Line 6 Variax

Made in 2003, this one was black with a black pearloid scratch plate and a maple neck. Came with a footswtitch, power supply, stereo lead (for powering the guitar using the footswitch) and a very nice gig bag. 5 way selector switch and a pretty good manual. Load of technical wizardry - hence the 10.

12 string models sounded like a six string being played through a chorus pedal. Apart from that, the models all sounded fine - the sitar was brilliant (when I was trying it in the shop, I played the intro to paint it black by the stones and it turned every head in the shop). Most impressive thing of all was that on the Les Paul model, if you selected the neck pickup, the volume actually increased as you strummed closer to the neck!

Finish was ok - nothing brilliant (you have to remember this is a cheap guitar with some expensive computer parts inside). The action was fairly low and the neck was neutral - somewhere between a strat and a les paul - although closer to the strat as it was unlaquered.

Seemed tough enough to me

Never found out

Don't really know why I felt I needed it. Already owned a Rick 330, a strat and at that time a 2002 Les Paul Standard. Have been playing for 15 Years and use an Engl Screamer 50 Watt tube amp. When playing in the shop, had it connected to a Marshall Blues Breaker and a Marshall Acoustic amp for the accoustic models and had no problems. When I got home however, all of the models sounded like a normal electric guitar. This is when I discovered that my amp needs to be pushed a little to get the best out of the models which caused a problem as an Engl is a VERY LOUD amp and cannot be pushed in a home environment and doesn't come with a headphone switch. This rendered the variax virtually useless for me as I couldn't listen to it without buying another amp simply for this guitar. After much deliberation I actually sold the guitar on ebay and used the money to upgrade my les paul to a custom which sounds superb whatever you do with the amp! Main problem with the guitar is that although it sounds close to the guitars it models, you don't get the feel of the guitar - a les paul custom is a pleasure to play, whereas this was like playing a low range Ibanez. Also, it felt weird playing an electric and hearing an accoustic! Overall, this is a nice idea, but it didn't work for me.

Variax - 500...I now have two. Sunburst and Black. G Center had blow-out sale and I couldn't resist.

You all know how it's made and what it does...Some others have mentioned alternative models, (eg. mandolin and bass). If I could swap the banjo for a bass, or mandolin model, I would. My personal favorites are the Gretsch 6120, the Tele(s) and the Epiphone Casino models, but I have no problems with the other choices.

The Variax is just a whole bunch of fun. I play the Variax predominantly through the PodXT. The Pod allows me to match the amps, and effects with the Variax models. I first purchased the PodXT in May '03. I discovered, (and purchased), my first Variax within a couple of weeks of that. Sounds geeky, but my Variax models along with the Pod settings are now on a spread sheet. The real fun part is once I feel like I have a sound down, I wind up drilling down even more. A total "work in progress." Some of my "real" electric guitars are a '73 Gibson ES-335, '82 Rickenbacker 360-12, and a neat NAFTA Tele. I love playing each, but it's much more fun twisting a frickin' knob than pulling guitar bags out of closets, and re-tuning when I'm looking for a sound. I think my hearing has survived the years pretty well, and I don't hear a great deal of diffence between the "real" tones and the modeled ones. I also enjoy playing the acoustic models "straight" through the P.A., or through the POD.
By the way, having two Variax guitars, I was very pleased to find that the sounds coming from both guitars was identical. (I'm thinking that I'll try setting them up with different types and guages of strings...)

I thought my first Variax was put together well. (I had to mess with intonation a bit, but not much). My second Variax, however, came out of the box ready to go. I have a Sunburst and a Black Variax. Both are real solid. The finish on both is fine. Everything seems put together fine. I've had no problems with the mechanics or the electronics...

Since purchasing my first Variax in June '03, I have played it almost exclusively. I've recorded seven new songs with it since then. The Variax was used for all of the guitar sounds, (acoustic and electric), on these recordings. For all the playing I've done on it, the Variax shows no sign of wear.

I'm hoping that I will never have to contact them.

Well, thank goodness I don't have to support myself by playing music for a living. However, I've been playing for over 30 years and right now I can't wait to get home to turn on the P.A., the PodXT and fire up my "new" Variax to make a little more music and maybe drill down to a new sound I've been working on. I'll be back recording another song soon and when I do, I'll probably be tempted to use one of my "real" guitars on the recording. Truth is though, by that time I'll have some new sound combination, (Variax/PodXT), that I'll want to pull off of the spreadsheet and slap into the mix. Ciao!

My 2003 black solidbody Line 6 Variax 500 has a 25 1/2 inch scale length, a basswood body, maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard and 22 frets. It is loaded with the features found on the guitars it emulates. The tone and volume knobs and selector switch respond as they would on those guitars. It includes models of a 1960 Fender Telecaster Custom,1968 Fender Telecaster,1968 Fender Telecaster Thinline, 1959 Fender Stratocaster, 1958 Gibson Les Paul Standard, 1952 Gibson Les Paul ?Goldtop?, 1961 Gibson Les Paul Custom (3 PU), 1956 Gibson Les Paul Junior, 1976 Gibson Firebird V, 1955 Gibson Les Paul Special, 1959 Gretsch 6120, 1956 Gretsch Silver Jet, 1968 Rickenbacker 360,1966 Rickenbacker 360-12, 1961 Gibson ES-335, 1967 Epiphone Casino, 1957 Gibson ES-175, 1953 Gibson Super 400, 1959 Martin D-28, 1970 Martin D 12-28, 1967 Martin O-18,1966 Guild F212, 1995 Gibson J-200, 1935 Dobro Alumilite, Danelectro 3021,
Coral/Dano Electric Sitar, Gibson Mastertone Banjo, and 1928 National Style 2 ?Tricone?.

This guitar sounds like most of my favorite vintage guitars. It is not noisy, and has a as rich and full sound as the guitars it emulates. It has more variety in sound than any other guitar. It records very well. You can play loud onstage. Since there are no pickups, it does not feedback. For live sound I run it into a Mackie 1200 VLS mixer, with a the effects sends running to a Johnson Amplification J Station and Roger Linn Design AdrenaLinn. The outputs from the mixer then go through a Marshall Valvestate V40 amp on the left side and a Rogue GS 100R am on the right. These amps give enough stage volume, nice wide stereo imaging and are then miked into the main PA for the house mix.

My variax 500 has a black finish. It played very well as it was shipped. It took very little to adjust it to my playing preferences. I have not had any problems with this guitar.

This guitar is very dependable, the finish seems to holdup well, the strap buttons are solid. No problems on a gig with the variax 500 as your guitar. It is great to have sound of my favorite guitars withoout having to risk losing the vintage models.

Line 6 is very helpful and return with answers to my questions very quickly.

I have played guitar for over 40 years. If thisguitar were ever lost or stolen I would have to find another one. Maybe I'd get a variax 700 the next time. It is going to be expandable with new sounds comming out for it overtime. I wish they would make the nylon string sounds of the new Varriax Acoustic 700 series available for the variax 500 guitars. The link at
http://www.line6.com/VariaxAcousticPreview/#
tells more about the acoustic model. Each guitar has a unique character and feel. The variax gives you alot of sound, playability and tone for the money.

This axe was made in 2003 somewhere in the Korea's, they really can produce topquality guitars. It''s a solid top and has a five way multi purpose selectorswitch. Sound is produced thru a piezo bridgesystem and is totally active. Strings are mounted string-thru wise. Tuners non locking and it comes with a case, and a/b switch with powersupply.

Sound is awesome. I use a Marshall AVT 150 VST 2000 and a Mackie PA when switched to acoustic mode.The guitar is without any noise. Usefull for any kind of music. vanHalen, Shadows,Dire Straits,Crosby Stills,Naish and Young, it's all there. Variety is nearly unlimited.Only likes.O.K you have to get used to the fact that it is a multi guitar in one.

Setup has to be altered to fit your own needs, wich is easy. Did not find any flaws. I do have ather guitars. (A quality stuff, Fender and Custommade Warmoth)

Yes I can and will depend on it without backup if needed, but I do have other guitars. I treat my guitars with care

Customer support is totally O.K. Did have a problem with one of the piezo's and the Dutch representative mr. Ron Huisen, fixed it in no time.

I've been playing for over fourty years now and I do own a variety of guitars.And yes if lost or stolen I would probably send an APB or wanted DEAD OR ALIVE out to regain my guitar. If that wouldn't help I'd buy a new one. this guitar suits my purpose especially in a coverband it's a "must have".And yes I did compare it with my Fender Telecaster'52 Butterscotch Blonde, and Les Paul All Gold, and Fender Stratocaster Jimi reiss. This Line6 Variax kicks a... . It screams like Eddy and sings like Mark and Hank and so on, and so on.
This might sound a bit corny, but I really like it.

As described by others below.

Here is definite, detailed test:

In order to help many prospective buyers I have thoroughly tested
my brand new $490 (black) Variax 500. Apparently Geetar Center sells them even for $449, and as you will see at that price some of you may buy it.

So, here we go: I play guitar(s) since 1960, so it's easy for me to feel and hear any shortcomings of any guitar. The Variax 500 is basically $299 Korean made solid state guitar and feels like many other inexpensive Korean guitars, yet my actual guitar sounds very nice dry: lively, ringy, balanced ... pleasure to hear it un-plugged and it's very playable ...

To test the sounds I plugged it (exactly as instructed by Line6) into (arguably the most varsatile, fully class A tube amp) THD Univalve (with 6550a powertube and Fane Vintage 112 cabinet).

The amp is so analog / tube sounding and so natural that it was easy to hear any difference with any of my other guitars ...

So, immediately I heard THE core truth and nothing but the truth:

With a clean amp the Variax 500 sounds basically like any of the guitars it is supposed to emulate BUT WITH mixed 'piezo component' on top. Imagine a jazz guitar sound (like Gibson L-5) and mix with it 40% Fishman or Baggs or RMC piezo sound addition from the bridge =that Variax Jazz guitar sound ...

It was easy for me to discover that as I have a Start Plus with Fishman piezos and RMC Les Paul (used to have Godin LGX-SA too) ... BTW, in a detailed Guitar Player Variax Review issue (summer '03) John McLaughlin also remarked the presence of this piezo sound component (or was it John Scofield?)

I then switched my THD Univalve to early singing bluesy-distorted sound and just used the neck pick-up Variax selection. As I switched from one guitar option to the other I could notice some EQ difference, yet the core tone was
from my fingers ... Here the Variax emulates the guitar of choice yet due to the piezo component (which is constant) the more you enhance the gain the less difference you hear among different guitar models-emulations.

Still, the differences do exist and in some cases (semi & jazz guitars) I really enjoyed the sound and was able to completely forget that I am playing a digital guitar ... that is quite a compliment (from me :-)

Finally, when I added my SansAmp Classic in Marshall-burning mode and used THD Hotplate to create VanHallen-singing metal-gymnastics sounds of the hot-distorted-guitar, it mattered little which setting I
chose on the Variax 500, except obviously for the acoustic settings that tend to sound harsh (even the treble was off on the Variax) ...

On the extreme distortions all setting sound similar yet the sound retains definition better than some Gibson Les Pauls in that mode ...

And the good news is that Variax did sound nice in most settings and there was never any noise or muddiniess, yet the core phenomenon is that the aforementioned piezo-component was always present subtly modulated into the sound. So, my conclusion is:

The Variax sound = Guitar it is supposed to emulate, mixed with 30-40% piezo component

So, should you buy it?

Well, if you want and need many guitars sounds to dial quickly
and can afford $449 - I'd say yes. namely, the guitar is worth $299 and for extra $150 you get great choice of believable EQ of many guitar species that we all like. The thicker the guitar sound (like jazz and semis) the more acceptable is the overall emulation, as piezo component gets lost and you hear it only as a clean-component. On the Strat out-of-phase sounds or any other thin sound guitar the piezo component can appear ''digitalish-sounding'' ... still, it is virtually impossible
not to find at least 10 VERY USABLE sounds in the Variax 500
hence my bottom line is:

If you are VERY purist, stay away.

If you need many sounds fast, can afford $450 - go ahead buy one ... as you will save a lot of time: Rickenbacker can be dialed in VG-88v2 but here it is immediately there and Gibson J-200 is
not far awa

Fine, but not a PRS ...

Seems fine.

Seems fine.

If you play church shows or in a top-50 cover band or record a lot or are laizy (like me) to tweak VG-88v2 forever and if you have an extra $449 (present price) - then buy one - as long as piezo sound component doesn't bother you.

When you test the guitar make sure that you try THE actual guitar you will bring home, as these are made in Korea and the wood, finish etc may vary and the (dry) sound may differ too ... and that IS important ... overall, I am happy with my purchase.

Brand new sunburst model 500. It's nothing to look at, but the electronics are why you buy these things.

I use the A/B box and run the electric guitar sounds through a Rocktron Replitone, Rocktron Intellifex, ADA power amp and 2 Avatar 2x12 slant cabs loaded with Emminence V30s. The acoustic sounds are run direct into the board via an XLR cord. The sounds are damn close. I've owned several of the guitars modelled and Line 6 has done a great job. They may not be absolutely perfect, but all are usable. I particularily like the Les Pauls and jazz boxes. At first when I played the acoustic sounds, I thought they didn't seem very authentic, but when I recorded them and played them back I was very pleasantly surprised. What you miss when playing the acoustic guitar sims is the feel of guitar vibrating against you. This thing gives you a broad palette to work with.

The guitar itself is definitely a cheapy, but it was setup well and I've gotten used to it's feel. It would never be my main stage guitar, but when I'm recording, it's the one I reach for. Whatever sound I'm looking to put down, is going to be there.

I don't plan on using this guitar in a live setting.

Never tried it.

Anyone who complains about the models not being perfect is missing the point of the guitar. If you a perfect sound already with your axe you don't need this guitar. If you're like me, and like to have a broad palette of sounds to draw from and can't afford all thes guitars, this thing does the trick. All the models are damn close and very usable. My customized Carvin Bolt will always be my main guitar, but this thing is what I'm cutting almost all of my rythm parts on. For jazz stuff, the jazz boxes can't be beat.

Variax 700 - Made in Japan. 21 Frets, Same as Variax 500 but inlay on neck, better tuners? (Gotoh), tremelo, nicer body.

See the Variax website (Line6.com)

Comes with gig-bag (fairly sturdy) and an a/b switch for going to amp or PA (acoustic models). The switch also powers the guitars electronics, bypassing the batteries.

I have had this guitar for 3 days. I will submit another review if I feel it useful for other guitar shoppers.

I have played it through a 100 watt Marshall Triple Super Lead with an extension cab. Even though the acoustics would shine better throught my PA, I haven't gotten around to that yet.

The sounds are very, very close to what they are trying to model. I have a Les Paul Standard and an American Strat.

They nailed the Telecasters. I have a 52 reissue and the 1960 Custom in the bridge sounds as good, if not better!! Shit! Very spankin' and twangy.

The 59 Strat is cool also. My Strat sounds more full, but it sounds very close to my friends 64 Strat (yes original). The out of phase (number 2 position) is dead on.

More favs:
58 Les Paul Bridge pos, both Gretsch's, the Jazzbox's are happening, very nice if you don't have the money to go buy these guitars.

The acoustics are pretty good also. My fav is the 59 D-28. Pretty damn close to a real acoustic, even through my Marshall (after I tweaked the tones)

On most all electrics you can do all the dynamic pick scraping, muting, chirping...all that. Anyone who says different, can't play.
BUT, some things sound a little digitized or just plain "diffent" when using the Variax. BUT, it's a compromise that is worth the various sounds you get from this cool chameleon.

Gripes: A small one for now....
The 12 strings sound the least real but have some use. When you do pull offs (Over the hills and far away), it sounds crappy.

But strumming is okay with the 12 string gutiars. The six strings are very good.

Maybe they will have a 6 string bass soon? Better than faking an extra string for every pluck.

I got the 700 because I heard poor reviews on the 500.

Well, even the 700 is not that good. No match for a $1000. guitar. But, like most other reviews, and I agree, you are paying mostly for the technology.

I lowered the action on my 700 and will take the guitar to my guitar repair guy (he's a wizard) to set the trem up so it won't go completely out of tune if you breathe on it.

Seems very sturdy. Everything is solid and built of quality.

Have only had 3 days.

I've played for 25 years. Rock and blues mostly. Been in a few bands. This guitar would be a great addition for live playing, even some studio applications.

My suggestions for Line6:

Make the 700 (supposedly the deluxe model) of higher quality. Maybe have a slightly flatter neck and a little faster action.

Definitely, have a bass on this. I thought that would be a no brainer!! (hopefully, an upgrade will come with this)

Maybe Line6 could make a little "less" profit and make the 700 model in USA?

Fix the 12 strings pull-off, hammer-on, dynamic modeling.

I liked 90% of the models. Very good 1st run at this Line6.

www.line6.com/variax gives you the lo-down. Quite simply, there's nothing like it. :-)

You may want things like different woods, a trem (the 700 series has one as an option), finishes etc. etc., but for what it tries to be, the feature set is pretty much complete.

This is where people have a lot of different opinions. I think it all boils down to your attitude; or put differently:

Would you use a POD?

Some people would, some people won't touch it. The Variax is very much the same sort of decision. With the combination of Variax + Pod I can get pretty much any tone I seek. Again, those who've had their AC30 since the 60's and know the difference between putting it on 8 and 8 1/2 may not be convinced; the rest of us are.

I've got a '78 Custom Telecaster, a Taylor 714, a Yamaha Pacifica 112 and a Tanglewood Earth 200 acoustic. I've also owned a Japanese Strat and a Korean Epiphone Casino over the past few years. Am I going to sell the Tele? Nope. Am I going to sell the Taylor? Over my dead body! But the sound out of the Variax is quite simply fantastic. That is especially true through the Pod; I get better results with Variax + Pod than I do with Tele + Pod.

Here comes the second key bit: If you've had your Strat since the early 50's, you pick up a variax and peel your ears, you will be disappointed, just like you would if you picked up one of the new "relic" Strats. But doesn't mean the Variax doesn't sound good on its own. If you really, really want a 50's strat, save up your money and go buy one. If you want a good strat tone, buy a new American strat. If you want a good strat tone, a good tele tone, a good les paul tone, a good ES335 tone and a whole host of other tones, and you don't have the cash to buy one of each, the variax is a blessing.

I put my Tele through a Peavy Classic 30 and compared that to the tele sounds of the Variax. They're not identical, but honestly I wouldn't call one better than the other. Perhaps if I'd been gigging my tele for 40 years I would have more of an opinion, but I'm quite picky about my guitar tone and the tele sound is great. The same goes for most of the other sounds; people lament the Strat, but I find it very useful, especially with an overdriven amp.

I'm not quite so convinced by the acoustic sounds, but then again I wouldn't buy a real Martin either. They do sound quite "clinical" and lack the depth of a real acoustic. But the real problem has more to do with playing style. If you've got a decent electric and a decent acoustic, you just don't play them in the same way. And the Variax is very much an electric guitar. I'd use the acoustic sounds for non-prominent parts of my home recordings (since it's so easy to record it hurts) and maybe a gig if I had to, but it's much more of a backup than the real deal.

I'm also not in love with the 12-string sounds, but since I've never played a real 12 string (or hardly heard one live, come to think of it) I'm not really qualified to comment. Again though, for a non-prominent strum, it's incredibly convenient.

The "novelty" sounds, the sitar and banjo are both very usable. I still think of these as a gimmick, but these are the sorts of sounds you may well want to layer into a complex mix or as a second guitar live, and they work well for that. And again, the Variax is an electric guitar, not a banjo. Big surprise.

I don't play slide, so I can't tell you anything about the resonator sounds.

It's very playable. Like with any new guitar these days, it pays to get it set up properly (e.g. if you buy it from Regent Guitars in the uk [www.regentguitars.co.uk] they set it up profesionally before it leaves the store, and it does make a difference). In terms of playability it feels a lot more like my Pacifica than my Tele. Not a big surprise, and honestly, I'd rather have a light (my Tele is so heavy it hurts to stand up for a whole gig), no-frills, easily playable guitar. I've been playing the thing solidly for hours without problem. The neck feels fairly chunky, which I like, and is comfortable to play.

Playing it's not better than sex (my Taylor has something in that direction going... ahem....) but it's not worse than ... oh nevermind.

Some people commented on problems with mutes, rakes etc. I honestly don't know what they're on about; compared to playing my Tele, there's nothing in my playing style that I can't do with the Variax.

It feels very solid to me. I've not gigged it excessively yet. I can't really find any flaws; certainly I'd trust it live until it gave me rason to do otherwise.

Never tried it.

Really, it's unique. I do consider it my second electric (compared to my Tele), but I may just never buy another electric again. It's not diminished my dreams of a Taylor 514 (or P series or 914 or 810 or...), but that was never to be expected either.

Don't nit-pick this tele versus that strat versus your vintage guitar. It really is like buying any other guitar - put it through the amp and effects you intend to put it through live or in the studio or at home; have a good play and decide if it's worth the money.

If you use a Pod or a Line 6 amp (especially the Vetta II - omg!) I very much doubt you'll be disappointed. The combination is almost perfect, as you would expect.

If you are a total purist who will look at 95% of the guitars in the store and go na-ah, then this guitar was never intended for you. Move along, move along.

How can you NOT give this a 10?

This is where you need to be patient and give the Variax a chance. I've found that while you're playing you might get too hung up on how it sounds (is it sounding like a strat, ric, acoustic, etc.) which can really get in the way of your playing. But... when you listen back to the recording the sound is amazing. It also depends on the gear you play it through (amps, effects) and because it has SO many possibilities one can get overly hung up on sounds instead of the groove. Bottom line: the Variax sounds good, great if you're willing to take the time to tweak it with your other gear (think of how much crap you went through to program your POD, VF-1, or rack multi effects). I do a lot of jamming and one of my friends has a Variax as well. When we listen back to our recordings it's a trip to hear realistic sounding acoustics, sitars, les pauls ... showing up in mid jam. The Martin sounds particularly full and yes the elecrtic models do need some extra drive before they kick in. I'm very happy with the Variax and don't really care if I ever get any "upgrades" via the internet.

The Variax I have now is very playable. Not as smooth as my Parker Nitefly but still easy to play and attractive. The first one I got had a "twisted neck" but was replaced promptly.

It's a computer in a guitar so I'm very careful with it, but I tend to be very careful with all my investments.

Well, as I stated above, my first Variax was far from problem free but between my dealer and Line 6 the guitar was promptly replaced. I've never need to deal with'em direct.

The Variax is a good guitar with great possibilitites. Too many of us are way too critical when we should be grateful of the opportunity to be able to make music. If you have the chance to try out a ton of gear, great. If not, you still get to make music. How cool is that?

VERY DISAPPOINTED.. I BOUGHT THIS VARIAS WITH THE INTENTION OF DOWNLOADING NEW SOUNDS (LIKE NYLON STRING) IN THE NEAR FUTURE FROM LINE SIX WEB SIGHT THRU THE COMPUTER PORT... LINE SIX SAYS THIS MIGHT NOT HAPPEN.. WHAT A HYPE... THIS GUITAR PLAYS LIKE ANY OF MY MANY 200 DOLLAR ONES.. NOT GREAT ACTION.. NOT GREAT TONES... JUST A COMMON GUITAR WITH FUNNY SOUNDS... DOES NOT COME CLOSE TO A MARTIN SOUND.. OR A RICK..DEFINATELY NOT A STRAT SOUND..... WHEN THEY COME DOWN TO 300.. THEN YOU MIGHT HAVE A BARGAIN..

I AM A FINGERSTYLE GUITARIST.. THIS IS NOT GOOD FOR THAT..

SHOULD BE MUCH NICER FINISH AND BETER ACTION FOR A GRAND

GOOD LIVE.. WATCH THE BATTERIES.. YOU WILL NEED A BACKUP.. LOTS OF ELECTRONICS THAT COULD TAKE A SHIT

FAST ANSWERS, BUT NOT WHAT I WANTED TO HEAR.. THEY ORIGINALLY ADVERTIXED TO SUPPLY NEW SOUNDS DOWNLOADS FROM THE NET.. NW THAY ARE BACKING OUT.. WHAT A SCAM..

39 YEARS.. I DID NOT GET WHAT I WS TOLD .. A SCAM