Variax 700 Bass

I bought this new in April 2007 from the USA. For reasons beyond common sense, the price of these dropped dramatically when rumours began about the model being discontinued by Line 6. Normal price was over US$1000, they sold for about AU$2700 in Australia, but I got this for US$500! At that time there were quite a lot for sale on ebay for that amount.

It was fantastic for recording, as all the Line 6 guitars are. I sold it in April 2009 after I got my Riverhead bass. The Riverhead is a lot easier fo a guitarist to play, and the Variax was very big and heavy.

Being a discontinued model, Line 6 did not have information about them on their web site until recently, so here it is:

VARIAX 700 BASS

• Contoured alder body
• Maple neck with rosewood fingerboard
• 21 medium profile frets
• 1.5" nut width
• 34" scale length
• 10" fingerboard radius

Included XPS-DI direct box and power supply features:

• 1/4" standard guitar output for connection to any bass rig
• XLR balanced output for sending signal to a recording console or house PA
• Powers the Variax Bass using included TRS cable

Powered by XPS-DI or on-board batteries (six AA or one 9-volt)
Custom-fitted heavy-duty gig bag (dark blue)

Ever wish you could take just one bass to a session that could go from round, vintage warmth to modern, active pickup punch? What if you could take that jazz gig and not have to squeeze an acoustic bass in your trunk or on the subway?

With a Variax® Bass, you can show up to any live gig or studio date with the confidence your tone will always be perfect for any tune. Best of all, that’s just the beginning of what you can do with a Variax Bass 700.

MASTER VOLUME - GREEN/RED SELECT
Even a control as simple as volume offers you more on Variax® Bass. When you press the Volume knob down, the light near the MODEL SELECT knob changes colour from green (first model) to red (second variation).

MODEL SELECT
Its primary function is in choosing the active instrument model. Rotate the knob to choose from the 12 positions, and that handy indicator light will be lighting up the knob so you’ll even be able to see what you’re doing on a dark stage. Each position actually contains two models; just push the Volume knob to select between them.

BLEND – PICKUP POSITION – MIC POSITION
Most of the basses we’ve modelled have two pickups. Instead of providing individual volume controls for each pickup, we’ve taken the more modern approach of a master Volume and Blend. Rotate the Blend fully clockwise for just the bridge pickup, and fully counter clockwise for just the neck pickup. At the centre detent, you get equal amounts of both pickups. Everything in-between is a blend of the two.
Several of the modelled basses have only a single pickup. Ordinarily this doesn’t give you much pickup variation, but the Variax Bass is no ordinary instrument. At the centre detent, you can hear the pickup in the “stock” position. Rotate the control clockwise to move the pickup closer to the bridge, and counter clockwise to move the pickup closer to the neck. Welcome to the future, my friend.

For the acoustic instruments, the Blend control lets you change the position of the modelled microphone. Rotate the control clockwise to bring the mic closer, counter clockwise to pull the mic out for more ambience.

TONE
The Variax Bass Tone control is split into two separate knobs. The smaller knob on top controls Treble and the large one on the bottom controls Bass. For models based on passive basses, the centre detent on the Treble represents 10 on the modelled instrument. Rotating counter clockwise gives you the same results as turning down the passive control. If you rotate clockwise from the detent, you get a treble boost of the modelled instrument. Since passive basses don’t typically have a Bass control, putting this control at centre detent makes no modification to the modelled instrument sound. For those of you who prefer enhanced to natural, rotating clockwise boosts bass frequencies, and rotating counter clockwise cuts them. For models based on active basses, the behaviour of the tone controls are based on those of the modelled instrument.

SAVING THE PERFECT SETUP
To really take advantage of the sonic capabilities of the Variax Bass when performing, you’ll want each instrument model to be set up for your specific needs and preferences. Use the Customize function of Variax Bass's model knob to get all 24 models sounding just the way you want. Once you’ve tweaked these settings to perfection, just press the Model Select knob down and hold for a few seconds until the indicator light shines solid green or red. That’s it. Now every time you call up that model, it’s set up just the way you like it.

DIRECT TO HOUSE PA AND STAGE RIG WITH THE XPS-DI
Variax Basses come with the XPS-DI unit. This professional direct box gives the Variax Bass a balanced XLR and standard 1/4-inch output. No additional DI box is required! Now you can get a clean, balanced signal straight to the house PA and to an amp rig on stage without carrying around any extra gear. But that’s not all. The XPS-DI can even power the Variax bass. Check out the specs page for all the details on this incredible little box.

Features:
Colour: Sunburst or black
Pro quality instrument on a level with the best American-made production basses
The definitive collection of essential vintage and modern bass instruments
Familiar, easy to use controls combine the best of passive and active systems with powerful new features like adjustable pickup position and total recall.

Voices Modelled After:

• Vintage Jazz Bass - round wound
• Modern Jazz Bass - round wound
• P-J Bass - round wound
• Music Man Stingray
• Rickenbacker 4001
• Gibson Thunderbird
• MTD 435
• Hagstrom 8-string
• Acoustic bass guitar
• Upright bass
• Vintage Jazz Bass - flat wound
• Jaco Fretless Jazz Bass
• P-J Bass - flat wound
• Modulus Flea Bass active
• Hofner Beatle Bass flat wound
• Gibson EB-2D flat wound
• Warwick
• Hamer 12-string
• Guitarron
• Mini Moog Bass