clay-man

Someone said they used some type of acoustic sensors. I'm not sure exactly how it would work but if it's any technology that analyzes the frequency response and characteristics of those guitars and forms them into IRs then it's doing closely what a Kemper would be doing to an amp.

Elixirs have coating on them so the string is a little thicker than normal. Eliminate all fret buzz if you can.

Yes, but even then, the string edge distance is still incredibly small compared to every other guitar I've played. It would help if the frets were very steep on the edges instead of having the slopes they have.

I mean fret buzz.

Kind of the problem I have right now but yours sounds worse. Is there buzz on that string?

Sorry. You're right. If it's fine when it's flashing then there's something wrong in the firmware. OP: When did this start happening?

A modeler uses more studying what they're replicating and then applying that info to program something to sound like what they're recreating. A profiler uses less of the person gathering info, and the data gathering is more left to the processor through algorithms and convolution techniques instead of someone studying the thing they're recreating and then making the data themself. So, since the Variax is highly suspected to be using convolution and sensory techniques to capture algorithms of pickup and body frequency responses, wouldn't the Variax be more of a profiler than a modeler? In theory, it's using closely the same techniques as a Kemper would go through. What do you guys think?

Dead piezos.

That's not a really fair comparison. It's like comparing a literal clone to a copy. Modeling is more studying and gathering info of what you're replicating and then applying that information through digital audio functions, while Profiling is taking that exact information and using techniques that will recreate the sound almost exactly minus any flaws the technique itself might have. The Kemper will obviously beat the POD in that sense, but for 500, a POD is great.

Using a delay to make the right or left speaker come 5-20 milliseconds later than the other speaker usually is a nice way for artificial double tracking. It's great live, but if you're using it to record, just do real double tracking. It'll always sound 10 times better than faking it.

I don't think it's just that, as many of us have had a Variax without the plink issue. I'm sure that the E string is more prone to getting this problem because of it's gauge, but obviously if this was normal, Line 6 would of worked around this in the first place in the modeling engine. If you have plinking in your Variax, you HAVE a problem. My first Variax had 0 plinking, NONE. It sounded like heaven. Obviously they need to hunt down what causes this and stop it from being such a common problem. I'm 99% sure it has to do with the piezo sensitivity, and they need to make their piezos more consistent.

Variax guitar is worth it when you get a proper one.

E string plinkage. Make sure the E string sounds consistent with the other strings and doesn't have a harsher plinky sounding attack when palm muting or playing normally. Make sure the modelling actually works as well of course. Pretty much all of Darrel's points.

My 600 honestly plays incredibly, it just needs a fret job to get rid of the buzzing. It doesn't really show up on the modeling though.

How different are the 69 and 69s? I have the 69s. It feels nice, just don't like the space given to the E strings and the edge. I like a bigger buffer so I can push the strings a bit without worrying about it going off the edge.

I like the neck other than how close the E strings are to the edges.

It might be a step up for everyone who hates the 69 neck.

I already knew that my palm is the cause of crosstalk when I made this thread, I just thought that it wasn't as bad on my 600 because I literally, NEVER realized this happened until I got my 69s. Drop D sounds worse than any other Drop tuning, most likely because all the other strings aren't pitch shifted so it causes some type of resonance thing going on. Other than that, the only crosstalk I really ever heard was just some harmonic overtones that mix well with the other strings so it doesn't even matter. It does matter when it sounds like 2 notes are being played at the same time when I'm trying to play 1, especially when it sounds so out of harmony.

The 69s is a nice guitar disregarding modeling. I love the option to have magnetic pickups with the Variax.

Tried lowering the volume, did nothing. The clankyness of the E string is very noticable when playing riffs that interchange between the E and A string a lot. The E string on the Lester model sounds like an awkward single coil, and the single coils are ear piercing. I don't know how the palm muting is better than the open strings, but even then, the plinking noise is definitely there, and it gets worse with high treble high gain stuff. I know about the "high gain and treble is going to make it more pronounced" but the problem is that this shouldn't happen regardless. Discussing swapping the guitar again, otherwise I might have to do a refund and try getting one again later.

It's strange because it seems like palm muting isn't a problem, but non palm muted notes on the E string are. It sounds like a nasally droning sound. The E string just sounds more nasally in attack than the other strings which sound fat and smooth compared to the E string. I did put an elixir string on so maybe it's just new sounding string vs old d'dario strings. When I get back my order of Elixir strings should be in and I'll see if changing the set makes it more consistent, but if not, I might reconsider swapping for another guitar. Some amp settings sound great, others make it really pronounced, but lowing presence and treble makes the rest of the strings sound dull, so I'm not sure what to do.

The Variax needs hexaphonic pickups so it can work with each string individually. It's both for modeling purposes and for alt tuning purposes.

Wouldn't the acoustic vibrations cause a lot of problems with the pickups? Also, it would sound off since you're using Bronze strings instead of Steel. I put acoustic strings on my Variax 600 for s***s and giggles and the electrics were unusable, but the acoustics actually sounded better.

Well, the plinking noise makes palm muting riffs unusable, luckily the amount of plink on my guitar is very minuscule you can't really tell unless you concentrate on the sound. It gets worse when you put the presence and treble high but it's fine. Like I said, it's a lot better than my 600. As for the 12 strings, I agree that warble can be annoying. I don't like the warble I get using alt tunings and doing hammer ons and pull offs. I might need to adjust my neck relief as there is some buzz on some frets though. The fret buzz might be attributing to the plinking noise as well, because sometimes if I play a bit differently the plinking noise is virtually not even there.

On the topic of the E string plink thing, I tried a 42 gauge string and it got worse. I switched back to 48 and it sounded better. More bass to the note. Basically, my guitar has it very very, very subtly. When I put the 42 on I think the real note became less loud and the plinking noise became more audible. Personally, I liked the previous guitar I had's E string sound better, but I can live with my guitar. It sounds a lot better than my 600 which has it pretty badly, and even had it worse before until I swapped an older piezo into the E string (strange huh? I really do think it's an oversensitive piezo causing the plinking noise) In summary, I can't confirm whether or not moving up in gauge will keep making a difference, but a 46 gauge string will overpower the plinking noise and a 42 gauge string makes the plinking noise come up clearer because of the lack of bass in the string. I think the 12 string sounds were improved a little bit, but pitching up does sound nasally still. What they need to do is add more timbre preservation to the pitch shifting algorithm, which is strange because tuning down sounds remarkably great.