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Shoot me now, bought a Yamaha Variax Standard


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I've been fascinated with line 6 modeling technology since it's inception.  There has always been one thing  or another that stopped me short of making the commitment to buying a variax guitar.  In the early days it was mostly aesthetics and feel.  Try as I may I just found them ugly as sin and the oversized bodies, necks made them something I didn't want to fight with or be seen with.

 

Before Tyler guitars got into partnership with Line 6  There were a lot of transplants happening around.  And I loved the concept of variax transplants but the cost would have been a bit much.  

 

What's not widely known... Many a guitarist/luthier were building transplants with Parker guitars long before Parker entertained the concept. Development was stalled for the Belew model Parker.  Both Parker and Belew are at fault for the failure of the Parker Adrian Belew Signature guitar.  Belew wanted everything but used very little of the finished product.  He never uses the variax modeling live.  Sure top of the line Parkers were quite expensive (Parker guitars are no more, Wolrd Music aka washburn no longer owns the name or produces them)  But $12,000 for a guitar was nuts.  That's what it list for and usually they went for 11, 10k on the market.  Now if you can get one it's usually 6k used but most of them don't sell on reverb or ebay.   Parker scrapped the variax model and issued a separate non variax model for the Belew signature.  Belew hated the new design and the only thing it shared with the original was the Belew signature pickups.

 

So along comes James Tyler.  One of the earliest converts to Tyler was Adrian Belew. He advertised for them and then... couldn't be bothered to actually use the tyler variax's in performance.  He went back to his original Parker Belew model.   I've tried both the USA and the import Variax guitars.  The only one I could stand to play for long periods of time was the 89.  The JTV89 is a fine guitar.  It's not me.  I was extremely dissatisfied with the necks on both the 59 and the 69 and really didn't like the body wieght of the 59.  Though I can say that I'm extremely impressed with the new processing power of the newer units.  The higher quality of tone and the new workbench hd.  More over I'm impressed with what yamaha has done to the entire Line 6 lineup of products.

 

So, My shiny new white Yamaha Variax Standard arrives in a week.

Oddly I've never owned a guitar painted white before. 

 

 

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I’ve just done a search on these. Lots of info on the Line 6 system, not much on the Yamaha guitar spec.

What scale is it? Can you use a regular amp, or does it have a digital output of some sort?

For some reason I thought you had a variax before. I’ve never played one, but I would love to try out some of those sounds. The tones in that vid you posted are incredible, especially the jazzy ones.

I’m also curious as to how the digital tuning works out. There was a (Cort?) model with this feature. You could change tunings mid-song with something like that. DADAGAD chords, change to Concert for a solo & swap back again.

I like Yamaha guitars. I have a silent nylon string model.

[smiley=luxhello.gif]

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Hi Rudi,

 

Yes regular guitar output to regular amp, no special cable required for regular playing of all the included sounds or custom ones you store on the guitar.. The one thing to note about that is... The guitar models are modeled faithfully.  Which means guitars with low outputs in the real world will have a low output coming from the variax.  To those who would use a variax live I would advise a clean preamp stomp box to match outputs.

 

 It also has the ethernet cable out for sending to line6 other hardware such as pod hd or to the usb/Ethernet hub they supply so you can use the workbench hd or other line 6 technologies such as a pod hd.  

 

Vox and Roland have competing technologies.  I've seen videos for Vox as well and I like the fact that it has something which Line 6 doesn't ..A classical guitar emulation.  But on the other hand the Vox Starstream   doesn't have the vast array of guitar models which the variax does.  And the starstream doesn't have editing capabilities.

 

The Yamaha varixx standard is completely a Pacifica. It's the same scale length of a strat.  25.5 inch .  The neck radius is 13.5 so... It's very flat.  Not quite an ibanez.   The neck profile is slightly thicker tnan my stratocaster with a "Slim C" but thinner then a standard C profile neck. 

 

As for the rest.... I'd rather have the guitar in my hands for a few days before commenting further.

 

 

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2 hours ago, TapperMike said:

The Yamaha varixx standard is completely a Pacifica. It's the same scale length of a strat.  25.5 inch .  The neck radius is 13.5 so... It's very flat.  Not quite an ibanez.   The neck profile is slightly thicker tnan my stratocaster with a "Slim C" but thinner then a standard C profile neck. 

 

 

That is flat enough. I can deal with 12" rads ok, and even 10" if needs be.

 

I'm just amazed that the whole digital emulation occurs between conventional pickup and output jack.
 

Quote


As for the rest.... I'd rather have the guitar in my hands for a few days before commenting further.

 

 

Sensible. I'll be here...

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It's funny  I just saw a video where a guy programmed 6 different tunings on the custom settings then played them one after another buy simply using the 5 way switch to toggle through them.  Can't find it now to save my life.

 

Anticipation is doing wonders for my playing. In the recent past I'd stopped playing guitar all together in favor of just playing the linnstrument.  Now that I have something new to look forward to I've been lining up covers for the included guitar sounds.  

 

 

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This is 3 years old but I like the thing going on at 15.00 (3/4 way though)

 

 

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The one I was looking for...was using the custom presets.

 

There are two banks of custom settings each one has it's own 5way setup..  You can assign custom tuning and instruments to each of the toggle positions.  So he played one song with various tunings throughout the song.

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So here's the good news and the bad news.

 

The good news, It's here, It looks great.

 

The bad news.  They did not send me a charger so I could charge the battery.  Instead I got two Line 6 VDI devices and cables.

I've already purchased a charger online and it will arrive on Monday.

 

The VDII connector is not being recognized by my computer. At first.  It took lots of monkeying with both the device and getting the Monkey app from Line 6 

 

I've only had a few minutes to go through the sounds as my battery is extremely low.  I'm quite fascinated by the Rickenbacker 12 strings and have had much fun playing Beatles songs on it via my Yamaha THR10C with the virtual AC amp sim.  It's right as rain to my ears.

 

The magnetic pickups although Alnico V are not as dark as I've heard on youtube videos.  Also not as harsh. It may be that I'm just using my fingers.  It's a good strat sound.

 

The neck is different then expected.  It's thicker then the Yamaha Pacifica I previously owned.  The action also is higher.  At this point I'm not going to mess with the action.  Haven't tried the tremolo arm yet.   The overall construction is first rate. There are no sharp edges on the frets.  They are polished and even across the fretboard.  The tuners are working just fine but I haven't had a full half hour of playtime.

 

The battery died on me playing around with workbench.  So while I can look and modify in the software I can't transfer and test.

 

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That is a poor oversight do omit the battery. Surely its part of the kit?

 

At least the Pacifica sounds like it's ok which is the main thing. I know you like your action low. How are you with thick necks? I used to hate them. Now I quite like them.

 

Yes I have had to install the Line 6 Monkey too. I was pretty nervous about it at the time. I dont have have your PC savvy.

 

I had a jangley 12 string patch on my Boss GT5. I used to play 'Here Comes the Sun' using it.

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It's not especially thick, It's just more thick then I'm used to for a flat radius neck.  The width of the neck is also wider.   Honestly I've never been able to adjust to fat necks.  I had that a few years ago when I went out looking at jazz guitars.  Guitar after guitar were simply unplayable for me with fat wide necks and high action heavy gauge strings.

I haven't had that much time to play it.  Got it late Wendsday,  After the battery gave out I wasn't as interested in playing and I had work to do.

Thursday was a long day for me as is today.  I prolly won't be able to dig into it fully till Monday.

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Although we're all different in our preferences & tastes, we also get accustomed to what we use. I said a long while ago that I struggled to use a Gibson/Epiphone style neck. Not just because of the scale, but the necks are narrower than I like.

 

Last year I took the plunge and got one. Obviously, to warrant buying, I had to be pretty sure I could get used to it. I just seem to be more adaptable than I used to. 

 

Now I decided last week that I would use the ES-339 for the next 2 gigs, so I started using it for practice. I became much more confident and fluid in my playing than I had been before on that guitar. I had played it ok before, but this time the scale & width was feeling 'right'. In fact, when I briefly picked up a different guitar, it felt quite odd.

 

The point being that now, after about a year, I now feel fully at ease & completely comfortable with this type of neck. The first of those gigs is tonight, the 2nd is next Friday.

 

Hopefully you'll adapt to your new neck too.

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So here's the update.

 

I know that I originally said I wouldn't touch the action and try to get used to it as is.   Well I received the battery charger today Got a good charge in it and was able to play the guitar for two hours...   I'll be doing a neck adjustment on Monday regardless (too much work tomorry and it's already late nite here.  The neck is playable in it's current condition but could be better.  All of my other guitars have much lower action and they play like butter.

 

That being said.

God I love this guitar.!!!  I have to play it louder then I'm used to. Once the master volume is up I can here the the variax tones above the actual guitar tone coming from the body alone.  I haven't gone through all the included presets simply because I find one guitar and obsess over it.  Most notably the Rickenbacker tones and the sitar.  Beatles, Beatles and more Beatles then after that some Byrds, Tom Petty and more Beatles. 

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I started writing my review of the Variax unfortunately I've run out of time.  I think that it would better represent the selected sounds using a different song  which matches the model.  

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Done.



I'm just amazed that the whole digital emulation occurs between conventional pickup and output jack.

 

Um no the signal is carried from piezo transducers in the bridge from there it's converted into a digital signal where it gets processed with the on board computer and then... you can blend that with the magnetic pickups. or send it straight out the jack as a regular guitar signal.

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ok That makes more sense.

 

In that case using the piezo pickup only would be the 'purest' signal (for emulation).

 

I'm interested in your perceptions of signal lag. Is there any?

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I don't have the specs for the HD 2.0 I know latency has improved over the last two years. The last recorded tests I've seen on the web.

 

Electric 3 ms

12 String Acoustic ; 8 ms

Altered tuning low C 12 string : 20 ms

 

Just as a reference the latest roland GR 55 takes 35 ms to convert internally and produce a tone.  Roland VG considerably more. 

Mic'ing anything adds one ms per foot.  So the further away the mic is from the sound source the more latency is experienced.  Same with the distance of your ears to the speakers.  My desktop amp sits less then 4 feet from my years.

 

 

Another thing to point out.... If you use the VDI cable (Ethernet) from the Variax into say..a pod 500 HD. (sorry not 400) or helix The signal does not have to be converted from Digital to Analog in the Variax and Doesn't need to be converted back in the Pod.  This shaves some lag / latency which occurs in D/A A/D conversion.  I've read reports however that the analog magnetic pickups sound brighter using the VDI cable.  Probably because it becomes an apples to oranges comparison of converting the analog magnetic signal inside the variax to a digital one.

 

 

 

 

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I'm aware that improvements have been made. I am comparing (unfairly) this to my experience of using Boss/Rowland synths which I cannot use for that reason.

 

So it sounds as if you experience none of this when listening.

 

PS

I could have bought the Pod 500HD (and still would) if I thought it would give me an edge. The 300 version is awkward to use because the switches are 'doubled up' for too many functions. At the time, the 400 seemed like a less complex unit for my needs.

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You are correct. as far as lag and the other things that plagued  The whole 13pin (roland pitch to midi) system are no where to be found.  I did experience some warble but not significantly (see my review)  My only complaint still is that it deserves a better neck. I've tamed the action as much as humanly possible without a fret leveling job.  And I've played it several hours a day so my hands are well acquainted with it by now.

 

I'll never use another pitch to midi system ever again.  I don't care what progress is made.  Between my Linnstrument and my Ztars I've got everything I want / need for midi.   I carried Roland for years and kept on saying things like... It's gotten better only a few more quirks to fix.  Didn't matter,  Still got ghost notes for no good reason.  Still got huge volume spikes for no reason.  Still got dropout for no reason.  Too many issues too often.  

 

I've read that the POD 400HD can send signals back to Variax guitars via the 1/4 inch cable.  Which if I were into programming and needed ti for a live cover band that would be great.  Switch guitar settings and effects settings with a tap of the foot.

 

 

 

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  • 3 months later...

I have been checking out more options, but taken your variax one to heart.

 

18 e-guitar models, but 5 of them Les Pauls?

 

What's your opinion on the acoustic sounds? Can the variax behave like acoustic, as when you play hard or soft? Because it might be easier to record my fingerstyle stuff on something like this rather than the real thing.

 

I've just been listening to demos of the MIM Fender Duo Sonic. The neck sounds have been beautiful. Ok, its a weird guitar with its 24" scale and student look. Worth a try at least.

 

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