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Topic: Variax on EBay |
Bobby Lee
From:
Cloverdale, California, USA
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Posted 12 Jan 2004 11:47 am |
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I paid $999 for my Variax guitar. I see one on EBay with a "Buy It Now" price of $595. Good deal for anyone looking for one of these.
click here
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 Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (C6add9),
Sierra Laptop 8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6),
Roland Handsonic, Line 6 Variax |
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John Floyd
From:
R.I.P.
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Posted 12 Jan 2004 2:16 pm
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bob
How are these guitars, Do they come close to Line 6's Claims? I have been thinking about one. Even seriously considered it about a year ago at Guitar Center, but the hardware especially around the bridge saddles and springs looked sorta cheap to me. Great idea if they work. Would be nice to see this system installed in a Les Paul or Tele.
John |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 12 Jan 2004 7:26 pm
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| How soon before the technology is adapted to be a pedal guitar? |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Posted 12 Jan 2004 10:52 pm
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I played a Variax just yesterday and I was particularly impressed with the clean and realistic acoustic guitar sounds. I played it through a Fender Pro Reverb and it sounded like a $2500 Martin played into a $1000 mic! Okay... maybe I'm overstating it... but I was impressed. The "Strat" settings are pretty amazing too. It can sound exactly like a strat... in all 5 switch positions. There are other settings for Jazzbox, Les Paul, etc. I wasn't crazy about the banj@ sounds... but who wants to hear that sound anyway  The sitar sounds are pretty cool.
The guitar played beautifully. Excellent intonation and action. It feels kind of "Fenderish", which is perfect for me because I've played nothing but Telecsters since the '60s. This guitar is very comfortable in my opinion. It does require batteries, which I believe are good for about 12 hours of use?
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My Site - Instruction | Doug's Free Tab | Steels and Accessories
[This message was edited by Doug Beaumier on 12 January 2004 at 10:54 PM.] |
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Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 13 Jan 2004 6:27 am
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| Quote: |
| How soon before the technology is adapted to be a pedal guitar? |
Chaz, the Variax uses Peizo pickups in the bridge. One per string. On a steel, these would have to be mounted inside the changer fingers, which means in addition to all the rods, there would have to be wires attached to each finger.
Even of this could be done, the peizos would pick up all the mechanical noise of the pedals.
I have experimented with placing peisos on the body of the guitar, and even when placed on the neck near the nut, they still pick up all the mechanical noise, Putting them in the changer fingers would make the problem even worse.
It may be possible to adapt the Variax technology so that it can be triggered with a MIDI pickup. That would be the only way it could ever work on a steel. |
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John Floyd
From:
R.I.P.
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Posted 13 Jan 2004 9:50 am
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| I put a Fishman Power Bridge on a Telecaster a few years ago, And they had the piezios on each string saddle. There was no output from a bridge saddle until you reached a point with string tension as in tuning up. Scared me because I thought the thing wasn't working and all of a suddden it comes on like someone threw a switch. You could take a screwdriver and tap on the bridge and not get as much noise from the fishman as you did with the magnetic pickup. |
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Rick Schmidt
From:
Prescott AZ, USA
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Posted 13 Jan 2004 10:10 am
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Does anyone know if Line 6 has started implementing any of the upgrades using the mysterious port on the side yet? (I'd love to see them add a baritone, and high strung model to their bag!) Also, is a whammy bar happening yet? I guess I'll ask this week a NAMM while all you other guys are bonding in AZ.
b0b...is the Variax still as cool at home as it was in the music store? That's always my big fear with new tech toys. Especially since the first POD came out. |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 13 Jan 2004 10:29 am
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| Quote: |
| Chaz, the Variax uses Peizo pickups in the bridge. One per string. On a steel, these would have to be mounted inside the changer fingers, which means in addition to all the rods, there would have to be wires attached to each finger. |
Why couldn't the pedal and knee lever changes be programmed as MIDI signals and eliminate the changer all together?[This message was edited by chas smith on 13 January 2004 at 10:29 AM.] |
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Bobby Lee
From:
Cloverdale, California, USA
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Posted 13 Jan 2004 10:59 am
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It's a wonderful addition to my home studio. All of the guitar sounds are plenty good enough for my ears, and better than my guitar playing deserves!
People assume that the Variax works with digital audio somehow. That's simply not true. The six audio signals are run through an array of very sophisticated, digitally-controlled filter to emulate the frequency response of the various guitar models. That's why it has instant response, as opposed to MIDI controllers that determine pitch and generate audio from the samples in memory.
With the Variax, you are actually hearing the vibrating strings.
I think that the guitar is sort of fragile. I wouldn't trust it to hold up to the kind of abuse I subject my stage equimpent to. Not without a backup guitar handy, anyway. I'm never going to play it on stage anyway, so I'm not too worried about it.
The same technology could be applied to pedal steel by using single-string pickups. I doubt that steel players would be happy with it, though. Many of us already have the best sounding instruments in the world. Any attempt to model various brands of steel will be met with extreme scepticism.
The Variax models don't sound exactly like the real guitars. If you're a Les Paul or Stratocaster fanatic, nothing less than the real thing will do. The same is true of the Emmons, Sho-Bud and Bigsby steel guitars.
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Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (C6add9),
Sierra Laptop 8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6),
Roland Handsonic, Line 6 Variax |
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Bobby Lee
From:
Cloverdale, California, USA
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Posted 13 Jan 2004 11:00 am
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| btw, the Variax on Ebay has been sold. |
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Bobby Lee
From:
Cloverdale, California, USA
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Posted 13 Jan 2004 11:08 am
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The acoustic rhythm guitar (right side of the mix) on this track is my Variax:
http://soundhost.net/b0b/Jump_For_Joy_demo.mp3
The fingerpicking guitar on the left side is MIDI from BIAB and the Roland VSC. You can hear that the Variax is much more dynamic than the MIDI part.
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Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra Session 12 (E9), Williams 400X (Emaj9, D6), Sierra Olympic 12 (C6add9),
Sierra Laptop 8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster (E13, A6),
Roland Handsonic, Line 6 Variax |
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Alvin Blaine
From:
Picture Rocks, Arizona, USA
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Posted 13 Jan 2004 2:44 pm
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Line 6 came out with new model Variax 700. It's a little higher quality than the first one and a whammy bar option. The prices on some of the first Variax 500 will probably drop a little more.
I've even seen some people putting the electronics in different guitars and other instruments.
Here's a Variax electronics in a Tele.
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Alvin Blaine
From:
Picture Rocks, Arizona, USA
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Posted 13 Jan 2004 2:56 pm
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This is what the new 700 series looks like.
Variax 700 |
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Rich Weiss
From:
Woodland Hills, CA, USA
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Posted 13 Jan 2004 3:51 pm
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I need 3 more studio guitars. One would be a good-sounding acoustic, the others would be an hollow-body electric, and a tele, or strat kind of thing. If this Variax guitar sounds as good as you all say, it seems like I would save a lot of $ by buying one of these, compared to purchasing 3 separate, good-sounding axes. Would you agree with this?
[This message was edited by Rich Weiss on 13 January 2004 at 03:55 PM.] |
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Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 13 Jan 2004 5:07 pm
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Rich, the variax has 55 different sounds. The differences between some are very subtle. Nobody is going to use all 55, but the idea is that you find the ones you like.
I love mine. It has just about every sound one could ask for, As b0b said, the sounds aren't exactly the same as the the guitars they are emulating, but they do sound awfully good.
And the answer to the question of whether they have new upgraded software is yes, they do. Mine has the very latest version.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and predict that at the NAMM show this weekend, Either Gibson or Fender or Ibanez or some other major manufacturer will unveil their version of a modleing guitar. I cannot see them not jumping on this technology. |
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Jim Phelps
From:
Mexico City, Mexico
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Posted 14 Jan 2004 11:27 pm
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| . [This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 17 November 2004 at 08:08 PM.] |
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Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 15 Jan 2004 1:13 am
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| Quote: |
| somebody mentioned some guys are putting Variax electronics in other guitars, are these electronics available separately or did they buy a Variax and rip the guts out? |
The guys in question are buying Variaxes and ripping their guts out. The electronics are not available without the guitar.
Some of the first Variaxes had incorrectly set or warped necks, and intonation problems. Some of the people who bought these early ones were not satisfied with the way the guitars were uncomfortable to play, and did not intonate correctly. The initial verdict among people who tried out the guitars when they first came out was that the company put $1,000 worth of electronics in a 50 dollar guitar. As a result, Line 6 lost a certain amount of credibility, and the Variax got off to a bad start.
My guess is that it is these early guitars that people have been taking apart.
Happily this is no longer the case, and every new guitar that leaves the factory is now personally inspected by a man named Mike Gabrial, who is both a player and luthier, (and who also is an old friend whom I've known around many years,) who is both a player and a luthier, and who makes sure each guitar is properly set up. Additionally, anybody who has one of the early ones can send it back for a free repair job.
b0b is one of the people who received one of the early guitars that had a warped neck and was not intonated correctly. I brought him and the guitar to Mike Gabrial's home, and Mike fixed all the problems. Mike also inspected and set up mine before he delivered it to me. (It pays to have friends in high places.)
Given that the problems of the earliest guitars have been corrected, and the company is fixing all the early ones, I see no reason to put the guts in another guitar. [This message was edited by Mike Perlowin on 15 January 2004 at 07:47 AM.] |
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Chris Walke
From:
St Charles, IL
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Rich Weiss
From:
Woodland Hills, CA, USA
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Posted 16 Jan 2004 7:37 pm
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Wow. This could be awesome. I wonder how it sounds? Almost $1700, though.
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Jim Phelps
From:
Mexico City, Mexico
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Posted 17 Jan 2004 11:31 pm
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| . [This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 17 November 2004 at 08:08 PM.] |
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Alvin Blaine
From:
Picture Rocks, Arizona, USA
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Posted 16 Mar 2004 4:21 am
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"In cooperation with Line 6, Warmoth is pleased to bring you replacement necks and bodies to fit the 500 series Variax guitars."
Warmoth is now making Strat bodies(and soon Tele's) routed out for Variax guts.
Warmoth and Line 6
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seldomfed
From:
Colorado
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Posted 18 Mar 2004 10:29 am
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The key feature that interests me about the new acoustic version is " instant access to alternate tunings." I like slack key guitar playing and open tunings in general - BUT the acoustic also has built in resonator sounds! So lap steel tunings with reso sounds ? This could be really cool! They should build a lap steel -'Varilap'.
chris
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Chris Kennison
Ft. Collins, Colorado
"There is no spoon"
www.book-em-danno.com
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Mike Perlowin
From:
Los Angeles CA
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Posted 18 Mar 2004 10:58 am
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| Quote: |
| They should build a lap steel -'Varilap'. |
I believe David Phillips has raised the nut on his variax and converted it to just that. |
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