Review: Line 6 Variax

How many guitars does one person need? Some players hammer out sound with just one or two instruments, but others crave the tonal variety that comes with an arsenal of vintage guitars.

Cheapest way to sate that gear hunger: The Variax 600 a modeling guitar — one that models the sounds of other instruments — that's sort of like an all-you-can-eat tonal buffet. The guitar, by Line 6, mimics more than two-dozen of the greatest guitars ever made, including the 1959 Fender Stratocaster, the 1952 Gibson Les Paul and other dream machines that only a serious collector could afford.

Just as the typical Vegas buffet sacrifices quality to deliver gut-busting quantity, the Variax's heaping helping of models proves an unbeatable deal for guitarists who aren't too picky.

Where else can you get such a mix of electric and acoustic guitar sounds (not to mention banjo, Dobro and electric sitar)? The models sound decent as shipped and you can tweak them endlessly on the Variax Workbench, software for Mac or Windows PCs. Just connect the Variax to a computer and start editing.

All these options seem more suited to the studio than the stage. While Billy Gibbons won't be trading in Pearly Gates and the rest of his collection for a Variax, nerdy home-studio noodlers can find plenty of tone options in this single guitar.

Still, some of the settings sound somewhat shrill out of the box. And operating the guitar can get complicated: You switch between sounds using a knob marked with various modeling "families" (the T-Model setting, for instance, models a modded '68 Telecaster, a '60 Tele Custom and a '68 Tele Thinline). A standard five-position selector switch lets you move between models within each family. The differences from one model to the next can be jarring: You can go quickly from ear-piercing spank to dull roar. To make matters even more unwieldy, the volume and tone knobs work differently for each model.

Physically, the guitar is more burger than steak. Solid but nondescript, the Variax 600's double-cutaway body and maple neck prove satisfying if not particularly lust-inspiring. Entirely missing are the magical physical nuances of the guitars the Variax attempts to sonically reproduce: the wide fretboard of a Gibson Explorer; the fat, fragile semi-hollow body of an ES-335; the sexy curves of a Stratocaster.

Line 6 made a name for itself with its amplifier-modeling hardware and software, including the pace-setting Pod, which reproduces the classic tones of Marshalls, Fenders and other heavyweight gear. While amps can have personalities all their own, the bond between guitar players and their instruments is much more personal. For that reason alone, modeling technology makes more sense for amps than for guitars. But if you're looking for an incredibly broad tonal palette — and don't mind a guitar that's more controller than old friend — the Variax just might be the ax for you.