gstew Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Got to say I am very pleased with this instrument. Never bought a mail order guitar before but I do trust Yamaha. I worked for Warmoth Guitar Products for 9 years so I have experience with guitar parts and specs. So far I can tell you that the nut width on mine is 1 5/8" and the string spacing at the bridge from E to E is 2 1/16". The neck back profile is basically a Warmoth Standard thin, or pretty close to an American Standard Strat. The fingerboard radius is probably about an 11"...can't find my gages to tell for sure. The string nut is cut very well. The frets are level with no fret buzz. The pickup pole pieces are staggered. I get a pretty balanced output between the magnetic pickup system and the modeling system when I switch between them. Using the regular pickups, it really sounds and plays pretty much like an American Standard Strat to me. Mother of Pearl face dots. The frets look to be like a 6105 size. Glad they are not tiny like a vintage fret. The body appears to be made from 4 pieces of Alder. The finish on the body is top notch. The finish on the back of the neck is a thin satin. It stays in tune great so far...can't believe the intonation is dead on. Me and this guitar are going to do some great stuff together starting with a band gig in the park this Saturday. I just bought a POD hd500x too. So that's my whole guitar rig, and a couple of QSC K10 speakers if I need them. Scrambling to get some patches put together by Saturday now. I'll have more to add to this thread come Sunday. I'm pretty stoked about what I will be able to do with this system. My first line 6 products and very pleased with both! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocco_Crocco Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Nice! Congratulations and enjoy your new guitar :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_Watt Posted June 25, 2015 Share Posted June 25, 2015 Super! Glad to hear they are finally getting into people's hands after all of the waiting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gstew Posted June 28, 2015 Author Share Posted June 28, 2015 Amazing gig with the new rig. Sounded killer in the bedroom then took it on a big outdoor stage..... same killer sound as I programmed. So there you go. I have played a lot of gigs...A LOT of gigs over the last 35 years. I've had about every amp set up you could have...except Mesa....(just not a Mesa guy), and I got to say, this Variax Standard and HD500x cranks out whatever you want dependant mostly on your own ear. If you have a good ear, you have all the technolgy here to get you just about everything you want.One helluva of a thank you needs to go out to Line 6 & Yamaha! Sweet technology guys! And now Helix? Lol..OK, keep it coming! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gstew Posted June 30, 2015 Author Share Posted June 30, 2015 Here's a video from Saturday's gig. My first try at using the Variax Standard and Pod hd500x live through a pair of QSC K10 speakers. It was a great experience and tone was amazing... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP_omaPhFGc&feature=youtu.be 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billlorentzen Posted June 30, 2015 Share Posted June 30, 2015 Sounds great! I noticed you were micing the cabinet. I use Yamaha powered cabs for stage monitoring, but run a signal direct to the house. You will get better fidelity that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gstew Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 Yeah, that was the plan to go direct. Thought I would just run a line off one of my QSC K10s. But when I did that the QSCs would shut off. I only had a couple of minutes to get going and I didn't know if I could run both an XLR and a 1/4" line out of my hd500x at the same time. The sound guys said let's just mic it so that's how it went. So now I have two things to investigate: does the hd500x support a simultaneous line out 1/4" mono and low-z (left), and what was up with my QSCs not just passing the signal along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clay-man Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 This is where we find out the standards are actually better than the 69 guitars, haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_Watt Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 You can use both the XLR's and the 1/4 outs at the same time if you want to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gstew Posted July 1, 2015 Author Share Posted July 1, 2015 You can use both the XLR's and the 1/4 outs at the same time if you want to. Ah, great! Thanks Charlie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topaz Posted July 1, 2015 Share Posted July 1, 2015 This is where we find out the standards are actually better than the 69 guitars, haha. lol, right. think i would've not got the 69 had i known this neck was 'better' 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdmayfield Posted July 7, 2015 Share Posted July 7, 2015 Yeah, that was the plan to go direct. Thought I would just run a line off one of my QSC K10s. But when I did that the QSCs would shut off. I only had a couple of minutes to get going and I didn't know if I could run both an XLR and a 1/4" line out of my hd500x at the same time. The sound guys said let's just mic it so that's how it went. So now I have two things to investigate: does the hd500x support a simultaneous line out 1/4" mono and low-z (left), and what was up with my QSCs not just passing the signal along. I've seen this before with my K8. It seems to happen when the board has Phantom Power enabled, so I actually connect the Pod HD500's 1/4" out (which mixes to mono) to a DI box, send the DI's XLR out to the board, and run the 1/4" THRU from the DI to the powered speaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gstew Posted July 8, 2015 Author Share Posted July 8, 2015 Thanks mdmayfield, I had thought about the 48v phantom power as a likely disrupter. I like your DI solution. I have a whirlwind passive DI box...but I also do have one more availble rack space in my pedal board rack (SKB PS-100). I'll look for a single space rack DI. And maybe a good one would boost the hd500x signal higher to my K10s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radatats Posted July 8, 2015 Share Posted July 8, 2015 make sure you have the K10's set right for the POD output. If using the XLR out from the POD, set the K10 to mic, if using the 1/4 out set the K10 to line. Should sort your weak signal problem. You can send the 1/4 outs to the K10's and the XLR outs to the board as well. Just be aware that the XLR does not sum to mono like the 1/4 outs if only using one. In that case you will want to center your mixer block in the POD or use a mono FX block last in the chain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gstew Posted July 9, 2015 Author Share Posted July 9, 2015 Just be aware that the XLR does not sum to mono like the 1/4 outs if only using one. In that case you will want to center your mixer block in the POD or use a mono FX block last in the chain. Oh wow.....OK, got it. I haven't got to study the mixer block yet and learn about it's benefits and options, but I know panning is one now. I'm never going to use a stereo mix, too bad I cannot just globally sum left and right XLRs. Thank radatats, great info for me. I got another gig in 3 weeks, and a rotten house subfloor has my gear pushed aside for construction tools when I REALLY need to get my issues worked out on this new pedal board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinon2 Posted July 9, 2015 Share Posted July 9, 2015 lol, right. think i would've not got the 69 had i known this neck was 'better' Well...so far it's sample size of one, lol. "They have not yet begun to b1tch"... :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gstew Posted August 4, 2015 Author Share Posted August 4, 2015 One manufacturing suggestion I would like to offer Line 6 on the Standard is for them to move the high E & B string retainer on the face of the peghead closer to the nut. The break angle for these strings, (especially the E) within the nut slots is not sufficient to produce a clear open string note. Moving that string retainer closer to the nut would increase the downward pressure within each of the the E & B slots and alleviate the problem. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinon2 Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 One manufacturing suggestion I would like to offer Line 6 on the Standard is for them to move the high E & B string retainer on the face of the peghead closer to the nut. The break angle for these strings, (especially the E) within the nut slots is not sufficient to produce a clear open string note. Moving that string retainer closer to the nut would increase the downward pressure within each of the the E & B slots and alleviate the problem. :) On the bright side, for five bucks you can put a new string tree in the right place yourself...though I'm not sure why this sort of design issue continues to be a problem. String trees on Strat-style guitars are not exactly a new concept... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gstew Posted August 4, 2015 Author Share Posted August 4, 2015 Yeah, it's an easy fix. Better for tuning to move the existing string tree than add another one with an added surface that the string needs to glide on, so not even $5. But, that leaves an empty hole in the pegface. Not a major but just something Line 6 can remedy from the start if the right person there sees this post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisinon2 Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 Yeah, it's an easy fix. Better for tuning to move the existing string tree than add another one with an added surface that the string needs to glide on, so not even $5. But, that leaves an empty hole in the pegface. The right color wood filler, and a little sanding and it will be almost unnoticeable. Shouldn't have to do any of that, but at least it's doable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainRiff Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 I too received my Line 6 Variax Standard in Tobacco Sunburst only recently . Unfortunately I must of got one of the ones rushed out of the door to meet current demand. When I finally married up my Variax / X3 Live / L2m I finally started to hear some of the sounds coming together and this put a big smile on my face, however there are issues with the guitar... 1) Intonation - my intonation was vastly sharp at the 12th fret and I have had to remove the 6x springs from the bridge in order to get close to the correct intonation . 2) Tuners - this guitar will not stay in tune for more than 10 mins and I am not playing any differently than on any of my other guitars . Do I need to replace the tuners on my brand new guitar in order to get a guitar that is reliable ? :( . This is particularily annoying as I have a show to play for at the end of the month and to be constantly worrying about my tuning is something I could do without . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_Watt Posted November 4, 2015 Share Posted November 4, 2015 Something is out of whack if you had to adjust the bridge so much that you had to remove the springs. I would send it back. It should stay in tune as well as any other guitar with a floating bridge. Locking tuners are an improvement (standard with the JTV 69) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gstew Posted January 10, 2016 Author Share Posted January 10, 2016 CaptianRiff, I had to remove the spring behind the bridge saddle on a Fender years ago for the same reason. All guitars are a bit out whack, some more than others. It didn't bother me about the spring as long as it fixed the intonation. Locking tuners do help tuning stability and I plan on adding them to my guitar though I am not having much of an issue on mine. Planet Waves are my favorite because of the fine turning ratio and the fact they automatically cut off the string really nice. Have to check what that the tuner hole size is in the Standard.....anyone out there already know? If you have changed string set gauge to a larger size than stock, then the slots in your string nut maybe too tight and may be binding the string from a smooth travel across it. The latest things I've done on my Standard is move the E/B string tree closer to the string nut, and I did a fret level. The fourteenth and eighth fret were a bit high so I couldn't get my string action as low as I wanted without buzzing. A lot better now. The Standard is a built to historically well used specs and materials. A remedy to quirky tuning issues should just be a tweak or two away. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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