line 6 variax standard ,opinions ?anyone own or gig one ?

mark123

as title seen one discounted.i know they are basically a yamaha pacifica with line 6 guts are the guts the same as the top of the range jtv variaxs ??

Legionreturns

I know @Dontgiveupyourdayjob ; just sold a variax but I'm not sure which one it was. It sounded brilliant when I heard him play it

Boromedic

I looked at these and I believe the variax guts are the same right up to the US Tyler versions. If anyone has any other info I'd love to know too!

neilg

I just got one today, only thing that needs doing to it is the frets going rubber as they're a bit scratchy and the edges of the fretboard could be a bit rounder.

tampaxboo

got an email from gak today (cyber monday promo) and these are £300ish there. not sure if that's a good deal as they are not really my thing. but if you are interested maybe for you.

impmann

The boards etc are the same as the Tyler designed ones, so the modelled sounds are the same.

jeztone2

I saw My Vitriol two weeks ago. Both guitarists use the Variax. Not sure which models though. But they are touring them. So must be roadworthy. 

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

Legionreturns said:

I know @Dontgiveupyourdayjob ; just sold a variax but I'm not sure which one it was. It sounded brilliant when I heard him play it

All in the fingers mate.


Nah seriously though, if the software/electronics is the same it'll sound the same. Any difference may be in the build quality and feel of the basic instrument - my Tyler one was beautifully finished with a great neck. Although I've heard Pacificas are pretty well finished too, so the Standards may well be decent too.

I saw that deal on GAK, and it does seem a hell of a lot of instrument for the money if the deal is still live.

GuitarZero

I got my variax standard for a similar price to what GAK are doing them, and for that price you cannot go wrong.  As you've already said it's a pacifica with variax guts.  I had a few set up issues with mine, but once I sorted those out, the guitar plays great. My only issue with it is the fretboard is a bit skinny compared with my other guitars so there was a bit of adjustment time required to get used to that.

mark123

neilg said:

I just got one today, only thing that needs doing to it is the frets going rubber as they're a bit scratchy and the edges of the fretboard could be a bit rounder.

first impressions soundwise ?gimmicky?or usable?

Boromedic

I've seen and watched Kevin Cadogan use the JTV Korean models. Sounded great in Variax mode with no issues, he uses different tunings through songs and said it was a great solution to switching guitars all the time. The only issue he mentioned was that if you're playing quietly through an amp you can hear the acoustic sound of the strings over the Variax tuning which can be a bit weird.

mark123

Boromedic said:

I've seen and watched Kevin Cadogan use the JTV Korean models. Sounded great in Variax mode with no issues, he uses different tunings through songs and said it was a great solution to switching guitars all the time. The only issue he mentioned was that if you're playing quietly through an amp you can hear the acoustic sound of the strings over the Variax tuning which can be a bit weird.

ahh so if you are in a drop d but strum, the strings will ring out in standard tuning if the volume is low on your amp 

mark123

also the early variaxws had latency issues and palm muting issues does anyone know if the new software has fixed these issues ?

Boromedic

I noticed no latency with the stuff I'd heard before but as for playing it I can't comment. Might be worth giving one a try before buying it though, or at the least ensure a decent returns policy even if you're paying a bit extra initially. Some online retailers will charge you for return postage or restocking fees.

BigMonka

Boromedic said:

I've seen and watched Kevin Cadogan use the JTV Korean models. Sounded great in Variax mode with no issues, he uses different tunings through songs and said it was a great solution to switching guitars all the time. The only issue he mentioned was that if you're playing quietly through an amp you can hear the acoustic sound of the strings over the Variax tuning which can be a bit weird.

I heard Kevin mention that on the podcast you linked to a few weeks back. For me, that would rule out using it for altered tunings as I very rarely get to play loud enough that you can't hear the strings as well as the amp at home.

Boromedic

Yeah its definitely got to be a consideration, I imagine it would be very distracting. I'm considering a Variax vs a cheap Tele for funky tunings. Doing it on the fly is appealing but has limitations as mentioned 

impmann

mark123 said:

also the early variaxws had latency issues and palm muting issues does anyone know if the new software has fixed these issues ?

Nope, no they didn't. Internet bullshit that was perpetrated by a competitor... there were never any 'latency issues'. (I used to be head of Variax for Europe for Line6... )

Palm muting - well, some had issues with piezo "quack" under heavy levels of gain (although tbh, it never bothered me). This was dialled out by the time of the JTVs (plus these had much higher grade piezos) - put it another way, plenty of metal bands seemed happy with them! Line6 even built a prototype for Eddie Van Halen that never made it to production due to licensing issues. I believe he still has it...

And yes, the software changes the pitch - its not a physical change in pitch so if your amp is too quiet you do hear the strings at concert pitch. This can upset some, and some have even believed that you are hearing the strings and the modelled sound at the same time through the amp. If I had a penny... this NEVER happens (unless it is set up as such in the latest version of workbench) and is easily disproved by recording the signal from the guitar directly (ie not through a speaker) and playing it back to the customer. It is physically impossible for this to occur on older Variaxes (ie those without pickups) due to the way the sound is processed and in 10 years of working for Line6 (and probably 10s of thousands of guitars) I've not seen one malfunction like that.

Boromedic

Thanks for the info @impmann, great stuff. They do seem to work very well from what I've heard and seen.

crunchman

I had the very first generation of Variax.  Never had any problems with it, but the neck on those early ones was not nice, and you didn't have the option of magnetic pickups.

For me I'd rather have a guitar I liked with the option of additional sounds/tunings.  The Tyler concept looked quite good but I never went for it.

I'd love to see the technology in a decent Strat or Tele alongside magnetic pickups.  It would need to be modular though.  You would want it designed so that the electronics could be replaced/upgraded.  If I still had that generation 1 Variax now, I suspect I would be completely stuffed if the electronics developed a problem.  I've got a Strat of similar age, and that's fine as it's all replaceable/fixable.  You could end up with a perfectly good guitar you can't amplify.

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

crunchman said:

If I still had that generation 1 Variax now, I suspect I would be completely stuffed if the electronics developed a problem.  I've got a Strat of similar age, and that's fine as it's all replaceable/fixable.  You could end up with a perfectly good guitar you can't amplify.

Interesting point re the 1st gen Variax. To be honest, the JTV-59 I had used some perfectly decent passive humbuckers alongside all the fancy active stuff. If I was just having a quick practice, 9 times out of 10 I wouldn't bother firing up the active gubbins, just stick with the passive pickups. 

thumpingrug

I have a JTV69 and still think its a great guitar.