Guitar People

[nakedfrog]

I know we've got some pretty established guitar folk here. Have any of you played any of these setups or anything similar? Thoughts? I think I'd lean more towards the separate setup so I could use it on different guitars when the time came. I won't be doing anything until I can find a local one to try myself, but I'm still curious to hear what you have to say.

 

[Kirby]

Holy crap. That thing (VG) looks freaking sweet. Although I would be curious about how the sound quality is with all that tuning and pickup brouhaha.

 

[AlienCraft]

I once did guitars for Neal Schon. (93 - 2001)
They are very nice sounding and when coupled with a digital echoplex, can provide hours of looping , jamming pleasure.
You can get a VG-8 used online and they are very sweet.\ NS has a "layered " rig where there are switches between the VG / GR synths that will add or subtract them from he mixer that feeds th onstage stereo amp.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: nkgreen
Holy crap. That thing (VG) looks freaking sweet. Although I would be curious about how the sound quality is with all that tuning and pickup brouhaha.

Yeah, that's what I'm curious about myself. I like the idea of alternate tunings with a simple knob.

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: nkgreen
Holy crap. That thing (VG) looks freaking sweet. Although I would be curious about how the sound quality is with all that tuning and pickup brouhaha.

Yeah, that's what I'm curious about myself. I like the idea of alternate tunings with a simple knob.

They work fine. In really fast argeggios one MAY hear some latency or slurring of the note, but I'm talking Yngwie speed.

 

[imported_Tango]

The only guy from whom I heard anything decent coming from a guitar synth is Pat Metheny. And that was 20 years ago. Most guitarists trying synths end with very confusing sounds and lose their focus. Pat was good because he used the synth to achieve one specific sound, that became his signature. He didn't exploit the 1000000 possibilities a synth has, he just created a sound and that was it.

The virtualization thing in my opinion sounds quite poorly compared with the real thing. But if you need a lot of versatility (playing a lot of different genres during the same concert) it might be your cup of tea.

 

[Fritzo]

I'm still waiting for Guitar Center to get a VG...it looks REALLY interesting. I'm wondering how it's powered if it's got no internal power source. Must pull voltage out of the amp.

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: Fritzo
I'm still waiting for Guitar Center to get a VG...it looks REALLY interesting. I'm wondering how it's powered if it's got no internal power source. Must pull voltage out of the amp.

No, it uses the peizo style pickup in the GK-2a and in the Strat versions. It's a pickup for each string.similar to the Godin pickup.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: AlienCraft

Originally posted by: Fritzo
I'm still waiting for Guitar Center to get a VG...it looks REALLY interesting. I'm wondering how it's powered if it's got no internal power source. Must pull voltage out of the amp.

No, it uses the peizo style pickup in the GK-2a and in the Strat versions. It's a pickup for each string.similar to the Godin pickup.

I understand it uses electronics though- from the specs on Fender's site:

No unique hardware necessary to use the VG Strat guitar: no special 13-pin or USB cables, no power supply or input box. It plugs in and plays like any electric guitar. All you'll notice visually are 2 additional knobs on the VG Strat's pickguard, plus a small LED and an inconspicuous Roland® GK bridge pickup. The 2 additional knobs are a Mode Control knob and a Tuning Function knob.

Where is the LED getting power from?

 

[Vegitto]

Well, it looks kinda nice, but I think it'd be more of a gimmick than anything else, really..

 

[Jeffwo]

Of interest?

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: Fritzo

Originally posted by: AlienCraft

Originally posted by: Fritzo
I'm still waiting for Guitar Center to get a VG...it looks REALLY interesting. I'm wondering how it's powered if it's got no internal power source. Must pull voltage out of the amp.

No, it uses the peizo style pickup in the GK-2a and in the Strat versions. It's a pickup for each string.similar to the Godin pickup.

I understand it uses electronics though- from the specs on Fender's site:

No unique hardware necessary to use the VG Strat guitar: no special 13-pin or USB cables, no power supply or input box. It plugs in and plays like any electric guitar. All you'll notice visually are 2 additional knobs on the VG Strat's pickguard, plus a small LED and an inconspicuous Roland® GK bridge pickup. The 2 additional knobs are a Mode Control knob and a Tuning Function knob.

Where is the LED getting power from?

There may be a battery inside the guitar.

There is an umbilical that comes from the VG / GR units containing 13 conductors, if I remember correctly, in addition to the standard 2 conductor guitar lead.
The VG strat we bought Kevin Shirley had the same ROLAND 13 pin conductor, soI can only assume they are referring to the standard conductor to play like a guitar.
VG and GR synths need that 13 pin conductor to run, afaik.

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: Fritzo
I'm still waiting for Guitar Center to get a VG...it looks REALLY interesting. I'm wondering how it's powered if it's got no internal power source. Must pull voltage out of the amp.

Make sure you post your impressions if you play with one.