clay-man

A physical capo changes the notes when playing strings open. The Variax capo is just a name they gave their pitch shifting alt tuning functionality because you can move it easily like a capo. The thing with the Variax capo and alt tunings is that it doesn't change just the open notes, but it retunes the strings digitally. This means that all the frets will play up or down according to the pitch you set it to play. Example: say you fret the 5th on the fat E. That's an A note. fret the 5th on the fat E with a capo on the 3rd fret. It's still an A. Now, fret the 5th on the fat E when you "capo'd" it in variax 3 frets up. You play a C note now. You get it? Your request is impossible.If you want to do what that spider capo does, get the spider capo.

I set up the neck relief as much I can in the past and it still buzzes on the high frets on low action.

You might need to get this serviced. I think there's ways to replace the pot yourself, but that requires soldering skills, unless it's one of those new pluggable pots. It also requires care when disassembling the guitar.

It's a win lose situation to me. I hope they continue the JTV branch. I don't want to buy a crap guitar with good electronics in it. It's what a lot of people wanted, a good Variax.

Raised action for 0 buzz, still warble when doing pull offs. Putting it back since it didn't help. Damn, now I have to set up the intonation a bit. Am I doing something wrong if it's not in a 3-3 slope like most saddles are?

It happens on most frets above the 12th fret when on any alt tuning. Pulling off will result in a huge warble sound that sounds like a ringing noise than a note. The only way to get around this is to pick instead of do a pull off, or do the pull off in a certain way, like pulling off harder or softer than the previous note I picked. I have my action a little low, and there is a bit of buzz, very minimal though and unhearable plugged in. I need this for barre chords and for "shredding". There is a time where if I don't upgrade to a JTV now, I think I'll send this into a service tech. Not right now though.

It's my 600, ergo there is no mag pickups. The whole reason I'm asking if the JTV does this is to know what I'm getting when I upgrade to a JTV. That's why I wanted an answer so much. There's a big gap between the old Variax and the HD firmware. They should have enough time to fix this pull off warble that I'm getting. I've had people argue that it's not there, at least not like mine, and that's all I want. If it did warble still, then that's bad, but I'm sure I could work around it. It's just, it's not good for solos, I do a lot of speed playing with hammer ons and pull offs so it'll show up. It's just something I wanted to ask because I believe I have the right to know. I love the Variax, I always will, but the whole point of this question is that maybe one day when I get a JTV I won't have to deal with this anymore, you know?

If the world was perfect, I'd like a Variax with a 5 way tele, a strat tremolo, maple fretboard and a Butterscotch body. Maybe one day, but I'll always have time to appreciate these beautiful transplants.

Holy crap.

Then why make a new set of guitars? Will the JTVs be discontinued? So much for that deal with James Tyler. The only way I'll like this is if the guitars play just as great and are less expensive without the Tyler name. Also, of course, they have to look good. How about that Telecaster model, huh? Yeah.

Keep in mind that this topic is old. I've since fixed the problem. I did have a string break on my E but that's because I kept detuning it as well as stretching it hard, so that's to be expected. The action was too high and it choked the strings making them break overtime. Using Elixir 10's polyweb.

I'd kill for a discount 69s maple guitar, but man, that nut issue. I should look at those musician friends and sweetwater return deals. I really hope that the Yamaha thing wont damage them though. I think it's a bit of a downgrade if they switch their guitars. I don't know if they can end their deal with James Tyler, but I think it's a bad idea if they do. One of the biggest appeals to the JTV is the fine craft that the guitar is, but hopefully the Yamahas are decent as well. As much as I love my 600, and how well it plays to all my other guitars, I want my DREAM guitar to play like a god. I want that action as low as I can get it. I want the tuning stability godlike after I use bends 3-4 semitones high and shake the hell out of the tem. I want the dream electronics to be in a dream guitar. The ultimate army knife. It's one of the things other things that the Variax has over all the other modeling guitars. Not only does it have monstrously amazing modeling, but it's one hell of a guitar physically too.

I hope you didn't level the single coils with the humbuckers. That's part of the sound, the fact that a lp is louder than a strat, and such.

This sounds scary.

Can I please get an answer? I don't know why noone can answer this, all you need to do is turn on an alt tuning and do a few pull offs above the 12th fret.

I'm asking if there is any noise when changing pickups with a VDI. There is when I'm using my XPS unit to power my Variax, but not when I use batteries.

Any noticeable quirks using VDI over the batteries? Like I've stated, I get annoying click noises when switching pickups, and other stuff. Honestly, this doesn't help, but I also think my power supply is taking a dump. It keeps making noises out of the blue on random days regardless if there's a variax plugged in.

Only global. Funny thing you mention the sitar. If you turn down the string volumes, the drone effect on the string will be less, sounding more like a normal guitar. The string volume works as a preamp to the modeling, so you must have a decent level on the strings to make the modeling sound nice.

So, pitch shifting/alt tuning has obviously been changed from 1.9 to 2.0. Alt tuning up no longer sounds nasally, making capo simulation and 12 strings sound 10 times better. One of the biggest problems I have with my Variax 600 is warble when pulling off above the 12th fret in an alternate tuning. Want an example? http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/21663288/Music/warble.mp3 So, is this fixed in the new firmware?

This is the problem with used ones on the internet, you can't tell if it has the problem or not. 1.4k is INSANELY expensive though, but it's either that or risk getting a crap setup guitar.

Yikes. Also what do you mean 1996? You mean 2006?

I like maple. It feels smoother, easier to slide on, it looks amazing. What would cause a slip anyways? Just doing a lot of vibratos? Usually the top 3 go down, the bottom 3 go up when doing it so it shouldn't slip off.

Not bad. Not as nice as 12 hours on a JTV, but still very decent if you're using rechargeable.

What's the average battery life? Also what's the behavior when they die? Mine was that the guitar just cuts out. You can plug it back in and it'll go again for a few seconds then it shuts off again. Awkwardly enough it's enough to power the workbench dongle still when it (the guitar) won't turn on. Sounds a lot better too, in the sense that I don't get extremely annoying electrical crackling when I move the cable or change the pickup.

My variax fell out of my guitar stand once and there's been a few weird quirks in it ever since. G string warbles in alt tunings. A and G strings quack when playing hard in alt tunings until I turned down the string volumes. It's still very usable. What I'm saying is that I'm glad yours is still fine in functioning.