Played a higher end Line 6 Variax... Wow!!

Whisperer · June 16th, 2008, 07:26 PM

A couple years ago I played a Variax (model 300 I think)and was extremely disapointed.
But today I played a higher end (700?) and was quite impressed.
The neck felt very solid and nice and the thing stayed perfectly in tune.
It has a good solid feel and sounded good when unplugged as well, but when I plugged it in, I have to say it was quite impressive!

I looked at the price: $1699 on sale regularely $2200!!! (Canadian) Yikes! I could buy a MIM Tele, Epi LP, MIM Strat and still have change!

As I kept playing, I guess the battery died, phhhhht! that was it! Dead!

hmmm...

I'll pass, but they are getting there.

Bring the price down, change the appearance a bit, and I think they've got a winner.

This is what it looked like: metalic gold or something...

http://www.amazon.com/Line-Variax-Gu.../dp/B0009DNSHK
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Fendrcaster · June 16th, 2008, 07:34 PM

I have one of the original 500's; I've been very happy with it. The neck isn't the greatest, but very playable. I gigged with it a few times, but use it mostly for recording to save switching guitars as much. With the Workbench software it becomes even more versatile for different tunings and virtual pickup placement. I think the software hasn't changed since the original version amd if Line 6 follows its usual pattern, the price on the new ones will come down.

Lance · June 16th, 2008, 08:18 PM

I had a 700 for a few years. It's a lot of fun and an excellent guitar. (look for posts about it from me)

BUT.....

(ain't there always a "BUT"?)

In reality, I found that the one sound on the guitar I kept coming back to was the middle position Gretsch 6120....for "that" sound. Yes, it did other sounds very well. In particular, the semi-hollow body tones were sweet and after some tweaking, I had a great SRV strat tone. In the end, I sold it and Pod XTLive that I paired with it. I just kept coming back to the real guitars. The Variax was fun but there was something missing. Also, the alternate tunings never worked very well....they just sounded slightly out of tune.

As a studio instrument, it's a great idea. There's lot's of sounds to work with and there's absolutely no hum even when in front of computers or florescent lights (try that on a tele). I also like the guys that a building these into other regular electrics (search the Variax forums). Having a regular electric and the ability to switch over to variax would be an amazing setup. A great project would be to get a cheap 300 model off Ebay and build it into a Warmoth strat/tele body with conventional pickups and neck.

By the way....I ended up getting a Gretsch Setzer model...and now I have "that" sound....and a cool axe to boot!

June 16th, 2008, 07:26 PM	#1 (permalink)
Whisperer Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: . Age: 40 Posts: 280	Played a higher end Line 6 Variax... Wow!! A couple years ago I played a Variax (model 300 I think)and was extremely disapointed. But today I played a higher end (700?) and was quite impressed. The neck felt very solid and nice and the thing stayed perfectly in tune. It has a good solid feel and sounded good when unplugged as well, but when I plugged it in, I have to say it was quite impressive! I looked at the price: $1699 on sale regularely $2200!!! (Canadian) Yikes! I could buy a MIM Tele, Epi LP, MIM Strat and still have change! As I kept playing, I guess the battery died, phhhhht! that was it! Dead! hmmm... I'll pass, but they are getting there. Bring the price down, change the appearance a bit, and I think they've got a winner. This is what it looked like: metalic gold or something... http://www.amazon.com/Line-Variax-Gu.../dp/B0009DNSHK . . . . .

June 16th, 2008, 07:34 PM	#2 (permalink)
Fendrcaster Tele-Meister Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Frederick, Maryland Age: 58 Posts: 446	I have one of the original 500's; I've been very happy with it. The neck isn't the greatest, but very playable. I gigged with it a few times, but use it mostly for recording to save switching guitars as much. With the Workbench software it becomes even more versatile for different tunings and virtual pickup placement. I think the software hasn't changed since the original version amd if Line 6 follows its usual pattern, the price on the new ones will come down. __________________ I did a Google search of the letter "e". The whole internet froze up.

June 16th, 2008, 08:18 PM	#3 (permalink)
Lance Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Posts: 2,177	I had a 700 for a few years. It's a lot of fun and an excellent guitar. (look for posts about it from me) BUT..... (ain't there always a "BUT"?) In reality, I found that the one sound on the guitar I kept coming back to was the middle position Gretsch 6120....for "that" sound. Yes, it did other sounds very well. In particular, the semi-hollow body tones were sweet and after some tweaking, I had a great SRV strat tone. In the end, I sold it and Pod XTLive that I paired with it. I just kept coming back to the real guitars. The Variax was fun but there was something missing. Also, the alternate tunings never worked very well....they just sounded slightly out of tune. As a studio instrument, it's a great idea. There's lot's of sounds to work with and there's absolutely no hum even when in front of computers or florescent lights (try that on a tele). I also like the guys that a building these into other regular electrics (search the Variax forums). Having a regular electric and the ability to switch over to variax would be an amazing setup. A great project would be to get a cheap 300 model off Ebay and build it into a Warmoth strat/tele body with conventional pickups and neck. By the way....I ended up getting a Gretsch Setzer model...and now I have "that" sound....and a cool axe to boot! __________________ Lance "not very good...but I make up for it by playing loud"