jgunter Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 This has been a fun guitar to modify. This morning I added a little headphone amp I had laying around. The amp is a Ministar Scamp with clean and overdrive. Here's some instructions and pictures of the installation in case anyone else wants to do the same. 1) Unscrew & remove the Variax's back cover. 2) Unscrew & gently slide out the Variax's jack assembly & wiring. 3) Locate the amp as centered between the 2 mounting holes on the Variax's back cover. That's the best place for clearing the electronics board. 4) Trim the Variax back cover to fit the amp. I used a Dremel tool. 5) Remove the amp's back cover. This will give additional clearance over the circuit board. 6) Run the amp wire through the cavity to the jack assembly 7) Solder the amp leads to the jack circuit board locations as shown in the picture. 7) Gently slide the jack assembly back in & screw it down. 8) Fit the amp through the hole in the Variax's back cover & screw the Variax cover down. 9) Move any wires out of the way to fit the amp. 10) Locate and & screw down the amp. Note: For clearance, make sure the back cover from the amp is removed and there are no wires under the amp. If you don't do those 2 things, it puts pressure on everything when tightening the screws. To operate: Simply plug your headphones in to the amp's headphone jack and turn it on. If you want to hear the Variax models, you'll need to plug something into the 1/4" jack on the guitar. I just use the end from a 1/4" cable. EDITED for installation instructions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clay-man Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 How does that work? An extra output or does it replace the original? If it's the latter, how do you get a bypassed tone? Did you say you screw back the cover? Because I'd freak the lollipop out if I had to go around with my guitar's electronics cavity open all the time, you could end up shorting your guitar if something gets in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_Watt Posted July 16, 2016 Share Posted July 16, 2016 Cover is on in the fourth pic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgunter Posted July 16, 2016 Author Share Posted July 16, 2016 How does that work? An extra output or does it replace the original? If it's the latter, how do you get a bypassed tone? Did you say you screw back the cover? Because I'd freak the lollipop out if I had to go around with my guitar's electronics cavity open all the time, you could end up shorting your guitar if something gets in there. It's simply a powered output for headphones like you'd use on an ipod. I'm not sure where you got the idea the cavity stays open, its all closed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clay-man Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 That's cool, but do the regular jacks still work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgunter Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 That's cool, but do the regular jacks still work? Yes everything else still functions normally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_Watt Posted July 17, 2016 Share Posted July 17, 2016 How do you power up the Variax. Normally you have to plug something in the regular jack to power the modeling. ALso - do you run the amp on the variax power or does it have it's own battery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgunter Posted July 17, 2016 Author Share Posted July 17, 2016 How do you power up the Variax. Normally you have to plug something in the regular jack to power the modeling. ALso - do you run the amp on the variax power or does it have it's own battery? You still have to power up the Variax by plugging something in the regular jack. I use a cut off end from a cable. When thats plugged in you can hear the Variax models through the headphones. While using the headphones you can still output to an external amp at the same time. The amp has its own power. It uses (4) 357 watch batteries. You should be able to see the battery cover in the pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clay-man Posted July 18, 2016 Share Posted July 18, 2016 The thing that turns the Variax on is a closed circuit. A 1/4 jack will push a prong against another prong to do a close circuit that tells the Variax to turn on. Technically he could solder the 2 points together with a switch in the middle to turn the guitar on and off manually without a cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgunter Posted July 18, 2016 Author Share Posted July 18, 2016 The thing that turns the Variax on is a closed circuit. A 1/4 jack will push a prong against another prong to do a close circuit that tells the Variax to turn on. Technically he could solder the 2 points together with a switch in the middle to turn the guitar on and off manually without a cable. ​I was looking at doing a switch last night. I used a jumper wire and found the 2 points I'd need to solder up. There's already a on/off switch on the front of it. I cant figure why Line 6 needed another switch built into the output jack. The only thing I can think of is the jack assembly is used from the Variax 600 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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