All Guitar synths or midi converters for guitars - Roland or others - have one common point : They are all equipped with a 13-pin input ( except for hyper exotic models only a few Aliens use, of course) which allows or rather « implies » the use of an hexaphonic captor, the Roland captor being the best known one … Many of us would like to use several 13-pin devices on one guitar … Can this be done ? Unfortunately, There only exist a few possibilities ... Let's see them !

Our recent test of the GR55 aroused much interest and was followed by many different questions. I'll try to bring a few answers here... By the way, may I take the opportunity to encourage you to use the fret-Time forum rather than the « contact » section because my personal Mail box is threatening to explode .... I have no real complaint about that because it shows many of you are interested in what is said here. The guitar synth practice is still a controversial issue but it is becoming more democratic, which is obviously a positive evolution. One thing is certain, if some of you are still hesitating, many have taken the plunge, cool !

Fret-Time is having the wind in its sails !!! Just like you, I had already heard a lot about the Axe FX, especially here in many of your remarks about other equipments to which it is often compared. Although I could hardly believe it would happen , I dreamed the day would come when I would have the opportunity of testing the « thing », in my personal universe, with my own guitars, my own amps, etc... Unbelievable !! Here is the box, in the delivery man's arms, the Axe FX II is right in front of me and I feel like a kid in a toy shop … I don't know if it has anything to do with Santa Claus but it is clear that at this very moment I believe in Father Christmas again and I will always be grateful to Fractal Audio Sussi and Jacques Isler to have proposed this gear to me. Beyond what it is really musically speaking and what I am discovering with it, I am very honoured with this extraordinary token of trust. I see the presence of the Axe FX on Fret-Time as a symbol of a real step forward and the acknowledgement of the efforts made here for a year, an incentive for me to go further… And as, at the same time, I’ve just received bulky parcels from Ibanez…Among them, the latest magnificent RG 3250 “orange” Prestige I have become addicted to … Before starting a thorough test of the Axe, of this “crusty” RG and of all that Father Christmas dropped into my chimney ( which will probably take a few weeks...) I couldn't repress the desire of sharing this unique experience with you : first contact with the FX II … with a short video thrown in ( at the end of this article), to stick with what we usually do.

Only a happy few have received it in France... So, this test I'm proposing on Fret Time is a preview, thank you Line 6 ! The James Tyler Variax was born from the association between a luthier well-known to the top of the range vintage realisation fans and one of the world's most innovative guitar equipment manufacturers . This guitar is a very original one... simply because it is not ONE guitar but 25 guitars in one … It holds in its depths an impressive technological factory giving access to a multitude of string instruments, from the Dobro to the Les Paul, via the folk guitar, the banjo, the zither and all the major electric guitars you have ever dreamed of. Once again these extravagancies were possible thanks to modeling, an art of which Line 6 have become experts for years … Let's meet this beautiful baby and this « super video and audio test » as usual.

Let's say it (again) straight away : the GR55 is a super machine for high tech guitar players ; compared with the guitar synthetizers already existing on the market it represents a striking evolution especially in the field of « tracking ». Its possibilities are phenomenal and the sound range proposed is amazing in so far as you accept to adapt your way of playing … because the dark sides of guitar synths - which make many guitarists hesitate to use them or even reject them right away – have not completely disappeared : playing the bagpipe or the piano on a guitar remains a perilous difficult sport and even though things have evolved considerably since the GR20/GR33, it is not yet faultless... Let's see all this in details, in audio and video of course.

As for multi-effects guitar preamps you must know Line 6 Pod HD 300,400,500 and « Desktop » (the black...bean) series . The family circle is ceaselessly widening... The American brand proposes today the Pod HD Pro, the crowning achievement of this series. A pod for pros as its name reads (But nevertheless vey easy to use) on which it seems nothing is missing to play absolutely all music styles ... For 699 € who can boast such an offer in one and only box ? Here is the super Fret Time test, audio and video as usual ...

There are many ways of considering and approaching the Home Studio, especially for a guitarist ... I have noticed this regularly during the guitar lessons I give. The expectations and objectives are extremely different and you cannot but realize that the necessary choices in terms of equipment are totally a matter of « individual » decision ... To answer the many questions I have been asked about it, here are three simple proposals corresponding to three requirement and work levels... from 350 to 3000 euros.

«Working with Joseph has always been a pleasure, we played together in Scandinavia and the idea of recording an album formed in our minds at this time, the plan turned out to be very exciting. Thanks to the superb contributions and the work of the different composers and musicians the quality of this record is beyond our wildest dreams. » « yeah, so ! That is really true ! » as my grandma, who was born in Le Pays de Caux , would say. And it sure did go far beyond our own dreams too !!! All the more so as nothing exceptional had been really expected from this association ... As far as I am concerned, I did not even know Peter Friestedt ... But things are not at all the same with Joseph Williams, The really talented Toto singer would have been wiser to keep ...