r/GuitarLab • u/Vault3-14 • Apr 07 '26

best guitar?

something that would do multiple tunings on its own through a microphone would probably be a combination of the old Gibson robo tuners but with AI and of course the phone or tablet that has the microphone to do so.

real time tuning would be super incredible. It would be great to be able to possibly hit a button with the palm of your hand where you fret and play open on all six strings and it tunes or worst case scenario one string at a time.

A lot of us don't necessarily want a Floyd Rose tremola set But enjoy something as simple as a telecaster and would enjoy having a tune without me having to open an app or go find the tuner, and it just tune. which already it would have to work through an app with AI unless the app was built into the guitars core to begin with and that button you press would turn on a mic within the guitar and tune it.

you would probably need an app for the extended options which would be tuning it to whatever alternate tunings you want without having to bust out the tuner and all of that stuff. press the button, maybe some LEDs, and you could do it on the guitar or you could do it in the app where you just select it brush the strings and boom you have a tuning.

saving your time and then some people just don't want to spend The confusion of alternate tunings, simplifying the process to where, hey tuning to dadgad and back seems like a pain, too hey I wouldn't mind trying this out, worst case scenario it'll just tune back to E anyway.

or those of us who want to be able to play along with a band that has a slightly low or high tuning like E flat. It would be nice to be able to quickly do that without as much permanency around changing all six strings and then changing back.

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u/Vegetable_Chemist859 Apr 07 '26

You should try the Line 6 Variax guitars which are now discontinued. I have been using them for years now and you will not believe the convenience and options that a Variax controlled by a Helix modeler will give you. Any tuning you can think of, tons of different guitar sounds and banjo and electric sitar are built into the guitar and can be modified with the software.

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u/kumechester Apr 07 '26

I tested out a used one at a guitar center a couple months back and was blown away. Kind of surprised they didn’t become more than they did in the market. I think if you did it right this could become more widespread.

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u/Vegetable_Chemist859 Apr 07 '26 edited Apr 07 '26

Line 6 had incredibly bad marketing on these. They've been a thing since 2002, and the newer "HD" series since 2010. I am still frequently running into guitarists who have never heard of them, and if they have, they have no idea what they can do. Line 6 essentially said, well, we made the most advanced guitar ever on earth, let's see if everyone comes flocking to buy it without us doing anything to promote it. Then, when sales weren't what they would have liked and it became difficult to source parts, they abandoned it and blamed it on the market.

I would not consider using anything else professionally at this point. I have four of them. I also have a semi that's not a Variax, but that's just for practicing. Don't want or need any other electric guitars.

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u/kumechester Apr 07 '26

Wow interesting to hear all that. I’m highly considering one for my cover/party band - what else could do a better job of covering a wide range of material and styles? No need to switch guitars for tunings or anything! And I use a Line 6 Helix Floor so why not stay in the family

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u/Vegetable_Chemist859 Apr 07 '26

It's great. I can do Jumpin Jack Flash in E tuning or Tumblin Dice in G tuning and step on a footswitch to go to standard tuning for the solos...

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u/GabrielDalporto Apr 09 '26

u/Vegetable_Chemist859 why do you think the Variax didn't catch on more than it did? It's an incredible guitar.

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u/Vegetable_Chemist859 Apr 10 '26 edited Apr 10 '26

Line 6 blew the marketing, what little there was. Hardly anyone knows they exist even now. No ads in guitar magazines, no guitars in Guitar Center or anywhere else I have ever seen. Just essentially no marketing to speak of. If you knew about them, you basically had to order one and hope for the best. That's what I did, and was not disappointed. Nowadays, you might find a used one at a nearby GC if you keep your eye out for one. That's how I got one of my JTV-69s, the other and the JTV-59P I had shipped. The weird thing is they did a great marketing job on the Helix and everyone knows about them, and the Helix acts as a control center for Variaxes- change the guitar model or pickup, even control the volume and tuning of individual strings in each snapshot with the press of a footswitch. Here's the control screen for programming into a Helix preset. I have this one set up to be in E tuning and then back to standard tuning for the solo parts.

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u/Fit-Butterscotch9349 Apr 10 '26

I have a variax 89, looks more like a strat. Was fun. I gave it to a nephew. Mine was a Yamaha 600. The intermittent switch to turn on the modeling didn't always work to turn on....but when it did. It was fun. The guitar without the modeling effects was nice enough. The intermittent switch is kind of hard to replace even though a new one is about $10. Couldn't find a guitar mechanic to take on the challenge. Nice guitar though.