The futuristic design and look of this instrument is presented in a black matte satin finish with 2nd generation Variax electronics offering significantly improved sounding guitar models. There are two pickups: a high-gain Line 6 humbucker and a LR Baggs piezoelectric pickup for the Variax electronics.

The Shuriken has both a standard 1/4 Inch guitar jack and Varimax Digital Interface connector to interface other similarly equipped Line 6 products. A Stratocaster-type five-position switch is used to select the instrument's sound banks.

The Shuriken has many of the electric guitar models also found on the Standard and James Tyler Variax Guitars. There are Les Pauls, Telecasters, Strats, and arch-top Jazz boxes. Resident guitarist Steve Sattler at Music Connection Magazine found the acoustic guitar models surprisingly good-sounding--"better than I've heard on other Variax Guitars I have played."

There are four Variax controls: volume, tone, and two controls for dialing in the Variax Instruments and custom tuning options. The Shuriken comes preloaded with 20 of Stevic McKay's custom tunings.