Members girevik Posted March 22, 2010 Members Share Posted March 22, 2010 The problem with comparing the Axon AX-50/AX-100 to a Roland VG-99 is, ultimately, they are two different types of products that serve different purposes. The VG-99 is, at heart, a polyphonic effects processor first, MIDI converter second. BTW, I got mine for under $900 thanks to a promotional special with a store that worked with the VG-8 Yahoo Group. The Axon boxes are MIDI convertors and do not process the real string audio. The synth sounds on the VG-99 respond to subtleties of the player's touch, in a way that has to be experienced to be believed, compared to any synth listening to MIDI guitar input, over MIDI, including softsynths. The only softsynths that might possible compete with the VG-99 in expressiveness are the ones that can work directly with the Keith McMillen Stringport (no MIDI involved). What gear you really need is up to your individual requirements. For the most reliable possible MIDI tracking, I just play the keyboard directly rather than a MIDI guitar. So, the Axon boxes are not a fit for my needs, but it might be the best fit for someone else. I almost never use the MIDI output of my VG-99. I'll probably add a StringPort in the near future, because it brings a different set of tools to the string player's toolbox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mygolfcart123 Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 The false triggers are because I {censored}ed up, it's tough to map a bunch of samples to a preset number of frets and remember their proper order. For modelling synth sounds, I'd shy away from the expensive-as-hell one-trick-pony VG-99 and get a Macbook, Ableton Live and a few good software synthesizers like U-HE ACE or NI Massive. (Actually, this is exactly what I've done. ) I do not have any videos, but I do use it in a church setting. I play strings, horns, flutes and mostly acoustic instruments where triggering properly is CRITICAL to get a decent sound. I hardly ever use synth sounds I am just not crazy about them. Though I can use them if a song calls for it. And the times I used a GK pickup, I was NEVER able to get decent tracking off a GK pickup! Never. Not in any of my MIDI guitar setups which included a GR 33 at one time and later on a axon/ motif setup I have now. Like I have stated before the REASON is because the pickup only lets you adjust it on one side or the other, not a very good way at all to separate the triggering in my opinion. Because you need to make minute adjustments to each string and you simply cannot with a one piece MIDI guitar pickup like the GK pickup. You can only get "close". Because each string when you adjust it on one side or the other is going to affect the others. Weather you want it to or not. And it is simply a fact that the axon has faster triggering with a RMC unit than a GK pickup, you may not be able to notice it, but the RMC is faster in milliseconds as far as triggering. I don't have a graph, but I saw one on the net that compared the tracking between different MIDI pickups and the RMC and GHOST were about the same, but the GK was way below. I also have a classical guitar ACS SA Goidin with 13 pin pickup and it gets much better response than my steel stringed guitars did. (EVEN better than my Brian Moore that also had an RMC pickup system in it!) Some people have told me this is because of the way the nylon strings seem better suited to MIDI Guitar and gives a faster response. All I know is that I HAVE noticed a major difference between steel stringed MIDI guitars and Nylon stringed MIDI guitars. And yes, I tried EVERY way I could to set up my GK pickup properly, but for MIDI guitar... to me at least.... they are horrible at tracking compared to a GHOST or RMC pickup system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members girevik Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 Don't forget, the OP is not as interested in MIDI guitar as he is in playing his VG-99. For VG-99 usage, the consensus is still "GK sounds better", unless you buy the RMC jackboard for the VG-99 and install it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mygolfcart123 Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 Don't forget, the OP is not as interested in MIDI guitar as he is in playing his VG-99. For VG-99 usage, the consensus is still "GK sounds better", unless you buy the RMC jackboard for the VG-99 and install it. I was not referring to the OP, I was referring to Handen's post talking about using MIDI guitar with a synth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members girevik Posted March 23, 2010 Members Share Posted March 23, 2010 I was not referring to the OP, I was referring to Handen's post talking about using MIDI guitar with a synth. My bad. I was confused because you've also been posting replies to the OP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BryanMichael Posted March 24, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 24, 2010 So, my Roland Ready Fender MIM strat arrived yesterday. As promised, this thing is like BRAND NEW! I honestly have NEVER seen a "used" guitar in this perfect shape- so for less than $500 (including shipping!) I'm on to the joys of magnetic GK-2a goodness with the VG-99. Let me just say that my initial impressions took me by surprise. I now have the Godin and the Fender so a direct comparison is possible. My first impressions are that I will miss the neck humbucker in the Godin for straight guitar tones, and that the strat is a bit noisier. I scored some LACE Sensor Holy Grails (noiseless!) as well and will have to upgrade those pickups to quiet it down. That said, the strat is more comfortable to me, more familiar, lighter, and it the neck fits me better. As for the magnetic GK vs. the piezos? I'd have to say that I agree with what everyone else has already found out. IMO, the GK sounds noticably better on just about everything, especially the BASS guitar models. Handling noise has been reduced to almost nothing when using the vibrato, and placing my hand on the bridge for arpeggios and picking doesn't create scratching noises like it does on the Godin. THe synth patches have much, much less tendency to "false trigger" with regular playing, and I found that cleaning up and picking carefully actually improved the synth patches like it should, even though doing so on the Godin still left me with handling noise and other problems caused by sympathetic vibrations. The tone? I started to get ear fatigue after awhile, and cycling through my own patches and Rolands super high gain chorus and effect soaked patches left me a bit weary, but overall I would say that the biggest improvements I heard were in the acoustic based instruments and bass guitar models. You could really STRUM the accoustics pretty hard and not feel like you were overdriving the unit or getting that piezo-distortion that electro acoustics can get as well. In other words, overall the guitar is LESS SENSITIVE in general and that means you can play it like a REAL guitar. Who knew? I'm convinced I made a good choice. Now, I'm selling a Godin Freeway SA in EXCELLENT barely used condition if anyone is interested. I'd let it go VERY VERY reasonably, or would consider a cash+trade deal for something interesting and cheap (like a Xaviere tele copy) :poke: Seriously! B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members girevik Posted March 24, 2010 Members Share Posted March 24, 2010 Sounds like a happy ending (or beginning)! One of my VG-99 guitars is a Strat-style - a Parker Nitefly in my case. It's got the usual single coil hum/noise too. Because I'm actually fine with the Dimarzio single coils that came stock with it aside from the noise, I'm planning to replace them with Dimarzio Virtual Vintage 54 Pros - they seem to be a good fit for a bright sounding guitar like my Parker. So far I have found that the majority of the distortion patches on the VG-99 have the gain on the amp models set way too high for my taste. Simply turning down the gain improved the sound, imo. Bill Ruppert posted some cool hints too, like putting a boost or overdrive "pedal" in front of a Fender Tweed model or similarly slightly overdriven amp to get more of a Larry Carlton type of sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members aliensporebomb Posted March 24, 2010 Members Share Posted March 24, 2010 Exactly. Most of the VG99 factory presets representing an overdriven sound are really harsh and unusable. I've virtually replaced all of that nature the first bank at this point in time with my own patch or modified versions of others. More a bit later but sounds like you scored big - less than $500 for a Roland Ready strat! WOW! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sfarfsky Posted March 24, 2010 Members Share Posted March 24, 2010 well dudes, I watched a demo for a piezo system the other day and it seemed to have a lot more options. you could get different sounds depending on how close you pick to the bridge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members girevik Posted March 25, 2010 Members Share Posted March 25, 2010 well dudes, I watched a demo for a piezo system the other day and it seemed to have a lot more options. you could get different sounds depending on how close you pick to the bridge Sounds like you're talking about the Axon system. Yes, the Axon system transmits MIDI messages by pick position, while the Roland does not. However, this does not matter to the OP, whose main interest is using the guitar and synth models internal to the the Roland VG-99. If you get an Axon, you do not get the guitar/synth/bass/amp/etc. modeling of the VG-99. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BryanMichael Posted March 25, 2010 Author Members Share Posted March 25, 2010 Exactly. Most of the VG99 factory presets representing an overdriven sound are really harsh and unusable. I've virtually replaced all of that nature the first bank at this point in time with my own patch or modified versions of others. More a bit later but sounds like you scored big - less than $500 for a Roland Ready strat! WOW! Yeah. I can't believe the fantastic shape of this guitar either-It is "used" but there is not one single mark on it. Truly "as new" - less wear than a "new" one from a store that has been played a few times. Here is the auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160414087149&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT He included FREE shipping with a "Buy it Now" so it was less than $500 including shipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mygolfcart123 Posted March 25, 2010 Members Share Posted March 25, 2010 If you get an Axon, you do not get the guitar/synth/bass/amp/etc. modeling of the VG-99. You don't need it if your looking for MIDI sounds only. Two different animals. The VG 99 is best for modeling. The Axon is best for MIDI guitar sounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members girevik Posted March 25, 2010 Members Share Posted March 25, 2010 You don't need it if your looking for MIDI sounds only. Two different animals. The VG 99 is best for modeling. The Axon is best for MIDI guitar sounds. Of course. I was just trying to explain this same thing to sfarsky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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