A legend in the guitar industry pairing up with a heralded name in the modeling biz? No, it's not too good to be true, as
Fender and
Roland have teamed up to create the first modeling stratocaster. Just weeks after Gibson's own
digital axe finally went on sale, the VG Stratocaster is built to look, feel, and play exactly like the strats of old always have, but a few subtle (albeit substantial) alterations open up a whole new world of riff creations. The six-string gurus over at GuitarGearCentral have taken the time to carefully inspect the changes, and it looks to us that even the purists could find something here to love. The thin Roland GK pickup mounted at the bridge provides the ability to emulate "37 Fender Stratocaster, Telecaster, humbucking, 12-string, and acoustic sounds,"while a pair of
LED status lights provide a bit of flash and a new duo of knobs (Mode Control and Tuning Function) are used to further dictate the sounds. Dubbed a "Swiss Army knife of tone," this instrument allows you to dial-in alternate sounds and tunings on the fly, giving players the ability to add some chunk with Drop D tuning sans fiddling with the tuning head. Although the crew admired the simplicity Fender somehow managed to achieve with all the complex features that have been added, they still would test out a few more guitars to make sure this is your bag before throwing down the (admittedly reasonable) $1,699 required to take one home.
posted February 9th 2007 2:06PM
I have a VG. It is a great guitar.even if you're not using the Roland stuff. A flip of the switches and you've got tunings and / or modelling without anyone noticing. Sounds like a Les Paul or Baritone if you want.
I played one of these. The acoustic modeling sound was nice, but I thought none of the rest of the sounds were very convincing. Especially the Strat sound! I was shocked that the Strat sound was fairly mediocre.
You could buy an MIM Strat, an Epi Paul, and a decent acoustic for the price of this and still have money left over for a good amp.
I've owned this guitar for over a year and as a gigging country musician I find it indispensable. The basic guitar is well made and good quality, but I changed out the tuners and the trem, balanced the Roland pickup, set it up properly and it has been a very reliable workhorse for me. Hard to overstate the benefit of carrying just one axe to a gig. In a band context the Roland sounds work just fine. The perfect guitar is never going to be made, so this is a great compromise.
If you're dropping that much money on a guitar, chances are you can afford getting the real deal and not some POS synth representation. Make it affordable for the beginner and then you've got a point and a hit.
Otherwise, there's Coil Split (commonly mistaken as coil tapped) pickups...which I have and love.
The Line 6 Variax does all this and more for a third of the price. Fender has it's head up butt if it thinks it's selling any of these. Purists won't touch it and everyone else already has a Variax.
that's no "POS synth representation" it is a true American Strat with American Pickups IN ADDITION to the Roland pickup and modeling effects. RTFA next time.
for an American Series, it's not a bad price at all after adding those features.
that being said, however, I'm pretty sure one would get more bang for the buck with the Gibson LP HD even if it's thousands of dollars more.
myself? I'm happy with my '91 G&L Legacy for now, but my next will be one of these or a Parker Fly.
those looking at modeling guitars: you really can't go wrong with this one or the LP HD - I've played both and they're the same as their non-modeling counterparts. just STAY AWAY from the Line 6 guitars (Variax) - they're trash for the price!
Yeah, the price of this actually is fairly reasonable. The problem with comparing this to the Line 6 Variax is that while the actual Variax electronics are quite good, the Variax guitars themselves are widely considered to be cheap pieces of junk. More than a few people will buy a Variax just for the electronics and rip them out and stick them in another guitar (Warmoth even specifically makes Strat and Tele-style bodies with cavities for the Variax electronics). It's probably wise for Fender to graft this onto an actual American Strat, although I think it would be nice to see them make a "Standard VG Strat" at some point that would still be pretty nice but more generally affordable, relatively speaking.
The main difference between this guitar (and the Gibson modeling guitar as well) and the Variax is that the Variax models EVERYTHING, from the pickups, pickup location, tone, etc. This Fender is an actual American Strat, with real pickups and the specs of a traditional top shelf Strat WITH the Roland technology as well. I have played the Variax and can tell you that it sounds acceptable, however it is a poorly built guitar in my eyes. There is little attention to details such as fret size, neck contour, etc. But it makes sense, Fender has been making top quality guitars since 1946, and Line 6's Variax were their first attempt at making guitars.
A guitar that can go obsolete. Great.
Quick question: does the guitar have a GK-out? In other words, can i still connect it to a V-Synth if i wanted to, or am i limited to the onboard "modelling" (aka Fender appreciation)?
Er....
1. Fender and Roland have been working together for years: this is their second collaboration - the first is half the price of this one and still available. Take note Brendan.
2. Many guitarists wouldn't be seen dead with a Variax (including me). It's cheap and nasty. This Fender on the other hand is high quality: a real Stratocaster (the best guitar ever made) AND a modelling guitar in the same unit: two for not much more than the price of one.
3. Price is damned reasonable - especially compared to Gibson.
4. IF it does go obselete, IT'S STILL A PROPER STRATOCASTER THAT WILL LAST OVER HALF A CENTURY AS A CONVENTIONAL ELECTRIC GUITAR !!!
Some of you should just comment on things you actually know about.
I agree. It should be played b4 commentary. I took my '81 Gibson doubleneck to a shop and did a back & forth comparison of the VG's 12 string/humbucker settings. The sound, tone, tracking and FEEL were stunning!
Hey bumbleheads, the guitar will never become obsolete. If you go to the Fender VG website you will see that all the emulation is internal - all you need is a regualr guitar cord. So - yes the sounds are limited to what's on board, but what's on board is pretty impressive.
I jsut got a Variax Acoustic and it's awesome. I also got a VG strat today. Nice strat, and the modelling is great. Open G is spot on. At $1699, I don't think I'll keep it though. I'd easily pay about $1050 new. That's it.
I got my VX 700 acoustic for 700 on fleabay and ordered a cheap crap VS 300 for $299. However, I am going to but it into a Warmouth L6 strat body and use an AMSe neck. Should cost me about $600 (I have some parts).
The Fender is so easy to use, does not need software to make the most out of it and sounds great.
However, I like the computer and if the VX sounds as good or even almost as good, it should give me my modelling fix.
I think Fender was wise not to try and compete with all of line 6 models. This axe does a few things very well. It's just priced too high.
For 1699, I can get a used custom shop strat, a new EJ strat and/or a new Gibson Historic LP Special. Real tone machines.
The bashers couldn't be more wrong. Maybe you should play one.
OK - Time to chime in here. I have a Roland Ready Strat and a VG-88. They work pretty well but just like most of the modeling stuff that I have or have tried, they sound best for recording and not for live stuff. It's doesn't sound as good through an amp. Sounds good through my PA. I have played a couple VG Strats. what I don't like about them is that (compared to having the VG-88) they are very limited. If you do duane Allman, you need e-Tuning. If you do most other slide, you need d-Tuning. G is nice but I would like the option to do software programing to do the other tunings. I have a friend that has the Variax. He loves it. He's a gigging musician and has owned lots of the good real stuff. I sat in one night and used his gear. I must admit it was nice not to have to keep switching guitars. The acoustic was nice (using stomp A/b to go to the PA). Plus, really nice to be able to plug into your favorite tube amp and/or stompboxes.
As far as the Variax Guitars . . . Stay away from the cheap 300 model as it's China. The older 500 is nice. Made in Korea. Someone mentioned that this was their first guitar but . . . These factories make guitars for lots of different companies. So the factory probably builds them for other major companies as well. Japan makes really good guitars. Korea is right behind them. I ordered a 500 Variax from e-Bay to try for gigging. I have 35 guitars - most of them pretty damn nice. So once I get to tear into it. I'll come back with more information.
The Variax is a piece of crap. I've played it and I'e played the VG and there's no comparison. The VG is an actual American Strat and the Variax is crappy guitar with a cool concept. As far as purists not touching one, I know a guy who has 10 Strats and this is the one he plays. This is not a synth guitar with tracking issues either.