Ugly Truth About Vox Starsteam Guitar

From time to time Vox has released a select line of guitars. Many of these guitar of late have been vintage inspired instrument with a special flare. Vox has always hit the mark in the looks department, as far I'm concerned. That is, until now. But first, let's hear Vox's side of the story:

Created to provide a wide range of sounds including electric guitar, acoustic guitar, synths and other stringed instruments, the VOX Starstream Type-1 is the ultimate instrument for players looking to redefine the electric guitar and what it can do. Whether you are playing with a band, in the studio or practicing silently at night with headphones, the Starstream Type-1 offers exciting new possibilities.

Incorporating the AREOS-D system, the Starstream Type-1 is the latest evolution in onboard guitar electronics, furthering VOX’s reputation of breaking the boundaries when it comes to advanced guitar electronics.  Putting control over your sound at your fingertips, the system integrates several essential elements: magnetic pickups for authentic and classic electric guitar sounds; a piezo pickup system for rich-sounding traditional and acoustic instruments; a powerful DSP engine; familiar volume, tone and pickup selector controls and a Control Module that provides instant access to important tone-shaping parameters. 

The unique frame construction is three dimensionally contoured for maximum comfort, easily conforming to your personal style. Equipped with a smoothly shaped neck, unlimited upper fret access, warm-toned resonant wood body, specially voiced magnetic pickups and a balanced, easy to use tremolo system; this is the ultimate modern guitar.

• Exclusively developed AREOS-D system uses the guitar’s traditional magnetic pickups to create the electric guitar sounds for greater realism and accuracy.
• Nine banks of instruments, with three variations in each, plus two user banks to store up to six favorite sounds.
• Synth sounds track effortlessly and respond dynamically to touch, pick attack and vibrato.
• Simple, intuitive volume, tone and three-way switch make changing models and sounds quick and easy.
• 1/4” output for live performance or recording and 1/8” output for use with headphones for private listening and practice.
• Sculpted mango body; 22 fret maple neck with rosewood fingerboard; 2 x XLM humbucking pickups; 2-point fulcrum vibrato; sealed die cast tuning machines.

 Having that been said, let's talk truth.

Yes. It's Ugly

This is a striking looking guitar to say the least. I was on the fence, until I saw the video of a person playing it. It looks like someone strumming an over-sized electric violin, which no doubt was at least somewhat of an inspiration for the design. It is goofy looking, but worst of all the is the on board controls. They look straight out of the 90's. There is no attempt to blend them in with the look of the guitar. They stick out like a sore thumb. Maybe the thought was to make the guitar so distracting that you don't notice the honking bit of kit bolted to the guitar... Swing and a miss Vox...

There Are Others Out There

Maybe you like this guitar. Maybe you aren't a guitar player so much as an experimental-soundsmith. (you must be lost) If you want a guitar to sound like a bunch of other guitars, then take your pick. I'll just say it, Line 6 is you best bet. Their VariAX line has you covered. If you are into synth sounds, then prepare to be disappointed, because you get your choose of two sounds with this guitar and I was inspired by what I saw in the Vox promotional video. Looking for crazy sounds out of a guitar, then Ibanez made that weird Kaoss guitar a while back. That should take care of weird. (but why not look into Earthquaker Devices pedals. Lots of weird stuff for guitar and more...)

Maybe there are some good sounds in there

I know that's not an "ugly truth" but come on, I've been slamming this thing pretty hard, and it's kinda sad that I have to say 'maybe'. The 12 string and 'banjo' sounds in the video that Vox put out themselves, sound terrible. It might have something to do with the fact that the guitarist playing in the video was probably on par with my own playing, meaning it was nothing special. Nothing in that video made me want that guitar. However, I didn't hear the acoustic sounds. Those might be surprisingly good, but probably not, because they never are. there just isn't much about this guitar to get excited about. And I love Vox...

Maybe they will develop this line in the future, but right now it's a hard pass.

Ugly Truth About Mission Engineering Expression Pedal

A few months ago I picked up a Line6 M5 stomp box modeler. I have been openly critical about multi effects units here on this blog, but the M5 has impressed me. The entire M serious is impressive, but the M5 fits into your already established pedal board. I bought mine because I wanted a Slow Gear, Whammy, and Seek Wah. I didn't have a thousand dollars so I looked for a alternative. The M5 comes up all aces. There are a ton of bonuses. But this isn't a review of the M5, this is.

The main problem with this pedal is that there are so many things that are only unlocked when you add an expression pedal. This leads you on a journey in and of its self. Line6 offers an expression pedal. It is $50 and made of plastic. There are several places on the internet that document the unreliability of this pedal. I avoided this pedal and sought an alternative. The first expression pedal that I bought was a Boss FV-50. It was large and metal and an utter failure. It was on a list of compatible pedal that I found on Line6's support forum. I might have gotten my hands on a dud, so I returned. A little while later I was able to find a used Mission Engineering EP1-L6. For half the price of a new one and less than the Boss 'no go', I found my replacement.


It Works

So, Line6 typically doesn't function with most expression pedals. Basically, an expression pedal is just a pot wired between two jack. But there a tiny little fairies that have to bless each pedal that enables it to work with a particular type of pedal... or something like that. It actually has to do with the value of the pot and how it's wired up. It's simple, but also a little more complected than it seems. This pedal takes all the thinking out it. It even has the Line6 logo on it. It's a metal case with the right guts. So that seem pretty solid. What could be wrong with it?

It's Expensive

Like I previously said, It is a metal case, a pot and jacks. The parts make up $25 of cost, so that's about a 500% markup. True, Line6 probably makes their expression pedal for pennies, but for much less you can buy an actual Wah pedal that includes everything and an actual effect. I won't bash a business for making money, but when it comes to my dollars, I need a little more bang per buck. That's why I only bought this pedal when I found it used.

It's Roamy

The nice thing about Wah pedals is that they are spacious on the inside. Why is this a good thing? Well here is an idea. Imagine you are using you expression pedal to control a wah sound on your M5. How would you turn the effect on? By tapping the on/off button on the M5. But that's not how a wah works. You put the toe down and press, right? Why can't we do that with our expression pedal? The enclosure is already drilled for an input, output and switch. So wire in a looping circuit and you can engage your M5 when you stomp on it like a wah.

Conclusion

I can't really recommend buying this pedal outright. You could probably build one for way less... But this pedal works very well and is super solid. If you can can find it used, then it become much more reasonable. If you like to tinker, then you have a lot of options as for what to do with all that space. You can put a buffer or boost in there, or just a looper and status LED like I plan to...