emerald Virtuo guitar with ghost hexaphonic pickup

[Celticsaint]

I have ordered the new Emerald guitars Virtuo guitar that is carbon fiber and has Fishman  Fluence pickups as well as a Graphtec Ghost pickup.  I'm now considering a Boss SY 1000.  How believable are the modeled guitars?  How believable are the electric 12 string guitar models?  Are they good enough to use in studio recordings?  Can I sell my electric 12 string guitars?   I'll mostly use the fluence pickups but I'd like to add modeled guitars to my tracks if they're that good.  Are the bass models good enough to record bass tracks with?

[admin]

I have ordered the new Emerald guitars Virtuo guitar that is carbon fiber and has Fishman  Fluence pickups as well as a Graphtec Ghost pickup.  I'm now considering a Boss SY 1000.  How believable are the modeled guitars?  How believable are the electric 12 string guitar models?  Are they good enough to use in studio recordings?  Can I sell my electric 12 string guitars?   I'll mostly use the fluence pickups but I'd like to add modeled guitars to my tracks if they're that good.  Are the bass models good enough to record bass tracks with?

Plenty of SY-1000 demos  - listen
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=26877.msg223785#msg223785

Are the bass models good enough to record bass tracks with?

You will require a separate Bass Instrument with GK-3B Bass GK 13 pin pickup to run SY-1000 in Bass Mode

But be aware the Graph-Tech 13 pin preamp (used for the Gk13 output on the Emerald Virtuo guitar) is noisier (higher Hiss)  vs the Roland GK-3 preamp  -  will require judicial use of the the SY-1000 N.S. Noise Suppressor to tame as all SY-1000 Guitar modeled tones rely on a clean GK preamp on the guitar

as mentioned here
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=31163.msg228573#msg228573

Why the analog GK preamp signal to noise ratio is important for best operation with SY-1000 
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=14088.msg101908#msg101908

[gumtown]

Sorry I had to change the title from "midi pickup" to "hexaphonic pickup"
it was bugging me.

[Celticsaint]

Is the Ghost hexaphonic pickup noisy when used as an acoustic pickup?

[admin]

Is the Ghost hexaphonic pickup noisy when used as an acoustic pickup?

It exhibits higher hiss compared to an RMC,  Fishman, or Tayler,

Third party verification of high hiss on Graph-Tech Ghost
https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/need-help-from-fellow-graphtech-ghost-users.62384/

why do independent luthiers use the Noisy Graph-Tech ghost Hexpander 13 pin preamps?

Because they are readily available, compararable RMC piezo saddles and RMC PolyDrive GK13 pin  preamp often cost three times as much, and require a significant up front cost vs the readily available Graph-Tech, and most luthiers still mis understand the GK13 interface, believing its MIDI, and many determine high analog noise floor is irrelevant for Pitch to MIDI conversion,  never understanding the vast array of VGuitar Processors which use the strings as oscillator source,  and the quality of the multi-channel analog preamp in the GK-13 signal chain impacts the resulting performance/user experience (VG-8, VG-88, VG-99, GP-10, SY-1000, and COSM Modeling portion of GR-55 )

[scratch17]

Justin Johnson reviews the Emerald Virtuoso. Note his repeated references to the 'MIDI' pickup and that he calls the 13 pin cable a 'MIDI' cable.

To be fair to Justin Johnson, he does a good job of demonstrating the guitar; how it plays and the sounds of the Fishman pickups. His talent as a guitar player is excellent. It compares well to anyone doing guitar reviews on YouTube. But I agree that he needs to learn the technology he is demoing. 

Emerald is obviously building a quality guitar. There are lots of ways to add the tech to a guitar, but no one seems to build exactly the right guitar to satisfy everyone. So unless a custom built or modified guitar is in your budget, you have a few choices. None of which will do everything you probably want.

I would expect that if you contacted Emerald, you could likely purchase the Virtuoso with a bridge like the Schaller Nashville that could use the RMC saddles. If they wouldn't do the install of the RMC saddles and Polydrive I preamp, you could get an authorized installer to do the work.

If I was considering spending upwards of $4,000 on a guitar like this, I'd add a NU2 installed between the Fishman pickups. I'd also replace the 1/4" guitar jack with a Lemo 19 pin jack. That would allow for 12 audio channels and plenty of CV controls.

And I'd go with the Fluence Open Core Humbuckers and have a pair of toggles so that each pickup could have its own voice. The standard voice wiring of the Fluence pickups requires both pickups to have the same voice setting.

[admin]

Other than marketing campaign,  I fail to see what Emerald Guitars are adding to the GK 13 world, which can't be accomplished better by seeking a gently used Godin, Brian Moore IGuitar, Washburn JB-1 Jennifer Batten .

Or ordering from Crimson Guitars UK

All GK 13 Guitars
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?board=4.0

[scratch17]

I agree that there is nothing new here wrt GK universe. It is the carbon fiber and overall quality that is worth noting. I also like the inclusion of the Fluence pickups. Of course, you can add this tech to almost any guitar.

[Gurbz]

https://www.guitarplayer.com/reviews/emerald-virtuo-review?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_medium=social&utm_content=guitar-player&fbclid=IwAR3JnHclka87Xxl8Kaq4L3ktgubmOU1ll-i98nXq9KD2cejgijjN97WS_do

[gbr13697]

I got an Emerald Virtuo recently, and I have been very impressed with it.  I run it into my Quad Cortex from the TRS jack output with the cable split into 2 mono jacks.  The mag pickups go through one channel with amp/cab/effects etc, and the acoustic through a second channel with just reverb.  I do have a compressor and EQ on the acoustic channel as well, but I have never needed to use them.
I route the GK cable through a GR-55 and into another channel path on the Quad Cortex, which generally just goes straight through.  The GR-55 does a very good range of instruments, as well as alternative guitar tunings.  The instruments include the pipe organ used by Justin Johnson in his YouTube video, and the tunings are certainly better than my Variax.
I have tried a SY-1000, but it is very much a "synth" as opposed to the more "off-the-shelf instruments" available with the GR-55.  I am sure that many would prefer that flexibility, but I struggled to get anything that I found usable without a lot of work.
I have GK-3 pickups on a couple of other solid bodies, and I was doubtfull how well such a system would work on the Virtuo.  After all, it is essentially a hollow body acoustic.  However, the GraphTec pickups are excellent, and perform better than the GK-3s. The GraphTech certainly has a much higher output level, and fewer glitches. The magnetic electric sounds are also excellent, with two H/B voices and coil split, and the amped acoustic sound is very good and well balanced.  The carbon fibre construction keeps it very stable, and it is exceptionally light and very playable. The Virtuo is expensive, but it is worth it.

[kimyo]

However, the GraphTec pickups are excellent, and perform better than the GK-3s. The GraphTech certainly has a much higher output level, and fewer glitches.

if you have any experience using alt-tunings on the sy-1000 with the emerald please consider adding your results to the alt-tuning poll here:
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=33371.0