Acoustic tones from a Stratocaster. Alternate tunings at the turn of a knob. The growl of a humbucker or ‘twang’ of a Tele right at your fingertips…
These are a few of the promises of Fender’s new VG Stratocaster––apparently the twisted love-child of a partnership between music behemoths Fender & Roland.
According to their new VG Stratocaster mini-site, the guitar is a digital modeling wonder, which packs three American Series single coil pickups, a Roland GK Bridge pickup, and a whole bunch of digital modeling wizardry into a nicely contoured Strat body with all the traditional specs you’ve come to know and love.
Yep, the synchronized tremolo is there, as is the maple neck, parchment pickguard, and chrome hardware––but the VG Strat has something else up its sleeve as well: two new knobs for controlling digital tunings (Drop D, Open G, Baritone & others) & digital models (Stratocaster, Telecaster, Humbucking, and Acoustic,) as well as a LED light for checking battery life at a glance.
A Strat with a battery… hmm, I really haven’t had enough time to digest this news yet, so I’m not sure what I think about it. Digital alternate tunings at the turn of a knob definitely appeals to me, and hey––who wouldn’t like the versatility of getting a bunch of classic guitar tones from one comfy old instrument?
Of course, the quality of the VG Strat’s digital models are going to make or break this one, and I have a feeling Fender wouldn’t take a flyer on this without putting some heavy investment into getting those Tele, Humbucking & Acoustic tones just right.
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see… it should be interesting to see if the VG Stratocaster takes off. Or just falls flat on its face.
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January 18th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
I’m skeptical here. First off, the sample recording is full of effects and doesn’t highlight the true sound of the modeled instruments. Also, what makes the Line6 approach so good is that it is a single vendor provides the entire signal path (Podxt Live can control the tones on the guitar, and you can connected it to a PC for a way to customize everything…tunings, amp, effects, etc). With the Fender/Roland approach, you’ll need stuff from Roland (the GK stuff), that doesn’t necessarily know how to control all the functions on the Strat. Line6 have been doing this for years now, and it appears Fender, Roland, and Gibson are just now trying to catch up.
What would be awesome is if you could take the true digital output from a guitar and record it….then do any manipulation on a computer (instrument modeling, tuning/detuning, effects, amp simulation, etc). Kind of like what a keyboardist does with a midi synth but NOT like a guitar synth. Anything short of that has already been done.
I’ve played with Line6 gear for years now, and whilst it is impressive… it does not “feel” as good as the real thing….sure it can sound pretty darn close…and in some cases make improvements in the sound (no noise, etc). I just can’t escape the fact that a classic Strat, Tele, Les Paul, 335, Dreadnought or Rickenbacker makes me play differently…to paraphrase what Michaelangelo would say “I’m just releasing what the instrument was meant to do.” I get good results from my Line6 Variax because I am “imagining” playing the modeled instrument….not because the guitar feels differently.
An authentic signal chain (or acoustic instrument) just fills up the room differently. The other day I cranked up my Tele through my Mesa-Boogie, and then switched to the Line6 rig through really good studio monitors. It is comparing a “recording” to the real thing. Both will always sound completely different in different circumstances just by the what they bounce sound around the room.
If folks knew what happens to most recordings of guitars we hear on CD and the radio after the signal comes out of the guitar or amp (mics, pre-amps, compression, eq,…then mastering), I bet the guitar they play on wouldn’t matter as much as these vendors would like us to believe.
January 18th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
I have to admit, Rick, I have a hard time imagining the VG Strat really taking off… Line 6 pulls it off by offering a surprisingly cheap instrument that does a passable job of recreating classic guitar sounds… but if the Variax cost as much as a high-end Strat I don’t think it would sell nearly as well, nor would we consider the models ‘passable.’
Fender is going to have to pull a rabbit out of its hat to make this one fly… either that or sell the VG at rock-bottom prices. I don’t see the VG as being a budget instrument, so I guess it’s all hinging on how good those models are, and as you said, the recordings here don’t really let us in on the full story.
Should be interesting…
January 18th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
This also wouldn’t be the first failed Roland/Fender partnership…They’ve had other Strat models with GK pickups in the past. I’ve seen them at Guitar Center, usually beat up and discounted to less than the price of a new “standard” model. I thought Fender was going in a more vintage, authentic direction….and maybe they are (50′s, 60′s models…all tube amps, etc.).
Lets face it, folks play a Strat because it looks, sounds, and feels like a Strat…if you read most guitar magazine interviews with dedicated Strat players…their modifications generally are to either reduce the 60 cycle hum or get more output….nothing that fundamentally changes the sound of the instrument….sure, you can put a humbucker on a Strat, but at that point, it no longer sounds like an authentic Strat.
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:49 pm
I nominate the Tronical PowerTune System over the VG Strat for coolest Winter NAMM new product.
I know I’m not comparing apples with apples, but there’s something to be said for technology that tunes & intonates YOUR guitar and remembers YOUR alternate tunings (not a preselected group). It requires no modding or even drilling to change out YOUR original bridge, tuners and volume control & knob (with the system controller/replacement volume).
February 13th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
Well im getting a new guitar and its most likely to be a Fender VG strat.
The new Gibson is out of the question since it costs the doubble :S
=P
February 13th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Cool : ) I’ll be interested to hear how you like it. Of the two offerings I thing the Fender is a far better buy, and probably a lot more useful on a day-to-day basis.
Keep us informed!
February 13th, 2007 at 12:57 pm
Indeed i will keep you guys updated XD
How old are you Cary?
April 17th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
Well I have one. I am in Sydney, Australia and as far a I know there is only one other one on this island, but for two days it’s been in my hands. The reservations above are valid, but I am impressed by this guitar. I wanted something versatile that could be one guitar which could do a lot of things, without millions of effects pedals, or millions of guitars. The Strat sound it fine, although they could have put the top of the line pickups on it for the price I would have thought.
The acoustic tones are better if you’re picking than strumming chords, but to have something sounding remotely acoustic though an old Peavey Deuce is something of a minor miracle in itself.
The Tele is passable, with the ‘essence’ of the Tele twang, without completely reproducing the sound.
As long as the Roland technology holds up I think this one could sell a few models.