dragonworks
Banned
I have the opportunity to buy a Roland GR1 guitar synth in excellant condition for 250.00. Is it worth it, should I buy it??
All opinions appreciated.
Thanx.
All opinions appreciated.
Thanx.
J
juststartingout
New member
It's a cool toy to have, but I would only offer him $125 at the most. It's older technology and has some latency issues. But like I said, it's a blast to play with, especially if you have a keyboard you can plug it into and use the insturments on the keyboard also. I have a GR09 on one of my accoustics.
E
Ed Dixon
New member
Does that include both the synth and the pickup? Both are needed.
Guitar synth setups can be very useful, expecially in live settings. Some Roland synths produce good sounds and others not. I have a Roland GR-50, which has poor sounds. I use a separate Roland U-220, which has much better sounds.
Ed
Guitar synth setups can be very useful, expecially in live settings. Some Roland synths produce good sounds and others not. I have a Roland GR-50, which has poor sounds. I use a separate Roland U-220, which has much better sounds.
Ed
Ronan
New member
juststartingout said:
You might want to double check this. I do not remember off the top of my head but I remember a problem with using external midi devices with this synth. Or I might be confusing this problem with the VG8
that said, it sould be plent of fun either way. I did a bunch of records with the guitarist Robert Fripp that does mostly synth guitar and he had a few synths but still used this one a bunch.
J
juststartingout
New member
Ronan said:
You are correct in what you are saying. The biggest problem, with a lot of early devices, is that the midi packect they send has limited "touch" to them. sorry, but I am a bit brain dead right now and can't find the right word, but by touch I mean on a keyboard, the harder you press the louder the sound and that is not transmitted by early midi. My gr09 has the same issue, but I use the guitar sound and only use the midi for some backround fill and it's wonderful for that.
T
tollbooth
New member
Gr1
hey there
i swear by my old and beloved GR1 - easy to edit, very flexible, very useable sounds (though maybe a little dated - but hey, you're a guitarist - people aren't expecting it anyway!) and the control system is really nice, and i think maybe the last of the GR series to be quite so flexible.
i use mine with a JV1080 and it works fine live for adding extra slow attack pads etc , though there are a few tracking issues for more percussive sounds. the setting up of the GK2a is critical though - it doesn't have to far out at all to cause problems.
i love mine - $250 sounds okay-ish if that includes the pickup. but i would expect it in really good nick for that - i'd also press for a spare memory card for that too as these are getting a bit difficult to get now as the GR1 can only format a specific low memory sector of cards - so higher volume cards are wasted. it will also be critical for saving patches whilst changing card batteries.
to be honest, the GR1 changed my sonic canvas way more than any other tool i've bought in my 25 years! it's an old and beloved friend.
actually - while we are on the subject - i would LOVE to get hold of an older GR707 and synth unit - i just loved that controller! it was almost unplayable, but the hexadistortion (which went missing on the later GRs) was fantasticand the thing looked wonderful. if anyone HAS one....
hey there
i swear by my old and beloved GR1 - easy to edit, very flexible, very useable sounds (though maybe a little dated - but hey, you're a guitarist - people aren't expecting it anyway!) and the control system is really nice, and i think maybe the last of the GR series to be quite so flexible.
i use mine with a JV1080 and it works fine live for adding extra slow attack pads etc , though there are a few tracking issues for more percussive sounds. the setting up of the GK2a is critical though - it doesn't have to far out at all to cause problems.
i love mine - $250 sounds okay-ish if that includes the pickup. but i would expect it in really good nick for that - i'd also press for a spare memory card for that too as these are getting a bit difficult to get now as the GR1 can only format a specific low memory sector of cards - so higher volume cards are wasted. it will also be critical for saving patches whilst changing card batteries.
to be honest, the GR1 changed my sonic canvas way more than any other tool i've bought in my 25 years! it's an old and beloved friend.
actually - while we are on the subject - i would LOVE to get hold of an older GR707 and synth unit - i just loved that controller! it was almost unplayable, but the hexadistortion (which went missing on the later GRs) was fantasticand the thing looked wonderful. if anyone HAS one....