When it comes to playing guitar, a decent Stratocaster played through a tube screamer pedal hooked up to a good valve amp is where I am at. I do however like to experiment from time to time with other things, and am not adverse to trying a bit of new technology (or in this case not quite so new).
I recently found out that the Korean JTV guitars had dropped in price quite a bit, and Line 6 had also updated the software, so I did a lot of research, watched all the YouTube videos, looked at all the positive vs negative comments about the guitar, and then decided to take the plunge and buy one to try out properly.
I would say the guitar itself compares with other guitars I have that cost around £350 - £400 (UK), so add in the electronics, and a price of around £700 is probably about right. I think the original price of £1000+ was too high for what you are getting.
The original set up wasn't great on the guitar, the intonation was out, but quite easy to fix, the open high E & B strings sounded a bit dead so I needed to file the nut slots to cure that. It had 10 gauge strings fitted as standard, so I changed these for 9 gauge which I prefer, and I also had to lower the action a little. I am not using the tremolo, so that has been tightened down for now.
Quite a few JTV owners have changed the neck on their guitars and I can see why as it's quite chunky at the nut end, not really a problem for me though, I found it quite comfortable after a while and I think it's a good compromise for all the different guitar styles that you will be playing. The problem with the E string slipping off the edge of the neck has either been sorted out, or varies with each guitar, mine doesn't seem to have that problem.
I saw a YouTube video flagging up a problem with palm muting when using the modelled guitars. I use palm muting quite a lot, so was a bit concerned about this. I am glad to say that the software update since that particular video was made seems to have cured this.
The thing I was most interested in was the ability to use lots of different tunings, I played Small Hours by John Martyn (CFCCGD), Amelia by Joni Mitchell (Open C), Romeo and Juliet by Dire Straits (FBbFBbDF, no capo required!), Kashmir by Led Zeppelin(DADGAD), and a few things using Keith Richards favourite Open G, all done without touching a tuning peg, now that's pretty cool.
I have upgraded the firmware in the guitar to 2.01 so I can now use the new HD Workbench and sounds. The software is very easy to use and means you can store endless different tunings and guitar set ups.As for the sound of the modelled guitars, I have found them all very usable, as long as you use the correct technique for each particular model, you can get some great results.
The acoustic sounds should be fed into a PA or an acoustic amp for a more accurate representation of the real thing. The 12-strings in particular need the most care with your technique to get the best out of them.
I would recommend getting the XPS-AB box which switches the path of the signal, enabling you to change from a guitar amp to acoustic amp/PA. Using a stereo cable with this box will also power the guitar without having to use the battery. The battery will however easily last through a long gig, or for that matter an all day rehearsal. If the battery does run out, you can just use the guitar with the regular pickups.
One of the best ways to test a JTV out properly is to get it into a band situation and play as many different styles of music that you can. It is also very useful for recording, or in any other situation where taking along half a dozen guitars is not really an option.
I do not have the POD HD500 or a DT amp, but I can see that these would compliment the guitar very well, especially for a live performance, where the guitar model, tuning, effects and amp model could all be changed by a single click of a footswitch.
If you are thinking of buying a guitar around this price range to use as your main instrument, I would advise you to go for a traditional guitar. If however you already own a few decent guitars, I think this is a good one to add to the collection, well actually it's a bit like adding another 20 guitars.
http://line6.com/jtv-69/
No comments:
Post a Comment