Line 6 Review: Variax 700 Acoustic

History:

Purchase: Guitar Center, Falls Church, VA. I saw this in Acoustic Guitar magazine then played one on a business trip and had to buy it. I use it for recording. The nylon-string guitar capoed down an octave (try that on a real guitar) makes a nice bass. $1200

What I Like About This Line 6 Variax 700 Acoustic: I have had this guitar for about a month now and it still amazes me. I build acoustic guitars and the clarity and realism of the guitars modeled are very close. They need a little help when played through a guitar amp but through headphones and digital recorder, they are fantastic. The Dread, Archtop (Jazz) and Macaferri are particularly well done. You have to play them in the style that they were designed for. If you fingerpick the archtop it sounds muddy and dead but if you strum chords, it is right on. The balance shift as you go from Jumbo to Dread to 000 to 5-size is just what I would expect playing the actual guitars.

What I Do NOT Like About The Line 6 Variax 700 Acoustic: The banjo, Shamisen, and Dobro square-neck/ National round-neck are less useful to me and there is some tracking delay in open tunings but I have gotten used to that by just pushing the beat a little. You have to have enough amp volume or wear headphones to overcome the Variax acoustics in open tuning or virtual capo modes or it will drive you crazy. I think the key to really enjoying this instrument is to picture the guitar you have dialed in and forget about the little electric guitar you are actually playing.

Line 6 Variax 700 Acoustic Quality Rating: Solid, nice looking guitar. Nice finish and well-built components. (There is one little pitch pocket on the top but that is the nature of the wood) The setup was a little stiff for me but that is common with factory made guitars. I lowered the nut and saddle a little, put on some better strings. Feels good now. May add a pickguard later but the finish seems pretty bullet-proof so far. I didn't like the strap button placement on the back. It makes the guitar want to rotate away from your body. Moved it to the bottom side of the neck. (there goes the warranty)

Review Summary: I played this in Huntsville while waiting for a plane and had no intention of buying one. After 20 minutes or so I had to have it. I am hooked and cannot wait for more instrument patches to start appearing.

Rating of this Line 6 product: 5

This Line 6 Variax 700 Acoustic Acoustic Guitars Review Submitted By: Mike Mears, Windy Hill Guitarworks

Review Date: 2004-09-21