SHURIKEN
PILOT’S GUIDE
MANUEL DE PILOTAGE
PILOTENHANDBUCH
MANUAL DEL PILOTO
パイロット・ガイド
新手指南
40-00-0475 Rev A Pilot’s Guide also available at www.line6.com/manuals ©2016 Line 6, Inc.
Introduction
Welcome to Variax® Shuriken! This exciting guitar was developed in tandem
with Steve “Stevic” MacKay of Twelve Foot Ninja, a fusion metal band from
Melbourne, Australia. Steve is the band’s founder, guitarist and producer
and is a creative powerhouse who uses the Variax guitar’s capabilities to the
maximum. The band’s songs often switch between dierent musical styles,
sounds and even tunings to create a highly addictive soundscape like no
other. If you ever wondered how the band’s guitarists manage to change
from a single coil “funk” tone in standard tuning to a super-heavy humbucker
in Drop A tuning right on the downbeat leading from the verse to the chorus,
look no further than the Variax guitar. This guide will introduce you to basic
capabilities of the Variax guitar and its custom tones designed by Steve
MacKay.
Twelve Foot Ninja’s website can be found here: http://twelvefootninja.com.
Variax Shuriken includes these accessories: 1 gig bag, 1 Lithium Ion
Battery, Charger, VDI USB Interface, Bridge Saddle Wrench, Truss Rod
Wrench
Weight: 7.5 lbs / 3.4 kg
Dimensions: 42” x 13.5” x 2“ / 1070 mm x 345 mm x 50 mm
Specications:
• Alder body and 27” scale maple neck with Rosewood fretboard
• 24 medium-jumbo frets
• Sealed locking tuners
• Fixed custom bridge with piezo saddles (for Variax processing)
• Single medium-output humbucker
• Volume, Tone, Model and Alt Tuning controls
• 5 way selector switch (for Variax model switching)
• ¼” and VDI (Variax Digital Interface) outputs
• Lithium-ion battery with up to 12 hours of play time
Please Note:
© 2016 Line 6, Inc. Line 6, Variax and POD are trademarks of Line 6,
Inc. registered in the U.S. and other countires. The Line 6 Logo, Helix,
Workbench and Monkey are trademarks of Line 6, Inc. All rights reserved.
Shuriken is a trademark of Shuriken Guitars Pty Ltd., used under license.
All other product names, trademarks, and artist names are the property
of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or aliated
with Line 6. Product names, images, and artist names are used solely to
identify the products whose tones and sounds were studied during Line 6’s
sound model development. The use of these product names, trademarks,
images, and artist names does not imply any cooperation or endorsement.
U.S. Patent Nos. 6,787,690; 7,279,631; and 7,812,243. UK Patent No.
GB2406957. Japan Patent No. 5227493. German Patent No. 103 92 940.
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Basic Operation
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1. Volume - Adjusts the signal level output of your guitar.
2. Tone - Adjusts the amount of high frequency pass through.
3. Guitar Model Selector - Push in this knob (LED is lit) to access any
of the 8 preset Variax guitar model banks or one of four user denable
model banks. When in Variax mode the Guitar Model Selector LED
will illuminate the active guitar model bank. There are actually 5
models per bank, as dened by the Selector Switch position. Press
this knob again (LED is not lit) to use the magnetic pickups. The
four User I, II, III, and IV preset slots allow any combination of guitar
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model and alt tuning to be saved directly from the guitar. Please use
the Line 6 Workbench software, available as a free download from
line6.com/software, for creation of custom models.
4. Alternate Tuning - When in Variax mode you can use the Alternate
Tuning Knob to instantly access 10 preloaded alternate tunings on
the y. Missing your favorite tuning? No problem, you can store your
own custom tunings here as well. More on that later. Be sure you
amplify your signal enough to drown out the natural acoustics of your
guitar or you might hear some odd modulations from it blending with
the amplied sound.
When set to MODEL your guitar tuning is determined by the current
guitar model and Selector Switch position. You can assign alternate
tunings to any guitar in the Guitar Model Selector banks using our
Variax Workbench software.
To bypass the Alternate Tuning feature, simply set the Alternate
Tuning Knob to STANDARD. In Standard mode, every Variax model
will play in standard tuning, including any alt-tuned models that were
saved to a user preset slot.
5. Pickup Selector Switch - Since there is only one magnetic pickup
installed on the guitar, the pickup selector switch has no inuence
over the sound from the pickup. In Variax mode this switch has
unique properties for each model. Check out The Guitars of Variax
section for details.
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6. Analog Output - Plug in a standard 1/4 inch guitar cable here.
7. VDI Digital Output - For connecting to Line 6 hardware supporting
Variax Digital Interface (VDI). Only connect a Line 6 Variax Digital cable
to this output.
8. Battery Compartment - Installation as shown. Please fully charge
the included lithium ion battery in its charger prior to your rst use. A
fully charged battery will give you a minimum of 12 hours of life. Press
the Battery Check button for a quick reference of remaining battery
life:
4 LEDs=9+ hours
3 LEDs=6+ hours
2 LEDs=3+ hours
1 LED=less than 3 hours
1 LED blinking=less than 1 hour, recharge battery
Note: you can also supply power to your Variax guitar without a
battery. When connected to VDI Digital Input equipped hardware,
such as a HELIX
™
or POD® HD500X, power is supplied via this
connection.
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