ToneSearch

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Hex-pickup Breakout Box

Published May 2013

By Paul White

The ToneSearch V-Guitar Breakout Box is an ingenious little passive device that serves
a number of useful functions when connected to the output of a guitar that's fitted
with Roland's GK-series hexaphonic pickups.

Firstly, it can function as a splitter,

enabling one GK-equipped guitar to
control two separate GK-compatible
devices. For example, it enables you to
use one guitar to control both a VG-
series processor and a GR-series guitar
synth module at the same time.
Secondly, it makes all six individual
analogue string outputs available on standard audio jack plugs. Used with a multi-
channel audio interface, this means you could feed each string's signal to a separate
track in your DAW, record, edit and process the resulting recordings however you
want, and then replay those tracks back, through this box, to your GK-compatible
synth or processor. That opens up countless creative possibilities, and given that
pitch-tracking based guitar synths such as Roland's GR-series are notorious for
responding to every accidental string touch and squeak, this could prove particularly
useful for cleaning up the individual string tracks, and perhaps applying tuning and
level correction too.

Conceptually, the box is very simple, with one GK input connector and two 13-pin
outs, one of which must be connected to the GK-compatible device that will power the
pickup electronics. Six TRS jacks carry the signals for strings, with one string pair per
socket (three output jacks and three input jacks). You'll also need an extra Roland 13-
pin cable, which is available as a cost option. There are switches for each 13-pin
output to determine whether the GK pickup button messages are to be passed on or
not and the same for the GK volume control. If the Volume switch is turned off, the
signals come out at full volume.

Connection is easy, though if only one GK unit is connected it has to be plugged into
to the centre connector labelled Power, as this is the unit that passes on power to the
GK pickup electronics. The GK guitar plugs into the input, while 'Y' leads (which can
also be supplied by the company) must be used to feed the discrete string outputs to
six of the line inputs on your audio interface.
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If you plan to use the recorded signals to drive a VG-series device, you'll also need to
hook up three more 'Y' cables from six outputs on your interface and feed these back
into the string input jacks on the V-Guitar Breakout Box.

If you're going to feed the recorded string signals back into the GR or VG
synth/processor, you need to make sure you match up the playback levels so they're
as close as possible to what came out of the GK pickup in the first place if you want to
recreate the original performance dynamics, but other than that there's nothing
complicated to worry about.

When recording the individual strings for further processing, the first thing I noticed
was how much louder the low strings were than the high ones when all the input
gains were set equally, so I had to adjust the height of my GK pickup to even things
out. (This was actually a very educational process, as it showed me just how much the
GK pickup height affects the output signal from each string: even with the best
balance I could attain, the middle two strings were a touch down in sensitivity, which
suggests either that the pickup radius didn't quite match that of my Strat fingerboard
or that the bridge saddle heights for the middle two strings were set a fraction high.
A slight adjustment to the interface gains for those two strings, though, and I was
good to go.)

Having record-armed six channels in my DAW, I set about capturing a few strummed
parts and single-note lines, and then tried processing the strings in different ways. My
first impression was that the output from the pickup sounded rather more like that
from a normal guitar pickup than I'd anticipated, and using amp model plug-ins
copied across all six tracks it was possible to create a very clean and separate-
sounding polyphonic overdrive. Pitch-shifting the bottom three strings up by an
octave also produced a reasonably convincing Nashville tuning. Another fun trick
I tried was to put rotary effects on all the strings but have them running at slightly
different speeds — a pleasingly textural effect. In fact, the results really are limited
only by your imagination, and with the creative use of plug-ins you can conjure up
a wealth of synth-like effects using only effects and processors.

When I first tried this unit, I thought it unfortunate that there was no power option
available for this box. Since that time, an active version has become available, which is
driven by two 9V PP3 batteries, which means you require minimal gain from your
interface's preamps. I think that there's potential for futher development in this area:
some users might find it useful also to have a version available that could supply
power from its battery or an external PSU to the GK pickup, so you can explore the
processing possibilities even if you don't have a GR or VG hardware unit to play the
signals back through. Discussing this with designer Bill Baxendale, he said that while
this isn't currently a standard option, several people have asked him about the
possibility. He also said that he's more than happy to explore customisation options
on a per-user basis. Whichever way you look at it, if you already own a GK/GR/VG
system, the V-Guitar Breakout Box has the potential to add a whole new creative
dimension to your guitar setup. Paul White

£160 plus delivery. Active version £180.

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www.separate-strings.co.uk

Published May 2013

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