Roland GR-20 Or Axon AX-100?

[Bengal65]

I'm looking at adding a synth to the arsenal. Has anyone compared these two or have experience with one or the other? I know there are pluses and minuses to all these guitar synth setups with tracking etc. The AX-100 is a little more in cost, but ease of use? Looks like a bunch of stuff to tweak compared to the Roland pedal. I'll be using this setup mostly in the studio. I'll be able to tap into my old, but still new Korg M1

[Robert Burns]

I'm looking at adding a synth to the arsenal. Has anyone compared these two or have experience with one or the other? I know there are pluses and minuses to all these guitar synth setups with tracking etc. The AX-100 is a little more in cost, but ease of use? Looks like a bunch of stuff to tweak compared to the Roland pedal. I'll be using this setup mostly in the studio. I'll be able to tap into my old, but still new Korg M1

I only have experience with the GR20... (have had one for 2 years..and
love it. Some here say the Axium is better, but i dont have any hands
on with it. With the GK3 driver unit tracking is almost...(almost perfect)
I would guess that in 2 or 3 years, Roland is going to have such a great
system that Petrucci could shred and the tracking will keep up!

[Bengal65]

Ok, thanks to Robert and in Celebration of NAMM, I have entered into the guitar synth world. I picked up a Roland GR-20 this afternoon. You guy's don't know what you are missing! Robert is the only member with one of these?

Man, I've only spent 15-20 minutes with the unit, but I can play any instrument including voices with this device! It tracks great. It took me awhile to setup and dial in the GK-3 pickup on one of my Les Pauls, but it's killer now! Particularily, when playing distorted guitar lines and leads out the guitar amp port, while the keyboard synth is going out to my PA. Too cool! I'm gonna be busy the next few days, I can tell:ROTF:

Thanks for the report Robert!

[Evilution]

Anyone know how it compares to the GR-33?
You know what they say, if you can't play well, make funny noises.

[Bengal65]

Anyone know how it compares to the GR-33?
You know what they say, if you can't play well, make funny noises.

I can only tell you what I have researched. The GR-33 was more complicated, although it might have had more capacity for manipulating sounds. The GR-20 is simpler and tracks much better than the older GR-33. Of course, the GR-33 was discontinued. This is what I have read in a number of authoritative reviews.

[Newc]

I had a Roland GI-20 (wish I hadn't sold it) and it was very fun. Very easy to work with.

Tim has an AX-100 and he said it requires flawless technique to avoid sour notes. The GI-20 does, too, but he said he'd compared them side by side and the Axion was far more demanding, but it did track better. I thought the tracking on the GI-20 was great, but then I've not compared it to anything else.

I guess if you set your synth to mono instead of poly (chords), you could get away with sloppy techniques, but you couldn't do chords (though if your synth has multiple voices in one patch I guess you could do "one-finger chords").

I might pick up another one.

[hippietim]

The Axon AX-100 is the best. The GI-20 is simpler to get up and running with but the Axon will win every time in the tracking and accuracy department. Either way your technique needs to be clean - slop translates to little MIDI farts that really just sound awful. The Axon is particularly better with a Roland GK pickup (as opposed to a piezo based system such as the RMC, LR Baggs, Ghost).

[Bengal65]

I haven't tried the GI, but I know this GR kicks major ass! (Isn't the GI just a MIDI interface though?)

[Robert Burns]

Anyone know how it compares to the GR-33?
You know what they say, if you can't play well, make funny noises.

*** I have that quote hanging on my wall! Effects forever!

[Robert Burns]

Ok, thanks to Robert and in Celebration of NAMM, I have entered into the guitar synth world. I picked up a Roland GR-20 this afternoon. You guy's don't know what you are missing! Robert is the only member with one of these?

Man, I've only spent 15-20 minutes with the unit, but I can play any instrument including voices with this device! It tracks great. It took me awhile to setup and dial in the GK-3 pickup on one of my Les Pauls, but it's killer now! Particularily, when playing distorted guitar lines and leads out the guitar amp port, while the keyboard synth is going out to my PA. Too cool! I'm gonna be busy the next few days, I can tell:ROTF:

Thanks for the report Robert!

** Being able to do full orchestra fills...with synth bass or even better
acoustic bass is the bomb! I play "Deliverance" all the time on the banjo! For me it was simple... 16 years ago i tried out a roland synth
and when i heard the acoustic piano, i about shit! Learn the piano at
my age? No way! Now i play the Sax..(its way cool with its "Breath"
vibrato!) And i play a great piano now..(of course its wierd to hear
Eruption on the piano!! But for recording...come on! Orchestra in a box!
Also one of my faves is the "Scat" vocals, that follow your every note..
ala George Benson...only this time its like 5 back up singers standing behind you, in real time, harmonizing to your notes played on the guitar!
For $580.00 total including the G3 pup, and controller, this is the most
fun your going to have for under a Grand... Well there was the LV hooker
once...but that doesnt last !!

[wilkinsi]

Wasn't the VG-99 desgned to pick up where the GR-20 left off? Apart from the price and LCD screen, what other differences are there?

Would it be possible to plug either the GR20 or VG-99 into a sound module like say, an EMU Proteus 2000 to use it's own sounds with the 20/99 as a MIDI controller (using a guitar instead of conventional keyboard)?

[CharvelRocker]

Wasn't the VG-99 desgned to pick up where the GR-20 left off? Apart from the price and LCD screen, what other differences are there?

Would it be possible to plug either the GR20 or VG-99 into a sound module like say, an EMU Proteus 2000 to use it's own sounds with the 20/99 as a MIDI controller (using a guitar instead of conventional keyboard)?

The GR-20 is the basic one. The VG99 expands on the VG88 afaik. I thought about trading for a GR33 a couple weeks ago, but figure if I take the plunge, its going to be with a G707 and GR700, as most of the synth stuf fI like was done with that combo anyway.

EDIT: A Pawn Shop here actually has a VG88 w/o a pickup, but $500 for an outdated unit w/o pickup is crazy imo.

[roodyrocker]

I have a GR-33 myself but I only use it for limited stuff. Anyway, last year I did stop at the Axon booth at NAMM to check it out and it definetly sounds great and has a lot of features but it was also more complex to tweak. The GR-20 is simpler and GR-33 was discontinued in this country but last year was avaible over seas or at least thats what Roland told me. You can do a bit more with the GR-33 with more and better sounds but as far as simplicity, the GR-20 is it. So far I find it easiest to play my guitar with guitar sound coming thru the amp and Synth sound through a keyboard amp or PA simultaneously. I use my GR-33 to do the violin/string part on Whitesnake's Still Of The Night as well as Journey's Separate Ways. The VG-88 and VG-99 AFAIK, aren't really so much for Synth sounds but rather for various guitar and amp sounds as well as combinations of the above. Some people use a VG and GR Roland together!

[hippietim]

• GI-10, GI-20 - Pitch to MIDI convertors, no sounds - GI-20 is notably better
• Axon AX100 - Pitch to MIDI convertor, built-in General MIDI sounds, rackmount unit - best tracking available
• GR-20, GR-33 - Pitch to MIDI convertors, built in sounds, small pedal boards - the GR-20 tracks a bit better but the GR-33 has a better synth engine
• VG-8 - guitar, effects, and amp modeling using a GK compatible pickup - think of this as a Variax and a POD plus a whole bunch more (except you don't have to use the shitty Variax guitar) - it does synth stuff but it's nothing like a synth you'd get with pianos and such, the only MIDI support is to upload and download patches - this is one of the first Roland COSM devices that led the GT series
• VG-88 - similar to the VG-8, surprisingly it is both a subset and superset of the VG-8, you can use a non-GK equipped guitar for amp modeling and effects (you can also blend your real pickups with the modeled guitar) - again the only MIDI support is to upload and download patches
• VG-99 - this is like a cross of the GT-Pro, VG-8, VG-88, GI-20, GR-300 (the old Roland guitar synth pre-MIDI). It has some of the cool synth stuff from the original VG-8, it has most of the guitars and amps from the VG-88, it has a pitch to MIDI convertor similar to the GI-20 (but lacking a few features), it models the original GR-300 synth very well, and it allows two full guitar -> effects -> amp signal paths. So in terms of guitar/amp modeling it's like two Variax's and two PODs. For MIDI guitar where you want to sound like a piano and such you'll need an external synthesizer (like you would if you had the GI-20).