I brought the Tele and the Variax to a gig Sunday night. Used the Variax for two sets, and then the Tele on the third set. While the Tele hums at high volumes, the Variax hummed not at all.

The Variax sounds clear, I was using Les Paul models for most of the night, except one song where I switched to the fat hollowbody model. It ALL sounded great and played great, the clean tones are just awesome. If only the guitar didn't LOOK like a toy. The band kept asking me if I had cheat codes to get extra guitars, or, hey, can I program the chords to upcoming songs, or, hah, if I play long enough, will I advance to the next level of guitar-player. OH. EVERYBODY GOTTA BE A COMEDIAN ON STAGE.

The one thing that I found that DOES suck, is that, because the pickup is a piezo pickup, (meaning, it sits under the bridge of the guitar) I can't use a WAH at a high volume. The wailing feedback was a shock. I didn't expect it. I'd read about it, but hadn't experienced it. And, if you know my stuff, you know I'm a fan of the wah. So, I'll have to do some experimenting to find out what can I do about that part.

But for now, I'm all up on the Variax, and using the Tele as a backup. Just for now. I'm sure I'll return to the Tele with love and happiness in time.

VERY interesting. My dream is a guitar that sounds like a tele on rhythm, like an Es335 on clean lead and like a Les Paul on distorted lead. I also like the look of the Variac. So you'd recommend it? Isn't it weird playing a guitar that sounds one way and feels the other?

hectim said:

Well, the biggest problem is that the volumes of those three guitars aren't the same. Say you're playing a real tele on rhythm, and then, unplugged it, plugged in the ES355. The volume and tone will change drastically (happened with me when I'd switch from my strat to my ES-135). Variax matches those guitars exactly, including the volume difference. At the first gig, I was switching between guitars in mid-song, only to have the volume jump all over the place. Which is part of how each guitar gets it's tone. A Les Paul's volume output is greater than a Strat, so the Les Paul will drive tubes harder, more distortion, etc. I tried managing that volume change with a compressor pedal, but didn't feel like it really helped.

So to answer your question, no, it doesn't feel wierd playing something that looks like a tiny Les Paul Special but sounds like a big fat hollowbody... does a keyboardist feel wierd on an electric keyboard, switching from a baby grand to a hammond organ to violins? It's just a tool with LOTS of great sounds.

I do wish the volumes were closer, but, really, you could probably plan ahead using their custom settings, where you can line up 5 guitars on one knob selection (that's how you switch from Les Pauls to Strats, Teles, Hollowbodies, etc... they have 2 "custom" settings), then use the pickup selector switch to go between the guitars... so then, you'd set your distortion pedal to account for the volume increase when switching from a tele to the les paul (and you stomp the dist pedal at the same time) so, I'm sure it's doable.

AND there's some really nice acoustic guitars in there too. And dobros! I'm getting back into slide guitar at the live gigs. IF you play live, in a band that would want a lot of guitar sounds, then this is the bomb. IF YOU are recording at home and want the sound of a REAL ES355, you will be disappointed. Like I said in an earlier post, think of the Variax tone like all the 2nd-tier guitars - Epiphone Les Pauls, Mexi-Strat/Teles, etc, and you'll appreciate it more. (as in, if you bought every Epi guitar from Les Paul to ES355 to Hollowbodies, and then bought Fender Mexi Tele and Strat, and acoustics, you'd be out what, $6000 still?)

Hope this helps Hectim. Definitely go try one out if you can.
[Edited 9/21/04 8:15am]

Seems a good acquisitition."Pieso" pickup, is a crystal yeh? The way a crystal creates current is through pressure.Like they use them to make a spark to light gas appliances, when the crystal is struck.Just trying to figure the feed back/wah scenario. Probably have to use a resistor in series with the wah,to cut back on the current.I'm sure a technician could give you a simple circuit to reduce the signal noise.

variax is the digital guitar from gibson?

7salles said:

Nope. Variax is from Line6. I heard about the Gibson one, but haven't seen or heard one.

Interesting. I'm thinking about buying a guitar, just for recording at home. I'm not a good guitar player atm so you won't ever see me performing it live on stage, but I like the idea to be able to use a lot of guitar sounds in my recording.
The 'wah problem', is that problem just present when performing at loud volumes or will I also get problems when I'm recording at home? I'm a sucker for wah, see?
[Edited 10/1/04 2:15am]

erikd's signature said: Give a monkey a brain and he'll swear he's the center of the universe" (Fishbone)

THAT"S THE DUMBEST THING I EVER READ! A MONKEY HAS A BRAIN, YOU DUMBASS!

hectim said:

got any more useful remarks?

erikd said:

Dude, get real. Change it to "Give a monkey a brain and he'll swear he has two brains."

hectim said:

Hectim. Go find the discography for FISHBONE. That quote is the title of their third or 4th release, an awesome record... songs like "Sunless Saturday" and um, others.

Otan. I know, I saw Fishbone live back in the day and they tore the place down. Still it's an extremely silly thing to say. Am I the only one here who is aware of the fact that animals in general and monkeys in particular are born with a brain? And as I already orgnoted erik, I'm just kidding. So here's the obligatory and 's. Fishbone rocked, I love y'all dearly and a monkey has a doggone brain already.

otan said:

otan, i looked at Geoff Miller's video, playing a 'Variax'. I was dissapointed at his too fast playing and couldn't get a handle, tone wise, as to all the different guitar types.The link was from your thread som'thun' like; "i'm getting a variax for lunch".Is he fucking up the Demo in those clips, or am i just not listening ? Personally i feel it's not a great showpiece, as from what you've said the thing has heaps of tonal quality with the different Guitar selections.I just thought he fell into the category of the 'kid' @ compfused.com-Guitar prodigy, like "too much information, sound wise" (or settle the heck down so i can hear at least 1 clean note / second.) I'd love to hear what the 'Variax' really sounds like, have you recorded with it and uploaded anything as yet?

I'm in the process of doing some recording with it, but I've been playing out so much, and the baby, and waah waah waah.

I DID do a recording of the Vari and a Strat side by side, left-channel right-channel, playing the same licks to see if you could really tell the difference. Unfortunately, the song sucks, so, while an interesting experiment, it's painful beyond that. (but going back and listening, it's not that easy to tell the diff.

I'll try to put some stuff up later this week with clean, distorted, acoustic, etc. Personally, the thing shines IN a song, not when it's used standalone... like keyboards - no, it doesn't sound like a real Rhodes 73 or a clav, but mixed in with the song, it serves the purpose.

Altho I DID record this using the vari
http://www.blindslim.com/...sleep2.mp3

Yeh, i remember now.I've never gotten that page to display I'll try tweaking my browser, "page cannot be displayed".

FLUX said:

right-click, "save as", unless you have a default mp3 player for your browser.

That's one nas-tay tune, Otan! Is that all Variax? Pretty impressive. I'd love to hear some of the (semi)hollowbody jazz tones on that thing... (nudge nudge)

hectim said:

Working on it. I WAS recording last night but the baby, waaah waah, gotta help, be a daddy... waah waah.

So, I'll get there when I can.

otan said:

"Save target as"...
Cool! Downloaded sweet, feels like a couple of players jamming, so yeh i get the picture, Variax is a neat package! Man that's a much better example than Geoff Miller's on the demo video! I love the way you 'swapped Guitars', 4 clean (real nice glow, & fonky); and dirty sound. (there's some real hard dirt !) And woh! the intricate fast stuff you play has impeccable timing clarity and control.That's you, not the Variax.(Both obviously, but you excel at the fast attacking stuff!) Very skilled playing I'm out of here, gotta practice, you just inspired me about nuance of attack.

hectim :


Me 2 Take your time,