therath1 0 Posted December 9, 2013 I just received my JTV-69 and I received two cables with it. One was a standard usb cable, and the other is a breakout box which says "variax in" on one side, and usb on the other. the "variax in" port is like a data connection cable and the out is standard midi. Is the breakout box just for connecting an hd500, vetta, etc., and does the output of the variax double as a standard usb port? The pilot's guide does not give an explanation of how to connect the guitar to a computer and there is no advanced guide. Do I have to buy another cable to make this work? thanks in advance, Chris Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Charlie_Watt 432 Posted December 9, 2013 You also need a Variax VDI cable that connects the JTV to the little black box! It should have come with your guitar. It is a cat5 cable with a special end on the Variax end. The black box is your USB interface that you use to connect to your computer's usb port. You are missing the VDI calbe though. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BigChas52 2,546 Posted December 9, 2013 The VDI cable is a RJ-45 network cable with a special Neutrik shield on one end to protect the guitar. You can use a standard CAT-5 or CAT-6 RJ-45 cable without the Neutrik shield, but be extremely careful not to get it stuck in the guitar. One other thing, make sure that you also have a cable plugged into the 1/4" jack when updating in order to activate the battery 2 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
laplayastudio 0 Posted January 26, 2015 I have just bought a JTV69 guitar second hand and it does not seem to have the USB interface with it. Where can I get one of these? What I would like to do is to tweak the models using the software. I have the software downloaded but I cannot connect the guitar to it. I tried a straight connection of ethernet cable to the computer but that did not work! Also, if I get an HD500x would that mean that I don't need a USB connection to get into the editing software? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
laplayastudio 0 Posted January 26, 2015 I have just bought a JTV69 guitar second hand and it does not seem to have the USB interface with it. Where can I get one of these? What I would like to do is to tweak the models using the software. I have the software downloaded but I cannot connect the guitar to it. I tried a straight connection of ethernet cable to the computer but that did not work! Also, if I get an HD500x would that mean that I don't need a USB connection to get into the editing software? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cruisinon2 2,536 Posted April 18, 2016 I just bought a JTV-89 used & the only thing that came with it is the charger. I see that I can get the Variax Digital Interface for about $30, but where do I get the USB box? L6 will be happy to sell you the USB dongle for the absurd price of $100. Sweetwater usually has them. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Charlie_Watt 432 Posted April 18, 2016 I would look for a used one or buy a Pod HD500x. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites