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Re: OT: Guitar Synth



The old Roland synth guitars (without the module) aren't that expensive. And the touch LFO is amazingly cool - you can get absolutely wack sounds with it. I have the GR808 and GR 303 I think the numbers are. Jimmy Page used the 808 and Fripp/Andy Summers etc used the 303. Word on the street at the time was that the 303 worked better. I liked both of them. Bought the 303 because the 808 cracked at the neck laminations (vibration from flying) and I sent it back to the factory and they said it would be months, which it was, before I'd see it again. And they're very decent sounding guitars too. I think they're re-tooled Ibanez gtrs. I think I'd do that rather than change around an existing guitar that you're happy with.

I've seen em on Ebay for less than a thousand bucks.

I used it a lot on our too far ahead of the times "Circus Underwater) 1981ish album. It's a monster sound when you get all the stars to line up. With the module and the transpose functions you can do inhuman stuff. I used it with an Ibanez UE400 effects module and tape echoplex direct.

Axon is shipping their new MIDI pickup as we speak. I wanna try one on my acoustic guitars. Let me know if any of you do or have done this already.

richard sales
glassWing farm and studio
vancouver island, b.c.
www.glassWing.com www.richardsales.com
www.hayleysales.com www.joannesales.com
www.blueberryfieldsfarm.com
www.broombusters.org

On 19-May-08, at 11:16 AM, Kevin Cheli-Colando wrote:

I sometimes feel like I ask far and away the most off topic questions here and yet, I find this community to be one of the best resources of information about a wide variety of things so I can't think of a better place to start most times.  That said, I wanted to ask any of the guitar synth players their advice on the best options at the moment.

I'm completely new to this so I'll have to start from scratch with the pickups and then the synth itself and so on.

What I'd like ideally is a way to use the guitar as a trigger for a wide variety of odd sounds and percussive elements.  I really love the feel of the guitar and like to play it in non-traditional ways (more like a stick with long strings instead of as a melodic instrument) so I would need something that can track odd strikes and picking strength and the like, something that can register a wide dynamic range.  Tracking doesn't have to be perfect or lightning fast but it would need to be 'musical'.  And how far back can I go in the technology and still have something that doesn't seem horribly dated or overly limited?  Oh yes, and price is always a concern.  The cheapest route is always best for me I'm afraid, but I don't want to waste the time and money on something that is too limited either due to its being inexpensive now

And then there is the pick-up/interface, what is the best way to get into the synth (GK pick-ups or pre-wired guitar) and so on.

So if anyone feels like having a go of this question and offering their opinions, that would be greatly appreciated.  I know I could look at guitar synth sites and forums, but I feel like the people on this list are coming from a pretty sympathetic space musically and all share an expansive view of the possibilities of music that I'm not sure really is as common out in the larger on-line world which is why I'm asking here first.

And if not, so it goes, I hope another OT question doesn't offend.

Thanks

Kevin


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Till now you seriously considered yourself to be the body and to have a
form. That is the primal ignorance which is the root cause of all trouble.

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