I have a Carvin SH575 and a VG-99 on the way.
Anybody here having success with this combination? I read the last Roland update log and supposedly they have made the VG-99 compatible with the ghost piezo system that Carvin uses.
Any tips? Warnings? Observations?
I'll have the VG here before the Carvin arrives so if it works with my GK-2A equipped NiteFly I can just send the new guitar back I suppose.
germanicus2112
07-26-2009, 12:09 AM
Some warnings.
Folks on the carvin bbs boards have complained about:
- The Piezo's are noisy.
- Lack of Mag/Mag-synth/synth switch.
- The magnetic pickups are improperly buffered when sending their signal out the 13 pin cable causing an extreme volume variation between the summed piezo signal and that of the mags.
-Some reported that using 3 cables simultaneously diminished the tone of the magnetic pickups.
Honestly, these things scared me away from Carvin as a synth access option. Godin has none of these issues so im not sure why Carvin does.
Godin uses RMC electronics, Carvin uses Ghost systems.
I would definitely thoroughly test these aspects out and figure what type of cable/signal chain setup you are interested in having. For the price of the SH575 you shouldnt need to compromise these features, but maybe the other aspects of the guitar (looks, build, playability) make up for it.
Another issue:
Roland made some tweaks for piezo pickups in update 1.04 of the VG99, however in my own experience some piezos work well and others do not, even with the tweaks and settings. This is due to the fact that the 99 does not have a high pass filter which removes some of the more 'boomy' frequencies from the lower strings. This does affect the sound of patches and was a deal breaker for me when using a Godin xtsa as the tone was too muddy, irregardless of how much tweaking I did. There is a 3rd party mod you can get from RMC which replaces the jackplate in your vg99 and filters out these frequencies, but this voids your warranty and I cant speak for its effectiveness.
FWIW I now have a Godin LGXT and it works very well with the vg99, has none of the reported issues the Carvins have, and the boomy quality is significantly less than I experienced with the xtsa, and only really noticeable when I compare my GK guitars directly.
The VG99 was designed for use with the Gk pickups. Its an amazing unit, but dont let it overwhelm you. Its insanely deep, so set aside some time to really learn its functions section by section. It will pay off for you in the future if your patient with it.
If you want more info/help with the vg99, check out www.vguitarforums.com
aliensporebomb
07-26-2009, 09:00 AM
ieso: my VG99 came with 1.04 already preinstalled.
The Brian Moore guitar I tested in the store with the store display model using a piezo sounded terrific.
I'd like to hear examples of the problems because much of what people are complaining about at vguitarforums simply doesn't exist as a problem for me.
Of course I'm running a GK3 on my current guitar for this but I do want to add a piezo bridge for one of my other guitars to give it vg99 access.
And, someone somewhere said that it is better to think of the vg99 as a laptop computer for your guitar, it's that deep.
A far cry from simple multi-fx units.