Line 6 Variax 700 Acoustic

I have a review below from about 2 years ago (see below) and thought I'd add my views after owning this guitar for a while now.

I'm still VERY happy with this purchase. Did a minor adjustment to the action and love what it did to the playability of this guitar.

All sounds still wonderful - or the ones I use the most, which are Parlor, Dread, and Jazz.

I have little or no use for the exotic instruments, except for the sitar. It's not great, but ok, and after amplification, it's easy to hear what I'm doing with it. A fun, different sound. The dobros and banjo are never used. I will occasionally use the 12-strings and nylon and they are ok in small doses.

As I said, I did an adjustment to the action and I'm still happy with the fit on this guitar. The lighter gauge string made quite a difference.

After 2 years of steady use, I have had absolutely no problems (knock wood). I gig regularly with this guitar for rock/blues shows and solo jazz work. I take multiple guitars on all gigs, so if it should go down, I'd just substitute one of the others. I take care of my stuff and everything on this guitar still works as it did when I bought it over 2 years ago.

Still have not dealt with them. And that is a good thing.

After 2+ years, I am still VERY happy with this guitar. Other musicians are amazed at the sounds this guitar gets. I've used it thru both the Fishman Loudbox and the new Roland AC-90. Both sound great. Have also patched direct into the sound board and again, great.

After 2 years, I'm still VERY happy with this guitar and hope to be in another 2 years. It's been a keeper for sure!

This is a guitar in the same way a keyboard is a piano. My Variax has a spruce look about it, its quite a pretty guitar though I did not orginally think so when I played one last year. As for features, well I paid a small sum for what is effectively 12 guitars, with half a dozen usable open tunings.

I want to add my own open tunings, C and C modal and that looks like it will be tricky - though I haven't tried yet. It may be easy.

The sounds are amazing. They may not be perfect but - wow. I bought this as I play open mic night and I get instant variation at the touch of a button. For the working acoustic guitarist it is a must have unless you have a roadie and 8 vintage guitars.

It was rather shop soiled and they knocked off ??100 for me.

Its a great live guitar. I dunno about the electrical side of it, it has a mini computer inside I guess. I would not use any guitar on a gig without a back up. Tuning is pretty solid though the gig bag inevitably knocks the machine heads. I may get a hard case for it.

N/A

I have been playing 27 years. I traded in an Ovation Balladeer against this - no regrets. I have a Squire Strat (my son has claimed this I think) a Fylde Goodfellow. A basic Yamaha in my classroom at school and a Samick banjo.

If this was robbed I'd have another before the end of the day.

I love its variation at the touch of the switch, amazing.

My only gripe is that there is a workbench for the electric variax but not for the acoustic. Why? There's a thousand guitars they could model for use. Mandolin? Bazouki? Until Line 6 adress that the acosutic is a poor cousin of the electric models.

This goes without saying - features are what the Variax is all about and from this point of view it does not disappoint. Visit their website for the rundown but it's as much a computer as a guitar, and feature-filled.

Here's the truth as I see it. Apart from the models of real acoustics at the beginning of the dial, the other models are useless, seriously. The resonator models sound completely Woolworths, as does the classical model, and the wobble as the pitch shifting software tries to emulate a twelve-string is alarming and renders the sound unusable. Don't even ask about the mandola model - I sat with a mandola player for comparison and he almost wet himself laughing. Seriously, you get what you pay for but ??750? Add to this the fact of the strings being loud enough to hear in their original pitches when you're in alternate tunings even amped up (most musicians have good ears, Line 6!) and you're on a losing streak from the start.

The action lies somewhere between acoustic and electric, feeling like a well set-up arch top guitar. The small body makes for comfort and you can sense a strange polarity here - your right hand feels like it's picking or strumming a nice small-bodied acoustic while your left hand enjoys way more fluidity and comfort than you might be used to on a run-of-the-mill acoustic guitar.

My Variax is with Line 6 as we speak for the THIRD TIME in a year! Reliable is NOT the word. Sure it's nicely made and finished, and the gig bag is lovely, but you do not want to go through your playing life wondering when the thing will go wrong next. At your next gig? At the next recording session? In the next five minutes? If they fix it it's back on eBay for a bargain price while I invest in some wood instead of software. Not dependable. Not reliable. Not funny.

The people at Line 6 are a mixture, but by and large very friendly, paying for pickups and redeliveries with no hassles.

32 years man and boy, and in addition to the Variax I have an old Yamaha FG310, a Barcelonian classical, a small bodied Westwood electroacoustic and a Breedlove Atlas through Behringer guitar amps and a Behringer PA. I should have taken more time to listen to the models. If stolen the insurance money would go towards a small bodied Martin. Think seriously and listen hard to this guitar before buying.

If you're checking it out, you probably know what the features are, but it's a digital guitar with various virtual vintage "models", including mandola, shamisen, and sitar. Variax Workbench recently added the ability to tweak the models in really cool ways.

I'm not sure how to rate this. On intention? As in, they intended to give us a lot of cool features? Or on how effective those features turn out to be? I'll split the difference at 5.

At first the sounds were pretty good. I play all open tunings, which was why I bought this thing, so at first, out of convenience, I was willing to overlook the bad sounds that came out of it. Over time, though, my patience got shorter and the sounds got worse and worse. About 7 months after I bought it, they were so awful that I took the thing back. The guy at the store agreed on how awful it sounded and replaced it. He said the chip had gone bad. A week later, the low E string piezo pickup on the replacement blinked out. I took it back and traded it in for an American-made Tele. I'm sure the Tele will never make those awful chirps, blips, squawks, burps, and squirrely digital squiggles that the Variax made.

I would've given it a 1 for sounds, but that wouldn't have been quite fair. I have to hand it to Line 6, they did a great job of emulating those sounds. If you're a strummer, or a very clean picker, you'll probably be okay. However, if you like to hit the strings hard -- if you like to break them sometimes out of sheer joy and abandon -- if you like to play percussively, and especially if you do so with a slide -- then DONT GET THIS GUITAR.

Action is so variable, it's not worth rating. Everybody has their own preferences. The finish was beautiful. Overall, it was like a girl who turns her face away and grunts while you try to make love. Not very sexy. The Tele on the other hand ...

I wouldn't gig it even with a backup.

Never dealt with them. The store took care of everything.

Again, if you're really gentle and don't subject the thing -- I hesitate to call it a guitar -- to too much force, it might be okay. But if you like to play hard, forget it. Don't even waste your time.

The features are well documented by others here - suffice to say they're all OK, though could do with som kind of finishing to the 3 sliders... they look like they used to have knobbly bits on the ends, but they've fallen off!

Sound is brilliant - an ideal guitar for playing in an amplified scenario. Controllable, no feedback, and nicely bright.

Like others, I immediately swapped inte medium guage strings for a set of Martin extra lights, with no noticeable deterioration in sound quality. Just makes it even more playable, in my book.

This is where I had a problem. Eight months into ownership, it failed during a gig. Thought it was the batteries that had expired at first, but eliminated this as the source of the problem when a hefty clout to the body of the guitar brought about a reconcilliation of the sound. So, off it went to Line 6 for a repair under guarantee. I have to say, their service was laughable; 3 weeks and not return of guitar, followed by a brand new one delivered to ther dealer, followed by the dealer admitting Line 6 had made a mistake, followed by my original being returned but without the hard case I had invested in. Took 6 weeks and many paddies from me to get my guitar repaired and delivered with its hard case. NOT GOOD LINE 6!

See above answer...

Playing donkey's years (you wouldn't know, though...). If it were lost/stolen, I would replace immediately - its veratility in a live situation makes it worth its weight in gold. Share other people's comments that it ought to come with a hard case, not just a mucky brown gig bag. It's not a guitar to throw around, so needs A* protection.

I am very happy with the features on this guitar. I wish they would make a way to use the same guitar sound with more than one alternate tuning. In fact, I would be happy if all the patches were either the jumbo or dread sound.

I play through a Bose PAS system and think this is a great way to hear the Acoustic Variax.

For an acoustic guitar, it doesn't get much better than this. It plays like a Les Paul.

This is my second review of the Acoustic Variax. I did another review back in Feb 2005 with my 2nd Variax which I returned. I guess 3 times is a charm, because I've been using my Variax for 10 months now and haven't had a problem.

I've called Line 6 from time to time to see when they are going to bring out a port for this guitar so I can upload sounds and tunings like you can do with the electric Variax guitars. They come off like that don't seem to care.

This feature was supposed to be out a year ago.

I'm very happy with this guitar. It has been very good to me and hasn't let me down once.

Bought this Variax from Guitar Center about 4 months ago. At first, I was not comfortable with the feel, which is very much like a Les Paul. I've always preferred slimmer necks and this guitar felt "chunky". However, I was very much impressed with the sound. They had it demo'ed thru the Bose PAS. I sat for about 3 hours fooling around with the settings, programming, and different sounds. Gradually, I became more comfortable with the feel. I thanked the salesman and told him I'd sleep on it. About 10 days later, he called me and said they'd knock $300 off the price if I could make the purchase before the end of the quarter. I went back in, played around with it a little more, and cut the deal. They were very nice to deal with.

I have had dozens of guitars over the past 40 years. This is one I simply have not been able to put down. I've played it some every day since I got it. While I don't have all of the acoustics modeled by the Variax, I can tell you that they are all first rate sounding acoustic tones. I prefer the Parlor, Dread, Triple O, and Jazz. The Nylon is ok, but sounds more like a synthesized nylon rather than a true classical guitar. My regular nylon sounds much better, but it is useable live.

The 12 strings sound fine to me, and the sitar is fun. Adds a nice toch to a jazz arrangement of Steely Dan's "Do It Again". Dobro's and banjo sound pretty good, but I don't have much use for them.

But the acoustics are great, and that's what I bought it for. For live performance thru a good, flat PA, or direct recording, you can't do much better.

Controls and settings are all documented here and on the Line-6 website. There are also some demo sounds on the web that are helpful.

Guitar seems very well made and durable. I am very careful with all my guitars (7) and maybe a little moreso with this one because of the electronics. Setup was pretty good, but I put a lighter guage string on when I got it home. Despite what some say, I installed some light gauge strings and they performed just as they do on a standard acoustic. Bright sounds and easy fingering.

Time will tell, and I'm very careful with my stuff. I have used this guitar on about a dozen live gigs so far, and it's working beautifully.

Overall, it seems to be a very solid guitar. I always take a backup of some sort.

Have not dealt with them.

Played about 40+ years. Have several guitars from Fender Strat, Takamine 12-string, Gibson ES-175, Ovation Tornado, Ovation Balladeer, etc. Fender, Tech-21, and Roland amps. Lots of analog pedals and a few digital ones.

One thing about this guitar that I didn't expect to use, but do is the virtual capo. I occasionally do a jazz trio with guitar, sax, and percussionist. As a guitarist, I do a lot of solo arrangements in "guitar" keys like A or E. The virtual capo lets me move those to Bb or F easily to better accommodate the sax. HE loves it!!

I would buy this guitar again in a heartbeat.

Wish it had a tuner and a better sounding nylon string.

The $950 price I paid was not too bad. I think the regular price is around $1200 which is a little pricey for a basically, electronic modeling guitar.

For what it is - a great acoustic sound for live or studio performance - this guitar is fantastic.

Good selection of acoustic models. The sitar and shamisen are gimmicky and not very useful.

Initially sounded great, at least for a direct-recording situation. After a little over a year of owning the guitar it began to develop problems with the electronics, and now pretty much sounds like crap, in spite of resetting it and trying a host of other remedies. I suspect something on the circuit board or in the processor has gone south.

Looks good, but the construction is poor. Three months after I bought it the bridge began to lift and the top began to delaminate around the bridge. Had it fixed by a local shop. Now a year-plus on it's coming up again, and even more of the top is delaminating.

Very poor. See the above categories.

Word was it could be a month or two to get the bridge repaired when it first came up, so I paid to have it fixed locally. Now that it's coming apart again AND the electronics are going it's out of warranty. Learned my lesson the expensive way- I do not reccomend this particular Line6 product.

Very, very disappointing. Yeah, sounded fantastic, but barely a year after I bought it it's now worthless.

This sound review is from the audience perspective. A pro female singer who's gigs I attend, recently switched to the Variax Acoustic: Her sound improved dramatically with the Variax. (Sorry, I don't know what guitars she was using prior). Her musical style is sort of folk-rock, her own material, a strummer, with 1 electric guitar backup guy. The venue was outdoors at a party. She's only owned it for a few days. She plugged directly into a modest PA. Her sound was focused and clear, no mud, no twang, no rumbles, no feedback. Bright but not harsh, you could hear the low string clearly. Plenty of dynamic balance. She used a few different guitar patches. When she started one of her numbers, I suddenly hear a Dobro. Another, a 12 string. This was one of the best live acoustic sounds I've ever heard.

During a break, she let me mess with it a little. The action was low and smooth. I asked her to switch to various sounds as I played, and most sounded very good. The "banjo" and some others were a little wierd, but hey, this was all on the fly on stage and new to both of us.

Hearsay, she said she absolutely loves it, and is so easy to just plug and play in a live situation.

lOTS OF FEATURES. MANY MODELS TO CHOOSE FROM. THIN BODY LIKE A GIBSON CHET ATKINS ACOUSTIC. CHUNKY NECK, THOUGH. SIMILAR TO A LES PAUL NECK.
OVERALL, NICE FEEL, AND NICE PLAYABILITY

CANT SAY ENOUGH. SO MUCH TO CHOOSE FROM. MOST SOUND DEAD ON, THOUGH I PREFER THE BANJO SOUND FROM THE VARIAX ELECTRICS. SOUNDS PRETTY CHEAP. LOTS OF TWEAKING THROUGH THE BOARD, BUT IF YOU LIKE THAT, WHICH MOST MUSICIANS DO, ALL IS WELL.

I HATE GIVING THIS A LOW SCORE, BUT I WAS EXPECTING TO BE FLOORED BY THE OVERALL LOOK, AND WASNT. A BIT DISSAPOINTED BY THE NECK. WOULD HAVE LIKED BETTER TUNERS. NECK FELT...WELL, IT FELT A BIT CHEAP. BUT I PROMISE YOU WILL CHANGE YOUR MIND WHEN YOU PLAY THIS.

NO OPINION, THOUGH IM A BIT NERVOUS ABOUT THE FIRST TIME I DROP IT. SCARED CONCERNING THE ELECTRONICS INSIDE.

oWN A FEW OTHER GUITARS, AND I GUESS I JUST NEED TO GROW WITH THIS GUITAR, YA KNOW? IM EXCITED, BECAUSE THERE ARE ENDLESS POSSIBILITIES, BUT ITS JUST GETTING PAST THE POINT OF TRUSTING IT. I CANT SPEAK ENOUGH OF THE FEATURES. WOW. I DONT REGRET BUYING IT, I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING THIS INTO A GIG.

Standard Variax acoustic with natural spruce top, purchased in August 2005. I bought it mostly as a novelty. The concept of the the different modeled instruments was pretty inovative to my thinking. The ability to change tunings by turning a switch is a great feature, and the primary reason I bought it.

I rate the features "9". What other guitar has them?

The 000, dreadnaught and jumbo all sound very good and natural to me. The jumbo sounds particularly good for strumming. I prefer the 000 for fingerpicking. The parlor is a little tinny and the nylon does not sound realistic (I don't care for nylon strings anyway). The squareneck is a nice sound, but to me, it does not sound at all like my squareneck model 45 Dobro. The roundneck model played with a slide sounds remarkably like my Dobro DM33 brass bodied resonator, but it does not quite sound as realistic when fretted with the fingers. Both 12 sting models are quite good.

The mandola sounds good with a capo at the 5th fret. It would have been a nice feature if you could set up alternate tuning for the bottom four strings to GDAE so those who also play mandolin could utilize mandolin fingering and get a more usable sound (alternate tuning is not available for the 12 strings or the mandola).

The guitar has an all around good, usable acoustic sound. I play it through the clean channel of a Peavey Classic 30.

I play mostly traditional blues so I really like to be able to switch to open G or D for bottlenecking without retuning or switching instruments.

Does this guitar sound as good as my Taylor 615CE? No. But it was less than half the price and has a lot more features, and sounds pretty damn good for my money.

The overall construction is very good. Played OK right out of the box. The fit and finish rivals most American made guitars. Some people will slam the construction because it was made in Korea, just like some people slammed Japanese guitars before Yamahas became world class instruments.

Seems durable enough to me. Solidly built.

No contact with the folks at Line 6.

I have played for 41 years. I have a Taylor 615CE, 2 Martin D-35's, 2 Dobros, Epiphone Emperor, Epiphone Sheridan, Gibson Les Paul, Beard resonator, couple of mandolins,Gibson lap steel.

I bought this guitar for the novel features. I like it.

Basically it's a guitar with a type of synthesizer in it. A features list is easy to come by right now, so i won't bore you with the repetition. Mine is black and looks sharp. Tuners seem good so far, probably Korean almost certainly asian. This thing is active only, no chance of not powering the processor(s?) The body is a bit unusual in dimesnions with a really small top bout, but i find the cutaway lovely. i like the height adjustable(by screws) saddle but for some people to get the right action the bridge itself may need shaved down. My only beef is that the neck is too fat for my tastes. i've never played a fatter neck. Ever. The gig bag is quite beefy as well.

My "8" rating is for the fact that they could have used Grovers, made it with a slimmer neck and bridge and included a hard case for the price(though i bought mine in perfect condition after it was returned by someone else and saved quite a bit.) It would get a "7" but it's software upgradable, so there's probably not going to be a "2.0" physically before any improvements are made.

Well, i lead worship and play in a worship band regularly. Now, don't let those words define a style because i'm very wide-ranging stylistically: pop, rock, soul, gospel, country, "alternative"(whatever that means now,) and so on. There are plenty of acoustic vibes on this to match just about anything, though a more modern-sounding model like a Taylor or Olsen would be a welcome addition. i've been told by Line6 that the next version of their Variax Workbench software which allows you to design your own instrument will be compatible with the Variax Acoustic, so maybe that will be available then.

i do find that in a live situation the models don't quite cut it without some processing. They have recorded well for me, but there's always manipulation in the studio setting. i have, however, managed to get good live sound out of it by playing through my XT Live and EQing each to taste and viola! A little extra presence goes a long way. i most often use the J-45 model.

i found the 12-strings to be disappointing. The octave mandolin is nice, but try to play fingerings that sound right and never sound more than 4 strings at a time or it sounds fake. the nylon is acceptable and the sitar is a lot of fun. i never use the jazz models, i like a fat electric sound better.

The most interesting thing to me is the ability to use alternate tunings without messing with your strings. It's a bit frustrating, though to play using a model in DADGAD if you can still hear the physical resonance of the strings in conventional tuning(which is not a problem for me since we usually use ear monitors.) I got this hoping it would solve a problem for me- i was carrying 2 Godin A6 guitars in different tunings and a solid body classical and switching instruments a lot during a worship set can wreck the flow. Now i can play nearly any acoustic parts i want to, however varied, with the same instrument.

Bottom line: played live through a PA this thing sounds better than *ANY* acoustic with a pickup except perhaps the Taylor Expression System, but there is still a little work to do on the software.

Super high action when it arrived. The neck adjustment was pretty good. i must say that the build quality was quite good considering expectations of Korean instruments used to be questionable. Take into consideration the fact that most US-factory-built guitars these days(Gibson, Fender, etc.) are generally not any better, in fact the build quality on mine is better than a couple of US "Custom Shop" Washburns i *used* to own. I think this is built by Samick judging by my experiences with those instruments over the last few years. It's basically a $600-$700 guitar with an $800-$900 computer in it.

Physically, i expect this instrument to hold up well, but i don't know how sturdy the electronics are, we'll have to see. I waited 7 months to write this to be sure things were not hairy in that compartment. So far, bulletproof.

i have owned a Flextone II XL, POD and POD XT Live, all made by Line6 before this guitar. All have held up well, all my questions, concerns and interests have been well handled by the manufacturer and that in a rapid fashion. In the past Line 6 has made software and firmware updates free and even some chips for physical updates have been handled at no charge. i have no reason to expect that to change. In my opinion they are a great American company.

i have been playing since 1993 and you could consider me semi-proffesional. Nothing beats a real acoustic. i have a Tacoma JM-19 that i love. It's a waste of time to take them on stage in most cases and often hard to get a good recording of one in a home studio and that is where the Variax works well for me. i most often play electric and mandolin in addition to this guitar and i'm glad i made this purchase. i would suggest getting the XT Live and using the Variax cable for live work, but i think this will only get better with updates and the Workbench.

i love not having to change guitars or retune for alternate tunings or classical and "effect" sounds. If it had a slimmer neck and a hard case included(i can't find one to fit it,) i'd give it a "9."

2005 Variax acoustic 700, natural color. Made in Korea. Comes with a nice gig bag but for this price should come with a very nice hardshell case. I was attracted to this guitar because the idea of one guitar doing so much is a great idea, but..... only had it about a week when the electronics quit working and then you just have a mediocre Korean guitar you can't use. I took it back.

I play blues and folk, some gospel. The sound was pretty decent through my Fender Acoustasonic Jr. The Martin and Gibson models were great, and I was impressed with the 12 string sound. It did however get an annoying "ka-chunk" sound, I guess because of the piezo pickups. I think the idea is so cool, but the quality just isn't there to me, especially for the price. You also have to send it back to Line 6 when something goes wrong. Like I said before I took mine back and will wait untill they get the bugs out and quality control improved.

Modeling control knob was lose, otherwise seemed like a pretty good $600 price range guitar.

Would not depend on this guitar in a live situation. Have a backup or two!!

Did not contact them.

I have been playing for 30 years. Have a Strat, an SG, and Martin acoustic.

I've had my Acoustic Variax 700 for over a month now and finally feel able to review it fairly. I got the guitar (used) as a gigging guitar. My main acoustic is a multi-thousand dollar Olson SJ that will now live in semi-retirement in my home. I wanted a guitar that would not feedback through my sound system (Bose PAS) and would sound great plugged in.

I just finished listening to the CD I made of my show last weekend. The guitar sounds fabulous. I use only the Jumbo, Dread, Parlor and 000 models. I guess I did use the sitar for "Norwegian Wood". These models all sound fantastic. I love the clear, expressive sound. Very authentic. Exactly like the originals? I don't know. I don't care. My audience wouldn't have a clue. These models sound wonderful to my ear.

I originally wanted this guitar for its ability to program alternate tunings. I do not like the sound of them and find them really hit and miss. I hope Line 6 updates the firmware to address some of the issues around the alternate tuning/capo function. As it stands, I don't use them because they sound awkward. I retune the guitar the old fashioned way and arrive at the same destination in a way that is more aesthetically pleasing.

I don't like the slim neck only because I'm used to the wider neck of the Olson. However, after playing it for a month, I'm now pretty comfortable with the neck. The quality of the neck feels pretty good. It doesn't play like the Olson or a nice Taylor, however.

Again, I bought this as a gigging, road guitar and I didn't pay a lot for it. It feels great for the price I paid.

I have no idea how this thing will hold up. Do I worry about the electronics failing me? You bet I do! That is why I'll always bring a backup acoustic (in my case a 1983 Martin D-25 koa).

I've never dealt with them before so giving a rating wouldn't be fair.

I bought the Pod XT Live to mate with this guitar. I power the guitar through the digital connection which allows me to switch models on the fly through XTL. I also am trying to use the VAX with the Roland GR-20 guitar synth, but have not been able to get the tracking sufficient with the GK-3 to really move forward. I'll keep experimenting.

This is my first acoustic that allows access to upper frets (i.e. cutaway). I love it.

I recently compared this guitar with the new Taylor T5. I like the idea of having one guitar that does it all. The T5 would be awesome if the acoustic sounds from the guitar were better. It does not compare with the VAX with regard to sounding like an acoustic.

I am scoring the guitar overall a 9. It is not perfect. It has its weaknesses, but is a pretty amazing instrument. Where this guitar really shines is in the studio.

This was one of the first Acoustic modles to come out about a year ago. I did like the technology and its great ability to model a lot of guitars. It was made in Korea and the quality of wood is fair. I rate the features of this guitar's ability to be a 10.

Through a PA or an acoustic amp this thing sounds great. Great for alternate tunning players.

The only thing I did not like about this guitar is the size of the neck and the strings are (for me) too close togeather. It is great for strumming, but very difficult for fingerpicking. I'm use to Taylors 1 3/4" with nuts, and early model Fender strats. It will take some work to get acustom to this guitar.

I have no clue if it will last, but the guitar is built solid.

It is an innovative guitar that has its place in recording and performing. It's like having 10 instruments in one at the push and turn of a button. Great for the diverse guitarist. I have played for over 25 years. I would like the company to come out with a model more suited for fingerpicers. I would like to see other manufactures meet the challange.

Solid body acoustic guitar modeller. Besides the modelling of about 20 guitars, it has the innovative virtual stringtuning feature. This means that you can change the pitch of the strings, without altering the stringtuning itself. And although I wasn't convinced when I read about it, is is really good. This was also one of the main reasons for me to buy this guitar.

The guitar was built in 2004, I bought it second-hand in february 2005 for 800 euro's. A high quality gigbag, XLR/1/4-switch with power supply and a stereocable are included.

See the Line6 website for more information!

The normal guitars like the dread, jumbo, C&w, triple-o and parlor sound really nice. The jumbo is my favorite. I have this guitar tuned in BDDDDD to play Iris from the Goo Goo Dolls, and it sounds very good, and I don't have a flobbering B-string! The only remark is that the b and high e string sound a little sharp and electronic when tuned up around 4-5 semitones. It is not very annoying, but you hear that it is about the limit of the tuningfunction.

I use the Jazz model for solo's, and it sounds really ok. I owned a Cort Yorktown jazzbox, but the model sounds way better. I like it. Furthermore I use the squareneck dobro to play Dire Straits' Romeo & Juliet (open G), and the round neck for slide (Solo Corrs' Little Wing Unplugged). The 12-strings are nice for some Eagles songs and slow picking tunes.

The Nylon doesn't sound that great in my opinion, but it is ok for some flamenco work. I never use the Gypsy and ethnical instruments. I would have rather seen some more Jumbo's or Semi's instead of these.

I like the instrument. First of all, it is really heavy, and that makes it feel reliable. Furter does it feel like an electric guitar.. it plays incredibly light, for sure when you are used to acoustics with gauge 0.13. It has a nice highgloss laquer without any flaws as far I have discovered.

Did not have any problems with it yet.

Never dealt with Line6

I've been playing for about 10 years now, mainly on acoustic guitars. I like open tunings, fingerpicking and jazz, so the tuningfeature is perfect for me. It is really quiet, so you don't hear the normal string tuning over the virtual tuning. I would like to see some more useful guitars added, but overall it is simply a great instrument.

Other guitars I own are a Seagull Artist Cameo, Gibson Songwriter Deluxe and an old Prudencio Saez concert. Currently I'm saving money for a Santa Cruz Archtop.

I must say that I play the Variax the most of these guitars, and I would certainly buy another one if this was stolen.

This is my second try with the Acoustic Variax. I sent the first one back after a day or two because it just didn't work with my setup. I bought a Bose PAS system, and feel this guitar will work much better now for me, but I have my reservations.

I'd like to know what preset in the PAS others are using with the Variax. I thought Bose was going to come with a preset for the Variax, but I have Ver 2 and they don't have one there.

Big problem! After owning the guitar for less than a week and only playing it for maybe 5 hours, the D string doesn't work anymore. No sound is coming from the electronics for the D string at all. What kind of electronics are in this thing? I don't know if the problem is in the bridge saddle or the sound card, but this is a real bad start for the 2nd time around.

I think the features in this guitar are really great. You can have multiple guitars, plus alternate tunings, in one guitar.

I feel like it plays like a LesPaul, but weighs more than any of my acoustics, so you can feel it after a long set. The playability, for an acoustic, is great though.

When playing alternate tunings, you can hear the strings along with the tuned guitar unless the PAS is really loud. I use some bizzare tunings and it bothers me. Since I haven't used this for a gig yet, I wonder what the audience will hear. This is bad and I think I'm going to have to do something for gigs. I still can sing on tune, but it bothers me.

The idea of being able to bring one guitar to a gig instead of three is a nice feature, but without a backup, I don't think this is wise, due to the problems mentioned above. I will need a backup anyway, so why not just bring three guitars to a gig anyway?

Why didn't they add a tuner?

I'm a singer songwriter and play rock/pop style. I play gigs with just the guitar and myself. I think this guitar would work better in a mix with other instruments, but by itself, it lacks a little soul.

I've played model guitars for a long time now with the Roland VG-8 and VG-88, so I have a lot of experience with modeling. It's like playing a recording of a guitar and I'm ok with that.

I think I miss the vibrations of a real acoustic guitar against my body.

I've found only a few models to work for me, such as the Dread, Triple O and Jumbo. It will be nice when and if Line 6 can get the port together that will allow you to upload different sounds into the guitar so I can use only the few guitar I like and have multiple versions of each, with different tunings.

For an acoustic guitar, I like the playability. This guitar plays like an electric with acoustic strings. I like how it is thin and doesn't stick out like a real acoustic.

The shape and finish are fine for me. I like the cutaway.

As mentioned above this is a big problem! After owning the guitar for less than a week and only playing it for maybe 5 hours, the D string doesn't work anymore. No sound is coming from the electronics for the D string at all. What kind of electronics are in this thing? I don't know if the problem is in the bridge saddle or the sound card, but this is a real bad start for the 2nd time around.

I may return this guitar and forget about Line 6 altogether. I own a studio and have never seen modern electronics fail this quickly. I've played the Roland modelers for years since 1999 and haven't even had to replace a 13 pin cord yet.

After this, I would have to have another Variax as a backup. That would mean another $1000. This might not be so convenient after all.

I haven't called them yet because I'm sending it back and getting a new one or my money back.

I've player guitar for over 30 years. I own 5 acoustic guitars (Taylor, Martin, Takamine, Alvarez Yari), 3 electric guitars (Brian Moore, Strat, Charvel) and a bass. I own a Roland VG88, Roland GR33 guitar syntl, Vox Valctronics Plus. I own a studio with good mics and preamps, etc.

I'm really concerned with the electronics in this thing. How can they be so bad. Line 6 really needs to get this under control if they are serious. My girlfriend asked how I could trust something like this on a gig. She said at least with regular acoustics, if something goes wrong, I would have another one there that I could retune. That's why I bought this in the first place, to minimize my setup.

I think if I could trust the electronics or I had a backup Variax, this would be a right decision, but having to spend another $1000 to get reliability, I may as well go with real acoustics. They sound better and have soul.

I still don't know what I'm going to do, but will decide by tomorrow.

This guitar is the latest modelling type guitar produced by the folks at Line6. It has models of many acoustic-type instruments. The instruments are selected by a rotary switch located on the guitar body. The controls include compression, volume and microphone placement. Although the exact result of each control can be much more complex, the compression control adjusts the overall dynamic range and microphone control effects the "virtual placement" of the microphone in relation to the sound hole of the guitar, basically either increasing or decreasing low end response. Volume does what it usually does. The same rotary switch when depressed, can change the guitar into a tuning mode where either an open tuning or a virtual capo is employed. Guitar is powered by 6 AA batteries or a DC-powered footswitch, with a tip, ring and sleeve plug. Footswitch switches between a balanced +6db balanced connection (typical for microphone inputs) or an unbalanced guitar-type tip and sleeve connection. Most of the other features of this guitar can be discovered by looking at the marketing hype provided by the manufacturer's web site, I'll not go into those details.

I'm giving this an 8 instead of a 10 because with all it's computer technology, the Line6 folks failed to include a guitar tuner in the package. Seems a bit of an oversight to leave it out, espcially when the guitar is nothing more than a mahogony slab with a spruce top. The neck is decent and playable. It feels like a quality instrument.

Many of the acoustic models are fairly accurate. For my style of playing I prefer these models: Parlor, Triple O, Dreadnought, Jumbo and Country and Western. They all sound pretty accurate to the originals (at least those that I've been lucky enough to play over the years)! The twelve string models are sufficient, but quite frankly, I think that the sound of twelve string is difficult to model successfuly, though I'm probably spoilled from playing my Lemon Grove 555 Taylor. Still, the sounds are useful. I actually like the sound of a the mandola, it sounds like a cross between a mandolin and a twelve string, but with more depth and resonance. The sitar, shamisen and banjo are fun, but can't see much use for these except for recording. There are other sounds such as those based upon the Maccaferri, a D'Angelico and a Velzaquez, but my playing style can't do those justice, so I can't comment extensively. There's also a round neck and square neck dobro to fill out the collection. They are great for slide playing.

I bought this guitar to play at open-mics and occasional gigs doing the singer/songwriter thing. Pretty much all acoustic guitars that are amplified using under the saddle, under the soundboard or other types of transducers> Soundwise, these can be a major compromise in sound quality, plus they are prone to feedback when playing loud with a back-up band. This guitar can be cranked with no feedback plus the models sound pretty true. True enough for the crowds I intend to be playing to. Plus the virtual capo is great for those songs that I need to drop a step or two to help my limited vocal range. I can just dial up a detuned guitar and voila, I can hit all the high notes!

The only thing to keep in mind is that when playing capo'ed or in an open tuning is that there is some sound that eminates from the guitar itself (amazingling it sounds pretty good although a bit quiet played unplugged). This can be distracting due to the blending of the natural sound of the guitar and the amplified output. In these cases either a headphone is required or a loud enough monitor mix to mask the inevitable dissonances.

I bought the black model, because I thought it looked cooler than the natural model. After all, the top is not really contributing much to the sound of the instrument. The neck will probably need some work, i.e nut adjusted, neck tweaked, etc. But I will wait until after I play it for a while and put on my usual set of strings as I'm still playing the factory installed D'Addarios. Still, not too bad a set up for a mass produced guitar.

Time will tell. I purchased this guitar on December 30, 2004 and have been beating the hell out of it ever since. I have yet to play any gigs with it, and will report back with that information when and if. I like the fact that if my AA's are weak I can swap in a 9volt in a pinch. I don't intend on using the powered footswitch when playing live. Keepin' it simple if I can. The guiar gig bag is quality an the pockets hold everything.

Haven't had to deal with them yet, although I did call them when I was waiting for the guitar (black is somewhat harder to get for some reason) and they did talk to me. Everyones mileage varies in this category though.

I've been playing for 35 years. I own a Lemon Grove Taylor 555 twelve string and a 1982 Guild D-55. This is an acoustic guitar sounding instrument that is a necessity for recording and live musicians. Hopefully it will work for me live. I don't anticipate any problems though.

made in korea (2004), 22+2 frets (neck is like the les paul), 6 piezo pickup (one for string), active electronic, flawless finish but good looking!
light weight, no tonal rooms, bridge adjustable for action (very good feature!)
included gig bag, professional stereo cable, power/switch pedal (very solid)

the sound is very impressive!
seems like a recorded guitar, very clear and deep!
the sound for every instrument is very very good!
the modelled sound is great and there is NO LATENCY as midi pickups!!!! the sound is modelled, not digitally decoded and encoded!
bandings, armonics, hammer off pull on and everything you play, is present!!!
16 great instruments, only nylon is not great (it seems like an acoustic string with a repentine sound decay!) and blues 12 strings (only in solos, in chords is not very bad!).
the martins are incredible, also the gibson and resophonic.
sitar, banjo, mandola and samishen are ok, but i prefer more guitars. after all the suond is ok!
i really like the compressor and virtual mic position, that add some kind of magic!!
alternate tuning is very great, but just once per guitar...but old-capo is not a tuner problem, even with big strings!!

action ok, flawless finish, i prefer a F style instead of a hole!!!
my ibanez aej-90 sounds not so good but is more great lookin'!!!!!!
mechanic is ok, no problem with electronic.
finish is not bad, but average. natural is better than black!
maybe not so good lookin but inside is a GREAT deal!!!

i use it in a gig...no problem , great sound, volume perfect, tracking ok, i have a backup but i never felt that that one is necessary!
guitar seems very solid, even electronics...i hope that one never die!!!

i'm addicted to this guitar....i very like it, i was not very sure to buy it, until i heard it!!!!
i'd like to customize my own guitar with line 6 guitar workbech!!!
i reccomend it to anyone like me have an acoustic duo or need a variety of guitars sound or even play live in a band....i repeat...the sound is incredible(in an acoustic ampli or directly in a PA or mixer)!!!

See Above. I'll pass on re-posting. 'sides, you should check out the line-6 page before you buy anyway.
THE features for me are PLAYing 12 strings and only having to keep 6 in tune <g> - and the alt tunings/capo settings.

Keep in mind what you are buying and what it will be used for. You don't buy a Rolls to pull a manure wagon ...unless you have a very rich wife and the Senate's health care plan <g>

So here's what it does for me.
I play live every Sunday and (1) sometimes the bass player doesn't show up... On some tunes I use an octave down tuneing and fill in the gaps.
(2) I want to inject a wee bit of blues slide... on goes the 11/16th deep craftsmen socket and I twist up a dobro and punch in an open G tuneing.
(3) I need to just strum a bit and fill out the sound while our lead player croons the melody in the intro... so I twist up the Folk 12-string
(4) I need to fingerpick some nice folk - twist... poof Martin D-21 .
- and , cuz this is an electric at heart, I can always step on my Digitech RP-80 and get reverbs and WahWahs that sound better than they do when I use my cheep strat-copy.
No, I can't store but one alt tuning per mode, but hey, their are 13 guitars on this thing. That's 13 quick changes in seconds. What do you want from one set of strings ??

If you want to show this thing off right... Get a Bose PAS ( L1 tower with a B1 sub) The coolest PA/amp/system in the multiverse right now.

That said: what you get out of this guitar is a slave to what you amp it with.
My wee little Electar 30W Acoustic amp sounds great for the Folk-12 strings but if you play "Bass" thu it... it's crap.
My Fender Champ is well... the wrong amp for it <g>
Thru a good PA that can handel the wide range of tone ( remember you can take the pitch up or down a very LONG way ) you can get very convencing smooth er, expensive sound from this toy.
Some wealthy colector may tell you " hey, that don't sound like my 1946 Martin 000-28" But if you put a Shure sm57 4" from the soundhole - amp it thru the house and stand 12 rows back in the hall and SHAZAM , it does sound like it. That's the deal here folks, It sounds darn close to these old guitars and you don't have to hunt them down and spend 20K each for them. All the sounds ( even the fairly poor banjo) sound better as part of a mix. The ear is fooled in context ya know.

This is a 300 dollar guitar with a thousand dollars worth of electronics. Fit and finish was not half bad. It doesn't compare with my Breedlove Focus but it beats the heck out of a Kramer Focus <g>

I hear that you do NOT want to drop this guitar....

I had help from Line-7 finding this guitar and they were great.
I have not had to deal with them for any problems but I do know that the Line-6 user boards are full of info and other owners who can help a great deal.

This is a great Studio tool and live gig ax - IF you have a good PA to play it thru. Don't buy this thing and expect perfection thru a Fender Tweed or Marshal Stack.

Also , buy some high quality rechargable batteries or get used to the extra cord/box

Let me add that the power box has a foot switch that will let you change outputs from 1/4" to XLR so you could, for ex: send your "Bass" sound to a bass amp and then switch back to your acoustic amp for the Gibson SJ-200

Where this guitar excels is in recording. I have a project studio and I can not over emphasize the importance of striking while the creative iron is hot.

Scenario one: grab guitar, tune to open C, Set up condenser mic, tweak preamp, record guitar along with studio noise.

Scenario 2: Plug in Variax, record guitar without worrying about bumping mics or screaming neighbors. Want to try that in DADGAD instead, turn knob, re-record.

The only feature it lacks is a built in tuning function, (Blinking Red for Flat, Amber for Sharp, green for dead on?). Workbench support with the ability to tweak sounds and replace useless models would make this a 12, but as is, I don't know how you could give this anything other than a 10. Multiple Great sounding guitars, minimal setup, alternate tuning, built in compressor.

This guitar will only sound as good as your amplification system. My current monitor setup is Variax to Tascam US428 via XLR, to Pioneer HT receiver via SPDIF, to JBL S38II. Sounds amazing. Played through club sound, cheap Behringer Powered Mixer to Wharfdale 2 way PA speaks, as good as any other $1000 acoustic, but with the Variax, you get 4-5 really great guitar sounds instead of one.


Specifics:
Nylon string - out of the guitar, not real convincing, but not bad. Record it, EQ tweak it, and it's great. Complaints from below did not spend enough time with the nylon. Maybe Line 6 could do a little tweaking and release an update.

12 string - Really good out of the box. Tweak a little on your own, move the mic towards the neck and pull the mix down on the sympathetic strings and it's dead on. No complaints at all.

Alternate tunings - Amazing. I'm sorry, but any comments to the contrary are just plain wrong. See note below for possible reason why mistaken reviews have rated this feature poorly. Is it perfect, no. Taking an acoustic guitar, changing string gauges, and retuning is perfect. Is it practically indistinguishable, amazingly convenient, and one of the greatest advances in live acoustic performance I have ever heard. YES.

As for the virtual capo, still very convincing and great if you need it in a pinch, though I just use a real capo (for partial capoing, I have to). Is it that tough?

A quick note, if anything, I made a mistake in getting one of the more resonate Variax 700As. The guitar plays at a nice volume unplugged, but when plugged in, if not using headphones or monitors turned up far enough, you will hear the original tone, which even when not using an alternate tuning, will color the sound. When using an alternate tuning, this can sound like a bad pitch-shifter, though playing back what's recorded will sound perfect. I believe that anyone who is not satisfied with the sound of this guitar may have this problem. Record the sound or listen to it loud on a good system, all your fears will be gone.

I think it would be better to compare the quality of this guitar to an electric rather than an acoustic. Acoustic just have that organic feel that electrics (which this guitar basically is) just don't. That being said, mine was very well put together. Intonation is right on, and the adjustable bridge is great. Frets level, finish is great (though mine came with a nick in the headstock). Could have used a TUSQ nut, but still plenty functional. Only gripe, the gig bag is nice and holds everything, but for $1200 list, should have gotten a foam core case (as light as a gig bag and much more protective) with cutouts for the pedal and power supply, and a front pocket for the cord. Please don't skimp.

Cord seems super tough, as well as pedal and power. I wonder about the constant know turning from model to model, but only time will tell. Can rate this now (nobody can), maybe in a couple years.

The serial number in the back of the manual did not match the prefix given on Line6's online registration and, therefore, I couldn't register my Variax online. I sent them an email on Friday. Monday, no