 |
 |
 |
 |
Variax 300
 .Does the Line 6 Variax 300 really deliver? With built in electronics to simulate a range of popular guitar sounds the Variax 300 can sound like a Strat or a Les Paul, or so it is claimed. So is it feasible that you could you buy this entry level model at around £300 and then dispense with your other guitars altogether? Our reviewer, Clive Warner has not only put it through its paces in the studio, but has actually gigged with this guitar to fully test it out. Here's what he thought... In an ideal world you'd be able to coax any sound you wanted from your chosen instrument and for me (a semi professional guitar player) a standard Fender Stratocaster delivers the most versatile range of sounds from a single instrument. But even I find that the conventional Strat's 3 single coil pickup configuration a bit limiting. Whatever your chosen instrument you've probably experienced the same limitations and perhaps rely on a battery of effects and amps to add colour to the sound. Or maybe you are one of the privileged few who have got around this problem by investing in more than one instrument! Line 6 have targeted their Variax range of guitars squarely at players who fall into the second category - those who want a variety of different guitar sounds (rather than effects) and for whatever reason do not have access to an armoury of their own, nor possibly the limitless funds necessary to build a collection. Intrigued, by the list of classic manufacturer and model sounds that the Variax is purported to reproduce (including acoustics) I happily parted with the asking price of £299 for a Variax 300, content in the certain knowledge that I may had saved thousands, if not tens of thousands of pounds! On inspection the shape and feel of the Variax 300 rather disappointingly reminded me of untold economy strat look-alikes of uncertain provenance I'd owned over the years, none of which I can recall regretting parting with. The first and most striking difference being the lack of any visible evidence of a pickup, the second being the external power supply (although the Variax 300 does have an on board battery compartment, I have an innate fear of dependence on anything as unreliable as batteries). Before plugging the beast in, I spent several minutes familiarising myself with the manual (always a good start) and was impressed with the Variax 300's potential for creating new guitar sounds in addition to the factory settings. Within a few minutes I was up and running and familiarising myself with the guitar itself through an Orange transistor practice amp on clean. I was impressed with the enormous range of plausible sound-alike options, particularly the Strat 'out of phase' pickup sounds. Likewise the classic Les Paul sounds were convincing with a little overdrive on the amp. A couple of hours of fairly quiet studio usage later I was satisfied that the Variax 300 could more or less hold its own against the likes of a plethora of well known instruments, and I was ready to really put it through its paces (ie through a Marshall all-valve half stack at volume). Only then did I discover what I consider to be the guitar's one real weakness. At volume levels that most traditional electric guitars begin to sound better, there was no disguising the fact that the Variax 300 seemed to fair worse and was more prone to feedback. Maybe this was due to my inexperience with this type of guitar, but I suspect it has more to do with the type of pick-up used or the modelling software. The slight delay between playing a string and it sounding is also markedly more pronounced at volume. Whilst gigging live it saved me the inconvenience of switching guitars, it never really developed the warmth and depth of sound you achieve from original strat and Les Paul models and the slight delay in sounding was at times off-putting. In summary, for experimenting with sounds through a small amp, the guitar was both fun and impressive, but using it live at volume this entry level model didn't really deliver the goods. Whether the more expensive models in the range (the Variax 600 & 700) are appreciably better I cannot say, all I know is that this experience reaffirmed my belief that there is as yet still no viable alternative to a decent instrument with decent pickups played through a decent amp. Furthermore in a live situation, despite recent advances in technology, the best way to change the sound of a guitar is to change guitar.  |
|
|
|
|
|
How to Buy a guitar |
|
|
Advertise NOW! |
|
|
UK Distributor Flaxwood guitars appoint BlackHawk Music as UK distributor. Click here for details... |
|
|
Subscribe |
|
|
How to use this site |
|
| Site Map | | Terms and Conditions | | Privacy policy | | Rules on Selling | | Legal Statement | | Contact Us | | Newsletter | | Add to favorites |