versatility/great tone

[Orpheo]

in my new project, I wanna have piezo, synth, a sustainer, an 18 db gainboost and a 3band eq for the magnetic pickups. IMHO,that is versatility to the extreme, especially the mag. pickups are sick: burns trisonic (3x) paired with a seymour duncan hotrail in bridge and middle (and the sustainer driver in the neck).

is this overkill, or just sheer versatility? Or would you just take a variax, rip out its heart and get the best mag. pickups you can get, and 'compromise' on the mag.pickups and take the best you can get, and skip the piezo, but still get a roland GK3 pickup for synth?

 

[DocNrock]

Sounds like it could be killer!  Which EQ are you considering?  I'm thinking about building a baritone with an on board active EQ.

 

[Orpheo]

Sounds like it could be killer!  Which EQ are you considering?  I'm thinking about building a baritone with an on board active EQ.

there's a unit on the site of guitarfetish. I've already used that thing once, paired with a true bypass and that thing works great!

but what is a better idea:

synth+piezo (and perhaps an EQ for the piezo, to make it sound like several types of acoustic guitars)
or a variax+synth (roland GK3 , just like neal schon has it on several guitars). I've already settled on the sustainer and the EQ.

if I have a variax, I have no need to have the trisonics to 'cover' for my p90/tele/stratty sounds, so I can just use scorching hot humbuckers with golden covers...

 

[kboman]

It sounds like you want one of these with one of these combined kits. I have no idea how difficult this stuff might be to install, but I'd guess it would make the guitar look less cluttered and more easy to use...?

Generally I kind of like the idea of this guitar, it's pretty much what I would want in a looping guitar (with other pickups though) that I hope to own somewhere in a distant future! Get a VG-99 with that and you should have all your modeling AND effects needs covered, no need to gut some perfectly healthy and innocent Variax

 

[Orpheo]

It sounds like you want one of these with one of these combined kits. I have no idea how difficult this stuff might be to install, but I'd guess it would make the guitar look less cluttered and more easy to use...?

Generally I kind of like the idea of this guitar, it's pretty much what I would want in a looping guitar (with other pickups though) that I hope to own somewhere in a distant future! Get a VG-99 with that and you should have all your modeling AND effects needs covered, no need to gut some perfectly healthy and innocent Variax

I like the variax sounds, once in a while but I dont like the shape, thats for sure.

about the combined kits: those are ok, but when I have the variax-hardware, I cant switch between that and the synth/piezo, so I need the GK3, but I will build the thing in such a way that that big, black box will be on the inside of the guitar, not on top. what a waste of a perfectly good guitar, haha.

but still... I can't get rid of the idea that piezo (or variax)+synth+sustainer+eq+magpups is overkill. sure, sustainer is cool, the eq is cool, etc etc, but how many times do you use it, and how useFULL is it IRL? I cant shake the idea that this is all just too much and too fragile to drag it around the world for rockin around...all these electronics which might break. I already have guitars breaking down on stage, just because of a freakin loose wire or a faulty pot. will this be even more prone to failure?

 

[kboman]

Sound like what you really need is one of these then!  :icon_biggrin: It's got all the things you've described, is controlled by no more than three knobs AND it has a whammy! Too bad it's not availiable for purchase yet (and is likely to be very very expensive when it is) - it's taken years to develop, partly because the original engineer comitted suicide (for unrelated reasons!) and no-one could figure out how he had managed to make it work. Ade uses the two prototypes pretty much exclusively these days.

But then again it only has two pickups so you wouldn't be interested anyway, right?

 

[Orpheo]

Sound like what you really need is one of these then!  :icon_biggrin: It's got all the things you've described, is controlled by no more than three knobs AND it has a whammy! Too bad it's not availiable for purchase yet (and is likely to be very very expensive when it is) - it's taken years to develop, partly because the original engineer comitted suicide (for unrelated reasons!) and no-one could figure out how he had managed to make it work. Ade uses the two prototypes pretty much exclusively these days.

But then again it only has two pickups so you wouldn't be interested anyway, right?

too bad its budd ugly But I bet I can make it work too, and even better. but again: is it worth the trouble? wont it just break down as easy as my granny's china?

 

[DocNrock]

Sounds like it could be killer!  Which EQ are you considering?  I'm thinking about building a baritone with an on board active EQ.

there's a unit on the site of guitarfetish. I've already used that thing once, paired with a true bypass and that thing works great!

I saw that but didn't know how it sounded.  That might be just the ticket.  I was otherwise looking at bass onboard EQs since those products seem more established, if you will.

But, your idea sounds very intriguing.  I'll be following with interest!

 

[Orpheo]

Sounds like it could be killer!  Which EQ are you considering?  I'm thinking about building a baritone with an on board active EQ.

there's a unit on the site of guitarfetish. I've already used that thing once, paired with a true bypass and that thing works great!

I saw that but didn't know how it sounded.  That might be just the ticket.  I was otherwise looking at bass onboard EQs since those products seem more established, if you will.

But, your idea sounds very intriguing.  I'll be following with interest!

what EQ's are you refering too? dont know those...yet


the ideas i've posted are still just idea's, no guarantees for future builds in physical form. I'm more and more inclining towards a negative attitute about my ideas. Too expensive (I'd rather have nicer woods instead of fancy shmancy electronics) and too fragile...too bad it aint a solid as a rock, otherwise I'd used it (I'm very energetic on stage... I tend to break pickuprings and switches, on a regular basis... )

 

[Wyliee]

I used a Variax 300 for a while.  It sounded good, but not great and seemed to be lacking a 3 dimensional quality.  It was convenient to have different sounds and altered tunings, but that wasn't enough to overcome a lack of depth to my ears.

I have a MIDI pickup installed on my main bass that drives an AXON rack unit.  I do like the versatility of blending in a bit of synth with my bass signal or triggering synth sounds completely.  The pickup is the Yamaha B1D.  It will also drive the Roland vBass though I have yet to try it.

I've decided on the Graphtech Ghost system for my next major bass build with piezos and synth controller.  If you haven't checked them out yet, give 'em a shot.  I may also put their piezos on a future guitar build.

The one concern I've had when considering all these options is creating an instrument with many different sounds, but master of none.  That's where the Variax fell down.  Many sounds were good, but not quite 'right'.  What I would suggest is if you want to go the guitar of plenty o' wires, is do not try to copy a specific sound, but come up with something completely your own.

 

[DocNrock]

The unit on the guitarfetish site.

 

[Orpheo]

I used a Variax 300 for a while.  It sounded good, but not great and seemed to be lacking a 3 dimensional quality.  It was convenient to have different sounds and altered tunings, but that wasn't enough to overcome a lack of depth to my ears.

I have a MIDI pickup installed on my main bass that drives an AXON rack unit.  I do like the versatility of blending in a bit of synth with my bass signal or triggering synth sounds completely.  The pickup is the Yamaha B1D.  It will also drive the Roland vBass though I have yet to try it.

I've decided on the Graphtech Ghost system for my next major bass build with piezos and synth controller.  If you haven't checked them out yet, give 'em a shot.  I may also put their piezos on a future guitar build.

The one concern I've had when considering all these options is creating an instrument with many different sounds, but master of none.  That's where the Variax fell down.  Many sounds were good, but not quite 'right'.  What I would suggest is if you want to go the guitar of plenty o' wires, is do not try to copy a specific sound, but come up with something completely your own.

that has been some of my concerns too. also, the fact that all these electronics are rather vulnerable, and knowing me, I'd break it. by the way, if I'm going for piezo+synth, I'd buy me a godin xtsa and harvest al that hardware...

 

[Nando Vallart]

Why not a 3 humbucker guitar? looks like your signature 
two full humbuckers and the sustainer with a rail in the neck...
Would think that the GK3 and the boost too much... would be hard to play the guitar, sometimes with too much options you start thinking too much in change things and forget to play  :icon_biggrin: at least me
but if you have already tested something alike and liked it, go ahead!

 

[Orpheo]

Why not a 3 humbucker guitar? looks like your signature 
two full humbuckers and the sustainer with a rail in the neck...
Would think that the GK3 and the boost too much... would be hard to play the guitar, sometimes with too much options you start thinking too much in change things and forget to play  :icon_biggrin: at least me
but if you have already tested something alike and liked it, go ahead!

oh, it will be a 3 pickup guitar in looks! dont get me wrong, but i'm thinking about the internal works, like EQ, piezo, synth etc etc, but its just too much. I've played today my 'regular' les pauls, and even then I almost never use all the options, only the normal les paul options (2t/2v 3way switch, without coiltaps eventhough I have them).

damn, I wish I had money right now to order my new guitar...

padouk back with perhaps a rosewood backlam (contoured heel omitted), black korina top, tobaccoburst with clearcoat binding+lipover,and either a pau ferro/ebony neck, or a neck made by soulmateguitars. (i think the latter due to CRAAAZY inlay and wood options!)

 

[tfarny]

How bout a Warmoth-wood Variax 500 with pickups? (It's possible).

 

[Orpheo]

How bout a Warmoth-wood Variax 500 with pickups? (It's possible).

but not possible in a carved les paul body, and I've already settled on something else... the idea is now to be, most likely, a padouk (or bubinga or rosewood) back with a black korina top, tobaccoburst, OR rosewood back and a padouk back, with a maple accent line, with just a bit of oil, no real finish what soever. but these are all just ideas.

 

[Nando Vallart]

Which inlay are you thinking about?
He don't make inlays in already done guitars?
And he buys the inlays from John England (http://www.custominlay.com/), well why don't you buy the inlays from England and ask to the guy who made the strippers in the les paul to put it on warmoth?
I really liked this one:
http://www.custominlay.com/detail.aspx?ID=180
:icon_biggrin:

 

[Orpheo]

Which inlay are you thinking about?
He don't make inlays in already done guitars?
And he buys the inlays from John England (http://www.custominlay.com/), well why don't you buy the inlays from England and ask to the guy who made the strippers in the les paul to put it on warmoth?
I really liked this one:
http://www.custominlay.com/detail.aspx?ID=180
:icon_biggrin:

the guy who put the stripgirls in, asks over 500 dollars to do that, is thats not an option actually.

most likely, I will have a version of block inlay (perhaps a combination of MoP and abalone, or something totaly different). but the guys who can make me the inlay (done on a fretboard) will send it to another fellow who will make a neck. a multi lam neck, something like the gecko-necks, but a hell of a lot more 'sick' (wenge,bubinga, maple, bloodwood laminates, with maple binding, ebony board...)