jpfeifer
December 7th, 2007, 10:20 AM
Hi Everyone,
G.A.S. finally got the best of me and I bought a new guitar (Guitar Center's no-payments for a year deal helped push me over the edge :-). I ordered the Line6 Variax 700 last week and it just arrived today. I got the transparent Red color. I had to special order it because Guitar Center didn't have any of this model in stock.
I've been intrigued by the concept of modeling guitars for a while now. I've been trying the Variax models and also the Fender VG Strat. I actually liked both of them a lot.
Although I did really like the Fender VG Strat (excellent tones and tuning features) I couldn't get past the whole issue of replacing/recharging batteries constantly to keep it going.
After looking at the options and reading lots of online reviews I decided on the top-of-the-line Variax model, since I plan on using this as my main guitar. I wanted something with decent quality that I wouldn't mind keeping for a long while.
I bought this guitar without ever getting to try the exact model. Guitar Center only had the other models 300 and 600, so I was taking a bit of a gamble by ordering it. But I have seen a few guys using this guitar in touring acts using this model, so I had some idea that the quality would be o.k. After taking it out of the box yesterday and playing it for a while I was very impressed with the quality. It has a nice neck with medium sized frets, a great finish, and it even arrived with decent setup. The body is made of Mahagony and Ash. Lots of other Variax users online had complained that the guitars were badly setup upon arrival, but not this one, the action is perfect. However it seems that they didn't cut the string slots in the nut wide enough. (the strings hang a little when you use the tremolo) This can be easily fixed, or I can try applying some nut-suace onto the bone nut. But overall the setup and playability are fantastic (this was my biggest concern).
I took the guitar for a test drive with a little Roland Cube 60 amp last night. I was totally blown away! This guitar is loaded with useful tones. It will be fantastic for live playing or recording. As with all of the modeling guitars you will find that the models are not identical to the original but they do get you into the "ballpark" of the original, in other words, they're very usable options that give you the same overall sound as the original, just not identical.
My favorite tones on this guitar are the Semi-Hollow and Jazz guitar tones. These models are so realistic that they sound like you're playing the real thing. When you select the Semi model you can to the BB King thing instantly . If you add distortion and use the bridge pickup you get a fantastic Cream-era 335 tone. The Jazz guitar tones work extremely well for solo fingerstyle stuff or solo lines. There's a model of the ES-175 and also a Super 400. These are worth the price of the guitar alone. They are so realistic that it's kind of freaky. I love these models especially.
The Fender tones are pretty good, and very usable. I think that the VG does a better job of the Fender tones in general, but the Variax does the Gibson and Semi-hollowbody tones extremely well so it's kind of a matter of which tones you plan to use more.
But to top it off they put in a few unusuall sounds into this guitar like resonator, banjo, and sitar. The Sitar sound is worth the price of this guitar also. It's really a blast to use that sound. You can get that solo guitar sound from Steely Dan's tune "Do It Again" and it sounds exactly like this.
The acoustic guitar sounds don't sound like a real acoustic, more like a plugged in piezo-equipped guitar. But still very usable for live playing. It should sound as good as any other piezo-equipped acoustic plugged in. But, when you use the resonator acoustic models it starts to sounds very realistic. These resonator sounds will be fun for doing fills and slide parts just to add some country-blues vibe to songs every now and then.
One of the other features I really like on the Variax is the footswitch they give you with it. The footswitch plugs into the guitar with a stereo 1/4-inch cable and provides power to the guitar (so you don't have to use batteries if you don't want to). The footswitch provides an A/B box with 1/4-inch plug on one side and an XLR on the other. This allows you to plug your guitar in to an Amp and a PA at the same time and switch between the two depending on whether you are using the acoustic models (sounding better through a PA) or the electric sounds (sounding best through your guitar amp).
I am very excited to start using this guitar for some live playing. I've been waiting for a long time for a guitar like this. I'll try to make some recordings with this guitar and post them at some point.
-- Jim
G.A.S. finally got the best of me and I bought a new guitar (Guitar Center's no-payments for a year deal helped push me over the edge :-). I ordered the Line6 Variax 700 last week and it just arrived today. I got the transparent Red color. I had to special order it because Guitar Center didn't have any of this model in stock.
I've been intrigued by the concept of modeling guitars for a while now. I've been trying the Variax models and also the Fender VG Strat. I actually liked both of them a lot.
Although I did really like the Fender VG Strat (excellent tones and tuning features) I couldn't get past the whole issue of replacing/recharging batteries constantly to keep it going.
After looking at the options and reading lots of online reviews I decided on the top-of-the-line Variax model, since I plan on using this as my main guitar. I wanted something with decent quality that I wouldn't mind keeping for a long while.
I bought this guitar without ever getting to try the exact model. Guitar Center only had the other models 300 and 600, so I was taking a bit of a gamble by ordering it. But I have seen a few guys using this guitar in touring acts using this model, so I had some idea that the quality would be o.k. After taking it out of the box yesterday and playing it for a while I was very impressed with the quality. It has a nice neck with medium sized frets, a great finish, and it even arrived with decent setup. The body is made of Mahagony and Ash. Lots of other Variax users online had complained that the guitars were badly setup upon arrival, but not this one, the action is perfect. However it seems that they didn't cut the string slots in the nut wide enough. (the strings hang a little when you use the tremolo) This can be easily fixed, or I can try applying some nut-suace onto the bone nut. But overall the setup and playability are fantastic (this was my biggest concern).
I took the guitar for a test drive with a little Roland Cube 60 amp last night. I was totally blown away! This guitar is loaded with useful tones. It will be fantastic for live playing or recording. As with all of the modeling guitars you will find that the models are not identical to the original but they do get you into the "ballpark" of the original, in other words, they're very usable options that give you the same overall sound as the original, just not identical.
My favorite tones on this guitar are the Semi-Hollow and Jazz guitar tones. These models are so realistic that they sound like you're playing the real thing. When you select the Semi model you can to the BB King thing instantly . If you add distortion and use the bridge pickup you get a fantastic Cream-era 335 tone. The Jazz guitar tones work extremely well for solo fingerstyle stuff or solo lines. There's a model of the ES-175 and also a Super 400. These are worth the price of the guitar alone. They are so realistic that it's kind of freaky. I love these models especially.
The Fender tones are pretty good, and very usable. I think that the VG does a better job of the Fender tones in general, but the Variax does the Gibson and Semi-hollowbody tones extremely well so it's kind of a matter of which tones you plan to use more.
But to top it off they put in a few unusuall sounds into this guitar like resonator, banjo, and sitar. The Sitar sound is worth the price of this guitar also. It's really a blast to use that sound. You can get that solo guitar sound from Steely Dan's tune "Do It Again" and it sounds exactly like this.
The acoustic guitar sounds don't sound like a real acoustic, more like a plugged in piezo-equipped guitar. But still very usable for live playing. It should sound as good as any other piezo-equipped acoustic plugged in. But, when you use the resonator acoustic models it starts to sounds very realistic. These resonator sounds will be fun for doing fills and slide parts just to add some country-blues vibe to songs every now and then.
One of the other features I really like on the Variax is the footswitch they give you with it. The footswitch plugs into the guitar with a stereo 1/4-inch cable and provides power to the guitar (so you don't have to use batteries if you don't want to). The footswitch provides an A/B box with 1/4-inch plug on one side and an XLR on the other. This allows you to plug your guitar in to an Amp and a PA at the same time and switch between the two depending on whether you are using the acoustic models (sounding better through a PA) or the electric sounds (sounding best through your guitar amp).
I am very excited to start using this guitar for some live playing. I've been waiting for a long time for a guitar like this. I'll try to make some recordings with this guitar and post them at some point.
-- Jim