Customer Reviews

You Rock Guitar YRG-1000 MIDI Controller Electric Guitar Black

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

First, my background with midi guitars: I've owned a Godin midi guitar along with the Axon midi guitar unit. I also use midi synths/interfaces such as Reason.

Pros/Cons

Pros: Lowest action possible on a guitar (there are no neck strings, the neck is virtually a keyboard with very sensitive 'string inlays' on the neck). The pitch bend and modulation switches work very well. The outputs are impressive: one 5pin midi out, a 1/4" out, headphones out, and usb. It interfaces flawlessly with Reason, the main sequencer I use, using either usb or midi connection. The onboard samples are actually much better than I thought they would be, especially some of the synths. I will address the latency as a separate topic from pros and cons. The software control panel is also very nice, similar to the Axon control panel for their unit. Virtually every variable is adjustable on this device and the developers seem to plan to keep opening up new bios features in future updates. Customer support is the best I've ever talked with. Setting up your guitar with the control panel is highly recommended as you will be optimizing it to respond to your style of playing by adjusting velocity tables, individual string sensitivities, etc. They sent me three different guitars to try (the first one I got had a dead panel). They paid for all the shipping and even called me once or twice. The customer support system online is also very nice, it keeps a running dialog between you and service reps via a forum post type of system. You can't say this company isn't dedicated to their patrons; they stand behind their work.

Cons: As some have noted, the instrument is plastic and light. I'm a bit circumspect on its robustness so I treat it cautiously. I doubt it would survive if dropped on a hard floor more than once but that is pure speculation. I do believe it will withstand lots of use though. I do not use this device as a videogame controller but as an interfacing tool for midi sequencers for composing. It can do alot of things other midi guitars will struggle with (rigorous chord strumming, tapping, etc) but like any midi guitar, it is NOT for replacing a real guitar. To that end, it is hard to nail down specific negatives about this kind of design because so many will have different expectations and needs. If anything goes wrong with the device, I will update this review in the future.

Comments:

Now, for the latency questions. If you use the guitar by itself with no external sequencers, there will be no latency. Interfacing with externals is good but it needs to be clarified, as this is where users will probably experience variability between their setup and someone else's: first, any latency occurring when interfacing externals will be due to the external device processing the signal from the guitar (Wittsworld). What follows is my personal experience with my setup. By using the 5 pin midi out I had almost no latency. Specifically, it depends on what mode I used. Using the picking strings, I had in the range of 3-6ms, probably eliminated if you have a zero latency monitoring card. If you use TAP mode (just using the neck alone as an interface) then the latency is virtually eliminated. By using the usb connection, the latency was also very good. However, with usb, the string picking mode latency was noticeably higher compared to the 5 pin connection - but the TAP mode was still extremely low latency (I use usb and tap mode by default with no problems). The neck really is a nice piece of engineering and tap mode is really great. With string picking you can strum chords without glitching, unlike other midi guitars that rely on the original guitar design with strings running the full length of the guitar - which typically results in much more unpredictability when playing. Unrelated to the guitar, when using external sequencer samples, a few may have a delayed attack for effect (creates a perceived latency on the particular sample) that you normally can adjust/eliminate in whatever sequencer program you're using.

Last/random thoughts: As noted in the beginning, I've used quite expensive/elaborate midi guitar setups (~1500-2k usd). If what you want is a device to interface with midi sequencers without having to learn keyboard/piano then this is the ultimate device in my opinion. The latency is minimal and virtually non-existent at best and there is very little glitching to worry about due to the isolation of the neck and picking strings. For 10x less then an ideal midi guitar setup, it's hard to go wrong. It is a really amazing piece of hardware. Hopefully, they will stop with the videogame aspect altogether and just make this a pure midi guitar project. This review may seem full of adulations but there is no such thing as a perfect device - and this one is far from perfect. However, in the context of the midi guitar market, it is my most preferred option and, in my opinion, the best performing, best featured, and luckily most affordable, option on the market.

If I have missed anything, leave a comment.

I got this guitar as a musician; not for gaming, so I can't speak to how it is for that. But, for MIDI tracking, this easily outperformed the Roland synth pickup that I attached to my Les Paul. However, it was nowhere near as good as the MIDI tracking on my Godin Jazz guitar. But, for the money, I think it's the best guitar synth out there.

You should be aware of its limitations.

1) Pull-offs are impossible

2) The tremelo bar action feels very cheap, though it is functional

3) You will have to adjust the tension on the strings

4) The presets are pretty weak, so you will be relying on external synth sounds.

5) The entire guitar is extremely light (all plastic) which makes for an odd playing experience.

So, I write this as musician. I bought it thinking I may use it with RockBand but ended up using that thing for other stuff:

1. Travel guitar. Can't bit, light like hell, can be taken in two pieces, no tuning, just perfect for me.

2. Open tunings, no need to break strings, just tap a bios setting, you get any guitar tuning you want on it.

3. MIDI controller, for that it's a blast. I put things into BandinABox with it, use it for earmaster input and

it's unbeatable. The MIDI works very, very well.

4. Doings lots of work with little hand impact. No strings, no pressure on left hand, you can do pentatonic scales forever

and the sound is actually quite bearable. On top, you can put it into a mode and it will barf at you when

you are playing off-key. Now, that's cool.

5. Children first guitar: Avoiding the frustration of strings getting into little fingers. This was the only guitar

my daughter liked & learned to play few chords.

Now: is that a full guitar replacement, no way, the response on the strings is no match to real guitar, no matter how

well you tune the tension, response and such stuff.

No pull offs to open strings. If you play a fret, hammer-on another fret and pull-off the hammer, it works but when the

string is open, the pull-off does not work obviously, it cannot determine normal taking off the finger vs. pull-off. But

that's no biggie.

As to build quality: for that price it's excellent, about as sturdy as plastic can go. The fretboard is working extremely well.

So, generally a great device.

This product is fantastic! Finally, an affordable, easily transportable guitar-style MIDI controller for the 99% ;)

I titled my review as I did, as I hope to see more such instruments forthcoming from this company.

I use this for controlling my library of soft synths, so I can't comment about it as a game controller. For this purpose, guitar player/composers owe it to themselves to own one. This opens up too many possibilities to count for endeavoring souls.

Buy it! You'll be glad you did.

(A heavier-duty construction, 12 ft. USB and MIDI cables, and a headstock option would have garnered it the fifth star).

Rock on!

So I saw videos of people playing this thing and thought, "great, this will be awesome to play and I'll hit the ground playing".

Well, it took a while to set up for my playing style. It is very particular about how it likes to be played. One must be accurate in how hard the left(or right) hand is fretting to make sure to trigger the right note. It's not that hard, it just takes some getting used to. The software that you download online is a MUST in order to tweak it the way you want it to play.

Some people play this guitar very well either using a tapping method or conventional technique. There are some good videos on Youtube. I was hoping I would be able to play the guitar as well as some folks I saw on there but the reality is that it is a different instrument (but not completely foreign). I'm fine with a regular guitar and I have an odd/sloppy technique that works well but doesn't work as well for the YouRock Guitar. I am already starting to develop more precise playing as a result of practicing with it.

All that said I really like this for what I do. I compose but am not a keyboard player so it's nice to have an interface that I'm comfortable with that goes straight into my computer via MIDI or USB cable. It's a lot of fun. I don't play video games so that functionality is kind of useless to me. I would recommend this for the guitarist who wants synth capabilities but to still be able to play a guitar. I would also recommend it as a touch style guitar. The open tuning function is also a blast. It has many useful ones but you can even create your own. I used to use about 7 different open tunings back when I played solo acoustic and it's nice to be able to easily switch between them for finger picking.

If you buy this as a guitar you might experiment with loosening the string tension (as well as software tweaking) on it to get it to trigger more naturally.

I spent a few days tweaking it to get it just so but once you do it's worth it.

I play keys, but my co-writer plays only guitar. I am using Sonar 8.5 and a Roland Juno-G as a remote instrument through a MOTU Ultralite and a return through a M-Audio 4x4 MIDI hub. The lag we experienced while testing was very small, about maybe 3-5 milliseconds.

Considering the path from the YRG through the MOTU, through the computer, back through the MIDI hub to the instrument, we found it to be entirely acceptable. One method we plan on using to offset the difference in performance is to use an on board sound monitored locally through an amp, while recording silently in the DAW. After recording, maybe three small nudges left and the track should have no problems lining up.

In hindsight, we didn't even try to go direct MIDI right to the instrument "in", cutting out three stops along the way. In that setup we would just record from the MIDI "through" of the instrument. I was being lazy and the setup worked fine as is. At first he was a little disappointed in the response on the strings, then we increased the sensitivity in the control panel and that did the trick.

But what is great was when we threw down a quick scratch track with keys and guitar and within a few minutes the guitar player was laying down an incredibly expressive synth sax line, that would have been impossible for me to duplicate using keys. This is exactly what I got it for and I wasn't disappointed. Even with the slight lag, after just a few minutes he was hitting the next note just slightly early enough to sound great. It's not sporadic, the lag is entirely predictable and consistent. So I agree with the learning curve statement given in an earlier review.

Considering the cost of any available alternative for MIDI guitar conversion, I personally believe this to be a incredible value. I have only owned it for about two weeks, so I will note any future problems in the comments section. One thing to note is that if using USB power, you might want to look into getting a fairly long USB cord. I don't own any of these so I have no idea about their quality.

10 foot cords:

Belkin F3U138-10 Pro Series 10-Foot USB 2.0 5-Pin Mini-B Cable

USB 2.0 A to 5-Pin Mini B Cable - 10 Feet

15 foot cord (was hard to find):

RiteAV - USB 2.0 A to Mini-B 5-pin Cable 15 ft.

I'm using a long MIDI cord (20') and the weight of the cord was allowing the MIDI connection to fall out. Since I had a vecro wrap already on that cord, tying the velcro around the guitar strap leaving about a 6" loop in the MIDI cord solved that problem and removed any tension on the MIDI connection.

Similar to these:

Hook & Loop Fastening Cable Ties 6inch, 60pcs/Pack - 6 Colors

The color coding helps me to figure out the outs and ins at the MIDI hub, without tracing wires. Of course is good when you also have ¼" instrument cords lying all over the place and you don't know which goes where. The same color on each end and no tracing required.

Pros:

Is smallest usable guitar I've found. Great for travel and last minute stow away. Detachable neck is a big plus. Neck design is better than button type predecessors like Yamaha EZ-EG or EZ-AG series. Inexepensive. Always in tune. Good action. Seems durable enough for the elements although it might not withstand a bad drop. Customer service - so far so good. At least you get a real person (who can speak English)on the phone. Battery life OK.

Cons:

No onboard speaker. No DC input jack. No up/down step tuning adjustment. Sound and synth selection, while they might be fine for electronica focus, could be better when it comes to acoustic emulation. Not quite enough hand room at the top of the neck, although there is a socket for an optional headstock (not yet available) that might alleviate that.

Summary:

For songwriting and knock around, I still prefer my button neck Yamaha EZ-AG. But those are out of production. For midi or electric effects, this unit is better. Pity though that no company as yet has taken the risk to make a line of higher quality midi based guitars. Seems like technology is already there to produce something really awesome in the $500 - $1000 range, not so toy like with realistic feel, quality onboard speaker output,etc. Would look forward to that, although this thing is worth the money for what it is.

Kind of a nove idea at first. Did not use. For a few days and then it would not work. Replaced betteries and still did not work. Returning it.

I have been playing guitar for over 30 years. I have a variety of instruments including an older Roland Guitar Synth.

I read a few magazine reviews, notably Sound on Sound, and I was intrigued.

Let me first say something about guitar Synth's and Midi Guitar controllers. They will never ever replace a guitar. There are nuances, picking types, hammering, pull off's and On's that a controller cannot emulate to an extent of an acoustic instrument (Or electric). With that being said, it's nice to play with other sounds using the guitar mindset. This controller does it, and does it in a very inexpensive way. It looks insanely cheap, but the electronics for the sound triggering are unique. There are no strings on the fretboard, but an emulation of strings in a touch sensitive / pressure point interface. As a guitarist, I wanted to bend at the fret level. This is not possibile, but the midi tremolo device assists on this end.

Ok. I've owned this unit for about two weeks. I am using the controller not for it's onboard sounds (Which suck tremendously), but for triggering virtual synths through Steinberg Cubase 4.3 64 bit. I am using not the MIDI port, but USB. It works incredibly well at triggering the sounds. Tracking is pretty good but a guitar controller is not forgiving....You must pick a bit harder to trigger the midi Communication. I have downloaded the supplemental console software and I plan to play with the string sensitivity and velocity settings and see if I can adjust to my playing style (Which is far lighter than it's pre-programmed configuation).

I would never ever play this virtual instrument live. It would not hold up. It's strength is the midi controller. It does this the best in my opinion and at or under 200.00 which nothing compares at this price point.

I tried very hard to get this Guitar to work for me. I hear You Rock is coming out with a higher end product soon, I will probably give that one a try. Unfortunately right now this guitar didn't really cut if for me as an instrument or a midi input device. I tried tweaking all the parameters that were suggested but it just dropped too many notes. It's very close to being a great product, but I found it frustrating to deal with this model. I hope the next version is better.