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The only bass you'll ever need?


danb291

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Pretty cool, I wonder how much it is. :P
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I'm underwhelmed. You can't choose an INTERFACE that you may prefer. With the Roland V-Bass I can choose how many strings (up to six strings when using one GK-2B), what string spacing, what appearance/brand/profile, what neck radius, what materials, what other normal magnetic and/or piezo resources you want to blend with the modeled basses, etc.

 

With only four strings it kind of limits the hands-on techniques and greater simultaneous range some players may prefer.

 

And with the V-Bass you get a footcontroller and a bunch of other effects, and head/cabinets modeling, and ...

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Mike H.: Novel idea -
Roland or Gibson may feel otherwise ; }

 

- I see it as a very hard sell. Especially the ticket price. I'm sure it's around $1800 like the guitars they make.[/QB]
Uh, it doesn't have to be a hard sell. Not every product needs to be as ubiquitous (old word I am revisiting) as toiletpaper to be successful in its own right. Line6 has already shown they can deal with market concerns, regardless of whether one thinks the technological benefits are uncompromising.
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Completely missing the point.

 

I don't choose basses based on a tone, exactly.

 

Take the whole experience...the touch, action, "mouth-feel" (okay, "finger"-feel.) How much does the bass give back to you. The feel of the neck, string spacing,

 

How much punishment it will take, and does it still respond? Does its response improve? How fast is it.

 

If you think about it, the bass has a p/u and electronic combination that can be altered in specific ways. Couldn't I just get the Line 6 box to do that? Plug in anything, my Ashbory, and let the box turn it into a Sadowsky.

"Let's raise the level of this conversation" -- Jeremy Cohen, in the Picasso Thread.

 

Still spendin' that political capital far faster than I can earn it...stretched way out on a limb here and looking for a better interest rate.

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Another thing I'll expound on about the V-Bass that I've mentioned in another context, before. The experience of using it with either of my basses can be very kinesthetic - and even unto an experience of synesthesia, where what has been audirory becomes tactile. When I'm playing a sufficently different bass and amp model on it and really getting into it, it begins to feel as if I am PLAYING that type of instrument and rig. The repsonses to such a strong and touch-interactive an audio cue can be quite unnerving.

 

So maybe it wouldn't be so ludicrous to expect a rubber band extremely-short scale novelty instrument to become a idealized F____ J - or vice versa.

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I dunno, the Line6 concept just hasn't caught my fancy. And I've used it... I just cannot get into it. Take the guitar modeler, for instance. I actually made my own 'sitar' bridges for a Strat after having a fun experience with a Coral Sitar and then following it with an unsatisfying experience using the sitar sim of a Variax. And the Strat with the bridges is great! I'd rather have the inconvenience of having to bring the extra guitar, and swap instruments between songs, than use the Variax.

 

I think the bass modeler would be equally unsatisfying.

I used to think I was Libertarian. Until I saw their platform; now I know I'm no more Libertarian than I am RepubliCrat or neoCON or Liberal or Socialist.

 

This ain't no track meet; this is football.

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Modeling guitars and basses are niche instruments. I can see how both could be handy to have around.

 

While the Roland V-Bass is a great piece, I can see how someone might find that it has too much horsepower. The control interface that Line6 has come out with for their instruments is very straightforward. Not nearly as flexible as the Roland, but flexible enough for a lot of musicians.

 

The other thing with the Line6 design is that if used in conjunction with one of their amplifiers with their proprietary connector, you will be able to control instrument changes on the fly with a floor controller (much like the V-Bass).

 

These may not necessarily be the only guitar or bass you ever need, but that doesn't mean for certain players they won't be.

 

My 2 cents.

Mudcat's music on Soundclick

 

"Work hard. Rock hard. Eat hard. Sleep hard. Grow big. Wear glasses if you need 'em."-The Webb Wilder Credo-

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Well, I tried the Variax Bass at BP Live, and there were two things: 1) It was very loud there, lots of competing noise, so I couldn't get a great idea of how it sounded. 2) It was just a prototype, so some of the models were not finished yet, they wanted to peak people's interest. It was debuted in beta form, but it's not going to be in stores for a little while longer.

 

I am a devoted Variax guitar user. I LOVE it. I think the models are dead on. I've played guitar for 35 years, and while I'm not performing live, I record all the guitar tracks for my book CDs, in the past year - I've played ALOT of guitar, and the Variax is the bomb. While the jury is still on hold, I think if they can nail the bass like they did the guitar, it's going to be very cool.

 

They are only modeling 4 strings right now, but I think a 5 is probably going to happen too. The bass itself played nicely, it had sort of a Jazz feel, it looked very similar to the guitar, I thought it was a pretty decent looking bass.

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As always, to each their own. It may be the end-all bass for some, not for others. I think it is interesting. If it is a nice playing bass, feels good, etc. it could be pretty cool. I'd like to see a 5 string version.

 

I use a Line6 PodXT. As I use it more, I am really enjoying the options it gives me. I'm glad I stayed with it for a while. I don't - and won't - use everything on it, but I have found a number of settings and effects that work for me. I bet theVariax Bass would be a good match.

 

I'm guessing that if these basses play well and are available in a 5 string version, I'd be interested. I won't give up my "real" fretless though. I don't care what anyone says, you can't beat the real thing when it comes to fretless. No way you can model the neuance.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Originally posted by Ed Friedland:

I am a devoted Variax guitar user... and the Variax is the bomb.

Thanks for the update. My brother( http://www.guzzlers.net/tunes.htm )has been Variaxing since they came out(with a Line 6 amp & FB) and really enjoys being able to change guitars and amps with a footswitch. I've been bugging him for 2 years about Line 6 putting us(bass players) 2nd. Finally!

 

Bass V-amp is nice(I use one at the office at lunch with a Steinberger, headphones, and a laptop) BUT fragile and can be noisy. My son's Line 6 Spider 212 is also amazing(I use his Firebird and tinker around when he's not looking).

 

I will try one.

http://www.myspace.com/theguzzlers

 

Dad gave me a bass when I was 10.

I learned Gloria, Satisfaction, and a lot of Booker T & the MG's.

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Coming next from the makers of the Variax is

 

THE VARIMIKE..

you wanna sound like Sinatra...

Sting...

Ella....

Pavoroti....

Ashlee Simpson...

 

try the new Vaimike.. what do you think??

www.danielprine.com

 

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I also tried one at BPLive. As Ed said, the noise made a real evaluation difficult, but what I heard sounded like what it was supposed to. Definitely a tool that might have a place in the 'box.

The Line6 rep I spoke with said the 5 strings will follow the 4s by a few months. He explained that this was because they are having to figure out what the B string would sound like on instruments that never had one- 57 P, Hofner, etc.

Fun stuff.

I agree, I'd likely play my actual fretless before I'd play a modelled one, but having a variety of basses in "that case in the corner" does have definite appeal.

 

Peace,

 

wraub

 

I'm a lot more like I am now than I was when I got here.

 

 

 

 

 

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I think some people would like to see pitch correction moving into microphones. I think formant replacement and rephrasing is a few generations off yet ; }

 

What that's got to do with modeling instuments and rigs though, I'm not so sure. It's just as easy to have your own musical personality through a modeling rig as it is through a rig with a few effects.

 

It's still the playah.

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It's not far off, J. All the pop confections with bigger budgets are usually gone obver with a fine tooth comb (comb filter), pitch correcting every little blip that might be excess personality, or just plain lack of musical devlopement - or talent.

 

Baby with bathwater.

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