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sigod 
Forum Senior Member
Joined: September 17 2004
Location: London
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Points: 2779
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 Topic: Guitar Synths
Posted: January 11 2005 at 11:35 |
I recently bought a Roland GR-20 guitar synth and it has transformed both my playing and my sound. Suddenly, there is a huge world of sound that I had never had access to and if you mix the two together, you can get some REALLY strange stuff going on.
It felt strange at first ( ) but after I got used to the playing style, the ideas for new songs have been falling out of my fingers.
The most amazing thing is that the synth and pickup only costed £330.00. Sorry to sound like an advert but I thought it was a real bargin for what you get in terms of sounds. 
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I must remind the right honourable gentleman that a monologue is not a decision.
- Clement Atlee, on Winston Churchill
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sigod
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Joined: September 17 2004
Location: London
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Posted: January 12 2005 at 09:46 |
On the other hand, breasts are nice too.... 
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I must remind the right honourable gentleman that a monologue is not a decision.
- Clement Atlee, on Winston Churchill
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joniox
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Joined: January 09 2005
Location: Finland
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Posted: January 13 2005 at 12:11 |
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Breasts are g00d
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I repeat myself when under stress, I repeat myself when under stress, I repeat myself when under stress, I repeat myself when under stress, I repeat...
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James Lee
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Joined: June 05 2004
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Points: 3525
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Posted: January 13 2005 at 19:35 |
I'm just not convinced I want to put one of those 13-pin connector pickups on my favorite pair of breasts.
Maybe I'll pick up another pair just to experiment. 
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sigod
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Joined: September 17 2004
Location: London
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Points: 2779
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Posted: January 14 2005 at 04:37 |
 James Lee wrote:
I'm just not convinced I want to put one of those 13-pin connector pickups on my favorite pair of breasts.
Maybe I'll pick up another pair just to experiment.
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That's a valid point James.
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I must remind the right honourable gentleman that a monologue is not a decision.
- Clement Atlee, on Winston Churchill
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Posted: January 21 2005 at 23:58 |
sigod wrote:
On the other hand, breasts are nice too....
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Yea ... but they get old and saggy.
This Roland gadget however has got to be the coolest musical / guitar device out there right now.
Played one in a shop the other day and had a hard time putting it down.
Forget buying a new keyboard, just get one of these.
I got it to produce a cathedral organ...
then a honky-tonk piano...
then a violin...
on and on...
You're right, new ideas start forming immediately...
I recall playing a Roland Guitar-Synth many years ago [late 70's],
and it was cool but it was too difficult to "program" and had slow
response time in processing the signal.
The only thing I regret about this is not having $600 to get it. 
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sigod
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Joined: September 17 2004
Location: London
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Points: 2779
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Posted: January 25 2005 at 09:46 |
utah_man wrote:
sigod wrote:
On the other hand, breasts are nice too....
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Yea ... but they get old and saggy.
This Roland gadget however has got to be the coolest musical / guitar device out there right now.
Played one in a shop the other day and had a hard time putting it down.
Forget buying a new keyboard, just get one of these.
I got it to produce a cathedral organ...
then a honky-tonk piano...
then a violin...
on and on...
You're right, new ideas start forming immediately...
I recall playing a Roland Guitar-Synth many years ago [late 70's],
and it was cool but it was too difficult to "program" and had slow
response time in processing the signal.
The only thing I regret about this is not having $600 to get it.
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With you on both the usefulness of guitar synths and the sagginess of ageing jubblies. 
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I must remind the right honourable gentleman that a monologue is not a decision.
- Clement Atlee, on Winston Churchill
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Posted: January 28 2005 at 10:47 |
joniox wrote:
Breasts are g00d |
Damn straight...
...But on a serious note. This guitar synth is vintage and monstrous. Very cool.
Edited by redbar89
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sigod
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Joined: September 17 2004
Location: London
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Points: 2779
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Posted: January 28 2005 at 12:20 |
redbar89 wrote:
joniox wrote:
Breasts are g00d |
Damn straight...
...But on a serious note. This guitar synth is vintage and monstrous. Very cool.
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I have a feeling that the guitar synth is going to be more fun to play in twenty years time.
Seriously though, I think this synth was the same unit that Fripp first
began experimenting with. I know for a fact Andy Summers used this
model and the guitar can be seen slung around Mike Rutherford's neck
during 'It's Gonna Get Better' on the 'Mama' tour video.
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I must remind the right honourable gentleman that a monologue is not a decision.
- Clement Atlee, on Winston Churchill
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Posted: January 28 2005 at 12:57 |
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In the liner notes to Hemispheres it says Alex Lifeson used this synth. I can't tell which song or parts of a song that he used it on though.
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sigod
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Posted: January 28 2005 at 13:54 |
^ Wow, I didn't know that. Cheers Redbar 
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I must remind the right honourable gentleman that a monologue is not a decision.
- Clement Atlee, on Winston Churchill
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Posted: February 02 2005 at 15:32 |
Jeff
Beck utilized one of these also.
The images show the one I recall
playing a long time ago in a guitar shop. As I recall, it was very expensive,
and difficult to get "programmed" ...at least by today's standards.
The guitar was sold along with the synth box as opposed to the new one
that can be attached to any guitar.
It will be interesting to see how this new Roland GR-20 gets played by the pros.
Have fun Sigod 
footnote: the bigger they are, the more they'll sag
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sigod
Forum Senior Member
Joined: September 17 2004
Location: London
Status: Offline
Points: 2779
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Posted: February 03 2005 at 05:48 |
utah_man wrote:
Jeff
Beck utilized one of these also.
The images show the one I recall
playing a long time ago in a guitar shop. As I recall, it was very expensive,
and difficult to get "programmed" ...at least by today's standards.
The guitar was sold along with the synth box as opposed to the new one
that can be attached to any guitar.
It will be interesting to see how this new Roland GR-20 gets played by the pros.
Have fun Sigod
footnote: the bigger they are, the more they'll sag
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Cheers, Utah.
Just for information for anyone reading this BTW. The GR-20 is an entry
level guitar synth (ie quite cheap and cheerful). You cannot
do much in the way of sound editing but the sound set it has been very
carefully chosen to give prospective users as much variation as
possible. So
far I've found the unit to be very flexible within its design
parameters, so
much so that the other guitarist in my band has recently bought one too.
We're a prog band without a keyboard player but still have loads of accees to
synth sounds. How many of those are there?
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I must remind the right honourable gentleman that a monologue is not a decision.
- Clement Atlee, on Winston Churchill
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Jim Garten
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin & Razor Guru
Joined: February 02 2004
Location: South England
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Points: 14693
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Posted: February 03 2005 at 07:00 |
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Back in '94/'95, went to King Crimson at the Albert Halli in London with one of my friends who is something of a Luddite as far as musical instruments are concerned - there was a section during the gig when Belew was playing 'piano' on guitar, Bruford was playing a guitar riff on drums, Fripp was, well, being Fripp, and Levin was playing percussion on the Chapman Grand Stick....
My most bemused friend turned to me and said "what the **** is going on?"
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Jon Lord 1941 - 2012
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sigod
Forum Senior Member
Joined: September 17 2004
Location: London
Status: Offline
Points: 2779
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Posted: February 03 2005 at 09:29 |
Jim Garten wrote:
Back in '94/'95, went to King Crimson at the Albert
Halli in London with one of my friends who is something of a Luddite as
far as musical instruments are concerned - there was a section during
the gig when Belew was playing 'piano' on guitar, Bruford was playing a
guitar riff on drums, Fripp was, well, being Fripp, and Levin was
playing percussion on the Chapman Grand Stick....
My most bemused friend turned to me and said "what the **** is going on?" |
I would have loved to have seen that gig and the look on your friend's faces during that section.
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I must remind the right honourable gentleman that a monologue is not a decision.
- Clement Atlee, on Winston Churchill
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Reed Lover
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Joined: July 16 2004
Location: Sao Tome and Pr
Status: Offline
Points: 5187
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Posted: February 03 2005 at 15:28 |
redbar89 wrote:
In the liner notes to Hemispheres it says Alex Lifeson used this synth. I can't tell which song or parts of a song that he used it on though. |
The "battle raged on high" section of Hemispheres (Armageddon).
I remember the "fun" Alex used to have with his Roland Guitar Synth. 75% of the time it didnt appear to be working-the look on Lifeson's face was a picture. Probably explains his dislike of synths!
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Posted: February 04 2005 at 16:31 |
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clemdallaway
Forum Newbie
Joined: February 06 2005
Location: United Kingdom
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Points: 33
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Posted: February 06 2005 at 12:24 |
I used to use the Roland GR-20 guitar synth in my old band. It was a great tool but I found it was a nightmare if used on a guitar fitted with a floyd rose trem.
Listen to Robert Fripp for some cool guitar synth stuff.
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Don't eat the yellow snow!!!!!
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sigod
Forum Senior Member
Joined: September 17 2004
Location: London
Status: Offline
Points: 2779
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Posted: February 07 2005 at 09:32 |
clemdallaway wrote:
I used to use the Roland GR-20 guitar synth in
my old band. It was a great tool but I found it was a nightmare if used
on a guitar fitted with a floyd rose trem.
Listen to Robert Fripp for some cool guitar synth stuff. |
Yeah, I guess dive bombing the stings tends to play havoc with the synth pick-up.
Welcome to the forum by the way Clemdallaway.
Edited by sigod
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I must remind the right honourable gentleman that a monologue is not a decision.
- Clement Atlee, on Winston Churchill
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clemdallaway
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Joined: February 06 2005
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 33
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Posted: February 07 2005 at 13:46 |
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Thanks sigod, its good to be here and meet people with the same interests as me!!!
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Don't eat the yellow snow!!!!!
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Guitar Synths
