zed wrote:... Actually yes, I had forgotten about that. I was interested in trying that out and creating some alternate tunings, but it meant spending an additional $100 for the software. I remember being a little miffed that the only way to create alternate tunings was to do it with that software and not with a knob on the guitar.
Agreed, although direct programmability was given to the Variax acoustic models, where one tends to find more tuning experimentation overall nowadays anyway.
I'd expect it in their next gen. electrics though...
zed wrote:monkey man wrote:I too was wary of... make that worried about the "honky" tone you speak of.
It seems to me though that if the presets where it's most noticeable, where there's literally too much "bite", say, are tweaked for less extreme pickup positioning or even mellower woods, one could go some way towards reducing the ol' piezzo honk.
I'm sure you're right that the tones can be tweeked and improved, and I would like to try a variax with the improved strings and setup... In all honesty, if money was not an issue, I would happily have one of those guitars kicking around. There were certainly some tones on it that I liked... but I just couldn't stand the idea of not first comparing it to the VG strat... and in the end I rejected both for something less versatile but also less expensive and more authentic.
Hey, I hope they can be improved sufficiently; a lot of what I'm counting on hasn't been tested yet.
For instance, I haven't bought a proper DI yet but when I do, I'll experiment with tweaking (mainly EQ?) the dry sound before reamping.
I'd expect one would have a lot of control over tone here, especially where removing offending honks and piezzo twangs are concerned.
I neglected to mention earlier that the pickup types themselves can also be swapped around in the WorkBench software.
I don't have said app, but if my amp models don't tame some of those guitar sounds and EQ tweaks of the DI'd tracks don't cut it either, I'll grab the app and reposition them and likely swap their types around a little.
I do feel that part of the "problem" is that Line6 seems to have wound up with near caricatures of some of the models; the strat springs immediately to mind, for instance.
When you think of the rear-pickup honk of a strat at its most profound, that appears to be what we have.
Fair enough marketing-wise, but not what I'm after.
Let's hope EQ can come to the rescue here.
zed wrote:I wish I had both the variax and VG strat back again right now so that I could see how those pickup simulations sound going through my new amp. But that'll have to wait until another time.
Lucky bugger.
I'd love a real amp one day.
zed wrote:monkey man wrote:I agree with all your comments, although I don't anticipate cringing quite to the extent you predict I will one day.
I'm sure you won't be cringing monkey man. I think you are very right that the peizo sound can be mostly processed out, especially with the non-acoustic sounds. In my case, the peizo sound from that Godin guitar was extremely noticeable, and I recorded a bunch of tracks without much processing, that now annoy the heck out of my more refined ears.
Life would be so much easier if I wasn't so picky.
Hey, me too. Fussy old farts, we are.
FWIW, I was worried long before I bought my Variax that I'd cringe one day.
Having finally acquired a guitar of my own that actually works, I've come to realise that I'm indeed grateful as would befit a 25+ year wait.
Given the circumstances, it's hard to imagine cringing one day.
If I do, it'll be a good thing 'cause it'll mean I must be on a good wicket and can afford authenticity.
Either way, I win.
Still reckon Hobby'd be happy with one.
Do they make 'em hobbit-sized?
