Line 6 VARIAX BASS - REV A, Variax Bass Pilot's Handbook Manual

40-00-0048 Electrophonic Limited Edition available @ www.line6.com Rev A

Pilot’s Handbook

BASS

Before using your Variax Bass you should read these Important
Safety Instructions. Keep these instructions in a safe place.

1. Obey all warnings in this Pilot’s Handbook.

2. Do not place near heat sources, such as radiators, heat registers, or appliances which produce heat.

3. Guard against objects or liquids.

4. Power the XPS-DI Footswitch only with the included PX-2 Power Supply or equivalent.

5. Connect the PX-2 Power Supply only to AC power outlets rated 100-120V or 230V 47-63Hz (depending on the voltage range of the
included power supply).

6. Do not step on power cords. Do not place items on top of power cords so that they are pinched or leaned on.

7. Unplug your Variax Bass and XPS-DI Footswitch when not in use for extended periods of time.

8. Do not perform service operations beyond those described in the Variax Bass Pilot’s Handbook. Repairs and service operations beyond
the scope of those in the Pilot’s Handbook should be performed only by qualified service personnel.

9. Prolonged listening at high volume levels may cause irreparable hearing loss and/or damage. Always be sure to practice “safe listening.”

Your Variax Bass should include these accessories:

Gigbag, XPS-DI Footswitch, PX-2 Power Supply, TRS Cable, Bridge Saddle Wrench, Truss Rod Wrench

CAUTION: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device pursuant to

Part 15 of FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and
(2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.

WARNING: To reduce the risk of fire or electric shock,

do not expose this appliance to rain or moisture.

CAUTION: No user-serviceable parts inside. Refer

servicing to fied service personnel.

Please Note:

Line 6, Variax, Variax Bass, Variax Acoustic, POD, FM4, Vetta, the Line 6 logo,
and the Variax Bass logo are trademarks of Line 6, Inc. All other products
product names, trademarks, and artists’ names are the property of their
respective owners, which are in no way associated or affiliated with Line 6.
Product names, images, and artists’ names are used solely to identify the
products whose tones and sounds were studied during Line 6’s sound model
development for this product. The use of these products, trademarks, images,
and artists’ names does not imply any cooperation or endorsement.

Welcome to Variax Bass

Thanks for buying a Variax Bass and joining us in
our continuing mission to apply the miracle of
modern technology to the pursuit of great tone.
You now own detailed models of some of the most
significant, desirable and useful basses of all time,
wrapped up in a single comfortable and highly
playable instrument.

How does it work?

How do we get such a huge variety of classic bass
tones from the Variax Bass? We use piezo bridge
saddles, similar to the piezo pickups in many electro­acoustic guitars, to capture each individual string’s
vibrations. We then shape the signals with software
algorithms that capture the physical and electrical
properties of the instruments that we’ve modeled.
Since this process begins with Variax Bass’s own
physical strings, there’s no delay caused by having
to detect a pitch and turn it into a MIDI note or
trigger a sample. There’s also no issue with tracking
hammer-on’s, pull-off’s, slides, bends, slurs or any
other techniques that are a part of your style.

So just how did we manage to capture the tonal
souls of these classic instruments for instant recall

from your Variax Bass? We’re glad you asked....

The Dream...

As you probably know, Line 6 did lots of other stuff
before the Variax. We spent long years developing
PODs, amps, and effects for guitarists and bassists,
perfecting our ability to match up the best of classic
sound and usability with fully modern technology.

Along the way we wondered—could it be possible
to capture a complete range of guitar or bass tone
in a single instrument? What would it take to do
it, and how could be keep all that versatility easy
to access? We focused first on guitars, investing a
couple of years of research, development, and
countless hours playing dozens of vintage electrics
and acoustics. The result was the original Variax,
the world’s first modeling guitar.

But we weren’t content to rest on our laurels. We
took all that we had learned from the original Variax
project, and then learned a lot more in order to
develop an instrument dedicated to meeting the
needs of acoustic guitarists — The Variax Acoustic.

Having improved the tone and simplified the lives
of thousands of electric and acoustic guitarists, we
started work on the instrument that could offer the
same kind of sophisticated options to bassists.

1

The Journey

How, we asked ourselves, can we deliver the punch
and tone of the finest basses in history? Newer
instruments, with active tone controls, challenged
us to capture their tone-shaping mojo while still
presenting comprehensible and consistent control
operation across models. Even some of the oldest
instruments we modeled had such unique pickups
and controls that new techniques were required to
capture their flavor.

And there were whole new tone challenges that
went beyond what we’d faced with guitar. To
reproduce the distinctive presence of a "dog house"
bass, for instance, we had to take a fresh look at
the body voicing and mic simulation that worked
so effectively in the Variax Acoustic.

At the other end of the spectrum, we knew there
was an incredible opportunity to bring synth sounds
to bassists, right inside their instrument, but it had
to be done right. So we dug deep into the synth
technology already developed for our FM4, Vetta
and PODxt products, but did it with a new laser
focus on the unique requirements of the ultimate
synth bass tone.

The Result

We’re confident you’ll find the result of all this
development to be a dramatic new step forward in
the world of bass, the first instrument to deliver all
this sonic power and flexibility in a highly playable,
quality bass you can rely on every day, for every gig.

Flip the page, and we’ll run you through the process
of getting your Variax Bass set up and rocking.

2

Bass-ic Operations

Connections

You may have already noticed that the Variax Bass
has two output connectors: a familiar 1/4-inch jack
and a second RJ45 jack protected by a plastic cap.
The RJ45 connector will be the way you will connect
to Line 6 products with a “Variax” input, and add
additional sounds and abilities to your Variax Bass
in the future. The uses of the RJ45 connection will
be described in the owners manual for the products
that offer that input; all of the operations described
in this manual will use the 1/4-inch output.

Simple Operation

The simplest way to use the Variax Bass is to connect
it directly to a bass amplifier with a standard mono
guitar cable.

Battery Power

Of course, the electronics of the Variax Bass will
need power, so to use this simple hookup, you'll
need to install six AA cells in the on-board battery
compartment. If you use fresh alkalines, you should
get approximately 10-12 hours of operation.

Battery Low Indication

Being surprised by a battery failure is no fun, so we
give you a warning when your AA’s are failing. The
Indicator LED, if green, will give a short red
blink about once every second. If it’s red, it will give
a short green blink about once every second. More
on the Indicator later…

3

The battery will only be used when a standard guitar
cable is connected. For longest battery life, always
“turn off” your Variax Bass by unplugging it when
not in use.

NOTE: At a gig with no AA batteries? Unclip the
plastic battery holder from the connector and swap
in an ordinary 9V battery. This “emergency” setup
will give you 1 to 2 hours of battery life.

XPS-DI Footswitch Power

We realize that constantly changing batteries can
be a real drag, so we included a more convenient
option: the XPS-DI.

To Variax BassTo Amp

PX-2 Power Supply

POWER

XLR OUTPUT

LIFT

GND

MIC LEVEL
LINE LEVEL

XPS-DI-DI

Tip

Ring

Sleeve

Powering your Variax Bass with the XPS-DI is easy.
Use the included TRS cable to connect the Variax

Bass to the INPUT jack of the XPS-DI. (TRS means
“Tip-Ring-Sleeve,” also simply known as a “stereo”
cable.) Connect the PX-2 power supply to the
POWER jack on the XPS-DI, and use a standard
mono guitar or bass cable to connect the 1/4-inch
OUTPUTof the XPS-DI to any standard bass amp.

There are many occasions when you'll want to skip
the amp and send your signal straight to a mixer.
(Or to the mixer through a snake.) No problem:
Use a standard XLR/mic cable to connect the XPS­DI’s XLR output to feed any balanced input. No
additional DI box is required.

Use the LEVEL switch on the front panel of the
XPS-DI to match the output level to the kind of
device you’re driving. If you unsure what output
level to use, start with the MIC position.

To Variax Bass

To Mixer

PX-2 Power Supply

POWER

XLR OUTPUT

LIFT

GND

MIC LEVEL
LINE LEVEL

XPS-DI-DI

Tip

Ring

Sleeve

4