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Having tried the GR-55 a couple of times in shops (only on headphones), I was impressed by the keyboard stuff, not so much the guitar sounds, and think the unit would work well for add-on sounds/pads etc in a function band and it looks like a fun unit to have.
This is probably one of the better demos out there (slightly annoying delivery/intro from demonstrator but a very capable player nonetheless) - @Bellycaster, at 3'40" you can hear clavinet which I believe you were interested in achieving on guitar
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmsio4QHJuI
So, any GR-55 users here and how are you using yours? Do you hook it up to the PA/full-range amp or go through a regular guitar amp? Any set-up tips? Other than the cable and adaptor trailing from your guitar, any downsides?
Cheers
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Cheers Danny and sounds like you put it to good use. I've got a PA and/or powered speakers so it could take care of that side of things (moans more gear to lug around)
I've also got a Roland Cube 120XL bass amp. Would that work too?
For string pads, organ parts and the like, it is very good.
As the demo shows - sax and solo violin sounds are nothing like the real thing.
Piano sounds (possibly due to the wide dynamics) are hard to trigger in time.
Otherwise, when correctly set up, I find the tracking to be generally good. As long as your playing has good articulation, you should be able to get along with it pretty well.
My music:- https://soundcloud.com/hubobulous
On the budget side a Behringer K3000FX (or even the K1800FX) which was OK but a little underpowered for bigger gigs but has a direct XLR out for sending to a desk FOH PA. It has 4 inpouts and FX if you want them
Peavey KB5 which was more than luod enough and had 5 inputs 1 MIC/Line and a much better sound than the Behringer but way more expensive and damned heavy @ 90 Lbs odd, ouch!
Alto TS115A X 2 one for backline and one for monitor duties, mega loud @ 400 W RMS each and pretty light and easy to move about.
Great sound and as they have 15" speakers in them the low end is mighty good. Can be had 2nd hand nice and cheap.
Several FOH venue PAs and got at the very least a good sound to excellent dependant on the PA and sound dude at each venue.
My next option is incoming as I have downsized from the Altos for a varoety of reasoins wiht health being top.
http://www.hhelectronics.com/products/product_details/5
Got it off eBay from a real music shop for £269 and £14 postage and arrives tomorrow or Thursday.
If you join this forum (or lurk) there is much excellent info on all thing VG. GR and tech stuff.
http://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/
Here is a link to amp discussions and peoples experience and there was another thread on it too.
http://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=63ad625abefa2179fe766f95e4ed3302&board=37.0
http://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=9484.0
Hope that is useful for you.
If I do take the plunge, it will be the GR-55 and GK pickup and I'll stick it to my Strat. No permanent fixing for me or getting a Roland-ready Fender or Godin. I still intend to use my main amp (H&K TM36 for guitar duties). I'm also preparing for the day when I'm not playing live, which I hope is some years away, and instead I'll choose to write and record at home and as I'm not a keyboard player, I can use this!
The Altos were staggeringly good for this as they are very fjat response wise and if I was up to humpinng them about they woud have stayed.
The guy that bought them was blown away by them and he is using them as his FOH PA and even puts drums through them. He makes and plays to backing track for other gigs and said the backings he has made sounded great through them.
One word of warning if you go Godin or similar piiezo bridge guitar you may need the RMC subsonic filter to put at the front end of the GR-55. Roland put out a new firmware to help but some are still reporting issues with the GR300 emulations and a few other tones, not too sure if that applies to the newer black models.
Shame because I loved my Godin and Brian Moore guitars, both very good indeed.
The GK3 internal or external track best IME in any case and the tones sounded better for me too, of course YMMV as it is a bit subjective.
I found the piezo stuff too bright, harsh and a little noisy. It of course may have been the subsonic filtering issue that made it like that.
http://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=3236.0
FYI I have not experienced any tone suck by lining the MAg piclups through the GK3 and teh GR-55 has an output where you an route the MAGs out of the guitar out to your amp/pedalboard/multi FX.
Also the Roland software for arranging tones is not that great so a GR-55 user and coder made this which is very good indeed.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/
Makes edting, organising and saving patches a snap, plus you can set all the assigns and loads of system parameters besides.
If you do get one let me know and I can send you a link to a library of patches etc on my DropBox, if any use to you of course.
Cos