What's your take on electronic guitars

[RudyH]

Now that Gibson has entered the electronic guitar market, I believe the concept can be considered mainstream. What do you think of electronic guitars (like ones that model other guitars or self-tune)?

 

I have a Variax 700 and play it more than my other guitars at the moment. I consider it a workhorse. I also see it as relatively costly and something that will not hold its value. Its service life is also bound to be shorter than any conventional electric guitar. If I'm lucky and take good are of it, I may get 20 years out if, though. At least as long as the piezos can be replaced.

 

I found that the Variax was a good tool for helping me learn what kinds of guitar sounds I like best. I also like having some of the sonic options of playing acoustic, banjo, or dobro sounds at times. It adds a bit of fun. The acoustic sounds are particularly cool. My favorite model is the semi hollow-body sound that models an ES335. It is the reason I got interested in an ES335 and eventually bought one. In time I expect to play the 335 more than the Variax.

 

I just play for my own enjoyment. I'd like to know what professionals think of them too.

 

What do I think of the Dark Fire? Hard to tell because there haven't been good examples of its sound put on youtube yet. But I like the concept. I'm glad to see that a model is available that is likely to be of truly high quality.

[Homz]

I have a robot. Never play it. I'll stick with the Gibson LP Standard. It Rocks!

[MikeRom]

I personally love the idea of having a self tuning feature. Not that I can't do it my self, just like the idea of being able to do it very quickly on the fly and change tuning very quickly on the fly. Now if Gibson would offer it (as an option) on a better guitar, like the standard or traditional, that would be something.

[Bluezboy]

I'm no professional but i have gigged before and i know that sometimes you need different sounds and that's what sells guitars like the variax is having the ability to play a les paul song followed by a tele song and then go to an acoustic sound without having to change guitars in between songs. Personally i like the idea of being able to do that seamlessly in a gig but i personally think a variax is a LONG way from replacing my Les Paul and Strat as my most played guitars.

[Space Pup]

I've played the robot guitar and I like it. Being able to change tunings at the turn of a knob is a usefull feature. I haven't played a Dark Fire yet so I can't comment on it too much but the ability to change from say a Strat to a Les Paul sound doesn't seem to be a very needed feature to me. I'm sure it will have a place in some guitar players collections.

[RudyH]

BluezBoy:

 

That's a point well taken. Comparing the Variax sound to the real guitar being modeled is quite an awakening. In my case, the American Strat and the ES335 sound a lot better, but the Variax does have its place and is very good. The thing I found about the Variax is that you can get a lot closer to the sound of the original by playing with the amplifier. If I do that, the ES335 and the Variax are close.

[guitar_randy]

I like simple things.Too much that can go wrong with all that electronic stuff.

[Bluemoon]

I like simple things.Too much that can go wrong with all that electronic stuff.

 

I with you. One of the first things that go on new cars is the electronics. You are just asking for trouble.

[80LPC]

You can do so much with a Les Paul / SG. Rock out with humbuckers, split the coils for single coil punch, and combine pickups. These sounds can be accessed seamlessly, adjusted mid - performance and are reliable. Who would want to fumble around for 30 seconds with a knob to change sounds ? Who wants strings that break due to all that retuning ?