Need All Your Expertise in Variax Guitar Transplant

[romariomario]

Hi Everyone

Greetings From Indonesia

 

I need some suggestions about variax guitar transplant, since i never even had one unit on my hand, so i didnt really sure about the system itself, but old pawn shop run by my friends sell both variax guitar and bass, they only have 1 stock for each, and willing to hold it for me while i gather the money haha, and since its really hard to find even the new unit in Indonesia, i think it's a great chance and i dont want to miss it, and i really need all suggestion from you guys :)

 

So first of all, maybe i'll tell you about the band i start to create so you can relate to what i really need, so i found these 2 cute girl hahaha, one is play keyboard and synth stuff, and the other good with any electronic device like launchpad etc, she's the who will handle the beat and samples, in the very first place, i intend to transplant variax to my guitar since it offer me a lot of advantage as guitarist (for my other band) but in this new project, there's some part in a song that i need to play bass so my bandmates can catch it as a loop in her launchpad, we try to rehearse, and if it comes to live perform, i will look stupid holding the guitar and bass together since it need fast pace in switching ( and no to double neck guitar, that's excessive).

 

so my friend told me about bass modelling for guitar in Boss Gp-10, but another pedal in my board , can be a disadvantage too, and  i remember about variax bass model, since i want the variax guitar in very first place,

 

So my Question is;

1. Can i install both guitar and bass circuit? ( that means i need to buy both guitar and bass from the pawn shop),

 

2. Will the piezo ( i will use graphtech piezo) will recognize the signal and model it right if i use guitar string to variax bass system? my guitar tech can do the wiring by adding splitter socket, so the signal will reach the system i pick from toggle selector, but he cant be sure if the modulation will deliver the right sound

 

3. Or i just need variax guitar circuit and install bass preset from the software? (idk about this since i never had one)

 

4. and for the guitar, can i change the volume, control etc system to custom control unit?, logically speaking my guitar tech will do something like this, Selector Magnetic PU/Variax Guitar/Bass circuit ----> Blend Option ---> Hub Socket---> Custom Control Unit with custom tone caps selector, volume, and some Artec Preamp , so i dont need separate control unit and adding lot of knobs on my guitar

 

5.Any suggestions? for best layout, or anything i miss, because in need all your expertise in this

 

and that's it, sorry for the long post, i know maybe it's stupid, but what i need is guitar with as many sound range as possible, and changing gear for live perform it's not my style, ( i treat my guitar like my wife, i only have one, and  if i need upgrade, i just upgrade it)

 

i will post any progress in this project and keep you updated, since all of you will help me to create a first extremely weird guitar mods in Indonesia, hahahaha

cheers, i appreciate your help a lot :D

 

 

[eenymason]

I don't imagine you would be able to run both variax, and variax bass electronics in the one guitar. Variax bass relies on standard bass strings to operate within it's designed frequency range.

3) is your choice:

You could install the variax electronics into your standard guitar, and use Workbench to create a patch with every string one octave down. It would most likely be useless for playing chords, but it may be acceptable for a simple bass line to loop. You would most likely need a separate output for variax - that is to say, keep the magnetic pickup output and variax output separate. There has been info on these forums about noise/electrical problems by trying to run them through the same output. The newer (JTV and Standard), variaxes have both magnetic, and modelling through the same output. The original variaxes didn't have magnetic pickups, and so it wasn't until variax users tried to integrate variax electronics into their normal guitars, that the issue regarding electronic interference/noise was discovered. I think some may people may have been successful in sorting out the problem, but if you want the bass signal to go to another piece of equipment to be sampled/looped anyway, then I'd personally opt for keeping it simple, and noise free.

Maybe someone else could chime in with more information, or even links regarding integrating both piezos, and magnetic pickups to the same output?

Google "variax transplant" for pictures and information showing layout, etc - it depends on what you want to install it in, and to a lesser extent, which model variax you are transplanting from. I have done so with both a 300 and a 600, which have the electronics in a "coffin case". I have removed the electronics from the case each time, because I have installed them into Strat copies, and I wanted to minimise how much I had to route the body in order to fit the electronics in. I don't have magnetic pickups at all, although I do intend to try another transplant at some time, and have magnetic pickups installed as well. I haven't decided yet - I may wait until I source a reasonably priced JTV or Standard, in order to do this....

 

Actually, there is another choice ( http://www.rackvax.com/ ) these are variax electronics installed into a box, and you need a roland type synth pickup on your guitar, and GK13 pin connector to connect to the rackvax. Fender make a "Roland ready strat"with everything installed, as do some other brands...

 

 

Good luck!