line 6 Variax 500
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Posted on Mar 06, 2008 05:22 am
Geoff
SM7b the Chuck Noris of Mic's
Contributor Since: Jun 20, 2002
ok i went to plug in and play this weekend and found out that i wasn't getting any sound from my (don't laugh) G string , all the rest produce sound but nothing come from that string. if this was a normal guitar i could fix it and we'd be done but noo, i had to get a end all be all guitar. I've checked out the line 6 site and couldn't find any help there. as far as a service senter here, well i'm up @$$% creek, guam doesn't have anything but a small mom and pops music shop .
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Mar 06, 2008 06:52 am What a bummer, that's very odd I couldn't even imagine what that might be...are the strings old? Is the g string string or wound? I assume straight...just idle curiousity would have made me change the strings, maybe a piezo doesn't pick up the sound if it's old and getting that "old string" kinda dead sound...
GeoffSM7b the Chuck Noris of Mic'sContributor
Since: Jun 20, 2002
Mar 06, 2008 07:28 am i did a 2nd look and it's the d string so it's wound . they are getting a little old . i thought it might have been a pick up but wouldn't that mess with the rest of the strings as well not just make one completely dead. could it be something in the line 6 bridge ?
GeoffSM7b the Chuck Noris of Mic'sContributor
Since: Jun 20, 2002
Mar 06, 2008 07:45 am i guess i may have to open er up and poke around to see if anythings loose . line 6 said it might be one of the pick ups .
Mar 06, 2008 08:28 am Well, if it was a pickup I would think it would affect all the strings to some degree...
I dunno, weird.
GeoffSM7b the Chuck Noris of Mic'sContributor
Since: Jun 20, 2002
Mar 06, 2008 08:35 am i thought the same thing , but these guitars are different .
Mar 06, 2008 08:37 am yes they are...computers with strings.
BeerHunterwww.TheLondonProject.caMember
Since: Feb 07, 2005
Mar 06, 2008 10:58 am What about the cable?? Broken wire in the cable possibly?
CptTrippsCzar of Turd PolishMember
Since: Jun 20, 2006
Mar 06, 2008 11:27 am I was reading around on harmony central regarding the line 6 acoustic guitars. There were a couple people who had a problem with one string, it was the electronics and it had to be repaired at a line 6 shop :( Sorry to be the harbinger of doom.
olddogMember
Since: Jul 02, 2003
Mar 06, 2008 01:56 pm Do you have the latest firmware installed on it? Also it's most likely that the wire has come loose from the peizo in that position from what I've read it's very easy to break one or more of the wires when restringing. Line6 really needs to work on their quality control on these, they're great guitars but the quality is really lacking, not in just how easy they can be damaged but other areas as well.
Dan.
Mar 06, 2008 01:57 pm Interesting, I have no complaints with my 700 series, it's a great instrument...but the cheap one they sent me to review a couple years back, 300 I believe, really did feel cheap...so I could see other issues with it as well. It felt like a $99 Mexican Strat...the 700 feels like a real guitar.
olddogMember
Since: Jul 02, 2003
Mar 06, 2008 08:11 pm Well my 700 the tremolo got so loose after about the 2nd change of strings(and I don't even use it), it wouldn't hold a tune at all, and after opening the back to tighten the stays it's no wonder why, 2 cheap wood screws holding the springs. The nut is poorly fit to the strings, as well so it really needs to be filed a bit so the top strings stay in tune better. I've seen quite a few people who have had problems with various strings having no sound due to the mentioned piezo connections, as well as other problems if take a look at their forums. Now I'd excuse this on the 300, maybe even the 600, but for what the 700 costs IMO quality is not up to level it should be.
I will say the finish is excellent on it and it plays nice after I adjusted the truss rod, and bridge, time will tell how well it will hold up. We'll see if it still plays as well as my Gibson 20-30 years from now (at least maybe my son will). ;)
Dan
Mar 07, 2008 06:32 am I don't have the tremolo version so I can't account for that, not a tremolo guy myself...but I can say I have seen many guitars w/tremolos have problems...it's not the guitar usually, it's the bridge, but still, I do see your point, the 700 is one very expensive instrument and should damn well be build to last.
GeoffSM7b the Chuck Noris of Mic'sContributor
Since: Jun 20, 2002
Mar 08, 2008 08:36 am well, all is well now. I opened her up and found some loose wires and such, and adjusted my bridge and sound came back . thank god it wasn't a pick up or i'd have been screwed. Great guitar and missed when compared to my other ones.
olddogMember
Since: Jul 02, 2003
Mar 08, 2008 02:48 pm Great to hear Geoff! Good to hear it wasn't one of the peizo's as well, though if your handy with a soldering iron I hear it's not difficult to fix those as well.
I would have bought a hardtail version if they still made them, but you can only get the tremolo now. I really like mine, just a little dissapointed with the problems I've had it with it.
Dan
Mar 17, 2008 09:54 am I have toured the last couple of years with a Variax guitar. I have had the strings go out on me too - mostly from the corrosion on the pickup saddles - and since each saddle is a pickup - when one sting gets too bad it quits working. I have had to replace 2 saddles on my bridge - and line 6 sent to me while I was out on the road.
For the road - Variax with a PODXTLive is hard to beat - though you need backup pickups.
Steve
DiemusikString benderMember
Since: Unknown
Mar 17, 2008 06:50 pm The factory piezo saddle/pickups are notorious for giving up. There are several builders that have successfully swapped out to better bridges. There are some who have even gone so far as to transplant all of the Variax electronics into better built guitars too. This guy has built some works of art here. www.guitaristjeffmiller.com/guitars.htm
GeoffSM7b the Chuck Noris of Mic'sContributor
Since: Jun 20, 2002
Jan 24, 2010 03:35 am alright about a year ago it fianlly crapped out on me , no sound and i'm not handy with fiddling with the damn thing. I guess i have to wait another year before i can think about getting it fixed. Man this guitar rocks when it works . I love Line 6 I have 5 products by them so i'm a fan but this damn thing is acting like a "behri-axe" insead of line 6 . I wish i was better at fixing the stuff but honesly i don't even know what i'm looking at when i open the thing. I have to have my friend manny hook up my other guitars when i put new PUPs in em. I hope someone at (i hate to say it) guitar center can take a look when i go back to CA soem time next year. Rant over
Jan 24, 2010 07:34 pm I'd never even really looked into these guitars but they do sound quite interesting. A great concept really, and i'm guessing sound wise i'd be pretty pleased with one, i love my other line 6 gear. But that really is a shame it crapped out on you :\ more development is deffinately needed there. and craftsmanship..
But it makes me wonder. If they can model guitars that sound that well, 20-30 years of development later, what will be accomplished? Logically (in my mind), i think at some point the freedom modeling offers could be far superior to tones in the physical boundaries of life. Of course taste is a big factor here, so it'd be a gradual movement that might never happen. But it is interesting to think of what direction modern music will go with advancements in music as technology also advances.
GeoffSM7b the Chuck Noris of Mic'sContributor
Since: Jun 20, 2002
Jan 25, 2010 07:36 pm I do love the flexibility that i get from all the line 6 products. I think tube amps sound great but they're a pain in the *** to keep up. since my set up is to record others , i want as many tone options as possible . when i do work on my own music i want to come up with a tone(s) that i like, i'm not trying to copy the sound of a 59 les paul, with a tube scramer though a mesa . I think that line 6 needed better QA on the 500's, and i hear the 700 or way better. plus the 500 were the 1st and are discontinued anyway.
Jan 25, 2010 08:00 pm My thoughts exactly. If you're on any sort of budget, even a fairly large (though still unprofessional) budget, i think its more useful to be able to write and play as many genres as you can, and have as many options available and routes to let the music take me. And i often find myself using the line 6 amps in podfarm that aren't even modeled, they're just good sounding amps. Its not quite studio professional tones, and it takes a little tinkering to get right. But it at least allows me to focus on the songwriting.
I hope the 700's are good guitars. I'm actually really thinking about getting one now. Well, not now lol. But the next guitar i do purchase will likely be a variax or a similar type of modeling guitar. For now i LOVE my les paul. But one day when i do want some more options here this guitar would be nice to have. I'll let line 6 sink another 10 years of development into it though, I'm hoping they might one day age well too.
Jan 25, 2010 09:01 pm I love my 700...
olddogMember
Since: Jul 02, 2003
Jan 27, 2010 02:02 am I don't love my 700, but I like it alot and so far it's still working fine. :)
Dan
Jan 27, 2010 09:48 am Good! sounds like line 6 worked out most of the bugs after the 500 series, not that that will help geoff :[
Jan 27, 2010 09:52 am The only problems with the less expensive Variax models is not really in the electronics, as far as I know they are all the same, but the less expensive models are very cheap guitars, pretty much low end Mexican Strats with some cool electronics in 'em...the 70 is actually a nice instrument.
I really can't say the LP models sounds like and LP, or the Strat models sound like Strats, but they are nice, unique and well modeled sounds...a lot of options in one instrument.
I do love mine, olddog doesn't just because he's emotionally stunted. :-)
Jan 27, 2010 11:41 am He just has commitment issues with love, thats all ;)
And hey, i'm big on modeling for my price range. And i don't mind at all if it sounds like the real deal, as long as it sounds good.
One thing i do have to say though, the ones i saw on line 6's website could use a bit of a visual make over. The black 700 caught my eye, but the 600's looked kind of atrocious to my tastes. That said, it might be sort of fun to add some aftermarket pick gaurds or something to pretty it up.
GeoffSM7b the Chuck Noris of Mic'sContributor
Since: Jun 20, 2002
Nov 11, 2010 10:00 am an update. I've had my vairax sitting in the corner and i finally decided to check it out since i'm getting stuff ready to move back to the states . well i put 6 AA's in it and what do you know it's alive (strings need to be changed) and wasn't too out of tune . I guss the power suply foot swich might be bad . I guess that's better than the guitar . it sucks that the foot switch is like 80 bucks .
Nov 11, 2010 10:02 am This pisses me off, my 700 is dead on batteries, changed them, still dead...haven't checked the footswitch power supply...maybe I'll do that tomorrow.
I'm incredibly disappointed though.
Nov 11, 2010 06:37 pm Ouch :\ hope everythings okay db! I also hope line 6 really focus's on making the jtv's last. I'm a bit worried, the series was supposed to be released in september. they had some problems with the suppliers, now most release dates seem to point to more like... december-january. Annoying, but hopefully this delay doesn't somehow cause them to rush the jtvs out with possible defects. I have a bit of phobia with new products sometimes.
olddogMember
Since: Jul 02, 2003
Nov 14, 2010 12:23 pm Yikes that sucks dB, I have heard of this happening, if it still works with the footswitch, it's probably just a ground or loose connection. Might be something as simple as a wire loose on the battery connector that happened to me on my bass guitar. Bought a new connector and soldered it in and back in business.
Fragile I think the JTV's are going to be fine, the delays were due to sourcing parts and the manufacturer building the guitars has very good reputation. Here's hoping any how. :)
Geoff, good hear your's is working again!
Dan
