Variax

[Musicman2024]

As a performing musician I find that I often switch from acoustic 6 & 12 string guitars, single coil and humbucker electrics and like other musicians, swapping out guitars mid-sets is not convenient most of the time. I had been aware of the Variax guitars for years but never really bothered to try one out. About a year ago I finally tried a used Variax Standard  being sold by someone who didn't know much about guitars and guitar set up and care and although I was tempted to buy,  I passed on it. Recently I decided I'd revisit the idea particularly as the James Tyler VARIAX looked to be very well made instruments but soon discovered that all these guitars have been discontinued. I can understand that Line 6 may not have had enough buyers to continue the series.

What I now realize is that these guitars basically use a Hexaphonic pickup for each string. I imagine routing and installing a Variax electronic module inside a guitar is a challenging thing to do based on space but being able to quickly switch guitar types/tuning on the fly is very cool. 

I was wondering if LINE 6 has considered developing a foot pedal type unit (supplied with / without the necessary hexaphonic pickup) that can be used as a standalone guitar modeller and would allow anyone to use it with their own choice of guitar. Seems to me there would be a lot more space available in a box unit and switching guitar types /tunings etc. would be still quite simple for guitarist used to using foot pedals or mic stand mounted units? I for one would definitely be INTERESTED in such a unit.

[cruisinon2]

On 3/16/2024 at 10:34 AM, Musicman2024 said:

As a performing musician I find that I often switch from acoustic 6 & 12 string guitars, single coil and humbucker electrics and like other musicians, swapping out guitars mid-sets is not convenient most of the time. I had been aware of the Variax guitars for years but never really bothered to try one out. About a year ago I finally tried a used Variax Standard  being sold by someone who didn't know much about guitars and guitar set up and care and although I was tempted to buy,  I passed on it. Recently I decided I'd revisit the idea particularly as the James Tyler VARIAX looked to be very well made instruments but soon discovered that all these guitars have been discontinued. I can understand that Line 6 may not have had enough buyers to continue the series.

What I now realize is that these guitars basically use a Hexaphonic pickup for each string. I imagine routing and installing a Variax electronic module inside a guitar is a challenging thing to do based on space but being able to quickly switch guitar types/tuning on the fly is very cool. 

I was wondering if LINE 6 has considered developing a foot pedal type unit (supplied with / without the necessary hexaphonic pickup) that can be used as a standalone guitar modeller and would allow anyone to use it with their own choice of guitar. Seems to me there would be a lot more space available in a box unit and switching guitar types /tunings etc. would be still quite simple for guitarist used to using foot pedals or mic stand mounted units? I for one would definitely be INTERESTED in such a unit.

 

Nobody from L6 monitors these forums. Product/ feature requests have to go in Ideascale, otherwise they'll never be seen by a single eyeball capable of acting on the suggestion.

 

And fwiw, similar requests have appeared in here more than once over the years. I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you.

[Musicman2024]

Ok thanks for the input - and obviously that's disappointing to hear.

BTW - I did try logging into Ideascale but I kept getting an error message about my e-mail address or password. Not sure if that portal needs a separate registration?

[silverhead]

On 3/17/2024 at 12:47 PM, Musicman2024 said:

…. Not sure if that portal needs a separate registration?

Yes, it does.