jerseyboy

Myself and probably many users find good guitar model sounds which “work†for us at various times/places. Electric guitars have been “lo-fi†for as long as I’ve been playing them so I fail to see much relevance in plugging into a full range sound system for comparison? I compare while running into good guitar amp. Amp modeling is great but I find a juicy swirling tube rig still delivers more goodness to my soul. Add the usual pedals with this setup I find very little to complain about Variax guitar modeling. In fact, the lack of hum/noise and wide range of guitar model convenience almost always outweighs any “perceived†loss of tonal quality compared to mag based rigs.

Long time user new poster. I've always enjoyed Vax acoustic models but they're only gonna sound "right" if you use full range amplification. A guitar amp/speaker colors the acoustic sound too much and simply doesn't sound good in most cases. I sometimes do gigs where I only have a guitar amp backline and for those situations it would be better to have modeled piezo bridge pickup acoustic samples available. In other words, like Fishman/Baggs pickups modeled for an acoustic patch or two? Those systems tend to sound like the industry accepted sound through guitar amps unlike the microphone modeled tones of the Vax.

Luckily, I’ve got elite FF (frequent flyer) status and usually have no issues stuffing acoustic guitar semi-hard case (sometimes electric/variax gig bag) in overhead or vertical closet with FA (flight attendant) permission. More often, Variax rides in Pelican ATA roller case checked in cargo hold. Main question: "is that a firearm?" LOL... BUT remember to remove any battery packs and that includes legacy Variax with Alkaline bricks or JVT’s with Lithium pack. I even printed a page slipped under strings for TSA which reads “NO BATTERIESâ€, please latch case carefully… I also do this for my pedal board which doesn’t normally carry batteries installed in most pedals but every once in a while I forget a 9V or something that got left in a pedal while testing, etc. I don’t think TSA’s too hard core about small Alkaline cells but I don’t give them any reason to tear into my gear when checked through to destinations. All my battery packs including Alkaline travel as carry on inside an RC Lipo fire-resistant charging bag. Tape or plugs over any bare metal contacts. At most airports best to take them out of your carry on bag and place them in a tub for Xray screening. TSA allows unlimited number of Lithium chemistry in carry on luggage IF each pack is less than 100Wh. Multiply V x Ah to determine Wh.

I have both Optek and Variax guitars but not combined. This is cool and very well done....

1st post but whenever this happens on Variax or similar bridge guitars, two words: "paper clip"