I purchased a Stratocaster VG (Vitual Guitar) with the hope of duplicating George Bensons sound in Masqcarade. I also have an Ibenez hollow body. The warmest amps I have are a Peavey Classic 30 all Sovtek tubes and a Roland JC 120.

Can anyone help me achieve this tone? Amp and guitar settings?

Do I need a effects pedal?

Woodbejazzman[/code]

Why didn't you just use the Ibanez hollow body for this?

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The VG Strat, even with all it's digital gizmos, will not sound like a hollowbody jazz guitar for that classic George Benson sound.

Although, I must admit that I don't think I have heard Masqurade before. Unless George is unleashing some uncharacteristically twangy tones that can be duplicated on a Strat, I think you picked the wrong tool for the job. Maybe trade the Strat in for another jazzbox, or find your OWN sound with this Strat.

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Obligatory gear list: Fender, Rickenbacker, Gibson, Gretsch, Vox, Martin, and more Fender.

Get a semi-hollow and practice a LOT to get the Geo. Benson sound. His tone is from the fingers. While he plays an Ibanez, its a specialized version with little sustain. The pickups are Ibanez's best and are found on the Metheny and Scofield Ibanez models, like George's. Basically they (Super 58 pickups ) are humbuckers which are comparable to the gibson products.

I love my Strat and my Tele, but they will NEVER get a Benson sound. I've tried, and it sounds more like a P90 equipped jazzbox, esp the on the Tele. I get a superior smooth jazz sound on the Strat Ultra(1990), but it's not that 'woody' sound, that George gets. My underrated ES-347 can do a GB sound all day, without much prodding; too bad they've been discontinued for almost 20 years. Look into a Yamaha SA2200 for a great semi-hollow. I have the same electronics on my solid body Yamaha SBG2100 and it will sound great without a lot of setup or cost. These pickups are splittable to single coil, a very smart inclusion by Yamaha for a lot of tones, similar to the SBG2100 and the ES-347.

A clean amp is all you need; a solid state will work.

Here's a link to hear the deep mastery of the guitar by Benson:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpEfAV1T5b0

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2007 Classic Player Baja Telecaster
1991 Strat Ultra
1990 Gibson ES-347
1986 Yamaha SBG2100
1980 Gibson L6-S
1971 Stratocaster
Fender Stage Lead Combo
Marshall MOSFET 100 watt Amp