Bass or guitar?

[Hink]

btw I use line six but the variax is too gimmicky for me, there's nothing wrong with it I suppose, but it's not for me.

[Hovmod]

Bass is a percussion instrument.
If you don't have rhythm, get a guitar. You can get away with sloppy timing by learning flashy licks, and still get the girls.
If you've got a rock steady rhythm, get a bass. You'll have more fun playing.

[Kraku]

OK. At least one said something positive about the bass too

I do have pretty good sense of rhythm, so in that department the bass wouldn't be an awful choise.

Which ever instrument I end up buying, I'll probably use it as an inspirational instrument, since (as someone also stated) when you start writing a tune with some specific instrument, you'll end up doing very different stuff than when you'd start the song with some other instrument. I've also noticed this when using only synths: If I start with the bassline, it'll be completely different sounding tune than if I started the tune for example with a synth pad.

So. What about those Variax things? Are they limited in some way the real guitars/basses are not? For example could I change the strings to more heavy ones and the modelling would still work correctly (for example to get more bass heavy sound)? Are there any playing tricks that don't sound the same with Variax as they do with a real guitar? Is there any reason why I should/shouldn't buy Variax/real guitar (or bass)?

[Sascha Franck]

Thing is, IMO a (suitable, not necessarily authentic) bass for most styles can be done using a sampler, whereas there's still quite a lack of any convincing virtual guitar stuff (at least when it comes to non pattern-based things).

Regarding a Variax, it might be a very nice idea in case you're into getting quite a LOT of sounds out of one instrument. It surely won't sound as authentic as, say, a good Strat or Les Paul, but unless you're doing heavily guitar oriented stuff, nobody will notice for sure. OTOH, for quite something less you could probably get a used Yamaha Pacifica or whatever. But in case you're serious about it (i.e. want to make it as far as being able to record useable stuff in a variety of styles/sounds), a Variax certainly is a valid option - I'm thinking about one myself, even if I got around 10 axes allready (mostly for convenience reasons).

[Lawnmower Of The Damned]

The Variax (as you may have noticed) doesn't have any traditional magnetic pickups. The bridge has a built in piezo pickup (Actually, there's a seperate piezo for every string) which can have a few minor drawbacks.

With piezo equiped guitars you can't really do palm muting. So, you give up the ability to palm mute, but you get 2 dozen guitars. Not a bad trade.

As for changing the strings, there's actually a button on the Variax Bass that switches between round and flat wound strings. It's a cool feature when you consider how expensive bass strings can get.

Also, if you're looking into the guitar version of the Variax, there's always the Variax Workbench. It allows you to mix and match between the various bodies and pickups in the Variax. You can move the pickups around and rotate them as well. You can even change the resistance on the knobs. Very cool stuff.

Workbench also lets you set virtual tunings on each individual string. You can lower strings one full octave, and since it's all virtual you don't end up with floppy strings. Check out the Workbench video at Line 6's website and hear the Variax do an impression of a bass for yourself.

[Hink]

With piezo equiped guitars you can't really do palm muting. So, you give up the ability to palm mute, but you get 2 dozen guitars. Not a bad trade.

it is for me, might as well tell me I have to give up picking too...2 dozen worthless guitars imo...I could never get use to not palm muting, that aggravation alone would probably send the variax to the bottom of the river

[Sascha Franck]

I don't think palm muting is affected all THAT bad by piezos.
It is, to a certain extent, though - so, if you are into heavy riffing chugga chugga a Variax might not be your first choice... but quite some other styles might hardly be affected.

[Sicklecell666]

Fair call ...
Also, the bass player seldom gets laid.

Speak for yourself..I've never had that problem..

[Hink]

I don't think palm muting is affected all THAT bad by piezos.
It is, to a certain extent, though - so, if you are into heavy riffing chugga chugga a Variax might not be your first choice... but quite some other styles might hardly be affected.

great sig you should know though Sascha that if I can't replace or repair every part of a guitar in my sleep I wont be happy. I'm old school that way, I guess I see it as one more thing to break that will no doubt be expensive to fix. Perhaps oneday I would get one for kicks, but never would I rely on one for my only ax, or worse, first one.

Now the Transperformance is a different story...if I can ever accept buying a guitar for over a grand (entitlement issues, I could buy it today) I would build a strat and send it to them...

[Soniccat]

I would say guitar, they really do provide with alot more sonic possibilities. Be prepared for alot of hours to get your fingers broken in, and it is often very frustrating getting to be good. I have been playing for 25+ years and never spent as much time as i should practising, I wish I was a better player than I am, but I am glad I can play, very expressive instruement.
I would also recomend the Stick, if your are fairly good at keyboards the learning curve is better and it too can be a very expressive instrument.The fact that it handles both bass and guitar and is played like a keyboard offers alot of options. Just my 2 pesos.

[tetraplan]

You could go for guitar and play like the guy from Enablerswhenever you need bass.
Or you could get a bass-guitar and play it like a guitar like Doug Wimbish does.

Groet, Erik

[Kraku]

Thanks all. Now I'm even more confused than when I started this thread

I quess I'll have to think of something what is important to me. I know that the inspiration is important to me, but which instrument provides it to me. ..? Guitar is a very versatile instrument and very different from the synths, but I'm damn lazy when it comes to tuning. Guitar has more strings than a bass does. It's not a very good point, I know, but still. Bass on the other hand has more restricted soundscape, but it can provide some interesting nuances when played right. Stick provides something in between of those two and a bit of clavinova or something... Hmm... Damn...

[Sascha Franck]

Believe me, keyboard player or not, a Stick is freaking tough to learn! You need BOTH a good guitar-alike technique along with independent hand control. And they don't come for cheap either.
Tuning should be no issue. There's allways K-Tuner.

[kevink]

I checked out a Chapman Stick years ago because I was often the bass player of the group, but I wanted a hand free to play with synths and electronics. I had not expected it to be such a keyboard-like experience - I ended up using it very differently from the way I had intended.

[hues]

go to a guitar shop and try both.

the answer will come to you like it did to Harry Potter in the wand shop.