James Tyler variax. Should I buy it???

boltrecords

boltrecords

Fractal Fanatic
I was looking to pick up a variax jtv-69. I can get a mint cond one for $575.
Seems like a decent deal. I really just wanted it for alternate tunings and maybe 12 string/acoustic stuff for live purposes.
Any thoughts on sound quality in this department? Especially since I'm running it to my axe I though it may have been kind of a cool thing to play around with and tweak.

I really would like to know if the alt tunings are decent. Right now I'm using the axe for drop tuned stuff and the latency is making it difficult. Is the variax any better?

Thanks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
For that price you really can't go wrong. Wow. The guitar alone is worth that. I have a 69 and a 59P and use them in a cover band that plays in 4 different tunings and has a couple acoustic songs. The crowds can't tell that I'm using a modeled guitar and I don't have to bring 5 guitars to a gig, it's just the flip of a switch.
 
Man that sounds like a great deal! even for a spare guitar to have around even if some of the tricks aren't that great I would still do that if I had the money regardless of what the wife said :lol.
 
Picked it up for $560. Perfect shape. Sounds pretty decent. Great neck.
I haven't tried it through my axe fx yet.
No latency on the drop tunings which is great.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I've got a JTV59. I actually pulled it out for a few hours yesterday, updated it and changed the strings and spent some time playing it.

It is not going to completely replace a tele or a strat or a Les Paul or whatever it is trying to pretend to be if you are going for the real deal. There are always going to be trade-offs to some degree, but for what it is and what it is trying to do it is pretty impressive and more than adequate if you can accept the fact that it is a workaround and not a replacement (if that makes any sense).

As far as advice or observations I do know that some people (myself included) were spending a lot of time messing with matching the levels of each preset or whatever it is called. Actually that isn't a good idea because a strat isn't as hot as a LP so you actually reduce the amount of authenticity by cranking up the levels for the low output models IMHO.

One thing that I've thought about doing is making scene 5 my acoustic scene in all of my presets (well the ones that I use). I only really ever get as far as 4 scenes and I think that it would be neat to be able to twist a knob on the guitar and push a button on my MFC and have a perfectly good acoustic guitar sound. I don't like all of the acoustic sounds, but there are at least two of them that I think are worth the price of the guitar alone.

I need to spend more time with mine. I've thought about selling it a few times because I don't play it much, but every time that I pick it up I don't want to let it go.

The only real knock I'd give it is that palm muting is a little wonky sounding. It's better than it was when it first came out, but it is not the same as on the magnetic pickups.
 
I just think that the overall tone of using the Eb tuning is better than when I use my real les Paul and use the pitch block for drop tuning. Plus the latency is almost nonexistent on the JtV compared to the pitch block.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
boltrecords said:
I just think that the overall tone of using the Eb tuning is better than when I use my real les Paul and use the pitch block for drop tuning. Plus the latency is almost nonexistent on the JtV compared to the pitch block.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Agreed. It's a lot better than anything I've tried that doesn't use individual pickups for each string. I tried a bunch of pedals and they all seem to fall apart once you go beyond a half step and you can't do anything too complex or it starts to sound like autotune or something.
 
My 59 broke after about 20 hours home only play ..... bit like the Variax 700 which I owned previously really ..... so allowing for a little, I hope understandable bias, I think they are shit and wouldn't go near another one if they were giving them away.

My experience with Line6 left me wondering if perhaps I chose the wrong career path. I began to think my natural talent was lemon picking.
 
I've done plenty of research on the Variax Models in the past and noticed a lot of reviews mentioning broken electronics. It seems that the build quality of the guitars is decent, but not of the electronics.
It should also be noted that Line6 announced a new Variax Line for 2015:
new Yamaha Variax and other NAMM news - Variax Standard - Line 6 Community

Considering their new partnership with Yamaha, we can probably expect an improvement in quality of the Variax guitars (basicly, the new Variaxes will be Pacificas ... which can't hurt considering the Pacificas are great mass-produced guitars). But also probably a step up in price aswell.
 
The variax plays decent enough. Definitely nothing like my suhr or les pauls but i didn't expect it to really be.
I'm really digging the acoustic sims on it but as far as using the guitar modeling, I'm just not seeing me using the guitar too much due to the tones I'm getting.
I may have a hard time keeping this guitar just for the acoustic sims.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The Tronical tuner system works for me. Not as fast as the variax, 3-4 sec longer. But like they say, nothing beats the a real guitar tuned down or up. I have them on 2 Les Pauls (one with piezo's)and a Taylor mini Koa. That cover me if I break a string in A-G-E-Drop D-Eb-Drop C-F- C- and a custom F# tunings. That being said, how are the harmonics and palm muting on your variax with the recent updates?:geek
 
Last edited:
I keep hoping that Cliff will make a retro unit that can be put in one of current guitars...with his genius it would blow the Variax out of the water and we'd be able to use our favorite axe!
 
I have a JTV-69 outfitted w/a Warmoth Neck. It's a cool guitar and will work in a cover band where you have to handle a lot of different guitar parts. I still prefer to play the real thing if given the option.
 
NGD cuz of y'all

I've been thinking about one of these for a while, and as a result of this thread, my buds at SweetWater set me up with this pristine demo JTV-89, as I've haven't had a Floyd Rose rig for a while, and my initial impression (just got it today) is for the price, pretty darn cool, specially for the acoustics and reso stuff, harmonics seem great so far, and the humbuckers without modeling sound very rich and full on my XL. Add a Fishman Tripleplay and I think I may have my axe for this scary solo gig I'm embarking on this summer....image.jpg
 
Wow, lots of options in that little rig.
How does the new standard version of the variax compare to the jtv?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I have an old Variax 300 that's been repainted and a nice-looking 700 that I gigged with for a while. It plays great, but the guitar models weren't as good as playing the real thing, so I used it just for alt-tuned stuff and specialty instruments like banjo and sitar. Eventually the pickup under the low E started going wonky, so I ended up mounting a Roland GK-3 pickup and using the Variax as my guitar synth platform. Works great for that. Now I get not only banjo and sitar, but can do other tricks the Variax couldn't do on its own.
 
I'm really thinking hard about getting one of these. I just can't decide which one to get, I really like the looks of the 59 but want the single coil in the neck like the 69. The neck radius of the 89F is too flat for my liking :?. I went to a GC this last weekend when I went down to Cali for a family visit. To my surprise they didn't have one and the sales guy went to check he said that they were discontinuing them. It sounds like once the current new JVT's are gone all there will be are the Yamaha offering.
 
I'm still in the honeymoon face, so take this with a grain of salt...
I just got in an 89F and am loving it. It is SOOOOOO fun to mess around with the banjo and sitar settings. On a more useful note (in my band at least) the acoustic through my acoustic patch on the Axe II is wicked cool! I don't know if it's in my head, but playing vertigo in the Tele setting just seemed to make it feel better. DON'T listen to the online complaints that the 89's neck is thin like a Ibanez. It is NOTHING like a wizard neck. To my hands it feels more like a mix between a Les Paul and an Ibanez.
One thing I need to figure out though is if I can reprogram it so I can physically tune it a 1/2 step down and still have the simulations work properly...in my 5 second try out, it appears as if it doesn't actually modulate based on your notes per say, but from A440...make sense?
 
warlockII said:
I'm still in the honeymoon face, so take this with a grain of salt...
I just got in an 89F and am loving it. It is SOOOOOO fun to mess around with the banjo and sitar settings. On a more useful note (in my band at least) the acoustic through my acoustic patch on the Axe II is wicked cool! I don't know if it's in my head, but playing vertigo in the Tele setting just seemed to make it feel better. DON'T listen to the online complaints that the 89's neck is thin like a Ibanez. It is NOTHING like a wizard neck. To my hands it feels more like a mix between a Les Paul and an Ibanez.
One thing I need to figure out though is if I can reprogram it so I can physically tune it a 1/2 step down and still have the simulations work properly...in my 5 second try out, it appears as if it doesn't actually modulate based on your notes per say, but from A440...make sense?
Click to expand...

Damnit man I didn't want to hear that about the 89F :lol... About the tuning I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it probably doesn't matter. Just like when you do alt tunings high up on the neck if you were to tune the guitar down a half step it should work. The real question is why? With all of the tuning options you have at your fingers why bother tuning it there in the first place?
 
Surprisingly, the magnetic pickups sound really good. Since we play 1/2 step down, I couldn't use the mag pickups unless I manually tune them down the 1/2 step.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom