Roland GR20 for Tele?

Eric West · From: Portland, Oregon, USA, R.I.P.

I'm about to get one, and put it on my Squier '51 Hermaphrocaster. Or maybe my fave, my CIC Tele.

Anybody had experience with them?

Looks like they've "proven up" over the years.

I know there isn't a module yet for PSG, or Is there?

Roland is no longer making any other Synth they say and I probably will only use it on the Squier.

The one I tried out had a GREAT B3 and Piano sound, and downloading the manual I see a GREAT BIG bunnch of things to do with it. It's kind of unbelievable what all it can do. Things like moving fifths sixths etc that you could have available for any given passage, and select it and deselect it within a song pretty easily.

I think the trick might be to narrow it down like the PODxt to settings you will realistically use and have them accessable.

Any input is begged for.

Thanks.

EJL

Howard Tate · From: Leesville, Louisiana, USA, R.I.P.

Eric, I have a gr-1 and gr-50, have not used the gr-20, but I'm happy with what I have, and do not doubt the gr-20 is probably a better unit. The GK-2a pickup comes with several thickness's of shims for mounting. I have used it on more then one guitar, but never got the best tracking until I routed out the pickguard and body and mounted it more or less permanently on a strat. I think it will probably be easier on a tele, just a guess. The point is to get it the right distance fron the strings and keep it steady. I like to use it as a generator for BIAB or Powertracks, and use the playback sounds of an Edirol SD-20. Not sure how the gr-20 sounds compares to what I have, you may not need a separate synth. I'm sure you'll have fun with it. I believe there are some songs with flute, strings, organ and harmonica patches on my website. I really need to check, I don't remember what's on there.

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So Many Strings, So Few Fingers

Bob Martin · From: Madison Tn

Hi Eric, I've been in the midi guitar biz since the early 80's and it sure has come a long way. I currently have a GR-09 Roland with a GK-2A pickup and the tracking is very fast. I have also played thru a GR-33 which is almost identicle to the GR-20 as far as sounds and tracking goes and if you get it setup correctly it will be very fast too.

I have found that what Howard said is exactly correct. Mount the pickup permantly as soon as you find the optimal placement for it. If you just use double sided sticky tape and the shims your tracking will be very erractic.

I find that you need to get the strings as close to the pickup as possible without them actually touching it and rattling. I also found that the pickup should be about the exact distance as the manual states and it says about 11/16 of an inch away from the bridge. Any closer and it seems to get quite a few false triggerings and any farther away and it seems to slow down the tracking, but in the end every guitar is different and you'll just have to play with your guitar and find out which is best for it.

The sounds that the GR-20 and 33 are the best that Roland has to offer and they took them from the newer sample base of the Roland sample archives where older units are from various different modules. You'll find the horns and piano's and organs and woodwinds and basses are about the best then the rest are al very good some better than others.

All in all if you think like a piano player and use the best piano sample you can pull off mimicking a piano player but you'll soon find out that when you are trying to play full chords and hammering on and off within that chord to mimick the piano you had better be very precise and clean or you'll end up with a bunch of false triggers and garbled notes.

I find that one and two and 3 strings being played at a time render the best results unless you are just playing pads or rhythm and even in those cases be very clean and careful.

I have been playing a midi guitar for over 20 years and I've spent a lot of time trying to emulate the different instruments and as long as you think trombone when you are playing a trombone and you don't use it out of context you can really pull of some killer stuff.

Have fun with it and remember all of my advice is just that plane old advice nothing is written in stone as far as midi guitar playing goes just experiment and find out what works best for you.

Bob

James Quackenbush · From: Pomona, New York, USA

As a keyboard player by trade, I am somewhat versed in midi applications, and as others have mentioned it has come a LONG way ...Too bad it hasn't come as long a way for pedal steel ...That's another thread ...As Bob has mentioned, the hardware end of it has come a long way, and not the rest is up to you !!....The hardest part of using another midi'd instrument , is thinking that you are playing that instrument ....The articulations, and the phrazing of said instrument can be the hardest part of sounding convincing .. You really have to jump into the skin of the player playing that particular instruement ....For example, as a guitar player, you bend notes as part of your expresive playing technique.....If you are a piano player, there is NO such thing as bending notes !
The placement of the notes on a guitar for chording is also different on guitar than it is for piano .... A volume pedal is also important when trying to emulate an organ patch .... it will take some time to realize the technique of the various instruments that you will be trying to emulate , but it's worth every second you spend .... Again , I wish there were more options for pedal steel ... Good Luck with your midi rig ...I'm sure you will be having as much fun with it as I have with mine..Jim

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