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the new TYLER Variax!


Bobby D

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yeah....it's cool that Line 6 has made 3 models, there's one that will appeal to most players.

i am much more of a "superstrat' kinda guy, and the JTV-69 is right up my alley.

used the JTV-69 all this past week in the studio in Key West, laying down guitar tracks for a friend's album. the engineer at the studio loved the Tyler Variax -- we used all kinds of different sounds for different tracks. he wanted a cuban "cuatro" sort of sound, and the 12 string "chime" model copped that sound pretty easily :thu:

also used it at a couple of live gigs, and compared it soundwise to "real" strat and tele sounds.....and the Tyler Variax sounded bigger and fuller than either of the "real" guitars :idea:

i am totally digging the JTV-69. and the new Variax electronics are much improved from the original.

i can't wait to run the JTV-69 in conjunction with the HD500 :cool:

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Anyone know if the system will ever be available separate from the guitars? I have an old Iceman that I am going to be modding the hell out of, including adding a flame maple veneer. If I could get ahold of the Variax system with the new 'LP style' wrap around bridge, I would totally do it up without any conventional pickups.

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no.....Line 6 has said plenty of times that they don't want the headache of selling "kits" with the VAX electronics.

however, the first gen VAX guitars like the 300 series have gone way down in value, seen them for $300 or so.....you could buy one, take the electronics, then part out the rest of it and get some of your $$$ back :idea:

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I am a long time guitarist-turned-keyboardist/pianist sneaking over from the KB forum (guitars include ES335, GL ASAT Delux and s335, Rick 330-12, Martin S-series koa and DC-15's and a Taylor NS32 and amps are Dr Z Maz 18 Jr and Bogner Shiva combo). I recently started jamming with some other old farts from work (EE/mathematician/research scientist by profession) and have developed renewed interest in playing guitar again and particular synth-access guitar as I have a very nice collection of hardware and software synths (including a Moog Voyager, Waldorf Q, and a sizable Eurorack modular system). What I am finding is that there are a lot of nice synth-access guitars in production currently but almost no polyphonic pitch-to-midi hardware. The Roland GR-20 and VG-99 seem to be the only things in production now.

 

So after all that wordiness, my questions is why is Line 6 developing all that DSP but no pitch-to-MIDI conversion? To me that is a big miss. Or am I lacking some crucial bit of info on the Variax system? Anyway I have owned lots of modeling stuff in the past (Line 6, Vox, Boss, Rocktron) and have Guitar Rig 4 with my Komplete 7 license and started watching Line 6 again after a few years and was surprised to see that the new Variax still has no pitch-to-midi conversion and that Line 6 seems to have no pitch tracking stuff at all.

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Theres not a huge market for midi guitar converters. Its looked upon as a small niche market.


Theres another option besides Roland thats currently in production, the Keith Mcmillan Stringport.


You can also find used Axon's on ebay.

 

 

Yeah, I have looked around a lot recently as wife had a surprisingly positive response when I suggesting that I could interface a guitar with my synth gear. I learned about Stringport just yesterday while searching for Axon on Ebay. Though it is not a self-contained unit it does look like an interesting solution.

 

Also from a mathematical and practical signal processing point of view, I can understand why doing pitch-to-MIDI conversion is much more difficult than digitizing a signal from an instrument with a known response and applying various transformations to change the signal such that it sounds like it came from an instrument having a different response.

 

I am also looking at Starr Labs stuff but that is $$$$

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As an amateur musician (non electrical engineer) user of the Axon and VG-99, I wish Variax would take the extra step of providing a 13 pin output. It can't possibly take that much more space to include the other hardware. Already have the piezo system and electronics. Sure it would cost a hundred dollars more. I would pay twice or three times that to have a factory installed designer interface come with it. Make it an option for the small market folks. Nice way to expand the market, says me.

Nevertheless, I have decided to but the JTV-59 and will consider slapping a GK on it.

My other big disappointment is no built in tuner. Can't imagine why? Too much drain on the battery? Seems so obvious that a unit with the processing power to emulate all those tunings ought to provide an on board tuner.

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Yeah, I have looked around a lot recently as wife had a surprisingly positive response when I suggesting that I could interface a guitar with my synth gear. I learned about Stringport just yesterday while searching for Axon on Ebay. Though it is not a self-contained unit it does look like an interesting solution.


Also from a mathematical and practical signal processing point of view, I can understand why doing pitch-to-MIDI conversion is much more difficult than digitizing a signal from an instrument with a known response and applying various transformations to change the signal such that it sounds like it came from an instrument having a different response.


I am also looking at Starr Labs stuff but that is $$$$

 

 

Starr Labs start at $999, perfectly in reach when compared to the McMillan stuff. When you consider the pickup system as well as the converter, you're not far off from the Baby-Z.

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Hey guys, if you are coming to NAMM and want to get to check out the new JTVs. Come to see me. I will be hanging all weekend in James Tyler's booth 2387 Hall D. Hope to see some of you there. I am going to be jumping back in here very soon. Thanks for your patience.

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I tried the TylerVariax at NAMM, and I really like these. The Korean made ones are nice too. I didn't see you there Rich, but I'll meet you next time. :)

 

These guitars so incredibly useful. I will be getting one as soon as I can.

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I tried the TylerVariax at NAMM, and I really like these. The Korean made ones are nice too. I didn't see you there Rich, but I'll meet you next time.
:)

These guitars so incredibly useful. I will be getting one as soon as I can.

 

Did you plam mute at all on these? That was my biggest gripe with the 700 series and I'd love to know if that issue was addressed.

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