Guitar to Midi - The Best?

[Shazbork]

I had to recreate my old account just to try and get opinions on this topic. I have skimmed the entire intarweb using various search queries to try and get a run down of current MIDI capable Guitars and Guitar --> Midi gear along with ratings to determine which is the best.

Unless I fail at the internet, it still seems that Midi Guitar is just not that popular. As a guitarist of 13 years having found his new love of home recording and using midi controllers with all sorts of soft synth plugins, I can't help but say "Man I wish I could just jam out the melodies in my head on my guitar because I suck ass at keyboard." I'm looking at it as merely a manner of triggering the notes and find myself wondering why others are using midi guitars to try and achieve a guitar sound (that's like making a bunch of left turns instead of a right!) - point being that I'm looking to see just how well tracking has progressed.

I recall reading old articles about all the failures of Midi conversion from guitar but nowadays there's all sorts of toys - or is there!? I know there are 13pin capable guitars, I found one that costs like $7000 so I didn't even read the description, so I come here.

GK-3 pickup ---> Whatever Model they're on now, is the top dog? I saw the review on the VG99 but that's more than I need and the price tag is silly.

I don't quite understand Line 6's Variax line. It has a digital I/O, can I literally pick up a Variax600 and line it in to my digital in and it will record midi notes spot on?

Not to mention there has to be a dozen products I'm unaware of. No need to mention the Ztar either =p but that's the last real thing I know of although it's not quite a guitar.

Any input appreciated, I know I kind of rambled on, but suffice it to say a good run down of current working items and a review of their tracking would be sweet if anyone here has a good familiarity with one or two or three.

[hwhalen]

I use a GR-1 & a GK2 pickup. I've had it a long time. You might try finding a used one.

It works great for triggering VSTIs like KORE Player etc... I play keyboards, but I'm a better guitar player so it works for me.

The tracking is not perfect, but I use it for synth and horn parts

[Terr-or Form]

[quote="Shazbork"].
GK-3 pickup ---> Whatever Model they're on now, is the top dog? I saw the review on the VG99 but that's more than I need and the price tag is silly.quote]

Is it really though? I mean, how long have you wanted to MIDI your guitar and will this pickup work??

I have spent some crazy money working on my final goals. I'm not saying to spend or not to spend - rather, is this the equipment that will do what you are looking for??? Now, spending 350k for guitar strings (or something silly like that) would be dumb.

[Tweak]

The VG99/GK3 is more than a midi system. Its a guitar modeler and amp modeler in one. (Not just an amp modeler like you see everywhere). And it does MIDI conversion. Playing the models is as fluid as playing guitar, but playing external midi synths, hard or soft, is much different.


>it still seems that Midi Guitar is just not that popular.

and for good reason, its takes extremely precise fingering and picking. But if you know guitar theory and not keyboard theory it will help.

[Terr-or Form]

and for good reason, its takes extremely precise fingering and picking. But if you know guitar theory and not keyboard theory it will help.

...and that statement has earned an incredable amount of resprect!!! An instrument is only as good as it's user and that users knowledge (or willingness to learn). This is why tweak is tweak and we are "saplings"!!!!!!

Very well put!

[axeman69]

I've used different guitar synths and have found that they work ok for single lines and stuff, but for pianos and pads, not so well due to the chord voicings.

[Shazbork]

To be more precise in my goal:

All I really want is to utilize guitar for creating midi patterns. As a guitar player, I tend to create more complex melodies, often triggering rapid 16ths and (if I'm juiced) 32nd's across octaves. This is very complicated to do on a keyboard (for me, just not good at keyboards!) and often times I do not want an actual guitar sound, but I want that melody or chord progression.

I've tried just creating midi patterns from scratch, it's not difficult, it's just incredibly tedious work and I wish to rid myself of creating every single note when I could record triggering all of them and tweak velocity and what not after the fact (therefore removing maybe half of the tedium).

So really, all I would think I would need is a reliable pickup/conversion system however I am poor (who isn't!). So I'd like to try and achieve this goal on the cheap. Not to mention my uncertainty of what is available/worthwhile

The reason I slight the vg99 is more because I do not require any modeling. I'm sure one day I'd love to toy with it, sounds like a pretty cool machine, but for now I would enjoy the ability to try and record patterns in my head. Because up until now, I've more or less been just altering sounds and letting them take me wherever they go...I wish to guide them into melodies that I hear in my head...I'm trying to take a step forward as easily as possible.

Really I'm more of a lazy guy screaming "I want I want I want"


EDIT: Honestly, at this point in time I'm not even worried about tracking shred solos and I'd be more than happy to settle for a system that might do half of what I'd like. If midi conversion/tracking is still an issue as I have read and has been alluded to here (picks up any loose play) - that's even better as I see that as a tool to help refine my play style and tighten my technique. It's a win/win in my eyes, but what's available that would suit me is the real question?

[Verse]

My lead guitarist has midi guitar board/pickup and it's freakin awesome, his only real problem is different saturation and attack setting going from his home set up to jammin out, but that's just something I gotta drill in, that asides, strings sound like strings, percussion sounds like percussion etc ... The only comparison I've really had (in depth that is) is the a Roland Fantom-X8, I mean your never going to get a string ensemble out of it, but it's pretty good for stuff that you'd need a dedicated keyboardist or studio only effects so ...