Should I get one? Some counseling plz.

[djiaux]

Hello everyone,

 

This is my second post on a short time about the Variax Shuriken, hope I'm not being a big pain in the lollipop.

 

I would like to ask for some opinions. I have been playing guitar for some time but not that much, I am still learning and need huuuuge loads of practice to get to decent. When I saw videos in youtube about the Shuriken I thought that it was a great idea and super fun (did know nothing about the previous variax models, yup, my knowledge is low) I have been thinking on buying a shuriken, it looks cool, the possibility of having several guitars and several tunings on just one heavy guitar seems great.

My question is, should I? For what I have readed many people seems that it models good enough, that the palm muting is ok, that is crazy fun to have a guitar like this, etc. for some other people it would seem that it sounds very artificial and their only compliment is that it is a good instrument for composing.

 

- How good are the models? In youtube they seem good enough and my noobness plays in my favour here, can not tell the ES-335 from the real one because I haven't heard one in person.

- Am I doing wrong buying this guitar? My main music is metal but I'm more into thrash, will I waste the potential of this guitar? Doesn't seems likelly, I like playing songs from genres that I don't specially like listening. I would love to play silly banjo songs, jazz, 50's rock etc.

- Lastly, I have never used a baritone guitar before, when modeling I guess that will be no problem but will it be ok to tune the Shuriken SR270 to standard E?

 

Thanks a lot for the replies guys.

Regards.

[johnbeamon]

I've had a Shuriken about a month now, and nobody's responded to your thread. I hope this is useful. I use mine all the time now, and NEVER on the mag pickup like I thought I would. I'm constantly matching song keys to convenient shapes like E or drop D, and the tuning engine only affects the modeling pickups, not the mag HB.

 

The guitar was designed to tune a 27" scale to E standard because the higher string tension improved tracking and reduced noise artifacts on the piezo pickups. The length raises the tension by about one pack size, like tens to elevens. I've found 27" strings physically easy enough to stretch, but that I seem to have to move the string farther to get a 3-fret rise than I did with standard length. Visit http://stringtensionpro.com/ and use their app if you want numbers. You can choose your usual pack of strings, then change the scale length to 27.0" and see how much the tension changes. I started with tens at standard length and found strings to approximate that tension on a 27" drop-C instrument. (Hint, elevens plus a 52.) The palm muting is just fine, probably enhanced by the string scale and contruction.

 

The models are really good. The modeling engine is by Variax and is the same tech in all Variax models. The difference between Shuriken and, say, a Standard or a JTV-59 is in physical construction. The Shuriken and all the Strat models have 5-way selector switches to choose among the five models in the "Les Paul" bank. But, the JTV_59 requires a 3-way switch and a second push-button to access the same five models, because it's a Les Paul style guitar and people balk at a 5-way switch.

 

I found the Les Paul humbucker models were the loudest pickups in the collection, naturally. I used Workbench HD to raise the output of the Tele Thinline pickups 3.5db and all the lesser pickups and the acoustic instruments about 5db. I did that because if I ever have a failure in the Variax board and finish the set on the Shuriken's HB pickup or one of my other guitars, the gain on my FX will be calibrated for HB pickups. I know, "change the one instead of all the rest", but it made sense to calibrate all the virtual gear to my physical gear.

 

If you want to play silly banjo songs and jazz, check out what Frog Leap and Twelve Foot Ninja are doing in live shows with a pair of Shurikens onstage. If you've moved on to something else or bought one already, then use whatever you found useful. That http://stringtensionpro.com link was an awesome find for me.