Line 6 Variax

I'm not sure what to think about these guitars. They're very interesting and I would definatly like to try one out. I personally am trying to convince myself to get one of thier podxt live floor units, any opinion on those?

well, if you've got a nice classic guitar that you love, lets say a Gibson Les Paul Custom. And then you put it through a podxt live, you're going to change the noise a lot anyway, you'd only buy the gibson for the looks there, where as if you buy a variax, you've got even more you can change, and can even emulate with the xtlvie what it would sound like with your les paul because of how similar they've made them.

I think thats possibly the only reason why people would be dubious about buying them, they dont look like the guitars they know and love, and... like guitarists always do, they'll stick to the classics rather than embrace the new technology ( dont say its not true, people have said it on posts before)

Just a personal view

Its definatly true! I think most guitarists have the 'if it aint broke dont fix it' attitude. It would be kinda cool to play around with the settings on the variax, does it just emulate different pickup arrangements or does it simulate a bunch of stuff?

BTW - I think the blue one without the guard looks really nice!

I have one actually. It was when it first came out. Its the sunburst one. The Variax 500. I love it. It sounds so good its amazing. It can use some help in playability, thats solved by getting a new neck. I love mine and havent really had any problems with it.

Great little tool and a great guitar. Sounds like the real things (from my little experience with them at least).

I also had a variax 500 and have to agree on the neck it was comparable only with some of the cheaper copies I have had over the years and could not get used to it , not a very comfortable or fast neck for me and it really put me off.
Such a shame as the sounds were great and fun but a little synthetic ie a lot of my left hand finger "nuences" that ring and warble out on my 335 were lost .
not a "Rory Gallagher" guitar at all
If you are worried about losing a little money on resale value when you resell then I would try long and hard in a shop first although if you can stomach a little loss then you will have a lot of fun for a month or so whilst you try it at home and the neck may suit your style.
I really hope they start to licence the electrics out so that a good maker like Gordon Smith may do a good playable version

I managed to get most my money back when I sold it a month later .

My Pod XT is another matter and I just could not do without it now , best piece of kit I EVER got .

I love my Pod XT. Haven't tried the XT Lives yet, but it looks pretty cool.

I've heard, but haven't confirmed, the Line 6 has put a much better neck on their newer Variax 700. Anyone know or have one? I think the sound is pretty good and they seem like they'd come in pretty handy for recording or live.

I must admit the Variax 700 would be the one i'd go for if it came down to having more money, but i dont so the 500 is more in my league, the wood is nicer on the variax 700, being i think Maple, rather than the Basswood of the 500. hmm that neck issue is worrying me there. I think i'll just have to go and see what suits my playing style. Where does it lie between a Strat neck, and a LP neck ? ( I have a cheap strat copy and i prefer using a friends LP neck, i can just play with it lol )

http://www.warmouth.com

These guys sell replacement necks for the variax guitars. Spend a little time on the Line6 forums and you'll come to realize that almost all the serious players have replaced the necks, I guess quality control on them is not so good.

Also take into account that everything goes through a piezo pickup mounted in the bridge, it has no magnetic pickups. Piezo's definitely have some unique advantages when it comes to modeling, but there are also some very interesting negative side effects from measuring all vibration at the bridge.

Lastly, keep in mind that while it will approximate many popular guitars, most players, even fans of the guitars, will admit that it's only an approximation, and doesn't mimic many of the finer subtleties of the instruments.

All that said, I enjoyed modeling and the wealth of diversity it provided when I began playing guitar, but ultimately, the loss of all those subtleties led me to replace my first rig with pretty much the simplest one possible:

Les Paul -> Tube Amp

I can get a very ideal (for me) clean and distorted tone out of it, I have an electric/acoustic for acoustic, and that pretty much covers me.

Where does it lie between a Strat neck, and a LP neck ?

Its not really so much that the necks are not unlike a strat neck it is more the bad quality control and poor/cheap workmanship they just dont feel right and are awkward to get decent action on without buzzing etc due to the frets/fretwork..

Best you try one you might be able to get a decent one , I would expect/hope that they have got the message by now and later ones may have improved since I had mine ,
How you will see it depends also what you have been used to up till now of course but I really wasnt impressed with the quality at all :)

BTW people, the sitar sounds way cool on the upper registers.