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Okay I finally got a hold of a tech at Line 6 who tells me that they do in fact have parts in stock for the Variax 300 - Great!

Trouble is I have to order them through a dealer or repair center which will take weeks instead of days to get.

Since line 6 takes their good old time to send anything out it will most likely take a month to get my guitar back up and running again.

I don't understand why a registered owner can't buy parts directly from them and cut out the freakin middle man who just slows delivery time down and adds to the cost.

And if not Line 6 should at least drop ship the parts to the end user like hundreds of other companies do everyday without any problem!

Unplugging the old board and plugging in the new one is not rocket science and doesn't take Einstein to figure it out.

I'm not leaving my guitar at some service center for weeks when I can do the job myself in half an hour start to finish.

 

I don't have a backup because I'm left-handed and Line 6 doesn't offer a left-handed guitar so I'm using a lefty guitar with the Variax guts transplanted.

 

What Line 6 should do is offer a version of the HD 500 with the variax unit in it.

That way a customer could use any guitar they own (as long as they have a piezo bridge installed with the proper required cabling) and wouldn't be stuck using any of those awful uninspiring Line 6 guitars.

Also us left-handers wouldn't be told to lollipop off as usual.

Surely you Line 6 Experts understand the situation at hand here - no need to talk down or insult any of us just because you don't agree with our opinions.

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The suggestion of an external box has been made many times. Also selling the electronics separately. So far Line 6 doesn't see this as the way to go. Look, they obviously have an interest in making guitars. There are great advantages to having the whole thing in the guitar. I would guess latency issues might be one. Fewer things to lug around is another nice controls for switching. And more I'm sure. They used to joke that the Variax 500 was the best way to ship the electronics. ;). Not true of course it was a fairly decent guitar. Had some quality issues but it was priced about right. Joking aside the JTV is a big evolutionary step, and I think things will continue to improve. Got to give them credit for this innovation. They deserve to be able to milk it.

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....

Trouble is I have to order them through a dealer or repair center which will take weeks instead of days to get.....

I guess it depends on your dealer/repair centre. I have ordered many Variax 300 parts at different times from my local parts distributor. They were always shipped express the next day. I always received them within 2 days.

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My JTV69S is not "awful uninspiring"!  It is awesome and very inspiring!

Flip it upside down and play it - then tell me how inspiring it is.

Also I'm use to playing well built Gibson, Fender, Gretsch and Carvin guitars.

Sorry but that JTV series of guitars just don't cut it for most people I know.

That's why so many people are buying up the old 300, 500 Variax guitars and transplanting them into decent guitars.

 

The suggestion of an external box has been made many times. Also selling the electronics separately. So far Line 6 doesn't see this as the way to go. Look, they obviously have an interest in making guitars. There are great advantages to having the whole thing in the guitar. I would guess latency issues might be one. Fewer things to lug around is another nice controls for switching. And more I'm sure. They used to joke that the Variax 500 was the best way to ship the electronics. ;). Not true of course it was a fairly decent guitar. Had some quality issues but it was priced about right. Joking aside the JTV is a big evolutionary step, and I think things will continue to improve. Got to give them credit for this innovation. They deserve to be able to milk it.

I'm not suggesting an external box.

I'm suggesting an HD 500 with the Variax system on board.

I don't use the controls on my Variax to change & store settings.

That's all done with my HD 500 so why not add it to a version of the HD 500 so people aren't forced to use a guitar they really don't like.

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I guess it depends on your dealer/repair centre. I have ordered many Variax 300 parts at different times from my local parts distributor. They were always shipped express the next day. I always received them within 2 days.

You are lucky silverhead.

I haven't had that happen to me yet when ordering Line 6 parts from my dealer.

I guess because they don't stock them - they have to order them from Line 6 and then ship them to me after they receive them.

That has always taken weeks.

The delivery time could be cut in half it they would drop ship them directly to me and let me pay the dealer.

I've been ordering stuff like that for years from all kinds of companies - large and small - Line 6 won't do it for some reason.

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Oh - I missed that part in your earlier post(s). I agree the Variax 300 playability left a lot to be desired. That's why I too transplanted Variax 300 electronic into a custom Warmoth build; that's why/when I was ordering the parts. I ended up with a superb guitar - that I almost never play now since I got my Korean JTV-59. It's every bit as playable as the Warmoth, sounds even better with V2.0 firmware, and is more flexible with the alternate tunings available on all models. It inspires me.

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Oh - I missed that part in your earlier post(s). I agree the Variax 300 playability left a lot to be desired. That's why I too transplanted Variax 300 electronic into a custom Warmoth build; that's why/when I was ordering the parts. I ended up with a superb guitar - that I almost never play now since I got my Korean JTV-59. It's every bit as playable as the Warmoth, sounds even better with V2.0 firmware, and is more flexible with the alternate tunings available on all models. It inspires me.

They don't make a left-handed version most likely because the Variax is not a big seller and it wouldn't be worth it to them to make a left-handed model.

I understand that which is why I suggested an HD 500 type model with the Variax boards installed.

After all the whole concept of both the Variax & HD 500 is "modelling" so why not combine the two - personally I think it would be a big seller.

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So....  Jumping into this topic..  It does seem like Line6 puts a lot more effort into developing and marketing new products than supporting old.  Add to that their announcement that they would no longer offer technical support for "legacy" gear after the first of the year... 

 

I think one or two too many beers have been spilt into my Variax 500's footswitch...  I would love to buy a repalcdement but....  No joy.  I suppose I could just get an inline A/B switch and buy stock in Duracell batteries but I sure would like to just buy a replacement.  Line6 has not been much help.  They would really like to sell me a new guitar though...

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I think one or two too many beers have been spilt into my Variax 500's footswitch...  I would love to buy a repalcdement but....  No joy.  I suppose I could just get an inline A/B switch and buy stock in Duracell batteries but I sure would like to just buy a replacement.  Line6 has not been much help.  They would really like to sell me a new guitar though...

 

Are you talking about the A/B footswitch? You can buy those directly from Line 6 here: https://www.globalfulfillment.net/gfsnet/line6/10Expand.aspx?ProductCode=98-034-0105

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  • 4 months later...

highly doubtful, because otherwise there would be a way to crossflash the firmware.

and there isn't to my knowledge.

 

Thanks for sharing this Bluesman. Sorry it's too late for you. My question would be, does this fit the Variax electric 700 or acoustic 700? Anyway, shared this on ION. Knew someone there will be interested.

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