wolbai Posted October 3, 2018 Share Posted October 3, 2018 Well, it's been a while, since I was here ... The past years, I have mainly focused on home recordings. But now I am starting to play Live Music again. And my JTV69 will become my second work horse (again). I am going to play on this guitar, mainly songs with acoustic parts and/or special tunings. If the song needs a Stratocaster sound, I play these with the magnetic Kinman Av69 Single Coil pups. In the Bridge position, there is a Suhr Doug Aldrich humbucker. This pickup combo is soundwise pretty versatile and powerful. Although the JTV69 Neck is ok IMO, I wanted to do a Mod on the neck as well - for several reasons. The neck is pretty important for me. I need to feel "at home". The Neck has a Wizard contour (I am used to play this contour for several years), Stainless Steel frets (SS6150), an Earvana nut and Schaller locking tuners. The baked Maple neck looks pretty cool. Have a look at the attached pictures ... (Don't know, why some pictures went upside down and how to correct it) This is my first unfinished Neck and it feels and plays fantastic! Very smooth sliding! Use Stainless Steel frets for several years on my first work horse: great for bending/vibrato. It is killer! Before the installation, I put a bit of lemon oil on the neck. Will do this further on a few times per year. The Kinman Av69 magnetic neck pickup sounds great on this guitar: together with the neck the tone is woody, airy and has a nice top end tone. All in all it seems to me that the tone a bot brighter than the original JTV69 neck. I also made some testing with the intonation and the Eravana nut: I recorded several notes on different frets on my old neck and the new Warmoth neck with the Earvana nut with the Melodyne software. In summary: The Eravana nut improves the overall guitar intonation. Especially in the first 3 frets (good for open chord/acoustic stuff) and on the higher frets. I know this test is not 100% comparable, because of the two necks. BUT: compared to my older neck it IS an inprovement in intonation, especially when I am playing the acoustic songs Live with my Duo partner. For more details - see attached file. Now: Does everybody need an Earvana neck? No. The extent of intonation improvement heavily depends on your playing style (soft/hard pressure on the neck ?), the musical context (keys ?), the layer where you are normally playing on the neck and how well trained your ear is to realize intonation. The following is a real quick recording with my new Warmoth Roasted Maple Neck on the JTV69. Recorded this "Quicky" with my old Line 6 POD HD500 MultiFX and the PARK-75 amp model (that is my practicing tool at home). Still a good working tool, although the foot switches are not working properly anymore. I love Ritchie Blackmore for the very end of this lead part: This is a huge statement in electric guitar history and his entry card to guitar heaven Have fun while watching / listening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k09m4Dz5Nz0&feature=youtu.be Any feedback is welcome: wolbai Intonation Earvana Sattel - 2.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
specracer986 Posted October 3, 2018 Share Posted October 3, 2018 Looks very nice. I've done two of my JTV's with Warmouth necks. In the picture, the one on the left is pretty similar to yours, Wizard profile, SS 6105 frets, Earvana nut. That one is a 24.75" scale conversion neck. I ended up selling it as it was too bright for me. I loved the way it looked, but I was constantly fighting piercing highs and my presets for that guitar had to be different than my other JTV 69. Also, my experience wasn't too good with the Gotoh side adjuster. I did three necks like that, and won't order it again. Live and learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolbai Posted October 3, 2018 Author Share Posted October 3, 2018 Yeah - Live and learn. That is so right saying. But experience may be different to each other. Nice guitars by the way ! The above showed Warmoth neck with a Wizard contour, Stainless steel frets is not my first Warmoth neck similar to that. So I am somewhere already used to it. The only difference is the wood and the Eravana nut. The Earvana nut will show very likely some intonation improvements for the acoustic parts and should be easier to play for me on the lower frets, because the Wizard neck has more width than the original JTV69 neck. I have choosen the Roasted Maple Neck by intension: I was looking for a brighter sounding guitar, because my first Warmoth workhorse is a H-S-H with a Mahogany body, finished Maple Neck with and a Rosewood fingerboard. And this guitar is more darker sounding. My main giging amp is a Marshall JVM410 and this amp is pretty versatile with it's 4 channels and Equing capabilities. Will do some testings tommorow in the rehearsal room. Will see ... wolbai Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueD Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 On 10/3/2018 at 10:26 AM, wolbai said: Well, it's been a while, since I was here ... The past years, I have mainly focused on home recordings. But now I am starting to play Live Music again. And my JTV69 will become my second work horse (again). I am going to play on this guitar, mainly songs with acoustic parts and/or special tunings. If the song needs a Stratocaster sound, I play these with the magnetic Kinman Av69 Single Coil pups. In the Bridge position, there is a Suhr Doug Aldrich humbucker. This pickup combo is soundwise pretty versatile and powerful. Although the JTV69 Neck is ok IMO, I wanted to do a Mod on the neck as well - for several reasons. The neck is pretty important for me. I need to feel "at home". The Neck has a Wizard contour (I am used to play this contour for several years), Stainless Steel frets (SS6150), an Earvana nut and Schaller locking tuners. The baked Maple neck looks pretty cool. Have a look at the attached pictures ... (Don't know, why some pictures went upside down and how to correct it) This is my first unfinished Neck and it feels and plays fantastic! Very smooth sliding! Use Stainless Steel frets for several years on my first work horse: great for bending/vibrato. It is killer! Before the installation, I put a bit of lemon oil on the neck. Will do this further on a few times per year. The Kinman Av69 magnetic neck pickup sounds great on this guitar: together with the neck the tone is woody, airy and has a nice top end tone. All in all it seems to me that the tone a bot brighter than the original JTV69 neck. I also made some testing with the intonation and the Eravana nut: I recorded several notes on different frets on my old neck and the new Warmoth neck with the Earvana nut with the Melodyne software. In summary: The Eravana nut improves the overall guitar intonation. Especially in the first 3 frets (good for open chord/acoustic stuff) and on the higher frets. I know this test is not 100% comparable, because of the two necks. BUT: compared to my older neck it IS an inprovement in intonation, especially when I am playing the acoustic songs Live with my Duo partner. For more details - see attached file. Now: Does everybody need an Earvana neck? No. The extent of intonation improvement heavily depends on your playing style (soft/hard pressure on the neck ?), the musical context (keys ?), the layer where you are normally playing on the neck and how well trained your ear is to realize intonation. The following is a real quick recording with my new Warmoth Roasted Maple Neck on the JTV69. Recorded this "Quicky" with my old Line 6 POD HD500 MultiFX and the PARK-75 amp model (that is my practicing tool at home). Still a good working tool, although the foot switches are not working properly anymore. I love Ritchie Blackmore for the very end of this lead part: This is a huge statement in electric guitar history and his entry card to guitar heaven Have fun while watching / listening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k09m4Dz5Nz0&feature=youtu.be Any feedback is welcome: wolbai Intonation Earvana Sattel - 2.pdf To me the biggest improvement is you got rid of that hideously looking headstock. I still can't quite comprehend how Line 6 thought this design could succeed, the jtv line while decent guitars always looked ugly as sin. The new neck improves the situation quite a bit. Good job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinon2 Posted October 9, 2018 Share Posted October 9, 2018 31 minutes ago, BlueD said: To me the biggest improvement is you got rid of that hideously looking headstock. I still can't quite comprehend how Line 6 thought this design could succeed, the jtv line while decent guitars always looked ugly as sin. The new neck improves the situation quite a bit. Good job! You mean you didn't like the cricket bat headstock with "James Tyler" emblazoned on it 53 times? I like my Les Paul, but I always felt it could use 10 or 12 more "Gibson" 's up there...;) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueD Posted October 11, 2018 Share Posted October 11, 2018 On 10/9/2018 at 11:45 AM, cruisinon2 said: You mean you didn't like the cricket bat headstock with "James Tyler" emblazoned on it 53 times? I like my Les Paul, but I always felt it could use 10 or 12 more "Gibson" 's up there...;) I really wonder what made Line 6 think James Tyler's brand would be attractive to the larger guitar crowd. He's a local builder, known by uber guitar nerds and pretty much no-one else. I would understand if they partnered with Parker (IMHO would have been a great pair, since they both cater to progressive users) or Suhr or Anderson or another well known name. Tyler? A complete mistery to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinon2 Posted October 11, 2018 Share Posted October 11, 2018 13 hours ago, BlueD said: I really wonder what made Line 6 think James Tyler's brand would be attractive to the larger guitar crowd. He's a local builder, known by uber guitar nerds and pretty much no-one else. I would understand if they partnered with Parker (IMHO would have been a great pair, since they both cater to progressive users) or Suhr or Anderson or another well known name. Tyler? A complete mistery to me. I've never played any of his guitars, and while I'm sure they're nice serviceable instruments, the asking prices for used ones on Ebay are amusing to say the least. Can't find any pricing on his website, so who knows what he asks for a new one... but the cheapest pre-owned one I saw is $3K, and they range considerably higher than that. Some of the new listings from Japan are north of $8K...for Strat or Tele clone?!?! C'mon...I wouldn't pay that much for a bolt-on neck if it was the last guitar on earth. It's even more comical than what Fender wants for their custom shop stuff, which is usually good for a laugh...and I like Strats and Teles. Don't get me wrong, I'm not averse to spending money on guitars, and one man's waste of money is another's prized possession. Hell, I shelled out over $5K in late 90's dollars for a boutique instrument (with a set-neck), from a builder (https://www.phiferguitars.com/) whom probably even fewer people have heard of than James Tyler. His body styles are a bit unorthodox, and no doubt there are those who would think I pi$$ed my money away... but this is America, so buy what you like and/or charge what the market will bear! Lol...if folks are buying them, then salúd...I hope he's rolling in money. Just won't be mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
specracer986 Posted October 11, 2018 Share Posted October 11, 2018 The other guitarist in my band has a Tyler Strat that he had made for him. I've never played it, but he's very happy with it. Though he did mention that he had way too much invested in it. He has the same sentiments about a Collins that he owns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinon2 Posted October 11, 2018 Share Posted October 11, 2018 3 hours ago, specracer986 said: The other guitarist in my band has a Tyler Strat that he had made for him. I've never played it, but he's very happy with it. Though he did mention that he had way too much invested in it. He has the same sentiments about a Collins that he owns. It's the same with all the boutique stuff...past a certain threshold, unless the are 24K gold ingots embedded in the thing, how much "more" guitar can you possibly be getting? Eventually you're either paying for a name, over the top/gaudy aesthetics, or both..."Look what I can afford!" It's just like buying a Harley...$10K for the bike, and another $10K for the HD badge on the tank. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amsdenj Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 Got my Warmoth neck installed on my JTV-69S this week. Its a big improvement for me. Stainless steel frets and a standard thin neck that fits my hands better made a big difference. Between the SVL Daytona pickups, the Warmoth neck and the setup, I have over $1100 additional invested in that JTV, might be more than I paid for the original instrument on eBay. That's probably more than is reasonable for that guitar. But I really like it for gigging, and its nice to make modifications that make it my own. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolbai Posted October 13, 2018 Author Share Posted October 13, 2018 10 hours ago, amsdenj said: Got my Warmoth neck installed on my JTV-69S this week. Its a big improvement for me. Stainless steel frets and a standard thin neck that fits my hands better made a big difference. Between the SVL Daytona pickups, the Warmoth neck and the setup, I have over $1100 additional invested in that JTV, might be more than I paid for the original instrument on eBay. That's probably more than is reasonable for that guitar. But I really like it for gigging, and its nice to make modifications that make it my own. +1 ! Musicians who are gigging, with a need for a variety of sounds / tunings / genres, understand the power and versatility of the JTVs. Modyfing such an instrument for gigging purposes is all worth the money: pickups, neck, etc. Here is another rehearsal recording with my modded JTV69. Wouldn't be able to perform this songs as the only guitar player without my JTV69: wolbai. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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