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JTV-69 Pickguard


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I noticed on British Audio's website that they have a tortoise shell pickguard for the JTV-69.  I think that would look really cool on my black JTV-69.

 

My question - is swapping out the pickguard something a regular local pro technician can do routinely?  Any advice or comment will be appreciated.

 

Thanks

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That would depend on their ability. These are not the usual routine guitars with passive electronics.

One slip and it will end up on my bench,... even for what may seem to be an easy job.

 

https://line6.com/find/service_center/

 

... for the authorized service center in your area. Check the sub-heading pull down menu for those that also do our guitars.

 

 

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21 hours ago, cbeattyjr said:

I noticed on British Audio's website that they have a tortoise shell pickguard for the JTV-69.  I think that would look really cool on my black JTV-69.

 

My question - is swapping out the pickguard something a regular local pro technician can do routinely?  Any advice or comment will be appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

It's not hard to do.

 

Swapping out the pickguard is one of the first things I did with my 69. Frequent depictions notwithstanding, you're not repairing the Hubble telescope or performing a kidney transplant. Furthermore, you're not actually "doing" anything to the electronics beyond relocating them onto a virtually identical piece of plastic. Everything under there is self- contained, and it's not hard to tell what goes where. Patience, common sense, a screwdriver, and 20 minutes of your time are all that is required...  perhaps less than 20 minutes if you can operate a screwdriver without stabbing yourself. ;)

 

If you're still not comfortable doing it yourself, that's fine. Any competent tech with an IQ above room temperature will be able to manage just fine... but why spend money if you don't have to?

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On 9/2/2020 at 11:43 AM, cruisinon2 said:

Patience, common sense, a screwdriver, and 20 minutes of your time are all that is required...

 

Changing the pickguard is probably the ONLY thing I would take on with changing out on my Variax, other than the strings.  I happen to have one I got from 'Greasy Groove' I'm planning to put on my JTV-69.

 

That said, I'm certainly going to heed psarkissian's feedback and approach it very cautiously.

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59 minutes ago, Lone_Poor_Boy said:

 

Changing the pickguard is probably the ONLY thing I would take on with changing out on my Variax, other than the strings.  I happen to have one I got from 'Greasy Groove' I'm planning to put on my JTV-69.

 

That said, I'm certainly going to heed psarkissian's feedback and approach it very cautiously.

 

The electronics are the only thing that I'd think twice about tinkering with, unless you've got a ton of experience. Otherwise, a Variax behaves exactly like any other guitar on earth... setup adjustments (bridge, truss rod, nut, whatever), replacing a pickguard, swapping out the neck, etc etc are no more difficult on a Variax than they are for any other solid body electric guitar in the known universe. As far as all that stuff is concerned, anything that you wouldn't think twice about doing to a Strat, LP, or Ibanez can be safely done to JTV... no drama, no PhD level inside knowledge beyond that which would be required to perform the same task on any other instrument. It's only a fragile, "untouchable" item if you want it to be... no need to tiptoe around the thing.

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Yes, don't tinker with the electronics. Be careful when undoing the pick-ups, the adjusting springs can pop loose and get lost.

Make certain that when remounting the hardware to the pick-guard that it's snug to the foil underneath or you will lose the shielding,

and hum and other radiant noises will occur. That said, make certain that the pick-guard has the foil underneath.

 

An option would be to get the Tortoise shell pick-guard from Line 6, special order through Full Compass.

You will need to specify whether it is a JTV-69 (HSS) or JTV-69S (SSS).

 

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6 hours ago, cruisinon2 said:

Otherwise, a Variax behaves exactly like any other guitar on earth... setup adjustments (bridge, truss rod, nut, whatever), r

 

Agreed, and I have done neck adjustments etc. on it.  'Changing out' a component is where I stop at pickguards and pickups, and maybe a few minor items I'm not thinking of.

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