5 Mods you can do on your Line 6 Variax Guitar JTV69 or Standard 

Man you knocked that one right out of the park, superbly done this video.

Great tips and excellent chops, brother! Sounds really good! Love the color of that JTV69. I went with the same one and now you have me thinking about a neck swap, too.

Hands down one of the best guitar videos on RU-vid. Thanks my bro!!

great playing! may pick up a variax and appreciate the tips for setting it up well.

Great video, mate. Subscribed. 💪

Great Job! I really enjoyed your video and learned a lot!

Thanks for being the first person on the freakin' internet to tell us what size frets are on the Variax!! You can't even find it on any store's website!!

Thanks so much for this! The idea of reducing the string ring at the bridge is the answer to my biggest complaint about the Variax (well, aside from the neck, which I replaced long ago!).

That was awesome. I can use some of your advice on both my JTV 59 and Fender Strat as well, bonus !

Great video and tips! Playing is impressive too. I use the JTV 89F model ,which has a Floyd Rose trem. I've done a ton of small upgrades,which really help. The only overlap with your tips is with the springs and the neck. Since it has the Floyd,Mods 1 and 2 don't really apply.Also,it came with .10s from the factory. I changed the springs to noiseless springs from FU Tone. It's a little more expensive but worth it. I changed the little string blocks in the bridge saddles to titanium,which made a huge improvement. The titanium resonates with great clarity,which seems to give a better signal to the Variax "brain". I also changed the tremolo block to a bigger titanium block and the frets to stainless steel. Obviously these are not inexpensive modifications, but I wanted the ultimate Variax. I am currently having a new neck made from roasted maple with an ebony fingerboard and I can't wait to hear what that does to the sound.I love Variax guitars for all the great things you can do that cannot be done on any other guitar!

I came into this video like "ok whats the bullshit?" lol I love all 5 tips, i was even going to change the neck on my variax but opted to sell the sacrificial guitar whole. The other 4 tips i never thought of. Excellent video!

Good ideas, especially the neck upgrade.

Thanks for the mod tips. I'm really interested in this Variax. Having said that, I found it impossible to take my eyes off that Blue Pearl Gretsch you have hanging on the wall behind you! For me, it might be the coolest looking guitar ever made so it was really hard to pay attention. Lol!

I've been putting tape on the ball ends behind the piezo and it takes out a lot of ringing noises. Helps a lot. I think it's just as necessary as putting the fret wrap behind the nut

Thank you so much . great video.... I have the James taylor blood red mod with the tremo. and these are great tips that I will be using great sound man ..... Thanks again

Thanks ! On my JTV59, the original tuners weren't locking, so I upgraded those.

I just picked up a Variax Standard and love it! I am actually replacing the medium frets on the Standard with Medium Jumbo frets. The neck feels great. I am using .009 guage string and they work fine. I sacrifice on the acoustic sounds a little but it is close enough.

Great video! True the vibrations on the string ends will affect the modeling sound specially if you are using a different tuning or the 12 strings models. And for the neck I would do the same if I had the JTV 69 but with a (tilt back head) neck.

Nice video. The sounds are much better than any other Variax video I've seen. Why doesn't Line 6 engineer this stuff into the guitar? They charge enough for this model.

Cool man, thanks

Great demonstration and great explanation about the different modifications. During your exploration for the replacement neck, did you also consider attaching the neck of an Ernie Ball model? Do you know if they are compatible with the 69‘s body?

Cool Video

Excellent summary. Thank you. Have you done any edits with Workbench yet to help improve the sound? I'm new to that. I've just got a Standard having traded-in my original Variax 600. Standard is a better guitar but I was a bit surprised at how clear the artifacts are (specially on the 12-strings) and other 'extra' noises. The piezos must be a lot more sensitive than on the 600.

congratulations, I will do all off it in mine, includin the neck

Thanks man

Nice tips! Thanks a lot! I wonder if you know any video about the stucking tremolo issues on JTV-69.

I Humbly suggest to try half-round strings. In addition with this very accurate tips you'll discover a new instrument !

LMAO! He sounds like Niki Lauda from the movie 'Rush'! It's like where he's explaining to all the expert engineers how to fix their damn car! Also... well done.

great ideas. I have a 59 and am thinking of upgrading the pickups and tuners at least. Maybe change the neck.

Very informative video. Unfortunately when my Variax came in, I had a ton and I mean quite a bit of wood shavings falling out of the bag and guitar. I would be playing and just wood shavings just kept falling out. I had to take all the back panels off and 4 screws even just fell out. I used canned air to get all the wood out shavings out, then to prevent the screws in the back from falling out I put toothpicks into the holes with wood glue. No I didn't strip the wood holes either. I feel mine specific guitar was rushed in the end, but got it all fixed.

I use earth tubing on my piezo guitars strings... Because I got the unpleasant pinging and ring on my parkerfly ghosts

Hi, thanks for this. I have a JTV 69 in the same color and I’m planning to do a neck replacement as well. Anything to take note of when changing from from 22 to 21 frets? Is the scale length still the same? Also, why didn’t you use the original tuners? Is there an issue with the fit? Thanks!

Does it take a standard Fender strat neck?

People on the line 6 forums are saying a strat neck won't fit on the Standard. I'm thinking of getting one and I want a Standard because it is cheaper but I want the option to change the neck.

Is the fender neck a perfect fit?? Or does it need a guitar tech to make it fit

What Variax works compatible entirely wiith pod x3 pro?

Did you apply the masking tape before you restrung the guitar or when the strings were already installed?

I love that you replaced the neck. When I got my Variax, the fingerboard was not workable for me. The technology is great, but the necks are just... well... not up to par for my playing style.

Where did you purchase the neck from?

Anyone ever try to make one sound like a PRS?

Started doing the mods. Once you ear it you can't unear it. Mods must be done :)

Hey man il post it on Helix Club the FB page. Can you join the page?

Dopo questo video ho capito che non devo comprare questa chitarra.

Piezo pronounced pee-a-zo

I'd be cautious, flippantly recommending changing string gauge. Especially "up to 11 or 12 for acoustic". 1) This is a modeling guitar. It is built to sound like those guitars without changing string gauge. 2) Most people won't realize this will wack their intonation massively. Very bad recommendation.

I wouldnt do any of these mods. Simply get a plek pro setup on your guitar. Its a computer driven set up that adjust your strings..sand your fret extremly presicly. My jtv 69s is the best guitar i ever had. The touch is super low...no buzzing at all. All these noise that are induced in the modelling process are actually good. A 58 strat has spring noise.... Buzz and other things going in. The modelling doesnt get worst with these... its part of the sound of a guitar. Taking them off will make your modelling ubrealistic.