Tone Report Weekly 179 | Page 42

Line 6 Variax The Variax is the black sheep in a family of already very strange sheep. A joint venture from Line 6 and Yamaha, the Variax is capable of sounding like any guitar you can think of. Although this guitar doesn’t have an onboard effects bay to choose from, it can morph into several different guitar types with the turn of its model knob. You can also select from a variety of tunings. In a d d it io n t o t h o s e fea ture s , y o u c a n c re a t e y o u r own uni qu e t o n a l c o mb in a t io n s via softwa re , t h u s c re a t in g your own new in s t r u me n t . Yo u ’ re still ma nipula t in g y o u r s o u n d, bu t instea d of a n o n bo a rd f u z z o r d e la y, you’re a ltering it wit h y o u r min d. Out of a ll the gu it a r s o n t h is lis t , the Va ria x is t h e mo s t mo d e r n , a n d the level of q u a lit y s e t s it a pa r t from the other s . I t ’s d e s ig n e d t o be a m usica l t o o l f o r a dv e n t u ro u s pla yers tha t n e e d v a r ie t y wit h o u t ha uling 10 guit a r s t o a g ig . If you lik e to s t a n d o u t f ro m t h e crowd, there’s n o be t t e r wa y t o d o it tha n sna ggin g a f u n k y gu it a r wit h onboa rd effec t s . Wh e t h e r y o u d o it for the minim a lis t a p p e a l o f h a v in g just a guita r a n d a mplif ie r o r y o u wa nt to blend t h e o n b o a rd e ff e c t s with your ped a lb o a rd, y o u ’ ll h a v e a bla st. If you h a v e n ’t t r ie d o n e o f the a forem ent io n e d g u it a r s , o r a n y guita r with eff e c t s b u ilt it , ma k e it a point to d o s o — y o u ma y be plea sa ntly su r p r is e d . 42 TONE TALK // Cavity Search: 5 Unique Guitars With Built in Effects Part II