Roland G303/GR-300 Guitar Synth, Don't Stand So Close To Me

Don't Stand So Close To Me, The Police. Another of those Sting compositions that mix the creepiest of subjects with the catchiest of choruses - and because of that chorus, you never forget the song. The best-selling single of 1980 - those were the days.
But the stand-out challenge for guitarists was trying to work out how on earth Andy Summers was producing the sounds that tracked the song. You wouldn't guess from the video for the single, where he mimes to rock-god knee-slides. But then there was The Tube - and a chirpy Jools Holland talking to Andy Summers about his guitar set-up - all still out of reach, but at least explained. And all down to a Roland G-303 Guitar/Controller, a GR-303 Guitar Synthesiser, and a Volume Pedal.
His one was the natural wood version. This one, owned by Manfred Mann's Earthband guitarist Mick Rogers, is white, and looks so much better ;-). Have had a lot of fun playing around with the settings. I don't think Andy Summers used it throughout the song, but I decided to use it without any other effects to see what it was capable of - including the setting to 5ths for that "wow" break. A bit of a showcase for a fabulous piece of analogue technology!
See, hear and read more about this 80s classic - and a beautiful guitar in its own right - here:
www.godsownguitars.com/1983-r...

[@lol_itsnot_erick4385]

Finally a video on this!!

[@godsownguitars]

Years in the making 😉

[@stefanmack723]

Cool video - I like it a lot

[@godsownguitars]

Thank you! A lot of fun playing this set-up!

[@ordinalkirk]

Thank you for taking the time to do this! Just great.

[@godsownguitars]

Thank you - it's a great piece of kit, and just a lovely guitar in its own right!

[@ordinalkirk]

@@godsownguitars Do you have it adding the 5th interval like Summers talks about? It sounds perfect.

[@godsownguitars]

@@ordinalkirk You and I must have watched the same video ;-). Yes, tried to recreate that sound by tunng it to the 5th interval. Not perfect, but close enough!

[@ordinalkirk]

@@godsownguitars Yep! Definitely a piece of buried info on UA-cam. It is almost impossible to sound like the recorded version without that key ingredient.

[@darkoanton5]

Fantastic. I haveca cream G 303 as well.

[@godsownguitars]

Thanks! It's a fantastic guitar in its own right, even without all the synth functionality. I bet you enjoy playing yours!

[@darkoanton5]

@@godsownguitars yes. My daughter likes it as well.

[@theo9952]

@@godsownguitars Ιndeed it is ! I have a G303 (natural finish) too and it is my most favorite electric guitar for decades.

[@Foghat1961]

I had a cream one. Sold it back in 1997 or so. Just wondering if it ended-up in your hands? Di you get it from Cheadle?

[@darkoanton5]

@@Foghat1961 I bought it around 1985.

[@ALIASZARDOZ]

Yeah ! !
This is it.

[@godsownguitars]

Thanks! Amazing guitar synth. I've lost many hours with it 😉

[@ALIASZARDOZ]

@@godsownguitars Yessss... I know it very well. I own a G808 with GR300 (you can see some videos on my channel).
For me it is the Stradivarius of Synthesizer Guitar.
Take safe.
Phil from Dunkirk

[@godsownguitars]

@@ALIASZARDOZ The Stradivarius of Synthesizer Guitars - so right! Love your demos of the G808 and GR300 ❤️

[@ALIASZARDOZ]

@@godsownguitars Many many thanks 😊 🙏 👍👍👍

[@guitarness2034]

Parameter on guitar synth? Some indications to get that sound?

[@godsownguitars]

That's a good question. I'm afraid to my amazement, it's been nearly 3 years since I did the video, and I didn''t keep a note of all the settings for each of the three tracks. But you can see the main settings for the "wow" break in the final 15 seconds of the video. I also used the Master Tuning to create the bass guitar (down an octave from standard tuning). I can't remember the settings for the verse and chorus riffs, but they're pretty much what you would get from an 80s Chorus, like a Boss CE-2. Hope that helps!