Line 6 Variaxe

[jwargowski]

I know this may offend some purists ... and I was surprised myself, but has anyone tried the Line 6 Variaxe guitars? I went and tried both the electric and the accoustic today, and though the build quality on the accoutic was average, the sounds were not only convincing, but really very good. I've been a fan of their pod series for recording, but these guitars are a great solution to hauling multiple and sometimes expensive guitars to a gig. The 600 series electric felt like a tele or strat with maple neck, good action, nice frets. I'm going to try a 700 series and quite possibly buy one. Has anyone else played these?

[teeder]

I don't use one, but both guitarists in my band (actually one now) use them. I am a purist, but these sound great, and IMO are a must for cover bands. Now especially since the band is a 3 piece. The guitarist uses multiple tunings, and can switch from acoustic to electric with a flip of a switch or hitting a pedal.
We do "Like a Stone" by Audioslave and in this one song the guitarist uses two different tunings, plus one with a capo, and acoustic and electric sounds, and sings. You can't do that otherwise.
The one gutarist that left the band had the cheaper version, and he did have some electronics issues. Buy the best one you can.

[eatswodo]

I've been using a Variax 600 almost exclusively in church for the last 18 months. Paired with a Pod XT Live, it's a pretty formidable combination.

The guitar itself feels good, and plays very nicely - I blocked the tremelo in mine (never use it) and added Planet Waves locking tuners. I've never owned a Strat, Tele or Les Paul, so I have no basis for comparison to the 'real' thing - however, most of the models sound pretty darn good to me. The acoustics, in particular, I find quite impressive in a band context - they are easily as good as your average piezo UST equipped 'under a grand' acoustic/electric.

The way I looked at the price - I figured $300 for the electronics. That makes (at list) a 300 a $199 guitar (think Squier), a 600 a $499 guitar (think MIM Strat, or a bit higher) and the 700 an $1199 guitar. I don't think the jump to the 700 is worth it, but that's really just a gut feel, as the only one I've ever played was so badly set up, it wasn't a fair trial. I think the 600 is the sweet spot, especially as the 300s seem to be in short supply right now.

I don't have to change guitars in the middle of a set, and I love spooking the congregation with the banjo

[teeder]

"Paired with a Pod XT Live, it's a pretty formidable combination."

I agree. That's how our guitarist is doing it. No more lugging his Les Paul and Marshall half stack around.