Line6 Variax

Rocker

I am not sure how but I got the impression over the last few months that Line6 had phased out the Variax.  Very little about this guitar on this website.  Anyway I checked to day and they do still make a Variax but it is the Tyler designed one.  Might be worth keeping in mind....

koneguitarist

One for sale in the classifieds as I type. Nice sunburst one.

ArchtopDave

I don't know what the more recent ones are like, but I bought one of the early ones, when they were first produced, as my first electric guitar. I found it useful in that it gave me a reasonable idea of what various different electric guitars sounded like, but, even my next purchase, a Mexican Strat, sounded noticeably better than the "Strat" on the Variax.

crunchman

I'd be more inclined to go with a classic guitar with all the digital extras as an extra.  I quite liked the idea of the VG Strat that Fender did.  Use it on the magnetic pickups 85% of the time, and then you have the variations when you need them.

It would want to be something modular so that you could replace/upgrade it if the electronics die or if there is a new generation that is a lot better.

I guess Line 6 has partly down that route with the magnetic pickups on the Tyler designed Variaxes.  The problem is that the electronics seem to be integral to the guitar - you could could get stuck with obselete electronics.  Given that they are getting a bit long in the tooth now.  I'd be inclined to wait for the next generation.

sunshinewelly

The JTV models (i own a 69) is up there with the best guitar i own. I have in my collection an ibanez jem, a top end MIJ Tokia love Rock, a EVH wolfgang and an american strat and out of all those guitars the only one i would not sell is the variax. 

It plays incredibly and the magnetic pickups sound great. The icing on the cake however are the "digital" sounds and the alternative tuning. They are both better than i imagined. (i had a go on a VG strat - its was ok but i rather the variax)

the strat sounds on the variax and more pleasing than my own strat (thats why my strat is up for sale). 

If i could get an american variax for a decent price then i would pick up another one.

Of course eventually there will be a mark 3 version of the variax but thats a long way off and that does not mean the current model will die.

richardhomer

Maybe now Line 6 is owned by Yamaha, the concept will be relaunched, using an established Yamaha guitar as the chassis?

It's odd how as guitarists, we don't bat an eyelid at a keyboard player using a digital keyboard to get (say) a Hammond B3 sound but have major reservations about 'going digital' ourselves.

I suspect the technology might be more accepted if it were available in the form of a floor board driven by a wirelessly connected piezo bridge or hex pick-up. In other words, the guitar itself is not cluttered by extra controls.

The attraction for me would be access to sounds that I would use so rarely, that owning a 'real' instrument couldn't be justified, eg: a resonator, electric and acoustic twelve strings, etc.

The lack of 'name' players using Variaxes is probably another reason why they've not gained traction in the market.

crunchman

sunshinewelly said:

the strat sounds on the variax and more pleasing than my own strat (thats why my strat is up for sale).

If that's true it must have improved significantly since the first generation Variaxes.  I had one of them, and it was nowhere near as good as a real Strat.  If you have the 69 the fact that it has a trem with the springs etc might make it sound more authentic.

richardhomer said:

I suspect the technology might be more accepted if it were available in the form of a floor board driven by a wirelessly connected piezo bridge or hex pick-up. In other words, the guitar itself is not cluttered by extra controls.

This might be the way forward.  If the pickup is reasonably standard then you would be able to upgrade as necessary.  It should also reduce the need for big onboard battery packs which would be a big advantage.

I never figured out why Line 6 removed the external phantom power option from the latest generation.  I'd rather have that than batteries.

ESchap

I saw Yes the other week in Glasgow ..  I know ... I am a Dinosaur.   

Steve Howe was using a Variax 700 for acoustic parts in various songs (he changes guitars a lot during some of their "tracks").  He used it to cover both 6 and 12 strings.  Full concert volume, through the PA, it was totally convincing, I really was quite taken aback.  He also used it in place of his Coral sitar guitar, again totally convincing.  

EricTheWeary

richardhomer said:

The lack of 'name' players using Variaxes is probably another reason why they've not gained traction in the market.

Presumably we never will. If a name player wants a strat they use a strat, if the want a lester they use a lester,etc. Many name players are chasing signature tones and a Variax is the very opposite.

Having said that one of the guitarists with Stevie Nicks used one ( last year was it?) on tour. Not the long hair, out front doing big solos guitarist but the bloke towards the back of the stage doing the more utilitarian playing. I have also seen them in use in folk rock bands where the ability to switch sounds is used.

TBH the difference between a model of a strat bridge pick up and a model of a tele bridge pick up put through three pedals and an overdriven Marshall and in the middle of the band mix is so small and irrelevant to anyone but the guitarist you can't help but think it isn't worth the trouble and maybe Line 6 are just too clever for their own good, not quite living in the real world ( I think some of their other products are a bit like this).I know not everyone plays like this but, y'know, quite a lot do.


I think there are maybe two ways they could go with the technology:

- make it so it enhances higher end guitars. For example if you watch the clips in the Pink's Guitarist Discussion  he is using a piezo to get acousticish sounds out of a Les Paul - could this technology do a better job of that; maybe build in some other stuff like virtual ( noise free) coil splits? So it is largely hidden and used to enhance existing guitars with fewer but useful options. You could see this starting with the link up with Yamaha.

- make it properly cheap. Digital products invariably have a cheaper equivalent at some point. If you can buy a tablet for £100 why not a Chinese guitar with Variax technology for £200? The lifespan of a tablet is, what, 3 years? At which point they look a bit knackered and the user wants something with better technology creating an almost endless demand. A cheap Variax could be the equivalent of this.Not that I want more manufactured stuff that is shipped around the world and then gets thrown away when it is still perfectly useable but I can see how money is made out of this.  

Right, more coffee needed...    
~O)

digitalscream

I'd rather be able to retrofit a Variax kit to an existing guitar. Sure, it's not the easiest job in the world, but it should be possible. After all, there are quite a lot of people who buy a cheap Variax as a donor...

thumpingrug

I have a Tyler variax 69 (strat shape) and its an awesome guitar. The Tele sound didn’t bite enough for my liking but it was a simple process to use Workbench to get what I wanted.

I eagerly await what come out of the Yam/line6 merger

EricTheWeary

thumpingrug said:

I have a Tyler variax 69 (strat shape) and its an awesome guitar. The Tele sound didn’t bite enough for my liking but it was a simple process to use Workbench to get what I wanted.

I eagerly await what come out of the Yam/line6 merger

@thumpingrug how much of it's potential do you use?

I'm one of those people for whom digital modelling usually means messing about a lot, then using just my two favourite sounds and feeling I have under used the possibilities in front of me or, indeed, that some of the possibilities in front of me vary by such a small amount I don't really understand why they are there.

joneve

ESchap said:

I saw Yes the other week in Glasgow ..  I know ... I am a Dinosaur.   

Steve Howe was using a Variax 700 for acoustic parts in various songs (he changes guitars a lot during some of their "tracks").  He used it to cover both 6 and 12 strings.  Full concert volume, through the PA, it was totally convincing, I really was quite taken aback.  He also used it in place of his Coral sitar guitar, again totally convincing.  

This...Except I'm not a Dinosaur...yet  

thumpingrug

 

EricTheWeary said:

thumpingrug said:

I have a Tyler variax 69 (strat shape) and its an awesome guitar. The Tele sound didn’t bite enough for my liking but it was a simple process to use Workbench to get what I wanted.

I eagerly await what come out of the Yam/line6 merger

@thumpingrug how much of it's potential do you use?

I'm one of those people for whom digital modelling usually means messing about a lot, then using just my two favourite sounds and feeling I have under used the possibilities in front of me or, indeed, that some of the possibilities in front of me vary by such a small amount I don't really understand why they are there.

I rather suspect I dont use very much of its potential.  If i fancy a bit of heavy riffing its easy to use the LP bridge and drop D tuning.  If i want to strum along, then the acoustic models or the Ricky 12 sting are fine for me.  I do have it connected through a Pod HD and have set a couple of patches which change the modeled sounds from the Pod but mostly I chamge it manually.  For a gigging band who need to cover a lot of tones I can see this being a useful feature.     I did play an original variax 500 years ago and the James Tyler is a big step up in quality and playbility. You need to look at it as a £4-500 guitar with a computer inside.

deano

I love my JTV-59 (LP/Tele shape). The mag humbuskers are a bit P90'ish in flavour to be honest. I like that, but I spend most of my time on a model of a strat with a p90 in the bridge. Loverly.

The HD firmwar update took the modelling platform on from the orginal generation. You can't load it on any of the pre JTV ranges as I understand, along with any HD models. No worries for me, but it does seem to indicate that Line 6 are going to focus on the JTV and HD firmware for the foreseable future.

Only one way to know and that's to try of course.

ChrisMusic

@thumpingrug said:     I did play an original variax 500 years ago, and the James Tyler is a big step up in quality and playbility.

I hadn't realised that modelling technology had been around for so long, I must have missed that bit in history class  

ChrisMusic

thumpingrug said:  You need to look at it as a £4-500 guitar with a computer inside.

The current Variaxes are built by World Guitars in Korea, the same factory which makes the PRS SE range.  So I think that is a pretty fair comparison.  They feel very similar quality, which is excellent for the money, I really like my PRS SE Soapbar II, and the Variax feels very similar in build.  You can notice the difference between SE and USA PRS though.

chrispy108

I've never understood why they don't have a wider range of pickup options on the Workbench software.

You know:

Simon Dawkins JazzyBluesy

Dimarizinot ZoneTone

MGE 18

etc etc

thumpingrug

ChrisMusic said:

@thumpingrug said:     I did play an original variax 500 years ago, and the James Tyler is a big step up in quality and playbility.

I hadn't realised that modelling technology had been around for so long, I must have missed that bit in history class  

Whoops,  missed a comma in there.   I think the original variaxes were launched in 2002/03, so they have been around a while.  

guitarmangler

chrispy108 said:

I've never understood why they don't have a wider range of pickup options on the Workbench software.

You know:

Simon Dawkins JazzyBluesy

Dimarizinot ZoneTone

MGE 18

etc etc

I also didn't understand this, either . Line 6 are quite happy to quote all the amps/fx they've modeled , but why not famous players guitars? That could be a huge draw. Plus, the thing that bugged me was it didn't quite palm mute correctly with distortion. I only owned the first version ( briefly) so I'm sure they sorted by the latter models. I loved the acoustic and sitar sounds. They were great. Banjo sound in a rock song solo? Awesome.