Line 6 Variax Bass 700, Variax Bass 705 User Manual

BASS

Pilot’s Handbook

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

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.”

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

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

do not expose this appliance to rain or moisture.

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.

Your Variax Bass should include these accessories:

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.

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.

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…

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.

PX-2 Power Supply

XLR OUTPUT

MIC LEVEL

LIFT

GND

LINE LEVEL

POWER

XPS-DI-DI

Tip

Ring

To Variax BassTo Amp

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.