Namm 2025 predictions

mbenigni said:
You're kind of going in two different directions here. :)

To keep this discussion focused on a Variax replacement/ upgrade, it wouldn't necessarily have to be that complicated. The (audio) output of a Variax is standard monophonic instrument-level analog on 1/4" cable. Anything more complicated (VDI) is just too accommodate control signals and power.

If you wanted to make a product that converted e.g. a Strat to a Variax, you could just mount the processor, controls (knobs and selector switch), and a rechargeable battery under a pickguard. The "end user" would just have to connect 2 leads to the guitar output jack, and possibly one more for a ground. Of course a hex pickup would also have to fit into the equation, which means a magnetic pickup rather than piezo. Otherwise you're also asking the buyer to replace their bridge. In this regard, Roland would have a bit of a head start.

As far as sending hexaphonic signals from the guitar to an outboard processor... Roland's already doing so with a number of their products. And they always seem so close to getting it right. What they did with serializing hex over 1/4" TRS is great... if only they'd managed to squeeze audio (mag pickups) over that same line... and if only they hadn't dumbed down the switching on the (still ugly) guitar wart. If they find just a little more bandwidth, miniaturize and/or dress up the pickup interface so it either disappears or adds value, and then introduce the next gen of GP10 or whatever... they're essentially already there. (Line 6 is probably quite aware of this, and looking skeptically at the potential profitability of a 3rd generation of Variax.)
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Keep your eyes peeled for NAMM and a new Boss GK modeler, which could possibly be the GP-10 replacement with Serial GK.
There are new GK Serial internal kits available now which do 6 & 7 string pickups, guitar controls (GK Vol S1/S2, mix), and carry guitar normal pickups over the Serial GK 1/4" jack/cable.
What's interesting with the GK Serial, for further products down the line is the protocol (automotive A2B audio-bus) is capable of more than 8 channels of digital audio in both directions.
 
gumtown said:
Keep your eyes peeled for NAMM and a new Boss GK modeler, which could possibly be the GP-10 replacement with Serial GK.
There are new GK Serial internal kits available now which do 6 & 7 string pickups, guitar controls (GK Vol S1/S2, mix), and carry guitar normal pickups over the Serial GK 1/4" jack/cable.
What's interesting with the GK Serial, for further products down the line is the protocol (automotive A2B audio-bus) is capable of more than 8 channels of digital audio in both directions.
Click to expand...
All very good news! I will definitely be watching this space. :)

Thanks, gumtown.
 
Gazing into my crystal lettuce ball:

MXR's new Rockman pedal takes NAMM by storm and the entire music industry starts pumping out 80's tunes...

Guitarists begin to woodshed their chops and raise the bar on a level not seen since said 80's...

RATT, Dokken, Whitesnake, Badlands, Blue Murder, Journey, good Metallica etc all regroup and make new albums...

Michael Jackson & Eddie Van Halen collaborate in heaven and send a thumbdrive down to earth with the sequel to "Beat It"; Ed's new solo melts everyone's faces...

Weird Al finally goes Diamond status (10x Platinum) on his next album...

Hear 'n' Aid 2 makes an album that generates $2 billion in aid and has 20x the note density of the first...

...and World Peace® is finally achieved.
 
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mbenigni said:
You're kind of going in two different directions here. :)

…..

As far as sending hexaphonic signals from the guitar to an outboard processor... Roland's already doing so with a number of their products. And they always seem so close to getting it right. What they did with serializing hex over 1/4" TRS is great... if only …
Click to expand...

mbenigni said:
. (Line 6 is probably quite aware of this, and looking skeptically at the potential profitability of a 3rd generation of Variax.)
Click to expand...
You sort of stumbled onto my point.
Short version I’m trying to imagine a common need to tie the goals of two otherwise separate entities.


Line 6 wants standard cable signal to do more Variax but is aware that it isn’t really going to be profitable…they need a bigger market share to justify building/advancing more Variax product.

Boss has a good foundation for achieving similar-to-Variax results but does the hexophonic processing and also goes the pitch to midi route as well…but Boss moves very slow.

However, if If Line 6 saw value in introducing hex processing to their next ‘Variax’ effort by adopting the Serial GK functionality it would mean that ‘Line 6 drop in product’ I mentioned could be compatible with Boss devices as well as other hex processing devices/ software. Gives their efforts more value, maybe enough that, instead of dying, the ‘Variax project’ lives on in a new form.
And Boss might be willing to align their interests with Line 6 if only to encourage their GK systems to be the new standard. All they have to do is not fight the compatibility aspect.

That would result in a healthy form of competition as well as advancing and speeding up the progress of the genre as a whole.

An expansion to the niche customer base for both companies (and others) which compounds the incentive for everyone.
For example if the serial hexophonic became a standard like midi is don’t you think Electro Harmonix would have some new ideas? Suddenly ElectroHarmonix boxes show up with Serial ‘GK’ compatibility? Others follow?
Do you think Cliff Chase can figure out some useful adaptations of hex processing?
 
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Enchilada Jones said:
You sort of stumbled onto my point.
Short version I’m trying to imagine a common need to tie the goals of two otherwise separate entities.


Line 6 wants standard cable signal to do more Variax but is aware that it isn’t really going to be profitable…they need a bigger market share to justify building/advancing more Variax product.

Boss has a good foundation for achieving similar-to-Variax results but does the hexophonic processing and also goes the pitch to midi route as well…but Boss moves very slow.

However, if If Line 6 saw value in introducing hex processing to their next ‘Variax’ effort by adopting the Serial GK functionality it would mean that ‘Line 6 drop in product’ I mentioned could be compatible with Boss devices as well as other hex processing devices/ software. Gives their efforts more value, maybe enough that, instead of dying, the ‘Variax project’ lives on in a new form.
And Boss might be willing to align their interests with Line 6 if only to encourage their GK systems to be the new standard. All they have to do is not fight the compatibility aspect.

That would result in a healthy form of competition as well as advancing and speeding up the progress of the genre as a whole.

An expansion to the niche customer base for both companies (and others) which compounds the incentive for everyone.
For example if the serial hexophonic became a standard like midi is don’t you think Electro Harmonix would have some new ideas? Suddenly ElectroHarmonix boxes show up with Serial ‘GK’ compatibility? Others follow?
Do you think Cliff Chase can figure out some useful adaptations of hex processing?
Click to expand...
I love all of these ideas! But (there's always a but LOL) many guitarists will still prefer an instrument that's self contained over a "system" that includes a big external processor. And while standards are good for ensuring compatibility, they can also make product differentiation difficult for any given vendor. Take the example at hand: what is Line 6's place in all of this, when Boss already makes products to fill all of these niches?

That said, I'd love to see external processing components made more modular and significantly smaller as a compromise. Imagine for instance, one stompbox-sized enclosure that handles (very high quality) hexaphonic detune and alternate tuning duty. Another that handles (very fast, stable) hex to MIDI. Another that handles hexaphonic instrument modeling, and so on. Leave it to the end user to choose MIDI sound modules where needed. This might be an easier sell to a guitarist who doesn't need a monolithic solution that does all of these things. (The downside here is cost: you have to design "simpler" products to a price point, but each of them will likely contain redundant, expensive DSP components.)
 
GTR37 said:
I honestly don’t know about Namm the fires out there are bad very bad and within 25 miles
The smoke is blowing for miles
Praying for all that live there including out Gear page bros
Stay safe
Scary situation for sure
Click to expand...
That's a good point. I wonder if they'll call it off due to that.
 
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