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Variax is the name of a line of guitars developed and marketed by Line 6 . They differ from typical electric and acoustic guitars in that internal electronics process the sound from individual strings to model (replicate) the sound of specific guitars and other instruments. The maker claims it is the first guitar family that can emulate the tones of other notable electric and acoustic guitars. It also provides a banjo and a sitar tone. The Variax is currently available as an electric guitar, but modeling acoustic guitars and modeling electric bass guitars have been available in the past.
I originally purchased a Variax 500 back in 2005 and more recently purchased a JTV-59 so I’ll just chat about those briefly. I felt the original Vax 500 was not a bad guitar at all. Build quality was pretty good and, while I have nothing to compare them with, most of the models sounded quite good. I originally wanted a guitar that would be able to do acoustic and electric without owning several guitars but that didn’t work out as expected. While the acoustic models are acceptable, as an acoustic player, the “feel” just wasn’t the same. For the primarily electric player however the ability to quickly pull up a Guild or Martin 12 string with the same intonation, scale length, and string gauge as well as the same tuning works quite well.
There were some issues and complaints with the first Variax models however that “traditional” guitarists as well as “practical” folks had:
1) No magnetic pickups, it just looked weird plus if you ran the batteries down or lost your DI box you were out of luck, and it looked weird.
2) Batteries, batteries, batteries… The original models used six AA batteries which would last about 1 ½ hours, you could also use a 9v but that only lasted about 45 minutes. The guitars also came with an A/B box that would allow you to switch between ¼” out (for electrics) and a XLR out (for acoustics or going straight to a board). This box also powered the guitar using a TRS cable. The problem? Yet ANOTHER box/footswitch to carry and lose and yet ANOTHER “wall wart”.
3) The guitars also came with “workbench” software that was actually pretty cool. You could hook the guitar to your PC and virtually “build” a guitar model or alternate tuning (with some limitations) and upload that patch to any one of 10 “custom” slots. The downside being the dependence on a computer to do so.
4) Alternate tunings. In workbench you could change the tunings on each individual string and save that as a custom setting to the guitar (10 total custom settings). The downside is that you could not do alternate tunings with the 12 string models due to a lack of DSP power in the original guitars.
5) The models themselves. Many folks complained that “that doesn’t sound like a 52 LP goldtop” etc. I’ll address that later.
6) Build quality (escpecially on the 300 and 600 “budget” models). Some folks felt the guitars felt “cheap”
So; fast forward to 2010, “what has Line6 done to address these issues?” –
They partnered with luthier James Tyler to re-design the guitars. There are currently three basic models of the JTV Variax with a couple of different pickup configurations:
The JTV-69 (think Strat with a humbucker in the bridge) and the JTV-69S (typical SSS Strat config).
The JTV-59 (Think 59 Les Paul with PAF) and JTV-59P (59 Les Paul with P90 pickups).
The JTV-89 (think Ibanez, ESP shred style) and JTV-89F (same but with a Floyd Rose licensed trem).
The guitars share the same models and upgrades to address the above complaints (Line6 did listen it just took them a while).
1) Now we have true magnetic pickups (and they don’t sound too danged bad either)
2) While you can still use the A/B box the battery is now a rechargeable affair that lasts 10-12 hours on a charge.
3) In addition to workbench you can use “virtual capo” right on the guitar (no PC needed) to adjust and save alternate tunings on the fly in about 30 seconds.
4) You can now apply alternate tunings to the 12 string models. Additionally there is a knob that globally applies any one of 10 alternate tunings to all models without having to adjust them in workbench and take up one of your custom model slots, pretty cool. This is especially handy if you use the custom slots to work a setlist.
5) The models have been upgraded. To be honest some were made better and some maybe worse but in reality your audience doesn’t know or care if it is a 52 goldtop or not, just that it sounds good IMHO. This is a VERY subjective topic however.
6) The guitars are made at the “World Factory” in Korea (as are MANY companies’ guitars). This is the same place that PRS makes the SE range. The build quality on mine is actually quite good. There were a couple of initial QC problems (the 3 way switch on the 59 and the nut on the 69) but those have been fixed. Note that Line6 does have “US” made models but at almost 4k I’ll pass.
I think the mag pickups (so yes it is REALLY a guitar) and the rechargeable longer life battery are very cool but the capabilities the alternate tuning knob brings to the party are pretty amazing! All in all these are very versatile guitars for studio and live use (though I don’t have much experience in live). If you get a chance you should play with one, you might be surprised.
Some links:
JTV-59 Acoustic Sounds Demo
More Acoustic Sounds JTV-69
JTV-59P Alternate Tunings demo
Steve Howe, Adrian Belew and more talk Variax
A big thank you to Frank for some fine piano and drums work.
Farrell
http://www.mixposure.com/farrell-jackson/audio/18295/no-stranger-featuring-frank-northcutt-on-drums-and-piano
Glad to announce my brand new single is
finally available worldwide on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Love-Or-Hate-2014-Vadiamo/dp/B00MFS07HG
Congrats to Harry V for having the Mixposure.com Song of the Week!! Check out this tune!!
Born 1950 in the Netherlands,
living in Maastricht,
songs in english, dutch, french and german I write music from Europe about Children&War, Love&Life, Life&Death, Joy&Sorrow, about the Love For All People.
Wrote most of my songs for my sweet Annet who departed in 2004, not realizing many all over the world would relate to these diddies Wink
Thank God they do.
In 2009 I joined reverbnation which is still my main platform in combination with facebook.
Reverb is all about yours truly, my facebook music page is about the friends I meet, daily new encounters, all of them excellent artists whom I gladly give some exposure on my FB page.
Here too I just found a way to give exposure to what I hear on MIXPOSURE,
look in my Playlist, Holdin Dixie Close is my music, other playlists are for songs I rate
☆☆☆☆☆
with Love ♥♫
I just wanted to let everyone know that we added a small icon on the New Song Page with a small pen on it. When clicked it will bring up a window to add song reviews. This is much easier I think. I will be adding these to all of the chart pages soon also. I may need to tweak the popup size a bit since it auto resizes and I think it is a bit large on some computers. Your mileage may vary 
.
Thanks,
Todd
http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/21245-evh-unveils-the-stripe-series-circle-guitar
I was reading about this guitar on PremierGuitar.com and I thought I would share. For some reason I kind of like this. Thr price was not bad either at $1199.
Scottsdale, AZ (August 5, 2014) -- EVH is proud to announce the release of one of the most requested guitars Eddie Van Halen has played over the years, the EVH Stripe Series “Circles” guitar made famous by Van Halen’s 1981 “Unchained” music video.
With an otherworldly black-and-white “circles” graphic gloss finish, the EVH Circles model is without question one of the most distinctively eye-catching guitars in the Stripe Series lineup. There’s nothing alien about the rest of this high performance tone machine, though, with its sleek Strat-like basswood body, rock-solid quartersawn maple neck with oiled finish, fast and smooth compound-radius maple fingerboard (12”-16”) with comfortably rolled edges and 22 jumbo frets, a single ferocious EVH direct-mount pickup with single black plastic control knob (master volume), EVH Floyd Rose with D-Tuna bridge and locking nut, and EVH tuners.
GENERAL
Model Name:EVH® Stripe Series Circles
Series:Striped Series
Color / MSRP* / Part # :
Black and White Crop Circles Graphic
$1,199.99
510-7902-586
BODY
Body:Basswood
NECK
Number of Frets:22
Fret Size:Jumbo
Position Inlays:Black Dot
Fretboard Radius:12" to 16" Compound Radius (304.8 mm to 406.4 mm)
Fretboard:Maple
Neck Material:Maple
Neck Finish:Hand-Rubbed Oil
Nut Width:1.6875" (42.86 mm)
Scale Length:25.5" (648 mm)
Truss Rod Nut:Heel-Mounted Spoke Wheel Adjustment
ELECTRONICS
Pickup Configuration:H
Bridge Pickup:EVH® Wolfgang Humbucking
Controls:Master Volume
HARDWARE
Hardware:Chrome
Bridge:EVH®-Branded Floyd Rose® Locking Tremolo with EVH D-Tuna®
String Nut:Floyd Rose® R2 Locking
Tremolo Arm/Handle:Floyd Rose® FRT 02000 Locking
MISCELLANEOUS
Strings:EVH® Branded (.009-.042 Gauges)
Unique Features:"Bye See Ya Later" Graphic on Guitar Back, EVH Neckplate, Bar String Retainer, Thumb Wheel Truss Rod Adjustment Vintage-style Strap Buttons
To My Friends on Mixposure
To the bunch that visited Nothin But The Blues Yesterday.
It was Doug's Birthday. When I saw the announcement last week I thought Yes, we'll definitely go and enjoy the music, the chartroom - don't know which is more entertaining but sometimes Doug's choice of music has us all silent - and again it was great.
Changes, many, in life, we have all gone through, must be the reason why we turn to music and make it, to provide for a balance in situations that might otherwise be unbearable - and once we made it through the tough times to sing of happiness and love that is for ever and always.
In 2009 I met Junie on internet, in a game for children, Superpoke Pets, that went off line in 2012. The SPP crowd still exists, there is a bond we'll never forget, names and profiles that carry SPP in them stand out - we know these are people you can always depend on, and call on in times of need, a shoulder to lean on, a word of encouragement, prayer, count on it, we'll be there.
I his radio shows Doug has created something like that, a bunch of people who care, not just for the music but for each others company - it's great to be there and know you can talk about anything - TV will always find a way to make us laugh again. Believe me TV, a chartroom without you is like a guitar missing a string !
My sweet Junie went into hospital tuesday a week ago to have a large polyp removed from her colon, tests showed it was not malignant, praise God.
But her system fails to kick in again, the first few days she was high spirited and happy with the results, now she's on a feeding tube, not IV, but fluid foods directly into her stomach, doctors worry, her system was shocked during the surgery (of course, that'll always happen) and now it's asleep and refuses to wake up.
When I talked to her yesterday she sounded so small and poorly - I didn't want to talk much, but I really needed your company. It worked, the music was great, and the chartroom lively, you guys are terrific.
Cause, like I said, this is or must be why we make music, not just consume it, but provide for a balance in times like these.
Junie's in good hands in the hospital, and I'm in Good Company with you people.
I know there's always a place and time where we can find one another.
Especially in the middle of the night (in USA it's always afternoon or evening, but here these shows are in the sleepless hours) this is wonderful medicine.
I thank God for Friends in times of need and good fortune:
I thank God for Doug and Judi, you all know why:
I thank God that Junie is not alone, she has her family and especially her uncle Jim and aunt Judy Hillin are terrific:
I thank God for giving me a new home - today I had a moment of doubt cause this move drowned out all my finances again but God says: this way there is a balance -
I thank God for music and song:
I thank God for your being there last night, I'm not the only one who goes through motions like these, we all do or have been there.
I give thanks for Mixposure that makes this possible.
Even tho my money has run out now, rest assured I will cross the Great Divide asap and our smiles will share the same room.
God keep you, one and all.
I salute you from
Koningsbosch Netherlands,
august 6 2014
I'm not sure what happened but I posted the video for Sundown last week but then the link here said I had closed my YouTube account, which I hadn't.
So I've reposted it again.
Add a video of acoustic version of He Stopped Loving Her Today (George Jones cover).