Roland GR-09 Guitar Synthesizer

No problem accessing any of the patches. Editing requires quite a bit of reading.

Sound quality is great, especially the string, horn & synth patches. The guitar sounds were kind of weak. The GR-300 patch was pretty cool, though.
The tracking is nowhere near the quality of the GR-33, you can't really burn on it & will probably have to adjust your technique. Still a very useful synth.

Haven't used it in a live application, yet. I've been using it at home extensively & it seems to be a sturdy reliable unit.

I haven't had to use the support for this unit, but Roland has always been a reliable & helpful company.

Great sounds, relatively easy to use. Worth getting if you can't afford the GR-33. Haven't had the chance to get the expansion board, but there are plenty of useful sounds to keep you interested & experimenting for a long time. Recommended.

Straight out of the box and initial patch A1 is a beautiful organ patch. You have to read the manual. I know it hurts but the old rule RTFM works for all environments, I must admit laziness and the plug and play mentality makes it hard to learn these fine work of ingenuity. The manual though not user friendly can be deciphered slowly. These guys who write manuals have this attitude of "assuming" everyone has their same mentality and IQ. I bought it from a stack of old stocks from Swee Lee in Singapore and a friend bought the expansion board from Tom Lee in Hongkong. A nice blend of Chinese selling and Japanese Technology.

I use a Godin Multiac SA with a SWR Strawberry Acoustic Amp. The noise I suppose should be coming from patches that has this unique whistle (flutes, fantasia etc . . .) but must say that the blend of guitar sound and strings and fretless basses make it a strong accompaniment instrument. It never fails to make heads turn.

I have heard Pat Metheny and Al DiMeola's work on synths but I guess the GR09 sounds best live beacuse you can feel the breath of instruments come alive. The choruses and reverbs are standard of any Roland make but they do add dimension to the over-all sound.

I have used this in my trio, duo and church Praise and Worship team and must say that it has worked well for the last two years, have not changed the backup battery, cables etc. Yes, the cable ends are brittle and must be taken good care of. They are expensive and find the pricing ridiculous. I have tried the GK2A on a Fender Strat but find it difficult to handle than when used on my Godin.

I have not tried calling them and hopefully never, a prayer of many of us who could not afford a second unit. The GR33 should less by the end of this year.

I play accompaniment style and back up singers. I have played for over 30 yrs and must say the GR09 has expanded the sound horizon that I produce. The unique blend of strings, cellos and organ sounds with the nylon string guitar inspires my church and leaves my audience during wordly performances in awe. I will wait awhile for the newer synth technologies and for now as they say, "if it ain't broke don't fix (change) it."

VERY EASY EDIT,GOOD MANUAL,DEMO SAMPLES SOUND A LITTLE BETTER THAN THE SOUNDS

SOUNDS ARE SC 55 QUALITY ,A LITTLE TOO DYNAMIC(UNCOMPRESSED) FOR DIRECT RECORDING. IT HAS A TIME OF REACTION THAT REQUIRES ATTENTION AND A RELAXED RIGHT HAND . I USE IT AS A MIDI SEQUENCING TOOL.

28 VOICES 128 PATCHES 2x180 SOUNDS 52 EFFECTS E1 IS THE EXPANSION BOARD . HAS MIDI IN/OUT .PRESET RESPONSE CURVES(NEEDED DISTINCT VELO/OFFSET ).

RELIABLE 90% THE GK2A PICKUP HAS TO BE VERY FIRMLY FIXED OR YOU'LL ASK WHO'S PLAYING.WORKS BEST WITH A BRIGHT SOUNDING GUITAR ,AN ALDER/MAPLE BODY IS THE ABSOLUTE BEST CHOICE.

RELATIVELY HELPFUL

IT IS A GOOD COMPROMISE BETWEEN A MIDI CONTROLLER AND A STAGE GUITAR SYNTH.I PLAYED AND RECORDED WITH IT ,ALSO THROUGH A SOUND MODULE .NEEDS PATIENCE BUT IT'LL PAY OFF.I'D LIKE TO HEAR THE NEW GR 33.I HEARD IT IS FASTER IN RESPONSE.

My general rating is 10 but: I'm crying for help as there's no effective assistence for Roland products in the Czech Rep.
My GR-09 (expanded) suddenly started to produce distorted synth sound and afterwards it stopped. Communication with another midi device (keyboard) still works and the normal, or processed, guitar sound is also O.K.
I would be very grateful for any advice or hint.
Many thanks. lkolenaty@post.cz or> fax 004202 67213419

Until breakdown it was perfect.

I don 't know how to reach a support

Easy to use..

Very Good Sound Quality. The Horns are fantastic.. The Bass and the Banjo are fantastic. I find these sounds and the effects very useful..

I have had problems with the GK-2 Pickups the Cables and Power supply. I am on my third Gk-2 pickup, and am on my 3rd 15 pin cable and my second power supply. These parts are hard to find to replace and The cost is RIDICULOUS.. Also, the expansion board pops out sometimes and it causes the unit to not output sound.

No support on website. No way to contact them on the website. No Toll Free number.

For the time it was created, it had excellent features.. The accessories (The Proprietary cable and Adapter as well as the GK-2 are not very reliable and TOO expensive to replace). In my 4 years with this unit. I have gone through 2 GK-2 pickups, 2 Cables and one power supply.. In my book, thats not very reliable..

This unit is awesome. I have played with the GR-1 and the GR-30. Overall the GR-30 sounds better and has more options, but for the money this unit is awesome! As far as the GR-1, it has great sounds and I love the sequencer but the sounds are not as clean as the GR-9. The manual is great if you have trouble with it. What is the firmware revision number? I dont think mine has been upgraded. If you know anything about that stuff email me.

I use an Ibanez RG with it, and when I switch from synth to guitar p/ups the guitar is a lot louder, kindy of a pain, but thats the price you gotta pay. For some reason when I added my GR-9 to my setup I got extra hum which annoys me, but it is not loud.

Ive only had it for a little while. I would depend on it, but when I start playing more gigs its good to have an extra cable. They are pricy, but they also seems flimsy

I have called them several times and the first time one guy was a prick and obviously thought I was wasting his time with my questions. The second time I called the guy was super cool and talked to me for like 20 mins giving me tips and what not (I think the nice guy's name was Paul)

This unit has become a crucial tool in my music, Im starting to use it as a midi interface and it works awesome for that. tracking can get funky but if you practice what your doing youll start to "get to know" when and where it likes to track. I hate the sound of guitars in general and thats the only instrument that I can play (10yrs) so this unit has defitnely opened new doors for me. I hate the layout of keyboards so once again this unit has done it for me!

Had problems with this unit without the manual.But I brought the instruction video and it became very easy to program the patches. Be sure to buy the video when buying this unit...

this unit Has very good sound .I use a soild state amp as the unit makes a little noise with a tube amp.. The sounds in this unit are total midi. meaning I can get horns,paino and over 250 other instrument that sound just like the real thing. I've also jacked the unit into my zoom 3030 that gives me all the sounds ill ever need. you will have to use the roland gk2-a pickup to trigger this unit.

The unit its self is cased in plastic but it seems very strong. and should last me a good long time.the pedals are very strong too and have hard rubber stomp pads..

I recommend getting bank switches,using the switches on the GK-2A is a bit distracting.Apart from that, the editing process is well documented and pretty easy.Be sure to get the voice update card if possible,many of my favorites are on the update card.

I do not like the effect that the (non-synth) guitar out has on my straight guitar tone.I wired a special cord that runs from my standard guitar jack straight into my tube amp, it has an extra ground that plugs into the G-K 2A 1/8" jack.This really beefs up the straight guitar sound.A good stereo amp is mandatory for best results with the synth signal.Going straight into most guitar amps really hurts your synth sound quality,it's best to go into a good mixer and power amp;I use a Mackie 1202VLZ and a Hafler P-3000 with good results.Built-in chorus and reverb are very good, but only work on the synth signal.Sample sound quality is great, tracking is very good,and carefull mixing of synth and guitar signals is very cool.Using a slide produces amazing results on flute and some of the other patches.The guitar patches are the weakest, but the Pat Metheny guitar synth patch alone is worth the price of admission, it's terrific for Ornette Coleman sounding outside jazz; used mixed subtly with distorted guitar,it's great for whammy effects too.

The multiconductor connectors are a little worrysome, I think a spare cord would be a smart thing to have. No problems in the year+ I've had mine.Powered by a wall wart, which means certain problems at some point.

I used to do warranty repair for Roland,they have historically been competent but very slow.

I play mostly bass in duos and trios, and use the GR-09 to create some different textures in my improvisational music.One bonus is that it works as a MIDI floor controller for my rack bass effects;that's a $250 savings right there, continuous controller and the whole deal.The reaction that this thing creates is amazing.You can get these used for very little money these days; I highly recommend it.You can literally go out and gig with it the first week you own it if you're a competent guitar player.

i had this box figured out before i even made the decision to buy it. good manual. the later ones came in a bundle with a gig bag, GK-2A hex pickup, and 180 extra sample presets. the new GR-30 is by far the better synth at a cheaper list price, but these gr09 bundles were going for less than $800 u.s. (mine was $749 plus tax), and that's still cheaper than the gr30.

the samples are great, except, ironically enough, the guitar patches. the piano sounds can track funny if you don't fingerpick of claw pick.

it's a boss, which means customer service will be hard to reach but good, once you can reach them.

i knew the gr30 would be better, but i also knew it wouldn't be out for awhile.i use this live every thursday night at canter's in west hollywood, mostly for sax, hammond organ, and bass sounds. last night the house bass was on the fritz, so i played 90 minutes on my larivee/GR09 and everybody craned their necks, looking for the bass player.hell yeah, i'd buy another one. i will no doubt sell my gr09 eventually to buy a gr30, or whatever replaces it, but i'm in no hurry. it's that good.

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