Variax Acoustic Guitar ?

[cobalt]

Hi all,

I've been playing more acoustic guitar lately, but I have a tendency to avoid recording because of the issues involved in picking up room noise, street noise, etc. So...I've found myself thinking about the new Variax acoustic modeling guitar. In fact, I've been thinking about it so much I'm surprised I haven't run out and bought one by now.

http://www.line6.com/VariaxAcoustic/intro.html

A lot of the reviews I've read are from live performers, so I wanted to get a studio recording angle on this guitar.
1. Is anyone using this who would be willing to give a brief evaluation of it?
2. Does the sound of the strings interfere with playing it in a different tuning or in capo mode?
3. How is Line6's support for their modeling guitars over time? In other words, do they add features, update the firmware, etc.?

Given that the price is about $1200 USD, I'm comparing it against a Taylor or Martin, which would be also quite nice to have, but less versatile for recording in particular. In fact, I doubt I would get another acoustic right now, but the Variax is in my mind a different kind of instrument, and I've heard some nice things about it. It seems to me that tne alternative to the Variax acoustic guitar would be to get an electroacoustic and run it through an effects chain. I have a feeling the results would be much different, though.

Personally, I'm not a vintage guitar fanatic or anything...I barely know anything about guitars. I like nice sounding instruments, of course, but I'm mostly thinking of this guitar as a way to get the sound of a well-recorded acoustic guitar into my computer without any noise being introduced. In other words, while the overall quality of the sounds is important to me, I'm also likely to try to run the signal through Guitar Rig, etc. and mess with it a fair amount.

Any personal experience with this guitar would be helpful. Thanks a lot.

-c

[Shane Sanders]

I've played one in a music store. They sound good, but I wasn't blown away by the build quality. But for a small studio, they seem ideal for getting ideas down and for inspiring different approaches due to all the new timbres at your disposal.

[Derek up North]

I haven't played one of these but I did try the solid body Variax (which has a couple of acoustic models in it)and wasn't impressed with the build quality. The first one I tried (brand new, in a shop) had a dead string (i.e. totally dead - no noise whatsoever) which tells you something about quality control.

The second one worked OK but just didn't do it for me - when I flick the knob to "Les Paul" I want the guitar to put on five pounds

Regards,

Derek

[Stupid American Pig]

I wasnt blownaway by the variax either. I think the problem is that when you spend 1200 bucks on a guitar you want the action and playability to be there. The variax I played just wasnt all that great. It also didnt really sound all that accurate, the acoustics were good, but the banjo and 12 string guitars sounded awful IMHO. Though if you dont need dead accurrate tone, it will give you more guitar sounds than most can afford otherwise...

[Len]

There are reviews and audio demos on Future Music mag this month. I listened to them and basically the guitar sounds like shite. I'd rather have the odd dog barking and passing car with my mic and use that variax thing.