The Steel Guitar Forum

Guys, Teles are great guitars, no question. So are Strats, Les Pauls, 335s, hollow bodies, and all the various guitars made by Gretsch and Richenbacker and Martin.

But there's one guitar that nobody's mentioned that can outperform ALL of them. The Line 6 Variax.

I do not have the words to tell you how amazed I am at this guitar. It really does do what all the hype says it does. I think it is the most important and significant development in electric guitar building since the advent of amplification.

With it's 55 different settings, it can sound like any of the guitars that have been mentioned in this thread, as well as banjo, dobro, Coral sitar and 4 different 12 strings. And now, there's a device for it that lets you add your own sounds.

But more important than how MANY different tones this guitar produces is the QUALITY of those tones. Some are better than others, but the good ones really sound great. And the Fender and other single coil pickup simulations don't have any hum.

You all owe it to yourselves to check one out.

Mike, you are correct, they are fine Instruments..even excellent...

BUT..
and here it comes..

BUT..

it has little or no VIBE..MOJO..whatever..

like a classic Tele'....

A few weeks back we did a pretty big Show at a County Fair....

We brought ALL THE TELECASTERS , 6 or 7 extra I think and put em' up there on the Stage..on stands..they looked magnificent !

They looked better than the Band !

"They looked better than the Band !"

WELL, DUH!!!!!!

I agree about the variax guitar, BTW. It may sound "kinda like" a lot of other stuff, but if I want to hear a banjo, I'll go get my banjo. Steel, dobro, Les Paul, whatever. And ESPECIALLY in a recording setting, where the gloves come off, so to speak. It's gotta be the real thing. JMHO.

Actually Stephen, I usually use the real thing on my recordings too. When you compare the Variax with whatever it's emulating, you can hear subtle differences.

There are some exceptions. One of them is the acoustic simulation. The J-200 setting on the Variax sounds better than my actual acoustic guitar.

But bascally, the Variax is best suited for live performance. We've all seen guys bring more than one guitar to a gig. Having all the sounds at the flip of a switch is a lot more convenient than switching guitars, and you only have 6 strings to keep in tune insead of 60.

Tele's! For those in the know!

Robbie Bossert

Don Rich Can't be wrong!

For those who insist it has to be a Tele or Strat....

http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/line6/line6.cfm

I have been playing a 52 Reissue Tele for the last few years. I just recently bought a G & L ASAT Special which is what I am using currently. It has a sweet sound through a Fender Twin.

I can't believe nobody has mentioned the B.C. Rich Warlock or the Hamer Slammer yet......

I couldn't resist.