I was ready to pull the trigger on a VG Strat until I read that the batteries need changing every 3-4 hours of use. In my opinion, this is ridiculous. I really question why Fender has not created a power cord option for this guitar.

Any thoughts / comments?

I love the Roland VG stuff, been using the COSM and guitar to MIDI stuff for a long time now but I'm not tempted at all by the VG Strat. For the amount you'll pay for one you'd be better off buying the VG-99, way more configurable and customisable. And the power supply to the guitar comes down the 13-way connector so there's no batteries to worry about, plus it'll do MIDI conversion and a whole lot more than just the VG Strat on its own.

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That's the conclusion I came to and ended up buying a GR-55. I already have a couple Strats, a MIM and a Select. But if there was a power cord for the VG Strat (as opposed to changing the batteries every coupla hours), I still would have bought one.

I wonder if Fender has given this any thought.

The way I figure it, they quickly discontinued it for a reason.

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I suspect a big part of the reason was confusion about the VG and Roland Ready Stratocasters. While both have the GK pickup, the VG Stratocaster was effectively a cut-down COSM processor built into a guitar whereas the Roland Ready instruments are designed to drive external processors (VG-99) or guitar to MIDI units (Roland GR series).

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I think the gist of it was that with this model, one bought an unreliable computer controlling an otherwise reliable guitar.

As always, this is merely IMO where YMMV.

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You just summed up the current state of guitar synths

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