Now your favorite guitar can sound like an entire collection of guitars, both live and in the studio.
Line 6's Variax guitar, with its collection of 25 unique instruments in one, is without a doubt one of the most amazing advances in guitar technology since the electric guitar itself was invented. But there was always one problem: you can get the great sounds of all those instruments, but isn't the feel of the instrument you are playing just as important?
In the past, enthusiasts have attempted to solve this problem by creating Variax transplants—guitars which have been extensively modified to make room for the Variax electronics by drilling and routing. But who except the bravest among you is willing to do this to their favorite, best-quality, best-playing, best-looking, or most expensive guitar?
With RackVax, you can take your favorite guitar of virtually any brand or model and, without any permanent modifications, access all of the instruments and guitar tones within the Variax. RackVax is a rackmount device with all the familiar controls and I/O you're used to from the Variax line of guitars, but with the addition of five new jacks: GK IN, GK THRU, MIDI IN, MIDI OUT and POWER.
Simply put, RackVax is to the guitar what the Line 6 POD was to the guitar amplifier. Available at your fingertips—or under your feet—is a collection of over 25 unique, digitally-modeled instruments straight from the Variax. It all comes packaged inside of a convenient 19" x 6", 1-space rackmount box, perfect for the stage or recording studio.
For the first time, you can have the tonal flexibility and revolutionary capabilities of the the Variax from any guitar, with absolutely none of the drawbacks. Gone are the days of expensive and labor-intensive Variax transplants. Enter a new world where any guitar you hold in your hands can evoke any tone from vintage to modern, acoustic to electric, and familiar to exotic.
RackVax is a stand-alone, GK-compatible guitar modeling processor in a box. Plug in your guitar and any industry standard, GK-compatible hexaphonic / divided pickup to the 13-pin jack located on the back of the RackVax, then run a standard guitar cable from the RackVax to the rest of your gear and you're on your way to tonal nirvana. Suddenly, a whole new range of tones become available, and yet the same comfortable feel you've grown accustomed to greets you as you play.
All that power would be useless if you couldn't control it. Fortunately, controlling RackVax is easy. On the front panel are controls such as volume, tone, model and pickup select. On the rear panel, MIDI jacks provide for easy integration with MIDI controller pedals for controlling the RackVax during live performance.
If you were intrigued by the technology of the Variax but put off by the quality and physical feel of the instrument, RackVax is for you. Play the guitar you really want to play, then choose the guitar you want to hear. Put away the woodworking tools and soldering irons and get back to doing what you love—playing music!
RackVax Electric Frequently Asked Questions
- What is a hexaphonic / divided pickup?
- Do Variax guitars use a divided pickup?
- What is the difference between magnetic and piezo pickups?
- What does GK-compatible, GK-ready, or Roland-ready mean?
- How good is RackVax at tracking?
- What is a MIDI guitar?
- What is VDI?
- Is RackVax compatible with Variax Workbench?
What is a hexaphonic / divided pickup?
A hexaphonic (or hex for short) pickup is like six separate pickups in one, where each is dedicated to one individual string of the guitar. A divided pickup is any pickup which offers separate output for each string, and therefore a hexaphonic pickup is a divided pickup.
A standard guitar pickup combines all strings into one signal at its output. The purpose of divided pickups is to allow each string to be output as a separate signal, permitting processing capabilities far beyond conventional pickups.
An industry standard 13-pin connector known as DIN-13 (also referred to as "GK" by Roland®) is utilized in order to interface divided pickups with compatible hardware such as the RackVax, Roland® VG-88, VG-99 or other V-Guitar gear, guitar synthesizers like the Roland® GR-20 or GR-33, and guitar-to-MIDI units such as the Roland® GI-20 or Axon AX-100.
The most popular divided pickup systems are the Roland® GK series, which come in both external versions (GK-2A, GK-3) which can be easily attached without any modifications to your guitar and an internal version (GK-KIT-GT3) requiring a little modification.
There are also several other manufacturers with their own take on divided pickup systems, including Graph Tech, which makes the Ghost pickup system; RMC, makers of the PolyDrive pickup system and Yamaha, which manufactures the G1D pickup. Both magnetic and piezo divided pickups are available, and retrofit kits compatible with every major brand and type of guitar are easily obtained in the aftermarket.
If retrofitting an existing guitar is not to your liking, guitars with GK-compatible divided pickup systems and DIN-13 outputs are on the market, such as the Fender Roland-ready Stratocaster, Gibson Dark Fire Les Paul (w/ RIP-to-GK13 cable), Ibanez RG1520GK, Parker Fly Mojo MIDI, Brian Moore iGuitar, Godin Multiac, and Carvin Synth Access guitars. These guitars are commonly referred to as "Roland-ready," "GK-compatible," or "synth access" and are also sometimes incorrectly referred to as "MIDI guitars."
Do Variax guitars use a divided pickup?
Variax guitars utilize a divided pickup system consisting of one piezo pickup per string within the bridge saddles of the guitar. These piezo pickups are connected to the Variax electronics via short wires within the guitar. It is this divided pickup system which allows the Variax electronics to so accurately model the vast collection of instruments using DSP (Digital Signal Processing). Algorithms within the Variax electronics process the raw signal from each separate string in real-time to reshape the sound.
What is the difference between magnetic and piezo pickups?
Pickups and divided pickups come in two major types: magnetic and piezo. Magnetic pickups operate using the familiar principle of a steel guitar string producing an electronic signal as it vibrates within an electromagnetic field. Piezo pickups operate by taking advantage of a property of piezoelectric crystals which converts mechanical energy such as a guitar string's vibration into an electronic signal.
What does GK-compatible, GK-ready, or Roland-ready mean?
First, a little history: Roland® was first to market with divided pickup systems and compatible hardware. "GK" was the term they used for naming the various models of equipment in this line. Since then, the associated hardware and electronics have become industry-standard. Therefore, GK-compatible, GK-ready or Roland-ready are today used to refer to devices compatible with this standard, meaning the devices can be successfully connected and used together.
How good is RackVax at tracking?
There is absolutely no tracking involved in the DSP (Digital Signal Processing) technology underlying RackVax. This term is generally used when pitch must be detected. RackVax simply processes the incoming signals from your guitar strings and reshapes them or alters their pitches in the case of alternate tunings.
What is a MIDI guitar?
In most cases, this is a misnomer that is used to incorrectly refer to guitars which have a divided pickup and GK-compatible DIN-13 output. It is important to understand that MIDI (which stands for Musical Instruments Digital Interface) is a communication protocol. It is a standard which enables the communication of data between MIDI-compatible devices. For instance, a MIDI keyboard can transmit MIDI data to control an external synthesizer or sound module, such as triggering note-on events to cause the external unit to play a sound. As a very simple example, if one presses the C4 (middle C) key on a MIDI keyboard, then the note-on event C4 will be sent to any external devices it is connected to via MIDI. A guitar with GK-compatible divided pickup is not capable of doing this on its own. A seperate guitar-to-MIDI converter device such as the Roland GI-20 or Axon AX-100 is needed to enter the world of MIDI. Guitar-to-MIDI devices typically have a GK-compatible DIN-13 input jack and a MIDI output jack for connection to other MIDI-compatible devices. These devices typically operate by performing pitch recognition on the individual audio signals from each string and coverting the recognized pitch value to MIDI events which are then sent to the MIDI output.
Note that MIDI can also be used to communicate many types of data other than pitch, such as patch changes for controlling devices. This makes MIDI quite useful to guitarists. A well-designed guitar rig can be controlled via a MIDI foot pedal with little to no "tap dancing" on footswitches, as tends to happen when MIDI is not being utilized. MIDI offers the advantage that a single toggle of a footswitch can control more than one device at once. Contrast that with an array of standard guitar effect pedals which must be toggled individually during performance and you will begin to see just how useful MIDI control can be.
What is VDI?
VDI stands for Variax Digital Interface, which is a special digital connection that is present on all Variax guitars and the RackVax, as well as the Variax Workbench USB interface, POD XT Live, X3 Live, X3 Pro and Vetta II. It is used as an alternative means of connecting these devices and offers 100% pristine digital audio signal transfer.
Bi-directional digital control is another benefit provided by the VDI connection. Patches stored on the device to which you have connected the RackVax via VDI can store and automatically recall Variax settings for you. Every available control can be stored and recalled with patch changes: volume, tone, model, and pickup selection.
Power is also provided to the RackVax over the VDI connection, removing the need for an external power source such as a wall wart, batteries or the XPS power supply.
In addition, the VDI connection is the conduit through which the Variax Workbench software can be used to edit and customize the Variax models. By plugging into a suitable interface such as the Variax Workbench USB interface, the POD XT Live, X3 Live, X3 Pro or Vetta II, the RackVax may be connected to a computer running the Variax Workbench software via USB or MIDI and customized to your heart's content.
As a side note, you might have noticed the physical similarity of the VDI jack and connector compared to the CAT 5 ethernet connectors on your computing devices. That is because they are in fact the same, and both utilize standard 8P8C/RJ-45 jacks and connectors. A standard CAT 5 networking cable can even be used in place of the specialized VDI cable if needed in a pinch!
Is RackVax compatible with Variax Workbench?
Absolutely! You can edit the guitar models to your heart's content using your computer via MIDI or VDI (Variax Digital Interface). USB connectivity is also possible with a USB-to-MIDI interface or VDI-capable Line 6 device such as Workbench USB interface, POD XT Live, POD X3 Live, or POD X3 Pro.
If your question was not answered here, feel free to ask or browse within our forum. 
