Attain Nirvana, part 2: Classic Sounds on a Chip
The sounds that make pop groups distinct often come from classic guitars and amplifiers that are heading for extinction. New products capture the essence of this aging equipment and make it available to everyone.

In a February 27 New York Times article, Peter Swiadon of the Roland Corporation brings up the old joke about musicians' most common fanatacism: "How many guitars does a player need? Just one more!"

Swiadon is responding to the launch of the Variax, a new product from Roland competitor Line 6. The Variax continues Line 6's tradition of "modeling" classic sounds using digital signal processing chips, or DSPs.

Line 6's original product is "The Pod," a magical reddish, knob-encrusted metal kidney whose electronics house the captured souls of dozens of classic amplifiers, some dating back 40 or 50 years. Guitarists using the Pod can recreate - or nearly recreate - the distinctive sounds of various vintage Fender and Marshall amps, without the expense (and back-breaking logistics) of collecting and hauling the real deals.

Line 6 sound engineers do the collecting, then they painstakingly analyze the unique sonic signatures of each classic amplifier, including its distortions, hums and other vacuum-tube idiosyncracies. Then they program a DSP chip to do the same.

Does it work? Enough to win over many top guitarists and spawn PodTalk, a community of fanatics. The Times article cites Toronto guitarist and Pod enthusiast Greg Vyrostko, who notes that "virtual amps are not for everyone... The experience of being in the same room with a classic amp can't be matched." But he goes on to defy a listener of a CD to tell the difference.

And now Line 6 is attempting to accomplish the same goals for the guitars themselves with its Variax. This new variable "ax" looks like a standard electric guitar with a couple of standard knobs - but with no visible pickups under the strings. Line 6 that their hidden DSP magic allows guitarists to summon Lennon's Epiphone Casino, McGuinn's 12-string Rickenbacker, or B.B. King's Gibson ES-335 with a turn of a dial.

In the same article, Gino Robair of Electronic Musician magazine notes that the Variax is not totally true to the original sounds, but that it is truly "plug and play," unlike the very capable but more complex guitar synthesizer systems that Roland has pioneered since 1995.

Even Roland's Swiadon admits that by using knobs, not menus, Line 6 has made the technology "totally transparent." But he suggests that the two competing technologies are actually complements. That's right... why stop at owning just ONE?

Link to New York Times article

Link to Line 6 general site and Variax pages

Link to PodTalk community

Link to Remix Magazine coverage of Line 6's Studio Modelers

Link to Musician News coverage of Variax

Link to Roland's site area for guitar products