Over the past 4 years I have bought quite a few Line 6 Variax guitars. As usual I take out the electronics set the bodies and necks aside.
Well not any more. I decided I had to do something with these parts. What a waste. This page right now will show some necks I have started working on. There will be bodies too. Mostly 500 bodies that have room for humbucker pickups. A new hot rod paint job and VIOLA! A customized Variax and much less money.
Now the necks are a different thing. EVERYONE complains about the necks, especially the 300 necks and with good reason. Bad finish, not much time spent on them. They are worth about 20.00 on eBay IF you can sell them. I reshape the headstock into either a Tele or a Strat, (here's the biggie) I drill out the hole where the truss rod goes and insert a new black walnut "Olive" as I call them. It's a little tricky because you also have to drill a hole in the plug. I remove the truss rod nut, clean it up and put a small amount of white grease on the threads. Then install the walnut OLIVE and shape it. Then I straighten the neck, level the frets, ease the edge of the fret board like Fender American necks and I sand the neck contour to make it thinner. I hate thick necks, (except my PRS), The contour is now a C shape, (or what I call a D shape, kind of like a school bus top. Warmoth does that too . install either Abalone or MOP dots in place of those ugly plastic dots. I have been installing one of my decals "Televariax" "Stratavariax " on the peg head and give it a nice thin Nitrocellulose finish.
Then I remove the nut and install a GRAPHTECH nut and 2 GRAPHTECH string trees.
If you look closely at your average MADE IN MEXICO fender necks, they only have 21 frets as well as most Might mite and All parts necks. They install a plastic black olive and if there finished they get about 150.00 for them. This is a MUCH better neck when I am done with it and it has 22 frets just like my Fender AMERICAN Strat necks. Matter of fact if you put one of these 300 next to a comparable Fender Strat or Tee neck made in the USA you can't tell them apart. I can, Fender puts a steel plug in the heel for there adjustment and the only think I like better about Fender necks is the depth of the headstock is a little less. In other words they start out with a thinner piece of wood and a thinner piece of rosewood for the fingerboard. Fenders most always have POLYURETHANE where these will have a light coat of Nitrocellulose Lacquer, except the peg head lacquer is a little thicker to cover the decal. CHECK THEM OUT!
As I get them finished I will post them. I will only sell them as a trade so I can replenish the necks because I like making them.
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