Elephant_Talk
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Could Warmoth offer these systems/routing for them? I haven't heard/played the vg strat yet, but I'm intrigued by the idea of changing tunings with a knob.
Fender VG wiring
- Thread starter Elephant_Talk
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jackthehack
Epic Member
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Routings not the worry; where are you going to get the electronics? Don't think this is anything you'll see offered at Warmoth anytime soon....
It looks like what Fender did is embed a Roland GK-3 divided pickup and the CPU/DSP engines in this new Roland product shipping in August, wired to knob presets for the list of Strat VG sounds, which is a fraction of that available on this new Roland VG-99 model:
http://www.musiciansbuy.com/Roland-VG99-V-Guitar-System-Advanced-Dual-COSM-Roland-VG-99-VG99-VG-99-VG99.html?source=google
I'll go out on a limb and guess that Fender probably got sole licensing on the "in guitar, no USB/13 pin cable aggravation" implementation, although at some point in the future you might be able to pick up some similar setup from Roland.
I'd HIGHLY recommend going somewhere where they have a VG in stock and spend a good deal of time playing one and make sure you REALLY like the electronics; in the interim of waiting on Roland to perfect their guitar synthesizers product(s) for a decade and a half I managed to teach myself to play keyboards passably...
Basically your options are probably going to be to either buy the Fender VG and eBay everything but the guts and install that in your Warmoth (you should be able to find a local luthier or wood shop with milling gear that can route out the additional wood if you give them both bodies) or buy one of the effects units this set up is based on if they additional cabling is worth it (guitar components for the VG-99 mount externally)
OR you could just go bullshit like some of us other maniacs on this board and build enough Warmoths to have one setting on stage for each tuning..... :toothy12:
It looks like what Fender did is embed a Roland GK-3 divided pickup and the CPU/DSP engines in this new Roland product shipping in August, wired to knob presets for the list of Strat VG sounds, which is a fraction of that available on this new Roland VG-99 model:
http://www.musiciansbuy.com/Roland-VG99-V-Guitar-System-Advanced-Dual-COSM-Roland-VG-99-VG99-VG-99-VG99.html?source=google
I'll go out on a limb and guess that Fender probably got sole licensing on the "in guitar, no USB/13 pin cable aggravation" implementation, although at some point in the future you might be able to pick up some similar setup from Roland.
I'd HIGHLY recommend going somewhere where they have a VG in stock and spend a good deal of time playing one and make sure you REALLY like the electronics; in the interim of waiting on Roland to perfect their guitar synthesizers product(s) for a decade and a half I managed to teach myself to play keyboards passably...
Basically your options are probably going to be to either buy the Fender VG and eBay everything but the guts and install that in your Warmoth (you should be able to find a local luthier or wood shop with milling gear that can route out the additional wood if you give them both bodies) or buy one of the effects units this set up is based on if they additional cabling is worth it (guitar components for the VG-99 mount externally)
OR you could just go bullshit like some of us other maniacs on this board and build enough Warmoths to have one setting on stage for each tuning..... :toothy12:
jackthehack
Epic Member
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This got me intrigued, so I went to Guitar Center for lunch and played with one for an hour....
1.) They would not let me disassemble the VG, but it appears as if a normal S-S-H routing has been extended downward just a little; on the back there is a removable battery pack (has to be, eats a set every 10 hours) to the right and parallel to the top of the tremelo cover; there is a large additional cover plate over a routing slightly wider than the tremelo cover that extends almost to the guitar's bottom edge.
2.) In "normal" mode, no real difference at all from an alder American Std. Strat played through a Fender SuperSonic, except tone control for neck/mid pickup is single pot.
3.) The upper "effects" rotary control has the alternative tunings + the 12 string setting. I don't really use alt tunings, but the effect sounded okay; I WAS impressed by the 12 string emulation. I was expecting these features to sound more "electronic", but they are pretty natural sounding.
4.) The lower effects knob lets you switch between acoustic - Strat - Tele - Humbucker modes. The acoustic mode is just okay, sounds acoustic like a lower end Ovation, nothing great. The Strat/Tele/Humbucker modes sound passable, but all three modes while sounding like they're named emulate bridge pickups and sound a little "treblely"; if you try to back off the treble with the master tone control you lose some of the sound definition.
If you look at the product reviews on the VG, there doesn't appear to be a lot of middle ground, people either love them or return them. If you use a lot of different tunings in a set and/or play through heavy effects some of the dings I pointed would be so noticable, but again you could get a lot more/different functionality going with a Variax or using a top mounting Roland GK-3 and the VG-99 floor unit the VG's electronics are a subset.
I'd pass on this right now myself, but check it out, might be your cup of tea....
1.) They would not let me disassemble the VG, but it appears as if a normal S-S-H routing has been extended downward just a little; on the back there is a removable battery pack (has to be, eats a set every 10 hours) to the right and parallel to the top of the tremelo cover; there is a large additional cover plate over a routing slightly wider than the tremelo cover that extends almost to the guitar's bottom edge.
2.) In "normal" mode, no real difference at all from an alder American Std. Strat played through a Fender SuperSonic, except tone control for neck/mid pickup is single pot.
3.) The upper "effects" rotary control has the alternative tunings + the 12 string setting. I don't really use alt tunings, but the effect sounded okay; I WAS impressed by the 12 string emulation. I was expecting these features to sound more "electronic", but they are pretty natural sounding.
4.) The lower effects knob lets you switch between acoustic - Strat - Tele - Humbucker modes. The acoustic mode is just okay, sounds acoustic like a lower end Ovation, nothing great. The Strat/Tele/Humbucker modes sound passable, but all three modes while sounding like they're named emulate bridge pickups and sound a little "treblely"; if you try to back off the treble with the master tone control you lose some of the sound definition.
If you look at the product reviews on the VG, there doesn't appear to be a lot of middle ground, people either love them or return them. If you use a lot of different tunings in a set and/or play through heavy effects some of the dings I pointed would be so noticable, but again you could get a lot more/different functionality going with a Variax or using a top mounting Roland GK-3 and the VG-99 floor unit the VG's electronics are a subset.
I'd pass on this right now myself, but check it out, might be your cup of tea....
Wyliee said:
If you own a PODXT Live or a Vetta II amp you can download and use the Variax Workbench software for free. The $99.oo is for the Variax USB converter. I'm not sure of this, but I wouldn't be surprised if you can use any ole RJ45 to USB converter (approx $30.oo - $40.oo) with Variax Workbench.
