New Strat VG -- The only guitar you'll ever need

George E

I saw the write-ups about the Fender VG in the catalog from the company whose name sounds like water with sugar added. It looked interesting. Then I saw Paul Riario demonstrate the axe on Guitar World's Gear Demo on cable-TV On-Demand. That is the ultimate guitar.

If you're not familiar with it, it's a standard American series Strat with a Roland pickup and extra circuitry added. Leave the Roland stuff off, and it's a regular Strat. Turn the Roland stuff on and it's mindboggling.

One knob gives you alternate virtual guitars. There's a virtual Strat, Telecaster, Humbucker (think SG, Les Paul, or PRS), and acoustic. The five-way pick-up switch causes each of the virtual guitars to switch tone characteristics within the virtual guitar parameters. For example, the acoustic can be switched from a jumbo, to a dreadnought, to a parlor, to a classical, and to a resonator (dobro) sound!

Then, there's a tuning control. Regardless of how the strings are actually tuned, you can dial in standard, drop-d, open G, D modal, baritone, and 12-string tunings! And even though the tunings change, string tension, feel, and bendability don't change. You can play 12 string without having to deal with pressing pairs of strings.

Mix and match these together, and you can emulate almost every guitar you could imagine. You could, for example, make this Strat sound like a 12-string dobro, or a 12-string Les Paul. Or, you could make it sound like a baritone jumbo acoustic, or a baritone Telecaster.

Imagine being able to play a 12 string dreadnought with a whammy bar with an overdriven pickup, then turn a knob and be playing a baritone Les Paul! Or imagine playing a greasy, blues lead with major string bends and whammy bar dive-bombs on a 12 string dobro!

And best of all, the output is a standard, ordinary 1/4" phone plug that connects to any standard guitar amp. There's no need for special MIDI interfaces. Just plug this axe in and you have more guitars in your hand than you'll know what to do with.

markm2553 · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 4:43 am Post subject:

They may come to call that thing the "Gig master", might be the ticket for the one man show needing to cover a lot of bases.

George E · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 4:59 pm Post subject:

That would be a good name for it.

It's not the first synth-guitar, the various Variax guitars and basses have been around longer and cost less. And Gibson has a Les Paul that's tweaked with synth circuitry. For that matter, my acoustic with a single-coil in the sound hole is now an electric, and when I run it through my new Zoom 504 II pedal, it emulates a lot of different instruments.

But there's something special about this Strat. I've played Strats before, and it's always a pleasure. The necks and fretboards are easy to play on and they are comfortable to hold standing or seated.

I wouldn't be surprised to Fender install this circuitry on a Mexican or even an Asian made Strat an an even more affordable price. I'm curious to see how Gibson responds.

sharring · Tiger Joined: 04 Feb 2004 Posts: 812 Location: Texas

That sound's cool George. I too love the ergonomics of a Strat-very comfortable. I have a japanese one made of basswood and it is like a feather. The only problem for me with being able to sound like everyone else is that you never get around to sounding like you. Confused

George E · Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 1:14 pm Post subject:

The only problem for me with being able to sound like everyone else is that you never get around to sounding like you.

That's what singing is for. You might have the same guitar as a few thousand other people, but each of us gets one unique larynx.

Besides, with all the various options, plus infinitely variable tone controls, plus the controls on the amp, plus options like using a pick, or playing finger style, etc., no matter what gear you have it's almost impossible to get a guitar to sound exactly like anyone else. Heck, I have problems getting my guitar to sound the same way it sounded the week before.

sharring · Tiger Joined: 04 Feb 2004 Posts: 812 Location: Texas

I like players you can identify in the first few notes...Santana, Knopfler, Charlie Christian, Barney Kessel, Luther Perkins etc...I'm not saying there's anything wrong with having many options. As for me i like fewer options. The right guitar, amp and a good cord is my MO. It leaves me with more time to consider the note, attack, sustain, relative chords and key. I'm sure the guys on cruise ships who have to cover a lot of styles will love that new strat. Smile