7/30/2019 At54 Line 6 Variax Guitar

1/2 AT

REVIEW

You can pretty much count the innovations the computerrevolution has imparted to the guitar on one hand. Theres

been the Midi guitar (which at best is glitchy and slow),

amp simulations and sophisticated FX pedal boards, all of

which have increased a guitarists musical palate, but the

humble electric guitar has stayed pretty much the same for

the last 60 years. Sure, pickups are better arguably but

the basic guitar hasnt changed much at all.

However, the Variax Guitar, which I recently discovered

while looking at the new Line6 PodXT pedal board

changes all that. What is this? I thought to myself the

Variax Guitar seemed to have a way to create and then

store (via a simple software interface for Mac/PC) guitar

patches for performance purposes. I was gobsmacked. I

quickly hooked it up to an amp and tried it out. It playedpretty well straight out of the box, and although I f igured

Id have to get a luthier to set it up correctly, I loved the

sounds and purchased the Variax on the spot. I hurriedly

took it back to the ranch to give it a proper going over

both in the studio and live.

SIMULATION OR STIMULATION

The Variax has no conventional pickups, but, rather, a

modelling system that simulates a variety of classic guitar

tones at the f lick of a switch which it does remarkably

well right off the bat. But this is tricky, subjective (and

highly contentious) territory. Most guitarists would be

mortified at even the prospect of their favourite guitar

being modelled let alone believe that the results could

possibly sound any good. I can hear the purists piping upalready: Give me a Les Paul Custom any day. Well, thats

all very well but this simply may not be practical for a

number of reasons.

The biggest of these practical barriers is usually cost.

Owning a classic guitar can be an expensive outlay at

the best of times collecting them can put you seriously

in debt. Whats more, even if youre lucky enough to own

that Les Paul Custom, its only ever going to sound like

one guitar. But as we all know, gigging and studio work

often requires you to have a rack of guitars, strung and

tuned for that particular sound. To that end the Variax is

a chameleon, simulating classic guitars in the same way the

Line6 Pod does amps. With the Variax you certainly wont

look like the guy with 10 classic guitars, but youll go a long

way towardssounding like him.

BACK AT THE STUDIO

The Variax 600 I purchased from the shop is black, with

a mother of pearl plate that holds the five-position pickup

switch (for want of a better word), the volume and tone

controls and the modelling selector (which changes the

model of the guitar). Consequently, there are no obvious

pickups on the guitar, so it looks a little empty, but I like

that; it immediately distinguishes the Variax from the rest

of the pack. (I was also sent the more expensive Variax 700

for comparison while writing this review. The 700 has a

better neck and a fully-moulded body but the electronics

are the same. I liked the feel of both guitars, but you can

LINE 6 VARIAX GUITAR

Want a vintage guitar collection but dont have 20 grand?If thats the case you only have one option:

Text: Simon Leadley

certainly tell that the 700 is the more crafted instrumentof the two.)

The 600 has a 22-fret, maple neck with a rosewood

fingerboard, narrow frets and a three-machine-heads-

per-side headstock. Out of the box I immediately felt that

the guitar needed to be setup by a professional; there was

some buzzing on the top E string on the third fret that w

largely fixed by raising the bridge. Having said that, to it

credit, Line6 includes the two hex keys for the bridge and

neck adjustments. I also felt that the frets could do with a

shave on the edge to make them less catchy but intonatio

was superb with the tuning very bright and clean all the

way up to the 12th fret.

The Variax employs piezo pickups that connect to the

bridge, translating the string resonances of the instrumen

to the modelling system. There are two connectors: one a

standard jack that connects via the switch box and power

supply, the other a supplied XLR which allows you to go

direct to the PA, bypassing the amp. The small wallwart

power supply also connects to this footswitch, and then

to the guitar via a TRS guitar lead that supplies power

to the guitar. You can also use four AA batteries for 12

hours of continuous use (with no need for a special cable

to the amp) or, in an emergency, a 9V battery will supply

enough power for one hour (these guys have thought of

everything!).

So, thats it really. Put in some batteries (or connect to the

power pedal as supplied), connect the Variax to an amp

and youre ready to rock or folk, or metal, or whatever,

which is the whole raison detre of the Variax design, of

course.

POD-ELLING

To embark on the Variax design the folks at Line6 tested,

poked and prodded just about every famous guitar on

the market (and some esoteric models as well) to see wha

made them tick. Analysing guitars in this way cant have

been easy but somehow the secrets to each of these guitar

sounds has been modelled in software and stored in a pie

of circuitry that fits inside the body of the Variax. This

allows you to change from the bridge pickup on a Strat t

a neck pickup of a Les Paul at the f lick of a switch. Mor

The Variax 700 model.

Pedalling like fury: The POD XT Live allows you to build comprehensivsetups: amps, effec ts and Variax guitar patches all rolled into one.

7/30/2019 At54 Line 6 Variax Guitar

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importantly, whats amazing is that the sonic changes are

actually convincing! Now I can have that Gibson ES-355

semi acoustic sound Ive always wanted, if not the guitar

itself. I can also have acoustic guitars (6- and 12-string

varieties) resonators like the Dobro and banjo, and all the

classic guitars that you could hope for like Telecasters,

Strats, Les Pauls, semi acoustics, Rickenbackers and a host

of others.

Now I know the obvious question is: how well does it work

and how convincing are the emulations? And, of course,

I know many readers are tearing their hair out in dismay

right about now because the Variax obviously doesnt give

you the experience of having these classic guitars in your

hot little hands. But what can I say? These emulations

work very well and the Variax makes no apologies for

being an emulation. It sounds like youre playing the guitar

selected, theres no lag, and the Variax tracks things like

bends perfectly. One aspect I have noticed, however, is that

the Variax doesnt feedback like a conventional guitar,

but in every other respect it behaves like a conventional

instrument with one exception: the Variax is noiseless!

Guitar and pickup noises particularly buzzes from

single coil pickups are completely eradicated. Whats

more, when you pull the volume down on the guitar you

also dont lose the top end; its simply quieter. This is a

revelation.

I have to confess at this point to being a weekend guitarist.

Im no Steve Vai or Joe Satriani; I do this for work and for

fun, so the Variax is the perfect axe for someone like me. I

dont need to have a genuine Les Paul slung round my neck

(the mere thought of the insurance makes me blanche).

With the Variax I can have one guitar for recording and

playing live that will do a pretty good emulation of pretty

much any guitar I want or need I can even switch from

acoustic to electric for a lead break during a song if I so

desire! Try doing that with a conventional guitar mid song.

SUPERMODELS

As I mentioned earlier there are two connectors on

the guitar and its the second of these thats the most

interesting. The VDI cable connector allows the guitar to

be linked to one of the Line6 USB interfaces or the POD

XT Live, which has a dedicated Variax input as well as a

USB port for connecting to your Mac or PC. You can then

run the Workbench software to create your own guitar

models and alternate tunings and store these in the guitar

for later use. The software further allows you to choose

whichever pickups you fancy and position them wherever

you like even rotate them for unusual configurations

that would be impossible in the real world. Pickups can

be in and out of phase, impedances can be changed the

possibilities are almost endless. You can also use the POD

XT Live to control the Variax, so now building guitar

patches extends beyond amp models and effects to the

guitar itself, which is an amazing advantage live.

IN CONCLUSION YOUR HONOUR...

Some time ago Gibson unveiled its digital guitar, which

suggests a mainstream revolution is rapidly brewing, but

Line 6 definitely has the jump on the competition. My

only observation would be that the guitars could be made

slightly better, but theyre pretty damn good to play and

the intonation is excellent. To that end the more expensive

700 is the better guitar but it will cost you more than

twice as much as the lower end of the Variax range. Better

tuners and a better nut would also help. The electronics are

amazing though, with no perceptible lag, and the models

are pretty faithful to the originals. For studio and live use,

and coupled with the Pod XT Live and a computer for

programming, the system is absolutely brilliant.

Ive spent more time having fun and playing guitar with

the Variax than Ive had for a very, very long time. And lets

face it, thats really what its all about. Technology for geeks

sake is simply not enough. The Variax range of simulated

guitars work well and offer you things not possible with

an analogue guitar. I should also mention that there arebass and acoustic models of the Variax too [to check out the

complete product range go to; www.line6.com/products/

instruments/].

While there will undoubtedly always be a place for a classic

Gibson or Fender, now theres a way to put all those guitars

in one gig bag for a very reasonable price that will expand

the horizons for most guitarists. In the land of modelling

Line6 rules, first with the Pod and now the Variax. As

Molly Meldrum used to be fond of saying; Do yourself a

favour...

THE POD XT LIVE &THE COMPUTER

Theres too little space to reviewthe Pod XT Live here, but let metell you its also a brilliant pieceof kit that really extracts the fullpotential out of the Variax. Asmentioned above, its great forcalling up patches on the guitar,but further than that, the Podis an interface between yourcomputer and the software.

I used it with my Mac, the Line6

Monkey software installed all thenecessary drivers for the Mac andupdated all the apps to the latestversion (after Id registered). I wasthen able to use the Pod as anaudio I/O to my computer, as aninput to any Core Audio app likeGarage Band and as a front-endfor the guitar. The Gearboxapp allows you to easily edit all

the patches on the Pod and tosave them to disk, downloaduser patches from the web andgenerally makes programmingthe Pod a dream. All the Line6apps are well written and veryself-explanatory, with no needto wade through long manuals.Within a couple of hours Id madepatches on the guitar and coupledthem with patches on the Pod,and they sounded great. Its a verypowerful setup: the Variax, Pod

XT and a computer. My only gripewas that the Gearbox softwaredoesnt allow you to choose theVariax Guitar model and includethat with the Pod Patch. To do thisyou have to edit the Pod from theGUI on the unit, which is a verysimple matter, but for simplicityssake I would liked to have seenthat in Gearbox as well.

Price300 Series: $1199 (Sunburst:$1299)600 Series: $1799700 Series: $3299 (Black:$2999)

ContactMusic Link(03) 9765 6565info@musiclink.com.auwww.musiclink.com.au

ProsModelling of several guitarsin one.Quality sound.Versatility with applicationsboth live and in the studio.

ConsGuitar setup could be a littlemore refined.Digital cable absent andprotective cap is easily lost.Cant feed back.

SummaryHaving a guitar that can simulatedifferent classic electric andacoustic guitars, drop tuningsand virtual capos at the flick ofa switch is simply mind blowing.To say the Variax is well worth alook is a gross understatement.Its not going to replace yoursetup if the look of a GibsonLes Paul is important to you, butsonically the Variaxs versatilityand tuning options are extraor-

dinary. Several guitars in onecant be a bad thing!

NEED TO KNOW