Roland VG-99 or Line 6 Pod X3 Live?

[Daemoniac]

So i play industrial/metal stuff.. so kind of like Front Line Assembly i guess, and am FINALLY getting some effects (i spent too much on distortion units... a whole lot of money wasted i tell you...) so i was wondering whether id be better off going with the VG-99 synth or the Line 6 pod thing?

Different kind of sounds i suppose, but which is "better" under the circumstances? My main concern would be if id just be better off getting like a Roland SH-201 ACTUAL synth and just using the instrument input on there than the VG...
Thanks for the help, Mischa

 

[Ishan]

If you really want out of this world synthy sounds the Roland is better but you definitely need a GK pickup to get the most out of it. it does sounds pretty good for more traditional modeled sounds. The best thing for me with the Roland is the altered tunings, you can play a preset drop D then switch to another tuned to B standard, that's pretty cool

 

[Daemoniac]

Is the synth worth the price do you reckon? cos it is pretty steep... its hard to tell between effected guitar tones and Synth guitar tones... blah

 

[darren]

If it's effects you're after, i'd suggest you look at the GT-10 instead of the VG-99.

The VG system is a whole different beast, kind of like a Variax and an effects/modeling processor all in one, plus you need to have a Roland GK pickup (or equivalent) on your guitar.

 

[Diogene303]

Hi,

I can tell you this if your a big Front Line fan , that on the 2007 tour Jared was using a line 6 in his rig with two other pedals , marshall cabs (logo off) and his FERNANDES guitar. I can't remember the other two pedals off the top of my head but i did some tech-ing in europe for them last year and helped out on the keyboard and guitar front.

Diogene

 

[jazzsinger]

The VG-99 is not actually a guitar synth even though it does have some synth sounds in it. But it does have a guitar to midi converter for using with a synth module. Nevertheless, to get close to the type of modeling it does, you would probably need to use both the Line 6 Variax (guitar models) and the Pod (amp/cab/effects mod) together. Although on the VG-99 some of the modeling is limited without the hex pickup.

There is also the option of getting a guitar synth such as the Roland GR-20 or older (and better) GR-33. You will certainly need a 13 pin output for this and the internal piezos such as RMC or Graphtech Ghost work much better than the Roland hex pickups. For me, the guitar synth is more useful than the VG-99. For my guitar signal I like a tube amp with just a few effects. I like being able to add and hold organ, strings, etc., in the background, or even to play a piano or sitar sound on the guitar. If you're not interested in synth sounds, but prefer lots of different guitar, pickup and amp sounds, the VG-99 might be for you. If you don't need guitar models, maybe the Pod or the Boss GT-x (or even the older Boss VF-1) will suit your needs and save you some money.

 

[Daemoniac]

Ok, im really considering the Roland GR series now, but i really REALLY need to know just how synthy and aggressive it is? Also, can you actually layer fx or pads on tehre or is it just like a background sort of looper that you can use to thicken up your sound? Thats cool if it is, and its all angry like, but if i spend the $1200AUD on it, will i then need to spend another $1200 on the pod X3 as well? or is it useful on its own?

Also, i talked to a music shop guy who reckoned it (the GR-33) still wasnt REA<LLY a guitar synth, and it was still just modelling technology and was just modeled sound FX like organs, strings and so on, if i do get it i want it to sound artificial and synthy.

Id go and try one, but with the whole fucking piezo pickup thing you have to attach to the guitar, its just way WAY too hard... so im still stuck between the Pod X3 Live and the GR-33 now.... Help me please anyone with experience please tell me what exactly the GR does well.
Thanks heaps

 

[darren]

Well, you're now comparing two COMPLETELY different things... a guitar synth and an effects/modeling box.

Check out the GR-20 here. I don't think this is "modeling" technology... guys in music shops are not always the most knowledgeable. Roland has been perfecting guitar synth technology for over 20 years. They also have a GI-20, which is just a guitar-to-MIDI interface, so you can use it with whatever synth module (or keyboard) you like, if you find one that has sounds that match what you're hearing in your head.

Any guitar synth is going to be as aggressive as the patches you program for it (or the samples you trigger if you hook up a MIDI sampler to it or MIDI it to a computer running FruityLoops or something).

You don't NEED to have a piezo in the guitar to use the Roland synths... it's just the better way to go vs. their magnetic GK pickup. Any place that sells Roland guitar synths or VG modules usually has a demo guitar with a GK pickup on it.

 

[Jeff]

I'm surprised that Roland hasn't come out with the VG-99 in software form yet. That would be really cool. Record a part, change the tuning afterward, change it to a synth afterward, etc. You could do that of course by interfacing the VG-99 to the computer via midi and recording the resulting audio output, but being able to do it all "in the box" would be really sweet.

 

[thesimo]

Just get the pod.

 

[Variant]

Like people are saying, the two don't compare. The POD is a flexible unit focused on getting the meat-and-potatos type guitar sounds out of it, and the VG-99 is more of a special effects box... sure, there are alot of interesting 'vintage' emulations in there but, honestly, I think they're at their best when you're taking advantage of the wacky variables in there.

Furthermore, a lot of characterstic industrial guitar sounds derive from vintage amps/equipment being overdriven and manipulated, particularly in post. I'd recomend playing around with reamping (we're not talking reaplying dry tracks here) your guitar tracks... you can really get some good results there. Try analog pre's as well, even in front of your digial pre/inputs, and push them into the red. You may not need to replace your head unit at all to get into the areas, tone-wise, that you're looking at.

 

[Daemoniac]

So more about taking the sounds of, say, an old Marshall JCM or a Fender twin reverb or something (or, seeing as how i dont actually have those, my Randall...), recording it dry, and applying a shitload of fx and warping the cutoff frequencies and whatnot to get a weird sound?
I can understand why all those industrial guys are so old lol... so much to learn...
Cheers tho!