New Variax guitars in 2023/2024?

[Euripide]

I'm a proud owner of a JTV-69 guitar: it's been my main guitar since 2012. 

I kind of notice that, apart from the Shuriken, all the other models seems out of stock.

I was wondering if it is an indication that new models will be happening in a not so far futur or if the entire line of guitar will be discontinued.

The later would be a shame...

 

I can't seems to find anything about this on the web, and aside from this forum, I don't know where to post my question so someone from Line 6 could answer it.

 

[silverhead]

Line 6 won’t answer it. They don’t release product plans in advance. And since Yamaha Guitar Group purchased Line 6 several years ago Yamaha now owns the Variax IP so future product plans are in their hands.

 

Which means any response you get here is pure speculation. 

[cruisinon2]

On 5/7/2023 at 8:24 PM, Euripide said:

I'm a proud owner of a JTV-69 guitar: it's been my main guitar since 2012. 

I kind of notice that, apart from the Shuriken, all the other models seems out of stock.

I was wondering if it is an indication that new models will be happening in a not so far futur or if the entire line of guitar will be discontinued.

The later would be a shame...

 

I can't seems to find anything about this on the web, and aside from this forum, I don't know where to post my question so someone from Line 6 could answer it.

 

 

You'll find a pearl in a pig's ear before you'd get a response from anyone who actually knows the truth... but given that there hasn't been a firmware update of any significance for what is rapidly approaching a decade, it's not hard to guess. While they may not have been officially "discontinued", they're certainly not a priority. They were a niche product to begin with, that simply never caught on with the vast majority of the guitar playing world... ask any 10 guitarists, and 8 of them won't even know that they exist.

 

The fact that you can't find them anywhere should be your first clue.... if they're still making them at all, it's obviously the occasional small batch. It is what it is...

[psarkissian]

Online markets have them here in the US. Whether or not they ship cross border to Canada will be the question.

There is product out there. Also check with the Facebook Variax page,... buying, selling and swapping is done there

from time to time, with permission and okays from the Admins of the page.

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/VariaxUsers 

 

[scottjennings]

Sweetwater and a couple other authorized dealers are basically closing out their remaining inventory as it comes in. So there are good deals to be had if you are persistent. I’ve even seen some scratch and dent Shurikens for less than the cost of a Standard.

 

I see nothing that suggests that Line 6 is still building instruments. And no one I know at Line 6, or Yamaha, has suggested there will be updated models.

 

I’ve been following this pretty closely, as I buy new Variax models to create left-handed conversions

 

 

[PierM]

On 5/8/2023 at 2:24 AM, Euripide said:

I was wondering if it is an indication that new models will be happening in a not so far future

....or if the entire line of guitar will be discontinued

 

 

My bet is; No and Yes.

[psarkissian]

Some 2023 Standards are starting to make their way out there.

[brishaban]

I too am looking for a standard to make a lefty conversion as my last Franken-Variax was from a 300 to a Peavey EXP.

 

B.

[Euripide]

I've finally Bought in JUne 23 a Variax Standard on eBay, from Japan. Great price, received it quickly and works great!

[soundog]

Since no one at Line 6 is "calling the code" on Variax, I will.

 

The Line 6 Variax guitar is officially dead.

[psarkissian]

"I've finally Bought in June 23 a Variax Standard on eBay, from Japan. " --- In the words of Monty Python, "He's not dead yet."

If or when it happens, there will be official notice. Until then, it's just the same rumors I've been hearing since year 3 of the JTV

release 12 years ago.

 

 

[soundog]

Monty Python reports that there are some nice used ones on E-bay. And a few new ones sprinkled about in inventory at some online distributors. So if you want one, get it while you can!

 

I sold my ailing Variax 700 acoustic several years ago. I'll hold on to my Standard for alt-tuning slide tunes (for as long as I can keep Workbench running). I still like the thing and wish that the technology would have evolved. AI modeling built into guitar firmware could be cool...

[psarkissian]

"AI modeling built into guitar firmware could be cool... ", the training algorithm is about 120 line of code in C-language,

but would require some serious memory space on the circuit board for the data accumulation and buffering.

Interesting idea, lots of computer calculating overhead.

 

Ironically, I have a 700 Acoustic on my bench now for some lutherie adjustments.

 

[Snackbar]

I'm seriously considering having my 700 fitted with standard pick ups so I can get some more use out of it. The thing is, the guitar is a great instrument and plays wonderfully. Hopefully, I can keep the original innards just for the sitar, banjo and other Reso models, as well as the acoustic guitar models, just for solos though, as playing chords with the acoustic models has always sounded digitally gritty to me.

[jfk049]

As we know, it had limitations to it that were never conquered (like the palm muting issue), which hurt it's market appeal.  The JTV models basically admitted the limitations by having magneitc pu's, which I (and many) chose to use over most of the models.  Plus, I kept hoping for a Variax upgrade that never came. It's a technology went as far as it could, I guess.  So, yeah, the Phat Lady has definitely sung.  I do love the concept, though, and hope there's a clever inventor somewhere (or ChatGPT maybe) to make a better modeling guitar some day.