Line 6 Variax 300

I have to give it a 10. I mean. How many more features do you want? And they're at least decent...
Mine is the black one. The nicest looking, in my opinion. All black. Except for the white tip on the pickup switch (?). Funny, it sits next to a white strat, with a black pickup switch tip (not on purpose, I bought a special switch for some wiring mods I wanted to do, and the previous white tip wouldn't fit, so I used the black one that came with the switch).
I don't like how you need to use the stereo cable to the power supply, then the mono to the amp... but it's good to have that alternative, rather than relying on batteries only. If you use batteries you can use a normal cable. And you can use either 6x AA type, of if in an emergency, a single 9V one (that would last less time, but will get you out of a tight spot). That's nice. And if you use a POD XT Live, you could simply use the digital cable, and with that one cable do everything. Cool.
One thing: the included stereo cable, by Planet Waves, is TERRIBLE. Get a new decent one. It's very microphonic. I noticed my guitar making some weird noises, and I thought it was some problem with the electronics... until I realised it was just that cable making rustling noises as I moved about the carpeted room). My advice: give it to your enemy, and get yourself a normal decent stereo cable, with good solid connectors and good quality screened cable.

This guitar is growing on me. After the initial "wow", I was a little disappointed. I have had a few guitars, and I still own some various ones, so I was comparing the real strat with the Variax, a twin humbucker with Variax, etc... The Variax always seemed "less nice". But never bad. In fact, certain models are very nice. I love the P90 emulations (Special), and the 335 (Semi). The Gretsch sounds great to me, although that's one style of guitar I never owned or even tried. But in general, they all have the right "spirit". The bite and twang of the tele, the classic strat sounds, the Les Paul bridge humbucker is not bad either...
Only one thing was BAD: the 12-string simulations. Some were better than others, but I didn't like any of them. They sound far too fake, like using a pitchshifter, and when you leave the sound decay you start hearing weird artifacts.
The acoustics were better than I expected (don't try them on an electric guitar amp, please... or they'll sound like... well, an acoustic through an electric amp :-) but they are still no substitute for teh real thing. Yet, they're more than passable, they will record well with other instruments... and having all those sounds in just one guitar body is unbeatable. Even if the sounds are not perfect, they're good.
I hear that with the WorkBench software you can tweak the models to make them sound better... the flexibility offered by the Workbench seems very good.
I also hear that the Variax is best partners with a POD XT Live...
I play mine through a V-Amp2 at home, and it's good enough.
The fact that it will not pick up TV or monitor interference etc, makes it the guitar of choice when messing about in the living room when the TV is on etc. Very quiet.
My guitar came with 10-46 strings. This feels a bit tougher than what I'm used to (mere 9-42 on tremolo equipped guitars... like butter, and a 10-46 on a Les Paul style guitar, with a slightly shorter scale), but I think I'll keep it this way. It probably helps with the acoustic sounds, and unplugged it's very resonant. Not a bad guitar!

The guitar was bought online... but surprisingly came perfectly set up. This is a first! I sometimes bought guitars online (usually cheap, for more money I have to really see it "in the flesh") and I am not worried about set-up as I can do that myself. In fact, I prefer to do it myself so that the guitar plays just the way I want it. But this one was pick it and go. I mean, it was almost in tune too!
The finish was also surprisingly good. I was expecting less, certainly. I have seen more expensive guitars with small flaws, but I couldn't find one on this guitar.
It does feel a bit "generic Korean"... but like a "good generic Korean", if you know what I mean. No, if you were to play it blind you would not mistake it with a PRS, or a nice Am Series stratocaster... but it feels nice enough to me. I paid ?230 for it, and it looks and feels better than what I expect for that money, especially considering that it has some fancy electronics (sure it saves on magnetic pickups, but they're not that expensive for a guitar manufacturer who can buy them un bulk).
I see other people complained about their guitars. Maybe I got lucky? Maybe the shop I got it from (iMuso.co.uk) set it up beforehand? I don't know... but it was good.

No experience on this... and long may I remain this way.
I am a little worried, in that with a conventional guitar, as long as it's structurally sound (especially a bolt-on neck guitar) I can make any guitar good. But if this dies... I'll just have a bunch of pretty integrated circuit boards and chips to look at. I guess that as long as the piezo bridge (by LR Baggs, not bad) is not damaged, you can always use it as an acoustic of sorts... Hmmm, it shouldn't be difficult to route it and install real magnetic pickups on this baby and get both styles in one... that's a thought for an interesting project.

I have been playing for about 20 years. (ouch, that long???)
I wouldn't pay ?400 for this guitar... but at ?230, I feel it's a good price. It doesn't sound like any wonderful guitar, but it sounds like many pretty decent ones. Variety. It doesn't feel like a ?1000 guitar, but it feels pretty good to me, better than the ?230 tag suggested. For your average gigging pub musician, this guitar must be a godsend. Just one guitar for everything. However, I'd worry that if the electronics die on me, what then? So a backup guitar would be adviseable. Actually, I've seen people transplanting the Variax brain to other nicer guitars... I quite like this one as it is, and it could be interesting to fit a couple of real pickups on it. Given the construction (bolt-on neck, large pickguard) it should not be difficult to do. That would give you the best of both worlds... and if the electronics die mid-gig, just switch on your magnetic pickups.
I think it's pretty well built, sounds good, feels good, the price is as low as I could expect it to be... you get a lot for ?230!
It's not my favourite guitar, and it will not substitute my Sambora strat or my VRS etc... but I play this one a lot. One reason to love this guitar is the noiselessness. But beware... if you get used to it, the hum from normal pickups seem to become extremely annoying by comparison!
Nice guitar, if you can have it new for ?200-250. At higher prices, I'll think first if I really would benefit significantly from having those sounds or from the noiseless operation.
If it got stolen... I would probably not buy it again. It's nice. Very nice. But it would not be terribly missed.

The features are well-covered by the other reviewers below. Basically it's an inexpensive strat-style body.

Sound? That's a tough one. First, all of the models have a slight digital sound to them. They just don't quite sound "organic". With that said, as other reviewers have noted, some of the models are quite good, some are terrible. To my ear the tele and strat are fairly well done, but not exceptional. My "real" guitar is a G&L Legacy with Vinatge Rail pickups. There is no way that the strat sounds on the Variax can comptete with it. The G&L has much more punch, depth and expression. That doesn't mean the Variax sounds bad, it just doesn't sound as "real". The various les Paul's range from fair to good (there are five to choose from, so one will probably satisfy you). I was impressed with the Grestch 6120. Plug it in a Vox amp and you'll sound like George Harrison circa 1965. The Rickenbacker 360 six string is quite good, and captures the "chime factor" nicely. The Rickenbacker 12 string is terrible, however, because the octave strings all suffer from severe "munchkinization". Ouch. Still, live and in a band setting it might do in a pinch. The various hollowbodies didn't do much for me. Some sound appropriately "woody", but I don't hear the partciular guitar being modeled. For me that is espcially true for the Epiphone Casino. The acoustics, as other reviewers have noted, sound like they are amplified by a piezo pickup. You won't be fooled into thinking they are "real". Not even close. On the other hand the dobro, banjo and coral sitar are surprsing realistic. In terms of the sitar, however, that doesn't mean it sounds like a real sitar (it doesn't), but that it sounds like the "electric" sitars in the '60's. I was also pleased with the Danelectro 3021.

Overall, you have to evaluate the Variax for what it is: a sort of "guitar sampler". With that in mind, what it does, it manages to fairly well.

Mine was set up about as poorly as any other guitar stright out of the box. I had to back off the neck relief, and lower the strings considerably. Once set up properly, though, it's a playable guitar. It won't make you want to put down your PRS, but it's not a chore to play either. The finish is well applied and did not have any blemishes.

The Variax looks and feels like a garden variety Squire Strat you'd find at Guitar Center. If it didn't have the modeling capabilities it would probably sell for about $200. This is not a fine instrument that's going to last a lifetime.

I ordered mine online from Sweetwater Sound and the one I received was DOA (Line 6: I am very unimpressed!!!). I wrote Line 6 and was told to send it in for repair. Instead, I contacted Sweetwater and they replaced it for me. Very cool on Sweetwater's part. Incidentally, the cable on the replacement did not work.

I've noticed from other online reviews that Line 6 seems to have a real quality control issue with these things, so be careful! If you can play it then do so, and if you're going to use the Workbench software, hook it up to the software BEFORE YOU BUY IT!!!

Also I was a bit peeved that for $500 you don't even get a gig bag: that's extra. Come on, Line 6 stop being so cheap, at $500 you're making a killing on these things.

I haven't used it, but I've heard bad stories about it.

I've been playing 40 years, and for a few years did so professionally.

Would I replace it? I guess, but I'd make sure it worked before I carried out of the store.

What do I love about it? The fact you do get a small arsenal of guitars. What do I hate? The fact that Line 6 hasn't worked all the bugs out of this thing, and I'm a bit afraid mine might die.

This guitar is really great when your looking for a special sound. Before i had the variax hours go by before i found the right guitar now it's very simple just turn to knob and you got 25 guitars without changing gear.

It depends on wich guitar you choose, for example the strat and les paul are really great even better than the real job but the tele's don't feel like my own tele. The acoustic guitars are great to bad you can't record them like an acoustic guitar with a neumann mike. The Rickenbacker sound is amazing just like the gibson es-175 the best thing about those guitar sounds are they also got the interaction of the guitar they simulate.

I must say i also tried the variax 500 but the 300 is better in my opinion. The 300 is very light sometimes you forget your playing on a cheap guitar thats really great. The 500 stinks way to heavy playing.

I have this baby for three weeks and i have no problem with it. But on stage i use first quality guitars like musicman or gibson.

I don't know.

This guitar is really great and cheap too. Most of my guitars are 2000 euro or more. I use this baby only at home looking for a sound but i think when your looking for a all-around budget guitar try this out.

I'm torn on this catagory. It has a wide variety of sounds, and workbench makes it amazing with alternate tunings - so it has many unique features - but the guitar this computer is housed in is quite unexciting, so I'm giving it a lower rating that the usual 9 or 10's. The features are well documented in other reviews.

If nothing else, the guitar is certainly versatile. It gives you a wide variety of sounds and can fit more situations than anything else out there, but it just doesn't seem to sound as good as a well built traditional guitar. The sounds were generally good, but there is something missing to me. Also, at higher volume settings it seems to have a brittle/ringing quality that I've never experienced with any other guitar in my amp. Seemed like a bit of unwanted, unmusical feedback that haunted it. I liked how the guitar was totally silent, and doesn't pick up hum from lights, but it seemed to lack the dynamics and finer qualities of the real things. It sounds fantastic through headphones while playing through a POD, but I find that hard to reproduce live with much satisfaction. Through a normal amp, it seems less at home. The acoustic guitars were quite nice sounding through a P.A, but I had a hard time playing an electric guitar and trying to pretend it was an acoustic. So I'd still rather use an acoustic with a soundhole pickup/piezo bridge - but this would be great for live recordings.

In the end, I feel that (aside from trying to sound like a banjo/sitar/acoustic) I can get just as much versatility out of a normal tele/strat/les paul - which ever - and it would generally sound better to me to play the traditional guitar. A good effort by line 6, but the technology seems to still be lacking. In a few more years, whatever they have at that point may be breath taking. Great for some circumstances, and I'd certainly want one around if I owned a small studio - but as a guitar player, I just can't see bonding with one of these in the same way as with a traditional electric guitar.

Well, it was well setup for a guitar that's about the equivalent of a squier strat (though I've play some squiers with better build qualities). I have the guitar set up, and the frets polished, which helps, but it's still not a great feeling guitar. Certainly a well made guitar not for the price - but you are paying for the electronics. The one I had didn't have great sustain, and the neck felt rough/unfinished. It's also quite heavy as guitars go (and I've tried others, which had the same issue) and I don't see any point to that. It doesn't seem to add to the sustain, and the guitar itself has little bearings on it's sound because the electronics modify everything anyway.

I've been playing about 12 years. I'm constantly changing my gear line up. Thus far, I've owned a strat, telecaster custom, a les paul, a gretsch hollowbody, a gibson blueshawk, godin LG, Martin and a breedlove acoustic, a danelectro DC-59, an old Teisco like hound dog taylor used to play, an epiphone dot, and more. Amp wise, I played the variax through a podxt live, through a PA (for the acoustics), and through a '59 fender bassman. The variax was good at capturing the general quality of the real instruments but was lacking at ever capturing real excellence in any particular sound. I thought the guitar my quench my thirst for variety in my sounds, but I've realized that I'd much rather have a few great sounds as opposed to a bunch of less than excellent sounds from a guitar. I don't think I was ever quite comfortable with the feel of the guitar either, and I like how different guitars feel different and force you to play differently. I've returned the guitar now, but can see renting a variax from time to time for recordings. But most of the time, I don't think you need all of what this offers. With a well built, responsive guitar and a good amp I feel my fingers can help give me just as much versatility.

Just got my Variax 300, no point repeating what has been written many times. It is a modelling guitar that has some very good sounds, easy to use and very useful if you are lugging loads of guitars around to gigs or recordings.
Can store 2 lots of 5 sounds so that you can change sounds more quickly without the rotary knob. Useful if like me you are in different bands and use different sounds for each band.

I am a professional musician and have been playing for almost 30 years, the reason I bought this was mainly for the acoustic sounds (to save carrying too many guitars to gigs). As has already been said the sounds are great, but the acoustic sounds really must either be played through an acoustic amp or directly through a PA to fully appreciate them. Through a normal guitar amp they sound like most modelling units through a full range system they really come alive.
Also like some of the Gretch, Les Paul, Tele and most of all the Strat sounds(great clean sound for funky music)

It seems that finish, tuners etc seem to be hit or miss according to others I must be lucky!. The finish is good the tuners are smooth and stay in tune well even when string bending a lot.Neck is clean and smooth with no rough frets etc. I suppose it is the standard you would expect for a normal guitar of around this price.

The pick up selector and rotary knob for selecting sounds may be a little flimsy but if you look after your guitars properly there shouldn't be a problem.

Gigging with it for first time this week so don't really know. I don't forsee any problems tho. Always have at least one back up guitar anyway.

Never dealt with although the Line 6 website is more than you get from most companies anyway!

At the moment I think the guitar is a very useful tool. I've played better guitars but I've also played a lot worse! If the guitar was a standard guitar I think the build quality is about right for the money. For the features and sounds I think it's a bargain.
Again I can only stress for the acoustic sounds you really need to find a way to bypass your FX pedals and guitar amp and put is straight into a PA or acoustic amp with just a touch of reverb and it will sound great. You will be disappointed with the acoustic sounds through a normal amp!! However Line 6 do mention this on the website.
This guitar is great if you have say a Les Paul and a Tele but also need a strat sound and a 12 string acoustic for example because you can now have those sounds without the expense or hassle of carring loads of guitars!

Matter of public record, so I won't repeat what many others have said. The features are what makes this guitar useful.

Very good emulation of many guitars. It's not going to replace high quality guitars in certain environments, but for an out of town weekend jam with friends, it's perfect because you aren't limited to one sound.

I bought a blemished return and as usual, found absolutely nothing wrong with it.

I must have gotten one of the good ones. Some others have complained about the finish or the neck, but mine was good straight out of the box. I worked for 10 minutes on the intonation and that was it. My tuners seem to hold just fine too, something others coplained about.

I don't gig anyway, but I think if I did, I would never go with only one guitar, so it's not an issue to me.

I called them about some other Line 6 products I have and found them pretty nice, responsive and immediately knowledgable.

I've been playing 40 years, mostly country, blues and rock. This is just a toy for me and it's great to play.

black with maple neck and rosewood fretboard, came with Planet Waves stereo cable (power and signal), power supply with junction box, no case

It recreates the models well enough. You won't replace a strat or LP with this or any other "real" guitar that you use regularly, you'll want the real one. It will however, replace guitars that you wouldn't buy. For me that's the resonators, semis, 12-string and some others.

the frets were too narrow and high. I think they weren't really dressed properly. I'm about to change the neck for a WD flame maple with jumbo frets. Also, the volume knob goes onto a star shaped spline. It was pressed on by the robot in line but the plastic insert was off which meant using a puller to get it off to remove the plastic on the pickguard. The insert is ruined and I'll have to get another knob...

no idea, the electronics are an unknown

It's at the dealer now because of electronic weird behaviour, clips, volume drops, etc.

This guitar together with the optional WorkBench software is a must for anyone who wants to be able to switch between various alternate tunings at the flick of a switch AND get access to a number of okay models of guitars which you wouldn't normally have.

Well, it's a Variax, it stands apart from the other guitars for it's inovative technology, as for the features I will give it a 10 because it simply can't be beaten... Lots of models to select, 10 user memories... And if you also have variax workbench you have literaly thousands of possibilities...

As it says, it emulates the sound of several models, it's not perfect, but it's VERY good (And no other manufacturer has anything like this). The only thing I can't do with it is the muffled distortion sound, I suppose it's impossible due to the piezzo architecture... Therefore I'm giving it a 9.

Well, a lot of folks complain about the poor build of the 300, but I wouldn't call it poor (I also have an Aria Fullerton and Aria's neck is much less solid). I'm no guitar expert (In fact I'm a keyboard player), I don't know nothing about woods of the body, necks or whatever.

The Variax 300 is visually quite simple, as expected for an entry level model, mine is the all black version. I find it solid, it stays in tune, it plays well, I like the neck action... The only thing I might change is the strings, the stock 0.10 are a bit thick for the solos I like to do. But the strings issue is a personal matter, therefeore it won't influence my rating.

The guitar is very quiet, it doesn't suffer from feedback or noise problems.

The knobs and sliders work very well without noises, treat them gently though, the don't seem made to take abuses.

I'm giving it a 9 because I had to put a little bit of paper inside the model selector knob's axe hole to make it a little higher so I could fully press it down to activate the save function (read the manual and you'll understand what I'm talking about). This was just a minor and easy to solve issue.

It's fair for the price.

Can say anything about it yet, I've only bought it 2 days ago.

There's a user forum at line 6, there's variax workbench, there's firmware upgrades for the variax, there's custom warmoth parts to upgrade your Variax...

Never had any issue with mine, nor dealt with the support staff, but all that seems promising... :-)

In the future I will tell.

It's worth every cent. For it's price, it simply can't be beaten at the present time. Get one, you won't regret. If this was stolen or damaged I would definitely get another one. Make sure you check everythings in order before buying it.

This is best buy for budget guitars... It delivers 28 guitar for one price, and for people who never could afford to have a bunch of guitars, this is the right one.

Some sounds brilliant, some sounds mid-ranged. Especially the semi-acoustic sounds good. (like es-335...) But the twelve strings does not deliver any quality sounds... i will never use those presents, but i'll use those who sounds godd. In my opinion, i found it suprising that some says that this guitar not deliver metal tone... The Les Paul sound kicks ass with some quality dist-pedal. (i use a boss mega distorion, md-2, and a boss blues driver, bd-2)

For the price...(!!):
This guitar delivers more than expected in playability... it's a mid between a squire and a fender:s Not as comfortable as a fender neck, but more comfortable than a Squier... So i would say this guitar delivers the goods very well.

Well.. i bought the guitar yesterday, so i cant say anything about this yet.

Well.. i bought the guitar yesterday, so i cant say anything about this yet.

This is the guitar for someona who ownes a rel guitar and use it as a first guitar, but sometimes need variations, without spending too much money...
It's also the guitar for a studio musicioan, who has endless possibilities whit this guitar.
-But... if i had to choose, from this guitar or my Delux Powerhouse Stratocaster, i would choose the stratocaster! But its a genius piece for a second guitar.

It is difficult to compare features with any other guitar i have ever played other than the body style which right away felt incredibly comfortable to me. the balance and weight were so right that the first time i played it live i didnt even think about the weight and balance which is a major factor to me...the less i have to be aware of...the more i can just play. the knobs are in the right spot and the 5 way switch is properly placed(i may be biased because of my extensive years on the strat). Neck was very surprisingly good with a natural finish. frets are nice. tuners are working great and staying in tune well. finish is great.

i play every style of music from heavy distortion to fingerpicking country in my concerts. This guitar sounds incredible to me. i know a lot of the reviews here try to compare it to different guitars but this guitar stands on its own. i fly to almost all of my gigs and plug into house systems and can usually fly with a single guitar and many times i wish i had an acoustic sound or a chunkier sound on some of my tunes. with acoustics rooms and sometime less than adequate sound systems, i could care less if it accurately models a paul, tele or strat or martin etc. i know the sound i need and want to hear and this guitar makes it happen for me. keyboard players were thrilled when they were able to have a keyboard or a module that gave them a rhodes, acoustic, strings, organ etc even if wasnt 100% the convenience was the tradeoff. i play my variax thru a pod xt live and it works well for me. the bottom line of this guitar to me is being able to express myself thru a variety of tones and sounds with one guitar. Sure i wish i could carry all of my guitars on the road but i am just glad to be able to make a living playing and people enjoying what i do. They could care less what brand my guitar is.

i had to slightly lower the strings. the frets arent highly finished on the edges but for the price i cant complain.
everything else was great

everything seems well made and durable. Finish is good. it does seem a little odd knowing that these arent conventional pickups and if the guitar quit i wouldnt know what to do about that but i think i will adjust kind of like going from tape base recording to hard drive.
i do use it without a backup because its great enough to take that chance.

no contact with them. i will say that i have owned the original pod 1.0 since they came out and that unit has been a workhorse for me and has been tougher than a box of rocks. that speaks volumes to me about there reputation and products

i am 44 and started playing at age 6. i own a don grosh retro classic 1995 and several fender strats and other assorted guitars including carvin and ibanez as well as some custom built guitars. i had researched this guitar for a while and the reviews were great but i was thinking no way could it be near as playable as some of my other guitars. It is. i would buy another one if it were stolen and probably will soon...maybe for the warmoth retrofit. I love the fact that this is the most revolutionary guitar i have ever seen and played and that line 6 has set the standard and hopefully as in the amp modeling clones that followed we will see several guitar companies enter the ring. It will be great for us as players and give us so many other options.

for whatever reason whether it be financial, space or justification of expenses most of us will never own a huge stable of vintage guitars much less play a lot of them. that makes this guitar a must have to get that sound for almost any sound and style you want. i like the fact that this guitar has its own identity both in style and sounds even if i never read about the guitars it models it would be a sure bet just for the versitilty. major kudos to line 6 here