Visionary Instruments - Kitara Video Guitar / AxeBender Tremolo

Started by shawnb, April 02, 2013, 08:46:08 AM

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shawnb

http://visionaryinstruments.com/

A bit of a novelty, I know.  But Steven Wilson sure seems to pull nice tones out of this. 

I'm shocked the sound is so clean. 




Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

Kevin M


Elantric

Not to be confused with the similar Kitara Digital Guitar

shawnb

Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

shawnb

Quote from: Elantric on April 02, 2013, 10:43:06 AM
Not to be confused with the similar Kitara Digital Guitar

Completely different, though.  Although the entire pickguard is a video screen, those pickups & strings are real.  Steven Wilson uses a slide in the video above. 

Specs from:
http://visionaryinstruments.com/TelevisionBlack.html

Tele-vision (None More Black)
-13.3" LCD Screen
-Color Changing Fiber Optic Fret Lights
-2 Gigs of Memory (up to 8 Gigs optional)
-USB Drag and Drop Files
-Quartersawn Maple Neck
-25" or Custom Scale
-Lace Pickup Technology
-Analog Audio Signal
-Three Classic Pickup Tones
-Gotoh 510 Tuners
-Gotoh Tune-o-matic
-Plays Mpeg, Avi, Jpeg

(Yeah, I know he is very good & has incredible credentials - but how many products does Stevie Stevens endorse?) 

VERY interesting pickup.  It looks like these are the pickups on that guitar.  This may explain how it's so clean:
http://www.lacemusic.com/sensors.php

QuoteThe Lace Sensor® family has a unique radiant Field Barrier system that surrounds both the coil and magnets, reducing annoying 60-cycle hum. The patented Lace Micro Combs® replace traditional bobbins, yielding a wider tonal range and better string balance than traditional pickups.

Unlike ordinary electric guitar pickups that read string vibration from 6 magnetic poles, Lace Sensors generate 36 separate magnetic "sensing" fields which, in the areas where they contact the string, "read" the strings' vibration. (Regular pickups only generate anywhere from 4 to 12 fields).

Lace Sensors also have Radiant Field Barriers: metal slides which frame the inner core of the Sensors and perform two functions. The first is to shield the Sensor from the outside noise and 60 cycle hum. The second is to produce a broader, yet more concentrated umbrella of a sensing field than that of standard magnetic pickups.

Less Noise, More Harmonics

As compared to standard pickups, Lace Sensors read a greater physical area of the string, while picking up less outside interference. This makes the signal-to-noise ratio nothing short of phenomenal for a single coil system. Also, a wider range of harmonic content is read by the Sensor, delivering a more complex tonal response.

Increased Sustain, Truer Pitch
Since they operate so efficiently, Lace Sensors can utilize the much lower energy magnets than ordinary pickups, and this in turn bring about a whole new realm of properties. In regular pickups, the magnetic fields are so strong they physically dampen, or drag on, the strings' vibration, reducing sustain and actually changing the pitch. But in Lace Sensors, string dampening is virtually nonexistent. This means your sustain is increased dramatically while the string holds its true pitch for the duration of the note.

Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

Mrchevy

Don't know about the guitar but it has been a long time since I've heard something new, ( to me ), that I liked musically. How long have these guys been around?
Gibson Les Paul Custom
Epi Les Paul Standard
Gibson SG 50's prototype
Squire classic vibe 60's
Epi LP Modern
Epi SG Custom
Martin acoustic

Princeton chorus 210

GT100
GR-55
Helix LT
Waza Air Headphones
Boomerang III

And, a lot of stuff I DON'T need

Elantric

QuoteHow long have these guys been around?

Re Visionary Instruments -I believe I only see these at NAMM shows since 2010.
http://visionaryinstruments.com/


Re Porcupine Tree   - 1987
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porcupine_Tree


shawnb


I'm a huge Porcupine Tree/Steven Wilson fan.  PT is on a bit of a hiatus, as Steven is doing solo work.  Thru PT and his various other projects, Steven Wilson is almost single-handedly keeping prog rock alive!   

In fact, I see his show at The Fillmore on Thursday.  Marco freaking Minneman on drums.  Richard Barbieri (Japan) on keyboards.

Rush & Metal influences, at times very hard jazz:


PT did a fair amount of Pink-Floyd-ish stuff as well:

Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

Kevin M

Quote from: shawnb on May 07, 2013, 08:05:14 PM
PT is on a bit of a hiatus, as Steven is doing solo work. 


PT is my favorite band, but it may be the case that he'll shelve it permanently. :-(

Rorster

An Awesome thread here. I've never heard of these guys (Porcupine Tree) but will be getting some of their music. Any suggestions on where to start? Also that friggin guitar is over the top. When you go to the visionary instrument website, this demo is crazy! Just out of curiosity I wonder what the price of the one in this demo is.

aliensporebomb

Coma Divine was my introduction to them back in the 1990s - one of the best and best recordings I've ever heard.  I listened to it obsessively - it's now available as a 2 cd set - I recommend it highly.
My music projects online at http://www.aliensporebomb.com/

GK Devices:  Roland VG-99, Boss GP-10, Boss SY-1000.

Elantric

QuoteJust out of curiosity I wonder what the price of the one in this demo is.


I may have my Visionary Instruments sale flyer from NAMM. I recall on Sunday the NAMM Show floor demo Visionary Guitars started at $1400 and went to $2500

This is still far below suggested MSRP.
http://visionaryinstruments.com/

http://visionaryinstruments.com/VideoguitarMAIN.html

Elantric

I might add - today you could use a low cost Android Tablet running a music visualizer program and get a 6 string Banjo Bridge and place it in the center of the Android Tablet screen and build a DIY version of these guitars around the tablet  for far less $$.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.h6ah4i.android.music_visualizer2&hl=en


Or just Velcro an iPad MINI to the top of your guitar and find another way to spend $2K

Kevin M

For first-timers to PT I highly recommend In Absentia from 2002.  It's the first album with Gavin Harrison on drums.

aliensporebomb

Quote from: kmaus10 on May 08, 2013, 09:31:34 AM
For first-timers to PT I highly recommend In Absentia from 2002.  It's the first album with Gavin Harrison on drums.

Great choice - I love that album too!
My music projects online at http://www.aliensporebomb.com/

GK Devices:  Roland VG-99, Boss GP-10, Boss SY-1000.

Rorster

Thanks members. I just got off Amazon and bought the 2 PT CDs you mentioned as well as "Fear Of A Blank Planet". I also just discovered the "Amazon cloud player". That thing is pretty cool. It just added 93 songs to it that I've purchased from Amazon since 2005 for free. This thing has 5 gigs of free data storage that can be accessed from multiple devices, downloaded or uploaded to. I think for $25.00 a year you can store 250,000 songs.

shawnb

My PT first timers' list:
In Absentia
Deadwing (Belew appearance)
Fear of a Blank Planet
Warzawa (some of their earlier stuff live)

Steve Wilson's solo albums all have moments of glory:
Insurgantes   (earlier, more guitar-oriented, he still uses Harmony Korine as an encore)
Grace for Drowning (heavily King Crimson influenced, he was remastering KC albums at the time)
NEW: The Raven that Refused to Sing (same lineup as Grace, less overt KC influence)
     *Note this latest album was engineered by Alan Parsons.*

All PT & SW albums are very eclectic in tone - they go from beautiful passages reminiscent of Pink FLoyd/Alan Parsons/KC to nasty passages more reminiscent of Nine Inch Nails/Opeth/KC.  Rhythm sections are always top notch, from Gavin Harrison/Colin Edwin of PT to Marco Minmenan/Nick Beggs of the current SW lineup. 

Wilson is NOT the greatest musician/guitarist.  However...  He writes amazing songs, and is a true sonic explorer. 

If you're big into home theater, you can get almost all of this stuff in high-definition surround on either BluRay or DVD-Audio. 

My vote for one of the most beautiful rock albums ever recorded:
    Damnation, by Opeth....  Produced by Steven Wilson...
Address the process rather than the outcome.  Then, the outcome becomes more likely.   - Fripp

Rorster

Old rocker here (Not a bad rocker in his own right) but who just got his own mind blown by PORCUPINE TREE. Holy shhhht

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https://www.facebook.com/pg/visionaryinstruments/posts/

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Come hear what it can do at NAMM 2020 booth 3139 Hall D!

Adjustable Range - From Vintage Vibrato to Dive Bombs, switch between performance profiles with the press of a button.
Extreme Dynamics - Bend notes and chords up to two octaves while maintaining harmonies.
Zero Maintenance - Never go out of tune or break strings because of whammy bar stunts.
Better Sustain - The hard tail bridge increases sustain and makes string changing easy.
New Designs - Compatible with modern instruments such as Multiscale, Multistring, and Bass. -Patent Pending-






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https://www.facebook.com/162308960460637/posts/3007911322567039/
Adrian Belew stopped by to check out the AxeBender digital whammy bar.
Adrian: "Eddie Van Halen should have had this."
Me: "You should've had this."
Adrian: "I should've had this!" Haha!
Adrian is one of the all time greatest!


https://www.facebook.com/pg/visionaryinstruments/posts/

vanceg

I was VERY impressed with the Visionary Instruments whammy bar.  VERY impressed.  I'd love to get one integrated into a build sometime soon.

HecticArt

Watching Adrian giggle like a school-boy while he checks out new gear is fantastic.