jcmathews 1 Posted August 10, 2019 What is the first (oldest) Variax that's fully compatible with Helix LT? I'm interested in pickup up a Variax, but trying to avoid the sticker shock associated with a new one? I've seen 300s, 500s and 600s for sale at a good price, but I know there are significant limitations with those. I'm particularly interested in changing guitar models and tuning on the fly using my Helix. I just haven't seen anything that says precisely which model Variax is the earliest with full compatibility. Thanks all! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silverhead 8,818 Posted August 10, 2019 The oldest HX compatible Variax is the JTV series. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
raww 0 Posted August 12, 2019 Not the Variax Standard?! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HonestOpinion 937 Posted August 12, 2019 4 hours ago, raww said: Not the Variax Standard?! With the Variax Standard there is a least partial if not full compatibility with the Helix. The Standard is listed many times in the Helix manual as compatible with no special exceptions or caveats. I don't own one any more although I have a JTV so I can't attest to this personally. I'm sure some other Standard owners here could give you more details. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
plumber 4 Posted August 12, 2019 You can power the standard from the helix floor but that's about it - you cannot change tunings/guitar models per preset Essentially just a modelling guitar and a modelling FX with no interaction Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cruisinon2 2,595 Posted August 12, 2019 1 hour ago, plumber said: You can power the standard from the helix floor but that's about it - you cannot change tunings/guitar models per preset Essentially just a modelling guitar and a modelling FX with no interaction Seems odd that they would skip over a more recent Variax model. My JTV works just fine with Helix...I can switch models, tunings, bounce back and forth between models and mag pickups. What firmware are you running? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silverhead 8,818 Posted August 12, 2019 8 hours ago, raww said: Not the Variax Standard?! The Variax Standard is a more recent model than the JTV and is, in fact, fully compatible with Helix. As Honest Opnion noted above this is clearly stated in the Helix manual. 1 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cruisinon2 2,595 Posted August 12, 2019 1 hour ago, silverhead said: The Variax Standard is a more recent model than the JTV and is, in fact, fully compatible with Helix. As Honest Opnion noted above this is clearly stated in the Helix manual. That makes more sense... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
plumber 4 Posted August 16, 2019 Apologies, I took the 300s, 500s and 600s that the OP asked about as the standard range - I understand there's a 'new' standard range now. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
silverhead 8,818 Posted August 16, 2019 1 hour ago, plumber said: Apologies, I took the 300s, 500s and 600s that the OP asked about as the standard range - I understand there's a 'new' standard range now. The Variax Standard is a model of Variax guitars introduced post-JTV. It's not a range; it's a specific model. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
codamedia 874 Posted August 16, 2019 I find it easier to break the Variax models into "generations"... The 1st Generation includes the 500, 300, 600, 700, bass and acoustic. The 2nd Generation includes the JTV, Standard and Shuriken. Anything in the 2nd generation is fully compatible with the Helix. The 1st generation works with "limitations and quirks". Once you understand those it's still quite functional. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jerseyboy 45 Posted August 16, 2019 It's also commonly confused on the Variax message board. People post questions for 1st Gen in the Variax Standard forum all the time. I'm with brother codamedia - 1st Gen, 2nd Gen, hopefully more gens... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
