Don't let this guy's bad demo scare you off from the Variax. I have a Variax and it's a great guitar. It really does sound like what it's emulating. I highly suggest watching other Variax videos if you want to be convinced.
Anyone watching this video, DO NOT let this guy make you think bad about the Variax. I got a Variax 600, and it sounds great. It's just like any other guitar, it's just that it uses PIEZO pickups, because modeling a mag pickup would be stupid. A Piezo captures the whole frequency range of your strings. A mag pickup already deleted many characteristics of the strings, so you can't really model, let's say a humbucker to sound like a telecaster bridge, as a humbucker can't capture single coil sound
As for the losers commenting about your playing don't listen to them. I bought my first guitar by just picking open strings because I did not know a chord. That was 30 years ago and I did not know the first thing about guitars. And yes I could tell the tone difference, because I ended up walking out the door with most expensive acoustic on the wall based on the sound to my ears. I later I found out the guitar had a solid spruce top and rosewood back and sides. If someone plays a chord or a scale like your doing that gives me a pretty good idea about the tone. My only complaint is I feel the tone is being lost by the delay and chorus I'm hearing. Thanks and again for taking time to do the demo.
I thought his review was alright. I now know more than I did about these guitars and it cost me nothing but time to learn it. Maybe he's not really trying to demonstrate his playing skills because he's just interested in getting his point across? Good job dude, thanks :)
after reading through some of the comments on here, i feel the need to point out that despite the fact the video wasn't overly well done (being in his garage, screwing up some scales, only playing on a clean channel etc), it wasnt too bad. like what do you expect? the point of the video is to show you a bit of the guitars capability and features, if you want to know what its really like, go to a guitar store and pick one up. It's not like the choice of buying or not buying one hangs on this demo
Interesting technology, may I suggest buying or even making a rechargeable lipo battery pack instead of AA batteries and buy a trickle charger, it will last days before needing a charge. You just need to make sure the pack will fit inside the battery bay.
You can't simulate every single molecule of a piece of wood, no, but you can simulate it to the best ability. That's what technology is for, even if it's not perfect, it will always improve more and more. I'm sure you wouldn't be able to pass a blind test with these guitars.
My exact replica of this has developed so many faults battery compartment crocked, a strange intermittent but regular rustling sound and other oddities have driven me to buy a cheapo, flat-ish pickup to put on it. I'll have to chisel a bit out though!!!
Actually, Variax 500 is a wonderful guitar! :) I have used it more in my recordings than my Ibanez RG525, Gibson SG or even my Music Man Luke. Why? It sounds great and is easy and fun to work with. Definitely recommended!
@jmiewlsn One more thing: When are the demo creators going to figure out that, if you don't take the time to properly record the sound, your demo will be useless. It's like back in the 70's when TV commercials used to do side by side comparisons of two color sets, but you were watching the commercial on your black and white tv.
Why does everyone hammer both the guitar and the player? Because they both pump out a ton of crap, that's why. To think I nearly bought a second hand one on spec, the other day! Thank you, my friend. You saved me hundreds! Oh, and I didn't buy a baseball cap either.
@ASuperModelSuicide I don't play guitars for how they look, I play for how they play. But I'm not going to buy a good playing guitar if I hate how it looks, especially if I can get a better playing guitar for a similar price.
This is a fantastic review - which answered a LOT of the questions I've had about Variax. You did a great job on this. Nevermind the critics..... as for these guys who want to "hear what it sounds like". People - if you want to hear what a Variax sounds like, go to the Line 6 website and you can see lots of demos or Sweetwater, etc. which are focused on the sonic capability available on these guitars. This review answered lots of questions which ARE NOT answered by browsing around the Line 6 site.
I've got the exact same guitar. I can't get the tremolo arm to fit at all without making a loud 'clonk' noise with every movement. Does yours have small screws to hold it in place? These have always been missing on mine.
Naw, this fella doesn't do this guitar justice with the reverb on the amp. Go play that guitar through just a straight fender champ to hear its true capability. I've played for 34 years now, but this Variaxe thing amazes me. I want one after having played it. Watch other videos guys, to get a better idea
@stud1664 ok im not taking shots at you or attacking you, but this video is a guys review and opinion on a guitar. some people hate gibson sg's, i have one. some people love les pauls, i think they are too heavy. if you like a guitar u will review it positively, if not, negitively. it doesnt mean everything he says if fact
The problem is that, how can you know the full capabilities of any piece of gear if the person showing them to you can't play? I don't mean to sound like a snob, but this is the problem I find with almost every demo I find, even the ones with some production value (read: not shot in someone's garage or living room). I can't really know anything about the guitar because I don't have confidence in his ability to play it.
synth guitar? =O that's awesome I play drop and standard but I can only drop it to D, It's really tiring to tune it back again cause I play normal and dropped songs can it do a dive bomb?
@stud1664 that doesnt mean hes full of shit about buying guitars. u can be a guitar collecter and made a small mistake on a scale, players make mistakes all the time. if he wants to spend money on whatever guitar he wants, let him do it. u can play a squier and know all ur scales 100% thts ur choice.
@mtsn No. But what's the use of a great sounding guitar, if you hate the look? For example, Teles sound great, but look shitty. The same with Melody Makers and Zoot Suit SGs
This would be a good review if it didn't contain so much false information. Foremost: It's not a synthesizer guitar. It doesn't create (synthesize) sounds, it just changes (models) what's coming from the piezo pickups to sound like a different guitar. MIDI plays absolutely no part in it.
I don't know why you keep calling this a synth guitar. The computer acts like your pickups, that's all. It doesn't replace your input, which is what a synth guitar does. By your logic, that means all regular guitars are synth guitars because the pickups are modifying the string tone. That's all the Variax is, is a computer processing the input through magnetic pickup algorithms, as well as body algorithms. Modeling isn't Synthesis, dude.
ah Larry you're a funny dude man. I love it. especially your scale choice on this review.. ding ding Fla Bing..hahaha wamm twang,,,oh then the "spank" scale. lol classic.. Larry buddy I always enjoyed our music conversations in the Doghouse man. Unit 118 was the Shit man, always a good run on your rig. aside from the oil fields hope all is good. keep cool.
@metalhead142 .... erm, having re-reviewed the content and my comment 4 months ago i still feel the same... tho i shall be somewhat less harsh with my new comments...- leave it to someone that can review properly and that values research too..i have also since had a go on all 3 models that he talks about and all 3 are cheap tat that require so much work to get set up properly its untrue, also they dont stay in tune which leads me to believe line6 should stick to effects. i like his bike tho
@Madbrood my mistake. good review. but i wouldnt buy this guitar or recomend them to anybody. i played one the neck is very chopy and the guitar is to expensive.
You can't model the wood. You cannot simulate the harmonics random response. And you cannot simulate the wood vibrations coming back to your human body and make you feel what you play. Maybe would be good for some practice though
The two best things in the video are the amp in back, when used correctly. The other is the bike on the right. The Rick 12 he tries to model sounds nothing like my Rick 12 and the acoustic 12, well, I'll just say my Guild F-512 is a Bentley compared to his rusting little red wagon with square wheels. I'm not a pro but I'll take my Roland GR-33 over this any day of the week. btw: if he's doing this on his own, how can he be running out of time?
American guitars are so bad now, sir... I sold all my Gibsons and Fender to buy Blade, Tokai, Bacchus guitars. Don't take care of the label, it's just a commercial thing now. Japan guitar makers are today the best luthiers of the world;
This guy is either a professional pretending to be an amateur or an amateur pretending to be a professional. Video quality and set are too "perfect" to be anything but a fake. Even the so-called mistakes and corrections seem contrived. By the way, watching this without the sound - always advisable with Line 6. Brilliant guitar technique around 6:00. You got your money's worth on the free intro lesson.
ok the batteries only last 2 to 3 hours no thank you, you have to have a special cable no thank you, you have to have a foot controller no thank you, for 700 bucks no thanks!!!
Our experiences differ so I will not try to convince you of something. Hope your ear perception level is as much as your level of irony and so you 'll be right
Sorry dude, you're video is awful. First off THE VARIAX IS NOT A SYNTH GUITAR. Synth = generated synthetic sound Variax = modeling = String input goes in via Piezos, Computer PROCESSES the sound to make the piezo input sound like a magnetic pickup. A synth guitar reads the signal, THEN DELETES and REPLACES it with a new sound. A model is still the same sound, just different, kind of like how an amplifier distorts your guitar. It's still the guitar sound, just modified.
