jtv69s pickup selector switch issue

[Aletrinus]

Hi! I've an issue with my JTV69S. After some variable time (max 20 minutes) when the modelling knob is ON the pickup selector can switch only the bridge and central position, while with modelling knob OFF the switch thru magnetic pickups without such issue (all the 5 position are ok). Anybod has the same issue? There's something to do?

[jandrio]

just guessing, may b the switch lose "contact" with the model selector...

seems like u need a support ticket....

 

have u tried reflashing latest f/w?

[Tooma]

Yes! I have the same problem - just happened yesterday. I have spent hours searching net and forums, and knowledge base for info - you are the first person I have found who also has this issue. I have just re-flashed the firmware twice - no difference. What is going on? Help please.

 

I only have two models to each model switch position selected - P5 to P2 plays one model, and P1 plays the other. If I start with  P1 after powering up I get P1 and P2 giving me the same model, and Ps 3 to 5 giving me another model - all the same one of course. If I then start with P5, I get the 4-1 ratio again, and it remains like that.

Edited August 27, 2014 by TOMMAU

[stevekc]

Re-seat all internal Ribbon cables - typically this is the fix

[Tooma]

Re-seat all internal Ribbon cables - typically this is the fix

Thanks Steve.

 

 Before I start unscrewing things, is it possible you could advise on the most likely place to begin? Which panel to unscrew first, front or rear?

[Tooma]

Hi! I've an issue with my JTV69S. After some variable time (max 20 minutes) when the modelling knob is ON the pickup selector can switch only the bridge and central position, while with modelling knob OFF the switch thru magnetic pickups without such issue (all the 5 position are ok). Anybod has the same issue? There's something to do?

 

Hi!

Did you make any progress with solving the problem?

[psarkissian]

Take it to an authorized service center. This is not some old electric guitar with passive electronics.

One wrong move and it will be bad, then it ends up on my bench. If you don't already know your way around the insides of this,

then it should be left to someone who has experience with this guitar. There are static sensitive components in there.

Pulling the pick-guard assembly on a 69-type guitar is not to be taken lightly.

[psarkissian]

Also, there maybe warranty implications should you do it yourself.

Would hate for you to break the warranty. That would suck should you

need to have it serviced later.

 

And I've serviced hundreds of these (literally speaking).

[Tooma]

Also, there maybe warranty implications should you do it yourself.

Would hate for you to break the warranty. That would suck should you

need to have it serviced later.

 

And I've serviced hundreds of these (literally speaking).

 

Hi, and thank you for your response psarkissian. I bought the guitar in May from a seller on Ebay. He stated the guitar was about 6 months old from when he bought it, but I understand the warranties are not transferable, so not a warranty issue.

 

I am willing to learn what I can before I start opening up my precious guitar. I have waited some years to get hold of one of these beauties, so I shall be very careful about anything I do to it.

 

Last I checked there were not any authorised service agents here in Scotland; has that changed? I dealt with the English service centre with my 700 Electric a few years ago and they damaged it, so I'm reluctant to send this guitar to them.

[psarkissian]

There's two really good techs at our Rugby location. I'm in touch with them constantly

about guitars. They're pretty good. Among the few people I would trust (besides myself)

to work on my three JTV's,... if only I lived in the UK, that "green and pleasant land".

 

Be careful if you decide to go into it yourself. It's not our gaffa's Gibson archtop or vintage

'59 Strat. It's a different kind of cat, need to cuddle it under the chin differently, or it'll bite.

 

Luck,...

[Tooma]

There's two really good techs at our Rugby location. I'm in touch with them constantly

about guitars. They're pretty good. Among the few people I would trust (besides myself)

to work on my three JTV's,... if only I lived in the UK, that "green and pleasant land".

 

Be careful if you decide to go into it yourself. It's not our gaffa's Gibson archtop or vintage

'59 Strat. It's a different kind of cat, need to cuddle it under the chin differently, or it'll bite.

 

Luck,...

 

Thanks again Ian(?)  I appreciate your advice, and I shall heed your warning.

 

Start looking front, or rear - what you reckon?

 

Here's another thing - the online instruction manual for the JTV69 talks about resetting the guitar by positioning the 5-way selector switch at 3 - holding down the model selector switch while inserting a 1/4" lead until both the selector and the alt tuning switch flash red - then releasing and pressing again, whereupon both switches will flash rapidly 3 times in red, to indicate all the models have been re-set. I have tried this many times, but it just never gets as far as the first red flashing. Is this a feature perhaps only available on models manufactured later than mine, or, is this yet another fault?

 

Regards,

 

Tooma.

[mdmayfield]

Unfortunately, the reset feature was removed:

 

 

 

Factory Reset and Updating the Flash Memory

Q: Why doesn't the Factory Reset procedure described in the manual work?
A: The reset procedure described in the JTV manual was removed from the JTV guitars to make room in the memory for the Variax HD Acoustic models that were added in flash memory update v1.80. All JTV guitars with flash memory v1.80 and newer no longer have this factory reset procedure available.

To perform a factory reset, re-install, rollback, or update the flash memory on the James Tyler Variax guitars, please use the following link:

Variax Reflash and Software update F.A.Q.

 

From http://line6.com/support/page/kb/_/guitars/james-tyler-variax-guitars/james-tyler-variax-general-faq-r31

[Tooma]

You do know a thing or two, iknowathingortwo. Thank you - that answers one question for sure. Bet you never heard that one before.  ;)

[scotterp]

Something similar happened to me tonight. All of a sudden, positions 1 and 2 would have be the same presets. Switching from position 1 to position 2 essentially did nothing regardless of what guitar setting I used. All other positions were fine. Playing through the mag pickups was not a problem.

 

I decided to reflash the memory. I was using version 1.9 and reflashed it. The situation remained. I have a gig Friday so I decided to save a my custom settings that I use in a different position than position 2. Only a couple so that was easy.

 

I also have a custom tuning that I use for practicing. When I set that up and saved it, position 2 worked again. All presets that you would expect in position 2 were now accessible for all guitars. I played for another 30 minutes and all was well.

 

Very strange.

[Tooma]

Strange indeed Scotterp. Is your guitar still OK? I am still waiting to see if any more information is posted before I try looking at the innards. I have asked a couple of people which panel they think I should remove first - still patiently waiting. :unsure:

[scotterp]

I will be practicing tonight and gigging tomorrow. I will report back after that on the status of the guitar.

[scotterp]

Sorry for the delay in getting back to this thread but... so far so good. The switch is acting normal in Variax mode in position 2. 

[Tooma]

Great Scott! - pleased for you man. I'm still waiting and hoping for more info - the problem I have is a wee bit different, but does seem related. Thanks for letting me know how your guitar is faring.

 

Gig on,

 

Tooma.

[Tooma]

Hi GH.

Are Support Tickets for anyone, or only for people with warranties?

[Serafimbob]

I had a similar technical issue occur on my first JTV-69. All model voicings in Pickup Selector positions 2 and 4 disappeared and would only duplicate the model voicings at positions 1 and 5. Reflashing the guitar with Workbench didn't help at all. Line6 Tech Support told me the guitar was defective and advised sending it to a service facility or to the factory. 

 

I'd only had that guitar for 18 days so took it back to the store and they exchanged it. Now the SECOND Variax has a dead magnetic neck pickup. Ggggrrrr! Everything worked fine until yesterday morning. Am wondering whether to return this guitar, get my money back, and buy a "normal" guitar..... :-(

[cruisinon2]

I had a similar technical issue occur on my first JTV-69. All model voicings in Pickup Selector positions 2 and 4 disappeared and would only duplicate the model voicings at positions 1 and 5. Reflashing the guitar with Workbench didn't help at all. Line6 Tech Support told me the guitar was defective and advised sending it to a service facility or to the factory.

 

I'd only had that guitar for 18 days so took it back to the store and they exchanged it. Now the SECOND Variax has a dead magnetic neck pickup. Ggggrrrr! Everything worked fine until yesterday morning. Am wondering whether to return this guitar, get my money back, and buy a "normal" guitar..... :-(

Its pretty much impossible to kill a mag pickup itself. Its likely that the problem lies further up the chain...I'm guessing its either the model selector knob, or the selector switch. If its just the one pickup, maybe its a dirty contact on the neck position. Do you get the right sound with the mags in the neck/middle position, or does it sound like you're only getting the middle pickup? Solution may be as simple as a blast with some contact cleaner.

[Serafimbob]

I only get the Middle Pickup (magnetic one) in the Neck/Middle position. The neck pickup is 100% silent -- no noise, hum, nothing. But with the Model Selector knob activated, ALL those position 5 voices work. Don't have any contact cleaner to spray into the blade switch right now.

 

Was planning to take the axe to trusted guitar tech at Guitar Center for a setup anyway. Just not sure how willing he is to pull the guitar pick assembly off this guitar to check for cold solder joints.

[Serafimbob]

Guys, I would absolutely LOVE to have a schematic diagram (or 2 or 3) of the JTV. Or even a picture of what's underneath the pickguard! It's obviously a heck of a complicated piece of musical technology, and these forums kinda give me the idea how prone these guitars are to technical glitches. My wife wants me to return my Variax to the factory for a complete going-over. ("Stop bitchin' about it, just send it back to the people that made it so it'll be 100%").

 

[denizturgut]

Hi All I have the same problem. Does any body sucessfully solved the problem. Flashing does not work

[Kevbo4]

County me in the crew of people with problem 5-way switches. My less than a year old JTV-69 plays fine when turned on for modeling. All 5 positions work, so whatever row of contacts is responsible for that is just fine. Turn off the modeling and the middle mag pickup is seemingly dead though it did work perfectly for seven or eight months since I acquired the guitar. There was no scratchiness or behavior like oxidation or residue had built up on contacts.

I discovered if you pressed the 5-way switch one way or the other, the contact was reestablished and the mag pickup worked fine again. Unfortunately, after doing that a couple times to troubleshoot, it no longer wanted to do that again. Further stressing it only results in the soft metal switch itself bending. Exercising the switch had made no difference when I initially tried troubleshooting it.

So replacement is the sensible route though if forced to, I could live with things as is as long as the modeling and switching worked. I'm aware of the warranty violation that would result from a DIY but I live in the boondocks nowhere near authorized repair centers and a couple stops off the beaten path for delivery. There was an authorized repair center just a town or two away, I believe, but they succombed to the Internet after 37 years in business and closed last year.

Has anyone here replaced the 5-way switch already on the PCB in their JTV-69 (or similar)?

I'm not afraid of getting my soldering tip dirty and treading carefully around the more crucial innards. I'll update here if I ever get around to it. It appears a few people around these forums have replaced pots though.

For anyone else looking through the forums looking for the info I've found so far:

FullCompass sells a 5-way switch labeled for the 300 but I imagine if that was indeed a suitable replacement, you'd still have to mount it on the board after removing the previous one. That's a PIA and adds more solder points to have to worry about in the long run. A post at VGuitar on JTV replacement parts points to this already mounted JTV69 User Interface Kit. I think there's only a couple of wires to be detached/reattached for replacement but I will closer examine the photos linked below soon.

A look inside the guts of Variax, where I believe someone is working on a JTV-69 http://www.snapagogo.com/user/album.php?id=830

 

Related thread: http://line6.com/support/topic/6413-pickup-selector-switch/

[cruisinon2]

I discovered if you pressed the 5-way switch one way or the other, the contact was reestablished and the mag pickup worked fine again. Unfortunately, after doing that a couple times to troubleshoot, it no longer wanted to do that again. Further stressing it only results in the soft metal switch itself bending. Exercising the switch had made no difference when I initially tried troubleshooting it.

 

Has anyone here replaced the 5-way switch already on the PCB in their JTV-69 (or similar)?

 

Scratchiness or no, that certainly sounds like a contact issue to me. I had a similar problem with a 5-way on a 7-string I bought earlier this year...was getting no sound at all from the neck pickup, but jiggling the switch a little would get it to work intermittently. This was a brand new guitar, so I wouldn't expect much in the way of oxidation on the switch, but one squirt with contact cleaner and all is well...hasn't been a problem since. It's certainly worth a shot before taking out the scalpel.

[clay-man]

If it's not disconnected circuitry and just the pickup switch acting up, I fixed my Variax 600 by spraying plastic-safe electronic contact cleaner into the pickup selector, wagged the selector back and forth for about 15 seconds, and bam, brand new. No more position 5 being read as position 4 ocassionally.

 

 

If it is because of a disconnection in the guitar, this wont help your problem, but if the problem is inconsistent, then it points towards the pickups selector being dirty.

Either way, be safe when working on the guitar.

[Kevbo4]

Thanks, guys. I will most definitely go the contact cleaner route first! WIll report back when I get a chance.

(Ultimately the solution is to buy more guitars in the future. Color of cable doesn't match guitar? Better get another guitar to solve the situation.)

[clay-man]

Thanks, guys. I will most definitely go the contact cleaner route first! WIll report back when I get a chance.

 

(Ultimately the solution is to buy more guitars in the future. Color of cable doesn't match guitar? Better get another guitar to solve the situation.)

 

Remember, it has to be SAFE ON PLASTIC, and FOR ELECTRONICS.

 

Don't use car contact cleaners, and don't use ones that can damage plastic.

1/4 second spray on each side of the pickup selector should do fine, then wiggle it back and forth for like, 10-15 seconds.

MaxPro did great for me

http://ep.yimg.com/ay/attictrunk/12-case-max-professional-contact-cleaner-4-ounce-or-11-ounce-19.gif

 

If it doesn't work, then some ribbon cable or connection might be disconnected.

[Kevbo4]

Well, that was almost disappointingly simple.

Wait a week-and-a-half for can of (DeoxIT D5) contact cleaner (plastic safe) to arrive with other stuff I bought. Open package, Attach straw. PHSHHT! Problem solved!

[mcbeddall]

How annoying!

[cruisinon2]

Well, that was almost disappointingly simple.

 

Wait a week-and-a-half for can of (DeoxIT D5) contact cleaner (plastic safe) to arrive with other stuff I bought. Open package, Attach straw. PHSHHT! Problem solved!

Lol...at least it worked. I love solutions that require 0.83 seconds of bench time, and cost 11 cents (if that). ;)

[guitarnstuff]

I have intermittent problems with the middle position of the 5 way on mags only. Contact cleaner fixes for a week then problem returns. Almost as if the contact point tolerance isn't as tight for one point. Trying to decide if it's worth repair or just add a contact cleaner to gig bag along with all the other contingency items.