Roland GR55

[beezelbubba]

Sold mine last year due to hard times. Impulsively financed another on MF. Took me a month to hook it up ,due to a combination of shame, and not having a guitar that was ready to accept the GK3.
Hooked it up today.I must say, in spite of the cool non guitar patches, the real strength of this unit is its guitar modeling patches.It is way over priced for this purpose, but the guitar patches are awesome, with a little tweaking. You can also dl great patches at Rolands guitar VGuitar forum. VGuitar Forums - Index

 

[dervish riff]

I have a GK-3 I got from a guy, waiting to track down a means of getting it into the computer and my plug-ins. Screw Roland's modules, lol.

 

[teknomike]

Sold mine last year due to hard times. Impulsively financed another on MF. Took me a month to hook it up ,due to a combination of shame, and not having a guitar that was ready to accept the GK3.
Hooked it up today.I must say, in spite of the cool non guitar patches, the real strength of this unit is its guitar modeling patches.It is way over priced for this purpose, but the guitar patches are awesome, with a little tweaking. You can also dl great patches at Rolands guitar VGuitar forum. VGuitar Forums - Index

Glad to hear you got another, I remember when you got the first one !

I'm another synth player, and am debating losing my GR20 and my VG88 and replacing them with a GR55.
I'm happy with the modeling on the 88 and the synth patches on the 20, but they take up way too much space on the floor. I also have a 13 pin A/B switch and a stereo volume pedal, so my pedal board is huge.
I also have a GR50 rack mounted that runs with an RA50 - a very cool 80's automated accompaniment box.

Sounds like you're happy with the 55, both the synth and the modeling - how is the user interface ? Lots of scrolling, or are things deeply linked through menu options ?
Either work for me, as long as Roland haven't messed with things again and started renaming crap, or putting things in weird places. They do have a learning curve sometimes; the manuals from the 80's are absolutely freaking insane !
Maybe I should just get one and try it. You were satisfied enough to buy it again - that's a good endorsement right there.

 

[beezelbubba]

Glad to hear you got another, I remember when you got the first one !

I'm another synth player, and am debating losing my GR20 and my VG88 and replacing them with a GR55.
I'm happy with the modeling on the 88 and the synth patches on the 20, but they take up way too much space on the floor. I also have a 13 pin A/B switch and a stereo volume pedal, so my pedal board is huge.
I also have a GR50 rack mounted that runs with an RA50 - a very cool 80's automated accompaniment box.

Sounds like you're happy with the 55, both the synth and the modeling - how is the user interface ? Lots of scrolling, or are things deeply linked through menu options ?
Either work for me, as long as Roland haven't messed with things again and started renaming crap, or putting things in weird places. They do have a learning curve sometimes; the manuals from the 80's are absolutely freaking insane !
Maybe I should just get one and try it. You were satisfied enough to buy it again - that's a good endorsement right there.

In terms of editing patches, the pc software you can get at the Vguitar forum is the way to go. Editing using the buttons on the pedal board is totally cumbersome.
Also, for live use, it's haphazard to use as a stand alone(in my limited experience) Switching between patches is not instantaneous, and it can be a bitch to get from one bank to the next.It might be better using a midi switching board, I don't know.
It has some very cool synth and other non guitar patches, but they can be difficult to use believably with a guitar. The piano patches were very touchy. The hammond organ patches were great.As I said before, the guitar patches are outstanding, and never proved to have tracking issues.They always felt very natural.

 

[teknomike]

In terms of editing patches, the pc software you can get at the Vguitar forum is the way to go. Editing using the buttons on the pedal board is totally cumbersome.
Also, for live use, it's haphazard to use as a stand alone(in my limited experience) Switching between patches is not instantaneous, and it can be a bitch to get from one bank to the next.It might be better using a midi switching board, I don't know.
It has some very cool synth and other non guitar patches, but they can be difficult to use believably with a guitar. The piano patches were very touchy. The hammond organ patches were great.As I said before, the guitar patches are outstanding, and never proved to have tracking issues.They always felt very natural.

Well that's cool that they now provide the ability to access programming via PC. That's definitely a help.

As for live work, I agree, switching has always been an issue. That's why it's been nice to have two separate devices - switching between synth and modeller is much faster. I've just resigned myself to the fact that I can't effectively switch patches in the middle of a song unless I have a break, and the patches are either sequential or easily accessible, so I'm not fumbling around and hit an acoustic patch when I want hard and crunchy. I used a MIDI footswitch on my VGA-7 amp, and it was pretty quick, but I never tried it on my other devices.

I've been at the synth thing for a long time (since 1992), so I've had lots of time to work on my technique when using other instrument patches. For piano, you really have to have finger picking ability (or hybrid picking skills) to effectively produce a proper piano sound. It's the percussive nature of a piano that's difficult to get, and accuracy really helps too - there's no sliding up to a note on piano. Saxes, brass and other wind instruments lend themselves very well to guitar. String patches are good too, but there's a slightly different technique there, as I find they don't respond the same way to technique (even though you're playing a damn stringed instrument). Phrasing and range are also important - you've really got to play the patch in the correct frequency range of the instrument to ensure it sounds realistic, as well as understanding how the instruments are played. Can't really play a chord on a flute, for example (unless you're going for that sound, or trying to approximate multiple instruments).
Tracking doesn't seem to be a problem anymore - the older synths (like my GR-50) are much slower in the low frequency range, but it seems negligible on the newer units.
I've got an older Godin LGX-SA with a built in hex pickup, but I'd love to try a new GK-3 to see how its tracking is. If I buy a GR-55, I'd definitely get one, so I at least would have another GK ready guitar.

 

[acidrock]

I must say, in spite of the cool non guitar patches, the real strength of this unit is its guitar modeling patches.It is way over priced for this purpose, but the guitar patches are awesome, with a little tweaking.

I'm going to veer a little OT here....

I recently bought a Yourock guitar for use as a MIDI controller. The funny is that I would never think of playing guitar patches from synths and samplers before, but now I find myself playing mostly guitar sounds through a fake guitar even though I have a whole herd of guitars. The cool thing is being able to change tunings and hear an approximation of what it would sound like without the hassle of retuning.

I highly recommend it for the guy who wants different sounds, doesn't want to learn how to play keys and doesn't want to spend a lot of $$$.

The Yourock tracks better than a synth guitar, but doesn't play like a guitar other than having a fretboard that resembles a guitar. No vibrato and bends can only be done with the whammy bar. It has built in sounds that while not great could be used in a live situation.

I've been at the synth thing for a long time (since 1992), so I've had lots of time to work on my technique when using other instrument patches. For piano, you really have to have finger picking ability (or hybrid picking skills) to effectively produce a proper piano sound. It's the percussive nature of a piano that's difficult to get, and accuracy really helps too - there's no sliding up to a note on piano.

I think this is the stumbling block for most people who take up guitar synths, the synth gets you most of the way there, but the player has to finish the deal.


Just curious, do you guys ever record MIDI?

 

[teknomike]

I'm going to veer a little OT here....

I recently bought a Yourock guitar for use as a MIDI controller. The funny is that I would never think of playing guitar patches from synths and samplers before, but now I find myself playing mostly guitar sounds through a fake guitar even though I have a whole herd of guitars. The cool thing is being able to change tunings and hear an approximation of what it would sound like without the hassle of retuning.
The Yourock tracks better than a synth guitar, but doesn't play like a guitar other than having a fretboard that resembles a guitar. No vibrato and bends can only be done with the whammy bar. It has built in sounds that while not great could be used in a live situation.

That's a pretty cool device - I just saw one in a store in Toronto recently, never knew they existed before that.
But to me, that's like learning to play another instrument. I've spent a long time learning guitar technique (and I'm lazy), so I'd rather put the time back into that. I think it's kind of cool that I can do all these weird things with wood, strings, and a bunch of electronics. I'm an old electronics guy, spent the first part of my career doing that, so that's a lure that's hard to fight against.

Altered tuning is also possible with the GR55 (and other modules). Not perfect, you get some artifacts occasionally, but it works particularly well in a live environment. The last band I played with I used both an open A and open E tuning for slide in two or three songs.

Just curious, do you guys ever record MIDI?

I use MIDI quite a bit, but I've always wanted to record and transcribe stuff. Haven't thought about it for years though, since way back when my computer said something-86 on the case.
I think I had tried it, and the result was not successful, or not what I had expected. You know, I should try again, I've got a USB MIDI device in a drawer somewhere. Thanks for bringing that up !

I assume you do record MIDI if you're asking - tell me more about it !

 

[acidrock]

I use MIDI quite a bit, but I've always wanted to record and transcribe stuff. Haven't thought about it for years though, since way back when my computer said something-86 on the case.
I think I had tried it, and the result was not successful, or not what I had expected. You know, I should try again, I've got a USB MIDI device in a drawer somewhere. Thanks for bringing that up !

I assume you do record MIDI if you're asking - tell me more about it !

I record the MIDI because it's very flexible. You can change the patch, key or tempo in addition to editing any notes in any manner you wish after you record. Plus I can use any of my softsynths.

I know there's notation software out there and I know that SONAR has some form of it built into it, but that's as much as I know about that.

Everyone likes guitars, but it gets boring when it's nothing but guitars. It's nice to mix it up a bit and get some different sounds in there.

 

[teknomike]

Well, Beeze, thanks for the input !
I bit the bullet and got myself not only a GR55, but also a Godin Freeway SA guitar. The price was right, so I couldn't pass it up.
The guitar is really for my kid - his 9.5 pound Epi Les Paul was just a tad heavy for a 10 year old - but it will also be perfect as a backup synth access guitar for me (I've got an LGX-SA).

Had to sell my GR20 to fund it, and if I can do the modelling I want/need to with the GR55, the VG88 is heading out the door too. Woo Hoo !