@@davecarsley8773 If it can handle country guitar, classic rock and hi-gain metal, it's still a guitar. Alternate tunings are a big plus. But sitar? That's just absurd. Outside India or a George Harrison tribute band.
I'd like to mention that Line 6 has the best customer service imaginable. I've had Variax guitars (still do) as well as the POD HD500X and now a Helix. They go WAY out of their way if you have any issue at all. They've repaired one of my guitars out of warranty, and I don't think that's uncommon. The customer service agents' technical knowledge is substantial and their online Facebook groups have product designers and repair technicians that frequent them, as well as thousands of helpful users, some of which are well-known touring musicians. I have never (in my many years) dealt with any company in any industry that even approaches their support team and attitude. Once you deal with this company, you are a customer for life.
whats the go with the humming/buzzing when you play at 3:32? Yamaha pickups are usually pretty quiet. something is amiss with how this has been mic'd up sorry sounds terrible.
@@edfx I am unsure what you necessarily mean, I’m gonna assume you mean active pickups and passive pickups. Regardless, active or not, if the single coils aren’t stacked or switched on together... they will hum no matter what. Other possibilities could be the amp he’s using, the cables, or faulty electronics within the guitar.
@@edfx Well, pickups work by picking up metal string noise via electro magnetic energy. Pickups use magnets together with electricity, to pickup metal string noise. Pickups use several different types of magnets to make them sound different, such as ceramic, (ceramic being the most common,) alnico 2, alnico 3, alnico 4, alnico 5, and so on, (I believe this is what your referencing.) The pickups turn this noise into an electrical signal. However different types of pickups, like the single coil, work differently compared to pickups like the humbucker and p90. I’m sorry if this doesn’t answer your question, I have a limited knowledge of instrument electronics. But your question is interesting, I’d have to do more research in order to find out.
Okay, so, would you gig with this instrument? It is a great idea, but it always seems like you have a world of flexibility but the implementation of any one function is a poor imitation. So it does an acoustic guitar, but would you leave your acoustic at home and depend on the sound the Variax creates?
If you don't like the idea of flexibility of sound when playing your 6 string then that's your choice. Personally I have been waiting for the technology to come since I started playing 50 years ago. Keyboard players have been doing this for years. Presets.
I've own a JTV-69 for 5 years now. For me, the modelling doesn't work all that great, mainly because of the piezo pickup system. Generally, the guitar models are tonally decent. It's when you to try something expressive with your picking hand where you get frustrated. That's especially true with palm muting. Line 6 did try to address this with a Variax software update and it's a bit better, but, imo, you can't really model palm muting, you need that physical space between the pickup and the bridge, period. Using just the magnetics, it's still a decent guitar to play though, especially after I replaced the single coils to noise cancelling ones. I use it with my duo where I'm constantly switching from electric to acoustic. The model of the Martin D-28, after a lot of tweaking, sounds pretty decent and fact that I don't have to change guitars is, overall, a good compromise for me playing live, especially since it's works so well with the Helix I use. But that's the only modeled sound I'll use on it.
I have owned both, the Variax is ok, but the Roland VG line is the real deal. With the Roland just have to use it as nothing more than a guitar modeler, as the effects and amps suck. The issue with the Variax is my issue with the Kemper, there are no dynamics, no headroom whatsoever, and the frequencies are about 1/3 of what a normal guitar would have. There is little sizzle and just sounds lifeless and dead. I came to this video while debating to buy this or a second hand roland, and I am for sure getting the VG88/99 and forgetting this exists once again. :)
I did watch the video again, I will say the one thing I admired about it is, it re-tunes super clean, but its super lofi. I assume each step down or up they are getting rid of overtone harmonics generated by the algorithm.
Just the idea alone of having to wait for Line6 to release a software patch to correct problems like that is frustrating and I don’t even own one of these “Jack of All Trades, Master if None” gimmick. Outside of a studio (one that doesn’t have a lot of instruments or equipment) I just don’t buy in to the hype. Hard HARD pass on this one.
If you play at super low bedroom volume with mag and dig pickups together with alt. tunings, wear headphones or have them around your neck turned up loud. then the clashing notes will be stifled (dingbat) sorry for the "all in the Family" pun.
@@davecarsley8773its all about the money. Nothing to do with a piezo bridge. As you can always change your guitar bridge to a piezo one. It's out there already. Line 6 will never sell the modules separately, they make more money selling the guitars. Yamaha, the parent company, want to sell more guitars.
@@agallagher5936 Correct, this is really nothing more than a guitar with an "amp modeler" type of module built in but instead of an amp they are modelling guitars. im sure you can take the module out of an old variax and put it into another guitar, should be easy enough. But like you said these are not being sold separately. Line 6 keeps parts close to their vest pretty much like Apple.
@@GrimYak You need the individual piezo pickups for each string, because it processes the signal for each string independently. That's how it handles alternate tunings.
It sounded less Paul than Les Paul; in fact, in that setting, it reminded me of an S-500 in super Strat mode, driven thru an amp with almost no tonal attenuation. Don’t get me wrong - I really like the sound of the S-500. And that banjo sound lacked something.
I hate how these are just never in stock though.... I want one, but might look at other options soon. My old Variax (first gen one) is 'finally' dying on me. Need a replacement soon.
I’ve got one on order through Sweetwater. You may consider asking a retailer to do the same for you. Wait times can be unpredictable but I’m not getting charged until the order reaches the distributor which is nice
Indiana John No you don’t. The guitar runs on a rechargeable lithium battery you easily get to on the back. Because it’s just like every other active type system. Do not leave it plugged in, or you will drain your battery. Under normal use, you should quite a few hours of constant use before you need to charge up the battery. I do not know if Yamaha changed any of the electronic specs. It seems from this video they haven’t. But it should have one 1/4” TRS jack input which it seems he is using. But it also should have the proprietary RJ45 input jack which when connected to any similar equipped Line 6 pedalboard or amp, the guitar will draw its power from that connection, and bypass the battery. This connection you can leave plugged in since it’s off when you shut the amp down. So many other tips and tricks that you can do with the editing software, he hasn’t even scratched the surface of what a Variax guitar can do. If you read this and want any help, please contact me at my email address listed on my channel on the About page.
it’s very convenient I’ll give you that but never sounds real, a guitar and amp from the 50’s still sound amazing, with electronics and technology this guitar will be obsolete in a few years when the new iPhone, I mean the new guitar hits the market, if you’re gigging for the Neighborhood band and don’t wanna take 3 guitars with you it’s nice.
Hi ,is it line 6 veriax works with only line 6 battery ? I live in dubai thought similar model np f550 same volt fits well but did not work ,I iam confused I think guitar has defect ,so I am not willing to confirm to buy official battery ,do you you think official line 6 battery will work 100 percent ( guitar is working with pod hd 500 via Ethernet port ) plz confirm then I will order these battery’s .
With HD500 by Ethernet port, a battery should not be required. It is known that similar batteries will NOT work, while genuine Line 6 (and a few copies) do..
Line 6 has done everything possible to wrongly market this revolutionary product for over ten years, including sending guitars out to die in the sabotaging hands of inept reviewers. Between bending the first note until it fretted out, demoing and comparing modeling subtleties through an amp dialed in to sound like an electric ham sandwich, then demoing piezo acoustic models through the same crunch, it would be fair to appraise this as the worst guitar in the world. Thankfully, I know from owning several over the years that they’re a Swiss Army knife worthy of inclusion in any studio.
I had to sell mine to myself. Nobody at the music store seemed to know what it was, and when I asked to try it their battery was dead.Undaunted I said I'd wait till they chraged it up a bit. With that done They had me plug in to a regular guitar amp and of course the acoustic and reso models sounded like crap, plus being unfamiiar with the amp it was hard to get a sense of how the electric models could sound..People I've demo'd it for are stunned at what it can do and plugged into a 500X Pod, I don't even fiddle with the guitar knobs because the presets change models, tunings and amp/effects changes with a tap on the footswitch. Best of all when I record a track I pick a general sound setting I think will work on one channel and run the dry signal thru the other. Then during mixdown if the tone I selected during the performance isn't working on my best take I just run the clean take through the effects loop again and do some knob tweeking. It's bloody magic!
yeah man you are 100% right, i have played one it sounded nothing like this much similar to the roland strat that steve stevens demoed but with the pacifica neck shape which i prefer to a strat. This guy either can't play or cant set up his recording device correctly. or some combination of the 2. lol.
Congratulations on writing the BEST review of the typical Variax review ever done! The Variax is a fabulous tool that I agree, should have taken the guitar world by storm already. If it weren't so clumsily marketed, understood and demo'ed.
This is a studio guitarist's wet dream!😂 Edit: Now all you need to do, is get one of those electronic tremolos that just sits on top of the guitar, and doesn't touch the strings. Those things are wild!
The issue regarding how the only amplified sound of the strings in standard tuning carries is one of the reasons why, if I got this guitar for me, I would be thankful I did not play with a pick.
Hanno messo 27 tipi di chitarre ma tutte con caratteristiche CLEAN. Se si vuole un preset Distorto, Lead o Solo, si deve comunque sempre collegare la Chitarra ad una Pedaliera o ad una serie di pedali per distorsione. Perciò...!!! A cosa serve Realmente una Line 6...???
Uff all the love for helix, but this particular unit sounds just terrible.. still tons of respect for pushing the boundaries and risking something- I guess it just needs more fiddling
To be honest I don’t think this video does the Variax justice sonically. There are much better recordings in videos. This video’s audio is a bit weak even for TH-cam and its tendency to compress audio.
Does this have the facility to split the output to different amps? In my opinion acoustic models are pointless if they're being played through an electric guitar amp and not a pa or dedicated acoustic amp, as this demo clearly illustrates - the acoustic sims sound dire. I presume they're being played through an electric amp or electric amp modeller. I realise that they want to show their product in the best light, but in Line6's own demo, the acoustic models sound surprisingly good (not 100% convincing but pleasant and decent enough for live use).
@@katharinasei.1807 That's how I'd do it. I have a Peavy Generation XP guitar which has a piezo bridge and magnetic pickups and a stereo output. I run it through an ABY box so I can route the separate pickups to my guitar amp and the pa and also combine the signals so you hear electric and 'acoustic' guitar at the same time.
So you spend only 10 seconds to review an acoustic six string sound 6:29-6:39,and it doesn’t sound convincing at all,at least not in your hand.The other sounds are very good.Probably James Taylor model has better acoustic sounds,but i heard Variax 300 and it has better sounds than this.Are we finally get the right equation which model contains closest to real deal six string acoustic sounds.
Rishan Dorna I’ve used Variax‘s a lot and the coolest part about the guitar is the ability to play great sounding acoustic parts and then quickly switch to electric leads. The problem here is he’s still playing the acoustic sounds through an electric amp. While not horrible, it doesn’t sound very acoustic. The trick is to play the acoustic through an acoustic amp or using a line 6 pedal route directly to the PA. You’ll get gorgeous acoustic sounds that way.
Great video ,! Plz help me here I found a veriax stander for an half price ,because that shop lost the battery and vdi cable ,I still want to buy it because I heared it can be powered through pod hd 500 is that true? With out battery? As I said cable also not there so I saw someone use normal Ethernet cable ,.? Really it works ? Plz guide me .
Look on Amazon for cable and battery . The vdi cable not only allows you to play Variax without the battery it also allows the presets within the fx unit to change models and tuning within each preset. You can also use the virtual capo to invent tunings within the guitar and save them. Also change fx parameters with the volume and tone knobs on the guitar.
@@MartinCraneRockbeast Do you need the battery if your using the specialized cable? I have heard and rather this is true or not I don't know but that you can run the Variax without a battery?
this guy has the best variax demo that I've heard - th-cam.com/video/qFhMrkHqM6Y/w-d-xo.html thats acoustic this is resonator - th-cam.com/video/vhJ4KEbgZQA/w-d-xo.html and this is distortion - th-cam.com/video/apedl5DPuNE/w-d-xo.html
Hello Guitar Interactive.........I was on the Beta testing teams for most Line 6 products from the the original ‘BEAN’ through the Vetta amp line. Then in 2008 I Beta tested all the new products including...Tyler Variax guitars, the HD series of pedalboards and rack units and the various foot controllers and editing software, into the introduction of the DT amp series. In total, my time working with Line 6 gear covered years from 2004 thru 2012. I was fortunate to be ‘discovered’ and selected by each of those product team leaders. Somehow one or more of these guys in charge of these not yet publicly released products saw me posting tons of the current L6 gear I had bought at the retail level and began to use exclusively for all the guitar work I was doing with standard cover bands to touring Tribute bands. I would post everything from live show clips to product demos, to many ‘How To Get The Most From’ videos on my TH-cam channel. I began getting tons of questions by guitarists at my love shows as well as questions on my video pages. Line 6 as a business has always had one major flaw in my opinion. They never sought their products to be used by well known musicians at any level. They never gave in store demos to show how these complicated amps and pedalboards worked. They never even sent anyone to the big chain stores like Sam Ash or Guitar Center to show the sales people in the stores how the products worked. I even taped myself going into a Guitar Center store and asking about a Vetta amp on display, and the entire staff of that store had no idea how the amp worked, said it sucked, and tried to sell me a Marshall! This specific point is what eventually caused me to have conflicts with the management of L6 and a parting of the ways. I still have all that gear, but I am no longer able to use it much because of an operation to remove a small cyst from my right wrist was screwed up and now I can’t hold a pick for more than a few minutes at a time. Needless to say, it’s affected nearly everything I was able to do easily with the cyst prior to the botched surgery which killed my music career and my personal music life at home playing to the walls. But I’m digressing.... My initial L6 contact said that my in depth videos about the massive range of uses. How I would manipulate the Vetta editing software in ways they had never seen before. I had quite a few ‘tricks’ not even the designers knew that amp could do. I was very flattered, but I didn’t think others using that model amp would not have found so many tweaks, and signal routings I discovered that were not mentioned anywhere by L6 in the owner’s manual to demos and forums on their website. At that point, I was asked if I’d wish to test all the new gear after signing a standard NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) that I would not publicly discuss any new products not yet announced to the public. Aside from the typical cover bands, I played in many Tribute bands that did some minor touring, etc. I’m likely not anyone outside if the original Line 6 teams would have ever heard of, but for many reasons I felt might be able to help the original Line 6 company sell much more product. I was hoping they might have been considering me as a spokesperson or the rep who went around to a range of stores in a certain area, set up demo or promo days in these stores, etc. When all three pieces....JTV guitars, HD POD, and DT amps were all out. Line 6 dubbed that the ‘Dream Rig’. Oddly enough out of all the dozens of people in the Beta teams, only myself and a very talented guy in New Zealand actually had all three parts and used them together. We began to find glitches and programming errors that would only show up if you were running all three pieces as the Dream Rig. When he and I found these things and compared are experiences. We found much in common and both of us tried to inform the company about this problem. Not a single product manager cared. Believe it or not, those managers told both of us that it wouldn’t make financial sense to fix problems that would only occur when these new products were combined. We both wound up leaving once Line 6 began developing a new PA system based on much of their RJ45 computer cable connectivity was designed around. When I saw the specs for the console and the powered speakers. I found many flaws and problems that likely would happen and tried to explain these things to the managers of that team. I was dubbed a company problem. Turns out I was correct since I had built several pro level traditional recording studios and honestly knew where problems would occur. Once that flopped, Fender ought the company and stopped producing the guitars. Now I’ve stumbled across your video and the guitar looks great, you said it’s now made by Yamaha, and I felt I should reach out here and give you some history about the company and my previous relationship with it. I’m also willing to help you or whomever might benefit from my extensive experience and product knowledge down to the software. I’m presuming not much will have changed in these many years because what those two guys built from the ground up and the very elaborate way they were able to capture and in computer code, recreate nearly any amp exactly to its tone and it’s unique properties. My email contact info is listed on my channels About page if you are interested. I’m a year behind this video posting as it’s literally New Years Eve 2019 as I’m writing this.
@@auxorion I just read the whole thing as I'm interested in new instruments+career stories. I think he could have offered slightly tech review of current instrument and edited/condensed the message better prior to posting. Otherwise kinda intriguing.
My first dislike. Not for the presentation, but for the product. It's awful! The tones are all so....I don't know...fake? Use your own favourite guitar and play about with some effects.
These professional reviews are always miked great and produced with great recording equipment. Get that guitar home and plug into a solid state or another affordable amp, and I bet it could sound like shit. Maybe not but ...
alienlovesecrets Fair enough. That was a decent educated reply of yours. You could have been a prick about it but didn't. Thank you, I will take your advice friend.
The resonator models can be replaced with models of any kind that you can make yourself, download free, or buy. I have no use for a resonator so I have replaced them with 4-string and 5-string basses and a customized model similar to a DanElectro. I have the exact guitar he demos. It rocks! I've built a Les Paul with 2 P90s stacked and run in series with customized pot and cap values in the bridge position. I downloaded a free bank of Red Special models to put in a bank that I don't use. I have my own custom tunings overwriting many of the stock ones. Any of the models you don't care for, you can replace or tweak to your liking.
@@tronlady1 First of all, why do you think you should have control over what other people say? More importantly though, what exactly was constructive about *_your_* reply to this comment?? Did you offer any specific suggestions for how he could make his comment better?? Is this absurd hypocrisy lost on you???
tron - ill try to help out, let's see... 'constructive': set up your mic correctly, adjust the amp to not sound like fart hint: take out any gain as it does not need it, preferably play some basic melodies that show all the strings, not some autistic fiddling around. Lastly realise something is wrong when the guitar is buzzing and humming for no good reason (again check the set up from start to finish).
The length of this 14 min video is precisely how long I would own this guitar before recutting that headstock on the bandsaw - that's some UGLY design right there
Sounds like a Coral Sitar to me, so if you don't like the sound, then you don't like Coral Sitars. It's not supposed to sound like an actual acoustic sitar. Like Hoshi said, your cabinet speaker isn't going to do an acoustic any justice.
Let me showcase you this versatile electric guitar ...
Plays the sitar for 5 minutes
Please allow me to showcase, for you, this versatile electric guitar.
Yeah... That's kinda the point, dude. If you want a guitar that sounds like a guitar, just buy a guitar.
@@davecarsley8773 If it can handle country guitar, classic rock and hi-gain metal, it's still a guitar. Alternate tunings are a big plus. But sitar? That's just absurd. Outside India or a George Harrison tribute band.
God you over exaggerate like my misses. He was talking within 2 minutes.
No weezing da juice !
I'd like to mention that Line 6 has the best customer service imaginable. I've had Variax guitars (still do) as well as the POD HD500X and now a Helix. They go WAY out of their way if you have any issue at all. They've repaired one of my guitars out of warranty, and I don't think that's uncommon. The customer service agents' technical knowledge is substantial and their online Facebook groups have product designers and repair technicians that frequent them, as well as thousands of helpful users, some of which are well-known touring musicians. I have never (in my many years) dealt with any company in any industry that even approaches their support team and attitude. Once you deal with this company, you are a customer for life.
whats the go with the humming/buzzing when you play at 3:32? Yamaha pickups are usually pretty quiet. something is amiss with how this has been mic'd up sorry sounds terrible.
It just sounds like the pure nature of single coils which always hum.
@@ravendemo4980 What if you don't use AC power. Run directly from battery for example? What happens to hum then?
@@edfx I am unsure what you necessarily mean, I’m gonna assume you mean active pickups and passive pickups. Regardless, active or not, if the single coils aren’t stacked or switched on together... they will hum no matter what. Other possibilities could be the amp he’s using, the cables, or faulty electronics within the guitar.
@@ravendemo4980 I mean what dictates pickup hum frequency?
@@edfx Well, pickups work by picking up metal string noise via electro magnetic energy. Pickups use magnets together with electricity, to pickup metal string noise. Pickups use several different types of magnets to make them sound different, such as ceramic, (ceramic being the most common,) alnico 2, alnico 3, alnico 4, alnico 5, and so on, (I believe this is what your referencing.) The pickups turn this noise into an electrical signal. However different types of pickups, like the single coil, work differently compared to pickups like the humbucker and p90. I’m sorry if this doesn’t answer your question, I have a limited knowledge of instrument electronics. But your question is interesting, I’d have to do more research in order to find out.
I have a JTV-69 USA model. One of the best guitars I own (and I have lots of top shelf guitars).
The original Variax guitar was also made by Yamaha. The 300, 600 and 500 series.
I believe Line6 owns Yamaha now.
@@perryadams3159 You got it backwards, Yamaha owns Line 6 as of 2014. :)
I do love the Guitar Interactive demos.....honest, straightforward.....Thanks!
Okay, so, would you gig with this instrument? It is a great idea, but it always seems like you have a world of flexibility but the implementation of any one function is a poor imitation. So it does an acoustic guitar, but would you leave your acoustic at home and depend on the sound the Variax creates?
Ask Steve Howe
Ask the guitarist in the Doobie Brothers who has around 3 different sounds to play within one song how else to do it?
And ask the creator of the Line 6 Shuriken how to change models and tunings within a song up to 10 times or more without this technology? Go Stevic .
If you don't like the idea of flexibility of sound when playing your 6 string then that's your choice. Personally I have been waiting for the technology to come since I started playing 50 years ago. Keyboard players have been doing this for years. Presets.
@@MartinCraneRockbeast I can't wait to buy mine!
I've own a JTV-69 for 5 years now. For me, the modelling doesn't work all that great, mainly because of the piezo pickup system. Generally, the guitar models are tonally decent. It's when you to try something expressive with your picking hand where you get frustrated. That's especially true with palm muting. Line 6 did try to address this with a Variax software update and it's a bit better, but, imo, you can't really model palm muting, you need that physical space between the pickup and the bridge, period. Using just the magnetics, it's still a decent guitar to play though, especially after I replaced the single coils to noise cancelling ones. I use it with my duo where I'm constantly switching from electric to acoustic. The model of the Martin D-28, after a lot of tweaking, sounds pretty decent and fact that I don't have to change guitars is, overall, a good compromise for me playing live, especially since it's works so well with the Helix I use. But that's the only modeled sound I'll use on it.
I have owned both, the Variax is ok, but the Roland VG line is the real deal. With the Roland just have to use it as nothing more than a guitar modeler, as the effects and amps suck.
The issue with the Variax is my issue with the Kemper, there are no dynamics, no headroom whatsoever, and the frequencies are about 1/3 of what a normal guitar would have. There is little sizzle and just sounds lifeless and dead. I came to this video while debating to buy this or a second hand roland, and I am for sure getting the VG88/99 and forgetting this exists once again. :)
I did watch the video again, I will say the one thing I admired about it is, it re-tunes super clean, but its super lofi. I assume each step down or up they are getting rid of overtone harmonics generated by the algorithm.
Just the idea alone of having to wait for Line6 to release a software patch to correct problems like that is frustrating and I don’t even own one of these “Jack of All Trades, Master if None” gimmick. Outside of a studio (one that doesn’t have a lot of instruments or equipment) I just don’t buy in to the hype. Hard HARD pass on this one.
If you play at super low bedroom volume with mag and dig pickups together with alt. tunings, wear headphones or have them around your neck turned up loud.
then the clashing notes will be stifled (dingbat) sorry for the "all in the Family" pun.
Excellent review and demo
Video starts at 1:25
Awesome review! Thanks so much
I had this guitar.... I wish I would not have sold it! It is a great guitar. Acoustic sounds are so so..But electric sounds are very good
So why did you sell it?
Make this available as a drop in for all guitars!
Can't. Piazzo pickup
@@davecarsley8773its all about the money. Nothing to do with a piezo bridge. As you can always change your guitar bridge to a piezo one. It's out there already. Line 6 will never sell the modules separately, they make more money selling the guitars. Yamaha, the parent company, want to sell more guitars.
@@agallagher5936 Correct, this is really nothing more than a guitar with an "amp modeler" type of module built in but instead of an amp they are modelling guitars. im sure you can take the module out of an old variax and put it into another guitar, should be easy enough. But like you said these are not being sold separately. Line 6 keeps parts close to their vest pretty much like Apple.
@@GrimYak You need the individual piezo pickups for each string, because it processes the signal for each string independently. That's how it handles alternate tunings.
It sounded less Paul than Les Paul; in fact, in that setting, it reminded me of an S-500 in super Strat mode, driven thru an amp with almost no tonal attenuation. Don’t get me wrong - I really like the sound of the S-500. And that banjo sound lacked something.
I hate how these are just never in stock though.... I want one, but might look at other options soon. My old Variax (first gen one) is 'finally' dying on me. Need a replacement soon.
I’ve got one on order through Sweetwater. You may consider asking a retailer to do the same for you. Wait times can be unpredictable but I’m not getting charged until the order reaches the distributor which is nice
Do you need a specific amp or equipment to have all these tones, or everything is embedded on the guitar and you can have whatever amp you want?
Indiana John No you don’t. The guitar runs on a rechargeable lithium battery you easily get to on the back. Because it’s just like every other active type system. Do not leave it plugged in, or you will drain your battery. Under normal use, you should quite a few hours of constant use before you need to charge up the battery. I do not know if Yamaha changed any of the electronic specs. It seems from this video they haven’t. But it should have one 1/4” TRS jack input which it seems he is using. But it also should have the proprietary RJ45 input jack which when connected to any similar equipped Line 6 pedalboard or amp, the guitar will draw its power from that connection, and bypass the battery. This connection you can leave plugged in since it’s off when you shut the amp down. So many other tips and tricks that you can do with the editing software, he hasn’t even scratched the surface of what a Variax guitar can do. If you read this and want any help, please contact me at my email address listed on my channel on the About page.
Great independent pinky
it’s very convenient I’ll give you that but never sounds real, a guitar and amp from the 50’s still sound amazing, with electronics and technology this guitar will be obsolete in a few years when the new iPhone, I mean the new guitar hits the market, if you’re gigging for the Neighborhood band and don’t wanna take 3 guitars with you it’s nice.
Missed the virtual capo.
Man, hello, which one variax would you recommend
I own 4. 3 jtvs 59,69,89f and std. 89 is comfortable to play though the tunings are different.
Hi ,is it line 6 veriax works with only line 6 battery ? I live in dubai thought similar model np f550 same volt fits well but did not work ,I iam confused I think guitar has defect ,so I am not willing to confirm to buy official battery ,do you you think official line 6 battery will work 100 percent ( guitar is working with pod hd 500 via Ethernet port ) plz confirm then I will order these battery’s .
With HD500 by Ethernet port, a battery should not be required. It is known that similar batteries will NOT work, while genuine Line 6 (and a few copies) do..
Line 6 has done everything possible to wrongly market this revolutionary product for over ten years, including sending guitars out to die in the sabotaging hands of inept reviewers. Between bending the first note until it fretted out, demoing and comparing modeling subtleties through an amp dialed in to sound like an electric ham sandwich, then demoing piezo acoustic models through the same crunch, it would be fair to appraise this as the worst guitar in the world. Thankfully, I know from owning several over the years that they’re a Swiss Army knife worthy of inclusion in any studio.
DAMN RIGHT!!!
I had to sell mine to myself. Nobody at the music store seemed to know what it was, and when I asked to try it their battery was dead.Undaunted I said I'd wait till they chraged it up a bit. With that done They had me plug in to a regular guitar amp and of course the acoustic and reso models sounded like crap, plus being unfamiiar with the amp it was hard to get a sense of how the electric models could sound..People I've demo'd it for are stunned at what it can do and plugged into a 500X Pod, I don't even fiddle with the guitar knobs because the presets change models, tunings and amp/effects changes with a tap on the footswitch. Best of all when I record a track I pick a general sound setting I think will work on one channel and run the dry signal thru the other. Then during mixdown if the tone I selected during the performance isn't working on my best take I just run the clean take through the effects loop again and do some knob tweeking. It's bloody magic!
yeah man you are 100% right, i have played one it sounded nothing like this much similar to the roland strat that steve stevens demoed but with the pacifica neck shape which i prefer to a strat. This guy either can't play or cant set up his recording device correctly. or some combination of the 2. lol.
Watch Stevic's demo to get a good feel of what it can really do. That video totally sold me. th-cam.com/video/axQCWkBCN-s/w-d-xo.html
Congratulations on writing the BEST review of the typical Variax review ever done! The Variax is a fabulous tool that I agree, should have taken the guitar world by storm already. If it weren't so clumsily marketed, understood and demo'ed.
This is a studio guitarist's wet dream!😂
Edit: Now all you need to do, is get one of those electronic tremolos that just sits on top of the guitar, and doesn't touch the strings. Those things are wild!
The issue regarding how the only amplified sound of the strings in standard tuning carries is one of the reasons why, if I got this guitar for me, I would be thankful I did not play with a pick.
Exactly, would be fine.
Well, no offense, but I never heard an acoustic. I think the older Fender VG was much better at emulation.
I own both. The Fender is ok but the Variax has way more acoustic variety.
Wow dude... that’s fucking amazing
Yamaha OWNS Line 6. They are Line 6's parent company, so yeah, the Yamaha Pacifica is part of the corporate family.
And.... Where does he say anything at all contrary to this???
@@davecarsley8773 When he called it a collaboration between the companies. They're the same company.
What kind of frets?
It has Medium frets but I am putting Medium Jumbo frets on mine.
Hanno messo 27 tipi di chitarre ma tutte con caratteristiche CLEAN. Se si vuole un preset Distorto, Lead o Solo, si deve comunque sempre collegare la Chitarra ad una Pedaliera o ad una serie di pedali per distorsione. Perciò...!!! A cosa serve Realmente una Line 6...???
That's a no from me! Wait!! I bought one and love it!!
Uff all the love for helix, but this particular unit sounds just terrible.. still tons of respect for pushing the boundaries and risking something- I guess it just needs more fiddling
To be honest I don’t think this video does the Variax justice sonically. There are much better recordings in videos. This video’s audio is a bit weak even for TH-cam and its tendency to compress audio.
The acoustics sound like they're running through a mild chorus or sumpthin
Does this have the facility to split the output to different amps? In my opinion acoustic models are pointless if they're being played through an electric guitar amp and not a pa or dedicated acoustic amp, as this demo clearly illustrates - the acoustic sims sound dire. I presume they're being played through an electric amp or electric amp modeller.
I realise that they want to show their product in the best light, but in Line6's own demo, the acoustic models sound surprisingly good (not 100% convincing but pleasant and decent enough for live use).
I would assume that you need some AB Splitter for that.
@@katharinasei.1807 That's how I'd do it. I have a Peavy Generation XP guitar which has a piezo bridge and magnetic pickups and a stereo output. I run it through an ABY box so I can route the separate pickups to my guitar amp and the pa and also combine the signals so you hear electric and 'acoustic' guitar at the same time.
It’s a common misconception that the Sitar is a Middle Eastern instrument, but give a guitar player a Sitar effect and this is what they’ll play.
Is that phrygian dominant in the beginning?
The sitar demo was
"Not the Beatles, but an incredible simulation"[
looks like a Yamaha Pacifica
Um, that's because Yamaha bought Line6
first note (bend) on natural pickups died quite fast.
i skipped to the playing...talking doesn't interest me
They are not bad guitars for the price.
I absolutely agree.. one of my first guitars was the 1st Gen Pacifica..
So you spend only 10 seconds to review an acoustic six string sound 6:29-6:39,and it doesn’t sound convincing at all,at least not in your hand.The other sounds are very good.Probably James Taylor model has better acoustic sounds,but i heard Variax 300 and it has better sounds than this.Are we finally get the right equation which model contains closest to real deal six string acoustic sounds.
Rishan Dorna I’ve used Variax‘s a lot and the coolest part about the guitar is the ability to play great sounding acoustic parts and then quickly switch to electric leads. The problem here is he’s still playing the acoustic sounds through an electric amp. While not horrible, it doesn’t sound very acoustic. The trick is to play the acoustic through an acoustic amp or using a line 6 pedal route directly to the PA. You’ll get gorgeous acoustic sounds that way.
Great video ,! Plz help me here I found a veriax stander for an half price ,because that shop lost the battery and vdi cable ,I still want to buy it because I heared it can be powered through pod hd 500 is that true? With out battery? As I said cable also not there so I saw someone use normal Ethernet cable ,.? Really it works ? Plz guide me .
You need the VDI cable.
@@MartinCraneRockbeast Do you mean to tell me that with this special cable you can power the guitar without batteries?
Look on Amazon for cable and battery . The vdi cable not only allows you to play Variax without the battery it also allows the presets within the fx unit to change models and tuning within each preset. You can also use the virtual capo to invent tunings within the guitar and save them. Also change fx parameters with the volume and tone knobs on the guitar.
@@MartinCraneRockbeast Do you need the battery if your using the specialized cable? I have heard and rather this is true or not I don't know but that you can run the Variax without a battery?
Still sounds very artificial to me. Maybe it was the setup but it is interesting.
Something sounds off here. I don't know why though.
this guy has the best variax demo that I've heard - th-cam.com/video/qFhMrkHqM6Y/w-d-xo.html thats acoustic this is resonator - th-cam.com/video/vhJ4KEbgZQA/w-d-xo.html and this is distortion - th-cam.com/video/apedl5DPuNE/w-d-xo.html
A strat emulating a strat??? Lol. I'm really not convinced by the tones I'm hearing
Is this a good guitar for a smoker?
Clean Les Paul please
0:10 and the road becomes my bride ...
I HAVE STRIPPED OF ALL BUT PRIDE
Hello Guitar Interactive.........I was on the Beta testing teams for most Line 6 products from the the original ‘BEAN’ through the Vetta amp line. Then in 2008 I Beta tested all the new products including...Tyler Variax guitars, the HD series of pedalboards and rack units and the various foot controllers and editing software, into the introduction of the DT amp series. In total, my time working with Line 6 gear covered years from 2004 thru 2012. I was fortunate to be ‘discovered’ and selected by each of those product team leaders. Somehow one or more of these guys in charge of these not yet publicly released products saw me posting tons of the current L6 gear I had bought at the retail level and began to use exclusively for all the guitar work I was doing with standard cover bands to touring Tribute bands. I would post everything from live show clips to product demos, to many ‘How To Get The Most From’ videos on my TH-cam channel. I began getting tons of questions by guitarists at my love shows as well as questions on my video pages. Line 6 as a business has always had one major flaw in my opinion. They never sought their products to be used by well known musicians at any level. They never gave in store demos to show how these complicated amps and pedalboards worked. They never even sent anyone to the big chain stores like Sam Ash or Guitar Center to show the sales people in the stores how the products worked. I even taped myself going into a Guitar Center store and asking about a Vetta amp on display, and the entire staff of that store had no idea how the amp worked, said it sucked, and tried to sell me a Marshall! This specific point is what eventually caused me to have conflicts with the management of L6 and a parting of the ways. I still have all that gear, but I am no longer able to use it much because of an operation to remove a small cyst from my right wrist was screwed up and now I can’t hold a pick for more than a few minutes at a time. Needless to say, it’s affected nearly everything I was able to do easily with the cyst prior to the botched surgery which killed my music career and my personal music life at home playing to the walls. But I’m digressing....
My initial L6 contact said that my in depth videos about the massive range of uses. How I would manipulate the Vetta editing software in ways they had never seen before. I had quite a few ‘tricks’ not even the designers knew that amp could do. I was very flattered, but I didn’t think others using that model amp would not have found so many tweaks, and signal routings I discovered that were not mentioned anywhere by L6 in the owner’s manual to demos and forums on their website. At that point, I was asked if I’d wish to test all the new gear after signing a standard NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) that I would not publicly discuss any new products not yet announced to the public. Aside from the typical cover bands, I played in many Tribute bands that did some minor touring, etc. I’m likely not anyone outside if the original Line 6 teams would have ever heard of, but for many reasons I felt might be able to help the original Line 6 company sell much more product. I was hoping they might have been considering me as a spokesperson or the rep who went around to a range of stores in a certain area, set up demo or promo days in these stores, etc. When all three pieces....JTV guitars, HD POD, and DT amps were all out. Line 6 dubbed that the ‘Dream Rig’. Oddly enough out of all the dozens of people in the Beta teams, only myself and a very talented guy in New Zealand actually had all three parts and used them together. We began to find glitches and programming errors that would only show up if you were running all three pieces as the Dream Rig. When he and I found these things and compared are experiences. We found much in common and both of us tried to inform the company about this problem. Not a single product manager cared. Believe it or not, those managers told both of us that it wouldn’t make financial sense to fix problems that would only occur when these new products were combined. We both wound up leaving once Line 6 began developing a new PA system based on much of their RJ45 computer cable connectivity was designed around. When I saw the specs for the console and the powered speakers. I found many flaws and problems that likely would happen and tried to explain these things to the managers of that team. I was dubbed a company problem. Turns out I was correct since I had built several pro level traditional recording studios and honestly knew where problems would occur. Once that flopped, Fender ought the company and stopped producing the guitars. Now I’ve stumbled across your video and the guitar looks great, you said it’s now made by Yamaha, and I felt I should reach out here and give you some history about the company and my previous relationship with it. I’m also willing to help you or whomever might benefit from my extensive experience and product knowledge down to the software. I’m presuming not much will have changed in these many years because what those two guys built from the ground up and the very elaborate way they were able to capture and in computer code, recreate nearly any amp exactly to its tone and it’s unique properties. My email contact info is listed on my channels About page if you are interested. I’m a year behind this video posting as it’s literally New Years Eve 2019 as I’m writing this.
Nobody read this.
Nobody will ever read this.
@@auxorion I just read the whole thing as I'm interested in new instruments+career stories. I think he could have offered slightly tech review of current instrument and edited/condensed the message better prior to posting. Otherwise kinda intriguing.
Had one of the older models for a week. It was awful.
My first dislike. Not for the presentation, but for the product. It's awful! The tones are all so....I don't know...fake? Use your own favourite guitar and play about with some effects.
I like it but that banjo doesn't sound much like a banjo. Very cool though.
Thats because he doesn’t play it like a banjo...
@@TheHkluivert no. It's because the sound doesn't sound like a banjo sound. It has nothing to do with the way he's playing it.
@@keithamberg6392 Right. “Yes it does Keith” but then I am only doing the same you do.
Wha? Was the guitar fretting out or? No thank you please!
It's a sitar effect....
too much blah blah and not testing sound
too much blah blah but lack of organization and order
These professional reviews are always miked great and produced with great recording equipment. Get that guitar home and plug into a solid state or another affordable amp, and I bet it could sound like shit. Maybe not but ...
alienlovesecrets Fair enough. That was a decent educated reply of yours. You could have been a prick about it but didn't. Thank you, I will take your advice friend.
if i needed a resonator sound i'd be in. not so much on acoustic models.
The resonator models can be replaced with models of any kind that you can make yourself, download free, or buy. I have no use for a resonator so I have replaced them with 4-string and 5-string basses and a customized model similar to a DanElectro. I have the exact guitar he demos. It rocks! I've built a Les Paul with 2 P90s stacked and run in series with customized pot and cap values in the bridge position. I downloaded a free bank of Red Special models to put in a bank that I don't use. I have my own custom tunings overwriting many of the stock ones. Any of the models you don't care for, you can replace or tweak to your liking.
"Lez" Paul
Variax guitars are good but in the hands of this kind of reviewer it sounds cheap and unlikable!!! Such a bad review indeed!!!
If you’re going to make negative comments then please actually make them constructive
@@tronlady1 First of all, why do you think you should have control over what other people say? More importantly though, what exactly was constructive about *_your_* reply to this comment?? Did you offer any specific suggestions for how he could make his comment better?? Is this absurd hypocrisy lost on you???
tron - ill try to help out, let's see... 'constructive': set up your mic correctly, adjust the amp to not sound like fart hint: take out any gain as it does not need it, preferably play some basic melodies that show all the strings, not some autistic fiddling around. Lastly realise something is wrong when the guitar is buzzing and humming for no good reason (again check the set up from start to finish).
😲🎸👍🏻
The length of this 14 min video is precisely how long I would own this guitar before recutting that headstock on the bandsaw - that's some UGLY design right there
Thanks for the demo but it sounds awful
Why on Earth would you start a guitar demo with a Sitar synth....??? I think I speak for most guitarist when I say no one cares about a Sitar.
Sitar sound is terrible. Rest are so so. Convincing acoustic sound? Sounds like an electric gone askew.
blame the amp, not the guitar. the acoustic models sound fantastic but not with an electric guitar amp
Sounds like a Coral Sitar to me, so if you don't like the sound, then you don't like Coral Sitars. It's not supposed to sound like an actual acoustic sitar.
Like Hoshi said, your cabinet speaker isn't going to do an acoustic any justice.
@@likeanuuk6612 :absolutely right
The sound is only as good as the guitarist and the amp
Obviously this guy doesn’t know what a banjo can do.
Sounds awful. Only plus maybe the flexibility with tuning.
I hate the way this guy keeps saying “strink” and “playink”. 12:10 for instance. Knock it off already.
piss off. that's his accent you boomer
This (too long) demo of a sitar gave me absolutely no interest in the rest of your message.
it sounds rubbish here.. really bad demo
Less talk, more playing please
Sorry, but I don't really have a good opinion about the Line 6 brand. Everything I tried from them was junk.
I don't have anything good to say about how this guy does the demo so I will say nothing at all. Thank you.
looks like an ebony fretboard to me
This bullshit should be far cheaper. I’m not impressed.
Nice enough guitar.
I hate the way this guy keeps saying “strink” and “playink” over and over. 12:18 for example. Knock it off and speak English.
Shame he isn't a better guitar player to show off the guitar more.
Faltu review