models. I guess I will have to think on this. 

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It's the luck of the draw, as far as having intermittent problems such as these. I have 3 vaxplants now, with only one of them (so far), continuing to perform without any hiccups, or intermittent faults. Having said that, I wouldn't expect the newer models to last any longer than the legacy models - in fact more than likely they won't last as long, as planned obsolescence get worse, not better as time goes by.... The older I get, the more tired I become of this sad fact of life. Of course there is a safety net of warranty with a new purchase, and possibly a "limited" warranty with a "refurbished" newie. If you know of issues with the new models, you can at least buy parts in advance (e.g. model selector knobs), at Fullcompass for not much in the way of coin, in anticipation of the inevitable.

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  • 9 months later...

Does anyone out there or in this thread (didn't go through all) have experience with Line 6 Refurbs?  I have frequently done refurbs of Dell and Apple Equipment.  I have never had an issue.  In fact I felt that they had a good chance of being better, on average, than a new mass-produced one because I could read, somewhere, the check-offs involved.  Also -- how long has Line 6 been selling refurbs?  That might be telling.

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I've not had experience with refurbs but...

 

The Standard can be hit and miss.

I received my Standard last week - fretboard was dry, frets were scratchy, it would be quite noisy both using the normal pickups and modelling, intonation was out, pickup heights were too high etc. I sent it back and received my replacement the next day (well, they never collected the old guitar - still sitting in my kitchen for the last week waiting for them to send a courier to pick it up!).

The replacement was about 20 digits out of the serial from the 1st one, so same batch.

Fretboard was perfect - frets were better (still scratchy), intonation perfect - pickups no longer were noisy. After a slight setup, it is now feeling like my Yamaha Pacifica 311H, which is an awesome player. I went from "Hmmm not feeling this guitar" to "Damn this guitar is AWESOME" - simply because of the quality control issues.

 

My 311H only needed the action adjusting out of the box (due to personal preference) - was hoping the Variax would be of the same quality, but I think the QC is different...

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