Howdy!

I recently picked up a Line 6 Variax 500.



I was a bit skeptical of modeling guitars until I tried one out and was quite impressed with how well it responded to pick attack, string muting, general playing, etc. Since then I've always wanted one to go with my Line 6 POD X3 that Mrs Bighair gave me for Christmas back in 2008. And now i have one....

....Its Tremendous fun!

All the sounds are great and as with pretty much all other Line 6 products its very user friendly. Getting to all the sounds quickly is no problem. Again just like all the other Line 6 stuff the manual is idiot proof and well thought out.

I'm not going to sit hear and say the Tele patch sounds just like a Tele because I don't have a Tele to compare it too, but they all sound good and are very usable. It plays and responds just like all my other guitars and I've quite happily spent several hours Rock'in out and scrolling through all the cool patches they have stashed away in there. Well done Line 6. I'm impressed enough to give it the "Big Hairy Seal of Approval" and award it 50 points for the sounds alone!

Its a great bit of studio kit. Two very good reasons why it will stay in the studio (home) for now. 1. Its got to be one of the most hideous looking guitars I've seen! 2. I haven't played a proper gig since I was 18 and don't intend to any time soon!

All the great sounds aside....

The guitar its self is awful! Absolute crap. The body, apart from looking like it was set on fire and put out with a pickaxe, is nothing special and I hate the shape. The neck is not much better either. Don't get me wrong it plays well BUT, the tuners are crap and the frets feel as if they would start to ware if you even looked at them for too long! The other major down side is it takes 6 AA batteries. Yep thats right folks 6 of um and that will only keep you going for 12 hrs! Can't be doing with that. Lucky for me I got one with a little mains power foot switch (as seen in the first pic).

But too be honest I knew about all the bad stuff before I bought it and I made sure I picked up the 500 model. I'll explain why in a bit.

Its the clever stuff inside the Variax I'm after. Lets have a little peek under the hood and see where those smart chaps at Line 6 have hidden 27 different guitars and a Coral Sitar!



Quite a big cavity cover...



Oooh!



That lot looks exciting!

The great thing about the electrics in the Variax 500 is the pots and 5 way aren't attached to a fixed PCB under the pickguard like the 300 & 600 models, which means the control layout can be changed without me having to make new pots and re-solder them to the main PCB.

Best thing I reckon we should do now is strip all that cool stuff out and drop it in to something that looks a bit more visually pleasing with the option to switch over to some tasty real mag pickups ...

Big Hairy Hybrid Stratocaster anyone?

I'll keep you all posted on how that on progresses!

Slightly off topic...

The weather here in the Brighton (UK) has been pretty exciting recently.



Thats my back garden!

We don't usually get this much snow round my way. Views out the front are much more ascetically pleasing. These were taken just before and just after sunrise this morning.





I have to say I'm thoroughly enjoying my snow day so far!

Stay frosty!

Andy

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Pending Greatness

ooohh it's got a coral sitar sound just for playing philby and a couple of other rory tunes it might be worthwhile picking one up , let us know how that particular sound sounds and congrats on getting your new guitar (thing) ccheers
Alan

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Hi Alanssaab,

The Coral Sitar sounds pretty good all things considered. I've just been using it to play Purple Haze, which sounds surprisingly awesome!

I'd try before you buy one mate. As I said above the sounds are great but the guitar is pants! The only reason I got this one was to strip the good stuff out.

Cheers!

Andy

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Pending Greatness

cheers for that andy by the way i have a set of grover tuners that would solve your crap tuners problem , yours if you want them mate , cheers
Alan

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Oooo - I'm itching like a bag of bed bugs to see where this thread goes...

Meanwhile. Would you believe I just bought a vintage Gibson just to get the bumblebee capacitor out of it? No? No. You'd be right to doubt that one.

Good luck, Andy! Waiting expectantly...

Cheers - C

Thank you for the spread and comments.

Comlpete agreement on all your observations.

'Bought a 500 in the box new in '04 when it was being phased out and have never looked back. Yes, it's ugly, but plays well, sounds great and when hooked up to its own power source, does not need batteries.

With the oulde Cyber-Twin, the range of possible sounds is all but infinite. With a G-Dec or L6 Spider Jam, you can be one happy picker, for a long time.

But y' know, having those sounds in the V-500 has for sure made many a picker want the real thing as well.

Mate, I thought you invented that guitar? That's what I read, anyhow...

Cheers - C

Howdy!


Thanks for the very kind offer Alan, but I don't plan on keeping the electronics in the guitar for the long term. The stock ones will do for now.

Hi JSJH,

Your not wrong there. I already want a Coral Sitar!

It might be a while yet! I'm a bit of a slow worker.

I'm pretty sure that the Lester Patch on the Variax is based on a 1959 Nevin burst.

Enjoy!

Andy

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Pending Greatness

I smell something goooooood coming our way - and it ain't snow!

It might be Big and Hairy though, and I am betting on it being pretty neat!
So keep us updated, Mr BigHair! I'm sure this will make a spiffing thread, eh?


BTW, Andy, this is looking out my window:



And this must be looking off Western Rd facing the sea, though it could also be a more thoroughly populated part of Siberia:



Victoria --> B'ton, somewhere past Haywards Heath:



It is remarkable, we should explain, because England has only in recent years been graced with snow, and the way I experience it, the country is in a schizophrenic fit, torn between loving and hating it, but essentially not coping at all. It's alright if you can lean back and enjoy the fun, but if you're reliant on public transport, Jimi help us!

So anyway, enjoy your ax and keep the good stuff coming - I'm sure the Big Hairy Soldering Iron is already licking it's blistered lips!

Bon Snowage!

-Nutter

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I started out with nothing, and still have most of it.

good luck andy in finding a coral , afaik they only made 50 or there abouts and when rory gallagher was trying to pick one up for doing philby they could only source about 5 of the buggers , but hey you never know your luck

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Hi Nutter!

Yeah brighton pretty much comes to a stand-still at the slightest hit of snow!

All gone today though. Nice pics!


Hi Alan,

Dang! In that case I'm glad I've got the Variax. Not kidding Purple Haze sounds bloody great on a Sitar!

Stay Frosty!

Andy

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Pending Greatness

Andy, if you like the V 500, give a try to an Acoustic VA 700 Steel string.

The Sitar is really excellelent and it's the pumpkin-gourd sound. The Mandola can do a sort of bouzouki. The Selmer is more than okay. The Martin 000 is excellent. And except for the jazzbox and to a lesser extent the classical, in this opinion, the other onboard sounds are more than acceptable.

Through a Fender Acoustasonic SFX, it's an amazing instrument-amp combo.

VA 700 is great, comfortable to play and not anywhere near as ucking fuggly as the V 500.

Wow!

On your recommendation I just checked out the Line 6 Page on the VA-700. Looks great and judging by the audio samples is sounds great too. Nice slim body and that capo-thing is darn cool too! Definitely need to have a go on one of those.



Thanks!

Andy

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Pending Greatness