Line 6 Variax

I won't go into detail about spec as others have covered that.

I like it a lot. I see a lot of 'purists' railing against this instrument, and I just don't agree. I have a few guitars, but I don't have an electric 12 string, a good Jazzbox or a dobro. While I agree that the sounds aren't 100% perfect, I'd say they are 90% of what I'm after. This guitar is great for jams. You can turn a switch and change tones to differntiate yourself from other guitars in the mix.

It's fine. Nothing spectacular. I saw an early version that didn't have great fret dressing, but the one I bought was done well. The action could use a little adjusting, but that's true of my expensive guitars too. It feel like a medium priced American Strat or much like a Carvin I used to have.

I hope it's good, but I've just got mine and can't say as yet. I have to admit I worry about durability. Electronics can be fragile.

BEST EVER!! They have been so helpful, enthusiastic and pleasant. I'd love to work there! They sound like they're all very involved with the company and their products. I like that.

I worry about a waiter that won't eat at the restaurant where he works. I get the opinion that they use this stuff and that their enthusiasm comes from pride in their products.

I love this guitar. While I wouldn't sell the Heritage guitars I own, I did sell my Carvin to get the Variax. It's just so much more fun to switch tones and experiment when you aren't carting guitars out of cases and setting up. Great jam guitar. I plan to use it on stage whenever I need acoustic sounds (so much easier to get great sound without feedback!)

True modelling guitar. Features and sounds well documented elsewhere. I bought one without trying it mainly for the sitar which I wanted to use on recordings and a Coral, if you could find one, would be #1,800 up.

Most of he sounds are successful. The Teles, 58 LP, 335 and Gretsches have the wow factor, the big disappointment is the Strat especially played clean, it has no real depth. The 12 string acoustics seem to 'implode' as well. I can now do complete demos using many different guitars without getting off my chair. Hopefully, Line 6 will do some improvements and give us all an upgrade, a nylon strung would be nice. I've done a demo ( through a POD MK1 ) using all my fave sounds and everybody I've played it to has been knocked out.The difference in output that people have complained about is silly, a Les Paul is louder than a Tele. There is a slight piezo quality to the acoustics which is a shame but I have gotten good results by using a studio quality compressor and a Aphex Acoustic Xciter.

I was pleasantly surprised by the finish, ( sunburst ) and the neck, chunky at first but I soon had that tamed. The neck and action will put a lot of more inexperienced players off but it is obviously a compromise between electric and acoustic shapes/sizes etc. Can't really fault the build quality and finish, you're not buying a PRS so stop whining. Only fault was a fretting out at the 12th top E but his is easily rectified. Gig bag was high quality and the switch box is well thought out. Good quality cable.

Only used it for recording. No pickup noise is a real plus. Yes, I would take it on a gig no problem but don't rely on the batteries.

Not had cause to use it

I have been playing since 1965 and have many of the guitars modelled but find it totally convenient for laying down demo tracks quickly, it's a must for any project or even pro studio and it's perfectly matched with the Pod. I expect to hear the sitar on some hit records very soon, it's irresistable. Fave sound has to be that and the middle and neck positions on the Les Paul and ES335.

This is a new guitar, and I'm not going to go into a detailed explanation of how it works, etc, as that stuff can be found in the guitar magazines. The guitar itself is Fenderish, (25 1/2 scale)but with a wide nut and 3 on a side tuning pegs. The nut is a little wide for my taste, but if it gets to be a drag, I'll rplace it with something more like a standard Strat. There is a volume knob, a tone knob, and a five way selector swith, and this other knob that lists each guitar model and two "CustoM" settings you gan rpgram for a different sound in each of the five positions. Like you could have an "accousitc", a "banjo" a "Les Paul", a "Gretsch", and a "Tele" all on one position of the knob, and switchable from that five way switch.The overall quality of the the Korean made guitar is about what one would expect from a nice $400 to $500 Strat Tele Clone

Well, I'll get right to the point. I'm not going to run out and sell my Tele, Strat, Les Paul and Ibanez AS-100, nor my Martin. They all sound better than the models in this guitar. Not by much, in some cases. But, it is close enough and one could play one on stage, and no one in the audience would have a clue, sound wise. But, there are some modles on here of guitars that I would never play enough to justify buying. Coral Sitar, a Jazzbox, A couple of Gretsches, an acoustic resonator, a Dobro, a six string banjo, etc etc. The "accoustic" sounds are pretty close to what one gets with a piezo equipped accoustic, and better than most of the systmes that you can get built into a solid body. This would be a great guitar to take to a Jam session, as well. No matter what tune gets called, you can make the correct sound for it. It's got to be a great ax for a cover band guitarist that wants a certain degree of authentic sounding tone, but doesn't want the stage cluttered with guitars.

The action was set a little high for my taste, and I'm going to take it to a good set up guy I know, but really it was pretty good considering the price. No complaints, no rough frets, and the finish was really quite good.

Who knows? If I gig with it, this will be the "backup" guitar, in fact it probably is the ultimate backup guitar for a musician, as it can sub for about any guitar, and add a lot of versatility on top of it. How long the electronics work is the ultimate question.

Line 6 has a website, and toher products I've had ffrom them have always worked. I had a pod and was abnle to update it to 2.0 status for a reasonable cost. They are supposedly going to offer updates, and other things for this guitar

I'm not currently gigging, but that never lasts for long, I'll be out there again. I've got a 63 Tele Custom, a 52 goldtop, An Ibanez AS-100, and a Bandmaster Reverb converted to a 2 x 10". I've been playing since 1965. I bought this to be able to make a lot of different sounds, as a guitar to take to jam sessions, and something to have fun with. I've owned a few "specialty" (Fender Electric 12, Dano Baritone, Washburn jazzbox) guitars but I usualy sell them after I realize I don't play them a lot. with this one, I can have a guitar to use for tones I don't use too often, but would like to be able to make from time to time.

Lots of different sounds. average hardware.

How do people stand this thing? The strat, tele, and paul sounds are total crap. They sound about 75% accurate. That would be acceptable If the feel of playing this guitar was anything like playing the actual thing. The sitar and banjo are hardly recognizable. There is no way to get the effect of changing p'up heighth. Muting and harmonics are extremely subpar. Unless your in a wedding band or a cover band that has to switch from boston to bon jovi I could see no reason for not just buying the actual guitars. The price is woth it. Also the level difference in settings makes it impractical for live use. It's more accurate to the actual guitars but there should be an option to have even levels. Switching mid-song could create bad level problems. I would give it a one but there is huge variety in the sounds you can get.

This is the main reason to save up and buy the more expensive real guitars. If you cut out its guts and installed it in a squier strat the playability would be about the same. If you are used to playing a gibson or an american fender you will hate this.

As far as I can tell it is very reliable.

I own a fender strat,tele and gibson explorer and flying v. I play through a peavey duel 212(very nice, hard to find). The variax does not compare with my other guitars.

Year: 2003
Price: $999.00
Frets: 22
Controls: Vol / Tone / Model Selector Knobs, 5-way pickup selector switch
Jacks: one 1/4" trs output / power in jack, one (future) digital in/out ethernet jack for loading new models and connecting digitally to Vetta II or your computer.
Pickup: Baggs X-Bridge Bridge Pickup
Electronics: Active computer processor unit, rear battery box for 6 AA batteries(12 hrs.), or 1 9-volt (2 hrs.), if you're in a pinch.
Neck: Maple with Rosewood Fingerboard
Body: Maple (not sure)
Finish: Black
Body Style: Strat-like
Bridge: Adjustable Individual Saddles
Includes: Powered Footpedal with A/B Switching, Heavy Duty Gig Bag, Planet Waves High-Quality Stereo Cable.

Great for the studio -- no complaints at all. All the models are dead-on. One of the previous reviews states the Strat model doesn't sound as good as someone's "real strat". Let me just say that you have to compare apples to apples to really judge this axe. You can't compare the Variax Strat to a Ritchie Sambora model with hot pickups and a mid-boost circuit and expect the two to sound close to each other. That being said, I have used many of the models on pro recordings, and have been thrilled with the outcome (Ah those jazzboxes!). The banjo is a little weird because you have to play it with a guitar voicing. I haven't really figured out a good way around that yet, but for light texture it's good.
This guitar does fine live, especially with the addition of a POD or PODxt. With that combination, you have a ridiculous arsenal of sounds. Just make sure your monitor mix is good. If you're playing the acoustic models through the front of the house (as theyre meant to be plugged in), and you can't hear yourself, you'll have a tendency to overplay, and the acoustic models will "bottom out". I have noticed that I have to alter my playing style slightly for the acoustic models, for strummimg especially. I hit a real acoustic pretty hard, and you just can't do that with this axe. Ideally, it would be great to have a Variax with heavier strings on it for the acoustic models, and just use this one for electrics -- but who's got that kind of cash? Maybe next year. But make the right playing adjustments, and it's a great live axe. I've also read references to the differences in volumes between the models (Strat and Les Paul, for example). Well, a real Les Paul is louder than a real Strat, so it stands to reason. I found a fix, though -- it's called a volume pedal.

My Variax had pretty good action straight out of the box. Overall setup was good. I did exchange the first model I received for another one due to a bent tone knob. This may have happened in shipping, I'm not sure. The frets could have been a little better dressed at the edges. The neck is not going to please everyone. It's about the best midpoint for all neck styles and playing styles. The string spacing is good for different picking styles. The Variax plays very easily. I'm not sure I won't replace this neck at some point with a more standard Strat or Tele neck, but I'll have to give it some nore time. A friend of mine had a shop shave the back of his neck so that it wasn't quite so chunky, and that seemed to work pretty well (gave it kind of a soft V feel). I'll probably replace the nut at some point soon.

This guitar is built very well, and seems like it will stand up to wear and tear for a long time. Line 6 set out to build a solid axe, and they have.

Line 6 has always been good with me -- if you call them. They don't answer their emails. Answer your emails, folks! As a quick side note Sam Ash, whom I ordered the guitar from, was a huge pain in the ass to deal with, had rotten customer service, and delivered my replacement model to someone else's house! In addition, they accepted no responsibility whatsoever -- ***holes. I'll never buy from Sam Ash again. Line 6 is good though. Sorry for the sidebar.

I have been playing since 1979, and have a lot of other guitars. This guitar is truly a breakthrough, and will definitely revolutionize the electric guitar. Outstanding. If you're on a budget and don't have a lot of different guitars, go get this one. You couldn't own even one of the modeled guitars for the price you pay for this instrument. We're seeing history in the making, and just like they were with the POD, Line 6 is once again at the head of the pack.

This is the guitar that models strats, teles,Les Pauls,Ricky's 6 & 12 Semis and several acoustics.
No Pickups just modelling technology.
replacable neck(a Strat neck will retro-fit)
five way selector. volume and tone, model selector.
Made in korea but you wouldn't think it when playing it, honest!
really good quality Gig Bag( and that's all we want lets be honest)

All the soounds are spot-on. for instance when you select Strat(Spank) positions 2, you are Knopfler. all the other sounds are just great!!(Nuff said)
Tone controls, everything is great, you can't go wrong.

Action a bit high, but playabilty is great. This guitar feels lovely to gig, it really rocks.one problem with emergency re-stringing is tha the Bottom E string saddle had to be retracted a bit to allow the Broken string to be removed and the new string to be put in. this is no fun during a half time break at a gig!!!!!

THis seems like a solid guitar. My only criticism is that I have over the last two years got used to the tuning stability of the parker Fly Deluxe.My other guitars(Les paul and Ibanez Blazer, share the same tuning failings as the Variax so I have been forced to buy a stage tuner!
It is always at the back of my mind that the batteries will not last long on this guitar. The foot pedal is very nice in providing power for the guitar electrics but who wants the bother of running mains power to the front of the stage?

uuuhh...pass....

As a guitar player I love this guitar, it is a guitar player's guitar.This guitar really feels great and comfortable to play.When you switch to Les Paul it really rocks when you switch to Tele/Strat sounds it's great, the acoustic sounds are spot on. In fact there isn't a sound on the guitar that isn't great and usable.
Playing live is a completely different storey. My three issues with the guitar is 1, when you switch from les paul to strat,or any of the other sound for that matter, the difference in volume is massive.In the studio this won't be a problem but live it renders the other sounds vitually useless because nobody has time to run over to their amp and change gain settings during a gig. 2,the switching between electric and acoustic sounds requires not only switching by hand but also switching on the foot pedal to select the DI path. In the studio you have all the time in the world, but on stage you have nano seconds to get it right for the next change. 3, the batteries which run the on-board modelling system don't last that long and have let people(not me yet) down. Pro players don't want to have to run out mains to the switching unit just to power the guitar.Line6 really need to put their R&D people out on high pressure fast moving gigs which is where us pros live, because it is live musicians that get noticed for what gear they use and influence other players whether they be bedroom heroes or live gig adrenaline junkies.

I wish I could change the models e.g. the output level and so on (maybe with a special PC-Editor) but it's not possible (yet ?)

I play guitar for years (mainly blues stuff). My main guitar setting is a fender custom shop strat (with two texas special puckups and a jeff beck humbucker) and a fender tube amp (DeVelle 4*10").

Beside of this I use other guitars and some virtual amps (Yamaha DG-Stomp, VAmp).

I liked to buy a LesPauls and found the variax which claimed to model the LesPauls and other guitars too.

I checked the Variax in a shop with both an fender tube amp (clean channel) and a Marshall combo (drive settings):
First I checked the fender (clean channel):
The clean sound where very good and all sound different (more or less).
The acoustic sounds sounded bad and the 12 string very bad.

Than I use the Marshall:
Both Strat and LesPauls settings sounded nice. I thought of selling my strat.

Than me and another customer compared the variax with a 'real' Les Pauls (the sound I am interested mostly).
Both instruments sounded almost the same !

After about 2 hours of testing I bought the variax.

At home I switched on my fender amp and compared the variax (strat setting) with my 'real' strat: If my strat is a 10 the variax is a 5 or 6. I dislike the sound of the variax strat compared to my strat. But I have to say the my strat is a special model 'Ritchie Sambora' Custom Shop with some pickup replacements and other modifications.
I was very disappointed of the sound of this guitar all pickup positions of my real strat sounded much better.
Maybe the variax sounded as a 'normal' old strat - Maybe I can compare it later.

Then I connected the variax to my virtual stuff (VAmp) and again everything sounded not very nice - I was short for returning the guitar - and went to bet very disapointed.

The next day I tryed the acoustic sounds and again it sounded not very nice thru my amp. I connected the variax directly to a mixer and a PA and now the sun rises ! The acoustic sounds are very good but you need a special acoustic amp or go directly into a PA. (The 12 strings are still bad !)

After some tweaking on the VAmp I got a lot of nice sounds out of the box and am happy with the guitar now. I use the VAmp for the E-Git sounds and the mixer for the A-Git sounds and it works and sound nice.

The problem with the strat sound is, that the variax output level of the strat models is very low compared with the pickups of my real strat. Thats why the guitar sounded so poor compared to the 'real' thing.

Mine is very well build - I like the guitar and can play very fast and easy.

I found that if you play a string and increase from very soft to hart the sound is very low at the beginning, gets louder and suddenly much louder, after this step is reached the volume gets louder as expected.

This is a little strange but all this happend only by vers soft playing - the advantage is you have some kind of inbuild noisegate.

You need a special cabel and a special footswitch with included power supply. Or a normal cable and 6 AA's (for 12 hours of playing)

You name them!

If you are into clean, non-damped stuff or stick with the acoustic and reso-sounds the axe sounds quite nice if not great. One thing that really pisses me off is the balance of the string-volumes. It can really be a pain in the ...e to play a clean solo without any compression added. Some strings are always louder than others... Especially on the acoustics this is driving me mad.
As is the damping on the electrics! Try to play the intro of "Summer of 69" (Yeah, I hate that song too..) and tell me how that sounds. The pickup is just not in the right place for damping behind your palm. What can it pick up there when damping? Not much, as you can guess. Also you always hear something like a clicking when muting the strings and playing through an overdriven amp, and although the undamped sounds are pretty good, they really suck when you are damping the strings, this is a fact! (I cannot write this often enough!) I want Line 6 to please put (almost) linear-sounding magnetic pickups (3 of them!) into this axe for the electric sounds, that would be ...king perfect!

It was perfect set-up, finish is great, everything was in the right place, better made than most of the most newer Gibsons that ran through my hands.

I will only use it as an acoustic-guitar substitute and for its special reso-sounds which are great, I will definitely not use it for Rock, Blues or Metal.

Overall I#m looking forward for the next step in guitarmodeling!

2003 Sunburst... Very cool look, nice balance, and solid feel! I noticed on the reviews that the Variax gets much better reviews from those who have been playing a long time. I have been playing since 1980 (23 years)... This guitar is fantastical! I'm giving this awesome baby a 10 because she deserves it and because some weenies rated her way too low!

This is the most important quality. I have a Fender Acoustasonic amp for my acoustic guitars and I am very pleased with the precise quality of the sounds. They exceed or perfectly match the Martins, Gibson, and the old Guild 12 string. The Guild 12 string is dog nuts, and since it is played on 6 strings, you can play barre chords all the way up the frets! How cool is that!!! The only beef I have is that you have to adjust the volume from one axe to another.

The action from the factory was right on. The natural wood is nice but could have been a more attractive wood type. Still she looks sweet. The neck is "no frills" and would be faster with maple fret board, but still very nice.

I have played this axe inside and outside, hot & cold temperatures, ballads and rockers all in the same week without any problem. It stays in tune so faithfully, I don't feel the need to change strings as much as I do on my Les Paul... I always have a back-up guitar in case a string breaks, but that's not happened yet with this Variax.

I have dealt with Line 6, and they fixed a glitch on this guitar and had it back to me in 7 days from the time I sent it back. No problem since then. (By the way, they were kind and paid the postage both ways, and patiently answered lots of questions).

I've been playing for 23+ years. Those who say the sounds do not match or surpass their favorite guitars are either sentimental, have spent alot of time with their gear, or are just plain dolts who do not know much Clapton, Page, Santana, or Schon. A tremolo bar and steady volume on all guitars would have made this perfect... If stolen I would buy another ASAP.

The features are great on this guitar. Although, we're not all the way there yet, it shows us that physics, mathematics, and computers can come really close to the real thing.

I love the sounds of most of the electrics, eps. the Tele and the LPs, but the acoustics still need a little work. There are about 2 or 3 that need to be fixed.

Although the sleek metal finish is attractive, there's no body to it. I would still much prefer a carved body LP.

This guitar is very solid. I like it a lot. It seems to hold itself real well.

They will be offering updates on the different models here in the future and that's a plus. You don't have to go buy the newest version of it everytime!

I've been playing for over 2 years but I've been around guitars for A LOT longer (maybe 5 more?), it just took me a while to pick it up after a friend told me to. I'm more of the singer, but I love guitars. I've studied physics, construction, and method about them.

I really like this guitar. Just some minor things that need to be fixed. Like adding an XLR out, body design, and the acoustic models.

Easy to use, plays well, many guitars and other stringed instruments to play with.

There are one or two models that need improvement, but due to the foolish reviews some others have posted my 9 will become a 10.

This is a solid instrument. Althought it doesn't match up with the best (most Gibsons, American Fender, Paul Reed Smith, Gretch), it is better than say a Mexican Strat and most other Korean guitars.

Very solid.

A little slow with updates on their products, but overall a good company to work with.

I have an '81 Les Paul Standard. I like the Les Paul sound on the Variax better, believe it or not. But I like the feel of the Gibson better. It is nice to be able to switch guitars instantly in the middle of a song.

There are obviously some trolls and tone deaf individuals posting reviews on this product, so I must counter them...my 9 is now a 10.

Great idea. My dream guitar. I wish it worked. Maybe the next generation will have a different pick-up and better quality.

I?ve played several Variax guitars and this is the prognosis. The variax does not accurately reproduce mute techniques. For example: (not that you would necessarily want to play these songs). The intro to The Clash ?Should I stay or should I go??. The muted rake will sound like a regular open strum. You cannot reproduce the muted no-cord sections similar to Rage Against the Machine, ?Killing in the name of?. You cannot get the semi-muted+chord strums that you may want to use for ska or funk. This guitar is also useless for heavily and semi-muted individual plucked note runs that you may find in country music as well. And forget about heavy metal or nu-metal played by someone over 13 years old. The piezo transducer is a bad choice of pickup for standard electric guitar picking dynamics. It just will not reproduce the strum+mute semi-mute or the pick+mute correctly. It doesn?t glitch, it just doesn?t mute right. I can?t believe that serious guitar players aren?t sickened by this guitar. This is only useful for guitarists that use an on/off mute techniques (1st year beginners?). It does sound like a decent guitar in straight strumming situations. Incidentally the quality and construction are a joke. Most $100 import strat copies are built much better. Some of the variax?s that I played had the truss rod cover cut to the wrong size so it was not flush to the head stock, touching the strings at the nut with the screws in crooked.

The quality and construction are a joke. Most $100 import strat copies are built much better (squire, etc). Some of the variax?s that I played had the truss rod cover cut to the wrong size so it was not flush to the head stock, touching the strings at the nut with the screws in crooked (on a $1000 guitar?!?!). The action and amount of fret buzz varied dramatically from one to the next. This is NOT even close to the quality of a 300 dollar guitar (Hamer import, Fender-Squire, OLP, JB Somebody etc).

Good Luck on this. If the construction is so poor, I would worry about the electronics.

Don't know.

See above text.

Anyone who has read the other reviews doesn't need me to say this thing has a 5 way switch, vol, tone and bank control. The guitar itself other than that isn't exceptional, but it is obviously unusual to have 30 odd different sounds in one guitar

Can people please wake up here? This is NOT the same as owning a dobro/sitar/etc. It is like a guitar with an effects processor, which you could buy externally for a lot less than #750

It's not so bad, but it isn't comparable to other guitars at 750 (eg Fender/Gibson)

Not that I've had any opportunity to break the thing, but just imagine if you do: who can fix it? How long will this gimmick be in production? Compare this to a 1950s telecaster: no one's going to be fixing this in 50 years' time, in the same way no one is fixing the 1980's computers in cars: when they go wrong, they're cheaper to scrap. There's no investment value here: in 2 years time these guitars are going to be half the price and twice as good, and your guitar is going to be worth half that if you're lucky. You're buying a computer!

n/a

I've been playing for a long time, but I'm not such a great guitarist. What I can say is that I've played lots of different types and this doesn't fool anyone. Buy a cheap guitar and cheap effects pedal (like the zoom or toneworks ones), and you'll get better vfm. Better still, you can keep updating your effects pedal, which will be obsolete after 5 minutes (like this guitar will be)

Lots of different guitars...of course, nothing else comes close.

I do miss tremolo arm (for strat and gretsch) and nylon string model.

I also think there should be a heavy metal model (maybe Ibanez JEM), then tremolo arm would be even more missed of course.

I like that you can easily create your own 'custom guitar' (Custom I and II)

I like almost all sounds. I've played 3/4 of the modeled guitars in real life and they all sound very source characteristic.

To mention some Favourites:
56 LP Junior with P90 - great rock'n roll position, more transparent than LP with humbucker, more drive and mids than tele. Very authentic.

Rickenbacker neck - very smooth but clear sound. Usable alternative to the Strat neck. Never played a Rbacker, but this sounds good.

Gibson Super 400 - fat, smooth, short sound. You get the feel of an old jazzbox.

Acoustics - sounds great (would be greater if you could use acoustic (XLR to PA) and electric (line to amp) at the same time and mix acc/elec sounds, like a Parker)


Not so good:
Tele Custom neck, positon 4 - no tone control, dark and muddy. I suppose the original sounded like that. Unnecessary.

The 12-strings are OK but not great. Works well in a context.

Sunburst, nice finish. Poorly setup from factory, but nothing the guitar dealer couldn't fix. Remains a slight buzz on E1 string (on both guitars I tried), especially when bent.

The guitar itself feels like it should cost half the price, the rest you pay for is the electronics. Solid feeling though.

Stayed in tune on the premier gig.

The instrument seems pretty solid, shouldn't be any problems. You never know about the electronics though.

I've played for 25 years, I use a Flextone II, my other guitars are Guild BM Red Special, Gibson LP, Strat and Guild Starfire III. These guitars are premium quality guitars, Variax does not come up to that quality. But it's still priceworthy, lots of sounds with decent build quality. It looks nice, classic electric guitar looks.

I guess they will eventually release a tremolo version, with the extra features that the first customers miss (nylon, hevy metal...). A bit annoying, you will propably want to upgrade, that's the price you pay for being a pioneer.

The electric guitar is a 50 year old invention, about time something new happens! Would given it a 10, but I miss tremolo and nylon. You can always discuss the choice of models of course.

I tried this one in the shop. It's the 4th one I tried, and although not obviously noticeable, there is some quality variation. The last one I tried was spanking new and it was the best I tried.
Colour is important, I don't really like the red one, black is classy I think. I thought the sunburst was a little 'obvious' considering the vintage models, but I think it does look best.

Models are good. But what about a nice SG or a Fender Jaguar? Perhaps a few modern guitars such as a PRS or Zemaitis would be nice. Again, a nylon would be nices and I could do without the sitar and banjo (Line6 showing off their technology).

Always plug a Variax into a tube amp when you try it, makes a big difference. Since most models are from a tube-era this works best comparison-wise. I have also tried it on a new Marshall TSL but was disappointed, it's too high-gain maybe.

Best models:
Les Paul, I think it sounds incredible. Very smooth, very deep and the tone and volume controls seem to work accurately. A week ago I tried 2 Les Pauls in the same store and sound-wise, the Variax was better than the Epiphone and just as good/more vintage than the Gibson LP Studio. Zeppelin, Bluesbreakers, Gary Moore, it was all there.
Tele: This is where the Variax truly shines. It's a very pointy sound, trebly, but not piercing. I found it good for country and the spontaneous Zeppelin solo.
Les Paul Custom: Brilliant sound, very wide and spanky at the same time.
Epiphone Casino: instant Beatles, nice round short-springed sound. Good with a little overdrive.
Gibson Super 400: very warm and honky. It seems like there's a delay of some kind when you attack the string. The tone comes out a fraction late and you really get the feeling you're playing this massive jazz-guitar. It had so much bass I had to reign in on the tone control. Very nice for jazz leads and subtle phrasing.

I like a lot of other models too such as the Firebird (Roxy Music anyone?) and the Bob Marley Special (conving for - indeed - reggae).

Not convinced with the Strat though, the lack of hum maybe. Each time I play the Variax I want to like the Strat but it doesn't play like one. The tone seems a bit solid and sterile to me, whereas my own strat is lively and frayed. If Line6 had a button to include hum I'd use it.

The acoustics aren't bad. I read some bad stuff on the 12 strings but if you spend a while with these models they are very usable. Besides, who can switch to a 12 string that quick?

You could have guessed I'm a Zeppelin fan. I was finally able to play Stairway to Heaven with one guitar. Start with a 6 string acoustic, go to a 12 string electric, perhaps a Les Paul for the heavy part and then a Tele for the solo!! Just some level differences that interferred with the fun.

I also have the idea the sounds are all slightly hotter than the real thing. This is a good thing for the sound to noise ratio but it does make your amp overdrive more. Depends on what you want.

On higher drive settings and death metal antics, the Variax is not a good choice. It sounds restrained and sterile and emphasizes treble/mid tones. Then again you wouldn't use these models for this kind of music.

It's worthwile waiting a bit until Line6 has a good grip on its quality. The first models I tried felt cheap, mainly due to the fret edges. The whole look of the neck and headstock is a bit of a letdown if you are used to quality guitars. I didn't care anymore when I felt like Clapton in '66 however.

The guitar sounds better with thicker strings (from 010 upwards). Setup is too low however, take it up with a bit of slack in the neck and it would be perfect for bends.

You can see the body laminates on the sunburst only. Will Line6 ever bring out a top-quality version?

No doubts about reliability. I would always use the pedal for power though, no batteries please..

No contact yet.

No competition for Line 6 at this point. A hands-down winner. YOu must praise Line 6 for putting this much effort into a guitar that monopolizes the market. That's encouraging to buyers. I suppose they'll come up with a Variax Bass soon and then high end Variaxes and new downloadable models (1962 SG Standard please!).
I'm saving up for it now, I'll be happy to use it soon.

Ok, in this department the Variax wins. It has tons of features, but could really use a trem and a nylon string sound. I think most guitarists out there would have much more use for a nylon string setting than a coral sitar.

Sounds a lot like a synth guitar. Yeah, I no its not a synth and doesn't have tracking issues, etc., but the sounds are like something you would find on a high end keyboard or sampler. It didn't sound bad through a PA, but it did not sound like a real acoustic, even on the highly touted J-200 setting. If you have a Parker, Brian Moore, or one of the Strats or Teles with a piezo bridge, then you already have the acoustic sounds of this instrument. To my highly trained and professional ear, the sounds were definately fake and can only be described as "guitar-like". This would probably work fine for most of you amatures out there, but it is not useable for a talented professional like myself. If you are some middle-aged doctor or lawyer who sits around in your basement rerecording songs by the Byrds, the Who, and Jimmy Buffet, then this will work fine for you.

Bad for a $1000 (average street price) guitar, but good for a $400 or lower import. You are paying for the electronics with this one. With hands like mine you can play anything (and make it sound good) so the setup seemed ok to me.

Hard to say as I'm putting it on ebay. There stuff holds up well enough, so I don't think the Variax will be an exception to the general rule. A lot of people have talked about unit failures, etc., but hey, it is the first run of these things. It felt solid enough if I kept in mind that it was really a $400 import.

I have a Pod and they answered my questions quickly and politely. I don't see why this would be any different.

I'll give this one slightly better than 5. To me a 5 means it works and might have appeal for the amature hour players out there. You have to understand that I am at a different level of playing than most of you are. For someone like myself, this instrument is nothing more than a toy. I can understand that at the playing level most of you are at that you cannot justify having over twenty guitars like I do. Hey, even with years of practice you will probably still never play or sound like me. My talent has to be from the Gods themselves. Its a good idea and a few years from now, they'll probably have a very kicking version of the Variax out there. Until then, its just something for the wanna be's.

2003 Black Variax with Pearloid scratch plate. 1 Volume control, 1 Tone. 1 Knob for selecting the model and storing models in the Custom banks. No pickups (no hum!). Not too heavy and balances well on a strap.
This is a modelling guitar. It replicates the sounds of a wide variety of classic electric guitars, acoustic guitars and a couple of other stringed instruments. This makes it very attractive to anybody who plays in a covers band or who needs more than one guitar at a gig.

I play in a covers band and this guitar is like a dream. I can get any sound need for Rock, Pop, Grunge, acoustic stuff, rock'n'roll, jazz, country....
Mostly we play rock so the models I will use will be the Les Pauls, Strat, Telecaster, Rickenbacker and the excellent acoustic models.
To my mind all the above are excellent sounds. You can switch from Tele to Les Paul in mid song!! The acoustics are brilliant through a PA or amp and there's no feedback!! There's no hum either because there is no pickups.
I don't know if it sounds exacly like a 1959 Fender Strat because I've never played one (and never will) but it does produce a great Strat tone (probably better than many new Fenders). It's the same for the other models too. What you get is a great sounding tool for playing pretty much anything.
I play through a Peavey Bandit and even the acoustics sound great on the clean channel.

I found the action to be good, maybe a little low but not a problem. It looks great in black. I've found no flaws or faults. Everything is fine.
There is also a Mystery Input next to the jack which hopefully will enable more models to be downloaded later on (Suggestions: some basses, Peavey Wolfgang, an Ibanez)

This will be my weapon of choice live from now on. My SG will be relegated to support slot. I always have a back-up and always will regardless of waht I play. Strap buttons are fine and it balances well. I see no reason why it shouldn't last.

The manual is cool. One year warranty.

I've been playing for a good few years now and this is the best guitar I've ever owned or played. The concept is brilliant and they have done an excellent job of replicating the sounds. I may never use some of the sounds but that doesn't matter, even if you only use 2 models you've got a bargain

2003 Black Variax (The rest of the feature have been listed here).
Whammy bar would have been a nice addition but I couldn't wait for that model.
Enough tones to drive most players nuts.

I play mainly blues but also anything from classical, jazz to Hard Rock (no metal !).

It's either bing used via a GuitarPort or POD and Behringer Blue Devil or VOX Pathfinder.

Noise ? Are you kidding me ?

Tonewise it really depends on the model some are superb some are just good. Even the strange 12 string acoustic is usable.
Maybe nothing beats an original instrument being modeled by the Variax but who cares. I cannot afford them and if I am being asked wouldn't I rather have one good american Strat for the same price there is only one answer for me: Hell No !!.
Varaiety is THE word here and the is nothing that comes close to it with 6 strings on it. MOTHING !

I love the feel of the guitar body, the neck is good. Some parts could have been better selected but at the price I paid I have nothing to complain.

The set-up was good. Maybe a bit more attention to the action would have made me happier but I assume this is a matter of style and what you are used to. It took a few minutes to sort it out to my liking.

The only problem I found was the stain finishing on the neck that left a large brighter patch along 3-4 frets. Not a major problem, but ...

Still didn't get a chance to gig it (two weeks to go) but I will not be without a backup. It seems solid but working with computers all my life I wouldn't count on anything with chips in it without a backup.
I wish I could afford a second Variax as a backup. Maybe in the next couple of years when the next model will come out with other models, whammy bar and other goodies this guitar will become a backup.

I never had problem with Line6 gear so far. I have been waiting for my Variax for 5 months and they should recognise my voice from hundreds of nagging phone calls (sorry mates). They have been as helpful as they could and I believe you do have someone to talk to in Line6 Europe.

I have been playing for 4-5 years now and own quite a bit of gear now (way too much for not being at least a semi-pro). 8 Guitars, 3 amps, DP200 multi, Loads of stomp like the great Boss AW10, Marshall Bluesbreaker and so on (got GAS !).

I loved the concept of the variax ever since I read about it (Guitarist Mag Dec 2002 issue) and pre-ordered one immediately.
I love this guitar. Some people complains that it tacks the "va va voom" factor and it is just too much of mix of others. I believe the problem here is just having too much. Just stick to one model for two weeks and you'll understand what I'm on about. Maybe what you need is to play with your eyes closed, put a jazz box on and flow with it for a while. Maybe it's the freaking fact that while the tone is great the feel of it is so different from the original instrument.
I don't care. This guitars suits me and my needs just fine and I'll stick to it and the next models from Line6 until someone will come with all these feature (and more) in a better quality box for the same price. When it happens phone me to pre-order the next generation.

Too many features to list go to the website.

Anyone who tells you that these guitars sound like the real Mcoy is probably foolish enough to tell you that the Line6 amps sound like real fenders and marshalls. That being said these guitars can get a usable, slightly rich tone through a nice sounding amp. I demoed this model thru new fender and marshall tube amps.

played fine, found my way around with no problems. Flailing caused it to go out of tune so minus a point for being kind of wimpy, make that 4 points.

don't know I'm not going to buy this guitar.

don't know, nice website.

I like gimmick guitars and the variax is a gimmick. I really feel for the boneheads that gloat over this thing and gladly pay the retail price. If this guitar falls to $250-300 I'll buy it because its different and fun if your not afraid to try something besides fenders or gibsons. My hats off to Line6 for an innovative product. However not all its hyped to be by a longshot and far too expensive. For this kind of dinero I'm going with a Jerry Jones 12 string or barritone guitar.

The only modeling guitar on the planet..

If you want the anorak's details check other reviews or the Line 6
website.

More features than any Gibson, PRS or Fender. Maybe a roland syth guitar could out do it on the no. features.

Sound. This is where everything boils down to opinion.
The twelve strings are the least realistics as they sound more heavily chorused rather. All the other sounds are what they are supposed to be, close approximations of the modeled instruments. If you want the actual take you 12 grand a buy a 57 Strat or 40 grand for a 58 Les Paul. How many people know what a 58 Les Paul actually sounds like in the raw, they may knowthe sound after it has been recorded and put through another 40 grands worth of outboard gear.

As for the many people who put this off as a toy have totally missed the point. This is a tool, a sonic pallet that can produce a vast array of tones from the flick of a switch. Once recorded it can be eq'd and nobody would know the difference and even that is if it is necessary, which on some of the models it isn't.

reso sounds, especially Sitar are out of this world. Perfect for adding that extra spice to recordings.

It's getting a 9 because although not all sounds are perfects there are so many goods sounds that the few bad ones don't really matter.

Pinch harmonics and good sustain are there in bundles.

Came straight out the box set up better than the one i had reviewed in the shop that had been setup by a pro. Not nito finished or Gotoh tuners. But most of the hardwear is actually good and performes spot on.

Durability probably the same as any other guitar.
Reliability to soon to say but expect it to be good for what
I will be using it for.

Never tried them/Hopefully wont need to.

I have been playing for 18 Years and have had countless guitars over the years. I am fortunate to have a PRS Custom 24 Artist Pack. A 2002 Gibson Les Paul. A '65 Customs shop Strat. (no. 10 of 12. A Customs Shop Telecaster. And a Gibson J45.

I think there are two types of guitarist.

One who can take a Plank with steels strings and produce some of the most wonderfull music in the world. The other is the gear snob. If its not got a name and made in the US then it's not good.

Wrong.. A good intrument is a good instrument and the Variax is a great instrument. Individually my other instruments may be better at the one thing that they do. And the point is they ondly do one thing and that is be themselves.

I like to collect these guitars because the made history and are so famous. They are great Guitars and i am privaledged to be in the position of owning them. The Line 6 has made history it is unique and I would advise anybody to who cannot decide which instrument to buy if they can only have one to try this guitar. It may not say Les Paul, Tele or Strat but close your eye's and you could be playing all them, and more!! without changing you strap.

Basic features are already covered here so I'll get to my opinions. i must first say that I've tried out this guitar on 4 separate occasions in different music stores. In most cases, the guitar was located next to Line6 amplifier products so naturally, these are what you'll plug it into. One one occasion, I dragged it across the store and plugged it into a Crate tube amp.

This guitar has no pickups . Instead it models the sound of several other electric and acoustic guitars by processing the signal from a piezo equipped hardtail bridge. Some esoteric instruments such as banjo and electric sitar are also modelled. Output is compatible with standard guitar amps and effects.

All in all, the guitar porion was rather average. What obviously makes this axe stand out is that it's supposed to give you the sounds of many other axes. This sounds awesome in theory, but the actual execution wasn't as thrilling as I'd hoped as I'll soon go into. Still, the sheer concept is groundbreaking and deserves credit.

I play different kinds of music from blues to rock to metal as well as a lot of jazz and some classical. I've owned over a dozen good guitars (and countless other bad ones) in the 25 years I've been playing. I'm no great guitar master, but I do know what a good guitar sounds should sound like for all of these musical styles. I should also say that I own and use a P.O.D. and though I also use tube amps, I love the Line6 amp modelling and the POD is my #1 thing to plug into.

When I first plugged a Variax into a Flextone amp, I immediately noticed how dull and lifeless it sounded. I have, on occasion, noticed a digital quality to all of Line6's amp modelling products that I've tried, but usually, this wasn't so objectionable with a great guitar plugged in as the instrument's soul still would shine through. This time, however, I was put off by the fake-plus-fake combination. It totally lacked soul, vibe, chime, spank, twang, ... you name it. On the one time that I did plug the Variax into a tube amp, it sounded much better. Still, I noticed some things were missing. Plucking or strumming the strings pretty much yielded the expected tones as the modelling algorithms were clearly designed to process these inputs. But the guitar fell short when processing other types of input such as hammer-ons, pull-offs and especially harmonics. A real guitar responds in a many complex ways to these techniques and the Variax interpretations of them seemed dull and lifeless. It lacked the complexity and interactiveness that even a cheap guitar could deliver.

As for the sounds themselves, many are good approximations of the originals. Despite some of the crticisms below, I found the acoustic sounds quite usable and in many cases more authentic than the sound of a piezo-equipped acoustic plugged direct. With an acoustic processor like a Zoom 504, I think these sounds might fool some die hards.

A lot of people are going to fall into the Strat/Les Paul/Tele mold. The Variax has only one variation of each of these instruments. It would have been nice to have more of these; e.g., a classic strat, a blues strat, etc.

The jazzbox and hollow-body models are very similar and to those who don't use these instruments (or don't want to), they're a waste of presets. Ditto for some of the other models. Hopefully a future version will allow user-loadable models.

Clearly, there's a lot of growing up to do here.

The guitar portion of the Variax is a Korean made wood body and neck and it is typical of instruments made there: think Squier. Not a whole lot of complexity in the unplugged sound and not much sustain. the finish looks good, but I find this to be the case with other asian-made instruments these days. The Variax played in tune and stayed that way. The neck was comfortable and straight and there were no intonation problems I could find.

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Let me conclude by saying that the last time I auditioned a Variax, I had to wait for the guy at the store to dig up the power adapter. While I waited, I plugged a Mexican strat I pulled from the wall into a line6 Spider amp and was wailing away for a few minutes in a quiet audition room. When the dude arrived, I plugged the Variax into the same amp and listened carefully to all the sounds over a thirty minute period. When I had finished, I handed the guitar back to the sales guy and said, "I actually had more fun with the Mexican strat."

The Variax represents a radical new way of thinking and an important first step. Where it will eventually take us is anyone's guess. For right now, I'm going to wait and see ... and listen carefully.

Guitar is built okay. Good balance both standing and seated. Great feeling neck with a satin finish. The frets could have been seated better on the one that I have, but definitely no worse than any other guitar in it's price range.

This is the category that makes all of the difference. I want to be sure that I'm very clear on this point. I wanted to hate this guitar! It sounds bad, I know, but the guitar is a sacred thing. Each one is special in its own way, and the idea of being able to get a lot of the subtleties of particular guitars out of electronics alone seemed a little taboo.

With that said, I've been playing it daily for over 2 weeks now and am no closer to hating it. In fact, it's becoming the guitar I reach for first.

The Les Paul sounds are smooth and creamy, the Strat sounds sparkle (they even quack in the notch positions), the Tele sounds are better than both of the Tele's I currently own (sad).

Where I find myself spending most of my time is on the acoustic settings. I love the J200 and the banjo sounds (my drummer almost stopped playing to see where the banjo was).

The only reason I'm giving this instrument a 10 is because there was nothing higher on the menu.

The factory set up was quite standard. The action was uneven and the nut was cut too high. Once again, not uncommon on Korean guitars. A little fussing brought everything together.

The only complaint I have is the color. Don't get me wrong, the finish is immaculate, and I can't complain out loud because it was a gift.....But, I'm sure that this particular red should only be available on mid 70's Chevy's and should come with a free set of Foster Grant's complete with State Trooper mustache. Ewww!

So far so good. I've got years of playing to do on it before I can tell you if there are any time related hic-ups, but as it stands, nothing in my normal use seems to phase it.

What's to call customer support on. Plug in, turn switch. Simple as it gets.

I've been playing for well over 20 years and have a sizable collection of instruments to choose from, including many that are modeled here. The only reason I go back to other guitars at this time is to use a whammy bar.

As soon as they come out with one with a whammy, I'll have to buy it too.

Guitar is built very well. I have a hard time with the upper frets in the 21 and 22nd range. It seems like the body could have been cut out a little more, but that's just me. Overall I love it!!

This was the selling point for me. I am a music director for a church, and I can't keep switching from piano to guitar, to acoustic. So the acoustic models were going to be very important to me. And I now can say that they are incredible, even just run direct to the sound board. The 1st position and the 5th position on the pick up selector are my favorites, they have a very deep and full sound. The 12 string models aren't great, but I don't need them all that much. Actually the one sounds very much like something from Boston, "More Than a Feelin". The Les Paul's and the Fender stuff is great. I am not the best at hearing minor differences even when dealing with the real thing, so I am a very happy man.

The action is a little high, but I am willing to make this my main guitar, so I can live with it, and get used to it.

Don't know yet, but I did buy an extended warranty, just incase. Any time I deal with software and something so new, I try to cover my self.

Haven't had the need

I have been playig for about 17 years, and I am a new gear maniac. But this purchase was not made on a whim, I put alot of thught and time into it, and I could not be more satisfied. I am so afriad of scratching it or banging it. This is the first guitar I have bought that I have felt like that. Maybe because I put so much time in researching it.

Features....well this thing has enough features to get the job done (and then some) but without too many things to clutter up the guitar or your mind. It has your basic master volume control, master tone control, a 12 position rotary bank (mode) switch, a 5-way Strat-style selector switch, a standard 1/4" TRS output jack, a battery compartment, an electronics compartment, and a "mystery" jack for future software upgrades. This guitar has no pickups in the traditional electric guitar sense but a piezo sensor, for each string, located in the bridge saddles.The bridge itself is a typical non-trem, through-the-body string arrangement. The double cut away body is solid basswood....mine is black with a black pearl pickguard and is somewhat roughly shaped like a Strat. The fairly chunky, bolt-on Fender scale neck is maple with a rosewood fingerboard and the frets I would call medium-jumbos. The tuners are the non-locking type and seem pretty stable but there's no indication as to who actually manufactured them. The coolest thing about this guitar are the very convincing, modeled, traditional stringed instrument sounds that are available with just the flick of a couple of switches, such as: Telecaster, Stratocaster, Les Paul, Gretch, Rickenbacker, semi-hollow, acoustic, jazzbox, 12 string, banjo, dobro, sitar, and a few others. Also available are two, five slot Custom banks that allow you to store your favorite sounds, in any order, for quicker access. Accessories, include a good quality gig bag, trussrod & bridge wrenches, a foot pedal/AC power supply with footswitchable XLR & standard 1/4" outputs w/LED's, a good quality 1/4" TRS interconnect cable, and a fairly easy to understand owners manual. In the event of failure of the included power/switching pedal, the guitar can also run on 6 AA batteries or, in a real pinch, a 9 volt battery (for 2 hours). I gave the guitar a 9 for features because it isn't currently available with a trem.

Sound....this is where this guitar gets very interesting because, to my ears, it can very convincingly mimic many other stringed instrument sounds, such as: electric guitars, acoustic guitars, and a few other specialized instruments. Bank #1 is a Custom bank for storing your presonal favorites, Bank #2 has 5 Telecaster sounds, bank #3 has 5 Strat sounds, Bank #4 has 5 Les Paul sounds, Bank #5 has 5 Les Paul Jr., Special, & Firebird sounds, Bank #6 has 5 Gretsch sounds, Bank #7 has 5 Rickenbacker sounds, Bank #8 has 5 semi-hollow sounds, Bank #9 has 5 jazzbox sounds, Bank #10 has 5 acoustic sounds, Bank #11 has 5 "Reso" sounds (dobro, sitar, Dano, banjo, tricone), and Bank #12 is a second Custom storage bank. And, not only are the sounds convincing, they are also set up level wise so they drive your amp just like the original guitar. Also, without magnetic pickups, single coil sounds are no more noisy that humbucker sounds. However, while some sounds are more accurate than others, I honestly couldn't find a bad sound in this thing....all are VERY useable.

Action, Fit & finish....all things considered not too bad. My only complaint is that the nut wasen't cut quite deep enough making a barred F chord rather difficult. However, 10 minutes with my nut files solved that problem. Fretwork is very good but they aren't polished to a mirror finish like on a high end guitar, and there are no apparent sharp edges or sprout. Finish is smooth, the neck is tight & straight, and after my nut fix & setup, the guitar plays about as good as any of my other higher priced guitars. The stock strings were pretty crappy so those came off immediately.

The guitar seems built pretty solid, but one never knows when electronics are going to crap out....which would make this guitar dead in the water.

No warranty issues yet so I'm not sure how helpful they would be with a warranty related problem. The warranty on the instrument itself is said to be lifetime, except for the electronics, which are warranteed for one year.

Overall....for the purists out there yes, some of the modeled sounds are probably more accurate than others....but I wouldn't call any of them poor as they are very convincing, especially in a gigging context where some of the subtle nuances are typically lost. Do the models nail the sound of the holy grail vintage instruments we often talk about? Probably not, but I think the sounds are within the range of variation of what one would expect from the original guitar. Will the Variax make you want to go out and sell some of your favorite guitars? Maybe, maybe not....but, as a tool, this thing has great value. Personally, my #1 gigging guitar is a good Strat with my guitar of choice being a Melancon Pro Artist. And, while I love the sound of my current rig with my Komet amp, sometimes a Strat-style guitar just won't cover all the bases very well.... and, occasionally, it would be nice to add an acoustic, a 12 string, or a Les Paul passage to a song....and this is the strength of the Variax. Without spending $10,000 and tripping over a half dozen guitars on stage, I can have my favorite #1 guitar and cover the rest of the bases easily & inexpensively with the Variax. And, keep in mind, this is coming from a guy with 35 years experience and who has hated every modeling amp that he's ever tried. In my humble opinion, if you can get by the looks & feel of the Variax, the sounds are there.

Basically the most versatile guitar I ever played. If it had a tremolo it would be complete.

Some sounds come close to the original, some don't, but consider: no guitar sounds like another, even it is the same model and year of construction. In total the Variax represents the first approch to capture the sounds of the most important and sought after guitar models in one axe.

I play rock guitar since 1968 I and testing this guitar was one of the most disappointing experiences I had in the last years. Despite the high gloss commercial presentation, in reality the Variax looks cheap, it feels cheap, action is very unconfortable and from the optical point of view I would never use such a guitar on stage.