Line 6 Variax modelling guitars

StanleyAccrington

Anyone here play one? A valid guitar purchase....or just a bit of a gimmick?

rossyamaha

I use mine frequently. It’s a great tool. 

Yes i I work for the company and get paid to champion any or all of our gear but I don’t get paid to use them in my personal time but I do. There are a couple of artists I work with that have songs in the set that I just couldn’t get through without a Variax. 

StanleyAccrington

rossyamaha said:

I use mine frequently. It’s a great tool. 

Yes i I work for the company and get paid to champion any or all of our gear but I don’t get paid to use them in my personal time but I do. There are a couple of artists I work with that have songs in the set that I just couldn’t get through without a Variax. 

I presume that there are variants of the Variax. Maybe some with more sounds and tunings than others!  I'm asking this as I've seen a preloved one for sale on a website but it doesn't state which particular Variax it is. I'll know more when I pop in to have a look later this week.

stimpsonslostson

I had a Variax Standard for a few months this year. I thought it would be the perfect guitar for playing covers. 

The guitar was good and the modelled sounds excellent, but I found I was tinkering with sounds rather than playing the damn thing! Especially when I combined it with a HD500 multiFX pedal. 
I had issues with the virtual tuning options- I was getting sound bleed, but heavier strings, tweaking the bridge & a bit more volume fixed it. 
There's a virtually unlimited array of options- guitar, pickups, tunings, effects, amps, speakers... I think I just got bewildered- I'm sure someone else could get exactly what they wanted out of it. 

Overall I can't fault the guitar at all. The software is excellent too. it just wasn't for me. 

I eventually sold mine & went back to my Telecaster. 

I posted a thread here:
https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/156913/nmgd-variax-standard

StanleyAccrington

Thanks for the link stimpsonslostson. Liked reading your review and the following posts on that thread.  At the moment I'm just exploring what the guitar is and what it can or can't do.
   

thumpingrug

I've had a JTV69 pretty much since they were released and use it a lot.  Its linked via a pod hd500 and the combination works very well indeed.  Its a good quality guitar in its own right and the modelled sounds add to its usability.  All variax guitars have exactly the same internal electronics so all have the same modelled sounds.  

Musicwolf

I had the James Tyler Strat type, JTV-69S, paired with a PODHD500.  I had it all set up so that I could switch models from the pedal board and, once it received a proper set up courtesy of Steve Robinson, it played well enough.  In the end I decided that I just preferred the sound, weight and the playability of my US Standard Strat. 

fretmeister

I would love to try a Shuriken

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axQCWkBCN-s


The demo is a bit metal, bit it shows the versatility of the tech, especially with a Helix.

fretmeister

And this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOrWjCp0KjU

impmann

I worked for Line6 for 10 years - I was in charge of Variax for Europe and latterly I looked after most of the world stuff (set up, supply, repair, QC and production).

Gimmick?

No. Its a very clever system that gives you a plethora of sounds you wouldn't be able to get from one instrument normally. 

Does it suit everyone?

No. There are plenty of folks who will bemoan that it doesn't sound *exactly* like this guitar or that guitar, and some will bemoan limitations of the tech (especially the early stuff). But honestly, its pretty close and pretty good - so much so that highly respected guitarists still use them for certain things (such as Steve Howe from Yes/Asia). Enjoy the instruments for what they are and enjoy the variety of different sounds you can get.

I wouldn't ask for opinions on a forum like this - go and try one for yourself and make you own mind up.

merciful-evans

I've had a standard for about 3 years. I got it as a studio tool, but have spent almost no time in the studio since! I will eventually use it for some banjo sounds on a WIP tune.

For me, it's not fit for gigging. 

paganskins

I've got @rossyamaha's old JTV 69. I really like it, but crucially I like it as a guitar in its own right foremost without involving the modelling and use the magnetic pickups mainly.

I did have a standard for a bit but found the neck a bit narrow feeling at the nut, otherwise decent enough.

The modelling does work and is useable but I have trouble with the alt tunings, as a caveat I don't play at any sort of volume any more and most often play using open back headphones so it's probably just the acoustic sound of the strings blending in that causes the issue. 

Layering the modelled tones with the magnetic pickups on separate signal paths is very satisfying.

axisus

I bought an old one. Hated the 'guitar' and didn't care for the sounds either. Put it away for a year, then took it out again and played around with it quite a lot. I got to really enjoy it - well, about 45% of the sounds. Many just sound not that different from each other. Personally I'd prefer it if you could overwrite ALL sounds. I plan to transplant it into a Tele body at some point.

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

I had the James Tyler 59 Les Paul ish model. It was a bloody good thing, really well made. Best/most comfortable neck joint that I've ever played on a single cut. Even the standard passive pickups were decent so was a perfectly useable guitar even without switching on the modelling gubbins.

The modelling stuff really was pretty genius, definitely not just a gimmick. 

Only reason I sold it was because I went through a period of only ever using the Strat models in the software, and eventually gave in to some serious Strat GAS and needed the funds to purchase a nice Fender.

I do sometimes regret selling it, especially now that I have an HX Stomp as I've heard they pair really well. If I could have afforded to keep it I definitely would have done, but alas I'm a one in one out kinda guy.

I'd heartily recommend one if you're interested in them, though only word of warning would be that the Les Paul style model did weigh a ton! 

impmann

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

I'd heartily recommend one if you're interested in them, though only word of warning would be that the Les Paul style model did weigh a ton! 

Yes, that is true. Some were weighty buggers!!

steer

I borrowed a friends one for a little while. Just the standard one. 

For not much more than the price of a normal pacifica you get a lot of toys to play with. There were several settings that were great, including the jazz guitars and especially the semis'. Some settings did not really grab my attention as much. I did not like the 12 string. 

It is also a pretty good instrument with everything switched off and just running it as a standard guitar. 

I don't usually use alternate tuning, so that was a bit lost on me.  

Overall I thought it was very good. But I'm not rushing out to buy one. 

thegummy

I'd always assumed the guitar modelling wouldn't sound right but if it does - which seems to be what people are saying - then I guess the reason these aren't so popular is because most people have a specific guitar they want for aesthetics and feel.

If they sold the electronics that does the modelling as a kit that could be installed on any guitar, maybe they would take over in the way that amp modelling has.

Unless the modelling is done based on knowing exactly what guitar it's in which would obviously void my idea.

Henrytwang

I bought one when they first became available. It was a pretty cheap feeling guitar with some useful tonal options but wasn’t for me. The current models look a lot better in terms of build quality but I don’t think I’d ever be tempted to buy another one.

crunchman

thegummy said:

I'd always assumed the guitar modelling wouldn't sound right but if it does - which seems to be what people are saying - then I guess the reason these aren't so popular is because most people have a specific guitar they want for aesthetics and feel.

If they sold the electronics that does the modelling as a kit that could be installed on any guitar, maybe they would take over in the way that amp modelling has.

Unless the modelling is done based on knowing exactly what guitar it's in which would obviously void my idea.

People have transplanted the guts into other guitars.

I had one of the first generation for a while.  The later ones may be better, so I'm not sure how much weight to give to my comments.  The big problem for me is that you can either do electric with it, or acoustic.  The acoustic sounds on it just didn't sound right with a plain G string.  It might have worked with a wound G, but then it's compromised as an electric.

One thing I can say for certain is that the actual guitar the first generation was build into was not good at all.  The neck was horrible and felt cheap.  The later ones were apparently better.

StanleyAccrington

Thanks for you comments folks. The Variax that has piqued my interest is a 300....and I've got the chance to try it tomorrow.

rossyamaha

StanleyAccrington said:

Thanks for you comments folks. The Variax that has piqued my interest is a 300....and I've got the chance to try it tomorrow.

How much is going to be the deciding factor. Just remember as well, we don’t support those anymore so that should be reflected in the price.