When using the GK3 you have to set some parameters at the Roland VG device, like the Guitar Scale or the distance from each individual saddle to the GK pickup. These measurements are important for an accurate pickup modeling.
Yes, depending on which form factor I choose there will be some one-time settings to adjust. I'm not yet at the point where I'm ready to think about the exact user interface for this but I'm guessing there will be something close to the firmware update process.
Also, the GK3 shall not be installed more than 20 mm farther from the bridge. The closer to the bridge the better. I suspect that the regular bridge pickup position may not be optimal for pickup modeling, as it is too far from the bridge.
This is true. I mentioned this in a post above. The farther away from the saddle the pickup is, the more overtones it won't be able to detect. I think the effect might be small enough and predictable enough that it can be compensated for in software, but I haven't yet attempted to do that. I see it as a fairly strong argument in favor of the saddle form factor.
One other problem:
The saddle-based piezos, on the Variax, are famous for creating strange responses when doing palm muting.
Thanks for bringing this up. I have thought about this quite a bit actually. I have a theory on what could be causing this and why my pickup will not have this problem even if it's placed in the saddle but I haven't yet verified it. It's in progress!
There used to be a pickup called the LightWave pickup, used mostly for bass.
Perhaps that can optimize a modeling pickup's input-data, so as to allow better realism?
I actually bought an Atlantis hex guitar to experiment with for this project. I like it acoustically, but really don't like it plugged in. The biggest issue for me is the noise. It has white noise that's strong enough that I feel the need to use a noise gate even with very little gain. As such it can be useful for me to do experiments on but unfortunately I can't recommend it for anyone who actually cares about sound quality :-(
Edit: Also, Atlantis has a much bigger problem with palm muting than Variax. The shape of the bridge where the optical pickup is makes it impossible to do any kind of palm muting at all, you just can't reach the strings close enough to the saddle.
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