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Graphtech Ghost System In A 89f


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Yes and very happy with jtv89f. I also have jtv59 and while some people feel the graphtech piezos sound better than the lr piezos I personally cant separate the sound differences since both guitars play physically different. My band swears the jtv89 acoustics sound better but when I do a recording of both guitars they couldnt tell the difference. I really like the magnetic pickups in the 89f.

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Yes and very happy with jtv89f. I also have jtv59 and while some people feel the graphtech piezos sound better than the lr piezos I personally cant separate the sound differences since both guitars play physically different. My band swears the jtv89 acoustics sound better but when I do a recording of both guitars they couldnt tell the difference. I really like the magnetic pickups in the 89f.

 

Ghosts are really high quality piezos that are built to minimalize if not completely eliminate bad piezo characteristics, like the quacking and all.

 

I'm not too familiar with the new LR baggs system, but I know it's a major step above the original Variax 1 piezos, and  that's why people say the JTVs sound better than the V1 Variax, because it gets rid of some piezo artifacts.

 

I'm not sure how well it stacks up to the Ghost system, but I'm sure it's very high quality since it's SPECIFICALLY designed for the Variax this time. Variax 1 piezos were just x-bridge piezos stuck into it, and it wasn't really designed for the stuff the Variax is trying to do, but it passes with some minor flaws.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

Totaly awsome sauce

 

The feel of play is like an Ibanez RG serie of 1000$, flawless stay in tune whatever you do. Really challenge my 3k$ musicman john petrucci with the fun to play but add the versatility of the variax...

 

My only negative point on JTV-89f is that I never use mag pickups. I think they almost suck and position #2... I can't forgive them that they made half humbucker instead of half both to sound like strat #2 or ibanez #2 or petrucci middle...

 

but again

 

Totaly awsome sauce

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  • 4 months later...

Totaly awsome sauce

 

The feel of play is like an Ibanez RG serie of 1000$, flawless stay in tune whatever you do. Really challenge my 3k$ musicman john petrucci with the fun to play but add the versatility of the variax...

 

My only negative point on JTV-89f is that I never use mag pickups. I think they almost suck and position #2... I can't forgive them that they made half humbucker instead of half both to sound like strat #2 or ibanez #2 or petrucci middle...

 

but again

 

Totaly awsome sauce

Totally agree that the 89F guitar itself is very well made, the fret job is real good, action is low with no buzz, great floyd rose and a very resonant guitar but as you have said here the mag pick ups are totally useless, I'll be changing at least the bridge.

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  • 2 years later...

OK, I know it's been a whiles' for you triple bump folks, but I recently completed swapping the JTV 59P bridge with a Graphtech wraparound bridge.  Kind of good and bad. 

 

The good.  The new piezos are GORGEOUS, there are so many tones you get with the Graphtech that you don't hear with the stocks.  Particularly the acoustic sounds.  Evey better if you roll back your firmware to 1.71, lots of discussion on that, but I really like it. 

 

The bad.  the bridge doesn't fit the existing posts, so you have to remove the stock posts, slightly enlarge the holes, and install the new posts.  Be REALLY careful when removing the posts, you'll need to score the surrounding paint, so you don't chip it off (which I did, ugh.)  Then, the hole spacing is not quite wide enough, like fractions of a milimeter, so you'll need to dremel the new graphtech bridge to get it to fit.  And the last "bad", since the new ghosts are SO sensitive (you have to reduce the string volume to 10-20% of what the stocks were), somehow, it really messed up the custom tunings.  Also, since I am back to v1.71 firmware, you can't do the custom tuning in the software, just with the guitar itself.  What happens is you get this odd "warbling" effect, almost like a 12 string, but is completely unacceptable.  I've been able to program in acceptable -2, -1, and +1 capo custom tunings, but anything higher warbles like crazy.  So in effect, I've had to give up the custom tunings, which is too bad, I really loved those.  But it sounds SO good, I don't think I want to try to go back.

 

Line6 says the warble comes from out of adjustment mag height, albeit when I asked, I didn't tell them I did the ghost install... ?!?   (didn't want to get scolded.)

 

Looking backward?  Not sure I would have done it.  The stock sounds were "OK", and might have been better if I rolled back to 1.71 with the stock bridge, and I would have kept the custom tunings.  But now that I have it installed, I really like the sounds, and it would be extra hard to re-install the stock, so I'll keep it as is with the ghosts for now.... .

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 And the last "bad", since the new ghosts are SO sensitive (you have to reduce the string volume to 10-20% of what the stocks were), somehow, it really messed up the custom tunings.  Also, since I am back to v1.71 firmware, you can't do the custom tuning in the software, just with the guitar itself.  What happens is you get this odd "warbling" effect, almost like a 12 string, but is completely unacceptable.  I've been able to program in acceptable -2, -1, and +1 capo custom tunings, but anything higher warbles like crazy.  So in effect, I've had to give up the custom tunings, which is too bad, I really loved those.  But it sounds SO good, I don't think I want to try to go back.

 

Is the only reason you can't do the custom tunings because you're on the older firmware? Did you try it at all with the current firmware?

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Actually, there was no noticable string bleed, but the signal was very hot, clipping within the variax, so needed to reduce the gain.  And yea, v1.71 firmware is not supported by the new(er) HD software.  (HD requires v2.0 and above.)  While the newer HD software is MUCH nicer than the older version, AND allows software custom tuning, I REALLY like the sample of the older firmware, lots of posts on that.  So it's sort of a trade off.  Better software, worse tones, or better tones, worse software.  I picked the tones.  And I don't mind programming the tunings through the guitar, it's just the warbling I don't like....

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On mine 89f I love the stock pickups but don't like the Piezos that much. In 2.0 up they are very quaky and even in 1.71 sound a bit thin. Maybe it's a playing/muting style etc.... all don't matter to me. I need it to work the way I play, not the opposite. But the I love the way the guitar itself plays. The trem once improved with a stabilizer and setup properly is dang near impossible to knock out of tune.  

 

And as bonus, I had one of trem small lock blocks (small block that presses against the string) break on me. I contact Graph tech to get the proper part number and where to get them. Gutiar is out of warranty at this point. They send me the parts for free although I told them I likely over-tightened causing the problem. 

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