Awesome video, Jeff. As usual! It's amazing how well those sounds have held up over time, and even the more "dated" effects that are in there are still full of nostalgia and "member berries"! 😄 Thanks for all the work you put into this. It was well worth it! 👍🏼
Hey hey, thank you so much! I member!! This one was an absolute slog of a video to do, I don't even want to think about the hours and disk space that went into it, but there was so much to cover. Really interesting piece of technology, and I hope the burning smell I got from it wasn't a sign of it heading to an imminent death.
Have been using Roland 1 for over twenty yrs purchased from impatient coworker has been a real head turner when using with my acoustic Takamine, vocalizer, drum machine leading mens worship venues especially with piano! Your road device recommendation Boss,Roland,zoom need piano voicing for sure? recommendation using uke baritone
I've gone down this rabbit hole before. You should check out the Ghost pickup/saddle system and (I can't find it online right now...or remember the name of the manufacturer) this weird box that outputs an analog signal of each string, to apply effects to each string separately. In college, a friend had borrowed his brother's GR-300. Those are insane and definitely something to keep an eye out for. ps:: I keep wondering if I'll run into you at Tubby's.
That was excellent! I bought mine new, and fully expanded it. I'm an animator and musician. I used this to create music for Cartoon Network bumpers I animated. After many years of overworking in animation studios, I'm going back to being an artist. I just got this back out, dusted it off, and will be my orchestra for my personal films. This was a great refresher for it's return.
That’s awesome!! I remember seeing someone using a midi guitar (or bass?) to do foley for early Simpsons episodes. It’s a neat piece of gear, especially with being able to link it into a modern DAW and all of the software synths and samplers. Thanks for the comment, that’s so cool to hear.
There was a guy selling a Roland ready strat with one of the Roland modules I was trying to buy for 300$ for months but I never got a response so my search for one is delayed for now
We gotta discuss that Digitech Chorus behind you. Hardwire is my favorite series next to the Digitech GSP1101 and similar. Also, the flute sound you used in this video was perfect to describe the reverb and effects!
Oh yeah, I've looked at a bunch of the Hardwire pedals. The Chorus is such a great selection of different chorus styles. Also turned me on to one of my favorite chorus pedals, the TC Electronic SCF.
Thanks for this nice bit of time traveling - I‘ve still got mine in excellent working condition!If you want to see where guitar synths are at today, take a look at my series about the BOSS GM-800: ua-cam.com/video/gx_mA5C-Lak/v-deo.htmlsi=23PXM0pwiEQZDjgv
Tank you Jeef tengo el GR 1 desde hace 30 años también el GR 50 que es un truño de aparato, el GR 20 que es el más versátil y efectivo y el GR55 TIENE 15 O 20 Presets Buenos el resto no me convencen,,, el Sinte de Guitarra bien usado es muy útil, un abrazo Amigo y Gracias ❤❤❤❤🎸☕✨✨✨✨
I had one I was not that impressed this was just a couple years go I expected it to be more likethe log I've pushed Leah at that time was just getting in to guitar synthesis and I didn't realize the difference that analog was that much better and now I have a keyboard synthesizer which I mean if you're gonna get in to synthesis in your guitar player you might as well get a keyboard to go with and look here's what I would do get really really great couples synthesized your modules right now the barrenger company is remaking all the old mug and all of the other old famous brands of synthesizers so instead of been going to paint $5000 for a move you can buy a barren jerk copy module for real cheap and then you go out and you get my favorite brand KORG you're going get yourself A KORG keyboard controller. I would only go with the pretty brand because they have something that no other keyboard controller does they have a part of the digital engine from the Triton system. That's 600 free digital sounds on any they have it on the 88 key which is probably what most people would want us full size I would go with Lisa 66 key because I don't always play with 2 Hands I'm More likely to play with one hand and edit with The Other Sometimes I play with both Hands and More of a bit of a since player I'm asking you who goes on playing huge scale chords with both Hands but it is nice to play with both Hands Sometimes basically just use my left hand for Simple bass notes. I still want to have synthesis on my guitar I'm still going to do all that but if you really want awesome synthesis you can't just have it on a guitar and there are a bunch of different companies that sell models of artificial guitar plastic guitars that you think we're suck or really f****** unbelievably fantastic and I mean some of these are up $22100030004000 if you want to be like the league guitars from dead Z or one of the main guys like the guys from o*** they actually used real instruments so did the singer really guitar playing son of Cher and his father was the senior and keyboard player from the almond brothers. Use the reliable blue the rhythm guitar player is a synth guitar although it looks like a regular guitar it's kind of both it's a custom thing he had built for himself and then he also sings like this dead flat style but he's good the band dodgy were fantastic heavy oriented synthesize of band calling themselves under core.. Very f****** cool I was a big fan of them and when I was in the teenager in the 1990s I was a big fan of ORGY As well they used all sorts of guitars synthesizer and 7 string heavily edited guitar anything that's not having synthesizer on it it's definitely has like a big boss system I believe on their first album the basis actually does not use synthesizer and the rhythm guitarist who uses seventh string he doesn't use a synthesizer either because they still have a key synthesizer and the lead guy who is my favorite guitarist Amir D. . Play some unbelievable Roland analog synthesizers and I think some digital but I Mean some of the best guitar since you're hear music the rhythm guitarist is also seen's now in place with the scissor guitar with that league guitarist and The Band called Julian k.
Its breath horn bro lol. Nice video. The gr1 was the last true roland guitar floor unit with actual tweakable knobs. One of my personal favs. If ya wanna see total oveekill guitar synth stuff, check my youtube to see how insane it can get. Based on venerable gr300 and 700 analogs.. its sick. The gtr synth from hell..
i remember when it came out. it was in the "General Midi" era , (compatible with generic synth patch list for PC Games) i did like the "Ocean Pad" special FX patch; but it was otherwise just a guitar-to-midi converter with bland Synth.
The best demonstration of this model I’ve seen. Question: can you turn off the pitch bend? EDIT: I saw the “Chromatic” section. The Gr1 was very clean and accurate partly because it tracked slower, and Roland made it a priority of clean MIDI notes over speed. One way I’ve found to get around that while sequencing my playing, is to listen to the sound of the actual guitar strings and have them much louder than the triggered synth sounds. SUBSCRIBED 😊
Time to cover blinded by the light with only 'this synth. I use the subdecay m3 for some wild synth sounds. It doesn't have the range and tweakability of the boss but for me this kind of thing I prefer quality over quantity and it has plenty of range without being overwhelming. Subdecay man... some freaking amazing pedals and overly engineered at times.. the quasar v4 is an insane extension of analog phasers. Anyway I loved the video not about Subdecay.
At 1 minute and 30 seconds you super impressed me and I could tell that you had this style and sound like I like android guitar on a huge Thunder guy that is like one of the main things that I started off with but I want to let's Paul's and all that because I everybody was into a grudge and metal and simple chords it wasn't till I became a better player that I wanted the intricacy of Please Strato casters
10:13: BRTH HRN is "breath(y) horn". Thanks for this great vid. Had a GR/GK2 since they first came out. There's so little info online for the GR-1, I was surprised to find this--I think the "Sound on Sound" web site pointed me to your video.
Ah, that makes sense. It really is an amazing piece of gear. I remember seeing all of the (then) cutting edge synth tech that was coming out and wanting to get my hands on it, but it not really being possible due to 1) it being expensive 2) me playing guitar. Being able to snap one of these up today and dive right into the sounds... I wish I could go back in time and tell my teenage self "Don't worry, one day we'll be able to get all of this"
Try changing the attack time on just the strings on the guitar and strings patch if you turn the attack time down the strings will start sounding the same time as the guitar
I vividly remember there being a demo guitar/synth setup at a music store, and it clicking that I could get all of those sounds without having to learn piano. I've also seen a few bands use them to automate pads and fills and stuff that seemed pretty slick (especially if you''re a rock band and don't need a keyboard player to just stand there 95% of the time)
Guitar synth never seem to deliver what a dedicated synth can. Even synths cheaper than cheap guitar synth. That being said I love your vids lol this comment coming from someone with MIDI jacks tattooed on his neck lol I may be biased lol
That's because most of 'em are designed as preset boxes full of bread and butter preset sounds for cruise ship one man bands rather than tools for making new sounds. Some of them break that mold, though. The GR-50, GR-33, and GR-700 are all full-featured synths under the hood. I think the VG-99 is, too. Not sure about the GR-55. Roland's basically kept them crippled for the most part, and it's too bad.
Having to mutilate a guitar is why I avoided guitar synths in the early days. Thankfully, they've come out with polysynths that don't require any attachments. I currently have a Boss SY-200, EHX Synth 9 and EHX Micro Synth. Certainly not as versatile as what you demoed but I've never had a guitar that I'm willing to sacrifice at the Synth Altar.
Those are really great pedals. I'm amazed at what the EHX 9 pedals are capable of, and I've sung praises of the SY-200 before. I don't really see installing the pickup as sacrificing the guitar, though. It was two little holes in the (already non-stock) pickguard, and then I routed out a little bit under it for clearance. I could have used double-sided tape for the whole thing, and then cleaned it off with citrus cleaner when I was done, or used brackets which are cheaply available online. Lots of options, I haven't permanently married this Strat to a synth pickup.
Now there's nothing to stop you from composing the spiritual successor to Michael Jackson's opus, the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 End Credits aka "Stranger in Moscow"
The funky smell is the capacitors leaking. I just got one and it also is being funky. Opening up and cleaning the board should solve the smell. However. The leaking caps is probably not good for long term...
The first "modern", 13 pin Roland guitar synth was the GR-50, and I wanna say it came out in 1988? It was rackmounted and had the linear arithmetic synth engine like the D-50. I used to have one, it was pretty cool. It had much faster tracking than the GR-1, for whatever reason, and better sounds IMO. I have a GR-33 now, that uses the same engine as the JV-1080 which I like even better. One awesome hex pickup friendly toy is the GR-D pedal that does the hex fuzz thing. Distortion that's one voice per string sounds amazing. You can play the most complex, knuckle-buster chords you know and it keeps all its definition and sounds like Queen. There are a few guitar synths that do hex fuzz as well, but the GR-D is the cheapest way in, usually.
Interesting, I didn't know about the GR-D pedal, that sounds really interesting. And yeah, I should have clarified that I was talking specifically about guitar synth pedals, I didn't go down the rack path... but now that I have a pickup....
@@StompboxBreakdown Ah, OK. Yeah, the GR-50 is something of an outlier since Roland really just makes floor units. I know Yamaha made a number of rackmount guitar synths, too, and they use the same 13 pin standard.
The pitch drift function on the GR1 will make the midi tracking slower or faster because its. Determining every variation of pitch. Bends etc. You can turn it down. And improve the tracking
Bon pour les musiciens peu exigeant moi personnellement je ne supporte pas les latences et portamento incontrolés, ca m'arrache mrs tympans de musiciens
Wasn't "pegging" what kids did to their jeans back in the 80s? Anyway, a most excellent video! So much fun. For its age, the GR-1's tones still sound relevant and quite usable. I know it took some time for you to dig through 224 pages in order to understand and use the unit, so thanks for investing that time and research for our benefit. I really enjoyed this one (with its technical nerdiness and semi-sophomoric humor). Cheers!
Pegged jeans I think was the 50's because I was in school in the 80's and we were all about getting our wide leg Britannia's chewed up in our Mongoose BMX chain
I’m no fashion/culture expert, but I think you’re right about it being a thing in the 50s. But it was also definitely a thing in the 80s. I never did it to my jeans, but I had friends that did. Could’ve been a regional thing, too.
Coolest thing I've seen you demo and theres a lot ! This takes the cake. I also own and play a few synths, love the keys, but all that magic on a guitar. Hate my EHX mono synth now haha. BRTH HRNNN!!!!
Thank you for this video. It may prove to be just the encouragement I needed, to persuade me to retrieve my GR-1 from storage in the loft and see if it has a place in my current recording set up. Lots that I did not like about the performance of the device, when I purchased it Christmas 1992. And the external PSU; whereas the VG-8 released 3 years later connected direct to the mains supply. But I remember there being some interesting sounds among the two hundred “Original Tone”s. And how I did like there being knobs to adjust the ADSR and VCF characteristics and the array of control buttons, to avoid a layer of menus. And now I have more experience of (Guitar) Synthesiser programming I hope to find those 224 pages of Owner’s Manual to be stimulating rather than intimidating.
Love guitar synth. I'm rocking a Casio MG510 and a ZOIA as my synth these days. What you're missing is a pedal chain at the output, as that's when you turn those cheeseball 80's Beverly Hills Cop sounds into distorted, fuzz filled, face melting dali-esque soundscapes.
Bought a well loved Aria Cardinal CS400 that came with the GK hex pickup on it - I've bought a few boxes to plug it into but haven't played with it yet, thanks for going through this and posting it up for us.
In the '80s, our lead guitarists had a Roland GR-300 /G505. It didn't make it to the stage much, but it was novel and fun. The trick is working with the latency, and if you're trying to emulate an instrument, think like the musician who's plays that instrument. Thanks again for another blast from the past!
From what the internet says, it *should* work, but it's also recommended you spend some time adjusting the individual string sensitivity, and maybe spend more time aligning the pickup with the strings (physically) than I did. But it should work, it's a 13-pin pickup sending the same data in the same format.
That Vibes sound at 5:56 has blown me away, I'm listening on headphones now and its panning between both, is that the usual effect on there or is there a stereo pan effect being added, I gotta know! 😅
nice, dx7ie vibes. always wanted one. but wtf roland. 2024, i was promised flying cars and you? bring out the innovative gk-5 at namm. how dare you. and to acess your amazing mono audio to polyphonic pitchmidi tech i have to buy that blue monster with 1000 flashy roland presets for almost 2grd. please just give us the sy-2 pedal with 3,5mm polyphonic midi out. willya? i wanna play my digitone. and that moog. maybe nuclear fusion and ufo disclosure will happen first. gk-6 in 2030?
Yeah, it really sucks that there's no simple GK->MIDI bridge, an updated version of the GI-10/GI-20. Even if it were a plugin for the GK-5 that could then be easily routed to a software instrument.
Great video! I’m a huge nerd for early guitar synths. I have the Roland GR-100, 300 and 700 (with G-505 and G-707 guitar controllers), ARP Avatar and Korg X-911. If I knew that you lived within a few hours of me, I’d let you demo any of those!
Amazed that it sounds so good and usable. I did try a Roland guitar synth back in about 2009, not sure of the model though. It did sound fantastic but could justify the expense when in reality it would only be used for some pads and strings, so got a Casio keyboard instead. Excellent video once again. Great touch too. TWSS
Thank you so much! I've been learning a lot about the unit and the technology within since this went up, from comments in here and PMs. When guitar tech crosses synth stuff, it's like two waves hitting.
Out of curiosity, could you have just cut the dual lock into strips and affixed the pickup to the guitar instead of drilling? I like the idea, but loathe the idea of putting new holes into my instruments.
I'm not personally aware of one. There's gotta be something close to it in the SY-1000 or GM-800, but unless I needed it live, I'd probably just try and find it in a VST plugin, like FM8.
Dexed is a pretty neat free VST that sounds almost identical to the DX7. You can use Roland GR to trigger it, but the MIDI output of the GR line has a bit of latency. The Fishman Triple Play is said to be the fastest guitar to MIDI solution. The Axon AX units should be good as well.
Awesome video, Jeff. As usual!
It's amazing how well those sounds have held up over time, and even the more "dated" effects that are in there are still full of nostalgia and "member berries"! 😄
Thanks for all the work you put into this. It was well worth it! 👍🏼
Hey hey, thank you so much! I member!!
This one was an absolute slog of a video to do, I don't even want to think about the hours and disk space that went into it, but there was so much to cover. Really interesting piece of technology, and I hope the burning smell I got from it wasn't a sign of it heading to an imminent death.
Nice! Owned a GR-700/707 combo in the 80s… all analog synth under hood - basically a Roland JX3P.
Have been using Roland 1 for over twenty yrs purchased from impatient coworker has been a real head turner when using with my acoustic Takamine, vocalizer, drum machine leading mens worship venues especially with piano! Your road device recommendation Boss,Roland,zoom need piano voicing for sure?
recommendation using uke baritone
I've gone down this rabbit hole before. You should check out the Ghost pickup/saddle system and (I can't find it online right now...or remember the name of the manufacturer) this weird box that outputs an analog signal of each string, to apply effects to each string separately. In college, a friend had borrowed his brother's GR-300. Those are insane and definitely something to keep an eye out for. ps:: I keep wondering if I'll run into you at Tubby's.
That was excellent! I bought mine new, and fully expanded it. I'm an animator and musician. I used this to create music for Cartoon Network bumpers I animated. After many years of overworking in animation studios, I'm going back to being an artist. I just got this back out, dusted it off, and will be my orchestra for my personal films. This was a great refresher for it's return.
That’s awesome!! I remember seeing someone using a midi guitar (or bass?) to do foley for early Simpsons episodes. It’s a neat piece of gear, especially with being able to link it into a modern DAW and all of the software synths and samplers. Thanks for the comment, that’s so cool to hear.
There was a guy selling a Roland ready strat with one of the Roland modules I was trying to buy for 300$ for months but I never got a response so my search for one is delayed for now
Lisa, it's your BRTH HRN
Happy BRTH HRN, Lisa
Daaaaaamnnnnn
We gotta discuss that Digitech Chorus behind you. Hardwire is my favorite series next to the Digitech GSP1101 and similar. Also, the flute sound you used in this video was perfect to describe the reverb and effects!
Oh yeah, I've looked at a bunch of the Hardwire pedals. The Chorus is such a great selection of different chorus styles. Also turned me on to one of my favorite chorus pedals, the TC Electronic SCF.
Thanks for this nice bit of time traveling - I‘ve still got mine in excellent working condition!If you want to see where guitar synths are at today, take a look at my series about the BOSS GM-800: ua-cam.com/video/gx_mA5C-Lak/v-deo.htmlsi=23PXM0pwiEQZDjgv
Tank you Jeef tengo el GR 1 desde hace 30 años también el GR 50 que es un truño de aparato, el GR 20 que es el más versátil y efectivo y el GR55 TIENE 15 O 20 Presets Buenos el resto no me convencen,,, el Sinte de Guitarra bien usado es muy útil, un abrazo Amigo y Gracias ❤❤❤❤🎸☕✨✨✨✨
I had one I was not that impressed this was just a couple years go I expected it to be more likethe log I've pushed Leah at that time was just getting in to guitar synthesis and I didn't realize the difference that analog was that much better and now I have a keyboard synthesizer which I mean if you're gonna get in to synthesis in your guitar player you might as well get a keyboard to go with and look here's what I would do get really really great couples synthesized your modules right now the barrenger company is remaking all the old mug and all of the other old famous brands of synthesizers so instead of been going to paint $5000 for a move you can buy a barren jerk copy module for real cheap and then you go out and you get my favorite brand KORG you're going get yourself A KORG keyboard controller. I would only go with the pretty brand because they have something that no other keyboard controller does they have a part of the digital engine from the Triton system. That's 600 free digital sounds on any they have it on the 88 key which is probably what most people would want us full size I would go with Lisa 66 key because I don't always play with 2 Hands I'm More likely to play with one hand and edit with The Other Sometimes I play with both Hands and More of a bit of a since player I'm asking you who goes on playing huge scale chords with both Hands but it is nice to play with both Hands Sometimes basically just use my left hand for Simple bass notes. I still want to have synthesis on my guitar I'm still going to do all that but if you really want awesome synthesis you can't just have it on a guitar and there are a bunch of different companies that sell models of artificial guitar plastic guitars that you think we're suck or really f****** unbelievably fantastic and I mean some of these are up $22100030004000 if you want to be like the league guitars from dead Z or one of the main guys like the guys from o*** they actually used real instruments so did the singer really guitar playing son of Cher and his father was the senior and keyboard player from the almond brothers. Use the reliable blue the rhythm guitar player is a synth guitar although it looks like a regular guitar it's kind of both it's a custom thing he had built for himself and then he also sings like this dead flat style but he's good the band dodgy were fantastic heavy oriented synthesize of band calling themselves under core.. Very f****** cool I was a big fan of them and when I was in the teenager in the 1990s I was a big fan of ORGY As well they used all sorts of guitars synthesizer and 7 string heavily edited guitar anything that's not having synthesizer on it it's definitely has like a big boss system I believe on their first album the basis actually does not use synthesizer and the rhythm guitarist who uses seventh string he doesn't use a synthesizer either because they still have a key synthesizer and the lead guy who is my favorite guitarist Amir D. . Play some unbelievable Roland analog synthesizers and I think some digital but I Mean some of the best guitar since you're hear music the rhythm guitarist is also seen's now in place with the scissor guitar with that league guitarist and The Band called Julian k.
Its breath horn bro lol. Nice video. The gr1 was the last true roland guitar floor unit with actual tweakable knobs. One of my personal favs. If ya wanna see total oveekill guitar synth stuff, check my youtube to see how insane it can get. Based on venerable gr300 and 700 analogs.. its sick. The gtr synth from hell..
i remember when it came out.
it was in the "General Midi" era ,
(compatible with generic synth patch list for PC Games)
i did like the "Ocean Pad" special FX patch;
but it was otherwise just a guitar-to-midi converter with bland Synth.
I have been mixing the GR1 and a VG8 with the dry sound from the guitar into three amps since the early 1990's. Makes some wonderful tones.
The best demonstration of this model I’ve seen.
Question: can you turn off the pitch bend? EDIT: I saw the “Chromatic” section. The Gr1 was very clean and accurate partly because it tracked slower, and Roland made it a priority of clean MIDI notes over speed. One way I’ve found to get around that while sequencing my playing, is to listen to the sound of the actual guitar strings and have them much louder than the triggered synth sounds.
SUBSCRIBED 😊
I've got a couple of GR-1's I could part with. Both tested and working fine. I use a GR-20 and don't need them.
Breath Horn maybe? Still a weird name
WOW! I had no idea Sal Mineo was also a wicked Tuber! LOL Thanks for the up bro ;-) Informative.
Next up the G707? i played one once in the mid 80s (literally once!), i remember the "Yes 5ths" patch was fun
Time to cover blinded by the light with only 'this synth.
I use the subdecay m3 for some wild synth sounds. It doesn't have the range and tweakability of the boss but for me this kind of thing I prefer quality over quantity and it has plenty of range without being overwhelming.
Subdecay man... some freaking amazing pedals and overly engineered at times.. the quasar v4 is an insane extension of analog phasers.
Anyway I loved the video not about Subdecay.
At 1 minute and 30 seconds you super impressed me and I could tell that you had this style and sound like I like android guitar on a huge Thunder guy that is like one of the main things that I started off with but I want to let's Paul's and all that because I everybody was into a grudge and metal and simple chords it wasn't till I became a better player that I wanted the intricacy of Please Strato casters
Hi,love your presentation,can you please tell me how I get a sound like Kevin Peek,the guitarist from sky?
Dude you couldn't stop smiling.. haha love it!
I have a weird feeling stuff like this and old "obsolete" rack gear (think Yamaha FX500) are going to be the next vintage gear bubble.
And once again, you feature another bit of gear I've been eyeing... You're gonna bleed me dry!
10:13: BRTH HRN is "breath(y) horn". Thanks for this great vid. Had a GR/GK2 since they first came out. There's so little info online for the GR-1, I was surprised to find this--I think the "Sound on Sound" web site pointed me to your video.
Ah, that makes sense. It really is an amazing piece of gear. I remember seeing all of the (then) cutting edge synth tech that was coming out and wanting to get my hands on it, but it not really being possible due to 1) it being expensive 2) me playing guitar. Being able to snap one of these up today and dive right into the sounds... I wish I could go back in time and tell my teenage self "Don't worry, one day we'll be able to get all of this"
As the current owner of sy1000 and gm800
The sound is kinda still the same 😂
Try changing the attack time on just the strings on the guitar and strings patch if you turn the attack time down the strings will start sounding the same time as the guitar
I AM MAKING MY GR1 VIDEO TODAY FELLAS!!! going to showcase some real creative sounds with it!!! stay tuned people
Did you end up uploading it?
@@LordTheeProducer couple days I gotcha and will remind!!
BRTH HRN 😆
LOVED MY GR-700 + GR GUITAR
After the sudden "that's what she said" joke, I was expecting something about that page 69 diagram 😆
I *did* say a "really NICE illustration" on page 69 ;)
You sir are a cool dude. Just thought you should know. Thanks for the vids!
Aww, thank you so much! It's my pleasure
I ran a GR-33 and VG-88 when I was rocking in the orchestra pit in the early 2000’s. I love the roland guitar synth stuff.
That's a great idea! Man, the VG-88 was completely bonkers as a concept.
I’ve used guitar synths for about 20yrs. They can be cool. Excellent video.
I vividly remember there being a demo guitar/synth setup at a music store, and it clicking that I could get all of those sounds without having to learn piano. I've also seen a few bands use them to automate pads and fills and stuff that seemed pretty slick (especially if you''re a rock band and don't need a keyboard player to just stand there 95% of the time)
Guitar synth never seem to deliver what a dedicated synth can. Even synths cheaper than cheap guitar synth. That being said I love your vids lol this comment coming from someone with MIDI jacks tattooed on his neck lol I may be biased lol
That's because most of 'em are designed as preset boxes full of bread and butter preset sounds for cruise ship one man bands rather than tools for making new sounds. Some of them break that mold, though. The GR-50, GR-33, and GR-700 are all full-featured synths under the hood. I think the VG-99 is, too. Not sure about the GR-55. Roland's basically kept them crippled for the most part, and it's too bad.
Having to mutilate a guitar is why I avoided guitar synths in the early days. Thankfully, they've come out with polysynths that don't require any attachments. I currently have a Boss SY-200, EHX Synth 9 and EHX Micro Synth. Certainly not as versatile as what you demoed but I've never had a guitar that I'm willing to sacrifice at the Synth Altar.
Those are really great pedals. I'm amazed at what the EHX 9 pedals are capable of, and I've sung praises of the SY-200 before. I don't really see installing the pickup as sacrificing the guitar, though. It was two little holes in the (already non-stock) pickguard, and then I routed out a little bit under it for clearance. I could have used double-sided tape for the whole thing, and then cleaned it off with citrus cleaner when I was done, or used brackets which are cheaply available online. Lots of options, I haven't permanently married this Strat to a synth pickup.
Now there's nothing to stop you from composing the spiritual successor to Michael Jackson's opus, the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 End Credits aka "Stranger in Moscow"
That’s a great idea
The funky smell is the capacitors leaking. I just got one and it also is being funky. Opening up and cleaning the board should solve the smell. However. The leaking caps is probably not good for long term...
Ahh, that makes sense
Man, thanks for the tip about Chromatic tuning! I've been using a GR-1 for many years and never knew about that setting.
That’s what I love to hear!!
The first "modern", 13 pin Roland guitar synth was the GR-50, and I wanna say it came out in 1988? It was rackmounted and had the linear arithmetic synth engine like the D-50. I used to have one, it was pretty cool. It had much faster tracking than the GR-1, for whatever reason, and better sounds IMO. I have a GR-33 now, that uses the same engine as the JV-1080 which I like even better.
One awesome hex pickup friendly toy is the GR-D pedal that does the hex fuzz thing. Distortion that's one voice per string sounds amazing. You can play the most complex, knuckle-buster chords you know and it keeps all its definition and sounds like Queen. There are a few guitar synths that do hex fuzz as well, but the GR-D is the cheapest way in, usually.
Interesting, I didn't know about the GR-D pedal, that sounds really interesting. And yeah, I should have clarified that I was talking specifically about guitar synth pedals, I didn't go down the rack path... but now that I have a pickup....
@@StompboxBreakdown Ah, OK. Yeah, the GR-50 is something of an outlier since Roland really just makes floor units. I know Yamaha made a number of rackmount guitar synths, too, and they use the same 13 pin standard.
The pitch drift function on the GR1 will make the midi tracking slower or faster because its. Determining every variation of pitch. Bends etc. You can turn it down. And improve the tracking
Bon pour les musiciens peu exigeant moi personnellement je ne supporte pas les latences et portamento incontrolés, ca m'arrache mrs tympans de musiciens
I found one untested for 30€ . No cable or pickup. 😢
Yeah, I found a lot of those as well. I wouldn’t trust anything unless it’s been tested as a full working unit.
Wasn't "pegging" what kids did to their jeans back in the 80s? Anyway, a most excellent video! So much fun. For its age, the GR-1's tones still sound relevant and quite usable. I know it took some time for you to dig through 224 pages in order to understand and use the unit, so thanks for investing that time and research for our benefit. I really enjoyed this one (with its technical nerdiness and semi-sophomoric humor). Cheers!
Pegged jeans I think was the 50's because I was in school in the 80's and we were all about getting our wide leg Britannia's chewed up in our Mongoose BMX chain
I’m no fashion/culture expert, but I think you’re right about it being a thing in the 50s. But it was also definitely a thing in the 80s. I never did it to my jeans, but I had friends that did. Could’ve been a regional thing, too.
Coolest thing I've seen you demo and theres a lot ! This takes the cake. I also own and play a few synths, love the keys, but all that magic on a guitar. Hate my EHX mono synth now haha. BRTH HRNNN!!!!
Thank you for this video. It may prove to be just the encouragement I needed, to persuade me to retrieve my GR-1 from storage in the loft and see if it has a place in my current recording set up. Lots that I did not like about the performance of the device, when I purchased it Christmas 1992. And the external PSU; whereas the VG-8 released 3 years later connected direct to the mains supply. But I remember there being some interesting sounds among the two hundred “Original Tone”s. And how I did like there being knobs to adjust the ADSR and VCF characteristics and the array of control buttons, to avoid a layer of menus. And now I have more experience of (Guitar) Synthesiser programming I hope to find those 224 pages of Owner’s Manual to be stimulating rather than intimidating.
Love guitar synth.
I'm rocking a Casio MG510 and a ZOIA as my synth these days.
What you're missing is a pedal chain at the output, as that's when you turn those cheeseball 80's Beverly Hills Cop sounds into distorted, fuzz filled, face melting dali-esque soundscapes.
I was sure you were about to transition into a Hello Fresh ad there for a moment!
It would have been a really smooth transition. They’d be smart to sponsor me!
Bought a well loved Aria Cardinal CS400 that came with the GK hex pickup on it - I've bought a few boxes to plug it into but haven't played with it yet, thanks for going through this and posting it up for us.
In the '80s, our lead guitarists had a Roland GR-300 /G505. It didn't make it to the stage much, but it was novel and fun. The trick is working with the latency, and if you're trying to emulate an instrument, think like the musician who's plays that instrument. Thanks again for another blast from the past!
When you played that Mario 64 menu sound I bursted out laughing so hard lmfao, it sounded exactly the same!!! Great video, very fun and informative
Fantastic work!!
Great video!!
Loved this and your previous Digitech PDS review. Hope you’ll keep doing some 90s gear reviews.
Do you think the gk3 pick up will work well with this? I can’t find much information about it online
From what the internet says, it *should* work, but it's also recommended you spend some time adjusting the individual string sensitivity, and maybe spend more time aligning the pickup with the strings (physically) than I did. But it should work, it's a 13-pin pickup sending the same data in the same format.
@@StompboxBreakdown thank you!
Just found one on local CL for low cost😂. Gonna grab it asap
Nice!!! Hope it works out for you
That Vibes sound at 5:56 has blown me away, I'm listening on headphones now and its panning between both, is that the usual effect on there or is there a stereo pan effect being added, I gotta know! 😅
That’s how it is out of the box
@@StompboxBreakdown nice 😎 will definitely have to consider getting one
I have gigged with one of these since the 90s. I use the piano, fiddle, banjo, organ, and more and it works great
Impressive, wow. Thank you for sharing the process of working with one of these beauties
thanks for this video !
My pleasure!
4:53 FEELIN the rhythm! Dale senorito!
nice, dx7ie vibes. always wanted one. but wtf roland. 2024, i was promised flying cars and you? bring out the innovative gk-5 at namm. how dare you. and to acess your amazing mono audio to polyphonic pitchmidi tech i have to buy that blue monster with 1000 flashy roland presets for almost 2grd. please just give us the sy-2 pedal with 3,5mm polyphonic midi out. willya? i wanna play my digitone. and that moog. maybe nuclear fusion and ufo disclosure will happen first. gk-6 in 2030?
Yeah, it really sucks that there's no simple GK->MIDI bridge, an updated version of the GI-10/GI-20. Even if it were a plugin for the GK-5 that could then be easily routed to a software instrument.
Great video! I’m a huge nerd for early guitar synths. I have the Roland GR-100, 300 and 700 (with G-505 and G-707 guitar controllers), ARP Avatar and Korg X-911. If I knew that you lived within a few hours of me, I’d let you demo any of those!
PS, “Different Strings” is totally a great Rush song!
Great now I need one
Yeah you do. Then we can jam.
Amazed that it sounds so good and usable. I did try a Roland guitar synth back in about 2009, not sure of the model though. It did sound fantastic but could justify the expense when in reality it would only be used for some pads and strings, so got a Casio keyboard instead. Excellent video once again. Great touch too. TWSS
Thank you so much! I've been learning a lot about the unit and the technology within since this went up, from comments in here and PMs. When guitar tech crosses synth stuff, it's like two waves hitting.
This is so cheesy, I love it!
It really is
I was surprised by how good and usable some of those sounds were. Great video, as always!!
Thank you!
I have used one live at gigs since the 90s but i have learned a few things from you that i never knew. thanks for demoing this for me
That makes me so happy? What stuff, just curious…the fixed tuning setting?
Best intro song dude !
Out of curiosity, could you have just cut the dual lock into strips and affixed the pickup to the guitar instead of drilling? I like the idea, but loathe the idea of putting new holes into my instruments.
I think they would have raised it too high, but I’m sure some foam-backed double sided tape would have worked.
I used double sided tape. Works fine, but the height adjustment is not as accurate.
Are there any guitar synths that can produce sounds like the YAMAHA DX7？
I'm not personally aware of one. There's gotta be something close to it in the SY-1000 or GM-800, but unless I needed it live, I'd probably just try and find it in a VST plugin, like FM8.
@@StompboxBreakdown
Thanks！
You had me at Sega Genesis.
Dexed is a pretty neat free VST that sounds almost identical to the DX7. You can use Roland GR to trigger it, but the MIDI output of the GR line has a bit of latency. The Fishman Triple Play is said to be the fastest guitar to MIDI solution. The Axon AX units should be good as well.
Oh, my … 😂
Oh yes
Sy1 sounds like it came out during the mo-2 era, shrill and awful