REVIEW

LINE 6 VARIAX GUITAR

Want a vintage guitar collection but dont have 20 grand? If thats the case you only have one option:
Text: Simon Leadley

You can pretty much count the innovations the computer revolution has imparted to the guitar on one hand. Theres been the Midi guitar (which at best is glitchy and slow), amp simulations and sophisticated FX pedal boards, all of which have increased a guitarists musical palate, but the humble electric guitar has stayed pretty much the same for the last 60 years. Sure, pickups are better arguably but the basic guitar hasnt changed much at all. However, the Variax Guitar, which I recently discovered while looking at the new Line6 PodXT pedal board changes all that. What is this? I thought to myself the Variax Guitar seemed to have a way to create and then store (via a simple software interface for Mac/PC) guitar patches for performance purposes. I was gobsmacked. I quickly hooked it up to an amp and tried it out. It played pretty well straight out of the box, and although I figured Id have to get a luthier to set it up correctly, I loved the sounds and purchased the Variax on the spot. I hurriedly took it back to the ranch to give it a proper going over both in the studio and live.
SIMULATION OR STIMULATION

certainly tell that the 700 is the more crafted instrument of the two.) The 600 has a 22-fret, maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard, narrow frets and a three-machine-headsper-side headstock. Out of the box I immediately felt that the guitar needed to be setup by a professional; there was some buzzing on the top E string on the third fret that was largely fixed by raising the bridge. Having said that, to its credit, Line6 includes the two hex keys for the bridge and neck adjustments. I also felt that the frets could do with a shave on the edge to make them less catchy but intonation was superb with the tuning very bright and clean all the way up to the 12th fret. The Variax employs piezo pickups that connect to the bridge, translating the string resonances of the instrument to the modelling system. There are two connectors: one a standard jack that connects via the switch box and power supply, the other a supplied XLR which allows you to go direct to the PA, bypassing the amp. The small wallwart power supply also connects to this footswitch, and then to the guitar via a TRS guitar lead that supplies power to the guitar. You can also use four AA batteries for 12 hours of continuous use (with no need for a special cable to the amp) or, in an emergency, a 9V battery will supply enough power for one hour (these guys have thought of everything!). So, thats it really. Put in some batteries (or connect to the power pedal as supplied), connect the Variax to an amp and youre ready to rock or folk, or metal, or whatever, which is the whole raison detre of the Variax design, of course.
POD-ELLING

The Variax 700 model.

The Variax has no conventional pickups, but, rather, a modelling system that simulates a variety of classic guitar tones at the flick of a switch which it does remarkably well right off the bat. But this is tricky, subjective (and highly contentious) territory. Most guitarists would be mortified at even the prospect of their favourite guitar being modelled let alone believe that the results could possibly sound any good. I can hear the purists piping up already: Give me a Les Paul Custom any day. Well, thats all very well but this simply may not be practical for a number of reasons. The biggest of these practical barriers is usually cost. Owning a classic guitar can be an expensive outlay at the best of times collecting them can put you seriously in debt. Whats more, even if youre lucky enough to own that Les Paul Custom, its only ever going to sound like one guitar. But as we all know, gigging and studio work often requires you to have a rack of guitars, strung and tuned for that particular sound. To that end the Variax is a chameleon, simulating classic guitars in the same way the Line6 Pod does amps. With the Variax you certainly wont look like the guy with 10 classic guitars, but youll go a long way towards sounding like him.
BACK AT THE STUDIO

To embark on the Variax design the folks at Line6 tested, poked and prodded just about every famous guitar on the market (and some esoteric models as well) to see what made them tick. Analysing guitars in this way cant have been easy but somehow the secrets to each of these guitar sounds has been modelled in software and stored in a piece of circuitry that fits inside the body of the Variax. This allows you to change from the bridge pickup on a Strat to a neck pickup of a Les Paul at the flick of a switch. More

The Variax 600 I purchased from the shop is black, with a mother of pearl plate that holds the five-position pickup switch (for want of a better word), the volume and tone controls and the modelling selector (which changes the model of the guitar). Consequently, there are no obvious pickups on the guitar, so it looks a little empty, but I like that; it immediately distinguishes the Variax from the rest of the pack. (I was also sent the more expensive Variax 700 for comparison while writing this review. The 700 has a better neck and a fully-moulded body but the electronics are the same. I liked the feel of both guitars, but you can

Pedalling like fury: The POD XT Live allows you to build comprehensive setups: amps, effects and Variax guitar patches all rolled into one.

AT 103

THE POD XT LIVE & THE COMPUTER Theres too little space to review the Pod XT Live here, but let me tell you its also a brilliant piece of kit that really extracts the full potential out of the Variax. As mentioned above, its great for calling up patches on the guitar, but further than that, the Pod is an interface between your computer and the software. I used it with my Mac, the Line6 Monkey software installed all the necessary drivers for the Mac and updated all the apps to the latest version (after Id registered). I was then able to use the Pod as an audio I/O to my computer, as an input to any Core Audio app like Garage Band and as a front-end for the guitar. The Gearbox app allows you to easily edit all

the patches on the Pod and to save them to disk, download user patches from the web and generally makes programming the Pod a dream. All the Line6 apps are well written and very self-explanatory, with no need to wade through long manuals. Within a couple of hours Id made patches on the guitar and coupled them with patches on the Pod, and they sounded great. Its a very powerful setup: the Variax, Pod XT and a computer. My only gripe was that the Gearbox software doesnt allow you to choose the Variax Guitar model and include that with the Pod Patch. To do this you have to edit the Pod from the GUI on the unit, which is a very simple matter, but for simplicitys sake I would liked to have seen that in Gearbox as well.

importantly, whats amazing is that the sonic changes are actually convincing! Now I can have that Gibson ES-355 semi acoustic sound Ive always wanted, if not the guitar itself. I can also have acoustic guitars (6- and 12-string varieties) resonators like the Dobro and banjo, and all the classic guitars that you could hope for like Telecasters, Strats, Les Pauls, semi acoustics, Rickenbackers and a host of others. Now I know the obvious question is: how well does it work and how convincing are the emulations? And, of course, I know many readers are tearing their hair out in dismay right about now because the Variax obviously doesnt give you the experience of having these classic guitars in your hot little hands. But what can I say? These emulations work very well and the Variax makes no apologies for being an emulation. It sounds like youre playing the guitar selected, theres no lag, and the Variax tracks things like bends perfectly. One aspect I have noticed, however, is that the Variax doesnt feedback like a conventional guitar, but in every other respect it behaves like a conventional instrument with one exception: the Variax is noiseless! Guitar and pickup noises particularly buzzes from single coil pickups are completely eradicated. Whats more, when you pull the volume down on the guitar you also dont lose the top end; its simply quieter. This is a revelation. I have to confess at this point to being a weekend guitarist. Im no Steve Vai or Joe Satriani; I do this for work and for fun, so the Variax is the perfect axe for someone like me. I dont need to have a genuine Les Paul slung round my neck (the mere thought of the insurance makes me blanche). With the Variax I can have one guitar for recording and playing live that will do a pretty good emulation of pretty much any guitar I want or need I can even switch from acoustic to electric for a lead break during a song if I so desire! Try doing that with a conventional guitar mid song.
SUPERMODELS

models and alternate tunings and store these in the guitar for later use. The software further allows you to choose whichever pickups you fancy and position them wherever you like even rotate them for unusual configurations that would be impossible in the real world. Pickups can be in and out of phase, impedances can be changed the possibilities are almost endless. You can also use the POD XT Live to control the Variax, so now building guitar patches extends beyond amp models and effects to the guitar itself, which is an amazing advantage live.
IN CONCLUSION YOUR HONOUR...

NEED TO KNOW
Price 300 Series: $1199 (Sunburst: $1299) 600 Series: $1799 700 Series: $3299 (Black: $2999) Contact Music Link (03) 9765 6565 info@musiclink.com.au www.musiclink.com.au Pros Modelling of several guitars in one. Quality sound. Versatility with applications both live and in the studio. Cons Guitar setup could be a little more refined. Digital cable absent and protective cap is easily lost. Cant feed back. Summary Having a guitar that can simulate different classic electric and acoustic guitars, drop tunings and virtual capos at the flick of a switch is simply mind blowing. To say the Variax is well worth a look is a gross understatement. Its not going to replace your setup if the look of a Gibson Les Paul is important to you, but sonically the Variaxs versatility and tuning options are extraordinary. Several guitars in one cant be a bad thing!

Some time ago Gibson unveiled its digital guitar, which suggests a mainstream revolution is rapidly brewing, but Line 6 definitely has the jump on the competition. My only observation would be that the guitars could be made slightly better, but theyre pretty damn good to play and the intonation is excellent. To that end the more expensive 700 is the better guitar but it will cost you more than twice as much as the lower end of the Variax range. Better tuners and a better nut would also help. The electronics are amazing though, with no perceptible lag, and the models are pretty faithful to the originals. For studio and live use, and coupled with the Pod XT Live and a computer for programming, the system is absolutely brilliant. Ive spent more time having fun and playing guitar with the Variax than Ive had for a very, very long time. And lets face it, thats really what its all about. Technology for geeks sake is simply not enough. The Variax range of simulated guitars work well and offer you things not possible with an analogue guitar. I should also mention that there are bass and acoustic models of the Variax too [to check out the complete product range go to; www.line6.com/products/ instruments/]. While there will undoubtedly always be a place for a classic Gibson or Fender, now theres a way to put all those guitars in one gig bag for a very reasonable price that will expand the horizons for most guitarists. In the land of modelling Line6 rules, first with the Pod and now the Variax. As Molly Meldrum used to be fond of saying; Do yourself a favour...

As I mentioned earlier there are two connectors on the guitar and its the second of these thats the most interesting. The VDI cable connector allows the guitar to be linked to one of the Line6 USB interfaces or the POD XT Live, which has a dedicated Variax input as well as a USB port for connecting to your Mac or PC. You can then run the Workbench software to create your own guitar
AT 104