My Tyler Variax so far....

[flyingvees]

I finally entered into digital land with my Tyler Variax JTV-69. The guitar is heavier than I prefer and the jumbo frets arent my favorite but it has become an indispensable tool in my arsenal. I use 5 custom tunings ( virtual capo ) and the drop d all night along with standard of course.

I mainly use the Tele bridge for my country gig but have adapted the LP and Spank models as well. What was really a suprise is the chime settings when strumming ( they sound too keyboardy with single notes.) Also I have never liked the locking tuners but for this application they work great and havent been that much of a problem...

The only gripes I have are that my battery charger is bad so I have to spend another 50 bucks since I got it used and the seller didnt buy it new either I guess. And the bridge is awfully finicky to me while changing strings, the ball ends seem to pass through the bridge way to easy and you have to get them lodged in there just right.

Overall though I am a very happy camper and actually looked into the US made ones until I saw the price and realized that the Korean version is just fine with me....

 

[splatt]

cool!
i'm expecting one of these any day now, and looking forward to it.

 

[derek_32999]

Ya, I don't dig the jumbo frets, either. I love the guitar, tho. lol

 

[bigtone82]

How do you guys like the ES 335 model?

 

[Pietro]

I'd also like smaller frets on my Korean 59, but I've very quickly gotten used to it. I'm really diggin' some of the impossibly odd guitars you can make with the Workbench software, too. Way too much fun.

Also, the Korean one plays and sounds as good as a LOT of US guitars I've played. No complaints about THAT!

 

[derek_32999]

Love it. Sounds VERY similar to the Yamaha SA 2200 I have. I also found a download for "Eric Johnson 335" and it smokes for jazzier/bluesier tones.

 

[bluesdoc]

I appreciated the (69 Korean) amazing tones and all, but found myself just feeling uncomfortable all the time. All my other guitars weigh around 6.5# and that's home base for me. An 8+# guitar is just foreign and uncomfortable for me and my decrepit old body. And in some ways, it was a distraction from just playing. Fortunately, my rhythm guitarist in our band 'had to have it' after I loaned it to him, so I gave him a good price and it sits in our studio so I can pick it up whenever. But the whole experience gave me a new appreciation for the sounds that I DO get out of my other guitars. They're just me and fit like a glove.

jon

 

[derek_32999]

Really, I wouldn't mind doing a square trade for a 69 model for the trem/body contour. I didn't buy that model in the beginning due to the reports of string slippage and all... Also, in hind sight it would be better with the 5 way switch, IMO. However, the stock hums on the 59 sound good to me.

 

[Rocket Brother]

I A/B-ed the Korean and the US JTV 69 in a shop a month or so ago.
Both guitars are great and the Korean model is certainly great bang to the buck and a great workhorse.
I found the US model to be a really great guitar and although expensive not overly so considering what it has to offer.
I decided that day to add a US JTV 69 to my collection and will do so shortly.
Splatt, I know we share the love for guitars from at least one great builder, and I can only phantom what a player of your caliber could do with a JTV 69

 

[hobbes1]

flyingvees: i have a JTV-69 korean model as well. had to send it back to line6 for repair because of the keyboard-y sounds for the single notes on the 12 string models. apparently, there is some sort of piezo problem with mine. you might want to look into seeing if there is a repair option for yours. haven't gotten mine back yet so not sure what the exact fix will be. you can post at the line6 forum and they can open a support/repair ticket for you.

 

[scotchtape800]

Any one try the 89 as well?
I'd rather get the 59 but the weight concerns me.
Also I have no way of trying before I buy...

 

[Pietro]

Any one try the 89 as well?
I'd rather get the 59 but the weight concerns me.
Also I have no way of trying before I buy...

No, I haven't tried it, but the weight of the 59 is not bad at all. very manageable.

Remember also that the 89 has a super-skinny neck.

 

[emux2]

I played an 89 at GC last week. The neck is thin but not ibanez thin. I mainly have carvins and I thought the neck wasn't too thin. I was suprised by the stock pickups. They sounded real good. The alt tunings still seemed to have a slight delay which leads to a disconnected feeling. The single coil and acoustic sounds were great. I have a carvin/vax300 conversion but am thinking of selling to buy one of these. Have not decided yet.

 

[scotchtape800]

After I got a strat I did not miss the weight of my ex-lp at all!

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[mikeyen]

I have the 59 - doesn't feel any heavier than any other LP I've played. Absolutely love the guitar - it's not going to replace my trusty Studio, but it just about covers everything else, and is just a heck of a lot of fun to play.

Mike

 

[Ldavey]

Got a Korean JTV '69 a couple weeks back. Wanted to chime in as a longtime tgp'er and early adopter of the original Variax. I like the neck and bigger frets on the new model. Got tired of waiting to try one in a store somewhere, so went ahead and took the plunge anyway. Glad I did.

Slightly off-topic, but deliberately so--Found this thread doing a search for alt tunings to find a good book that covered chords in a range of tunings. Now that it's right easy to hop into a different tuning, wanted to build up my ability to use some of the tunings offered on the Tyler Variax. Can anyone offer suggestions? Will continue my search, but was hoping someone could come up with an idea or two.

 

[scotchtape800]

One "easy" way to do it is just learn from songs in alternate tunings

 

[travisvwright]

I wish my 59 had a belly carve, other than that it's really great, in all respects.

I really like darker sounds. I almost never play with the tone on 10 and I always play on just the neck pickup of all of my guitars. I found with the JTV I can't use a V pick. I had to go back to my Ultex Jazz 3. I normally like my V pick for electrics and use the Ultex just for my acoustic but for some reason the JTV also needs the ultex. I might have to look into unbuffed V picks.

 

[derek_32999]

I found that the default sound on the tone knob is about 8. Anything higher than that thins out the sound, imo. All of my Variax patches on my HD500 are set at 80% tone. That way if I am not cutting through enough, I can just adjust a lil on the tone knob as needed.

The other way I have used it is set the tone knob on full and back it off to 8 for what sounds like a mid boost

 

[gurumonkey]

@derek actually, full on is acurrate. it's the just back sound that's abnormal. of course, some people like it, so that's good for them, but it's a bug that's been around since the first variax's. i asked about it in a line 6 forum a while back, and they know all about it, but it must be something that's difficult to change because they haven't updated it. it's a slight volume boost, which makes rolling back the tone a little different using the models vs the mags.