Roland GR-300 guitar synth
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- Опубліковано 3 жов 2024
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A brief demonstration of the classic Roland GR-300 guitar synth. I posted an earlier vid featuring the GR-300 in a filter modulation performance along with drums, etc. This is just the synth itself - with some TC Electronic D-Two delay. I am using the Roland G-505 guitar controller.
You must use the 24-pin cable to interface the guitar with the synth. The older cables with the metal ends are the ones to use. The newer plastic end cables suck. They are not as reliable and cannot be repaired. Avoid them at all costs unless money means nothing to you.
The G-505 has a 3-position mode switch which allows you to go between synth only, hexa-fuzz only, or a combination of both. There is also a balance knob which lets you layer in the actual guitar sound. The G-505 is a single coil Strat style guitar that sounds really good on its own.
I was watching a Genesis concert video from their 1984 Mama tour and Mike rutherford was playing a G-505 that looked exactly like this one. For the first time I was able to see and hear how he was getting some of those signature synthetic fuzz tones - the hexa-fuzz on the GR-300.
Had one of these in the early 80s. There are guitarists who obsess over the perfect guitar amp tone. Me, I wanted anything but tradition. It only made two sounds, but they were great sounds. Nowadays I have a Roland GR-55. The idea that electric guitar could be more than something that was designed in the 1950s never left me.
How do the two compare?
@@TwinCitiesOxygen The GR55 has hundreds of PCM sounds you can layer, along with built-in FX and amp tones. The GR300 was more analog and you had to have a dedicated guitar for it, not just a pickup (there were two available). It connected to the floor unit with something a bit like a SCART cable. No memories or midi, you just had to remember the settings.
If this thing could track Robert fripp, and he was happy with it (he's a perfectionist) that's the mark of a genius bit of audio design engineering. I want one so badly, as an aspiring audio design engineer. It's the pinnacle of analogue signal processing.
I LOVE these. So dorky yet impossibly cool. 'Tis the law of the guitar synth!!!
Great demo! Thank you!
Wish someone would put a demo like this on the Roland GR-500 (the mother of all guitar synths)
Yes.. only the GR500 was kind of primitive/experimental and rather difficult to use. And its guitar controller, unlike the 4 different guitar controllers that were available with the GR300 was very limited as a guitar. One thing I liked about this synth, was its monophonic function, which resulted to a really ''fat'' sound, reminiscent of a Mini Moog.
Το my knowledge, the only guitarists that really explored and used the full capacity of the GR300, were Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew. Just listen to King Crimson's Discipline album and Adrian Belew's Desire Caught By The Tail, to see what I mean. Pat Metheny, like several other guitarists, simply uses the main ''trumpet'' sound of the synth, and hardy anything else.
Andy Summers did some cool things on this guitar synth with The Police. They were parts that I originally thought were keyboard synths. It was only having seen his demonstration of this guitar synth on UA-cam (from a 1981 Police documentary) that I realised Andy Summers was responsible for some of those great atmospheric pad sounds created on the G300.
I just got a GR-300 w/ a G808 guitar off Reverb a few weeks ago. My main inspiration re: the GR-300 is Andy Summers, particularly on the famous “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” solo and (I think?) “Behind My Camel” from Zenyatta Mondatta, as well as much of the Ghost In The Machine and Synchronicity albums. Also, Andy and Robert Fripp use their GR-300s quite a bit on their I Advance Masked album.
Sweet memories - had the GR300 and the GR100 (electronic guitar) using the G-707 guitar controller that I bought new in 1985. The GR300 came alive when I ran it through a Roland SDE-3000 delay and a DOD stereo chorus pedal. Played it through a Fender Twin Reverb...
Damn you Roland for not making things like this anymore. I want one.
I have a GR-700 and it does not track anywhere near this. The most annoying thing is that anytime it gets "confused" it lets out a squeal that sounds kind of like a weasel in heat.
I love Hex-Fuzz, every time I've ever played with one, I realized you can do crazy-chord extensions with it, that would beat like crazy and turn to mud in traditional fuzz, yet actually sound GREAT in hex. It opens a whole new world, but I do agree, it's a one trick pony, but as you said - it's hell of a trick.
Wish to god I still had one!
I have a Gr 300 that I bought from Rob Fetters who played with Adrian Belew in The Bears.
They used the unit I have on the first Bear's album. It's a little quirky some twenty odd years later, but it still has magic in it.
You're right. What interest me from the GR-500 are the note portamento, and the polyphonic infinite sustain. Heard a track by Chuck Hammer and it was unbelievable; the new Moog guitar is junk compared to it. Too bad Roland did not put this sustain on the 300, but it would have turned its controller into a heavy clunker too!
I wonder why Roland wont reproduce the GR300 with an applied pick up? Would it not be less expensive to produce today? How would they sell wordwide? I would buy one. I have the GR-20.
The JP-8000 synth has a preset that’s called GR-300. Now I know what it’s emulating.
Also forgetting Steve Hillage's "Green" album, which is chock full of the thing.
Damn, that thing tracks really really well. I have a GM-70 that tracks like crap and feels like a 32nd or even 16th note behind...I culdn't come anywhere near the tracking at around 6:30. MIDI...bah humbug. Areal audio rate control would be nice...like they used to have!
That thing sounds amazing! Why can't they make a guitar synth like they used to!?
I had one of these with the Roland guitar made by Ibanez. sold it for £175 they are worth nearly £5000 now!!!!
Argh, I had the 303 but swapped it for a 505 as I liked Strats. The synths I got rid of in the early 80s. You don’t want to know …
Heaven 17’s “Penthouse and Pavement” and Human League’s “Fascination” are two other classic GR300 outings
…mind blown. 🤯🤯🤯
Thanks for the memory.
I have one of these with G-303 (and cable) which has been in my loft since my tastes changed, two years after I bought it in 1980.
Great to hear it again.
I shall have to try and find time to get mine down and do something with it again.
Love the fat '80's synth' sounds.
Heck!
It sounds better than I expected. A lot.
Now, note tracking for the VCFs would go a loooong way in a synth like this, but even then, it sounds terrific.
Norm McDonald called... He wants his voice back.
The guy I bought it from used it for playing clubs but only really used the top low strings on synth to give him super bass when playing. In the right hands this could be a truly amazing tool but I think guitar players ( myself included ) just try to get AMUSING sounds from it rather than extracting the full potential from a different angle ( does that make sence to you) Thanks for putting this up and it's good to see it from a different angle. Cheers Analoger, Chazz.
Great video. I'm just getting into guitar synth and have no idea what equipment is required. What special equipment is needed apart from the GR-300? Special cables, guitars, etc...
For that time this was like a "produced and brought by aliens" kind of guitar, very far ahead in the future from any other guitar. Impossible to figure how they did a guitar like G-505 using all analog hardwares in the 80s. Today, Roland has reached to the point where you can transform your guitar in any instrument you want with a digital midi pickup/system. Pretty impressive from the asians.
The Roland GR series guitar synths are fantastic . I have the GR33 it's truly one of their best synths .
If they re-issued the GR-300 for use with modern 13-pin guitar, I'd buy like three of them,
You can still use a GR-300 in conjunction with the BC-13 to convert the 24 pin to 13 pin.
Purchased a GR55 August 2014. While I have spend some time exploring it, the possibilities are bewildering (I've been programming synthesizers since 1988), though navigating the menus is a bit of a drag.
The GR-55 is not a bad box but is nothing like the GR-300 in tone, not analog ether.
are you able to play every effect that was on the GR-300, on the Gr-55?
Absolutely not. If you love the GR-300 go get one. Best wishes
Is this harlin Williams?
Very nice demo!Good job :-D
Really nice vid/demo......great unit.....
This needs a special guitar to use right? Not like the gk-3 or something that just requires you to attach a special pickup?
Yes, that's correct.
fuckintastic video niice one thats the sound i was looking for
just one Qstn? does that pickup tracks good on the bass 5th and 6th ?
my gr-20 does well on the 1st,2nd,3th, n 4th but 5th n 6th they skip a lot.
I have one of these and to be honest it is wasted on me but around 20 years ago I fancied a synth guitar and found this same one. It is in mint condition and the actual guitar is a dream to play. The synth is, to me quite complicated but I have recorded some really good stuff with it but forgot the setting I used, Duhh! Don't really spend enough time using it though.
Hello! Great demo. Can you use one of these with a normal guitar, or do you need a special guitar with midi controllers? Thank you!
The latter. You had the Strat-like 505 or the brown, wooden 303 with humbuckers.
Hello GR ADDICTS
Roland GR-300 REVIVAL on New OUIJA" Addiction" Album!!!!!!!!
Nice! What kind of cable is running from the guitar to the synth? a regular D-25 sub cable? And which pickup is used for that?
ebay - but it's amusing (as an owner since 1980) to see that they're collected now.
You'll be lucky to find one cheap.
The 24-pin cable connector for the synth and controller is even rarer.
I used to have one of these,around 1985
I have a GR-505 exactly the same as this one...unfortunately the electronics died...fully corroded. But as a guitar it's awesome!!!!
@Analogger Could you PLEASE do a Demo of some "The Police" Tunes (Secret Journey or Don't Stand So Close To Me are good)?
Thanks for posting this. Wish you hadn't had that annoying delay on everything, though...
I really want one now...
Roland needs to reissue this and the Bass Guitar variant of this synth the GR 33 I believe
Oh... One more babbler instead of demo. Where do you all come from?
They do. There's a GR300 in the software of the new VG-99.
Wow... what a cool story. I loved some of the first Bear's album.
WAY COOL!! I have a GR-700 that doesn't work anymore.
I want to marry that GR-300 synth module
Great demo! Andy Summers used one of those on quite a few Police tunes also, as you may have already known.
I suspect at least half of the units Roland sold went out the door for that reason alone. Everyone wanted to do things like "Secret Journey" or "Don't Stand So Close to Me."
great vid man chords sound sweet thanks
sorry, just answered my question...
Would this work with the G-707?
Great video !
Do you know of any modern effect or pedalboard who can do the same type and quality of the Roland GR-300 guitar synth ?
.
BOSS GP10 has a brilliant GR300 model in it which I use a lot. The GR55 also has this but for me the GP10 was enough.
nah, thats was a Roland Jupiter
Where could one buy one of these?
I WANT ONE!
does the gr 55 track as well as this
Sadly no. It doesn't sound anywhere near as good.
@@leesimeone The GR55 can sound like anything - it’s just not analog. The GR300 was very limited in comparison. Bit like comparing a Juno to a D50.
Nah, that was a Oberheim OB-Xa
Do any of you guys know if they have this at guitar centre?
NEAL SCHON