Fender (with Roland)'s new VG American Strat

[lovemachine97(Version 2)]

Anyone see this at NAMM? I was highly impressed. When I watched this demo at the booth, I was just about exactly at the angle of this camera....

Very cool:

[Duck]

I checked out Fender's home page on this guy: http://www.fender.com/vgstrat/home.html

I currently play a cheap strat knockoff, and might be in the market for something better in a year or two. This VG looks so interesting.

It has a "Mode" knob that you can set to Strat, Tele, or humbucking, accoustic, and other sounds.

Even more interesting is the tuning knob that lets you go from standard to drop D, open G, and other tunings without touching a tuner, just at the click of a selector.

Damn nice!

If any of you other guitarists get a chance to play one of these, please post your review.

[Dr5115]

That looks really cool, if they would put their roller nut/locking tremolo on there it would be BRILLIANT!!!!

[lovemachine97(Version 2)]

Our Fender rep came by the store Friday, and he brought one of these with him. I didn't play it at NAMM, so this was my first time.

I was very, very impressed with the sounds I heard. Unlike the Line 6 Variax, at the end of the day, you have an American Strat here. The Roland circuitry is bypassed in normal mode, so even if your battery runs out, you just play it as a strat.

But when the modes are engaged, the fun begins. There is a master volume, and a master tone, and two, 5 position rotary knobs labeled 'T' for Tune, and 'M' for mode. The T knob will alter the guitars tuning instantaneously, and th M knob will model different guitar types.

You can't altrenate tune if you are in normal 'strat' mode. You have to move in to the digital realm, and activate the Roland pickup in order to be able to retune digitally. The first position of both 5 position rotary's is 'N' for Normal, which means that all Roland circuitry is bypassed. When you go to the 2nd position on the Mode knob, which is 'S' for strat, it's a model of a hot-rodded strat. Once you do that, you can now activate the 'T' knob, or 'Tune' knob. So now you can have your hot-rodded strat instantly retuned to Dropped-D (D), Open-G (G), Dadgad (d), Baritone-B tuning (B), or in 12 string mode (12).

The mode knob also has 'T' mode for Telecaster in the 3rd position, Dual Humbucker (H) in the 4th, and Acoustic mode (A) in the last position. The telecaster will switch the same way a tele does (bridge, bridge+neck, neck), and the Humbucker/Double Fat Strat setting will switch that way also.

The alternate tuning mode is where this baby shines. I mean, I bent strings in the alternate tuning modes, tried everything I could, and noticed no discrepancies in sound. The ONLY downside is if you are practicing quietly through your amp, you have to have your amp loud enough to overpower the natural sound of this guitar. I had the amp on low at first, and it was strange to my ear to hear the guitar ring out in standard tuning, but come through the amp in open G.

From here, any combination will work--the only thing you can't do is have a 12 string sound in alternate tuning because the 12 string is part of the Tuning section. Otherwise, I was in Acoustic mode with the 12 string option activated playing Over the Hills And Far Away, then 2 seconds later I was in tele mode in DADGAD playing Kashmir, and two seconds later I was in Strat mode playing Dancing Days in open-G, and 2 seconds after that, I was in double Fat Strat mode playin in Baritione tuning.

And the gem of the strings not physically retuning, but it happening digitally? The tension and intonation stay the same.

All in all, if you have the 17-1800 that this will MAP at, it is by FAR with the investment.

[Steven B]

Wow.

Is it possible to have a blend sound, like say Dirty power chords with a hint of a clean accoustic mixed in at the same time?

[lovemachine97(Version 2)]

Wow.

Is it possible to have a blend sound, like say Dirty power chords with a hint of a clean accoustic mixed in at the same time?

No, you can't do that, there is no blend function. Maybe on future versions of this guitar. What I meant by 'any combination will work', is that you can use any mode in any tuning/12 string. The only thing you CAN'T do is retune the normal strat mode. You HAVE to enact the mode button in order to be able to retune. While some might consider this a problem, it is necessary so you can bypass all the Roland circuitry and just have an American Strat by itself if you want to. The Roland circuitry would have to be in the chain to alternate tune the 'normal' strat, which would be disappointing to me. One of the big selling points on this, is that, like I said, at the end of the day, you can just play it as a normal American Strat.

A few other things:
I have to say, the 12 string simulator, while it won't replace a 12 string, was impressive as well.

One thing I would have liked to have seen would be a tuning option for Eb.

I'd imagine if this thing is successful, which is probable, though the $2400 list/$1700 map is kind of high, you'll see this idea spread to other models in their line-up, much as the S-1 switch did.

I forgot to mention that all electronics are internal, so you just plug a regular 1/4" jack into your guitar like normal. No 13 pin jack or anything....

The video I posted in the beginning of the thread is from NAMM and while not great sound quality, should give you an idea about this guitar (he's playing it through a super-sonic amp btw)

[lil'devil]

it's just software.

they will probably just allow for a patch to be applied for the blend.

but then, this is a terribly stupid idea.

putting circuitry into a guitar is stupid because inevitably its a gimmick to sell more hardware. this software will become available in the future on your Linux / Windows / Mac / other system and all you will do is install the roland pikcup to the guitar.

Infact, I'm certain I've seen this years ago somewhere but can't remember who made it.

a better way to do this would be to put all that in either a rack unit or a pedal. Infact, the electronics are small enough you couuld put all of it in a pedal and apply to any guitar after installing the pickup. Maybe Roland is just letting Fender release these them selves first and then later release the kit for installation on other guitars later ... theres more money in upgrading currently bought hardware than forcing people to buy new guitars.

[lovemachine97(Version 2)]

I wouldn't call this stupid at all. For someone who loves the look, playability, and sound of a strat, they get that--plus some other really cool stuff already on board. Cool guitar for home, cool guitar for cover band stage playing. Cool guitar for someone somewhat budget concsious, they can get a ton of sounds in one purchase, especially if they prefer the strat feel and tone.

Fender and Roland have been doing stuff together for a while now. In fact, two of Boss' new pedals are Fender amps: the new '59 Bassman pedal, and the new '65 Deluxe Reverb pedal (I have a '65 Deluxe Reverb amp along with my 5150--killer amplifier for the money) will ship late Feb./early Mar.....

[Duck]

Thanks for the detailed review, lovemachine.

One thing, how does it compare to one of these from variax?
http://www.line6.com/variax/

Aside from being an official Stratocaster (which isn't a trivial difference).

[Charvel2]

Thanks for the detailed review, lovemachine.

One thing, how does it compare to one of these from variax?
http://www.line6.com/variax/

Aside from being an official Stratocaster (which isn't a trivial difference).

The Variax has more models, and the Workbench software is incredible for making your own custom guitars - want a baritone thinline Tele with P90 pickups? No problem.

I have a Variax 500, which was the first to come out. A lot of people didn't like that fact that they were a kind of neutral guitar - neither Gibson-y nor Fender-y - but I preferred that. When you've dialled up a 335, for instance, the physical guitar doesn't impose its own personality - you can just play the 335, if that makes sense. To me that would be a disadvantage of the Strat, but to a lot of other people that would be the Strat's appeal. It's a matter of taste. The newer Variax 300s and 600s try for a more Fender look and feel, which I personally don't like - if you want the Fender-y look, then the new Roland Strat is the way to go.

Another up side of the Variax is its connectivity with Line 6 POD products. I also have a Variax Acoustic 700 which is a fantastic tool if you do any acoustic gigging or recording.

[SactoFan]

It is a trip...that's for sure. That detuning option is interesting...However, is there such a thing as too hi-tech?

[guitar08man]

However, is there such a thing as too hi-tech?

im with you on that sacto, i think people have forgotten how good it feels to plug straight into a tube amp and just crank the sucker.

[lovemachine97(Version 2)]

I haven't forgotten that. I have a 5150, a Wolfgang, a Strat, and a '65 Deluxe reverb, and I run a simple rig: TU-2 Tuner, a Hendrix Wah (not the fuzz one), an OD-3 Overdrive, an MXR Phase 90, a DD-6 Delay, and an ABY switch. I just recently sold my Music Man Silhouette and '82 Strat. MY rig is pretty simple, and all tube.

I just have a lot of faith in Roland and Fender products, I guess. I mean, in order to truly judge, you'd have to play both side by side. But Fender AND Roland have history on their side, and have been doing this stuff for a lot longer than Line 6. But there will be a lot of people who prefer the Line 6, and that's awesome.

I'm reminded of what one of the designer's of the Cyber Twin told me at a training session at Fender in Corona, CA (only about 40 minutes from me): They decided to do a modeling amp because usually half of the amps in any given modeling amp are from Fender (and the other half or usually from Korg, plus a lot of the Marshalls that are modeled were copies of Fender amps anyways), and who better to model the Fender amps than Fender themselves? I think they did a good job there, and the same thing applies here, where most guitars that will be frequently used by someone using a Variac will be Fender or Gibson guitars. So why not do one themselves, especially when Fender and Roland have worked together on the Roland Ready Strat, and the new '65 Deluxe and '59 Bassman pedals.

Maybe Fender's involvement in this somehow justifies this type of equipment for me, but I can't get over the fact that this is a great guitar for people who AREN'T that tech-y, but are interested in a strat, or somewhat interested in a guitar like this. Like the guy mentioned above, the biggest selling point for people on this over the Line 6, is going to be someone else's biggest problem with it--the fact that it is a Strat at heart, and you can play it as just a normal strat whenever you want.

[SactoFan]

Well, I'll say I think the Cyber Twin is the class of modeling amps...Great piece there...

Technology can be a good thing, but music...well, POP music, has become so dehumanized and so antiseptic that this thing is just one more link in a chain until the "musician" doesn't have to do anymore thinking...

Where are ideas like when Keith simply took the low E string off his guitar?
Or Page's bow? Or Ed's chisel? Or, for that matter, the homemade axes of many classic bluesmen?

If we keep eliminating necessity we run the risk of becoming orphans of the mother of invention...

[lovemachine97(Version 2)]

Yeah, I totally understand. Technology is completely changing the music industry--not only on the instrument side, but the distribution of CD's side as well.

I think there is always a fine line. I mean, one could argue that the digitech whammy pedal is 'too much', but I mean, the only guitarist in the last 15 years who I consider to be up there with other innovators, Tom Morello, uses it with great results. And while his shredding is full of chromatic runs, I wouldn't call him anything less than a great guitarist.

I mean, in some ways, the detuning feature here is just a natural progression from the EVH D-Tuna...