Originally Posted By: eddie1261
Originally Posted By: Simon - PG Music
I actually had an old Variax 300 come onto my workbench a couple years ago, the owner had plugged it into the wrong port on his amp with the ethernet cable. Fried the guitar irreparably, and I found out in the process that Line 6 neither sells parts nor allows users to talk about repairs on their forums, so we were unable to get it fixed.


Can you elaborate as to what he plugged where and how current got to where it wasn't supposed to be to fry things? All I know about these is that a CAT 5 runs to a pedalboard that has a display that shows what model is selected and that the analog audio runs from the guitar to an amp. The only amp I even know has a CAT5 are Line 6's amps and that CAT5 runs to the shortboard. I want to learn things from people who have touched these beyond the YouTube videos. It is so attractive to me to be able to switch from standard tuning to dropped D or open E or open G to play slide with the twist of a knob and then back again during the same song. It just freaked me out to see my pal Billy playing and suddenly the 2nd, 3rd and 6th string stopped responding.


The new models have both cat 5 and regular 1/4" jacks. The cat 5 is great if you have other line 6 gear (Helix or amps etc.) as it can plug in and also be controlled by the gear. Say you have a certain setup on helix, you can also program it to change the Variax to the guitar you want and the tuning you want just by stepping on the right buttons (which you set up when you do the program). I have no idea what someone could have plugged it into that fried it though. If you don't use the cat 5 (which also provides power), it has a battery pack that is rechargeable and last plenty long enough for a several hour gig. The older model has a foot switch that provides the power using the 1/4" jack.

You mention a pedal board telling you which model etc. That is not an included item. I can only attest to using it with a Line 6 Helix which I find to be quite nice. You can also connect it to your computer and use Line 6 software to create your own models, say you want a Gretsch with the 5th and 6th strings to be bass strings (as Chet Atkins did on several songs) you can program the strings down an octave and place it in one of the model's spots so you can dial that in when you need it. Pretty versatile. The acoustic models are pretty cool, I find they work best in a mix as I don't really like their naked sounds, but that is probably just me and my preference. It could be I have not figured out how best to use them (this is more likely).

Yes, parts are an issue. I have not had to deal with Line 6 support very much at all. And have no idea about their forums.

And lastly, I do not play outside very much so I have not noticed any humidity issues, although inside my house can be quite humid at times and I have not had any issues there.

My wife asked if I had seen the dog bowl. I told her I didn't even know he could.