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Jtv-89f - Owners, What Do You Think Of It?


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Hi there 89F owners,

 

I have a 59 and though I love the look of it and the sounds, i'm missing not having a tremelo and to be honest i'm finding it a bit on the heavy side after a few hours of playing so i'm thinking of selling it on and getting an 89F.

I've already played a few 69s in the shops and didn't like them which is why i'm leaning towards an 89F but there are none locally to try so i'll have to buy "blind".

 

So.... Those of you who've bought them, how do you rate them? Sounds (I assume they'll be almost identical to the 59?) , feel, playability? Would you recommend one?

 

 

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I don't own an 89F, but I do own a 59 and a 69S, and they do play and sound different -- the mags for sure, but even the models are influenced by the physical configuration differences to some extent.

 

The tone woods, whether the guitar has a mahogany body & set mahogany neck (59) or an alder body and bolt-on maple neck & rosewood finger board (69) makes the physics of the units different -- and those do influence the vibrations that the piezo's pick up and the electronics shape for the modeling. I love them both for what they are. I did switch out the 69S's 3 single coil pups for noise cancelling units, as I had gotten spoiled by the lack of noise of hum buckers even after many many years of being a Fender guy...

 

I find myself using the mag PU's probably 80 - 90% of the time, and the models for certain signature sounds, plus of course the acoustics and specialty instruments, like the banjo.

 

On the models, I find the 59 nails the hum bucker guitars a little better than the 69, but the 69 nails the Fender-centric models a touch better. Both are good at all the models, but they tend to edge out the other for models more in their physical realm. Part of it could well be the feel and visual vibe, too - I admit. We are influenced by what our eyes and hands tell us as well as our ears, but that's my take on it.

 

If you can afford to keep your 59 and get the 89F, I'd suggest it. I personally was not as attracted to the 89's aesthetics, nor the 89F's FR whammy as I was initially drawn to the 59, and then the 69S when they came out with the classic 3 single coil PU's, which is when I jumped for the 2nd time last fall. But those are personal preferences only -- that's why it's nice to have the choices between the different models of the JTV's. 

 

Line 6 could expand those as well to semi-hollow and other body styles to attract players in those areas. The 3 basic styles they have now cover a LOT of players' familiar territory. One big thing L6 should work on is a left-handed version of at least one of the JTV body styles -- I think they have lost that segment of their target audience. Potential LH customers were begging for the LH models a couple of years ago, but you don't hear it so much, lately... Too bad...

 

My 2 cent's worth -- I'm sure you will get many other opinions on the subject. Now back to your regularly scheduled question...

 

Dave

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I own both the 59 and the 89F and have been quite happy with both instruments.  I play the 89F quite a lot probably due to the new guitar effect (I have had the 89F only 3 months, the 59 I have had over a year.)

 

They are two different instruments.  I agree the look of the 59 is more striking visually and also agree if you can afford it to keep it.  The playability of the 89F is excellent.  The magnetic pickups are definitely different and I really like the sound of the 89F pickups.  My bands swear the 89F sounds better (in Variax Mode) however when I have recorded the two in blind tests they can't tell the difference.  There is a subtle differences between the modeling sounds however I chalk this up to physical differences in the guitars vs. LR piezosvs Graphtech piezos.  The differences could be the different piezo makers but its impossible to separate from the physical differences.

 

Weight difference is neglible in my opinion but both guitars are lighter than my other instruments.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I bought a 89F a few weeks ago, for me, it sounds and plays superbly. You get a wide variety of tones with the 5 way selector playing the guitar normally, and other than the acoustics options, I haven't yet felt the urge to use the guitar modelling.

 

I think it is an excellent guitar.

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I have the 89F, been playing for about 3 months now and absolutely love it. Never used any other Variax's before this, although I did test out a 59 & 69 at GC. I have many guitars, but my main one before this was an Ibanez JS1000 and the neck on the 89F was a very very easy transition for me. I never use the tremolo much, but the other day I decided to install it and go bezerko on it. All I can say is wow! That sucker stayed in tune fantastically...took a bit to get use to the tension as its different than my JS or Peavey Wolfgang even, but EVH dive bombs to the pickups and back didn't phase the 89F trem at all...very very impressed!

 

I think the 89F is a heavy guitar and is probably going to be comparable to what your using now, so don't expect anything lighter.

 

Love the modeling, the alt tunings, the mag pups...but especially for me the neck.

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I own both the 59 and the 89F and have been quite happy with both instruments.  I play the 89F quite a lot probably due to the new guitar effect (I have had the 89F only 3 months, the 59 I have had over a year.)

 

They are two different instruments.  I agree the look of the 59 is more striking visually and also agree if you can afford it to keep it.  The playability of the 89F is excellent.  The magnetic pickups are definitely different and I really like the sound of the 89F pickups.  My bands swear the 89F sounds better (in Variax Mode) however when I have recorded the two in blind tests they can't tell the difference.  There is a subtle differences between the modeling sounds however I chalk this up to physical differences in the guitars vs. LR piezosvs Graphtech piezos.  The differences could be the different piezo makers but its impossible to separate from the physical differences.

 

Weight difference is neglible in my opinion but both guitars are lighter than my other instruments.

 

I think the piezos are definitely going to play a huge part, thought not too much, like you said.

The JTV Variaxes have an improvement in quality of the piezos than the V1 Variax guitars. The JTV LR Baggs are probably similar in quality as the Graphtechs, but they'll be a little off being from different companies.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have jtv89f for a week and i love it.. And it has a problem i wonder if other owners know about...The floydrose arm doesn't seem to be properly tight even i thighten the swrew sll the way up. It stays where i want but it makes noise like it is moving in the hole when i move it back and forth...is this a comman problem or the problem is on my bridge arm holder??

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