A few decades ago I invested a lot of time and money into trying to get MIDI tracking working. After leaving that behind and enjoying audio guitar for the past years I’d like to see if MIDI guitar is any better now.
The addition of the HEX Tracker in MG3 has inspired me to look into finding a new HEX pickup. At first, I thought the Fishman Tripleplay might do the job. Then @lofileif clarified that it only outputs MIDI and not the 6 channels of audio that MG3 requires.
So, whats left for my Strandberg Boden guitar, Quad Cortex and MG3 rig? Maybe the expensive GK-5 and VG-800 combo?
I really do not need the VG-800 modeling or sounds because I already have the Quad Cortex. All I want is to finally be able to work with alternate tunings from one guitar and then to play soft synths.
It does look like the Quad Cortex will handle audio from the standard pickup while a HEX pickup will provide 6 more channels of audio to MG3 and the DAW. Only missing piece is the physical HEX component.
Any advise on what my next step should be is appreciated. Any solution should not require me to give up my regular customized guitar pickups.
P.S. By what I’ve already seen it would make sense for Jam Origin to jump right in there with a Hex pickup and 6 channel box that could directly interface to a Mac or to the Quad Cortex. Get a hardware partner and just make it happen. Your only competition is Fishman Tripleplay and Roland. The world is yours, own it!
now that mg3hex is about to do all sorts of alt tuning magic, the fidelity of the incoming signals becomes a key issue.
for midi note detection both the gk and piezo systems have advantages and disadvantages.
but neither provides output similar to a typical magnetic guitar pickup. iirc, they are both filtered to improve note detection.
whatever your bridge pickup is doing can probably be mimic’d by either the nu multis or the ubertars ganged together. separately you’d get six pristine audio streams, ready for alt-tuning, deep expressor and beyond.
just playing devil’s advocate here, sorry to put up the one option you expressly ruled out.
Your persistence is appreciated. In search for makers of Hex pickups I found a few. I am having a look around but have questions.
If a Ubertar or a Cycfi NuMulti pickup was installed how do you get it processed? Do you still need a Roland decoder? How do the 6 channels ever end up wired into a Mac and finally MG3?
you’d need some kind of cable arrangement and an audio interface with 6 or more inputs.
the cable issue can be a pain, which connector, is there space, what kind of power.
cycfi has a solution, it looks road ready / rugged but it is pricey.
it would probably be possible to put together a cable for the ubers using a guitar mounted gk13 jack > gk cable > https://www.separate-strings.co.uk/ splitter for less than half the price of the cycfi cable.
ideally it is nice to have individual input gain controls on the audio interface but neither the cycfi’s or the ubers will need much boosting if any. also mg3hex now has individual string volume control.
@modus7 please note, @seperate strings explained when I asked him that he explicitly does not deliver to European Union countries because it is too complicated for him.
If you live in another country, it may be a good solution.
Thanks, learning more and starting to warm up to the 6 audio output channels paradigm. Think it will work good with clarifying my chord melody voicings.
So lets say I wanted to keep my existing bridge Humbucker, what components from the Cycfi store would I all need to connect the guitar to the Quad Cortex or Mac and then MG3Hex and the DAW?
I can not see any width specs on the Cycfi site for their pickups. Will need a Hex pickup that fits the narrow space available on the guitar.
figuring that you would replace your 1/4" jack with the cycfi 19pin jack, and therefore need to connect up your bridge humbucker i believe you’re best off going with the nexus gk basic kit and the nu multi 6 standard variant.
their bundle only offers the basic nu multi’s and you need the standard.
cycfi is very helpful, i bought a set for a bass and they had answers before and after my purchase.
they do custom sizes:
one issue is that for audio, some people argue that the neck position is superior (like for jazz guitar, say), but almost universally jamo and the majority here recommend using the bridge position for midi note detection.
so, on one hand you’d probably get the best tone in the neck position, obviously depending on your guitar and the type of music you play. but, your midi note detection might suffer.
might be worth trying mg3 standard with your neck pickup to see if you find a difference.
For this reason I’ve been running parallel tunings in the SY-1000. The guitar/pickup modeling in the SY offers a solid and usable audio signal while the hex audio output over USB is anemic. MG3 Hex handles the P-2-M that the SY-1000 can’t do well enough despite decades of Roland R&D.
However, I’ve been experimenting with Blue Cat Audio’s Re-Guitar plugin to try and improve the timbre of the hex stream. Maybe there is an IR solution within reach? I seem to recall a discussion on Axe-Fx users putting instrument IRs in at the beginning of the signal chain to emulate bowed instruments more faithfully.
I’d like the SY-1000 to act as a hex source only eventually.
the sim1 people had guitar specific ir’s which were really rich and detailed, especially the acoustics.
unfortunately it seems they’ve wound things down.
it’s really a shame, they had imprints of hundreds of guitars. compared to blue cat’s re-guitar i’d say the sim1 people were at least one, maybe two generations ahead.
Cycfi has got back to me with the following recommendations:
You can find the pickup dimensions here:
Yes, it will fit the profile of your guitar. Even better, I recommend our recently introduced combo:
It’s a cleaner and more streamlined solution.
We’re gearing up to make these readily available in the store. For now, XR-Spectras are produced in limited batches.
For details on complete system integration, you may find these documents helpful:
Cycfi does look like a superior system but I’m still left hanging with two questions:
How are the 6 channel outputs on the back of the Nexus-GK box finally input into the Quad Cortex or the Mac? Is a mixer or something else still needed? What comes after the Nexus-GK?
Why is there a GK13 pin for Roland products on the back of the Nexus-GK box? Where is the ‘black box’ that takes the signal all the way from the guitar to the Mac without any more between gear required?
Maybe it is just so much easier to just buy a GK-5 and a VG-800 and get on with making music?
cycfi should include a photo of the rear of the nexus box. i figure it has a bunch of 1/4" outs, as the docs say the device can transmit 12 channels of audio.
between that and your mac you need an audio interface with at least 8 inputs.
one scenario is the individual nu multi signals are fed into the 6 of the 8 audio interface inputs. using direct monitoring, the six are combined into one mono channel which feeds the quad cortex. the quad cortex eats up the remaining two channels and your mac now has both individual feeds and the stereo out from the quad.
i think the gk connector passes the six channels plus control information to gk devices, but i’m not sure of that.
in terms of vg-800 vs nu’s, it’s difficult to make a strong case for either, given that the number of users worldwide is not sufficient for any sort of testing or consensus to occur.
the nu’s may be more difficult to install, but that is a one time deal. once installed they won’t require any attention.
an audio interface will probably have dedicated knobs and jacks which the vg-800 lacks (hex gain, headphone volume, balanced outs). it’s a better choice if your world includes making recordings which require microphones or multiple monitor mixes.
the gk5/vg800 should last forever. being on mac though, a consideration is that boss’s software support will likely be obsoleted long before the device expires.
Thanks for that info. I’ll now have to wait until the new 6-string Strandberg arrives next week. I have a good guitar tech who can do all this guitar work.
I’ve also had my mind opened to the Cycfi Thor Mark III guitar. It is quite a piece of tech and I’m debating on pre-ordering one. Is that a reasonable path to take?
