There is no doubt in my mind this is just another line 6 recycling atempt I only have 1 question,WILL PALM MUTING ON THE BRIDGE WITH HEAVY DISTROTION STILL SUCK USING THE GUITAR MODELS,NOT THE MAGNETICS.    My guess is YES, it will..That makes me think that the new variax toy is gonna bomb like muhammad ala!

meistsf wrote:

 

Huh?  Geeze, I was looking forward to trying an EBow with the pickups.  That should work better than before, right?

I really doubt it,but I dont know for sure...Just a gut feeling Thats why Line6 decided to go with mags and modeling,What you dont get from one you'll get from the otherI already have guitars with pickups I dont need anymore, so that defeats the purpose of a modeling guitar.I like my variax 500 for everything 'cept high gain distortion which I play %98 of the time.The palm muting was so bad,so horribile sounding I put the guitar away and haven't used it in over 3 years.If this new one plays the same way,I wont buy it,I'm sure many people wont either.

There is no doubt in my mind this is just another line 6 recycling atempt I only have 1 question,WILL PALM MUTING ON THE BRIDGE WITH HEAVY DISTROTION STILL SUCK USING THE GUITAR MODELS,NOT THE MAGNETICS.    My guess is YES, it will..That makes me think that the new variax toy is gonna bomb like muhammad ala!

I don't know who muhammad ala is, but this youtube video makes it seem like palm muting with heavy distortion sounds fine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFp0IEgy5TE

plus the new JTV's are supposed to have improved piezo pickups and processing.

Why don't you sell me that P.O.S. Variax 500 for $100?  It's just collecting dust at your place.

gtrpro wrote:

 

No Insult taken,Ive been playing guitar for 35 years and have a degree in music theory and modern harmony,I am also a guitar and amp tech,.Im speaking from my experience,not your experience when I say"PALM MUTING SUCKS" I've had so many customers who told me this,plus my own connections from local music stores who have very capable guitar techs(my friends ) and 2 tech's from fender yes FENDER whom I know well said the same thing..So since I know nothing of your background.It would be in your own best intrust to Question someone before you pass judgement.BTW I will watch your video after I post this.And I dont think my Vari 500 is a POS!

Well - the same can be said for yourself.  I was not offending you, I was not insulting you, nor do I can what your pedigree is.  I'm just tired of reading that same comment when most of the time, it's the model Vax, the set up of the guitar, the amp it is running through (anyone familiar with the proper use of noise gates?), plus most importantly it's how the palm muting is being done on the Vax in relation to a typical mag pup guitar.

However, since you brought your testosterone to this forum and chose to post your pedigree, I will offer mine as well since you mentioned not knowing what it is before I pass judgment (<--spelled correctly btw).

I'm going to be 50 in December,and I've been playing and trained in classical music since the age of 4 starting on piano.  I then added drums at age 10, then guitar at 13, then finally bass at 16.  I've gotten my BA in Classical Music Composition from Montclair State University in Montclair, NJ back in 1983.  Yeah, I skipped a couple of grades growing up.  I then while working in Corporate America to make the cash to start my own business, I played all over the tri-state area in cover bands starting in HS, until the drinking age changed and ruined the live band/club business in 1982.

I then started my own recording and rehearsal studio Merlin Music in NJ, which I owned and operated successfully growing from 4-track reel to reel up to 24-track reel to reel with digital mastering capabilities which I finished up owning a 4,000 sq ft facility with (6) fully equipped rehearsal rooms and the recording studio. Computer recording was still very new and much too expensive to run with back in those days.  However, I have a new Hard disk/Analog and 100% Computer based recording studio now in Ocala, FL where I've lived since 2001.  Besides my constant local live gig performing, I have still managed to keep the first love of my life at the forefront of my day to day existence.

I know hundreds of techs, sales reps for major companies, and I was the first US recording studio to be a Beta Test Center for Behringer when they started bringing their rack processing gear into the US from Germany.

Now can we get back to the productive comments regarding the new JTV??

What about the video.  Did it change your mind at all or not at all or did it not even represent the kind of palm muting you are talking about?

brandon9271 wrote:

 

Do you have a link to any video or sound clip of the "Plunky" palm muting?  I'm not arguing with you about it I just would like to hear it.  I'm curious to know what causes it and if its just sort of intermittent problem or maybe even some sort of defect.  I've seen a few videos of folks palm muting with a Variax and I have a Variax 300 myself.  I'd really like to know what it is, when it happens and be able to recreate it.  I always thought that in general the Variax was weak with high gain.  I never noticed a palm muting problem but just in general I never found any sound that could compare to my Ibanez with Semour Duncans.  I thought the Variax really shined with lower gain for blues, jazz, country, etc and the ability to detune on the fly more than made up for the other shortcomings.

Try scrolling up about half a dozen replies and you'll find one of my videos and for whatever miraculous reasons, neither of the two Vax Electric 700's I own make these unwanted sounds I've read about. Can't get to much more high gain than the patch I created on my Vetta.  If you need more gain than what I've posted, than that is certainly one of the problems.

I've spent hundreds of hours with hundreds of musicians playing all types of metal and the first thing I do...in my recoring studio or if I'm mixing them live...is get them to tone down the level of distortion they play with and put back most of the midrange most metal players take out.  Same for the bass players who take all the mids out to sound "more heavy".  This is a very common mistake made many players.  Too much distortion on rhythm patches just make what you play nothing but mush with no distinction between chords, notes, etc.  Turn down the distortion a little to a lot depending on how "insane your gain" is and discover how much clearer and heavier you sound when playing in your band as one guitar or especially two guitars.

I also think that since you have the 300 model which hands down is thw worst and cheapest of all the Variax guitars made now and in the future, I believe that the cheap craftsmanship, cheap wood, cheap everything other than the electronics on the inside are owned by those who have complained th most about these unwanted sounds.  This is not putting down Line 6, but they chose to put out a terrific model which is the 700, then they put out a cheap model the 300.  I presume the 300 was to get those people they knew would not spend money on a well crafted guitar for whatever the reason.

I hope this helps,

Neal

meistsf wrote:

 

I was looking forward to trying an EBow with the pickups.  That should work better than before, right?

From my experience there's a huge difference between Variax Ebow and Mag Ebow.

I have had a 600 for several years, and got proficient with the Ebow before I got a variax.  The first thing I noticed with the variax was that it was a lot quieter, and there was a lack of "swell" that you can acheive with the Mag Pickups.  With the Mags, you can slide the ebow towards the pickup you're using (most of the time the neck for me because it's a richer tone).  As you slide you get variations on the tone...you can do almost tremolo type effects (all be it very slow trem).

I think that having magnetic pickups on the new variax is going to be a really awesome thing for me.  Because it'll allow me to do those kinds of things with the ebow.  The Variax sounded ok with the ebow, but it just wasn't as rich as I wanted.  I still have my Schecter Tempest which has coil tapping so I can get a wide range of tones, but since those things are being combined, I think it's awesome.  I look forward to playing around with the different settings.

Let me know if you have any more Ebow questions.  I've been using one for about 5 or 6 years now.

Justin