Variax

Last updated

Variax was the name of a line of guitars developed and marketed by Line 6 between 2002 and 2023. They differed from typical electric and acoustic guitars in that internal electronics processed the sound from individual strings to model (replicate) the sound of specific guitars and other instruments. The maker claims it was the first guitar family able to emulate the tones of other notable electric and acoustic guitars. It also provided a banjo and a sitar tone. The Variax was available primarily in electric guitar models, but acoustic and electric bass guitar models have also been available in the past.

Contents

James Tyler Variax electric guitars

JTV59
Manufacturer Line 6
Period2010 - 2023
Construction
Body typeSolid
Neck jointSet
Scale 24-9/16"
Woods
BodyMahogany with carved maple top and flame maple veneer
NeckMahogany
FretboardRosewood
Hardware
BridgeStoptail (fixed)
Pickup(s) James Tyler Alnico Humbuckers
Colors available
Black, Cherry Sunburst, Tobacco Sunburst
JTV-69
ManufacturerLine 6
Period2010-2023
Construction
Body typeSolid
Neck jointBolt on
Scale 25.5"
Woods
BodyAlder
NeckMaple
FretboardRosewood, Ebony
Hardware
Bridge2-Point Tyler Designed Floating Tremolo
Pickup(s) SSH Tyler Designed Alnico
Colors available
Lake Placid Blue, Candy Apple Red, Black

In 2010, Line 6 released three new models of Variax electric guitars (replacing the old models), with updated technology and bodies designed by luthier James Tyler. [1]

Each model came in a US-made or Korean-made version. The Tyler Variax guitars all came with standard pickups as well as the electronic modeling capabilities, whereas the earlier Variaxes had no magnetic pickups. New models included the Yamaha-designed "Standard" and the Stevic Mckay (Twelve Foot Ninja) signature model "Shuriken"

The Shuriken was available in two models. Both models were released in early 2017: [2]

All models of electric Variax (JTV, Shuriken, and Standard) were discontinued in 2023 [4]

Electronic Models

Models in all Variaxes were based on the following guitars: [5]

Variax electric guitars

Variax Electric Guitar (300/500/600/700)
Manufacturer Line 6
Period2002 — 2010
Construction
Body typeSolid
Neck joint Bolt-on neck
Woods
Body Agathis (300), Basswood (600), Mahogany and Ash (700)
Neck Maple
Fretboard Rosewood (300, 500 & 700), Maple (600), all with 22 frets
Hardware
BridgeFixed (300, 500, 700), Tremolo (600, 700)
Pickup(s) Bridge saddle-mounted piezo

The earlier solid body Variax electric guitars made by Line 6 were available in four models:

The bridge of a Variax electric guitar has an individual piezoelectric pickup for each string. The instrument's electronics converts each of these six signals to a digital signal, and digitally processes each to emulate the selected sound. Since the system processes the strings separately, it can model the effects that one string of a target emulation might cause on another. It can also shift individual string pitches to digitally create alternate tunings instead of pitch-shifting all strings at once.

Some enthusiasts have transplanted Variax electronics and hardware into different instruments. These "transplants" can look like almost any popular guitar, yet produce all the Variax emulations.[ citation needed ]

Variax acoustic guitars

Line 6 marketed four models of Variax acoustic modeling guitars: the 300 Nylon String and 300 Steel String, which allow varying virtualbody size and mic placement—and the more expensive steel stringed, cedar (later spruce)-topped 700, which pitch-shifts individual strings to provide alternate tunings. The 700 emulates over a dozen rare and desirable acoustic instruments, including an acoustic Indian sitar, rather than the Coral electric sitar modeled in the electric Variaxes. Line 6 produced a rare and final model dubbed the 900, of which only 50 were produced and distributed by Line 6. The 900s were made in Japan rather than Korea as the 700s were. The 900s had a solid body with a semi hollow acoustic style facade sound hole, maple neck, and rosewood fingerboard was adorned with diamond shaped mother of pearl inlay instead of the cross design the 700s had, it also had an abalone inlay "V" at the 12th fret. The most publicly recognized Variax Acoustic 900 was used by recording artist James Taylor, while singing the American National Anthem at the opening ceremony of the NBA Finals of 2008, as well as an event hosted at Borders Bookstore.[ citation needed ] Line 6 discontinued the acoustic models in 2010.

James Hetfield was a long time user of customised Variax acoustic models [6]

Variax bass guitars

Line 6 offered the same technology for electric bass guitars with the 4-string Variax 700 bass and the model 705 5-string bass, but discontinued them in 2007.

Workbench Software

Variax guitars have a Variax Digital Interface (VDI) port that connects them via an Ethernet cable to compatible hardware like the Line 6 POD amp modelers, or through the Workbench interface via USB to a computer. Note that the (300-700) guitar cannot be connected directly to the computer but requires a Line 6 USB interface or POD Live / Vetta. Workbench is also the name of the software that lets users customize the electronic models—change body type, change and move pickups, and adjust volume and tone knobs function. Users can create customized models and tunings and then save them back to the guitar.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electric guitar</span> Electrical string musical instrument

An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar. It uses one or more pickups to convert the vibration of its strings into electrical signals, which ultimately are reproduced as sound by loudspeakers. The sound is sometimes shaped or electronically altered to achieve different timbres or tonal qualities from that of an acoustic guitar via amplifier settings or knobs on the guitar. Often, this is done through the use of effects such as reverb, distortion and "overdrive"; the latter is considered to be a key element of electric blues guitar music and jazz, rock and heavy-metal guitar-playing. Designs also exist combining attributes of the electric and acoustic guitars: the semi-acoustic and acoustic-electric guitars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Stratocaster</span> Solid body electric guitar

The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously manufactured the Stratocaster since 1954. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top "horn" shape for balance. "Stratocaster" and "Strat" are trademark terms belonging to Fender. Guitars that duplicate the Stratocaster by other manufacturers are sometimes called S-Type or ST-type guitars. Many prominent rock musicians have been associated with the Stratocaster for use in studio recording and live performances, most notably Eric Clapton, Buddy Holly, David Gilmour, Mark Knopfler, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Mark Speer and George Harrison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Jazzmaster</span> Electric guitar

The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar designed as a more expensive sibling of the Fender Stratocaster. First introduced at the 1958 NAMM Convention, it was initially marketed to jazz guitarists, but found favor among surf rock guitarists in the early 1960s. Its appearance is similar to the Fender Jaguar, though it is tonally and physically different in many technical ways, including pickup design, scale length and controls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Showmaster</span>

The Fender Showmaster is a discontinued model of electric guitar made by Fender, and is characteristic of a superstrat. Also see the badge change of Stagemaster due to legal reasons.

The Fender Jaguar is an electric guitar by Fender Musical Instruments characterized by an offset-waist body, a relatively unusual switching system with two separate circuits for lead and rhythm, and a short-scale 24" neck. Owing some roots to the Jazzmaster, it was introduced in 1962 as Fender's feature-laden top-of-the-line model, designed to lure players from Gibson. During its initial 13-year production run, the Jaguar did not sell as well as the less expensive Stratocaster and Telecaster, and achieved its most noticeable popularity in the surf music scene. After the Jaguar was taken out of production in 1975, vintage Jaguars became popular first with American punk rock players, and then more so during the alternative rock, shoegazing and indie rock movements of the 1980s and 1990s. Fender began making a version in Japan in the mid-1980s, and then introduced a USA-made reissue in 1999. Since then, Fender has made a variety of Jaguars in America, Mexico, Indonesia and China under both the Fender and Squier labels. Original vintage Jaguars sell for many times their original price.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Jazz Bass</span> Fender model of bass guitar

The Fender Jazz Bass is the second model of electric bass created by Leo Fender. It is distinct from the Precision Bass in that its tone is brighter and richer in the midrange and treble with less emphasis on the fundamental frequency. The body shape is also different from the Precision Bass, in that the Precision Bass has a symmetrical lower bout on the body, designed after the Telecaster and Stratocaster lines of guitars, while the Jazz Bass has an offset lower bout, mimicking the design aesthetic of the Jaguar and Jazzmaster guitars.

The King V is an electric guitar model made by Jackson Guitars.

The Jackson Soloist is an electric guitar model introduced by Jackson Guitars in 1984, although prototypes were available before then. The design is a typical "superstrat"; it varies from a typical Stratocaster because of its neck-thru design; tremolo: Floyd Rose or similar, Kahler; or a fixed Tune-O-Matic; premium woods; a deeper cutaway at the lower horn for better access to the higher frets, and a sharper body with squared-off edges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jackson Dinky</span> Electric guitar built by Jackson Guitars

The Jackson Dinky is a Superstrat-style double-cutaway electric guitar built by Jackson Guitars. The "Dinky" is named for its slightly smaller than normal (7/8) body size. Usually fitted with a two humbucker pickup configuration, some models also include single-coil pickups and/or just one bridge humbucker. The fretboard can be made out of ebony, rosewood and more recently maple, or rock maple, with 24 jumbo frets and is always built with a bolt-on neck. Most of the guitars have a Floyd Rose original or licensed tremolo, and a locking nut to help maintain stable tuning. Some Dinkys have hardtail, or String-Thru bridges. The Jackson Dinky is usually preferred by players of hard rock and heavy metal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Jaguar Bass</span> Electric bass guitar

The Fender Jaguar Bass is an electric bass guitar currently manufactured in Mexico by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.

A solid-body musical instrument is a string instrument such as a guitar, bass or violin built without its normal sound box and relying on an electromagnetic pickup system to directly detect the vibrations of the strings; these instruments are usually plugged into an instrument amplifier and loudspeaker to be heard. Solid-body instruments are preferred in situations where acoustic feedback may otherwise be a problem and are inherently both less expensive to build and more rugged than acoustic electric instruments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Coronado</span> Electric guitar

The Fender Coronado is a double-cutaway thin-line hollow-body electric guitar, announced in 1965. It is manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The aesthetic design embodied in the Coronado represents a departure from previous Fender instruments; the design remains an uncharacteristic piece of Fender history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fender Stratocaster XII</span>

The Fender Stratocaster XII is the 12 string version of the Fender Stratocaster electric guitar made by Fender. It was introduced in 1988 and briefly re-issued 20 years later after a discontinuation in 1996. Unlike the Fender Electric XII, it uses a Strat-style body. Fender discontinued the Strat XII in 2009. It was reintroduced in 2019 with either a Sunburst or Olympic White finish

The ESP EX is a series of electric guitars produced by ESP produced in the United States, Europe and in Japan with the ESP logo as part of the ESP Original Series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibson Les Paul Studio</span>

The Gibson Les Paul Studio is a solid body electric guitar produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation since 1983. It is a model of Les Paul with some features omitted to appeal to musicians looking for the tonal qualities of the guitar but with less of an emphasis on cosmetics and to reduce the price of the instrument.

The Gibson Les Paul Custom is a higher-end variation of the Gibson Les Paul guitar. It was developed in 1953 after Gibson had introduced the Les Paul model in 1952.

The Fender American Deluxe Series was a line of electric guitars and basses introduced by Fender in 1995 and discontinued in 2016. It was upgraded in 2004 and 2010 before being replaced by the American Elite series in 2016.

The Yamaha Corporation is a multinational corporation and conglomerate based in Japan with a wide range of products and services, predominantly musical instruments, motorcycles, power sports equipment and electronics.

The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele, is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it was the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful solid-body electric guitar. Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music. Many prominent rock musicians have been associated with the Telecaster for use in studio recording and live performances, most notably Bruce Springsteen, Luis Alberto Spinetta, Keith Richards and George Harrison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gibson ES-350T</span>

The Gibson ES-350T is an electric guitar model from Gibson Guitar Corporation, released in 1955. The ES-350T is a further development of the Gibson ES-350 model from 1948 and as such has a completely hollow body. The unique feature of the Gibson ES-350T at the time of its market introduction was the reduced width of the rims. As a result, the guitar has a thinner body compared to instruments with a resonance body that is of full thickness. The ES-350T, together with its sister models Gibson ES-225 TDN and Gibson Byrdland, was one of the first models of the thinline guitar type.

References