Strange JTV-89 behavior

[jon_bondy]

I have a fully functional JTV-89 (so I know how the JTV-89 should work), and just bought another, which is not working properly.  Curiously, the headstock is reversed on the latter guitar (but the latter guitar has a trem, while the former has a hardtail).

 

If I pull the battery, the guitar works fine off of the mag pickups.

 

If I put the battery in, I get almost no sound out at all, on any of the 5 switch positions.  Note that I've not activated the electronics by pushing down on the model control: I just insert the battery and insert the guitar cable.  If I move the 5-way switch around, sometimes on two of the positions, sound comes through for about 1/2 second; but not always.  If I try to activate the electronics, by pushing down on the model switch, again, sometimes I get about 1/2 second of sound going through.  On a simpler guitar, I would imagine an intermittent connection somewhere.  

 

I attached the cables for Workbench HD, and the computer cannot see the guitar at all (no connection).

 

This does not sound like a simple fix, although I am open to troubleshooting suggestions.

What kind of repair/service options exist?

 

Thanks!

 

Jon

[jon_bondy]

I pulled the back plate off to expose the electronics, put a battery in the guitar, and started gently pulling and pushing wires around to see if I could find an intermittent connection.  No joy. BUT I discovered that every 22 seconds, a relay clicking sound occurs in the electronics cavity, and then the guitar sound comes on for 1/2 second or so.  So all of my previous observations about when the sound occurs are useless.  The sound comes on every 22 seconds, and has nothing to do with switch positions.  That was all coincidence.

 

Why would there be a relay in there?  And why would it trigger on for 1/2 second every 22 seconds?

Edited May 27, 2022 by jon_bondy
Refined "approximately 30 seconds" to "22 seconds"

[psarkissian]

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

 

The one with the tremolo is an 89F.

Register the guitars in your Line 6 account, then log a Support ticket in your account.

Sound like it will need to be gone through by an authorized Line 6 technician.

 

[cruisinon2]

On 5/27/2022 at 1:50 PM, jon_bondy said:

I pulled the back plate off to expose the electronics, put a battery in the guitar, and started gently pulling and pushing wires around to see if I could find an intermittent connection.  No joy. BUT I discovered that every 22 seconds, a relay clicking sound occurs in the electronics cavity, and then the guitar sound comes on for 1/2 second or so.  So all of my previous observations about when the sound occurs are useless.  The sound comes on every 22 seconds, and has nothing to do with switch positions.  That was all coincidence.

 

Why would there be a relay in there?  And why would it trigger on for 1/2 second every 22 seconds?

 

You can poke around in there until the end of time and you're not likely to figure it out. These guitars are touchy, and can easily go haywire if everything isn't "just right"...generally speaking, they work fine until one day they don't.

 

As for getting an answer to any technical questions regarding the inner workings of the electronics... don't hold your breath. Everything under the hood is proprietary, and the Mothership isn't gonna tell you anything beyond,  "If it's broken open a service ticket, or take it to an authorized service center".

[jon_bondy]

I wish I could register the guitar, but the last 2 digits of the serial number have worn off.  The guitar is on its way to an authorized repair shop in New Hampshire.  Fingers crossed.

[psarkissian]

"... why would it trigger on for 1/2 second every 22 seconds? " --- a short circuit. Three or four reasons for that.

Needs to be troubleshooted by an authorized Line 6 technician.