Line 6 Variax?

[lindsayward]

Hi,
I'm keen on getting the PODxt Live modelling floorboard pedal, and when I was looking into it, I found out about the Variax modelling guitars.
Does anyone have one, or have you had any experience with them?
My main idea is that I could use one when playing/leading and have both acoustic and electric (plus effects) available in one guitar.

I'd love to hear anyone's experience, thanks.

[Klampert]

I have the pod xtLive...and honestly I think its amazing.
I have also played quite extensively with the variax 600 and the acoustic.
The acoustic tones in the variax electric are not so good. but the different electric tones are amazing. The cool thing is if you buy the pedal board it switches all the sounds for you.
if you have the money and are set on line 6 i think it would be best to buy both the electric (low end model is fine) and the acoustic...

If you are looking for an electric that can get acoustic tones and arent worried about all the other digital stuff...you can go with a parker nitefly, ovation VXT, or a taylor T5. those are the top hybrid guitars out. And you can still take advantage of the killer XTlive

[cnreng]

I have the POD XT Live and a Variax Acoustic 700.

I bought the Variax first. Then when I started playing on worship I picked up the POD. They work great together BUT.
-The factory settings in the POD where geared for heavy something. Did I mention I am a ACOUSTIC player. It took me a while to get things comfortable. Just imagine during worship bumping a pedal and going from nice mandola sounds for Lion Of Judah to the Klingon invasion. :eek: My bad, but frustrating.
-The Variax Acoustic 700 has a bad bad design issue. If you break a string (yes I have told the story how a broke my G string during worship) and keep playing until the next break, you stand a chance of melting a solder trace on the circuit board as the ball end of the broken string migrates through the body. I had it repaired under warranty. But the service center commented that they covered it even though they felt it was something I had done. Well yes I confess. I did break that string.... I have since added some electrical tape in the cavity between the areas to catch any breakage.
-At low volumes I still have a hard time ignoring the bodies direct sound over the monitor sound. This is only a problem when you have a patch that is transposing. I am getting better, but I still have to concentrate or I loss the rhythm. weird I know
-Another issue I have the Variax is more my being picky. I wish the workbench software allowed more control & changes to the patches. I was kind of bummed about that.
- The software updater that Line 6 uses is called the monkey. It does not work at all on my home network connection. I am sure it is because I am on a satellite connection.:(

Don't get me wrong. I love the Variax. but in hind site I think I would have gone more toward a Roland GR-33 setup. I heard our worship director played through that once. He was a whole orchestra by him self. That system can do anything the Variax can do and then some.

Randy

[walkerjerry]

I'm a big fan of the XT Live, but not so much the Variax guitars. They just don't quite have it. Plus I haven't found them to be so reliable. I was a Line 6 dealer for a good while too, and have a lot of experience with this stuff.

[chrismoncus]

To me, it feels like a $700 guitar. Nothing bad to say. Just, if you are used to playing a $3500 Les Paul, this might not play as you're used to. I will say that if you aren't interested in that extra $2800 in smoothness and tone, get it because you will treasure the flexibility. Especially as you mentioned switching between acoustic and electric.

[lindsayward]

I got the Variax 600 yesterday, and the POD XT Live is in the mail! :D

I played the 700 (electric), and although it looks great, I didn't really go for it that much and actually liked the 600 more. In Australia the 700 is over $3,000, with the 600 half that. I found a great deal on the 600 and bought a nice white one. So far, I like it a whole lot.
I'm totally looking forward to hooking it up to the POD. I can't think of anything better - what more do you need (well, good foldback I guess).