Line 6 Variax 500

I decided to give my brother a surprise. He's passionate towards guitars, and this electric guitar just made my surprise so wonderful. My brother was very happy. It gives the sound so smooth and clear. The style is cool and attractive as well.

I always dreamed about electric guitar and finally decided to make this present to myself. The sound is fantastic. It's not heavy. So, I'm very happy like a small boy inspite of my 36

A few years ago I purchased a Variax 600 with the trem bidge. It was a Great guitar but, after I played it I really didn't care for the trem bridge and, Daphne blue wasn't my color. I played it quite a bit and, the performance was excellent, really didn't have any tuning problems as a few others have commented. I kinda got carried away with the workbench program which didn't do anything but frustrate me to the point that I sold everything guitar and, all items associated with it. After a few years went by and, also a few other guitars that went on the auction block I decided to try another Variax but this time a 500 model hardtail in a sunburst finish. No messing around with a workbench program either just play it and, enjoy! Well I guess what goes around comes around so they say. Really enjoying this guitar with all the versatality that is built in it. I have noticed that there a few of these showing up in other Pro's hands like John McFee (Doobie Bros) and, a tremendous guitarist that is playing with Michael McDonald not to mention a few other artists that have found the beauty of this instrument. I still will always have a spare instrument on hand at a gig for a just in case scenario but, this 500 will on stage with me for most of my gigs. If you own one of these run the acoustic models from the AB switch to an acoustic amp (Fishman Artist) for a real treat! I'm glad I gave the Variax another chance! Very Satisfied!!!!!

Cut to the chase : this is a good guitar for £500-£800. Unfortunately it is not an outstanding guitar as, despite all of the digital wizadry under the bonnet, the quality of the woods and build affect the sound and this guitar is built to a price. Therefore it is not a way of getting a collection of classic guitars at a bargain price as it doesn't play like a classic and, in my opinion, it doesn't sound like a classic either!

Don't misunderstand me : there are some amazing emulations here and most of them get close to the originals. In a mix or live situation, you would be hard pressed to spot the difference. It is in the way the guitar interacts with the player where the deficiencies show themselves. It lacks the vibe of a good instrument whose quality is evident from the moment you pick it up. Instead this presents itself as pieces of wood joined together with no real personality. There is no 'feedback' to the player and subtleties of attack and touch are lost.

The sounds are also very one dimensional and don't display the breadth of tone of a conventional instrument. In fact, in some cases the sound appears to be coming through a mid heavy compressor. In A/B comparisons with similarly priced guitars through good quality equipment, this compressed nasal sound is noticeable.

It has a very pronounced attack to the sounds so it is not surprising that the most authentic sounds are the Telecaster emulations. By far the least useable are the LP type sounds which sound as if they are coming off poor 1940 recordings.

I bought mine after having given up the fight to get a useable acoustic sound live without feedback and the Variax delivers on this. The sounds are really good and could be used for recording.

So, having focussed on the weaknesses, is it a useful guitar? I have to answer that it is a good guitar for around £500 but is never going to be a classic until the build and wood quality improve. Enter the James Tyler Variax range I suppose.

I like the fact you can use a laptop to modify the sounds or build unique guitars but you loose the sustain and although it can sound kinda like a les paul it really cannot give off the same sustain. I know use traditional guitars for recording but uses these for messing around with. Hopefully oneday they will sort the software out and make it do what it says on the Ads.

The Line 6 Variax 500 has a good sound. The only bad thing about it is the weight, but if you need a good guitar, buy a Variax!

When I got my Line 6 Variax 500 electric guitar home, at first I couldn't get it to work, but after much fiddling, it was just that the batteries had run dry while I was playing it in the shop. For some reason when the batteries are in, the guitar tries to use them rather than using the power from the foot-switch. But complaints aside, this is a great guitar, and it is now working perfectly.

I have been spending hours trying each individual guitar sound and comparing it to the sound of the real thing, like the Gretsch Silver Jet compared to the lead guitar in the Beatles "I saw her standing there". These only sounded different, in my opinion, because I was using a high powered Torque amplifier, whereas the Beatles had amps 20+ years older than the one I was using. There are other brilliant sounds on there, some that I don't understand how Line 6 managed to do them. For example, how can you get such a great 12-string sound out of a guitar with 6 strings? It's almost like magic.

Now I've got this guitar I can't put it down until I've shredded my fingers.

Here is a list of models on the guitar, which are controlled by the 3rd Knob and the Selector switch:

T-Model - 3 types of Fender telecaster

Spank - Fender Stratocaster, the 5-way switch works like the pickup switch on a real Strat

Lester - Various Gibson Les Paul models

Special - Gibson LP Junior/Special and Firebird

R-Billy - 2 Gretsch guitars (6120 and Silver Jet)

Chime - Rickenbacker 360 and 360/12

Semi - Gibson ES-335 and Epiphone Casino

Jazzbox - Gibson jazz guitars (ES-175 and Super 400)

Acoustic - Martin D-28 (6 and 12 string models), Martin O-18, Guild F212, Gibson J-200

Reso - Dobro model 32, Coral Sitar, Danelectro 3021, Gibson Mastertone Banjo, National Tricone

In addition there are 2 custom selections on the knob for you to store 5 of your favourite sounds on each. I think this is mainly to make it more practical for performing live with it.

You can't get a Line6 Variaz 500 electric guitar anymore, unless you find a store that has some left, as it's now a discontinued model. Since it looks like the top of the line, it'll be better than the 600 in my opinion, to anyone who can find one. I've been finding that it's like any other guitar, you have to respect it, take the time to learn each setting as if it's the guitar you are playing, so just turning the knob to the Telecaster setting isn't going to magically make it sound 100% like one... then, if you plugged a Tele into a cheap amp, it wouldn't sound like a

Tele anyway, right?

As far as feel, I love playing it, you have to not picture a jazz guitar when playing the jazz settings etc., and I think that's the problem most of those who criticize it are really saying, that it lacks the feel they in particular like.

All in all, it's a viable alternative to buying a set of cheaper knockoffs of the various guitars it simulates, and in my opinion, much better. I don't try to make it replace every guitar in my collection, but it's got a solid place there now.

Line6 Variax 500 a great piece of innovation. I don't claim to be a lead player but I have received nice compliments about some of the lead rifs I have added to my recordings recently using this guitar. My mate, who is a great lead player has accompanied me with it at gigs reckons it is wonderful and the audience reaction would do justice to a USA Strat.

I had an unfortunate accident with this guitar - tripping over a cable caused a minidisc player to crash on it snapping off the the tone control and bending the volume control. I phoned Line 6 and next day they delivered replacement pots and knobs free of charge. Now that is service.

Line6 Variax 500 - We have been using 3 of these in the band since they first hit the shore - and although we have "top line" named guitars as well these are ideal for working musicians. Just added the 700 acoustic to the line up which is even more impressive with alternative tunings and even better acoustic sounds. The Bass Variax will be the next addition when it arrives later this year.