No, that's not a sandwich. It's that coolio digital modelling guitar.

I've been checking them out for a year or so now, and I'm going to get one today. I'm all a twitter. Yes, I plan to replace the neck with something better. In fact, my long-term goal is to put this mother into a Strat or Gold-Top body. But that's for the far-off future.

From all the reviews I've read, this guitar is best for sidemen who play in bands that do lots of styles. So, here I am, ready and willing. And no, I'm not giving up the Tele for it. EVER.

In FACT, I saw a guy who installed the Variax guts INTO his Tele, keeping the original pickups, so it's now a hybrid. Hmmmmm. THAT would kick some ass.

Too lazy to look.

Is it midi or what is it?

It's making you giddy, I'm curious but busy at work today.

Links, something.

http://www.line6.com/variax/US/

It digitally models about 40 different guitars, from Les Pauls to Teles to Strats to Acoustic, to Sitar to banjo to gibson hollowbodies.

Sound? NOT as good as the real thing, but close enough in a live environment to make me happy. Would I use it to record my debut record on Warner Brothers? Hell no, I'd use the real things.

Check out this page:
http://www.guitaristjeffm.../audio.htm

At the bottom are samples of him playing different styles on different settings of the Variax. Again, while the tone AIN'T a '59 Goldtop, it's damn sure close enough without the $2,000 pricetag.

I also got a PODxt amp modeller, I understand that they work together really well. So, I'll probably be selling my Zoom MRS1044 in the near future, if anybody's holding out for one.

I feel what your saying, otan.Played a gig today, Electric guit.; & my Fender acoustic, and having to change settings on Amps and guitars is a pain in the butt! I think i know what you're describing. Went to a shop demo a while back about this gizmo that interfaced with your guitar to any config. of Acoustic / Electric guitars of your choice; Amp and Speaker selections(Marshal soldano..U name it,this thing had it!), placement of speakers etc.,.....which drove a pair of Peavey 12 inch speakers set on either side of the stage.There's some awesome stuff around, i'm jealous. Cost too much for me...

FLUX said:

Yeah, well, I used the ol' "my gigs will pay for this thing"

hoping that they WILL.

How cool is this? It reminds me of that digital Les Paul that came out that was completely made with midi in mind.

So we'll all need to know how cool this is, what a great new toy.

I'm sure it will knock loose some cob webs in my mind, so I'll be posting some shit around 3am tonight.

emphasis on the word "shit".

And yeah, it DO feel like a toy.

Just don't get the Variax 700/Tremolo cuz we sell 'em in the music staw I woyk at & they have some kinda problems with the pickups at hi volumes a rattle of some sort if u will . Other then that I saw Mothers Finest & one of the guitarists was usein' one of them & it sounded pretty cool with the Line 6 amp & cab , he even did an acoustic number on that thang ...what'll they think of next ?
[Edited 9/11/04 2:22am]

So how'd ya go ?

Okay. I've been knocking this thing aound for two days now, but, other than at the gig, I've spent maybe an hour on it total, (you know, kids. house, wife, kids (YES some more!), and THEN go play with my toys).

At home, I plugged it into my little Fender amp (champion 30) and ran through a lot of the songs we'd be doing live, to try to see if there were issues that I'd hit. It sounded great. Sounded very very great.

What do I mean by great?

Well. Imagine you don't WANT a real Les Paul, but you'll settle for an Epiphone Les Paul, and an Epiphone hollowbody, and a Mexi-Strat and a Mexi-Tele and every other SECOND-tier guitar. THAT is what this sounds like. It's definitely not a 1964 Les Paul, but it's DEFINITELY a 2003 Epiphone Les Paul Custom.

So is that a bad thing? No. Why? Because, if you go buy every Epi and Mexi-Fender, you'd still be set back about $4000 or so. But, you ask, why on earth would I settle for second-rate ANYthing when I play Fender USA Strats and Teles? Because, I also get the acoustic (AWESOME sound) and the dobro (AWESOME) the Sitar (Hello, "Adore") and all that other shit that comes with the thing.

How did it play?

After I put new strings on it, 10s, it stayed in tune well enough, (but I'll still put some real tuners on it) the frets feel good, the neck feels good, it doesn't feel like a $130 piece of crap, and it doesn't feel like a $2000 Les Paul. My goal is to move all the lectronics into my Tele anyhow, so, in a year, it'll feel like home.

LIVE how did it do?

Changing from guitar model to guitar model results in volume changes, just like changing from a Les Paul to a Strat will result in a serious drop in volume. You HAVE to re-adjust the amp's volume. I knew this going into the gig. The Tele was the model that I used the most, but there were times where I used the acoustic, the jazz-hollowbody, and the Les Pauls - each time, I had to do a little amp-tweaking immediately, which sucks at a live gig, trying to get your volumes right while trying to play the actual song (instead of mucking with the amp at full volume without anyone else playing music - very unprofessional, if you ask me).

So, the volume differential sucks. I brought a compressor, hoping to help issues, and it did, to some extent, but, then, it killed some of the nuances of the different guitar models.

ALL THIS TO SAY, I love the guitar, and definitely have to work with it a lot before I pull off a gig without thinking "damn, I need to learn how to work this guitar".

So there you go. Go buy one. They're good enough for money gigs. I'll do some recordings this week, real guitar on one side, digital guitar on the other, and see if you can tell the difference.

At a glace I thought it read VIAGRA!
LOL...

I was thinking, MAN! Your not but maybe 10 or 11 years older than me. Should I worry?

Good to get your feedback otan.




For a while now i've been thinking,"What's all this i wanna be rich and famous crap?" Isn't the music all that counts? I must have had some serious distractions coz to have the choices to make the music as you feel it, you've gotta have the money to get the gear to make it all come alive, within my control.
Formula: Fame(..or work) = Money => Options, freedom to take control .Somewhere in there you put your soul.Probably doesn't make much sense 2 anyone else but after over 20 years of playing you gotta remind yourself of these factors, or fizzle out like an old Hippy
You've inspired me buddy to go forward, looking forward to hearing some stuff when time permits.

Well - I start getting into this crap and then go listen to Cody Chessnutt's record, or some other minimalist funk, Tab Benoit, frinstance, which is an old guitar thru some old solid state, and a drummer and a bass player blasting into what sounds like some stereo mic... and start to wonder exactly HOW MUCH will all this crap help me improve? Is it just more crap to tweak? More things to blame for not getting my ideas onto tape? (um, disc?)

I'm hoping that it'll at least open doors for my brain. It's not the tools, it's what you do with them and all that stuff, but, oh hell yes, I'm digging the new stuff!

EVERYONE should rotate out their entire set of tools once a year. It gets you working outside of your comfort zone, I spose.

Note to Myself:
And on it goes,..... if it feels good, do it . Do It, Do It, explore this mysterious medium, magic happens whether tweaked or untweaked (gotta tweak a bit, lol)

Let it breed..Let it Bleed.