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Up to Discussions in Variax Transplants
7395 Views 36 Replies Latest reply: Apr 12, 2010 12:37 PM by Lytspeed RSS
Qwerty007 Just Startin'
Qwerty007
15 posts since
Oct 28, 2009
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Oct 31, 2009 11:58 AM

Anyone do transplants professionally?

Hi

 

I'm a newbie here. I am a jazz player, and am working on a solo set so the variax concept is a dream come true, However, I owned a variax 700 acoustic, but had to return as it just wasn't suited to the technical demands of jazz playing. So am intrigued by the transplant option (a little puzzled to see it on Line 6 forum). Is there anyone who does transplants professionally, assuming that is legal. I'd be interested in the acoustic version, as long as it is cost effective. What might be the restrictions in terms in using an archtop guitar as the host body? I'd also be interested to hear whether luthiers think about making the Line 6 Variax Acoustic 700 more playable. I need access all over the neck, so the action has to be set at well below the normal setup.

 

Thanks in anticipation

  • amx05462 Power User
    amx05462
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    Oct 31, 2009 12:49 PM (in response to Qwerty007)
    Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

    transplants  are  not   as hard a  project  as it  may seem.  personally  i would  thin an acoustic  transplant  would  be  the  easiest as  theres  plenty of  working room.  a  few of  the   transplants  on this  page  were  pro done .  i think any luthier  worth his  salt  could do that for you.  in your  case  i get the  impression  its  mainly for  cosmetics.  a nice old  gibson  f hole single  cutaway maybe?   if you have  a  luthier  that you use   then id  check in  with him.  if not then  i might  talk  to   your  fellow  guitar players   to see  who in your  area  is a  good   one  then   check in with  him  to  price  a  job like  that

     

      the  acoustic  modle  should  be a  breeze  .  you just have  to remove  the  components   make  a  couple  of  holes   and  pop them in.   set  the  bridge  in  place  and  do   a  normal  setup  . intonation  etc.  unlike  a  solid  body  that requires  quite  a bit  of  routing.

     

    more  or less you have  to check  in your  area  for  someone who  would  take on  the  project.

    • Qwerty007 Just Startin'
      Qwerty007
      15 posts since
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      Oct 31, 2009 1:24 PM (in response to amx05462)
      Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

      Thanks, amx. If find someone to do it, where can they buy the parts?

      • amx05462 Power User
        amx05462
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        Oct 31, 2009 5:29 PM (in response to Qwerty007)
        Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

        well the  parts  always  come  from  a  donor  guitar . in other  words  you have  to  pick the  guitar you want  to transplant  into  buy that  and  bring  the  variax  acoustic  you have  and  then   they will transfer  the  electronics and  the  bridge  and  pickups  to the  guitar  that  you want  the  stuff in.    then  do the  setup  as  you want  it to be.   its  realy not that hard   to do  . im assuming  you have  controls  on the  side of the  guitar so they  cut the  hole to match  for that     the  holes  for the  outputs  and   the  hole  for  the   pickup  wires  to go through.  the  main thing is  to have  a  guitar with  the  same  scale   length. 

      • amx05462 Power User
        amx05462
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        Oct 31, 2009 5:38 PM (in response to Qwerty007)
        Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

        just as an after  thought   were i going to do one of these  for  myself  id  probably   pick up something  like an  epiphone  dot (335  gibson  style.  and   and   put  in not  only the  acoustic  but   an electric 300 or 600    that way youll have   the  best of  both  worlds.  just a  thought.  its   hollow  body  and  you could   have  the  luthier  remove  the  back  put  everything  in  and  then  put the  back   back on . no matter  what you do   its  going  to be an expensive  project  so give  it some  thought   dont  just jump in. you can probably save  a  few  bucks  by  getting   your  donors   on ebay.  but id  want to   be  able  to try out  the  one your  transplanting  into  before  buying  that one.  good  luck  . let   me know  how  it comes  out.

        • Qwerty007 Just Startin'
          Qwerty007
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          Oct 31, 2009 5:59 PM (in response to amx05462)
          Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

          Thanks again for the info. Cost is a consideration, so if I can't find cheaps parts, perhaps the Variax II will be worth the wait.

          • amx05462 Power User
            amx05462
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            Nov 1, 2009 1:37 AM (in response to Qwerty007)
            Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

            well  i dont  see it on the  horizon yet.i could  be  wrong but i believe  its  still in the  developing  stage . were i to take a  guess at the  price...  this is  based  on the current  variax 700 price.....id  say  between 1700  to 2  grand.

             

                 im thinking   that   basicly  from the  500  the  first ont  through to the 700.  the big change  has been  the wood  and  neck. the  boards  are  pretty much the  same   the 300 and  600 went to that coffin case  to just drop everything   in.    then the  700 went  back  to put it in from the  back  no coffin case (which i like better  but  i wasnt  going  to pay  that price  for that so i bought  my 300  for  300 bucks). basicly  what you pay for   with the  variax is  tech.  the  tech  hasnt  really changed  throughh the  whole series.  but a  700 costs double  what a 600 costs.

             

                                          with  the  vax 2  theres  talk of   upgrading  the   tech  end    new  programming  and   improvements   in the  base  guitar as well.

             

               anyhow i think  that  its  going to be  pricey.

             

                                                                                    i had  forgot to mention to you  ..........  theres a   thing called   rack vax.  you might   want to look into that  as  another  route.


            http://www.rackvax.com/

             

              basicly   they put the  variax  into a  rack mount  box.  you add a  removable   pickup   and  plug  in .  im simplifying  it  but  thats  how  it works.   they can  either  build one from your  variax  or  i believe  they   also have  a   unit  already  put  together  for sale. they  use  a  roland  gk pickup.  theres  also a  perminant   kit to install the  pickup  into a  guitar  which i like  better  .its  like  the  one on the  fender roland  ready  strat.

             

                                      probably  a  less  costly  way to go.

             

                                                                   i do know  what mine  has cost me  so far.  see  attatched  photo.   anyway  its  a  different  option.

            Attachments:
            • Qwerty007 Just Startin'
              Qwerty007
              15 posts since
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              Nov 1, 2009 9:25 AM (in response to amx05462)
              Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

              I had a look at RackVax. In fact they indirectly led me to transplants. It is a good idea, but less portable, and when you add the costs of the rack and pick up it becomes a second option. For me the main problem is with the actual guitar. If that can be fixed, it would save a lot of messing around. The body and mechanics are fine, but the neck and action are not designed with single note playing in mind. I can't remember if it has a dual truss rod, but I can remember trying to pull back the neck, and it just wouldn't go where I want it. I think there is a small amount of leeway on the bridge, but if these little thngs can be fixed (not sure how), it becomes a contender again. What is a little surprising is that the modelling seems to be targeting quite a specialised player (Macaferi, Nylon, Alternate tuning etc), but one who would demand a high level of playability. Unless of course, it's just gimmick and coincidental.

               

              I don't know if Variax are listening, but I think the whole tranplant issue says it all. I'm not clear why there is so much secrecy over the Variax II's release, but just a little more information about proposed changes and improvements, and a possible release date would be in their interests. I'm not aware they have any direct competitors in this field, so why the hush? Perhaps they'd make more money if they sold transplant kits, while they're developing their lines.

              • amx05462 Power User
                amx05462
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                Nov 1, 2009 12:59 PM (in response to Qwerty007)
                Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

                ahhhh  the  transplant  kit.

                 

                                     actually   it  sounds  like  you may not  have  caught  any of  rich  renkins  post... it was  the  biggest one  ever  on  this  site.  basicly  it asked  the  question.... what  would  you like  to see in the  variax  2

                 

                 

                  answers  went  from  what  i think  were  reasonable   upgrades   to   the  point  of  rediculousness.    quite  often  the  question of  why not  a  kit  came  up.

                 

                                               my opinion  is  this..........they  want to be  in the  guitar  business...they  have a  unique  item.    going  back  to the 500  they were  able  to put that item into a  cheap  body and  make   a  pretty good  profit  margin.  at the time   there  competition  were   roland  and  casio.  roland   was  and  always  will be  way  over  priced.  casio  while  cheap... looked  like  something  most  guitar  players   didnt  want to use..

                 

                also  they all  had  there  own   area   of  emulation.   people  complained  about  playability  so they   came  out  with  the  300.  really not  much better.  then  the  600    and  now  the  700  which  people  ive  heard  from  say  is  pretty nice  but  there  really   isnt  much  difference    internals  wise   and   i believe  the  program   hasnt  changed.but the  guitar  has  improved playability  wise.

                 

                                    so they  brought in rich  renkin  to  head  up the  variax 2  project.

                 

                                the question  was put  over  and over  again   why not  sell  a  kit.    the  answer is  its  not  going  to happen

                 

                    i can  see there  point    they could  sell  a  kit  for    500 bucks   which  was the  figure  floating around  for  the   electronics  value  or   sell a  guitar for  ( i predict  2  grand)  i  believe  they  were  talking  about  another  maker  actually  building  the  guitars.  right  now  there  built in  indonesia i believe....

                 

                as far as  why wont they give any info  on the   new one  and  all the   secrecy.    1)  i think  there  still in  the  planning   and  debugging  stages  2) i think there  finally going  to  improve  the  programming   which  i believe  will require a new  main board  or  at  the  least  an  improved  one. so theres  developing  there  as well.

                 

                personally  i think  they should  have  come  out  with a  pedal   instead  of a  guitar  because  thats what  line 6 is good  at. but they want to be in the  guitar  market.

                 

                                          getting  back  to your  guitar  or the  one you had.  sounds like  you   either  had  a bad  truss   rod  or   were at the  end  of  ajustment.    if  it  was  the  first  they would  have   fixed  it  for  you   if  it was  the second  the  most common  fix  for it  would  have  been  to   remove  the  ajusting  nut    put in a  half  round  spacer  lube  the  nut  with  vasaline  to prevent  rust in the  future  and  make  ajusting  easier    and  reset the  neck.  i could  be  wrong  but  i dont  think  there  was  a  double  truss  rod  .  possibly   a  double  action   truss  rod.   the  company   i work for   was  making  parts  for  one   through  a  vendor  for  ovation.

                 

                btw  the  fix  i just mentioned  is  right out  of   a   luthiers  book  of  how  to  fix  and  setup  guitars . so its  common  practice .  ive  done  it  myself  before.  .

                 

                  im not  exactly  sure  what you were  trying  to get  but it sounds  like  lower  action   sometimes  on  acoustics  you have  to drop  the  saddle.  on the  acoustic  700   basicly   you have   kind of a  tunomatic  setup  it  could be   removed  and  shav e  the  back  to lower it .  not  for  the  avaeage  player  to do.   on the   300   its  a matter  of  just   sanding  the  bone  (plastic ) saddle....

                 

                  anyway   i think   if  it  was  a bad  truss rod  ( and  that  happens)  they  would  have  gladly  fixed  it  for you.

                 

                  i dont  think    that it  was a  gimmick  or  coincidence.   i believe  there  trying  to  make  the  best possible  guitar    but still keep it   in a   somewhat  affordable  price  range

                 

                to be  honest    when i bought  my  300   i had  no problem  with playability  (after  tweaking it.  )  i transplanted  it  the  first time  because  after  refinishing  the  body   it  started  cracking  at the  glue  joints.  this  was  my own  fault   because  of the  chemical  stripper  i  used.       so  for  fear  that at some  point  it  would  seperate   i just   put  it all in another  body.   but it  had  played  great   even  after   refinishing.

                 

                                           so  if your  still interested   in   the  current  model   id  give  it  another  try...  maybe  just  have a  pro  set it  up the  way  you  like  . not  to saay  you cant  do it   yourself  but      a  pro  will  find  any   problems  right  from  the  start.

                 

                 

                   sorry  bout  being  long  winded    i hope  this  helps.

                • Qwerty007 Just Startin'
                  Qwerty007
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                  Nov 2, 2009 9:21 PM (in response to amx05462)
                  Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

                  I did follow some of the Renkin post, but then the thread leads to a dead end. I'll confess to being a little confused about the history of model numbers. I thought the 600 was just an electric, and the 300 is the latest. So it may be I bought an earler version. I actually tried a 700 acoustic today, and it felt nice. There was your typical guitar shop set up with a bow and strings standing a foot off the neck. The bridge on the bottom strings looked almost flat i.e. as low as it could go. At the nut end, the strings seem quite elevated as well, and I didn't want to buy the thing and get home to find I had the same problem. Some guitars will do it, and some just won't, but I always start with a straight neck, and an even buzz accross all strings, then just raise the bridge until it's just tolerable. Since this is a modelling guitar is may be that buzz is eliminated anyway. Trouble is with all guitars, you can't really experiment too much, and if it doesn't work, ask for a refund. I've had to take my main axe to some pro set up guys, and show them low setups are possible. Other guitar players always tell me how easy my action is on the fingers. If Variax can get their Top E down to .04 (measuring from the bottom of the string to the top of the twelth fret), and botton E to .05, I'll go out and buy another. I use flat wounds (50 to 11) so string vibration is minimal.

                  • amx05462 Power User
                    amx05462
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                    Nov 2, 2009 10:39 PM (in response to Qwerty007)
                    Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

                    sounds  like the  way  i like  mine  set.    i find  i have  to do  a bit  of  a truss rod  tweak  now and  then  because  i keep the  action  so low..  ill teel ya  the  worse one i ever  bought  was  a  rickenbacker 325.   it  was  pretty  much unplayable  at the  store. its pretty nice now  though. sometimes  you have  to work  at  it  to get to the  final   good  setup.  ive  got  a  les paul im  working  with  right  now  . .  its being  stubborn  but  its  getting  there.  i  have  an sg  that took some  time  to get it to stay  where  i want  it . but  the  last  few  years  i can  tak e  it  right  out  the  case  and  play. even if  i havent  touched  it  for  months.

                     

                    i used  to have  an ols  hagstrom  12  string  that  neck  was  the  best  ive  ever seen   it  stayed  dead  flat  . id  pick  a  custom  set  from  individual  strings   you could  play  it  all  night.   i sold it  and  regretted  it  ever since.

                    i didnt make  anything on it  but i bought it  for a  song  so i   didnt  loose   financially.   to be  honest  i cant  find  anything  close  to it.   ive seen a  few  on  the  net  but  there  much  more  than im willing  to pay.

                     

                       the  thing  with line 6 is  that   they   base  there  guitar price  on  around $500  for  electronics.  and  the  rest of the  price  is the  guitar  so if  your  buying  a  $1000  your in effect  buying  a  $500  guitar  with $500 bucks  worth  of  electronics. thats  how  it  was  explaned  to us  in renkins  forum.

                     

                    so based  on that   using  a 600 electric   that lists for 799  at sweetwater.   your  getting  the  equivalent  of  a   squire  strat  or  a low  end  epiphone for the  actual  guitar.  i dont  know   what  the  acoustics   price  at. but   thats  how  they say  it  works.  thats  also  why i think  the  new  ones  have  to be  high  priced  or youll be  getting  more  of  the same.  this is  also  why  alot  of  people  want  to transplant.

                     

                      the  model number  to my  knowledge  are  like  this  500,300 600 700  electric   700 ,  705  bass  meaning  4  or 5  string   and  300, 700  acoustic/nylon.  i know  what you mean  about  typical  guitar shop setups.   most of those  guya   know   nothing  .  and  when you  go to  places  like  guitar center  most of the  people  there  are  bangers. / metal  players  who seem   to like  a  high  action.  i think  thats  becaus e  most of  them  are  running  there  guitars  so  distorted   and  effected  out to the  limit  that  they cant  hear  what it  really  sounds  like. also if  youve  never  played  a  guitar  with  a  real good  detup....well i guess  you dont  know  the  difference.

                     

                      so i guess  the  search  goes  on  for you.

                    • Qwerty007 Just Startin'
                      Qwerty007
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                      Nov 3, 2009 9:31 AM (in response to amx05462)
                      Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

                      I haven't given up on the 700, but I guess it's a case of finding one on ebay that goes for a good enough price, that it limits the loss if it turns out ot be a dud. There isn't anything else out there, that I am aware of that does the same thing. Do you know is there was an earlier version of the 700 acoustic? It may be that they have updated it since I bought it (about 3 years ago). What kind of music do you play?

  • gitarzan53 Just Startin'
    gitarzan53
    203 posts since
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    Nov 3, 2009 11:39 AM (in response to Qwerty007)
    Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

    Do you have some objection to taking to a luthier to get it set up properly? Any luthier worth his salt can probably set it up the way you want. It's hit or miss on guitars taken off the rack, some set up already, some not even close. It's up to the owner to have a tech set it up the way you want. I highly recommend that. If after you take it to a pro and they tell you the action can't be lower because the neck angle is wrong, that's a different story. That is going to be very rare though on a professionaly made guitar.

    • Qwerty007 Just Startin'
      Qwerty007
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      Nov 3, 2009 11:48 AM (in response to gitarzan53)
      Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

      Yes, I have been to many, many setup guys in my 40+ years as a player, but so many of them are doing basic, run of the mill, one size fits all work, where terms like tolerbale buzz are anthema. We're talking about enth degrees here, and most set up set up guys don't deal in enth degrees. It often boils down to being lucky with the guitar ...some guitars are more equal than others I guess.

      • amx05462 Power User
        amx05462
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        Nov 3, 2009 1:21 PM (in response to Qwerty007)
        Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

            mostly  blues  and  rock .  srv   clapton  beatles  ccr.   i believe  theres  only  the  current  700 model.  you may  just  have  gotten  a  bad  one.  i dont  see  many line 6  guitars  in   the  shops  around  here  but  maybe  if  you look around  someone   may have   another  one   to try  just to see  if   it  was  just a  bad  one  .

      • amx05462 Power User
        amx05462
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        Nov 3, 2009 1:30 PM (in response to Qwerty007)
        Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

        i have to agree  with  querty  on  his  setup  answer.  theres  alot  of  hack   setup  guys  out there .ive  had  many  a  guitar  and  have  never  got  a  setup  that i really  liked . thats  why i learned  to do it  myself.

         

          as  far  as   the  700   being  professionally   built.....  i was  told  the  electronics  were   worth  500 bucks   what does a  new  700 go for   subtract  the  500  thats  what you bought  guitar  wise.  1200 bucks  at  guitar center so you got  yourself  a  700 buck  guitar . there  should  be  no  flaws.  on the  other hand  when you compare  to  gibson   and  taylor  prices  to just  name  a  few  .  its  really  a  cheap  acoustic  in reality.

         

            what id  say  to do is  to get a  700  with good  electronics  off  ebay   and  get the  nice  acoustic  and  do a  transplant .  best   of  both   worlds.

         

        just  my  opinion.

  • zetec Just Startin'
    zetec
    6 posts since
    Jan 19, 2010
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    Jan 19, 2010 8:14 PM (in response to Qwerty007)
    Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

    A professional transplant should really enable you to have some protection if the electronics develops a fault during or afterward. Nobody can do that right now.

     

    I'm in the final stage of designing a kit to make customising your Variax easy and in a way which would take away most of the risk of voiding warranty etc.

    If it were built in the Line6 factory, then it would make it very easy for any of their sales/service centres to do a body swap to another style or colour or even a left-hand conversion.

    It would greatly improve your chance of walking into a guitar shop and walking out the same day with the combination of neck, body and bridge that you really want.

    So it could greatly reduce the need for transplants.

     

    Alternatively, I could make it so that the customers can do the transplant themselves or with minor assistance from a Luthier. I can't post any pics yet.  I'd like to show it to Line6 first when I'm in California in 2 weeks time.

    One way or another, I'll try to bring this all to light in a later posting so that I can fully answer the original question.

     

    Anyone out there from Line6 who will see me to view my solution and discuss this?

    • Qwerty007 Just Startin'
      Qwerty007
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      Jan 19, 2010 8:51 PM (in response to zetec)
      Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

      Sounds good. Keep us informed of how it all pans out. Good luck!

    • gitarzan53 Just Startin'
      gitarzan53
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      Jan 20, 2010 2:31 PM (in response to zetec)
      Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

      Hmmm...reduce the need for transplants? It sounds a little like you're talking about doing transplants. Which is it? If you're talking about some different way of doing transplants and want to get Line 6 on board, I wish you luck. It's been discussed ad nausem on this board, but the short story is...Line 6 isn't interested in making transplanting any easier. They don't want transplants done, period. If they did, they'd market their own plan, but they absolutely want no part of it. They want you to buy a variax and be happy with it, and that's that. If and when they come out with a variax 2, they're hoping it will be so good, no one will want to transplant. I do wish you luck though.

      • zetec Just Startin'
        zetec
        6 posts since
        Jan 19, 2010
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        Jan 20, 2010 3:47 PM (in response to gitarzan53)
        Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

        Hi Gitarzan

         

        maybe an analogy may help (although they always run out of steam at some point, so I won't take it too far...)

        enthuisiasts will always customise... their guitar, their computer, their car....

        But many (most) customers of cars and computers buy a product which is configured to suit them in the first place.

        If it's a car...  you can usually choose a model, engine size, colour, wheels even upholstery to suit your taste and order it ready made for you.

        Similarly, computers have an astounding array of options you choose to have set-up for you before you take delivery.

        Now contrast that with the electric Variax range... 2 models with only minor differences in shape and little or no choice of bridge or neck.

         

        In my view, as a minimum, you ought to be able to mix and match between models so that, you can choose any combination of:

        1. at least 2 very different body shapes (in a range of colourings of course)

        2. at least 3 different necks you want

        3. at least 3 different bridges (fixed, tremolo and locking/Floyd for example)

         

        This will bring Variax closer to the stunning range of options that can be set up for you when you buy a PRS guitar (or a Warmoth neck) for example.

         

        Now to make this really easy, my solution can put this ability in the hands of not only the factory, but potentially (at the whim of Line6) in the hands of trained sales and service centres, complete with a guarranty.  I stress this is a possibility, not a necessity of my modular design.

        This is not a new idea, but previous attempts were poorly executed, difficult, expensive and ugly. My solution has these attributes:

        1. no compromise in appearance... you can't tell from the outside that it is made in a modular way

        2. almost no compromise in produced cost, in fact, there may be an improvement in manufacturing efficiency due to each component being standard and assembled/tested separately without exposing the cosmetic parts to damage.

        3. easy to do...plug and play with a neck and a body and a bridge

         

        I have some stunning body designs for this.  I hope I get a chance to show them to Line6, as they are a natural compliment to the Variax.

         

        In any case, I hope I might improve the chance of guitar purchasers getting the new guitar they always wanted... without the need to throw the body and/or neck and bridge away and start again.

        • gitarzan53 Just Startin'
          gitarzan53
          203 posts since
          Apr 28, 2006
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          Jan 21, 2010 2:04 PM (in response to zetec)
          Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

          Ah...I see where you're going with this. I get the modular approach, and it's basically what Line 6 is doing now, but you're suggesting offering more choices, thereby reducing the need to transplant. Let us know how it goes. I'm actually very close to Line 6 (Agourra Hills is a short distance away). I'll send some vibes their way for you...

    • variaxlover Just Startin'
      variaxlover
      309 posts since
      May 19, 2007
      Currently Being Moderated
      Apr 1, 2010 10:40 PM (in response to zetec)
      Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

      Zetec, I was wondering what happened with your idea for a transplant kit.  You had said on January 19th that you were close to finalizing the design and that you planned to meet with Line 6 in February.  Two months later -- maybe it's time for a follow-up?  Thanks!

      • zetec Just Startin'
        zetec
        6 posts since
        Jan 19, 2010
        Currently Being Moderated
        Apr 7, 2010 8:03 PM (in response to variaxlover)
        Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

        Hi variaxlover,

         

        well 2 months is fairly short in the scheme of things... The long awaited JTV range is almost in everyones grasp now.....so it will be interesting to see what is wanted from a kit now.  I have my own thoughts and am making a prototype accordingly.  But I'm open to input... and this seems to be the right forum for it.  So how about it guys..  how about some opinions... for example:

        1. Do you think the JTV range will satisfy you personally, to the extent that you would not spend your hard-earned cash on a transplant anymore?

        2. If you would still choose to transplant, what are your reasons... do you want a "V" a "Tele" or some other common shape?  Or do you simply want a unique guitar?

        3. and would you bother with variax 1 electronics, or would you demand one of the latest versions of the electronics? (I think I know the answer)

         

        Personally, I really appreciate what Line6 have done with the JTV range.  It's very smart. But understandably, they cannot offer a myriad of different shapes and hardware choices to suit everyones taste.  So there will always be a (small) market for customization.  Line6 know what my solution for that is.  If you hear any more from me about it, then it means I have their support.  If not, then maybe you'll see it in some other forum (and form).  It's too good to keep quiet about forever.

        • amx05462 Power User
          amx05462
          3,579 posts since
          Sep 1, 2008
          Currently Being Moderated
          Apr 7, 2010 10:00 PM (in response to zetec)
          Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

          most of the transplants  have been  because     people  dont either  like the  body  neck or both.   so depending  on how  fussy    they are   and the  quality of the  new  one   will detremine  the   percentage  of transplants.  the cost  is  going to be  prohibitive  for buying a  new  one  buying  another  guitar to  put it all into as well. cost will be  prohibitive .  ofcourse  there will always be the  few  that  are in a position  where  money is  no object, but  for the  average  working  person  who  has to make there own  way........ they  will either  take the  package  as is  or   stick  with there  older  one.

           

          just my opinion.  speaking  for myself  i dont  se   an upgrade  in the  near  future. i have  bills  to pay  like  most do  and i have  plenty of guitars  already  .  and  the  main reason is  for what i want  to do  the 300  that i have  that is already suficiently transplanted  does  the  job....................

           

          so for  now  i think  there  will still be transplants  of   the  older  ones  but   very few  of the  newer  ones.

          • zetec Just Startin'
            zetec
            6 posts since
            Jan 19, 2010
            Currently Being Moderated
            Apr 8, 2010 5:31 PM (in response to amx05462)
            Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

            About the body and neck choices, anybody know a better source than Warmoth?

            They are a bit expensive though.  For example a bolt on neck+body combo will set you back $450 (more if you want it sprayed).

             

            Look here...un-finished variax-compatible bodies from $275:

            http://www.warmoth.com/Pages/CustomBody.aspx

            (scroll to bottom row of guitars to see the variax Tele and Strat types)

             

            plus from $175 for a neck (huge range to choose from..

            http://www.warmoth.com/pages/CustomNeck.aspx

             

            Anyone seen a cheaper kit?  If Cort or anyone really does have one for $150 (see one of the recent posts above) I would like to know about it.

             

            The kit that I am envisioning could accept the vast range of Warmoth (or other?) necks, as well as my own thru-neck types.  In either case, I'd supply the body (or body blank) and with vastly more customer selectable options and hardware type/position choices than Warmoth ever could. That's the really cool part. You will be able to pull the body off very simply without removing the electronics or wiring  and alter the body shape if you want to, before adding your own finishing touches. All the wiring will already be there.  If Line6 come to the party, it could come with brand-new electronics and controls already fitted and working... in essence, you'd be buying a custom Variax guitar with the ability to alter the body (if you want) without voiding the guitar-makers warranty.  How cool is that?  Of course, you could also transplant your own (used) Variax electronics instead.  This would still be far simpler than how people do it now.

        • gitarzan53 Just Startin'
          gitarzan53
          203 posts since
          Apr 28, 2006
          Currently Being Moderated
          Apr 8, 2010 11:49 AM (in response to zetec)
          Re: Anyone do transplants professionally?

          I think it's smart too, and hopefully successful. I want them to succeed because I believe in what they've done for the evolution of gear. Answers to your questions:

          1) and 2) I won't be purchasing a JTV in the foreseeable future. Too rich for my blood. I think different people have different reasons for transplanting. I did it simply because I wanted to try doing it. I was quite happy with my 500, except for the fact that it didn't have a trem. I couldn't see upgrading to a 600 or 700 because of their cost. When I looked at what other guys were doing with transplants and figured out how I was going to make mine into a trem bridge, it was just a matter of figuring out what I wanted to transplant it into. I wasn't about to mess with my strat, so I went for the cheapest thing I could find, with a design that I wanted: a kit. I wouldn't feel as bad messing up a $150 kit, than I would messing up my strat.

          For some people, it's the quality thing, or just wanting the vax guts in their favorite axe. I was doing it just to see if I could.

          3) I'm sure you know everyone wants the new guts. No question there.

           

          I'm hoping if they're successful enough with the JTVs that plans like yours will be looked at next....maybe a "custom shop" after that. Bringing in the bucks will open doors. We just don't know what those doors will be yet.

           

          Viva Variax!!

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