Variax 300 quandry

erky32

I'm thinking about picking one of these up second hand.

I've got quality acoustics & electrics, but I just like the idea of a jack of all trades....to noodle around with at home.

I watched YouTube snippets and they sound OK, - looks like they respond to nuances, bends, etc

They seem to be available around £200 ....any thoughts/advice ?

Si_

can't comment on the older Variax 300, but I have a JTV-59 and it's excellent. I think the main issue with the 300s was the quality of the guitar it's self.

guitarcookie1

I had a 300 a while back. The sounds were excellent but the guitar was pretty poor tbh..

TTony

The,main reason that people buy the 300 nowadays is to harvest the electronics to put into a decent guitar. Not an easy transplant, but can be done.

ADP

As others have said, the 300 really isn't a good guitar. The 600 is a whole other story though. The electronics are exactly the same as the 300 but the guitar is very good for the money. Unless you're buying the 300 for the guts and are going to throw away the rest, I wouldn't bother. The 600 gives you a very decent tremolo, but budget for a set of locking tuners and a GraphTech nut though to make it even better.

A few years ago I bought a cheap 300 to try out the whole Variax thing and got rid of it as soon as I could but it had impressed me enough that I immediately bought a 600. It also helped that it was only £100. In the frenzy of an "I've got way too many guitars" clear-out I got rid of it and realised afterwards that it was a mistake.

Axe_meister

Get a 300 dirt cheap. Then head over to Warmoth and order a variax ready body (and neck), stick in some proper pups and then you have a really cool guitar with both simulated and real sounds.

erky32

Mmm.... so the variax idea sounds OK, but not the 300. I understand theres too much electronics to pack into a regular "other" guitar body, so maybe the 600 is a better plan - the JTV seems to be very expensive at the moment.

Thanks to all for your ideas/thoughts!

Andyjr1515

I agree with all the above. Electronics are great, but the pre-JTV guitars are simply horrible to play. The JTVs are great guitars in their own right (and can be played as standard) AND have the electronic gizmos. Andersons are doing some great deals at the moment that rival some of the second hand prices.

impmann

Well I'd agree that the V300s had fairly poor necks/build quality - they were very cheap (effectively once you subtracted the cost of the electronics, the guitar cost nothing - and to be honest it showed a bit).

The V700 was built by Fujigen in Japan and were *much* higher quality. In fact, the quality of these was on a par with Jap Fenders etc... Personally speaking, I loved the necks on these and having worked on literally 1000s of them, the quality was really good. I actually prefer the necks on these to the current JTVs... but hey, that's just my opinion.

The V500s were built in two different plants in Korea - the quality was pretty good, but the electronics were pretty basic compared to the latest guitars (certainly the flash chips are very 'old school'). 

The V600s were built by another plant in Korea initially and then later in China - they were a significant step up from the V300s but had a more traditional fingerboard radius and as such some found them tougher to play with low actions (plus some didn't like the maple fingerboards). Keep a look out for fret ends sticking out on these... The trems are pretty good (the same as the V700 with a different cable arrangement) but can be massively improved with a graphite nut and locking tuners.

The JTVs are great - built by World Musical Instruments who build PRS, ESP, LTD, etc... and they are built by the same people on the same line (I've visited the factory), so the build quality is as good as the above well-respected brands. The prices at Andertons are pretty amazing compared to where the prices started off...

Hope that helps.

erky32

Thanks a lot, ...a well educated appraisal ...appreciated! I'd really like to try one of these JTVs. 

Strangely enough, I wish they would make them much blander looking, ....not like the 300/600, but, for example, I have a Godin A6 Ultra and love its appearance ....it looks "tele -ish" but a lot more organic and acoustic, but yet it makes a nice range of elec & acoustic tones. The image suits its appearance. The JTV looks elec, but can sound like a Martin which as a performing guitar I personally dont like ...what I would prefer is either a Godin style body, or maybe a Jazz or Ovation (no sound hole) body. ....now theres a possiblity - put the 300 gubbins in a slim Ovation lookalike!!!

Unorthodox

Not much to add other than I'm a JTV-69 owner and I've been very happy with the guitar.

57Deluxe

my mind... in another thread someone suggested the Variax is so much more than just a guitar and then I saw this post and immediately my mind read it as Variax Laundry....

Jez6345789

Hi

Just to add a little bit of flavour to this debate a well set up 300 more than does the job had one for years.

yes the neck shape is a little different but plays fine. Its not like my PRS or strat but its not a total basket case for recording which is my main use. If i had to gig it three nights a week or whip out metal excess then perhaps not.

jez