Just curious about the Line 6 variax 300

Terry Sneed · From: Arkansas,

Have any of you guys owned or played one of these? Does the guitar give decent models? what about the acoustic model?

Terry

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Mullen D10 /8x5 / session 500rd/ American Strat Highway 1 model
steelin for my Lord

Roger Miller · From: Cedar Falls, Ia.

I've read post from other forums and talked to others who have said that it feels like a 300.00 guitar with the sounds of a 1000.00 dollar guitar. You have to play one and really figure out if that is what you want.

Darvin Willhoite · From: Roxton, Tx. USA

I just ordered a Variax 500 yesterday. I read a lot of reviews about it and some players loved it, some hated it. I decided I would just have to see for myself. I'll let you know in a couple of weeks what my opinion of the 500 is.

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Darvin Willhoite
Riva Ridge Recording

Terry Sneed · From: Arkansas,

Ok Darvin, I'll be watchin for your report.

Terry

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Mullen D10 /8x5 / session 500rd/ American Strat Highway 1 model
steelin for my Lord

Pete Burak · From: Portland, OR USA

I'm now curious about the Variax acoustic, after seeing a GC rep "trying" to demonstrate one the other day.
The thing that caught my ear was the instant capo knob.
I can play the song in the chord positions that I like, but tune the key to fit my vocal range.
I'll have to go back and check it out.
Anybody tried one?
Do they track well when you are playing in one key but having it coming out of the speakers in another key?
Thx,
Pete B.

Rich Weiss · From: Woodland Hills, CA, USA

quote:
Anybody tried one?
Do they track well when you are playing in one key but having it coming out of the speakers in another key?

I've had my variax acoustic for almost a year. The thing about using the 'virtual capo', or even using the alternate tunings, you really need to crank up the monitor, (or headphone) volume so that you don't hear what's actually coming from the guitar. For this reason, I'd rather do my alternate tunings manually. But in the context of a mix, you really can't tell the difference between this guitar and a 'real' one. It does have a tendency to sound very piezo-like, and so it's important to have good eq plugins or compressors, and ways of compensating for the sound. Overall, I like it, and use it on every home recording that needs an acoustic. It's very heavy, like a Les Paul.

Darvin Willhoite · From: Roxton, Tx. USA

I got my Variax 500 a week or so ago and I really like it. This one was used and had a terrible action and some bad strings on it and the frets were really rough. I levelled and polished the frets, and adjusted the action and now it plays like a dream. The neck is a little larger than most newer guitars, probably about like a vintage strat, but after a short time playing it, the neck felt fine.

Most of the sounds are very realistic, I think they did a good job modelling other guitars & etc. Even the banjo sound is pretty realistic for chords, I can't get it to sound much like a 5 string yet. The acoustic patches sound as good as most piezo pickup acoustic guitars I've played. I really like the Dobro and Sitar patches, as well as the semi hollow body and jazz box patches. This would work really well for someone that plays a lot of different styles of music or is into home recording. About the only negative I have found so far is the output level. It seems I have to turn my amp up a bit to equal the levels of my other guitars. The output level may be adjustable, I haven't checked with Line 6 yet to find out.

This is not a MIDI guitar, the strings are sensed by an L.R. Baggs piezo bridge then processed from there. There is no noticeable tracking delay or latency, as there is with some MIDI guitar systems. The sustain is really good too, unlike most MIDI systems I've tried. When you hit a note, it will slowly fade away just like on a magnetic pickup guitar. On all the MIDI guitars I've tried, the notes die much too quickly.

I don't know the differences in the Variax 500 and 300, but if the 300 works as well as the 500, I think it is well worth the price. But, these guitars are made in Korea, so as with most Korean or Chinese made guitars I see, you probably should plan on a fret job and action adjustment right out of the box.

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Darvin Willhoite
Riva Ridge Recording

Terry Sneed · From: Arkansas,

Thanks for the report Darvin. I may have to try one one of these days.

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Mullen D10 /8x5 / session 500rd/ American Strat Highway 1 model
steelin for my Lord

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