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Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 9:27 am
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straycat113:
Yes, $840 is what I paid thru' eBay; NOS & pristine... Great buy! Fantastic value! It IS an incredible guitar, if you don't mind the battery hassle... and I did get a set of the re-chargeables with the charger, etc. The one thing I've never liked about a Strat is how close the Volume is to the pickup... I'm constantly bumping it accidentally and turning down my volume. I've installed a 'wide-open' over-ride mini-switch in my Strats to eliminate this problem. I'd play a Tele IF they made a Tremolo HSS version w/ coil-tap. I also feel that a Master tone control is plenty and a Fat Strat could use 2 Volumes, one for the Humbucker and the other for the Singles, since the difference in out-put is noticeable. That's my 2 cents...... LOL


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Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 10:03 am
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Wow Lloyd you dug deep to find this thread... :D I've got the regular VG in sunburst and if that guy on Ebay gets his asking price I'm selling mine for half that... :wink:
I too have several Strats I just hope the VG heads in the same direction the Ultras and the Strat Pus Deluxe seems to have done over the last few years.
Welcome to the forum... :)


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Post subject: VG Strat
Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 10:10 am
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For me, when I picked up a VG for the first time at GC, it felt like a toy. It had no weight to it, and the neck felt like it wasn't real wood, felt like it was made of plastic, balance was horrible. All of the selections for different tunings and sounds didn't really add to the sound of the guitar, sounded sterile and lifeless. I thought of it as more of a gimmick than a feature, it just did not sound like a Strat. I prefer tube amps, maybe it would sound better on a Solid State amp, but I don't know. If you play an SS amp with lots of distortion, then perhaps the VG would be OK. Maybe that was part of the problem with the VG for many. It put some SS circuitry into the signal path to the amp and kinda ruined the tone. :?:

They look awesome, except for the light, not sure why you need a light on a guitar. But, I really couldn't get past the feel of the guitar, didn't like it at all. At the time I believe the price was around $1600, it's been a few years, and at that price it was not worth it. If the price was around $800, it might have been something neat to have, just to have something unusual, but not for an everyday player. The fact that the price kept dropping and dropping, tells me that they were not very popular with players. Just my two cents, if it's worth that much. :)


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Post subject: What killed the VG Strat:
Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 10:16 am
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Put it this way, using the VG orifinal price as the example.

$1600. Would you rather have a Roland VG Stratocaster, or a more traditional, high-end American Strat or perhaps a used Custom Shop guitar?


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Posted: Fri Jul 23, 2010 10:23 am
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Well, I think that I may have said this before...it is just a really good, practical guitar. Sure, there are a lot of guitars that if I had my choice, I would rather have. However, would I rather have this or haul 4 different guitars to a gig that I am making $50 to $100? Sometimes, ya just gotta "cut out all that macho $@!& and learn how to play guitar!" I will have to argue however, that although I love my Tele, my SG, my Les Paul Special, this VG is the best playing and best sounding axe that I own. It stays in tune and it is an American Standard Strat and in the standard analog mode, sounds great. It is a working man's guitar. If you are a bedroom player, just get whatever gives you a woody and get over it!

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Post subject: Re: What Killed the VG Stratocaster ?
Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 11:15 pm
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Most of the complaints listed here are concerning the short battery life of the VG.I bought my VG in July of '08 and within the first few days I could see that Duracell was going to be taking a lot of my money so I contacted Fender and asked why this was such a large problem for an expensive guitar. Everyone I asked, I got a different answer, non of which was even close to what I thought it would be. I "thought" it might be because of line voltage surges. That was the reason Fishman gave me when I asked about powering the Aura pickup/preamp I installed on my Martin D-28. But no such luck. Their answers made little, if any sense to me. By August of '08 I no longer had a battery problem.
The battery holder in the VG soon became my best friend. That deserves an explanation, I'm sure. The holder is more than a holder. I'd like to classify it as a conduit for current. Since I was already told by Fender that line surges was not an issue then I assumed they wouldn't mind if I experimented a little, after all, it is my guitar.
My first trial was to get continuity through the entire holder (all 8 posts) and I hooked a 6-volt power supply to the holder, put it in place and whalla, the little blue light came on when I plugged the amp cord in. But, my problem was far from solved. The hummming that the power supply caused through the circuitry was unbearable. I remembered something and electrician told me once.... A battery can also act as an inexpensive noise suppressor. So, I had 4 AA rechargables that wouldn't hold a charge long enough to light a flashlight. I traded the power supply for a 6-volt battery charger, and no more noise. I never altered my beloved VG, in any way. The wires run, hidden from view from the compartment to my amp cord where it's neatly taped in several places until it gets to my trusty 1961 Super Twin which, as any Fender man knows about the older Fenders, has a 110-volt outlet on the back. When I take a break I still leave the cord plugged in to the guitar but unplug the charger (If I'm going to burn up my pride & joy, I want it to take me with it). When I put my guitar away, I remove my "configuration", unplug the cord and everything stores neatly in the back of the amp...... Case closed!


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Post subject: Re: What Killed the VG Stratocaster ?
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 1:14 am
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howebber: Thanks for the info. I've wondered for a long time WHY Fender didn't design & include a 'wall-plug/transformer' unit like you describe. It seems as if they 'cow-tow' to the less-than-50% of guitarists who use wireless systems. Here it is 2011 and I've yet to see any VG used wireless. All I've ever seen -so far- is a standard 1/4" line to the amp, into pedal F/X along the way, or not.
Maybe you see a higher % of wireless users in concert and on TV, but that's still a small number compared to all the players out there. I rarely see wireless of any kind in the many small & medium-sized R&R clubs. In larger clubs, it still isn't seen/used as much as you'd expect, although modern lead vocalists tend to want/need wireless mics more & more, especially if they're 'overly active' on stage & part of their act takes them into the audience. Since tube amps of all kinds are still made and used by 'tone-freak' guitarists. (Not a bad thing, as I'm one! LOL.) I believe tone can be &/or is an issue regarding the use of wireless. Besides, half the systems (UHF) will be defunct soon & only VHF will work; which may be why so many Ultras are so cheap on eBay... sellers hope buyers are 'U'n-aware.


Last edited by Guitarman1117 on Fri Jan 14, 2011 1:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post subject: Re: What Killed the VG Stratocaster ?
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 6:07 am
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Good information guys. I don't know if I posted this or not, but as far as the battery issues go, just get a really good rechargeable system and you are good to go. Regular Alkaline batts won't do. If you use non-rechargables, you will have to go with the Lithium type that cameras use and they are expensive. They will last a long time though. I bought the Pearstone 1900 Mh charger and two sets of the AA to go in it and they last a whole 4 hour gig with plenty to spare. After a gig, I keep the set in the guitar and can usually get a couple of practice sessions/rehearsals in before I put in the new set. They last through the next gig. I'm sure that the off the shelf rechargables like Duracell and Energizer would work fine too, but I know that the Pearstones work great. B & H Photo sells them. With this system, batteries are not an issue unless you forget to charge them! :cry:

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Post subject: Re: What Killed the VG Stratocaster ?
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 6:51 am
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Howebber thanks for the info.


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Post subject: Re:
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 6:58 am
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voxampguy wrote:
Sometimes, ya just gotta "cut out all that macho $@!& and learn how to play guitar!


EXACTLY
It's about making a sound, not showing off how much you spent.

It's been a longtime practice for wireless users to change batteries every gig. Fresh batteries everytime. Use the old ones to soundcheck in the afternoon. Is that really so hard to do with a VG strat?

I tried one that I had in to set up, infact I spent a good bit of time checking that guitar played as well as it could :lol: I couldn't resist it. My take on it was that it was a very usable tool, if your doing anything more than knocking out predictable blooze all night every night. Passive pickup height did affect the synth pickup in unusuall ways. The same way as one high set singlecoil will cause wolf notes on all pickups by changing the string vibration pattern, it made strange sounds on the synth pickup. But then again I thought anyone who knew how to set a guitar up would spot that, before we get a load of folks whining about strange sounds.

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Post subject: Re: What Killed the VG Stratocaster ?
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 8:51 am
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I agree with voxmanamp.

A good set of rechargeable batteries will suffice fine. I've had my VG for two years now and certainly a fun guitar to play. I got it from GC when they were clearing them out for $799 with case. :shock:
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Post subject: Re: What Killed the VG Stratocaster ?
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 12:55 pm
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Sorry, 2900 mAh batts

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Post subject: Re: What Killed the VG Stratocaster ?
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 6:16 pm
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dude in australia we have the vg in every music store :lol:


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Post subject: Re: What Killed the VG Stratocaster ?
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 6:49 pm
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I think people just preferred to get a normal strat and then normal electrics and acoustic.

Personally i dont want a guitar that sounds like other guitars because then there is no fun in getting another one. If have a strat that sort of sounds like a tele then i am missing half the guitar getting to feel it, choosing the color, and all that jazz


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Post subject: Re: What Killed the VG Stratocaster ?
Posted: Fri Jan 14, 2011 9:15 pm
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chec, I totally understand. I bought one however so that I didn't have to haul a 6 sting electric, a back up, an acoustic and a 12 sting to gigs. It has been pretty effective for that. It is after all in passive mode an american standard strat and plays like one. Is the 12 sting electric or acoustic as good or better than it's counter parts, the real deal? No. However, it is pretty damn good, especially in a live situation. I can play a birds song or an original song with 12 sting electric and then go balls out electric distortion on the next song, then switch to acoustic. If you are looking for a "personal experience" in guitar relationships, then this ain't it. However, the basic American Standard Strat ain't bad at all. I even thought that at some point if I stopped liking it or the electronics went south, I could always replace the body and have a real nice playin' strat without all of the stuff because I paid way less for this than I would a Am St Strat would have cost me! :D

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