Ordered a Roland Gr-55...cant wait to get it.

[LouSiffer]

I ordered one through Matt's Music. I am dying to get my hands on this and load some of the patches other users have made. Most importantly, I can play " Summer Nights " by Van Halen without using a Capo.....or buying an old Steinberger with the trans-trem. -Lou

[roodyrocker]

I think you're going to like it. I have one but need to make some adjustments to the settings on the piano sounds. The high E string sounds an off note sometimes when struck and I talked to Roland at NAMM about it and they told me some things to adjust in the settings menu to fix it. The sounds are great in it! What guitar are you going to use with it? I have a DK-2 that I got off a guy on E-Bay who mods them with a 13 pin Roland jack and GK2 pickup with onboard up/down buttons.

[LouSiffer]

I am going to put it on my Warmoth since that is my main player.-Lou

[roodyrocker]

I am going to put it on my Warmoth since that is my main player.-Lou

Cool, now I'll have someone to compare notes with when the need arises

[hippietim]

The GR-55 is a lot of fun. Don't get discouraged by the presets for the traditional guitar tones - the good stuff is in there, it's just not terribly evident from the presets. One of the crunchy Strat presets is pretty great - I tweaked it a bit and it's my goto sound for most stuff when I play out with it.

I take mine when I go sit in with folks - usually acoustic solo/duo guys that want someone to help fill out the sound and do some solos. It's great when you get the stares of disbelief when folks hear a sax solo come out of your guitar.

[wilkinsi]

I was contemplating one of these myself, but the need to buy a strat shaped guitar to make the hex-pickup and switching box fit didn't appeal to me. Then it dawned on me I should just play my keyboard. More recently, I've found I can make synth-like sounds with my Eventide Space pedal too. From what I remember of the demos, the GR-55 tracked well to chords. My concern would be how the GR-55 would translate those chords via MIDI into a synth module such as my EMU Proteus 2000, or I'd have to stick to playing one string at a time to avoid any stray or non-transmitted notes.

[hippietim]

I was contemplating one of these myself, but the need to buy a strat shaped guitar to make the hex-pickup and switching box fit didn't appeal to me. Then it dawned on me I should just play my keyboard. More recently, I've found I can make synth-like sounds with my Eventide Space pedal too. From what I remember of the demos, the GR-55 tracked well to chords. My concern would be how the GR-55 would translate those chords via MIDI into a synth module such as my EMU Proteus 2000, or I'd have to stick to playing one string at a time to avoid any stray or non-transmitted notes.

First off, you don't need a Strat shaped guitar. The shape of the guitar is completely irrelevant. You just need a guitar with space between the bridge and bridge pickup to fit the GK-3 pickup. The GR-55 handles chords just fine - that is the point of the hex pickup - each string is captured individually.

[wilkinsi]

First off, you don't need a Strat shaped guitar. The shape of the guitar is completely irrelevant. You just need a guitar with space between the bridge and bridge pickup to fit the GK-3 pickup. The GR-55 handles chords just fine - that is the point of the hex pickup - each string is captured individually.

Roody tried fitting these to a WR1 for me. It was a failure. The wire from the hex sticks out beyond the top bevel, and the switching block that attaches to the rear strap pin covers the jack socket.

[hippietim]

Roody tried fitting these to a WR1 for me. It was a failure. The wire from the hex sticks out beyond the top bevel, and the switching block that attaches to the rear strap pin covers the jack socket.

I never tried a WR1 but I've had a GK on a V, Les Paul, and a PRS before.

[roodyrocker]

I never tried a WR1 but I've had a GK on a V, Les Paul, and a PRS before.

Yeah, I have the GK pickups on a Jackson DK 2, a Strat, and a Les Paul. The Les Paul has a neat mounting bracket from Roland that uses the strap pin and bridge posts to mount to so you don't have to make any permanent mods to the guitar to fit the GK pickup. I tried to line up a GK2 on a Warrior body for Wilkinsi to check the fit but that body style is just not so good for this because of how the body wings are. A lot of the GK wiring runs off the body and in the way. The location of the jack on a Warrior is also problematic in orientation for plugging in the 1/4" cable from the GK. Just too many hassles on a Warrior body to bother mounting a GK pickup on.

[wilkinsi]

Just did a price check - the GR55 has gone up by another £45. Pfft. Pigs.

[markD]

guitar synths are a blast!! i have a GR-30 - bought it new with a brian moore guitar. i still works great for my needs, which are limited to studio use. i have played around with the GR-55 and i am totally impressed, but not enough to buy a new synth!!! hahaha, if the GR-30 dies it is good to know that roland has improved drastically on it, so spending the $$ would be worth it.