Opinions on EBall Game Changer?

[tedmich]

The Gamechanger

250,000 PU combinations!
MIDI, USB and std outputs!
An epiphany or a morass?
what say you?

[eschertron]

After 4 years, why haven't we seen/heard more about this?

[pdf64]

The Gamechanger

250,000 PU combinations!
MIDI, USB and std outputs!
An epiphany or a morass?

They say about 8.5 million PU combinations!
I think the USB and midi are interfaces, rather than outputs.
I guess they can still call it passive if CMOS switches are used to obtain the different arrangements.

It's a lot of options, but a lot of players seem to just want the classic tones, and there's no certainty that they will be available, despite all those options, eg every sound but the right one.
Or maybe you'd get sick of searching before finding it.
The whole thing of physically interacting with a different instrument might change playing style and suggest different musical paths, which may not happen with just one guitar, even if all the tones can be replicated.

[mr fab]

I have my doubts about fancy electronics in guitars.....my main issue is the longevity and availability of parts in the long run. how would you be 10 years hence, if a controller board packed up?. a basic guitar can be fixed easily and will stand the test of time, but with the quick obsolescence of components I think the idea is flawed in the long run.

this is the same issue I have with Gibson's robot guitars and firebird X.

[pdf64]

With lead free process required on such consumer products, their lifetime 'bathtub' may be rather shorter than we're traditionally used to.
Though I'm not up to speed with any improvements to lead free processes that may have been made in recent years?
But their traditional control arrangement may mean that it's feasible to convert them to regular controls, should the worst happen and obsolescence prevent their repair.

[g1]

Or maybe you'd get sick of searching before finding it.

On the other extreme would be the guys who couldn't stop flipping through them, sort of like trying to watch TV with Dad, but he keeps flipping through the channels.
Maybe they have a "random shuffle" mode?

[Mark Hammer]

The pickup-combining game has a few realities that people tend to overlook:

1) The shorter the distance between the neck and bridge pickups (due to scale, number of frets, and placement), the less contrast between the various pickups, and the less distinctive their various combinations. I remember well a guy I knew back in junior college in 1970, who brought his SG Special in. I expected to be impressed, but the P90s on it gave precious little contrast between neck and bridge positions. I was very disappointed.

2) Much, if not most, of the nuances achieved by many combinations are completely lost once you turn up, or hit the overdrive button. The fancy-schmancy combos are most relevant to players who pick and amplify clean. That probably amounts to less than 10% of us.

3) Many combinations result in jarringly discrepant volume levels. You can even some of that out with a compressor, but not completely, and many players prefer to be able to keep their dynamics, so compression as a panacea is off the table.

So, while I think the Game-changer is a great idea, realistically, it offers only limited advantage to a limited number of players. It's not a BAD idea, just an idea that doesn't add much of practical value for a great many people.

[tedmich]

Perhaps like so many products its an engineering feat in search of a need; "the answer to the question (close to) no one is asking"

[Justin Thomas]

I like the last two opinions... Mark & tedmich. Looking at the three guitar players on the website, they all are not what I would call "plug & play." Not a judgement, cause I think they're great, but are way more willing, patient, and able than I am to surf through all those selections. And whoever mentioned just gutting it & replacing with conventional when it breaks or parts are unobtainium, that'd be a good goal for EB to keep in mind. I buy ust can't imagine I (or most of us) would be playing 250,000 songs or gigs, enough to use the low end estimate of available tones. Too much switching for me.

Reminds me of my friend who had the Line 6 Flextone, Variax, and floorboard. All that varuety and potential, yet he only found one single combination of mldels that cut through a live band with drummers, was aestgetically pleasing, and easily and effectively manipulated by tone & volume knobs and picking/playing nuance. It was AWESOME for recording, though.

Re: tedmich's theory, usuall solutions waiting for a problem quickly fall into obsolescence & obscurity. Again, not a value judgement, just an observation.

Justin

[tedmich]

like these:

[Mark Hammer]

I addressed a lot of this over 35 years ago: http://hammer.ampage.org/files/Device1-12.PDF

The perennial struggle for the contemporary electric guitarist is that there are so many options available that one can get lost at the choice-point and interfere with playing. Some folks, like Jeff Beck, have enough tonal variety in their fingers alone, that they can eschew switching of any kind because the "switch" is simply the angle they hold their thumb at. The rest of us have to decide how much choice we can afford to have, without it getting in the way.

The Game-Changer is a great way to "shop" for the particular sub-palette of choices that will work for you much of the time. Once you find the half-dozen or so that click, and that permit the sort of fluidity of motion you need, stick with that.

That's kind of one of the reasons I don't like push-pull pots. I can flick a pickup-selector switch back and forth easily while playing. I can pinky-rotate a pot. Pulling or pushing a pot to change tone I find too disruptive. YMMV.

All of this is one of the reasons why I like the Free-Way toggle switches - Free-Way Ultra Switch | stewmac.com They allow for fluidity of motion. Although I have to confess I've never used one, and have no idea if it lets you get to your desired setting quickly and reliably, without overshooting or having to "correct" and interrupt your playing.