Community: Message List - Any interest in a dedicated custom Variax sustainer kit?

Re: Any interest in a dedicated custom Variax sustainer kit?

support@line6.com — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 23:14:30 GMT

Hi,

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Let me know if you're still working on this and if you are ready to produce kits for sale....

I have a 700 and love it, but to have one with a built in sustainer would be a dream come true for me, as a performer in a prog rock band

Hope to hear from you...

Re: Any interest in a dedicated custom Variax sustainer kit?

support@line6.com — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 06:56:44 GMT

Very awesome work. I always wanted cool features on my guitars. I fell in love with the infinite sustainer concept years ago, and then fell in love with the Variax concept. The Variax got my attention way more though, but I wondered if you could put a sustainer on the Variax. I saw a video of a custom guitar with both a variax and sustainer, but I didn't know if he could activate both.

So on topic, this is really impressive and I have to say great job! I wonder how it sounds with the sitar and banjo, since the banjo model models the sustain of the strings I believe.

Re: Any interest in a dedicated custom Variax sustainer kit?

support@line6.com — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 17:30:46 GMT

just found this link. looks really cool. i just ordered a jtv-89 and would love a sustainer in it but don't want to route or add knobs or switches. maybe this is the way?

Re: Any interest in a dedicated custom Variax sustainer kit?

support@line6.com — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 22:55:34 GMT

Over a year later, but I'm curious if you're still making these?

I'm extremely interested in having my variax modded with a sustainer. The only thing I'm curious about is my main interest is in the artificial feedback aspect of the sustainer, even more than the "violin" suistain.

Re: Any interest in a dedicated custom Variax sustainer kit?

support@line6.com — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 05:48:34 GMT

The Killswitch ideia sounds great!

So, have you done new progress?

i was going to buy a fernandes sustainer kit and a pickup for my variax 700, then i just found this tread here, will the sustainer includes a harmonic mode too?

when you'll be selling it and for how much?

Cheers from brazil!

Re: Any interest in a dedicated custom Variax sustainer kit?

support@line6.com — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 14:38:59 GMT

A quick update.....

Been abroad for all of December, when I returned my house was flooded (leak in our attic due the Arctic-esque weather the UK had back then)...sorted that (huge) mess now - the builders are in as I type - back onto this project, here's the latest (quasi-final!) spec...

1. Sustainer dedicated for Variax

2. The design now includes an integrated custom full bandwidth, low impedance, balanced, single coil MAGNETIC pickup (which is in part the reason for the delay - I designed/made this one). Yes that's right...for all those who bemoan the lack of a magnetic pickup on their Variax...there's one bundled in here for you!

3. Kill switch (for the onboard mag pickup)

Likely to be an 'Auto violiner' (ie for the onboard mag coil pickup - but might be able to get this to work on the Variax output too) - ie you pluck a string the initial attack of the pluck is removed & strings fades in (sounds like it has been bowed)

It will all be surface mountable (affixes to your Variax under the strings) - so no drilling or routing involved thereby defacing your Variax! Everything will fit in about 5 minutes!

Just to manage your expectations....this is not a big setup here - it's just me in fact - I'm a one man band & therefore I'll initially be making every part of these (bobbins, pickups, driver coils, PCB, programming - even the enclosure I have to make!) ...& in my spare time after the kids have gone to bed (I have a proper day job!), so even when I'm ready to roll, they'll be rolled out in low numbers (unless Line6 wants to get involved ;-) !!)

Re: Any interest in a dedicated custom Variax sustainer kit?

support@line6.com — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 01:05:19 GMT

Yes, of course it'd be possible to deselect/bypass :-)

I'm thinking here (space permitting ...and I'm working to very tight space constraints), shoehorning in a dedictated button - press it quickly, it's a 'kill switch' effect, press & hold down for a say second or so, you enter 'auto violining' mode (the 'attack' of the effect, being how hard you strike the Variax strings)...to come out of auto violining mode, you press/hold down the same button again.

The cool thing about mating such an 'auto violining' feature with something like a sustainer, is that if it's integrated well, the variax guitar output could be silent, yet the strings can be going hell for leather, which ought to make for a very pleasing a strong overall effect.

Anyway, I'm opting to use smaller components here & there (where feasible), which might free up enough space to fit this extra funky feature in.

Re: Any interest in a dedicated custom Variax sustainer kit?

support@line6.com — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 00:29:33 GMT

This could be a verry cool feature but if you ad that to the sustainer, will it still be possible to bypass that "violin effect"? I'm very excited about that device, can't wait to see (and ear) more about it.

cheers ;-)

Re: Any interest in a dedicated custom Variax sustainer kit?

support@line6.com — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 18:02:14 GMT

I'm sitting here with time on my hands (abroad until January) & dabbling with the associated schematic .......probably not enough people following this thread to judge, but for those that are .....would there be any interest in making this thing 'auto violin'.

Let me explain...you know how guitarists use the volume control to immitate a violin ....ie by removing the attack of the plucked string (normally by wrapping their little finger around the volume knob!). Well, it wouldn't be that difficult to build auto violining into this device......pluck the string soft, you get a very slow attack building up from zero to full swell/sustain, pluck the string harder, you get more attack (but still have some fade in)...the unit does it all automatically - a nice bonus if going this way, would be a 'kill switch' type feature.

just wondering!

Re: Any interest in a dedicated custom Variax sustainer kit?

support@line6.com — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 11:58:32 GMT

>>Yes, I could be interested. Any updates on hardware and price?

Hiya.

Here's what I said in my last update...

" I'm a little overwhelmed with proper (!) work right now - & I'm travelling abroad for the whole of December, so it's not likely to be before that trip....not immediately after (back early Jan). I'm loathe to give any estimates, because I know to my cost how much of let down when the dates aren't hit...but rest assured I've not gone off the boil on this! "

I've bolded the bit that's most prevelant right now - ie about to travel abroad for a month! (& nothing else has changed from that above paragraph)

One other issue-ette that's surfaced since posting, is that one major component I use in my associated circuit is in very short supply - & it's not being restocked anywhere until January (it seems the IC manafacturer - Microchip - failed to gauge demand for their new line of products!). So I'm hoping to secure some in mid January, which ties in nicely with my return from abroad.

Re price....well, here's the predicament.

Firstly, these take a whole heap of time to make ...read majorly 'labour intensive'! I'm not about to gear up & lock into economies of scale until I have a better feel for the demand...so the first few will be sold handmade (by yours truly!)...& as such the aesthetics/ finish won't be what you'd get if mass producing (but there again it won't be awful!)....it'll perform great though!

So for the early adopters, I propose a trade - the upside is that you get a unique Variax sustainer for a price that nowhere near reflects the amount of time I spend making them (& may be one of just a few ever made - a piece of history, lol), but the 'finishing' will be be average/ok ...the upside for me, is that can test the market (& placate my wife with the fruits of my toil, she hasn't seen much of her hubby in the evenings of late!)

The price for early adopters would be somewhere in or around £140 .....not sure how this hangs with prospective customers, but the major win here is that you'll be able to fit my sustainer yourself...I reckon it should only takes 5-10 mins...no routing or complicated switching involved (whereas normally with sustainers, you have to pay a guitar tech for a day to fit!)...so a major cost saving there.

Did I mention this thing will blow your mind? ;-)