[jbealsmusic]

When researching products that I'm interested in, I often find the same info in every review/demo. So, once in a while I like to put together a video to highlight things some of the things I haven't seen other people talk about (at least to my satisfaction). Hopefully this will add to the useful info out there on this topic.

In short, I'm really enjoying the acoustic and resonator models. The electric models are good as long as you don't palm mute much with anything other than very low gain. I'm not a fan of the built-in magnetic pickups because I find them WAY too bright for my ears. I have to keep the tone knob rolled back below half way to use them at all. The physical guitar also has some issues I'm going to try to work around. We'll see what happens there.

Thought I'd share this here for those who may be interested.

 

[Alex]

Good review covering the pro's and con's. The difference in the palm muting is significant - is the ring on your left hand a partial slide or just a ring?

 

[jbealsmusic]

Good review covering the pro's and con's. The difference in the palm muting is significant - is the ring on your left hand a partial slide or just a ring?

Thanks!

The ring is just a ring, though a slide-ring is a cool idea!

 

[Guest]

The ring is just a ring, though a slide-ring is a cool idea!

I know a player who custom makes his own.
The width covers two strings.

 

[butterknucket]

Excellent video!

 

[butterknucket]

I also noticed that on the acoustic models, the B and high E strings sounded a little out of tune.

 

[Dorian2]

Great video. I'm one of those guys who just cannot get into anything about these guitars though. If it works for whoever uses them, great. Wouldn't work for me at all though, especially considering the palm muting issue. That's a big part of my sound both with electric and acoustic. Need that percussive attack.

 

[jbealsmusic]

Great video. I'm one of those guys who just cannot get into anything about these guitars though. If it works for whoever uses them, great. Wouldn't work for me at all though, especially considering the palm muting issue. That's a big part of my sound both with electric and acoustic. Need that percussive attack.

Thanks! I partially agree.

Percussive acoustic stuff doesn't work at all because there is no body to wrap your hands against for "drum" rhythms. I suppose you could drum against the bridge, but you may "plink" out if you hit a saddle too hard. I wouldn't use it for that style of playing. But, the palm muting sounds alright on the acoustic models.

The palm muting issue can be pretty limiting on the electric models. But, there are a lot of styles of music that rarely use palm muting. For those, I find the guitar works great.

 

[hollowbody]

thanks for the in-depth review! I've been thinking about getting one of these for a while since I have a Helix and play in a band that covers a LOT of different stuff.

 

[jbealsmusic]

thanks for the in-depth review! I've been thinking about getting one of these for a while since I have a Helix and play in a band that covers a LOT of different stuff.

I think it would be perfect for that. Imagine being able to go from a strat sound in Eb, to an arch top sound in standard, to an acoustic in DADGAD, all the way to a banjo without ever moving away from your board, changing your guitar, or having to re-tune.

 

[Alex]

I think it would be perfect for that. Imagine being able to go from a strat sound in Eb, to an arch top sound in standard, to an acoustic in DADGAD, all the way to a banjo without ever moving away from your board, changing your guitar, or having to re-tune.

I originally thought Line 6 would take over the world with Tyler building US and offshore Variax'es . There was some buzz but I don't think it took off as much as expected and the sale of US models were few and far between. In the end, we Neanderthal guitarists like it old school (most of the time)!

 

[FiftyNiner_Winder]

When researching products that I'm interested in, I often find the same info in every review/demo. So, once in a while I like to put together a video to highlight things some of the things I haven't seen other people talk about (at least to my satisfaction). Hopefully this will add to the useful info out there on this topic.

In short, I'm really enjoying the acoustic and resonator models. The electric models are good as long as you don't palm mute much with anything other than very low gain. I'm not a fan of the built-in magnetic pickups because I find them WAY too bright for my ears. I have to keep the tone knob rolled back below half way to use them at all. The physical guitar also has some issues I'm going to try to work around. We'll see what happens there.

Thought I'd share this here for those who may be interested.

Always good to see honest reviews that go deeper than the usual reiterating the company's marketing material and saying how great the product is. Your points on the guitar regarding battery, the way the neck was cut, tuner quality etc. is exactly what a potential buyer needs to know. To some, upgrading parts is part of the fun, to others it's something they want to avoid. Good video!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[jbealsmusic]

Always good to see honest reviews that go deeper than the usual reiterating the company's marketing material and saying how great the product is. Your points on the guitar regarding battery, the way the neck was cut, tuner quality etc. is exactly what a potential buyer needs to know. To some, upgrading parts is part of the fun, to others it's something they want to avoid. Good video!

You don't know how much a comment like that means to me. That's exactly why I do reviews that way. Wish I had the time to do more of them.

 

[jbealsmusic]

I originally thought Line 6 would take over the world with Tyler building US and offshore Variax'es . There was some buzz but I don't think it took off as much as expected and the sale of US models were few and far between. In the end, we Neanderthal guitarists like it old school (most of the time)!

I think it would have been a bigger hit if it didn't have the palm muting issue. Anyone walking into a store and testing it out would instantly "feel" that something isn't right.

I loved the concept and like the sounds, but it does take some getting used to as far as the "feel" when playing it.

 

[hollowbody]

I think it would be perfect for that. Imagine being able to go from a strat sound in Eb, to an arch top sound in standard, to an acoustic in DADGAD, all the way to a banjo without ever moving away from your board, changing your guitar, or having to re-tune.

Oh, I can imagine it!

I'm leery, though, because I've heard of some QC issues with the actual guitars (fretboards/necks, mostly), so I'd have to hunt around for a physical guitar I can try first. Probably shouldn't do this one online! But I think I will eventually end up with a Variax because it just doesn't make sense to cart a LP and a Strat to a show and worry about guitar changes, etc.