Community: Message List - "How does Parker get thier Variax electronics?" and other exciting questions...

Re: "How does Parker get thier Variax electronics?" and other exciting questions...

support@line6.com — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 18:35:21 GMT

amen to that I LOVE my black on black Variax 300. It sounds absolutly incredible paired with my PODHD500. I just got it used a week ago for 275.00.

Anyone thinking about buying an orginal used variax now is the time. There are not many left in the 2-300 price range. I searched ebay for days finally found the used one I wanted at a guitar center in New Jersey ( I live in Florida )

there is a guy in pennsylvania that does the variax transplants for a living.

Warmoth.com has an entire section of their site dedicated to building a custom guitar with your own Variax guts.

Re: "How does Parker get thier Variax electronics?" and other exciting questions...

support@line6.com — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 05:54:08 GMT

Thanks guys. Great thread. And now I know about RackVax. I had just spent the whole weekend looking at the Warmoth site pondering. I'm seeing it 180 degrees different than I did. Modeling FX belong on the floor or in a rack - not in the amp or guitar.

Re: "How does Parker get thier Variax electronics?" and other exciting questions...

support@line6.com — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 05:26:56 GMT

jason367 wrote:

rackvax wrote:

RackVax is MIDI controllable / switchable and integrates into MIDI rigs perfectly.

So if I want to integrate with a G system, I can program patch 30 of the TC electronic G-system to use 50% telecaster sound coming from the piezo/modeling and 50% electric pickups of my guitar then footswitch to patch 31 for a guild 12 string model with completely different effects and amp routing with no electric pickup mix? That's the type of midi control/integration I'm looking for.

With RackVax, you can switch between the Variax modeled sounds and your magnetic pickups using MIDI program change or CCs. Our switching circuit maintains the purity of your tone in both cases.

We decided against a blend circuit just as Line 6 did with the James Tyler Variax and opted for a true bypass because the purity of the tone was more of an importance than being able to mix the sounds.

Re: "How does Parker get thier Variax electronics?" and other exciting questions...

support@line6.com — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 05:13:21 GMT

rackvax wrote:

RackVax is MIDI controllable / switchable and integrates into MIDI rigs perfectly.

So if I want to integrate with a G system, I can program patch 30 of the TC electronic G-system to use 50% telecaster sound coming from the piezo/modeling and 50% electric pickups of my guitar then footswitch to patch 31 for a guild 12 string model with completely different effects and amp routing with no electric pickup mix? That's the type of midi control/integration I'm looking for.

...

The point about an analog XLR input is moot as one of the requirements of the advanced guitar modeling DSP and the digital retuning functionality as found in the Variax is a polyphonic / hex pickup with a separate analog audio channel for each string. An analog XLR input is not really appropriate for these types of devices as analog XLR implies a monophonic signal.
I didn't know Variax required hexaphonic. The zoom modeling works relatively well with a generic piezo but doesn't have the variety/quality of models. I like the Ghost system I have in one of my strats. The XLR request was just an upgrade for a higher quality signal. I figured it would improve the modeling to have a purer output than running a unbalanced1/4 plug to the modeler as most people do with acoustic electrics.

However, it is arguably more desireable to have an XLR output, and this is easy to obtain with RackVax by using the Line 6 XPS foot switch.
I would want XLR out to the PA + 1/4 out to amplifier that was switchable depending on the chosen patch. Thanks for the reply, I learned more about the Rackvax than was evident from your webpage. It seems like a good product but it's still quite expensive. If I had a guitar with a GK pickup, I would consider it.

Re: "How does Parker get thier Variax electronics?" and other exciting questions...

support@line6.com — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 02:55:55 GMT

phil_m wrote:

Puerile? OK...

I was actually being serious. I'm not trying to just denigrate his idea. I happen to agree that if there were something that could match the modeling capabilities of the Variax in pedal form it probably would sell very well, and it would probably actually make the Variax itself obsolete. I just don't see anything in the market coming close to that capability, though. Even solutions that use MIDI pickups suffer from tracking problems, and they still require some modification of the guitar itself. So I think if there are people who insist on using their top-of-the-line guitars in a modeling situation, it means they have to do some sort of after-market modification still.

While it's not in pedal format, RackVax is the closest thing to a Variax pedal available. It does not suffer from "tracking problems" and plays just like a Variax. No modification to your guitar is required. A Roland GK-3 external pickup can be attached without any modification whatsoever.

Re: "How does Parker get thier Variax electronics?" and other exciting questions...

support@line6.com — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 02:37:51 GMT

jason367 wrote:

The rack vax is $1200, doesn't come with a piezo pickup, doesn't use XLR inputs and doesn't do midi switching. For my purposes, it would be cheaper to cannibalize a cheap JTV.
If zoom can make a profit off 12 models for $80 at amazon, I think Line 6 can make a profit off of $500 for 25 models with full firmware functionality. Nice to know that the rack vax is available though. Thanks for the link.

RackVax is MIDI controllable / switchable and integrates into MIDI rigs perfectly. If you mean it doesn't have a 1/4" T/S switch output for amp channel switching, you're right, but that kind of feature doesn't belong in this type of device anyway. RackVax is a rackmount guitar modeling device which is designed to sit between your guitar and amp as if it wasn't even there so that you can get the sounds of the Variax from any guitar equipped with a GK pickup. Your effects processor is the more appropriate amp switcher.

The point about an analog XLR input is moot as one of the requirements of the advanced guitar modeling DSP and the digital retuning functionality as found in the Variax is a polyphonic / hex pickup with a separate analog audio channel for each string. An analog XLR input is not really appropriate for these types of devices as analog XLR implies a monophonic signal.

However, it is arguably more desireable to have an XLR output, and this is easy to obtain with RackVax by using the Line 6 XPS foot switch.

Re: "How does Parker get thier Variax electronics?" and other exciting questions...

support@line6.com — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 15:11:19 GMT

Well, phil, I honestly did take your first two paragraphs in the post to which I responded as being rather presumptuous, but that's water over the dam.

I don't think that anyone (myself included), who would like to be able to buy a RackVax type of rig directly from Line 6, wants to start up a business to fill this void. Line 6 offers their POD products in several different physical configurations, ranging from the beloved bean, to floor units, to sophisticated rack units. I presume they can realize a profit from all of them, and that the products compliment, and not cannibalize, one another.

What causes you to assume that offering the same choice of configurations to Variax afficioados will inescapably extinguish Variax guitar sales? I think this is a weak link in your argument. A second weak link is that Variaxes are well-made guitars. I have owned 3 of them, and NONE of them was anything to write home about. The variax 700 made by Fuji-gen-Gakki that I owned for a number of years was by far the best-made, but - for the $1,750 I paid - it didn't deliver the playability I expect from an electric guitar in the $1,000-$1,200 price range (discounting the cost of the electronics). Others who now own JTV Variaxes have posted comments that echo these sentiments in great enough numbers to lend credibility to the observation.

I no longer own any Variaxes, since the advantages of the modeling technology TO ME are not worth the trade-off of having to play a second- or third-rate instrument in order to access it. I would, however, be prepared to either fit a hexophonic bridge to one of my Les Pauls, or to buy a Roland-ready Stratocaster that I could plug into a Variax rack unit. The way, if the Variax rack unit is superseded by newer technology, I don't have to contemplate ditching one of my cherished instruments, to which I have become accustomed, in order to keep current.

I would imagine that others who don't have as extensive high-end guitar stable as I am privileged to own might want to but a JTV Variax and be done with it, so a Line 6 guitar would, indeed, serve the hobbyist or "weekend warrior" market niche (which is large enough to merit its own product offering). Why Line 6 is so resistant to even discussing a varaint of their current marketing vector is beyond me. I can only surmise that they don't want companies like Behringer to knock off pirated copies of their Variax box, and feel that encapsulating the technology in a crappy, proprietary guitar will afford at least some protection, however transitory, from this threat.

It's all conjecture on my part, of course. What remains is that I can think of no good reason why any innovative, market-oriented company would refuse to dialogue with its prospective customers except, of course, unless the principal shareholder was Steve Jobs. Line 6 cannot aspire to the type of autocratic marketing success that has accrued to Apple, however, because in my opinion, their vision of the end-user's experience is incomplete and therefore flawed.

[Here endeth the lesson, let us sing Hymn #342...]

JellyWheat

Re: "How does Parker get thier Variax electronics?" and other exciting questions...

support@line6.com — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 14:44:37 GMT

Puerile? OK...

I was actually being serious. I'm not trying to just denigrate his idea. I happen to agree that if there were something that could match the modeling capabilities of the Variax in pedal form it probably would sell very well, and it would probably actually make the Variax itself obsolete. I just don't see anything in the market coming close to that capability, though. Even solutions that use MIDI pickups suffer from tracking problems, and they still require some modification of the guitar itself. So I think if there are people who insist on using their top-of-the-line guitars in a modeling situation, it means they have to do some sort of after-market modification still.

So while I see why it might read like I was blowing the comment off, that wasn't my intention. There seems to be an obvious hole in the market right now, and no one has really been able to fill it. I find to be the Variax solution to be pretty good. The JVT are well-made guitars, and they do what they do well. However, it seems there are people who will be resistant to buying another guitar (although I would suggest they at least give the JVT an actual try before passing on it - everyone I've talked to who's actually played one seemed to really liked at least one of the three models currently available).

Line 6 does actually listen to customer complaints and suggestions pretty wellas far as I can tell. If there's something that people want that isn't out there yet, I'd say it usually comes down to a matter of being technically infeasible or simply not viable from a cost perspective yet. I just have to believe that Line 6 wants to succeed and sell product more than any of their biggest fans on the boards do.

Re: "How does Parker get thier Variax electronics?" and other exciting questions...

support@line6.com — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 10:59:57 GMT

when they start with oh yeah....

well you know the rest

Re: "How does Parker get thier Variax electronics?" and other exciting questions...

support@line6.com — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 10:56:37 GMT

jason i agree . heres what it is the company has decided what profit per unit they want to make.

they manufacture acordingly. renkin quoted 500 bucks street value in his threda on the new variax the 500 was howevr the price of the old electronics.

also the quote ws 200 for the rest of the guitar

point being the guitar was equivalent to a squire strat or equivalent guitar.

now you know street value is not what they paid for the electronics. anyone who knows about thaat can tell you that those boards are made relatively cheaply in asia.

and so are the majority of jtvs being made . so thats where they make there profit.

and thats why an american made jtv will cost you a leg and an arm.

well gotto go do some manufacturing now

tty later