Line 6 Variax 500 Series

Simple body design, playable neck. Nothing fancy in this package but it comes with what you need. See other reviews.

I think that when people pick up this guitar they need to remember one thing. The Variax was designed to work best with other Line 6 products. If anyone were to sit down with a Gibson Les Paul, a Marshall JCM 800 with a Tube Screamer (my preferred set up, by the way) you would get a very distinct tone. Most people reading this should be able to imagine what that would sound like. By adding some Line 6 product into that mix you'll get close but you won't quite get there.

Now take a Variax set to the Lester Setting and connect it digitally to a Vetta or a POD XT live and set the POD to a JCM 800 with a Tube Screamer emulation and you'll have a very convincing replica. So convincing that few would be able to tell the difference. And I've challenged some "golden ears" as you like to call yourselves and 9 out of 10 times they can't tell the difference.

So that is probably the biggest drawback to this guitar. When I bought the guitar I had already purchased the XT live and so I was ready to go. I run into the effects loop on a 150watt amp and into a custom build cab with celestion vintage 30s. I have NEVER once been lost in the mix and no one is my band plays with line 6 gear.

The BEST feature is the alternate tuning mode. I love being able to switch from drop d to open G without doing anything more than touch a button the POD. Very nice setup.

The acoustic models sound better than any Piezo system that I have heard. The only way to get a better sound is to Mic a $3000 instrument. As we all know... that's a pain to do live because feedback is a problem. As a mainly rhythm player I am often the "acoustic guy" and I have a nice setup where I run my pod into an AB switch (I just use the one that came with the guitar) and when i'm acoustic I go right into the PA and I get a beautiful acoustic tone (I LOVE IT) and when I need electric I send the signal to my amp. Its a great setup.

The action is set up like a cheap guitar. Sorry Line 6... can't with them all. But I've had more experience than most with guitar repair and I was able to do a quick setup. The tuners are decent but if you get one with a trem I suggest upgrading to some locking tuners.

The intonation was perfect and I have never had any problems with that. Its set up better and plays better than any mexican strat.

I have had this bad boy for a couple years and I have never had a problem with it. It is a computer so I am very cautious about what I do on stage. I love to jump, dance, move and have fun but I don't try any kind of guitar flips or weird guitar tricks. I upgraded to Shaller strap locks just to keep everything secure.

I do have a couple backup guitars. One is another variax and I only keep it in case a string breaks. But that's really just Live Stage Performance 101. I also keep a Washburn Strat Copy that I have re-wired with Duncan Pickups because a couple songs need a trem and I play the Variax 500 models. So until I transplant them into a custom body (this summer baby) I won't have a trem.

I have said a lot in this review and I've tried to be as honest as possible. I do love this guitar.

STRAT/LES PAUL JR HYBRID BODY I GUESS ,NICE 3 TONE SUNBURST FINISH FRETS MEDIUM JUMBO.SPECIAL ELECTRONICS.PLENTY OF FEATURES AS IT IS A COLLECTION OF DIFFERENT SOUNDS

VARIAX 500 IN SUNBURST.PLAY THROUGH A VOX VAVETRONIX NO NOISE SOUND IS FULL AND GOOD ON MOST SETTINGS.WITH THE VALVETRONIX AMP AND THIS GUITAR YOU COVER MOST MUSIC STYLES.LES PAUL SOUNDS GOOD STRAT IS OK TELE IS VERY GOOD 335 REAL NICE. MOST SOUNDS ARE VERY CLOSE,AGAIN REALLY DOES HELP IN WHAT AMPLIFIER YOUR GOING THROUGH.

GUITAR NEEDED TRUSS ROD ADJUSTMENT FRETS SEEM OK KOREAN BUILT GUITAR OVERALL DECENT FOR THE PRICE.SUNBURST FINISH NICE WITH TORTOISE SHELL GUARD

GOOD BASIC GUITAR WILL STAND UP TO NORMAL WEAR AND TEAR.SEEMS VERY DURABLE

CALLED THEM ONE TIME AND THEY WERE KNOWLEDGEABLE AND FRIENDLY

I,VE BEEN PLAYING A LONG TIME BARS CLUBS STUDIO YOU NAME IT . I'M REALLY IMPRESSED WITH THE GUITAR .GREAT FOR RECORDING AND LIVE WITH A GOOD TUBE AMP AND THE ACOUSTIC SECTION SPLIT TO THE PA. IT'S PRETTY DAMN GOOD. AGAIN I MUST STRESS YOU HAVE TO USE GOOD EQUIPMENT TO COMPLIMENT THE GUITAR

see other reviews. mine is black left handed

I haven't got most of these guitars. Can you imagine how much a leftie gibson archtop would cost. The guitars sound like good copies of the originals. They sound best with a typical amp sound for the guitar (eg clean twin for the jazz boxes)The special p90 is great. the strat might not be a 59 but it sounds better than my squier standard. The 335 is really good. The les paul seems to lack a little sustain, or its a bit artificial. The twelve strings are not great, but ok in a mix. The acoustics sound better than my piezo (yamaha and tanglewood) but not as good as my own acoustic guitar. Overall amazing. You will have a lot of fun with this guitar. There are some stunning sounds here. The levels vary a lot but then they do with the real guitars as well. i love this and I own 8 other guitars and have been playing for over 20 years.

bit of buzz out of the box. Easily sorted. Very well balanced and playable. Feels like a guitar not a synthesiser. Reacts like you would expect though you need to damp accurately like all piezo powered guitars.

I think i'd take a backup, but it seems ok for build

playing 20 years. lots of other guitars. play it through a boss gt6 into an ac 60 roland acoustic amp. As I said its lots of fun, and an amazing bargain. It sounds better than a squier strat standard for the same price and you get all the other sounds as well. A great piece of kit

As you will be aware, the Line6 Variax 500 is the original version of the Line6 modelling guitar. The concept is that the onboard electronics are feed by only a piezo bridge (no magnetic pick ups) to produce a range of finely modelled instruments. This instrument comes loaded with 50 different guitar sounds, grouped into 10 banks. Each bank is selected by a rotary knob and then 5 sounds in each bank are selected by a 'strat' style 5 way blade switch. This sounds range includes Les Pauls, Teles, Strats, Martins, Rickenbackers, a sitar, a banjo, resonators and semis. There are also 2 custom banks of 5 sounds, that can be loaded with any of the other sounds or with custom sounds created with the optional extra Workbench system.

Mine is left handed metallic red. It has a contoured basswood body with a L.R. Baggs piezo bridge, maple neck and rosewood fingerboard. It comes complete with gig bag, allen keys/wrench, XPS footswitch (to switch between outputs) and a PSU, which powers the guitar through the footswitch, although you can use the guitar with 6 AA batteries, straight into any amp.

This is an electronic machine as much as it is a guitar. The sounds are all computer generated by onboard software, which can be updated from the internet (using the extra Workbench software and interface, which I don't yet have).
The sounds are good and convincing, but the more the signal is processed, the harder it is to distinguish the character of the sound. I tried the guitar out with a Line6 floor processor and it wasn't a nice experience. I then tried it straight into a Vox Pathfinder practice amp, backing off the reverb and gain and that when I found the character in each of the sounds.
This instrument is ideal for recording, but in a live situation, probably best to have a clean signal chain.

This guitar is lightweight and comfortable, even when loaded with a truckload of AA batteries. It is a korean built guitar, but it is of a fairly good standard. I love the fact that the neck join is contoured and uses 4 reccessed bolts with ferrules instead of a neckplate. Everything seems put together in a typically high quality machine driven factory tidy way. It's clean, but lacks the nuances of a handbuilt guitar.

This guitar is lightweight, like my Patrick Eggle New York and I would be happy to use it in performance. I bought it primarily for recording, which I believe it is well suited for. The guitar is lightweight, but not flimsy. I don't know how many knocks and bumps it would take because it is a traditional lump of wood with bits of wire. It is an electronic gadget inside a wooden box, so would be more inclined to treat it like my PSP, digital camera or mobile phone.

I never depend on the strap buttons and always use strap locks or some sort. I wouldn't use any guitar live without a back up and I think the fact that this guitar relies on batteries of an external PSU means that I would be inclined to ensure I have something else to hand.

I've yet to deal with Line 6 customer support. Their online persona makes me think that it would be a reasonable experience though.
It has a warranty, but not sure how long.

I only got this guitar yesterday, so it is too early to tell how much use it will get or if it will be of any problem. This review has been purely on first impressions, which have been gained in the few hours of intensive player.

First of all, I am a huge Line 6 fan. I have the Vetta II, AX212, and POD. So, keep that in mind as I write this review. I bought the 600 but am adding the review here because it is basically the same guitar but just looks slightly different.

As for features, you can check them out just about anywhere-I got the standard 600-series model, really, no different than the other models except for the body. Electronics are all the same. As for feel of the guitar-I picked this model because of the strat like neck. I wanted the 700 series but it seemed a little expensive for a guitar that works the same as all the others. More about the neck later. All in all, build-wise, its a run of the mill low end guitar: not bad but not great. As far as options, its pretty good lots of options but not much difference in the sounds.

I'll start with the positive. It is quiet when your not playing and you cant beat that. Problem is that noise, particulalry with single coils primarily comes when the amp is on overdrive and this guitar's features are nullified on overdrive. If you use the overdrive on your amp or any distortion, it becomes very, very difficult to sense any difference at all in models. It does not suit will for crunching power chords. This guitar?s features are better suited for clean playing.

Harmonics are great, better than my other guitars. You can make it squeak and squeal. Some models have better sustain than others, but not bad overall.

Now as for the modeling capabilities: Nice try, but....
I have a Fender Strat, Gibson Les Paul, Gibson ES300, and copies of all of the above, as well as a very good Telecaster copy (Dillion). Any one of my copies beats any guitar modeled in the Variax. Most of the sound of a guitar comes from the feel of how you play it, as well as the pickups so modeling that is hard. Like I said in another review, if you take a Porsche 911 engine and throw it in a volkswagon Jetta, yeah you'll go fast but it still wont feel like driving a Porsche. Same thing here. Most of the models sound too much a like and you get lost switching through them all. They would have been better making several different guitars (i.e., one strat model, a les paul model, etc) and focusing on replicating those guitars, rather than throwing the whole kitchen sink into one body and one guitar. It has some very good clean sounds, especially on the Richenbacher, Gretsch and Gibby 300 models. The ACoustic sims are absolutely the BEST I have ever heard from a non acoustic guitar. Even the disputed 12 string is very good if you play it right. I will have to toy with the workbench to see if I can coax some body out of the sound because most of them sound a bit thin, ESPECIALLY on distortion. THis guitar struggles to distinguish itself in overdrive applications.

All in all, its not bad. Especially if you do some jazz, blues, country, etc. Great for versatility in church and coffehouse type settings. Leaves a lot to be desired it you want to rock out though. It obviously isnt meant to replace the guitars that it models but it can be pretty fun to fool around with. I would say that if the body feel was a little better, it would be really good. As is, they should prob drop the price. Maybe a Warmouth neck will help.
I am giving it a 7 because most of the sounds are just too similar and dont fit my style. Although, if I were to rate the acoustic sounds i would give it a 9, and if i just rated the electric models that i like I would give it an 8.

I bought this from American Musical because they ship in one day. It came set up pretty well. The frets are a little high but maybe I'll have them taken down soon. I got the sunburst model. It's not bad. I sure wasnt going to shell out another $600 bucks for the 700 Series just for a better look so, you get what you pay for.

It feels as sturdy as any guitar I've had. Plus, its not so pretty that Im going to be pissed if i ding or scratch it so I guess thats a plus. The jacks are tight and overall, its put together well...no complaints here.he controls are well situated and responsive with no play in them. I can see wearing out the pickup selector and model control knob because they will end up getting much more use than a normal guitar. I will try to program most of my fav settings in the Custom switch to avoid wearing the parts out.

As far as a back-up. Aside from obvious reasons not to gig without a backup, there is the extra element of batteries, power, and computers, any of which that could arise to cause an issue live so yes I would use a backup in a church or coffee-house like setting. And, this guitar would be my backup in any other setting.

I havent used them. Hopefully, I wont need to. I did call to get info on the difference between this model and the 700. They were very helpful.

Look, this is a pretty good second guitar. It's kinda gimmicky and will never replace having a real strat, les paul or whatever, but it gives you some nice variety. It is great for church or coffee-house situations, but I would keep it as a back-up at a rock gig unless there was the need in a song to go from acoustic to electric. It reminds me of Behringer products a little- they have great products that may not be top of the line, but for the cost they cant be beat, sooo, if they dropped the price on these things I would feel the same way about this guitar, but they are overcharging in my opinion for the novelty of the thing. If you can get it used or maybe the 300 model isnt bad idk, but i would say this is a pretty good guitar, with good potential if you tweak it, and great if you like variety.

If I lost it, I would not replace it. Not because i dont like it, its just not worth the money unless you really need the variety. I would prob go for a midi synth guitar next.

22 Fret, Sunburst with tortuise pickguard. Gohtoh tuners stay in tune nicely. First thing I did was restring and do a setup, bend till the cows come home, this thing stays in tune. Very playble, feels like a nice acoustic. Finish is nice, looks good. Neck is similar to a Medium sized Hamer neck. Body is basswood, not sure on the neck. Would like the finish on the neck to be better, but nothing major. Gig bag, XPS footswitch, cable included. Would like to have a case instead, so Features are -1 point.

Sounds good unplugged. Which is the first thing I always look for. That means the wood quality is at least decent. Modeled sounds? Depends what you are plugged into. Into any regular guitar amp, the Tele and the Strat sounds are dead on. The Les Paul is close. The Acoustics, not great. But, a quick read of the manual will tell you the acoustics should not sound good through a regular guitar amp ( I tested on a Fender Twin in the store. ) In store, I grabbed a strat and a tele just to a/b the vari and the fenders. Sounded very close. Got it home and ran it through my PodXT Live, and my Atomic.. Wow. Awesome stuff. The acoustic models sound great. They also record very well which is the biggest reason I was in the market for one. The Banjo sounds great through the Acoustic patches, the Sitar is very good as well. The Les Paul model is OK, will never replace my Gibby...but still sounds good. Metal guys beware, it will not Chunk /Clunk very well, but it does sound great for Rock, blues , country , jazz etc.

Action was ok, I always do a setup on my guitars when I get them home so that never really matters to me. Everything was mounted straight, no real visible flaws. Bridge is a non trem fender strat type. Finish on the body is very nice, Especially considering it's price range. Frets are just ok, dot inlays are clean, nothing special .

As far as reliability, the thing sat in the store as a floor model for what appears to be at least a year or two. You know how trashed these things can get. Appears that it will hold up fine. XPS footswitch which powers the guitars electronics is acting up, power cycling every second or two when it acts up. I did contact L6, they are sending a new one out. In the meantime, I tightened the female connector in the switch which seems to have corrected the problem .I would never gig without a backup no matter what,( that would just be unprofessional) so I won't even go there.

Excellent. Their call volume was high the day I called, It was the day after Christmas, so I'm assuming they were understaffed. Left my number for a call back, and was called back about 20 minutes later. Cust. Service rep was very polite, knew his stuff, and sent me out my new xps footswitch. I have to say, great job here.

I've been playing for over 20 years, have owned a TON of guitars in that time. Currently my herd consists of a Gibson LP Standard, Fender USA Strat, MIM Telecaster, Takamine 12 string acousic, USA Hamer Sunburst and now the Variax. I don't gig much anymore, teach a little, but mainly home record. This thing will be gold to me in the recording environment since it can model so many different instruments. I love the fact that it can be customized, and that you can control the Models with the XTlive. I'd love to see L6 able to do a Floyd Rose model, as well as a classical acoustic model. But, one can't have everything in on box can one?I'd reccomend this to anyone who likes variety, but will have other guitars around just in case.

Not going to rehash everything here. Cool concept, models a bunch of different guitars fairly well.

I wanted this mainly as an acoustic. As a lead player I've just never been able to swallow playing a real acoustic guitar live. This guitar makes VERY usable acoustic sounds and I can switch from acoustic to electric to alternate tunings at the flick of a strat-style 5-way toggle. Worth the price of admission on that alone.

Sounds are very well-done, no, they probably are not 100% accurate but is that really the point here? I find myself picking it up for tele sounds on country tunes during gigs since I don't own a tele and have no desire to spend Fender money on a guitar that will get played on 3 songs a night.

My biggest beef is with the response. To me it suffers from some of the same problem I have when using amp sims like the pod etc. Mind you this is the pickups ws. standard passive pickups that I'm talking about. The piezos react pretty dang weird to effects when compared to my passives. Usuable for sure, but not as satisfying. For instance, this is never the guitar in my hand for the last song, lately it has been the Samick AV-3 (cheap LP-style).

The bridge/middle combo on this quitar produces a much better quack than my real strats, pretty cool. Just sounds kinda ugly with the distortion on. The LP bridge pickup sounds are way too tinny, my favorite is the special in the middle (neck and bridge pickups).

I wouldn't recommend this guitar as a first guitar, but for home studio type people and variety band people (myself included) this is a very useful tool.

Workbench is a must-have, it opens up all the alternate tuning possibilities. I wish they would change the software to have a "simple" setting (current software) and an "advanced" view where you could view all possible details about the model you're tweaking/making/etc.

Also, SHAME on Line6 for not allowing you to keep sounds from older firmware revs on newer firmware revs. I loved the Martin acoustic sound on the old firmware but the old firmware doesn't work with workbench. Line6 "fixed" the acoustic sounds for me and the newer ones are just not as good to me ears. PLEASE let me reuse the Martin sound from the old firmware Line6!!

I give it a 7 not because the modeled sounds aren't good but rather because the piezos just sound jacked up through (analog) effects. Clean they sound really good. Also, the way that the firware overwrites all the old sounds even though some of us may prefer the older sounds.

Looks ok, pretty crappy quality on the actual guitar. Tossing around the transplant idea, maybe tackle building my first guitar body from scratch. The electronics as always with Line6 are top-notch and solid. In my opinion they did a very nice job of cramming a computer inside a guitar. Now if they would just get their hands on some better guitars..... I rate 8 because the higher end models still don't seem to be very high quality guitars.

Seems fine, we'll see if the electronics last over the long run, a bar is not exactly a good environment for circuit boards. Not my main guitar so the backup issue is sort of a non-starter. 9 because I bought it used and seems solid but time will tell.

Line6 has been quite responsive to issues we have brought up about the firmware on their chat boards. My kudos go out to a company that will still actually listen to its customers now and then.

When's that new firmware going to be ready George? lol

I hope I won't live to regret being satisfied and giving them a 10 here.

been playing in bars around Dallas for 15 years, I play this through lots of old analog effects like Ibanes 9 series into a 69ish Twin Reverb. LOVE the electronics/versatility.

I hate that workbench doesn't come with the guitar and I REALLY hate that new firmware overwrites all the old sounds with absolutely no option of keeping any of them. They need to hire me so that I can take the old sounds and remap them into the new protocol so as not to lose the magic the old Martin acoustic sound had. They also need to team up with Samick or somebody to get the electronics into some better-made guitars. I know that sounds kinda dumb but I think my Samick is much better made than whoever manufactured this (its not Samick already is it?)

I give it an 8 because of the sheer fact that they have made this whole thing happen. The 2 points off are for the lack of backward compatibility (firmware) and lack of a decent instrument to put the electronics in

There are tons of features, what would make this a 10 for features. But there are som cons:
- The guitar gets out of tune easily
- no vibrato.

Anyway its pretty cool to have all those models and they do sound very accurate.

The sound is very good. It really aproaches the guitar they tried to model. And there is absolutely no noise whatsoever.
The acoustic models sound very good. Though maybe the 12 string isnt that smashing.
It's too bad there is no newer guitar modelled (prs/ibanez)

This is kind of bad. The action can be set at a decent rate. Like that of a squier. It wasnt intonated or anything like that. It was poorly set up.

I really trust this guitar. Though stratlocks would be no excessive luxery. The electronics are pretty solid. I have transplanted the electronics into a stratocaster body and it still worked.

never met them.

My other gear used to be a gibson les paul and a laney amp. I would definitely buy another if mine was lost. I really really really LOVE those models. Especially the acoustics. An acoustic guitar in an electric is something people dont expect. Even those who have no knowledge of guitars know it isnt normal.

I recommend transplanting it in another guitar though. The electronics seem like they are to good to be left in this cheap guitar. And the variax is just plain ugly.
You should at the very least buy some pickup rings and paf covers and glue them to the top. It will look so much better.

I would've liked 24 frets and a tremelo but I got my Variax 500 'B-stock' from Music123 for $494 which just seemed such a steal. On close inspection, the gig-bag seemed a little grubby (was this the 'B-stock flaw'?) but I can live with that. It seems very well put-together for a $500 guitar. Not beautiful (mine is the black/pearloid pick guard) but a solid working guitar. I'll take a point off for 'only' 22 frets (like most classic guitars...) and lack of tremelo, but I did know this before I bought. Like Spinal Tap's amps, the switching combos on this thing really mean that the guitar's an '11' for features...

Suits me fine. I play mostly Christian rock, which can be pretty heavy at times but it helps to be able to back off and get some variety. There's a lot of bite on most settings (and no noise from the single-coil models - hah!) perhaps because the sound is picked up at the bridge where the higher harmonics are most prevalent. I guess they need to do this in order to filter them out for the humbucker models (better than adding them in for the single-coil ones). Acoustic models work OK but the dynamic range and decay isn't quite right (too much sustain) - I guess there's not much they can do about altering the physical resonance of the guitar itself. I actually think the guitar sounds pretty good unplugged, especially for chords. I have a Mesa Boogie DC-5 w/ 2x12 cabinet and also a POD XT-live. The variax sounds good through the Boogie. I've yet to play with the (free for xt-live & vetta II owners) workbench but that will open up another huge range of possibilities. I'm docking a point for the fact that the models aren't dead-on (although again, the range of sounds that they're trying to cover is so wide that the physical response of the guitar couldn't possibly be made to fit every situation).

I thought it was well put-together. Someone else commented that the intonation was good enough for the time being. Personally, I was amazed that I would play chords all the way up the neck (well, at least to the 12th fret) in various inversions and they all rang out clear. I don't think I've ever played a guitar that was this well-intoned. Action was maybe a little high for my taste but if you're going to want to model resonators, acoustics, etc., then a super-low action wouldn't give the right attack and dynamic range so I guess this is a decent compromise. Again a limitation due to basic instrument physics, rather than anything Line6 have done wrong - at least in my view. Also, the tuners and controls seem very solid and the guitar is well finished (bearing in mind its utilitarian remit - my PRS has the nice maple top and bird inlays but it was nearly $2000) I'm giving this a 10 because my only complaint would be the action which I could adjust in 5 minutes anyway.

Seems solid enough. Strap buttons are a little small (much like the vintage instruments it's trying to emulate - about the same as on my Les Paul) - I guess big buttons (a la my Ibanez RG570) are a modern thing. The finish is pretty durable - thick black that doesn't seem likely to chip or flake - with smooth rounded edges (unlike the edges on my RG which are prone to dings).

Not dealt with them directly. I grabbed the Workbench s/w off their web site easy enough (I'd already registered for my XT-live).

I've been playing for 25 years (incredible!!). Already mentioned my POD XT-live, Mesa Boogie DC-5, PRS Custom 24, Gibson LP Custom, Ibanez RG-570. Also own a Takamine EF341 (Springsteen model) which I am using a lot these days. The RG is probably my favorite guitar to play - incredible neck and the Floyd-Rose is sooo addictive. The neck on the Variax is very nice - similar to my LP but the satin finish makes it a bit more playable. Action isn't as low, of course. Lost or stolen - I wouldn't lose it (he says) and stolen - they're only $500 man!! Is that worth going to jail for?? Yes, I'd get another one, especially if I could get it for $500. Next time I might try to obtain one of the sunburst ones, but that wasn't an option that Music123 offered. Perhaps they're phasing the 500 out? I wish I'd realized a) it came with a gig bag (I was so keen to buy I didn't check the Line 6 web site and 123 didn't mention it) 'cos I bought a generic hardshell case as well and the gig-bag is really very nice, b) the workbench s/w is free for XT-live owners. I thought it was $99 and therefore decided against purchasing the variax cable ($40 seems a lot for what's basically a cat-5 ethernet cable, which I have lying around the house anyway). I could also happily lose the (rather nice) Planet Waves 1/4" cable, A/B footswitch and power supply which I don't need if I plug in to my POD with the variax connection. But I guess they can't (or don't want to) tailor the included accessories for individuals (e.g. 'variax cable' option versus '1/4" cable' option).

Overall, I was surprised at the solid quality of the instrument - seems better than the 300 to me - and I was very impressed by the intonation set-up. I expect that my favorite feature will be the workbench - the demo for alternate tunings on the Line 6 web site just looks amazing, especially the ability to do those shredding tap/arpeggios at the [controlled] flick of a switch. For $500 this thing just can't be beat.

Black S.Korean made, unsure of year. All the features listed by others. I never thought I'd say this, but in short: it is highly unlikely that I'll ever go back to a standard guitar given the flexibility of this guitar; the wide range of tones is great.

One feature I wish it had is that the Custom 2 setting be next to the Custom 1 setting rather than all the way at the other end of the dial. Seems like it would wear the knob making quick flips to the last setting. Don't like that.

The sounds are great to my ears. I've to the Custom 1 knob set up for Les Paul Neck, Les Paul P-90, Tele Thinline both pu's, Strat neck, and ES-335 bridge. This covers most of my favorite sounds and I'd buy it for just these sounds alone. The 52' Les Paul with the bridge P-90 is just so darn funky. I like the sounds despite that probably 1/3 of them are not appealing, e.g. the accoustic instruments and resophonics.

This is one of the first off-the-line as it was sent to an artist as a review guitar; don't know if the specs have changed since. The neck is wide and fairly thick with a 10" radius that I don't really like. The frets are medium which I also do not like. I'm used to Gibsons with a flat, constant radius and tall, squared frets. I may get Warmoth to make me a replacement neck. Still, I have got used to it. The basswood body is very resonant and the tuners, nut, and switches are fine. No complaints here

I have no problem with this guitar, but would definitely bring a back-up as I have no idea as to the reliability. As most of you have probably had, I've had software glitches or skips occur in using my POD 1.0 (7 years) and to a lesser degree the newer PODxt (6 months). I would hate to hear a squeal right in the middle of a switch! That happened a lot with the Line6 Rifftracker software...yuck!

These guys are great for updates, however, the Line6 Monkey software is a bit of a pain to make updates with AND the pure range of all the software downloads makes it confusing. For me, there is much trepidation of losing favorite sounds when updating so I tend to stick with the current software despite perhaps losing out on some great updates. The joint venture with Warmoth is a huge plus for making this guitar exactly how you want it...wish Warmoth would go for adding more guitar body styles than Tele or Strat, but perhaps that is asking too much!

I've been playing for 21 years and like most of you have owned a lot of guitars from many different makers. I like Gibsons the best for playability and sound if not the company behind them. The ability to go through a wide range of Gibson sounds and adding a few Fender sounds in for rythym makes this guitar and "A" in my book. For relatively little money, you can now customize it with Warmoth after-market bodies and necks, as well as new tuners, etc. A great value and a most valuable player in my opinion.