Aug 21, 2011 5:58 PM
Unreliable Piezos
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I bought a Variax 600. So far it has not done the fade out and stop working thing that my old 300 did. Lots of people had Variaxes that cut out a lot. But my problem now is the piezos. They conk out, break. I've had to have them replaced a couple of times already and now the D string piezo can hardly be heard.
I like the Variax because of its amazing sound, but with the digital failures of my 300 and the piezos conk-outs on my 600 I really feel I have two unreliable guitars. (I extracted the guts from a cheap 300 I bought on ebay and had them put into my favorite 300 to make it work. Had to. Too unreliable. Cut out.)
The piezos. That's my question! Are there reliable ones you can buy so you don't have to worry so much? A different brand? I don't know anything!
Thanks in advance!
Tom
I use these in my Variax 300 electric. I expect they will also fit the V600 but you may want to ask the manufacturer.
Thanks, Silverhead
I'll check it out.
Have you had any troubles with your 300. I've had a lot with mine; as I mentioned I had the guts replace.
Tom
I also use graphtech piezo in my vax 600, and i'm pretty sure it's the same model (pn 8000 00). I can't assure you as i'm not home and will not be for 2 weeks.
They look rock solid, i use them since january and never had any troubles since i switch from lr baggs's stock ones. Also i found an improvement in the sound (a little hotter) but it eventually come down to taste...
Otherwise, you could try with RMC who provide piezo for most of Godin GK ready guitars.
The other brands that manufacture piezo that i know are LR baggs and Fishman but they only sell them integrated into guitar bridges to benefit of the acoustic resonance of solid body and, afaik, don't sell them as stand alone parts (it still worth asking if you want to keep your vax as close to the "original").
Anyway, i use graphtech's one and love them.
Cheers.
I own four Variax 300s, and over the past 6 years have gained some insight by tweaking, honing and modifying them with hopes of achieving optimum playability and sonic quality, thus bestowing each Variax with my own personal and reliable performance characteristics, however there are many things that can cause problems, so on occasion the piezo pickup very well might not be at fault. Many Variax owners might have (Vari-ing) degrees of intermittent problems that reside within the Variax's processor which is the( brain) control center (including It's internal memory) that can fail and manifest into a major flaw, and for some a complete and disastrous breakdown. When Variax 300 & 600 trouble occurred while the Variax was under warranty, the Variax was returned to the place of purchase and if the problem could not be determined and resolved, the Line 6 solution was just to replace the Variax rather than back-piling a load of extra work on the Variax technicians who were focused on Variax 700 repairs. After the 300 & 600 warranties had expired and owners needed repair work pertaining to the electronics etc., they found out that qualified Line 6 repair centers wanted $150 + just to look it over, so many owners thought it over and were reluctant about coughing up that much dough to just take a peek and considered buying a new Variax , especially 300 owners. I have heard of and read posts about piezo swopping, many with good results (the GraphTech name being tossed around quite a bit). LIke I mentioned, there are many possible culprits. Some Variax 300 owners might want to read my posted document titled: Variax 300 (bridge problems) solutions at the (Variax Guitars) & (Variax 300 Endangered Species Consortium) Community Groups.
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