The line6 Variax was.......

maltingsaudio

The last significant development in guitars and that was 2002. Any others were variations or refinements of a theme

richardhomer

You’re probably right. I’d be interested to know how successful the Variax has been. I briefly contemplated buying one for a few extra sounds to add ‘flavour’ to recordings (12 strings, Gretsches, etc) - but played the original and thought the actual guitar was too poor. I don’t doubt the James Tyler designed versions were better - but by the time they were released I’d kind of lost interest in the concept.

I can’t remember seeing one on television and I’ve never seen anyone play one live. For what (in theory) should have been a ‘must have’ product, they never seemed to fulfil their promise.

Perhaps if the technology had been available in a pedal, with a retrofittable piezo bridge for a Strat and a Les Paul, Line6 would’ve had a winner on their hands?

stickyfiddle

The Edge used the Variax acoustic extensively on the Vertigo tour, and I think he's been using one a little on the Joshua Tree tour this year. It sounds like a guitar.

I've tried a couple of Variaxes - one of the originals and one of @Sporky's re-housed ones. They're very clever, and do sound "good enough" but don't have that last 1% for me. Part of it is losing the feel of different guitars - a big box Gretsch is a very different thing to strap on than a Strat, which is quite different to a Les Paul.

Ultimately I think there are very few of us who need the utility of that many guitar sounds, but who also specifically want that to come from a single guitar. That said, I can imagine for something like a Broadway show, a Variax plus a Helix would be a phenomenal solution to get every possible guitar sound without any changes.

LuttiS

I think they released a new one at namm 17, iirc called the shurikan? Some guys sig variax. On mob stuck under sleeping baby so can't find link atm . I've always been intrigued by a variax, and if one came up that I liked I'd go for it. Tried a cheap one at a show once and put it straight down...

impmann

Ok folks still playing Variax regularly:

Edge
James Hetfield (Variax acoustic)
Steve Howe 

Not an exhaustive list... my NDA prevents me from saying too much but a lack of artist relations development meant not enough product was put in famous hands.

The JTVs were superb - built by World Guitars (PRS, Schecter, etc) and designed by Tyler. I was heavily involved in that project including a lot of the work practices at the factory. Sadly some bad decisions regarding acceptable quality and releasing some guitars I'd rejected by folks higher up the food chain marred it slightly.

The Yamaha built 'standards' -basically a re-routed Pacifica were pretty good - a bit vanilla but perhaps the better for it. These were just arriving when Line6 UK closed and Yamaha took over.

I know I'm biased having been responsible for Variax in Europe for 10 years but yes, I think there's a good case for them being the last new development in guitar.

guitarfishbay

In terms of parts -

Evertune bridge - option to remove pitch arc from playing ie always in tune no matter how hard you strum/fret. 

Fishman Fluence pickups - multiple voice actives, some models have 3 voices, most have 2. On some you can get active HB, passive HB, and single coil sounds. 

I really want to try both, Evertune first because keeping low tuned notes in tune is a right pain in the backside with thinner better sounding strings, meaning you need to use thicker woolier sounding strings in place. I tune to drop B FWIW

EricTheWeary

On the Variax one of the guitarists in Stevie Nicks' band, the touring guitarist with the Doobie Brothers, seem quite common in folk rock bands. I guess they are never going to be the main guitar of anybody with a signature sound/ style and probably better suited to music where you need a bunch of sounds. 

ICBM

The Taylor T5 was more recent, I think 2005.

That's really quite innovative in the way it uses different pickups and body sensors to give a hybrid electric/acoustic guitar. I can't say I was a fan of the way it sounded and felt though.

Rocker

The variax concept was good IMHO but the guitar let it down. Thus it never really gained a foothold in the market place. If Line6 had designed it as a drop in replacement for a Fender or Squier Strat, scratchplate, bridge etc. it might have taken off. I tried a variax shortly after they came on the market but was disappointed by the very basic feel of the guitar. The sounds were interesting, not sure how close to the modelled instruments they were but good enough anyway.

crunchman

I owned a first generation Variax for a while.  It made some good sounds, but was just horrible to play.  It was a useful thing, as I found myself using Strat sounds more than anything else, and I ended up buying myself a real Strat.

I think the later approach where you had magnetic pickups as well was better.  Having said that, you need to put it in a guitar that people would want to buy as a conventional guitar.  That JTV just didn't fo it for me.

If Fender bought out an updated version of the VG Strat, or better still a VG Tele, I'd be very interested.

I would want the electronics to be modular though.  You wouldn't want them to become obsolete and impossible to fix 10 years down the line.  Ideally, when the manufacturer brings out a new version of the electronics you would want to be able to upgrade to the newer version by unplugging a box and plugging in a newer one.

steer

The original Variax's look cheap, like childrens toys (IMHO), and for that reason I would never even consider buying one, even if they give me every sound in the world. Shirley I cannot be only one put off by the looks of the originals? 

The later ones look like proper guitars, and I would quite like one next time a space becomes available in my guitar rack. The only fear is that I would spend ages dicking around with settings and tunings and sounds instead of playing properly. 

ICBM

crunchman said:

I would want the electronics to be modular though.  You wouldn't want them to become obsolete and impossible to fix 10 years down the line.  Ideally, when the manufacturer brings out a new version of the electronics you would want to be able to upgrade to the newer version by unplugging a box and plugging in a newer one.

This. Putting all the electronics in the guitar was a bad move, given that they weren't a standardised format which could be replaced or upgraded - it essentially condemns the physical guitar to the bin once the electronics fail or become obsolete. Same problem as the Gibson Firebird X - albeit with a nicer guitar part .

Even electro-acoustics suffer from this, which is one of the main reasons I don't like them. There are a lot of nice acoustic guitars which will become effectively useless just about at the point the guitar is starting to mature nicely, because the electrics fail or become outdated, and are hard to replace. Taylor are one of the biggest culprits.

Plectrum

I played an LP-style Variax once. It was OK but incredibly heavy. The guy who owns it has to cover both electric and acoustic sounds in his band so it works for him. The acoustic sound isn't quite there but is probably close enough in a band mix.

EricTheWeary

Given what something like the Helix can do I wonder how big a leap it would be to do a unit with some complex eq modelling so that any guitar in can sound like a Les Paul , strat, etc, coming out. Throw in intelligent harmonising to replicate a 12 string, alt tunings,etc, and you'd need nothing in/ on the guitar itself at all, just a box on the floor. I know that doesn't cover everything a Variax can do but things like the acoustic modelling seem to be the things that are least successful anyway. 

guitarfishbay

Devin likes his ambient fx but this is a decent overview of his signature Fishman's

guitarfishbay

For the evertune bridge

crunchman

Plectrum said:

I played an LP-style Variax once. It was OK but incredibly heavy. The guy who owns it has to cover both electric and acoustic sounds in his band so it works for him. The acoustic sound isn't quite there but is probably close enough in a band mix.

The problem with the acoustic sound on the Variax is the plain G string.  It would sound a lot better with a wound G, but then it wouldn't be so good as an electric.

Funkfingers

impmann said:

Edge
James Hetfield (Variax acoustic)
Steve Howe 

Not an exhaustive list... 

Adrian Belew has (or had) Line6 Variax modelling on his Parker Fly Signature model.

Since Belew went Fractal, he may have abandoned the onboard PCB shit. (The Flux:FX tablet app is fun to record with but hardly practical for the stage.)

bigjon

I saw Nathan King gigging a Variax with Level 42 in about 2005 but since then I've only seen him using Les Pauls and Strats.

Fretwired

Line 6 would be better to develop the technology so it can be added to a Helix or an outboard unit and used with any guitar with a MIDI pickup. The Roland GR units have some guitar modelling but they are not as good as the Variax.

I had a 500 and was good when you just wanted certain sounds. Once set up it was actually very playable. Traditional guitarists hated the lack of pickups (rectified on later models). It was a good idea - I used to see quite a lot on the wedding band circuit. Handy if you need to switch between different tones quickly. Was also popular in the US with the worship band guys.

ADP

I have a couple of Variaxes - a JTV69 and a Variax Standard - both of which are very decent guitars for the money (~£350 each used). I also have a RackVax board, which allows you to use any Variax electronics with a GK 13-pin equipped guitar.

Antares produced something similar in a floorboard design that was interesting, but they've not only stopped producing it now; they've withdrawn all support. I was tempted, but not now.