Hey Tony nice job on the video! It's funny, back in '92 when we recorded 'Man or a Mouse' I always thought that it would be a great backing track for someone replacing a blown capacitor in some sort of electronic equipment, and now 29 years later I am proven right! Great tune man, and really cool guitar! It looks a little different from what I remember, in my mind it had a thin guy with really long hair attached to it, but other than that it looks pretty much the same. My favorite part of the video is when you drop your pick and just keep on going like the cool professional you are! I would have been on the ground looking and swearing because they always seem to bounce into unknown secret hidden dimensions! Haha. Looking forward to the next vid!
Isn't it hilarious how it worked out ?? It looks like you had a premonition!! It's also amazing that you caught the falling pick !! 🤣🤣. Yeah I didn't want to stoo and record it again 👍 Man or a Mouse sounds pretty nice😎🎸
Haha...I do own a red G-707..and I do call it my baby. Yours is in much better shape than mine. One random evening, looking at craigslist, there it was! I got it for $600 Canadian dollars in 2012. Truly an amazing guitar. It's the only one I would never sell.
I have the silver-colored G-707. I removed the imho horrible trem and replaced the shrill-sounding pickups with active EMGs. The guitar tracked a whole lot better and as a guitar could compete with my Charvel 475 Special. From the floor unit the signal went to a Digitech Twin Tubes preamp and a Roland GP-16. Amp was a Marshall 9000 series power amp, speakers H&K with Celestions. Really fat sound, not to be outdone by anything that came later (I also have the GR-1, GR-20 and GR-33, all bought second-hand).
That's definitely interesting! I know the guitar isn't meant for dive bombing or metal applications... Plus, I wanted the guitar to stay all original. Curious about how it tracks better by changing the analog out pick-ups since the synths track via the hex pick-up that's next to the bridge.
@@TonysMusicChannel I think it simply was the combination 'hugely improved guitar sound + hugely improved tracking' thanks to a fixed bridge. I doubt they did anything to the hex pickup, but after the EMGs were installed the mix between guitar and synth became decidedly more fluent, more organic. Maybe the updated EPROM had something to do with it as well. And don't forget the GP-16! I played other GR-700s afterwards and they sounded as horrible as mine did before.
@@hubertvancalenbergh9022 Yes, all that would make a world of difference. After all, active EMGs are arguably the best sounding pickups you could get. The improved bridge is probably the key to better tracking
@@TonysMusicChannel The reason I hang on to those old synths is that each and every unit has distinct possibilities not found in later products. Or it's because a favorite player hangs on to it, like Fripp who continues to use the GR-1 in his impossible rig. I used to own a GR-300 and regret selling it to this day, but there's a good GR-300 patch in the GR-20, possibly in the GR-55 too (which I haven't yet tried). I'm currently experimenting with loopers and occasionally work together with a Logic user.
Back in 83 i bought the GR300 and the G303 guitar controler. It was fun for sometime, I even used it with a band i had at the time, but eventually my fascination with the synth subsided until I lost interest in it almost entirely. But I always loved the guitar I bought it with and never stopped playing it. This G707 controler which came with the next, more advanced synth model Roland put on the market, I don't know but I don't think I would ever warm up to it. It looks so much unlike a guitar and it just wouldn't feel right.
It's certainly not for everyone. Quite frankly, I've never been a Les Paul guy; legendary guitar and they're very cool but when I play one, it doesn't feel like me. Go figure. I'm a major Stratocaster dude tho!!
@@TonysMusicChannel Strats are nice too, I like them. The G303 does not look much like a Les Paul, but it could be another Gibson model with humbuckers. The G500 which came with that ugly black and biege box which preceded the GR300 guitar synth was Les Paul shaped, but I didn't like it, But along with G303 guitar and its sister model G808, Roland at the time had two more, strat style guitar controlers on the market, the G505 with three single coil pickups and tremolo bar and the G202 with two humbuckers - just like the G303 and G808 - and no tremolo. Beautiful guitars all of them.
Actually these units pre-date MIDI; these are completely analog with no digital component to it. But it actually amazes me how MIDI has lasted for so long virtually unchanged! MIDI 2 is supposed to be on the horizon tho.....
I'm surprised you never got the GR-700 synth to go with your G-707 guitar. I too got the red version. I picked my guitar and synth up in the 80's and have never regretted it. They really are great guitars on their own with low actions and great tone. The only thing I've ever complained about was it's shape does not fit very well in most guitar stands. If you find these used today most will have a few battle marks on the bottom point from people trying to set these down against an amp or into a badly fitting guitar stand.
@@TonysMusicChannel They are supposed to have the worst tracking but since it was the only one I have ever owned or played I never had anything to compare it to. It does do pitch bend. It also glitches but it's a predictable glitch so I just considered it a bonus sound effect. I have never tried the midi out with my keyboards but one of these days I may dig it out and explore the sonic possibilities all over again.
Love, love, love that sound!!!
Sounds like Rick Wakeman riffs!!!
@@juana1483 well that's a compliment I never thought I'd hear 😀😎
Awesome awesome awesome tone. And how utterly unique and gorgeous. Hope she is still giving you enjoyment.
Sure does! I never use the synths anymore but as a guitar itself, I still take it out for a project when needed.
I had the silver one with the giant pedal. I used it for home recording mostly. But I found the glitching too much trouble and sold it on.
Hey Tony nice job on the video! It's funny, back in '92 when we recorded 'Man or a Mouse' I always thought that it would be a great backing track for someone replacing a blown capacitor in some sort of electronic equipment, and now 29 years later I am proven right! Great tune man, and really cool guitar! It looks a little different from what I remember, in my mind it had a thin guy with really long hair attached to it, but other than that it looks pretty much the same. My favorite part of the video is when you drop your pick and just keep on going like the cool professional you are! I would have been on the ground looking and swearing because they always seem to bounce into unknown secret hidden dimensions! Haha. Looking forward to the next vid!
Isn't it hilarious how it worked out ?? It looks like you had a premonition!!
It's also amazing that you caught the falling pick !! 🤣🤣. Yeah I didn't want to stoo and record it again 👍
Man or a Mouse sounds pretty nice😎🎸
We are all in search of our own 'blown capacitor' moment
Haha...I do own a red G-707..and I do call it my baby. Yours is in much better shape than mine. One random evening, looking at craigslist, there it was! I got it for $600 Canadian dollars in 2012. Truly an amazing guitar. It's the only one I would never sell.
I got a silver one. Didn’t want to wait for the red one back in 1986. And yeah it was the guitar! That fret board is wide and the sustain sings!
Yeah the silver was the first I believe. .. I really should use it more at least in recordings... It's killer.
I have the silver-colored G-707. I removed the imho horrible trem and replaced the shrill-sounding pickups with active EMGs. The guitar tracked a whole lot better and as a guitar could compete with my Charvel 475 Special. From the floor unit the signal went to a Digitech Twin Tubes preamp and a Roland GP-16. Amp was a Marshall 9000 series power amp, speakers H&K with Celestions. Really fat sound, not to be outdone by anything that came later (I also have the GR-1, GR-20 and GR-33, all bought second-hand).
That's definitely interesting! I know the guitar isn't meant for dive bombing or metal applications... Plus, I wanted the guitar to stay all original. Curious about how it tracks better by changing the analog out pick-ups since the synths track via the hex pick-up that's next to the bridge.
@@TonysMusicChannel I think it simply was the combination 'hugely improved guitar sound + hugely improved tracking' thanks to a fixed bridge. I doubt they did anything to the hex pickup, but after the EMGs were installed the mix between guitar and synth became decidedly more fluent, more organic. Maybe the updated EPROM had something to do with it as well. And don't forget the GP-16! I played other GR-700s afterwards and they sounded as horrible as mine did before.
@@hubertvancalenbergh9022 Yes, all that would make a world of difference. After all, active EMGs are arguably the best sounding pickups you could get. The improved bridge is probably the key to better tracking
@@TonysMusicChannel The reason I hang on to those old synths is that each and every unit has distinct possibilities not found in later products. Or it's because a favorite player hangs on to it, like Fripp who continues to use the GR-1 in his impossible rig. I used to own a GR-300 and regret selling it to this day, but there's a good GR-300 patch in the GR-20, possibly in the GR-55 too (which I haven't yet tried). I'm currently experimenting with loopers and occasionally work together with a Logic user.
Back in 83 i bought the GR300 and the G303 guitar controler. It was fun for sometime, I even used it with a band i had at the time, but eventually my fascination with the synth subsided until I lost interest in it almost entirely. But I always loved the guitar I bought it with and never stopped playing it. This G707 controler which came with the next, more advanced synth model Roland put on the market, I don't know but I don't think I would ever warm up to it. It looks so much unlike a guitar and it just wouldn't feel right.
It's certainly not for everyone. Quite frankly, I've never been a Les Paul guy; legendary guitar and they're very cool but when I play one, it doesn't feel like me. Go figure. I'm a major Stratocaster dude tho!!
@@TonysMusicChannel
Strats are nice too, I like them. The G303 does not look much like a Les Paul, but it could be another Gibson model with humbuckers. The G500 which came with that ugly black and biege box which preceded the GR300 guitar synth was Les Paul shaped, but I didn't like it, But along with G303 guitar and its sister model G808, Roland at the time had two more, strat style guitar controlers on the market, the G505 with three single coil pickups and tremolo bar and the G202 with two humbuckers - just like the G303 and G808 - and no tremolo. Beautiful guitars all of them.
It's amazing how these primitive MIDI systems aged so well, despite almost 40 years have been passed!
Actually these units pre-date MIDI; these are completely analog with no digital component to it. But it actually amazes me how MIDI has lasted for so long virtually unchanged! MIDI 2 is supposed to be on the horizon tho.....
Great job on the cap repair!
Great video man! Nice work on the channel theme. That guitar is so awesome. I remember it well from childhood. I love that it just screams 80’s!
Very cool! Glad you got everything to work!
@@WayneJoness I have you to thank! Glad I found your channel and the curated knowledge of this subculture of gear !!
Thanks Phil!! It's sooo 80's!! But in a good way... Lol 🤣
the first time i saw the 707 was in the video for Real Lifes IM Falling
I had to look that up! Very cool! Such an 80's vibe!
I'm surprised you never got the GR-700 synth to go with your G-707 guitar. I too got the red version. I picked my guitar and synth up in the 80's and have never regretted it. They really are great guitars on their own with low actions and great tone. The only thing I've ever complained about was it's shape does not fit very well in most guitar stands. If you find these used today most will have a few battle marks on the bottom point from people trying to set these down against an amp or into a badly fitting guitar stand.
Well it wasn't easy to find one and then there would be costly etc. I also remember reading that the GR 700 couldn't do "bends" and that concerned me.
@@TonysMusicChannel They are supposed to have the worst tracking but since it was the only one I have ever owned or played I never had anything to compare it to. It does do pitch bend. It also glitches but it's a predictable glitch so I just considered it a bonus sound effect.
I have never tried the midi out with my keyboards but one of these days I may dig it out and explore the sonic possibilities all over again.
Great demo. Is the neck flat like ibanez guitars or is it curved?
@@kronoterria2347 it's curved but not a lot... Kinda best of both worlds 😀