Bob2point0

Ha. This thread does have that creepy/scary vibe to it now that I think about it. Looking at mine, I just wonder how one of those rotating humbuckers like Lindsey Buckingham uses in his Turner guitars would sound in a 700.

As I've been enjoying the whole process of playing and learning about my Variax Acoustic 700, (special thanks to those here who are helping me do that) I've read about people who are putting the guts of their Variax's into electric guitars. The idea makes me cringe, but it did make me wonder where the hollowed out husks of these donor guitars go to. As much as I like the balance and feel of the acoustic 700, I think it might be fun to do the opposite and take a guitar that has been gutted out and transplant the heart of an an electric into it. I've got a box of pickups left over from old repairs and upgrades, including a sweet PAF that might sound pretty good in one of these. Does anyone here have a body hidden away somewhere?

Hi Soundog, I downloaded workbench and I've found a USB interphase online, but before I pull the trigger, I wonder if you could point me to somewhere that shows what all I can wring out of the VaxAc700. A search online shows that I can apply different tunings to different positions on the knob (replacing a Banjo with an alternate tuned Jumbo), but what other advantages/capabilities have you been able to get out of it? My hands are full already with what the guitar can do at the default settings! :) Bob

Thanks for the help Soundog and Psarkissian. With your links, Soundog, I was able to get it to work on my Mac. Now I just need the USB interphase. :) l'll be looking for one of those as soon as I send this message. :) In other news, my kids, who have been playing for years, couldn't put the VaxAC700 down when they came over last night. I've got the tone pretty well dialed in with my system, and they just couldn't get over how great they sounded playing it. I've got a great collection of guitars... including a older Les Paul and Martin D15, along with a Strat, Dean, and even a handmade boutique acoustic, but they just wanted to play the Variax. What a great guitar. Now the kids are on ebay, craigslist and reverb.com looking for one of their own. Having said all of that, do you have any idea on why they were discontinued after such a short run Psarkissian? (That is if you are allowed to say.) I see how the tech advanced into the electrics, but the acoustic look and vibe of the VaxAC700 is just too cool. Any plans on reviving it?

Thanks for the info on the age of my guitar, Psarkissian! It's too bad they don't have production numbers available just so we could know just how rare or not rare these are. I'm guessing that to discontinue them in 2010, after only a six year run, and no upgraded versions since, they must not have done that well. I get that I guess as acoustic players also need to play in intimate settings and have a thing for organic sounds. I bought mine specifically for live use in a bigger situation so I'm completely happy. I love the look of it, the construction and the versatility. I'll gig with my Variax and save my Martin for dates and campfire singalongs. :) As long as I have your attention, I am curious about the Workbench software. I saw that there was a version that works with my guitar, but when I tried to install it on my Mac, it said it needed OS 10.3. That's weird cuz I'm running 10.13. What do I do there? Thanks again!

Hi Soundog. Thanks for the reply. I may buy a few of those piezo's just to make sure I have one on hand. I think I saw that someone had a replacement board for sale for $157 too. Might not be a bad investment just to be sure, although yours is a good testimony for how well built they are. I would really like to know more history on the guitar too and wish Line6 was a little more forthcoming about it. I'd love to know when it was made and how many there are and why nothing like it is really available right now in an acoustic-look. It's fun looking for that kind of info and running into other owners. Thanks again for the response and advice. Bob

Hi, I am new here and don't know my way around just yet so forgive me if I'm asking questions already answered elsewhere. I recently bought the discontinued Variax 700 off of Reverb.com and I'm curious to know more about it from other owners. How many of them were made? Is there any way I can discover when mine was built? Are there ways to update the software? Is there a source of parts for it if I should need something? I actually brought one when they first came out, and despite loving a lot about it, I sold it once buyers remorse combined with the resonance-vs-amplified conflict that was pretty evident in a small setting. I was really into alternative tunings at the time, so this became a bust for me. Today I'm playing a bigger venue through a legit P.A. making me want the versatility of my old axe. I'm more interested today in the different voices it has anyway, so instead of that being the frosting on the cake, now it's the tunings that are the secondary issue. I'm a little scared of the guitar as it is packed with so much apparently unsupported tech, but for $425, I don't have a lot into it. If the electronics ever do give out, I can probably drop an LR Baggs M1 in there or Black Angel to keep it playing. Has anyone ever done that? I wonder how it would sound. Anyway, I'm just excited to have one again and would like to chat with others who know something about it and dig it like I do. Bob