Fab4ever
Getting better
Hello all. I just played my first "gig" of sorts with my brand new Variax 300. I thought I'd give you guys some impressions.
Background first: I've been playing for 25 years or so, but I wouldn't call myself a master by any means. I own an American Strat (my typical guitar), a modified Epi Dot, a Danelectro 12-string and various acoustics and a mandolin. I play through a Line 6 Pod XT and an FBV Floorboard, though I'll be selling those soon to get a POD XT Live, which provides a digital connection to the Variax.
In my hands, the Variax (street $499, I bought it for $399 with a Sam Ash coupon) feels not too bad. Not as silky as my Strat, but the fingerboard dimensions are similar if not identical. Tuners are not as reliable as my Strat's, although I have no idea how long the strings have been on the Variax and I haven't changed them yet. Someone said the Variax 300 is like a $300 guitar body with $200 worth of computer electronics inside, and I don't disagree at all.
The Variax family uses bridge mounted pickups to capture the vibrations of each string, which then is converted to digital information. The brains of the guitar uses the impulses to model 25 instruments - a Strat, a couple Teles, various Les Pauls, a 335 and a Casino. a couple Ricks plus other electrics, a few acoustics and even a banjo and a sitar (!).
I am most qualified to compare to a Strat, my mainstay instrument. I must say, it's very close. Not identical, but not necessarily worse than my Strat. On this model, the five-position pickup switch acts just as it does on a real Strat. The differences among the pickup positions mirrored the real thing VERY closely.
The thing that freaks me out a bit is that the FEEL is more different than the sound. So the neck doesn't react precisely as my Strat neck does... but the sound is pretty close. I'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference if I just recorded the tones and listened.
Now the main flaw of the Variax: on the one I got, the volume of the high E string is too soft, while the A string is too loud. Now that's correctible once I get the Workbench software, but until I get it and my XT Live (or the Workbench digital cable) I can't do anything about it. Bummer.
Another dislike: the 12-string models seem to detune some of the strings, I suppose at an effort at realism. For me, I just seemed to want to tune the guitar! But of course, you can't "tune" the additional strings, since they're just digital emulations. Again, that's supposed to be adjustable via the software. I am eagerly awaiting a try.
Now a bit on the other guitars modeled. I've never owned a Les Paul but I really dig the Variax's Les tones, especially through a Marshall setting on the Pod. Ditto the Casino - it was especially sweet played clean through the Pod's Twin Reverb model. Nice!
So there are my first impressions: Sound seems very close to original, with the exceptions noted above. It's not quite as playable as a good $500 guitar could be, but if you take into account the cost of the electronic "brain" this is easily overlooked.
If you record, or if you (like me) want lots of variety, it's a no-brainer. I love it so far!
Background first: I've been playing for 25 years or so, but I wouldn't call myself a master by any means. I own an American Strat (my typical guitar), a modified Epi Dot, a Danelectro 12-string and various acoustics and a mandolin. I play through a Line 6 Pod XT and an FBV Floorboard, though I'll be selling those soon to get a POD XT Live, which provides a digital connection to the Variax.
In my hands, the Variax (street $499, I bought it for $399 with a Sam Ash coupon) feels not too bad. Not as silky as my Strat, but the fingerboard dimensions are similar if not identical. Tuners are not as reliable as my Strat's, although I have no idea how long the strings have been on the Variax and I haven't changed them yet. Someone said the Variax 300 is like a $300 guitar body with $200 worth of computer electronics inside, and I don't disagree at all.
The Variax family uses bridge mounted pickups to capture the vibrations of each string, which then is converted to digital information. The brains of the guitar uses the impulses to model 25 instruments - a Strat, a couple Teles, various Les Pauls, a 335 and a Casino. a couple Ricks plus other electrics, a few acoustics and even a banjo and a sitar (!).
I am most qualified to compare to a Strat, my mainstay instrument. I must say, it's very close. Not identical, but not necessarily worse than my Strat. On this model, the five-position pickup switch acts just as it does on a real Strat. The differences among the pickup positions mirrored the real thing VERY closely.
The thing that freaks me out a bit is that the FEEL is more different than the sound. So the neck doesn't react precisely as my Strat neck does... but the sound is pretty close. I'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference if I just recorded the tones and listened.
Now the main flaw of the Variax: on the one I got, the volume of the high E string is too soft, while the A string is too loud. Now that's correctible once I get the Workbench software, but until I get it and my XT Live (or the Workbench digital cable) I can't do anything about it. Bummer.
Another dislike: the 12-string models seem to detune some of the strings, I suppose at an effort at realism. For me, I just seemed to want to tune the guitar! But of course, you can't "tune" the additional strings, since they're just digital emulations. Again, that's supposed to be adjustable via the software. I am eagerly awaiting a try.
Now a bit on the other guitars modeled. I've never owned a Les Paul but I really dig the Variax's Les tones, especially through a Marshall setting on the Pod. Ditto the Casino - it was especially sweet played clean through the Pod's Twin Reverb model. Nice!
So there are my first impressions: Sound seems very close to original, with the exceptions noted above. It's not quite as playable as a good $500 guitar could be, but if you take into account the cost of the electronic "brain" this is easily overlooked.
If you record, or if you (like me) want lots of variety, it's a no-brainer. I love it so far!
