eriwebnerr Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Just got my JTV-59 a few days ago. Very impressed with it as a guitar on its own. Love the playability and sound from the magnetic pickups. First day I got it I had to charge the battery so I only played it as a "standard" electric. Then I had to travel for work, so today is the first day I am playing the modeled guitars and they sound horrible! I successfully upgraded to the latest firmware and it's still bad. I owned a Variax 300 and 600 in years past and was satisfied. So I'm thinking something is wrong here. There may be a defect, but was hoping it might be simpler than that and you all might be able to help resolve this quickly. In short, there is a banjo-like flange in the background of all the models. It is a static almost cocked wah sound, but its there on all settings. Some models demonstrate this artifact worse and some strings seem to be worse than others (paticularly the D). This makes me think it might be a ahrdware (piezo) problem. Has anyone encountered this or know what a likely cause might be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edstar1960 Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Are you just using the battery and connecting via 1/4 inch jack to a guitar amp? Do the mags sound fine but when you engage the modelling you get this odd noise on every model, regardless of pickup selector position? I assume also that the alt-tune knob is set to MODEL ? If the answers to these questions are all YES, then I think you have a faulty guitar and you should return it to your retailer and have them send you a replacement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevekc Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 I'm staying with FW1.9 - because these translate closer to the original Variax Models I know. HD 2.0 models all sound flat and lifeless to me http://line6.com/support/topic/2866-how-many-persons-rolled-back-to-a-before-hd-version/ There are still too many "gotcha's and hurdles" if you own a HD500X (cant use old Workbench) and if you have HD2.0 on your JTV ( must use the plastic Workbench USB to VDI adapter box to edit using "Workbench HD" app) So I have to carry the equivalent of an HO Trainset worth of gear and cables to Edit a JTV with HD 2.0 if Im the road Meanwhile with only an HD500 and my laptop, I can still Edit Everything on my Tyler Variax with FW1.9 using the original Line6 Workbench app to Edit my JTV-59.(no plastic VDI box required) Also I use the Mag pickups on my JTV-59 85% of the time. I upgraded most of my JTV-59 - i own over 40 guitars and my JTV-59 with bisgby is my #1 all details here: http://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=9291.0 It has replaced my former #1 (seen below) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_Watt Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 The models obviously should sound GREAT - if they don't something is very wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggravation Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Sometimes I would get a hint of that effect but I lowered the output in Workbench of all strings and it helped most of it go away. The sound to me was piezo-ish so I just assumed it was part of the beast. I've never had a variax before but I had a piezo Roland set up and it had a similar unwanted quality. getting the output right was the difference for me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clay-man Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Sometimes I would get a hint of that effect but I lowered the output in Workbench of all strings and it helped most of it go away. The sound to me was piezo-ish so I just assumed it was part of the beast. I've never had a variax before but I had a piezo Roland set up and it had a similar unwanted quality. getting the output right was the difference for me. string volume works as a preamp for the piezos, so if there's any weird piezo clipping or quacking, then lowering the string volume should help. It's what I did when that happened on a few models of my Variax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eriwebnerr Posted January 16, 2014 Author Share Posted January 16, 2014 Ok so I'm staying with FW1.9 - because these translate closer to the original Variax Models I know. HD 2.0 models all sound flat and lifeless to me http://line6.com/support/topic/2866-how-many-persons-rolled-back-to-a-before-hd-version/ ^^^ OK - this seems to be it! Thank you. I did plug it in and played with a few models right when the battery was ready. Only thing I remember thinking was that the Variax models seemed louder than the actual magnetic pickups, nothing about a Banjo type tone. At that point I was on stock 1.7. First chance I got today I went to 2.0 and reported the above post. On a hunch I went to 1.9 and I am in love again!! I suspect that because I tend to use heavier picks and maybe the guitar hasn't been setup just perfect for my room / environment that I may have been encountering the volume / preamp issue noted above. But man, 2.0 sounds horrible to me. In any event I am super pleased now. Loving the tones I am getting and all the models sound as good as I expected. I may experiment more in the future because I really like the look of the HD Workbench. That aspect of it is a major improvement. I just cant get along with the tones. For now though I just want to play and experiment, not edit. Thanks for all your prompt responses! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevekc Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Glad you got this sorted out ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eriwebnerr Posted January 21, 2014 Author Share Posted January 21, 2014 Well, spoke too soon. This issue persists regardless of firmware. Gave the guitar a good setup and changed the strings - the issue is still there. I have isolated it to the A and D strings mainly. But very disappointing. I'm pretty much unable to use the modeling portion of the guitar. It is a nasal like out of phase sound on those strings that makes the whole model sound really weird. I think there is something wrong with the piezo elements. I have opened a ticket with L6 support - will let you know where it goes. If I cant sort this out this week I'm going to return the instrument. I'm just too frustrated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edstar1960 Posted January 21, 2014 Share Posted January 21, 2014 Well, spoke too soon. This issue persists regardless of firmware. Gave the guitar a good setup and changed the strings - the issue is still there. I have isolated it to the A and D strings mainly. But very disappointing. I'm pretty much unable to use the modeling portion of the guitar. It is a nasal like out of phase sound on those strings that makes the whole model sound really weird. I think there is something wrong with the piezo elements. I have opened a ticket with L6 support - will let you know where it goes. If I cant sort this out this week I'm going to return the instrument. I'm just too frustrated. I have noticed that effect on some models and on some strings, but I am currently at fw1.9 after flashing back and forth a few times for a variety of reasons, and at the moment I have not noticed it much, if at all, but I have been concentrating on programming sounds on my HD500 and not concentrating on the models on my JTV59, so that sound could still be there, but just not as pronounced. Before, I particularly noticed it on models where I had both neck and bridge pickups active, such as SEMI pos 3. It was annoying but I just lived with it. I also have issues with the A and D due to resonance - I think the JTV59 bridge is particularly sensitive to those notes and I have to work hard to mute strings otherwise I get sympathetic ringing on open strings or fretted notes if it's D or A. Did you try lowering the volume of the strings in Workbench? I have tried that before and it did improve things - I don't remember it being completely eliminated - but certainly helped. So it is worth trying that. At the moment though, it's not bothering me much at all, which may be due to the numerous reflashes or because I am concentrating on other aspects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eriwebnerr Posted January 22, 2014 Author Share Posted January 22, 2014 Agreed. I think part of it is how much you focus on it. I went back and forth between 1.9 and 2.0, but have settled on 2.0 for now. I really like the Teles and LP better. I feel like I was able to get a decent 335 by mixing the mags in 25% and bringing up the pickups 1 db in the HD Workbench. I did adjust the Global String volumes too and this has helped. The method I found that works best is: 1. make sure the guitar is setup properly including the height of the magnetic pickups, then 2. going back and forth between the mags and the LP model All the other models then sound balanced too. I had to redo a few strings after the string change, but nothing major. I also gave the string a little "push" just past the bridge to lay it into the saddle better. This helped a bit too. Some models I don't notice it at all, but others it is more prominent - strat neck position the most. Its almost like its adding too much "body" or "wood" for some reason. The weird thing is because its just on a few strings, the other notes sound oddly phased because all 6 strings aren't "agreeing" tonally. In any event, the models I am most interested in - Semi, LP and Tele now sound pretty good. So between the tweaks, lightening my attack, and trying not the think about it ;) I'm starting to settle into it. I guess my expectations were pretty high with the price point and substantial technical update from the prior Variax. I didn't expect to have to put so much effort into it, but now that I have, I feel much close to being where I expected. Will keep y'all post if L6 support is able to push this further to a resolution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColonelForbin Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 So between the tweaks, lightening my attack, and trying not the think about it ;) I'm starting to settle into it. I guess my expectations were pretty high with the price point and substantial technical update from the prior Variax. I didn't expect to have to put so much effort into it, but now that I have, I feel much close to being where I expected. Will keep y'all post if L6 support is able to push this further to a resolution. Does the JTV handle patches and programming in a way where they can be uploaded / shared in some way? It would appear there is no Variax / JTV section in the Customtone page.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRealZap Posted January 22, 2014 Share Posted January 22, 2014 Yes, no official web platform, but there is an unofficial page pinned at the top of the forum. Does the JTV handle patches and programming in a way where they can be uploaded / shared in some way? It would appear there is no Variax / JTV section in the Customtone page.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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