VG Strat discontinued

[Robert]

See http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0117500700


* Discontinued as of April 2009. Please check with your local authorized Fender Dealer for availability.

MF has them for $999 right now... I bet these guitars will become expensive on eBay pretty soon.

[Lev]

Wow, very strange given the amount of marketing and exposure they gave it on it's release. I wonder if they just didn't sell or if there's a new version coming.

[Jimi75]

That was so clear. I think the great disappearing of guitars like the VG, the Variax and the Gibson "whatever they call their model" shows that musicians like you and me are still into the real thing. Line6 might not discontinue their model, but I know that their sales numbers are terrifyingly low. Haven't heard any of my dealers sold a Gibson "whatever they call their model". A friend of mine plays in a Top40 coverband, he sold his Variax and put a humbucker in his Fender Strat. Absolutely sufficient. Those guitars are studio tools, although the really good studios have the originals at hand. I had a Lin6 Variax, it was a beautiful guitar, but I couln't really get into it.

[street music]

One of my friends paid the big $$$ for his Gibson robot, it now sits in a corner while he plays his Carvin.

[markb]

The VG strat is discontinued and the Gibson Dark Fire still hasn't arrived (as far as I know). Whither the high-tech guitar?

Jimi, a friend has a Variax she bought used. She gets a great acoustic tone on stage and got it cheaper (and with less heartache) than fitting a better pickup to her nice Daion parlour. They have their uses but maybe they're not the replacement for a "fleet" that their manufacturers would have us believe. Likewise the single to humbucker and humbucker to single settings that all modelers seem to include.

Guitars have pickup switches and tone controls for a reason. At last week's jam I covered UB40 to Nirvana tones using a tele with 4-way switch and a two channel amp. I like simple.

[Robert]

The one thing I like about it is the instant drop D tuning, open G and DADGAD. Would be convenient when playing some slide tunes. But on the other hand, you can just switch guitars too. If you have enough guitars.

[mrmudcat]

One of my friends paid the big $$$ for his Gibson robot, it now sits in a corner while he plays his Carvin.

We play the crap outta our.robot but our carvins get good play time we rotate on a basis;) :AOK:

The gibby will stay in the studio /house for awhle;)

[ragnarpk]

wow thank god they discontinued that.

[BrettS]

Hi, a new member I is.

I think the new technologies will see the cream gradually rise to the top. We see this already in some digital amps.

The implementation of the Strat VG is quite good, from what I've read and seen (and heard) on YouTube. However the price point just s*cked.

The Gibson? I dunno. They have had a sketchy quality control over lots of their status quo products. I hate to think of their new technology roll-outs. I can tune my own guitar just fine, and the LP line is overpriced anyhow. I think I'll wait and see. Just my opinion.

Is the music world REALLY demanding these guitar innovations now?

[Jipes]

But on the other hand, you can just switch guitars too. If you have enough guitars.

Well then you have to carry them with you :D and that's lots if you played different Open tunings right :eek:

[SuperSwede]

I wouldnt be surprised if Fender launches a mexico made VG strat for half the price of the US one.

[guitarman19853]

I think the VG strat is a great guitar and hugely versatile live. I would've bought one instead of my American Deluxe had I given it a look at the time. The ability to change tunings as well as replicate acoustics would be great. Plus the ability to instantly go to barione tuning to get that fat bottom end on a song or two makes one less guitar you have to bring. the VG strat would cut the # of guitars I needed in a night from 6 down to 2

[mechanic]

I've seen a few demos of the VG.
I think its a pretty cool looking idea.It does stray from the conventional strat setup which has apparently hurt the sales of it.
At this point in time however I think that with the price drop to $1000 it would be a very attractive option if I were interested in a American strat.
I mean , you can play it regularly without using the modelling pickup just like any other strat, and for roughly half price? I could easily get used to having the control layout a little different.
Just my 2 cents.
Eric

[Mick]

I think the VG is a great guitar, but Fender set the price way too high. After all it's just an American made Strat with a few bits of extra circuitry. Yeah, those few extra bits increased Fender's manufacturing costs, but I doubt that they increased the cost by 70% or more. If they can afford to sell them now for $1000, then why couldn't they sell them for a more reasonable price from the start? When the American Standard was $1000, I could see paying $200 to $300 more for a VG, but not $700 more.

It's interesting that Fender just raised prices 30% across the board, but then they drop the price on the VG by 70%. At Guitar Center, a VG now costs $275 less than an American Standard. If I hadn't just bought my American Deluxe HSS, then I'd grab a VG before they're all gone. Heck, it might be worth it to buy one and just hold onto it for a while.

[tremoloman]

When this came out I wanted one really bad so I'd only have 2 bring 2 guitars to gigs. I talked to a salesperson at Guitar Center at length about this. These weren't selling because they were bad guitars - the real reason is that they DEVOUR batteries. According to the salesman a 9V can be consumed in as little as a couple hours. If this is true it would be a nightmare when trying to do a regular gig.

Had they made it a rechargable Ni-cad I think they may have had better luck. I'm still contemplating trading one of mine in for one of these just so I could swap tunings so quickly live.

[Gil Janus]

I have one. First, they don't use 9-volt batteries - they use 4 AAs. And they will eat normal alkaline batteries for lunch - but it wasn't designed for them :thwap:

Fender recommends 2600-2700 mAh rechargeable batteries and say they will get 9-10 hours. I use Kodak 2400-2500 mAh ones, and they get 7-8 hours. I have 2 sets, one in the guitar, and 1 getting charged, which takes about 3 hours or so. I've never been without working batteries. It would have been nice to have an external ON/OFF switch, but it's hidden - just disconnect the guitar cable at the guitar end.

And if you do run out of juice, just turn the Mode switch to N, and it's just another American Strat - but with only 1 tone knob. Of course, it's just a Strat then - nothing fancy.

I like mine - but I won it from Fender, and my only cost was the charger and and a second set of batteries. It's not a bad guitar, it's just that it doesn't have many features in actual fact - yes, it has multiple different tunings, and multiple guitar types - but since you can't change them to anything else, many folks are disappointed. As far as I can tell, Fender wanted to make something different - but not too different, so the actual synth is not documented, and it's various ports don't have any way out of the guitar to some other box. They wanted it to be robust enough for stage work - and lots of small (or big) cables running out of the guitar would be the exact reverse of that.

Just my 2-cents,

Gil :cool:

[tremoloman]

I have one. First, they don't use 9-volt batteries - they use 4 AAs. And they will eat normal alkaline batteries for lunch - but it wasn't designed for them :thwap:

Fender recommends 2600-2700 mAh rechargeable batteries and say they will get 9-10 hours. I use Kodak 2400-2500 mAh ones, and they get 7-8 hours. I have 2 sets, one in the guitar, and 1 getting charged, which takes about 3 hours or so. I've never been without working batteries. It would have been nice to have an external ON/OFF switch, but it's hidden - just disconnect the guitar cable at the guitar end.

And if you do run out of juice, just turn the Mode switch to N, and it's just another American Strat - but with only 1 tone knob. Of course, it's just a Strat then - nothing fancy.

I like mine - but I won it from Fender, and my only cost was the charger and and a second set of batteries. It's not a bad guitar, it's just that it doesn't have many features in actual fact - yes, it has multiple different tunings, and multiple guitar types - but since you can't change them to anything else, many folks are disappointed. As far as I can tell, Fender wanted to make something different - but not too different, so the actual synth is not documented, and it's various ports don't have any way out of the guitar to some other box. They wanted it to be robust enough for stage work - and lots of small (or big) cables running out of the guitar would be the exact reverse of that.

Just my 2-cents,

Gil :cool:

It just goes to show how clueless Guitar World salespeople are. :D

If you get 8 hours on a charge, I may be tempted to sell off a couple guitars for one. Right now I bring 4 guitars to gigs (2 std tuning, 2 Eb). If the ability to drop to Eb really works it sure would save me a lot of grief!

Is the tune true or is it obvious its emulating a different tuning? For less than $1K it may be worthwhile to me.

[M29]

I really liked what they did and the guitar played nice but I would have liked to see them do an E-flat tuning so I could just grab it and pick up some Hendrix or Nugent or who ever else plays a half step down. Now it is a pain to tune each time I want to lean something from these guys. I know I can just play it a half step down but I don't like having to get used to different positions all the time. Kind of like with a capo.
M

[Robert]

The only available tunings are:

# Normal regular tuning
# Drop D
# Open G
# DADGAD
# Baritone/Low B
# 12 string

[Spudman]

I remember a few years ago American Strats were being blown out for $600. Shortly later they came out with a higher price point American Strat (I should have gotten the cheap one). I wonder if they might do the same with the VG?
A new VG with different options?

[sunvalleylaw]

Maybe like better battery option or one with an AC type option?

[tremoloman]

I think the VG is dead my friend. For Fender to sell off their remaining stock and blow them out for 40%-50% of the original price, that sounds like a liquidation to me.

I see they discontinued the Powerhouse Strat too.