Thank you for the sympathy Guitarkyller and the offer and information psarkissian. I opened a ticket and I'll see where that goes. I'm also watching youtube videos on soldering on a new pizeo. It looks possible - but my bad luck says I'll frack it up. Or worse, that's not the real problem (though it sure seems like it is).
I'm a hobbyist who enjoys sound. I'll never have the money to buy 3 billion guitars, and a lot of my fave artists use alternate tunings and/or have a wide range of kit that they play with. I bought the Variax and the Pod HD500x precisely to spend a ton (for my relatively tame budget) so that I wouldn't have to spend a TON in the future.
When you first use the Variax, combined with the pod, honestly, it's amazing how powerful it feels. It really does wow with its sense of possibilities. I have to say that's been awesome. However, the fear is obvious, the failure rates. The more complex something is, the more likely it gums up. I've bought a few traditional guitars and they never need much of anything (I know some people tweak their rigs endlessly - that's just not my gig) which is a HUGE plus for a traditional guitar.
If the long term failure rate of my Variax is high that will definitely bring down the joy I can get from it. If this is the only time it ever borks, hopefully I'll be loving it again real soon. Fingers crossed it's a one and done repair. We'll see!