Product: Roland GR-1 Guitar Synthesizer
Price Paid: US $650 used
Submitted
06/10/1996
at
05:58pm
by
Brian King
Ease of Use
:
7
Very easy to get a good sound, once you have setup the sensitivity of each string properly. Some patches need to have the attack speed sped up though. The worst part is that, with 4 banks of 16 patches, you can't step up from #32 to #33 without reaching down to press a little button on the unit (no foot access). 2nd worst thing is not having extra room for user patches-- must erase a factory one.
Sound Quality
:
9
kind of noisy in general; effects sound fine, quite sufficient for live synth playing, esp. if you layer w/ gtr, as I usually do.
Reliability
:
10
I have broken a knob off it by dropping down stairs (about 4 feet to cement floor); other than the knob, it still works fine after 3 years!
Customer Support
:
8
I got the ROM card upgrade, makes a great product even better! I bought it used, so I had to order a manual separately. They lost the order, so it took 2 weeks, but when I did receive it they threw in a black Roland t-shirt...
Overall Rating
:
9
I love the sounds, user real-time controls, nice footswitches, although I'd prefer 5 instead of 4 in each bank. the onboard sequencer is useless to me.
Product: Roland GR-1 Guitar Synthesizer
Price Paid: US $1200
Submitted
09/13/1995
at
02:31pm
by
Lazer
Ease of Use
:
5
Easy to use once You got all Your parameters down Patches are cumbersome to edit, but I don't do that too often. Manual is of normal Roland standard (poor).
Sound Quality
:
9
Awesome
Reliability
:
10
Have had it for a Year, no problems so far
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Haven't used them yet.
Overall Rating
:
8
It sounds great, but there are two things that makes it impossible to give it a "10". 1. Only 24 voices, When You play together with recorder, sometimes the "voice stealing" function kicks in, very noticable. 2. There is no way to get a recorded sequence out in a standard midi format from the recorder. This makes it impossible to port songs to other devices. This makes the recorder part semi useless. You can get around this by spending more of Your hard earned cash on a "real" sequencer but I don't think that limitation is nescessary.
Overall is a very usable unit with a big sound, and expect to adapt your style, because this is a midi device and therefore VERY revealing.
