Variax Standard combines legendary Line 6 innovation with renowned Yamaha craftsmanship, forming a versatile modern instrument that shatters the limitations of traditional guitars. Addictively playable with classic looks, Variax Standard gives you exceptional handcrafted quality plus incredible Variax HD technology that puts it in a class of its own. Inspire your playing with a collection of the world's most coveted vintage electrics, classic acoustics and exotic instruments. Switch up your tunings on the fly. You can even go beyond what's physically possible and create the instrument of your dreams with Variax Workbench HD virtual custom shop software.
Line 6 innovation meets Yamaha craftsmanship
Access an entire collection of electric, acoustic and exotic guitars
Switch between alternate tunings with the turn of a knob
Create any guitar imaginable with Workbench HD software
Lightweight alder body, fast maple neck and custom single-coil pickups
Unflinching quality
Thanks to the remarkable craftsmen at Yamaha, Variax Standard delivers the rock-solid build youd expect from a high-quality guitar. The lightweight alder S-type body, one-piece thin-finished maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, and proprietary tremolo bridge deliver total comfort and playability, while the custom-wound pickups serve up loads of rich tone. Add in our proprietary Variax HD technology, and you get a guitar that goes above and beyond the call of duty.
Incredible tone, total versatility
With the Variax family of guitars, creating your own unique sound has never been easier. Variax HD technology delivers a wide variety of classic guitar models each with exceptional detail, feel and response. Choose from an amazing collection of vintage electrics. Or inspire your playing with rare acoustics and eclectic instruments. You can even layer your modeled sounds with the magnetic pickups. You can also access alternate tunings including Open G, DADGAD, Drop D, or any other custom tuning with the turn of a knob.
Create any guitar you can imagine
Become a virtual luthier with the free Variax Workbench HD software. You get complete control over every element of your Variax tone so you can build the guitar of your dreams. Mix and match a wide range of body styles and pickup models to create your own unique instrument. The software takes you far beyond what's possible in the physical realm so you can build virtually any guitar imaginable.
Handcrafted guitar with lightweight alder body and thin-finish maple neck
Custom-designed alnico V single-coil magnetic pickups with rich, punchy sound
Custom tremolo bridge with Graph Tech nut and string trees for added tuning stability
Tightly integrated Variax HD modeling engine delivers vintage instruments with incredible detail
A large collection of electric, acoustic and eclectic guitars
11 alternate tuning modes plus user-definable tunings
16 different pickup types (via Workbench HD software)
Free Workbench HD software to customize and design entirely new instruments
Imagine doing it all with just one axe. Order today.
Custom Guitar's Friend Gold Coverage
Gold Coverage goes above and beyond the manufacturer's warranty to protect your gear from unexpected breakdowns, accidental damage from handling
and failures. This plan covers your product for one, two, three or up to five years from your date of purchase, costs just pennies per day and gives you a
complete "no-worry" solution for protecting your investment.
Gold Coverage Includes:
Unexpected and unintentional spills, drops and cracks
Normal wear and tear
Power surges
Dust, internal heat and humidity
Other plan features include:
For products over $200, No Lemon Policy applies. If it fails for the same defect 3 times, it is replaced on the 4th breakdown. (Does not apply to failures due to drops, spills, and cracks)
For products under $200 experiencing the above failures, a Custom Guitar's Friend gift card will be issued for the full price of the product + tax.
Shipping fees covered if required for repair or replacement
Plans are transferable in the event merchandise is sold
Plans are renewable on new gear
*Limitations and exclusions apply. See terms and conditions for program details
Term for New Gear begins on date of purchase but does not replace the store return policy or manufacturer coverage.
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Where do I begin ? The tuning choices are ludicrous ! NO ONE plays in dropped d 1/2 down ! 90% of slide players use open E or open G. So of course these aren't included. I spent literally hours with tuning forks,electronic tuners and a neighbor with perfect pitch,trying to get E tuning for the custom setting. The third string is untunable. The fourth is little better. You can only strum chords with custom tunings. If you fret a single note on the 3rd string, it sounds like an out of tune 12 string ! Too horrible to listen to. Save your money. You'll find a better guitar at "toys are us" ! The standard tuning is spot on but the alternate tunings were picked and uploaded by students at the school for the deaf !
Line 6 Variax Standard White
.Quality strat and modeling aside, this guitar has one thing that few guitars have: a very, very low noise floor when using the VDI into a pod. You can really gain this thing up to create some extremely interesting effects.
I've used the guitar as a microphone that just captures the ambient sound in a club. I played it using a feather and my voice. By using digital alt-tunings, I was able to treat it as a tuned percussive instrument while finger tapping on the back of the body. Using a digital delay I was able to get a trippy pulsing feedback effect. I have some very active toddlers living next door and with a lot of gain I got really cool pulses from low amplitude waves coming through the floor.
I think its a MUST HAVE item for any eletronica / experimental musicians since it can do some really crazy things.
Line 6 Variax Standard White
.I have the Variax 300 guitar, so I was quite excited to try this out. First impressions are that the guitar itself is very well made. Yamaha's high production standards are immediately obvious and there are some really nice touches, such as the Black-Tusq nut and alnico pickups. The controls feel very good and move really nice. Based on the Yamaha Pacifica, the body shape with 3 single coil pickup configuration is obviously a classic strat style setup, but the sharper horns actually remind me of a Burns Marquee. The neck is very thin and fast, with a nice satin finish on the back to reduce sticky/sweaty hand problems. All in all, it's a massive leap forward from the original guitars and I would argue, in terms of build quality at least, also an improvement on the Tyler models.
I have read several reviews from people who said they thought the altered tuning sounded really weird. You MUST make sure that you can only hear what is coming out of the speaker. The tension of the strings never changes, so the guitar itself always remains in standard tuning. If you are able to hear both the strings and the speaker at the same time, it sounds really weird. There are two solutions to this: 1) Use Headphones,or 2) Turn the amp up until you can't hear the strings any more......It's really that simple folks!
To get the best out of the acoustic sounds, try to avoid using amp settings which add any tone or drive to the mix. If you have the option to use an A/B switch to bypass your amp and go direct to a P.A., all the better. Otherwise, just use the cleanest amp setting you can for the acoustic models. You can't expect it to sound like an acoustic guitar if you put it through a colorful amp and/or a bunch of pedals!
I have some more expensive guitars, which I enjoy playing very much, but as a session player the Variax is my workhorse. "Can we take that half a step down please?" Yes...yes we can!
Line 6 Variax Standard White
.We bought an "open box" Variax Standard as a gift for a bandmate so that he could take fewer different guitars out to some gigs. The basic (analog) guitar is fine - a very nice clone of a Strat-style guitar. The instrument is a solid, well-made and nicely finished Indonesian import. However, the modelled sounds fell far short of our expectations, at one point even failing to track the notes we were playing (sounding like someone going wild with the joystick on a keyboard synth to pitch-bend the notes). As it arrived, the action setup was on the high side of average. It played more like an acoustic guitar than an electric guitar.
Line 6 Variax Standard White
.With all the electronics packed into this guitar I didn't have high expectations. What a surprise. This guitar is well built, playability is excellent and combining this with the Line 6 Firehawk FX it has reinvigorated my creativity. The only area for improvement I could find is the Tremolo Bridge. It is actually better than any fender bridge I've played in that I doesn't loose it's tuning every time I use it. It just doesn't give the total control and finesse of say my Paul Reed Smith (PRS) which was almost 5 X the price. I play Blues, 70s Classic Rock and some Heavy Metal and this axe works for me.
Line 6 Variax Standard White
.I have owned 3 different Line 6 Variax's through the years, including an early 500, a 600, a James Tyler JTV-59 and now this newest Yamaha/Line 6 produced Standard and I'm very happy to say that the build quality on these is far better that anything previous. Without considering the actual Line 6 modelling electronics, this is a great sounding AND playing Strat-clone. The neck is excellent with a nice flat fret radius and low action, which plays well from top to bottom. The traditional tremolo is actually high quality and is very stable with bar use. Overall balance and playability is very, very nice.
The reason I mention all of the above is because I've had so many 'build quality' issues with the prior iterations of the Variax, that I was super surprised to find that this guitar blows all of the previous, including the JTV-59 off the map, and for an extremely aggressive MSRP I might add... The Line 6 electronics are essentially the same that I had in my JTV-59, so not too much to get excited about. It would have been nice to see some real effort on the part of Line 6 R&D to refresh and facelift the included guitar and instrument models in this new Standard as this version is getting a little long in the tooth and could benefit from some fresh takes on the technology, but regardless it is still a fairly stable offering.
Overall, I highly recommend for any studio or live use.
Cheers,
Line 6 Variax Standard White
.First Off, My First Yamaha Built Guitar, Out Of The Box , The Neck is Very Good, Intonation right on. The Electronics are very good. The Variax Side Is Very Cool, With The Workshop Provided you can Alter the the pickups With your Computer to the Kind You Like, I Haven't Done This as Of Yet , But Overall I am Impressed, Feels Line a Newer Type Strat. I Liked it so Much I Bought The Variax JTV 69 which has a little more Modeling. You Won't Be Disappointed
Line 6 Variax Standard White
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