Guitarists wanting the classic tones of yesteryear can risk financial ruin by amassing a sizeable collection of original instruments or they can take a much cheaper route and turn to the digital world for help. Line 6 has been modeling vintage guitar sounds for a good many years, with its Variax guitars offering multiple vintage tones on one instrument. Now the company has added a very special new member to its Variax family, the Standard, which represents the first major collaborative effort since Yamaha acquired Line 6 in January 2014.
The Variax Standard combines Yamaha guitar building know-how with Line 6 tone digital modeling wizardry, the latter placing an impressive library of "authentic" vintage tones at the command of the player. If you're a gigging musician that means that you can dial in different guitar sounds using just one instrument, rather than having to swap axes during a break or mid-song and then perhaps modify your playing style to suit a different setup, shorter or longer neck or different gauge strings and so on.
"The process of modeling a vintage instrument using Variax HD technology is complex," says Line 6. "Every facet of the guitar – including the body, electronics and metal parts – influences the way the instrument sounds and responds, and must be captured during modeling. By painstakingly analyzing and capturing every single aspect of the most iconic vintage instruments, the Line 6 team ensured that Variax delivers the sound and feel of the world’s most coveted guitars with stunning detail. The result is accurate and realistic tone reproduction that stays true to the original instruments."
Available tones are modeled on such icons as a 1959 Strat, a 1952 Les Paul Goldtop, a Gibson Firebird V from 1976, 6 and 12 string Rickenbacker 360 models from '68 and '66 respectively and a 1966 Guild F212. Players are not limited to vintage guitar sounds, though. The Variax HD library also puts resonator, sitar, banjo and tricone models, as well as alternate tunings, at a player's fingertips via two dedicated knobs that sit behind the guitar's volume and tone knobs.
Companion Workbench HD software also allows axe-wielding sonic scientists to mix and match virtual components to create numerous classic, vintage, modern and custom tones and then upload them to the instrument.
Yamaha's part of the equation is realized as a Strat-like double cut guitar with an alder body, one-piece maple neck with a 22-fret rosewood fingerboard, three custom-wound single coil pickups and 5-way pickup selector, a proprietary tremolo bridge and a lubricated Graph Tech nut.
The Variax Standard will be available in three finishes during Q1 2015 for a suggested retail price of US$1,119.99. Visitors to the NAMM Show can get an up close look at the new guitar at the Line 6 booth.
Product page: Variax Standard
I'm also curious about the durability, last thing I need is to accidentally bump the tuning knob or guitar selector in the middle of a song.
Anyone have any gigging experience with one?
The most amazing thing about this guitar was, while I was playing the different models, I would ask the customers and staff to identify the type of guitar I was modeling. I was surprised that about 60-70% of the time, people identified the correct model. Did people say I was playing the '59 Tele...no but they could identify I was playing a Tele as opposed to a Les Paul.
Some of the models sound better than others and in my opinion the most accurate reproductions are the Tele, the Strat, the Les Paul, the Gretsch 6120 and the 6 string Rickenbacker.
Make no mistake, there is a learning curve to get the best out of this guitar. The included models all have their own character and that carefully crafted tone you worked out for your Strat with Texas Specials will need to be tweaked with each model.
I would think that it is a mistake to purchase this guitar online after reading a few reviews and watching a couple videos. You need to play this guitar and compare it live with a few guitars. Only by getting it into your hands will you find out if it is right for you.
For the record, the standard guitar, without the modeling on, sounds amazing. I tried the SSS and the HSS versions and was impressed with the stock pickup sound. The build quality was better than many of the Teles and Strats in the same price range I was considering for purchase. I ended up purchasing the SSS version.