“Nostalgia for a time when digital was still new”: How Mk.gee is bringing back a ’90s-era modeler favored by Joni Mitchell, David Lynch, and Sting

From being named Eric Clapton’s favorite new guitarist to making a special appearance at Millennial pop prince Justin Bieber’s highly anticipated Coachella set, Mk.gee has, for many, redefined what it means to be a guitar hero in the 2020s.

In particular, his tone and, in turn seemingly leftfield gear choices have played a key part in that process.

Mk.gee’s baritone-strung Fender Jaguar into a Tascam 424 set-up – in full display on his 2024 debut record, Two Star & the Dream Police, and piquing the interest of tone geeks during his shows – has forced many to reconsider what makes a ‘good’ guitar tone, and inspired guitar pedal brands such as JHS Pedals to capitalize on the lo-fi trend.

Now, as The Atlantic reports in their Mk.gee gear deep dive, another essential piece of his tonal puzzle, the Roland VG-8 – an early-stage modeler released in 1995 that well predated current-day amp modeler technology – is also seeing something of a renaissance.

According to The Atlantic’s interview with Chris Bristol, the former chair and CEO of Roland U.S., the VG-8 was crafted as “a toolbox filled with essentially every existing guitar sound.”

It was famously used by experimentalists such as Joni Mitchell, David Lynch, David Bowie-era Reeves Gabrels, and even Sting.

However, its hefty $3,000 price tag meant that it held a degree of exclusivity, or, as Paul Youngblood, the former president of Roland’s U.S. BOSS division, describes it, “because of the price, it was a very elitist, expensive technological product.”

Music technology in the mid-90s “wasn’t anywhere near what it is today,” but, as Youngblood asserts, it “had a lo-fi kind of sound to it” that made – and still makes – it appealing. It also marks a “nostalgia for a time when digital was still new,” notes Steve Waksman, a rock musicologist at the University of Huddersfield, in the same interview.

And thanks to the Mk.gee school of guitarists, the VG-8 is well and truly making a comeback, and this hype is reflected in its price tag on the secondary market.

At the time of writing, the VG-8’s estimated price range on Reverb is between $807 and $1,065, with prices reaching as high as $2,999 in October 2024 – a few months after Mk.gee’s debut album release. Mere coincidence? Unlikely.

In more recent news relating to this early-stage modeler, David Lynch’s Parker Fly guitar, which sold last year at auction, also came with a Roland VG-8 – and the two oddball pieces of equipment were put through their paces by their new owners.