Re: Best Cheap Guitar Synth

[Legion <legion@helpwantedproductions.com>]

On Sun, 19 Mar 2006, Kevin wrote:

> >If you aren't into the midi thing, then running your guitar into a 
> >distortion followed by a filter of some kind will do rather nicely...
> This is kind of intriguing.  What do you mean?  What kinds of filters?

The EH site  has ton's of MP3s of their products including all their
filter pedals which will give you an idea of what's out there: 
http://ehx.com/ehx2/Default.asp?q=f&f=%2FCatalog%2F19%5FFilters

An autofilter and fuzz pedal will do the trick. I use an EH Mini Qtron and
Boss FZ2 which has a two band EQ. There is a world of "synthy" tones in
this combination and it's certainly less that $200.

You could also try the Boss SY3B pedal. It's monophonic on it's synth
tones but has two autowah settings as well as a great Waveshaper which
you can use polyphonicall and they all  have filter cutoff and resonance
controls. 

> >Electro-Harmonix Micro Synth.
> Thanks, I'm definitely looking at this.  Does anybody have any 
> experience with the EH Micro Synth?

As a processor it's fantastic. It has a built in Square wave fuzz and
great raspy raw filter which you can set to sweep fast/slow etc. Also it
has an octaver. The catch is it is monophonic for playing lines and there
is a lot of triggering issues if you don't get it *just* right.

My reccomendation if you want super fast playing is to just process your
guitar signal and forget "guitar synths" altogether. At $200 you won't
find anything to really do the trick. If you can go to $400-500 then
you're talking (get a used Roland VG8 system which tracks great as opposed
to your GR33). You can get plenty of juicy "synth" type sounds from
autowah and Envelope follower pedals. (do some internet serachs on
these items to find out more and hear examples) With a distorion in front
of that you've got your typical 70s "guitar synth". 

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