I owned a Roland VG-8 for quite some time and used it extensively. Here's the high points -
It was introduced in 1995 for about $3,000 - at the end, it sold for less than a third of that. It was replaced by the VG-88 somewhere around 2000.
The VG-8 (and -88) models a bunch of guitar and amp models using Roland's COSM technology (for the amps) and some kind of waveform modeling (for the guitars). The VG-8 would work only with the 13-pin synth pickup (an add-on, built into the Roland-Ready Strats and a few other guitars); the VG-88 could accept a normal 1/4" input, but it was then essentially a multi-effector, not a modeler.
These units could do any open tuning you could conceive at the touch of a button. Artists like Joni Mitchell (who reputedly uses several dozen open tunings in a single concert) used this unit live to good effect. You could also do "real" 12-strings (not just adding an octave), which was one of its best tricks. The open tunings were also pretty cool. And you could do the 'electronic capo' thing, something I used a lot.
The VG-8/88s are pretty amazing boxes and still in use in a lot of studios (where mine ended up - a well-known producer bought it for that purpose), as they can model about any electric guitar, plus acoustics, dobros, banjos, and things like that.
The downside, at least of the VG-8 (never owned the -88, which was a pretty different unit internally I'm told - used some different technology or something), was the pitch-shifted tones could be a bit hard on the ears. At first you were enamored; after a while, you could "hear" the digital effect going on. It's hard to describe. Suffice to say that a real open tuning or capo sounded more organic, though not as handy. In a live situation, I doubt if anyone could tell the difference. In the studio, maybe, depending on the mix and the prominence of the instrument effected.
For live use the VG-8 was a dream. The electric guitar models were way cool and darn realistic. It did Strats, Rics, and 335s especially well. The amps were also quite decent (first gen COSM - not great, not awful). The FX were Boss - usable. You could instantly change from guitar to guitar, tuning to tuning, single amp to dual amp, acoustic to electric, 6 string to 12 string. Programming it was super easy as well, and you could quickly back up your patches to a PC and save them in sets (and share them with others) via a simple MIDI hookup.
The VG-8 required a full range amp to sound right (the -88 does not), but worked great straight to the board. Using outboard FX was tough, as they all had to follow the -8's processing in the signal chain due to the 13-pin input. There was sort of an FX loop, but I don't remember it working very well with any distortion units I tried to use with it.
Well, probably more than you wanted to know, but there it is.
Greg
