Members acefreely Posted March 19, 2007 Members Share Posted March 19, 2007 I had been curious about the Variax for quite some time. Always seemed like an interesting concept to me, but I always thought what seems to be too good to be true, usually is... I won an auction for a brand new red Variax 300. I bid so cheap that I didn't think that I would win, but to my surprise I did. Today was the big day it arrived...and like a little child on Christmas day I scurried to get the package open. Initial inspections surprised me...I figured for this price at best she would need a setup. The action felt really nice, almost perfect...the neck really smooth with no frets sticking out. I looked her up and down, flawless. Now to see if she could hold a tune. I put in some batteries, plugged her in, opened the manual to the models section and began to get her in tune. Just slightly flat from string stretch, within no time she was ready to roll. The guitar plays really nice. After about an hour of playing I am wondering if I'll ever play my Agile AL2000 or Squire '51 again. The neck fits my hands really well. Can't wait to play some more! On to the models. The models are really good. Probably not perfect, but really good. And there are no tracking delays, instant sounds. Picks up bends, mutes, etc... The banjo is too cool. It's like I know how to play a banjo! Enough of my babbling, just excited to play around with this thing some more. Mine looks just like thishttp://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dbase/pics/products/2/7/7/229277.jpg So far I am highly impressed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members slodge Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 I recently spent a lot of time playing a friend's Variax thru the Line 6 Pod xt live and was very impressed. The guitar itself was pretty uninspiring, but no worse than a decent strat knockoff. (think MIM rather than squier.) The sounds are what you get this guitar for, and as I said, I was impressed. Enough to put it on my wish list. In fact, I was probably watching the auction you won! Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Blackbelt1 Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 Congrats! I own 2 Variax guitars at the moment - a red 300 and a blue 600. The 600 gets gigged every week and has for almost a year now, since the day I bought it. Prior to that, the red 300 went to every gig with me. I do a lot of cover material at the moment, and there are just certain things I can do onstage with one Variax that I couldn't pull off otherwise. It's also great being able to walk in with 1 or 2 guitars instead of 5 or 6, or to change tunings on the fly without boring the crowd. I have the Pod XT Live and with it paired up, you get power for your Variax (no batteries needed), the Pod will control the Variax for you (no hunting for the right knob setting on the fly), and you can store new tones in every slot, while keeping the original 60 as well (for a total of 120). ~Blackbelt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AndersonTech Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 Happy NGD, acefreely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ra_ Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Voltaire Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 if you don't want your agile, i'll gladly take it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members acefreely Posted March 20, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 if you don't want your agile, i'll gladly take it. hahha, I hear ya. It is a NICE guitar. I think I'll hang on to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Voltaire Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members acefreely Posted March 20, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 Congrats! I own 2 Variax guitars at the moment - a red 300 and a blue 600. The 600 gets gigged every week and has for almost a year now, since the day I bought it. Prior to that, the red 300 went to every gig with me. I do a lot of cover material at the moment, and there are just certain things I can do onstage with one Variax that I couldn't pull off otherwise. It's also great being able to walk in with 1 or 2 guitars instead of 5 or 6, or to change tunings on the fly without boring the crowd. I have the Pod XT Live and with it paired up, you get power for your Variax (no batteries needed), the Pod will control the Variax for you (no hunting for the right knob setting on the fly), and you can store new tones in every slot, while keeping the original 60 as well (for a total of 120). ~Blackbelt Do you think it's worth the extra coin for the 600? I don't really use tremello so that wouldn't matter to me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rothlover Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 Yeah, I really like the 300 I scored for 149+ tax and warranty and GC. I am still jonesing for the XT Live with a bunch of patches to make it really sing though, hint hint people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members slodge Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 Do you think it's worth the extra coin for the 600? I don't really use tremello so that wouldn't matter to me... The software, and therefore the sounds, are identical in all of the variax models. The extra money comes down to looks and "feel" of the instruments. So unless you have a strong like/dislike for how one of the models feels or looks, you're not losing anything for the sake of economy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Brian Krashpad Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bdegrande Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 I have a 300 that I have really beaten up (I use it a lot for travel and as a backup) and have had no problems whatsoever. I run if off batteries into a Roland Micro Cube. Congrats, and, as others have mentioned, start saving up for a Pod XT Live (or at least Workbench), Being able to customize your sounds really increases the flexibility of the Variax, although you certainly should have enough to play around with for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jgk62 Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 Do you think it's worth the extra coin for the 600? I don't really use tremello so that wouldn't matter to me... Yes.I used to have a 300 but compared to the 600, the 300 felt like a toy.The 600 feels like a 'real' guitar, probably due to the maple neck. I don't know if this happens to other 300 users, but I found playing the 300 painful to my fingertips, not sure why. Maybe it wasnt set up right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members acefreely Posted March 20, 2007 Author Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 Congrats, and, as others have mentioned, start saving up for a Pod XT Live (or at least Workbench), Being able to customize your sounds really increases the flexibility of the Variax, although you certainly should have enough to play around with for a while. POD XT Live should be here today! This will keep me busy for a long time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members slodge Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 POD XT Live should be here today! This will keep me busy for a long time... Enjoy! Color me green!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wedgehed II Posted March 20, 2007 Members Share Posted March 20, 2007 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Blackbelt1 Posted March 21, 2007 Members Share Posted March 21, 2007 I like both the 300 and the 600 overall, but the 600 gets the majority of play because it's a little bit better crafted, the maple fretboard feels much like all of my Strats, and the biggest reason - that trem. I use the trem in almost every song. ~Blackbelt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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