Members DrFunky Posted May 22, 2012 Members Share Posted May 22, 2012 Hi Craig, I am a little surprised that you experienced some computer problems... I thought I was the only one! The 1.82 firmware seemed to take forever when I did it too. I am still having the issue with the server error when I try to upload to Customtone so I will call Line 6 when they open in an hour or so; maybe they can walk me thru it. I think the presets I picked will give people a much better idea of what the dream rig can do- more than the ones that Line 6 sent with the the Pod HD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members metfoo Posted May 22, 2012 Members Share Posted May 22, 2012 Originally Posted by DrFunky Hi Craig, I am a little surprised that you experienced some computer problems... I thought I was the only one! The 1.82 firmware seemed to take forever when I did it too. I am still having the issue with the server error when I try to upload to Customtone so I will call Line 6 when they open in an hour or so Maybe they can walk me thru it. I think the presets I picked will give people a much better idea of what the dream rig can do; more than the ones that Line 6 sent with the the Pod HD. I used the USB puck, and an update from 1.7x to 1.82 took forever for me too. I'm guessing previous revisions were quicker? The actual update went without any issues for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted May 22, 2012 Author Members Share Posted May 22, 2012 Originally Posted by metfoo I used the USB puck, and an update from 1.7x to 1.82 took forever for me too. I'm guessing previous revisions were quicker? The actual update went without any issues for me. I suspect that the data is being moved at MIDI baud rates...this reminds me of moving samples with the Sample Dump Standard The length of the update didn't concern me as much as the guitar acting up afterward, but given that it's all working fine now, I need to isolate which element of the system caused the problem. Given that the guitar and HD500 didn't change, it has to be one of the elements that did change, which narrows it down to the USB port or a cable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted May 22, 2012 Author Members Share Posted May 22, 2012 It's really easy to create custom tunings with the JTV-59, as in, easy enough you could do it in seconds between songs if you wanted an "instant electronic capo."You push down and hold the Model knob until you get two flashing lights, which means you're in "Do a tuning, dude!" mode. With the Tunings knob, you select where you want the tuning to live, and then you play frets that indicate the amount of detuning you want. These are referenced to the 12th fret so it you want to capo down a full semitone, you just play the 10th fret on each string.You can then listen to the tuning and if you dig it, you save it. Simple. Now, given that there are 10 slots where you can store tunings, you have to decide what to give up. There are factory presets for a semitone down and a full step down, and given how easy it is to "capo," I figured one of these was redundant, so I'd store my Nashville Tuning in the semitone down slot.However...the JTV-59 tops out at 22 frets, making it impossible to hit the 24th fret and tell the guitar how to do the alternate tuning. So, time to take a trip to the Workbench... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted May 22, 2012 Author Members Share Posted May 22, 2012 Well, this was easy. After connecting everything so the Variax can talk to the Workbench, you load the model, enable alternate tunings, and create the tuning you want by moving dots around on the virtual neck. Instant Nashville tuning: Check out the audio example. This tuning preset is a keeper Did I say it was easy? Three observations: I thought the octave higher sounded better with the acoustics than the electrics, which surprised me; I thought it would be the other way around. The electric sound was perfectly useable for rhythm parts, but the octave higher strings did sound "different" when plucked individually. I could not create alternate tunings with any of the 12-string models, either acoustic or electric. I assume this is some kind of inherent issue with the nature of these models, and unless Line 6 has a workaround, I think you need to consider the 12-string models as off-limits for alternate tunings. While checking out the 12-string options with Workbench, you can alter the mix of the octave string, as well as the amount of detuning. This is great, because I wanted the octave strings a little bit louder than in the stock Rickenbacker 360 12-string patch. Just changing the octave levels from 29 to 32 (on a scale of 1 to 100) did the trick. Furthermore, back in the day when I played Rickenbacker 12-string in a power trio setting, I had converted it into a 10-string by not doubling the upper two strings, which allowed me to play single-note leads with more facility. Guess what? By turning down the volume for the doubled strings with Variax Workbench, I was able to emulate my Rickenbacker 10-string sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DrFunky Posted May 22, 2012 Members Share Posted May 22, 2012 Well I finally got all the Presets that I put in my Best of HD Setlist uploaded... if you are interested in trying any of them out just go to Customtone.com and press the picture of the Pod HD 500 to get tones. As there are over 300 pages now and mine are the last ones entered I would double click author under the expanded view (button upper Right) when you get to the first page. All the Presets were listed under author, DrFunk- the first ones came on page 69 of the Author group. sorry the presets are in a strange order. I put them in Cln, semi clean, crunch and Lead for each bank of which there are 16 banks, but then it all wound up in reverse and then Line 6 shuffled a lot! So, if these are of use to you and you want to use some of them for banks you will find those kinds of programs there. Enjoy!Please refer to my post from last night in this forum for information on setting up DT amps or non DT amps with this and for other information that I left about the presets.My Line 6 moniker is DrFunk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members metfoo Posted May 22, 2012 Members Share Posted May 22, 2012 Originally Posted by DrFunky My Line 6 moniker is DrFunk http://line6.com/customtone/profile/DrFunk/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DrFunky Posted May 22, 2012 Members Share Posted May 22, 2012 Thanks Metfoo! this is great and the tones are now back in the order I put them in for the most part! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blave Posted May 22, 2012 Members Share Posted May 22, 2012 I came across this thread via the Line6 emailer that I'm subscribed to.I would love to read the whole thing, but it would be an exercise in frustration because Line 6 can't seem to find the energy to build a left hand version. I have been following a thread on their forums about this for about a year and a half, and despite early indications that they would build one for "us" it hasn't happened. It's very frustrating; there are a bunch of lefties out there (including me) that would buy one the moment it came out.Back in the days before CNC manufacturing existed I would've had more understanding about the tooling costs associated with building 'em "backwards" but really, in today's world, how hard is this?Dave B.San Jose, CA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted May 22, 2012 Author Members Share Posted May 22, 2012 Originally Posted by blave I came across this thread via the Line6 emailer that I'm subscribed to. I would love to read the whole thing, but it would be an exercise in frustration because Line 6 can't seem to find the energy to build a left hand version. I have been following a thread on their forums about this for about a year and a half, and despite early indications that they would build one for "us" it hasn't happened. It's very frustrating; there are a bunch of lefties out there (including me) that would buy one the moment it came out. Back in the days before CNC manufacturing existed I would've had more understanding about the tooling costs associated with building 'em "backwards" but really, in today's world, how hard is this? Dave B. San Jose, CA Hey, I'm still waiting for a left-handed laptop, where the card slots and such are on the right-hand side The way things work for me, if I want to use an external mouse on the left side, it ends up being multiple inches away from the laptop because the left side is where all the ports are. Fortunately, I play guitar right-handed because my guitar teacher when I was a kid thought that left-handedness was a sign of being a disciple of the devil or something like that. As a result, I play really complex chords...really slowly I presume it's a question of demand and all that, but if the JTV Variax takes off the way it deserves to, I doubt that a left-handed model would be too far behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thormusique Posted May 24, 2012 Members Share Posted May 24, 2012 All I can say is ... Wow!! I swear that I can hear subtle variations in the type of wood from model to model. Better yet, it's as if you can hear that magic space right near the wood itself, where the body is resonating into slightly humid air. (I know, I need to get out more.) But seriously, I'm in awe. The only Line 6 piece of gear I currently own is an M13 Stombox Modeler, which I love, but I think the Dream Rig may be in my future.Craig, thanks so much for this wonderful review. While I'm at it, I've been reading your reviews for at least 25 years now, and you're always the "final word" for me (besides trusting my ears, of course) regarding any piece of technology or its use(s). So, a belated Thank You for all that. I'm greatly looking forward to reading more. All the best! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DrFunky Posted May 24, 2012 Members Share Posted May 24, 2012 Metfoo- good thread on Line 6 Variax support 4 alternate VDI cable- they applaud the Line 6 accessory which costs $30 is 25 feet and heavy duty cable parts worth ~ $20. Can be purchased from Line 6 store or Musician's Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted May 24, 2012 Author Members Share Posted May 24, 2012 Originally Posted by DrFunky Metfoo- good thread on Line 6 Variax support 4 alternate VDI cable- they applaud the Line 6 accessory which costs $30 is 25 feet and heavy duty cable parts worth ~ $20. Can be purchased from Line 6 store or Musician's Friend. ...and here's the link for the product page on Musician's Friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted May 24, 2012 Author Members Share Posted May 24, 2012 Originally Posted by thormusique All I can say is ... Wow!! I swear that I can hear subtle variations in the type of wood from model to model. Better yet, it's as if you can hear that magic space right near the wood itself, where the body is resonating into slightly humid air. (I know, I need to get out more.) But seriously, I'm in awe. I have to say this is SUCH a great guitar to review. It's one of those products where I can't help but get a smile on my face when I pick it up and start playing. The models really nail the guitar sounds to a freakishly accurate degree, but it's the flexibility that really rocks. I did a quick alternate tuning for the sitar sound to get a tamboura drone (all tonics and fifths). Took me a couple minutes, and now I have a Line 6 Variax tamoura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members metfoo Posted May 24, 2012 Members Share Posted May 24, 2012 Originally Posted by Anderton ...and here's the link for the product page on Musician's Friend. I purchased one from amazon. Its much better than the included one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members toothinhand Posted May 25, 2012 Members Share Posted May 25, 2012 Originally Posted by DrFunky Metfoo- good thread on Line 6 Variax support 4 alternate VDI cable- they applaud the Line 6 accessory which costs $30 is 25 feet and heavy duty cable parts worth ~ $20. Can be purchased from Line 6 store or Musician's Friend. Hello Dr Funky, Nice interaction between ya'll. I feel like I've been getting a free class in Line6, and I was a dealer. As far as the pickups for your 69 go, I have a suggestion. Seymour dose pickups custom with white bobbins I believe. I'd go with a custom custom in the bridge, a duckbucker in the middle and a Lil 59 in the neck. If you use an original mega switch for your five way you get bridge, bridge middle, bridge neck, middle neck and neck for your five positions. if you can get someone to put a 4pdt switch in there, you can wire the bridge and neck pickups in series parallel to one switch. What this setup dose is give you all the strat, tele and les paul-ish sounds, but it's all hum canceling. You just think of the series parallel switch as hot or clean. And the five way is the same accept for the middle position. there you get bridge and neck like a tele or les p. My jam night guitar is set up like this and it's great. Kind of weird going through all that trouble to get a bunch of different sounds with the mag's in a guitar that gives you all of those combinations with the the mod's. But think about it. You could run the mag's with one sound, and the mod's with a totally different setup and sound like two players at once. Throw in the harmonizer in the HD500 and look out Brian May! On another note, can anyone tell me how muck room there is between the electronic guts in the 59 and the top. I've been thinking of get'n one but I've got Bigsbys on every guitar I own. I'm just wondering if there's enough room for even some short screws in the top. Also, is the bridge locked in place like a Tone Pros. I've never worked with that bridge before. Thanks Kidz, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DrFunky Posted May 25, 2012 Members Share Posted May 25, 2012 Thanks Tooth! Really good suggestions... I already ordered the Custom Trembucker and 2 Fender Customshop "Fat 50's" single coils (I'm a Strat guy). This is exactly what is on Fender CustomShop Showmaster Strats. Mine will all be in matching Cream. The scratch plate is mint but this Combo looks good and will sound very good and as you say, be a little different than the strat setup on the Line 6 models. The wiring you mentioned I will have done for the JTV also because that IS the wiring scheme on the Showmaster's, and you are right, much quieter and sounds great! I found out from a Line 6 thread that if you do stuff like this it voids your warranty, but I have never had any problems with my Line 6 gear and as long as they don't disturb the wiring from Line 6 from piezo's for Variax I don't think there will be any trouble. we'll see when they try to remove the JTV PU's. I found the wiring scheme for all 3 JTV Variax's on that Line 6 support forum page when I got to JTV Variax. (The mag wiring that is).Sorry I can't help you with the Bigsby. I am s strat guy. But if you go to Line 6 support forums, for Variax support/ JTV Variax, there are many threads on modifying the JTV 59. A fellow named Neal (AKA MerlinFl) seems to be especially well versed in modifications of the JTV 59. He should be able to answer your questions.You might also check out the dialogue that is going on about the differences between the USA and the Korean JTV 59 which Craig brought up here. MerlinFL is involved in that one too and might be a good place to ask him this question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members toothinhand Posted May 25, 2012 Members Share Posted May 25, 2012 Originally Posted by DrFunky Thanks Tooth! Really good suggestions... I already ordered the Custom Trembucker and 2 Fender Customshop "Fat 50's" single coils (I'm a Strat guy). This is exactly what is on Fender CustomShop Showmaster Strats. Mine will all be in matching Cream. The scratch plate is mint but this Combo looks good and will sound very good and as you say, be a little different than the strat setup on the Line 6 models. The wiring you mentioned I will have done for the JTV also because that IS the wiring scheme on the Showmaster's, and you are right, much quieter and sounds great! I found out from a Line 6 thread that if you do stuff like this it voids your warranty, but I have never had any problems with my Line 6 gear and as long as they don't disturb the wiring from Line 6 from piezo's for Variax I don't think there will be any trouble. we'll see when they try to remove the JTV PU's. I found the wiring scheme for all 3 JTV Variax's on that Line 6 support forum page when I got to JTV Variax. (The mag wiring that is). Sorry I can't help you with the Bigsby. I am s strat guy. But if you go to Line 6 support forums, for Variax support/ JTV Variax, there are many threads on modifying the JTV 59. A fellow named Neal (AKA MerlinFl) seems to be especially well versed in modifications of the JTV 59. He should be able to answer your questions. You might also check out the dialogue that is going on about the differences between the USA and the Korean JTV 59 which Craig brought up here. MerlinFL is involved in that one too and might be a good place to ask him this question. Thanks Again, I'll check the other threads. What I'd really like would be to find someone, a dealer perhaps, that got one of the Variax's in damaged. I'd just like the guts. I build my own guitars and would love to put one together around the Tyler Variax hardware. Have Fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DrFunky Posted May 25, 2012 Members Share Posted May 25, 2012 RE- Variax guts:I have heard of people doing that and successfully Tooth... but if you can't locate one (I learned from Line 6 today that the Line 6 Variax guts are worth ~ $6-700 and are exactly the same in all US and Korean Variax's). If you can not find a defective used JTV then the Korean JTV 89's are $1,300 new. I see that Adrian Belew has Variax innards in his $12,000 signature Parker Fly! So have fun building your own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tommy.Tequila Posted May 25, 2012 Members Share Posted May 25, 2012 This is a great review, I'm very interested in the JTV variax line. I tend towards strat and mahogany guitars -- I like them light and resonant. My main questions: 1) Does the trem on the 69 affect the tracking or tone? For example, I have a Godin with synth access, and the trem on it tends to cause tracking issues (mistracking, 'bongs', etc., ) due to trem arm/spring resonances that are picked up by the piezos.2) Has anyone used/compared the 89 vs 69 re weight and resonance (talking about uplugged, pure wood here.)Thanks in advance,TT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted May 25, 2012 Author Members Share Posted May 25, 2012 Originally Posted by Tommy.Tequila This is a great review, I'm very interested in the JTV variax line. I tend towards strat and mahogany guitars -- I like them light and resonant. My main questions: 1) Does the trem on the 69 affect the tracking or tone? For example, I have a Godin with synth access, and the trem on it tends to cause tracking issues (mistracking, 'bongs', etc., ) due to trem arm/spring resonances that are picked up by the piezos. 2) Has anyone used/compared the 89 vs 69 re weight and resonance (talking about uplugged, pure wood here.) Thanks in advance, TT I can't comment as I'm using the JTV-59, but remember there's no tracking involved - this isn't a MIDI guitar, but uses digital signal processing on the individual strings to create the models. So, the "tracking" would be as good as, say, the "tracking" with a chorus or reverb. As to tone, I don't really see any way the vibrato tailpiece could interfere with the tone any more than it would with a standard guitar. In almost all respects, the Variax IS a standard guitar...it just happens to have DSP to model different guitar sounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tommy.Tequila Posted May 26, 2012 Members Share Posted May 26, 2012 Thanks for the quick reply! I seem to remember hearing reports of 'pinging' overtones, etc., in the old variax line due to trem spring/piezo interaction. Was just wondering if anyone with a 69 had experienced it with the JTV models.I'll try and find a 69 and 89 to try myself...TT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dramey Posted May 26, 2012 Members Share Posted May 26, 2012 I don't know about the other 2 models, but the 59 is the heaviest guitar I have ever owned. It really my only gripe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DrFunky Posted May 26, 2012 Members Share Posted May 26, 2012 Toothinhand,I found the answer to your question on Line 6 JTV forum from a few days ago. Quoting Crusty Old Rocker, a Line 6 employee:"You will get a terrible result with the modelled tones. The reason is the Piezo PUs in the bridge saddles...When operating a Bigsby Trem, the strings actually move over the bridge saddles. With magnetic PUs this works fine but having a string physically rubbing itself against a Piezo PU is going to be heard and the sound will be very loud and very nasty. I would suggest you look at the Stetsbar bridge...http//stetsbar.com/"I hope this is of some help,Funky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members toothinhand Posted May 26, 2012 Members Share Posted May 26, 2012 Originally Posted by Tommy.Tequila Thanks for the quick reply! I seem to remember hearing reports of 'pinging' overtones, etc., in the old variax line due to trem spring/piezo interaction. Was just wondering if anyone with a 69 had experienced it with the JTV models. I'll try and find a 69 and 89 to try myself... TT Hello Tom, And any one else who may have had this problemo. The pinging from the springs comes from the springs being enveloped in the magnetic field of the pickups. It happens when the trem block it cut shorter than a standard strat or floyd trem, like a PRS. Because the body is thinner the need for the shorter block is apparent. I had this problem with my PRS custom, and a couple of guitars I built early on. What I did to get around it was to cut some thin foam strips from some pickup packaging and stuffed it into the spring to act as damping. It's a pain in the butt to do. What works best is to use thin tweezers to feed from one side, and pull from the other. I'm guessing this would help with any piezo trem pickup, if that's where they are getting the "acoustic" sound. But as Mr Anderton so aptly pointed out, the acoustic sounds on the Variax are modeled. Hope This Helps, T.I.H. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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