Roland GR-20

Cake!!

Most very good... Guitar stuff bad. But if they made the guitar stuff sound good there wouldn't be a reason to buy a GT-8 ... right!??Think about it.

Just don't use your waffle-stompers!!

Roland offers that?? I thought they were just to damn big..lol.

With the shortage of descent.. or should I say non-flakey keyboard players out there. This is a godsend for cover bands. Plus you can still have two guitar players for the rock stuff. Real keyboard players are so left hand happy that this setup sounds cleaner anyway.
Don't use the tape for the GK3... mount the thing... just put it on a cheap axe.

Practically plug and play. The GK3 pickup attached easily to the tone-pros bridge on my guitar with no need to drill holes. There's the trauma of taking off all the strings and readjusting the bridge, but I was prepared to spend a couple of hours getting that done and it was time well spent... Not a lick of trouble since. The instructions are easy to follow and assume you know nothing. I know nothing about synthesis, so that's right up my alley.
The GR20 is very intuitive. Anyone who's familiar with the ME33 or similar Roland pedals will find it a breeze to navigate.

I use several different setups.. depends on the application. For solo work, I use a Peavey KB/A100 keyboard amp. The pickup is mounted to a Schecter C1 Classic. For band gigs, I send the synth to the KB/A100 and the guitar to a Fender Showman Reverb. In the studio, straight into the board. I don't hear any excessive noise. AS with any synth, there are lots of useless sounds. Those I moved into the user library are awesome. Everybody's drooling over that moody sax sound. I agree !! Dozens of sounds in every bank.
I've had the unit 3 weeks and have not even begun to scratch the surface. The nylon string guitar with strings is especially good for Willie Nelson material... The Flute for Herbie Mann. Moody Sax is great for nailing jazz solos. I'm a big fan of Jimmy Smith. With the Jazz Organ and Tenor Sax sounds I can bring that stuff to life in a trio context.

As with anything new, it seems good now. For $600 I'm not carrying a backup. Roland products seem to hold up well enough. Throw gently.

No experience.

I guess I play jazz oriented blues. solo work leans more toward "acoustic fare", while band work leans more toward stuff like James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding et al. It's a good match if the operator (that's me) can learn to develop a little restraint. The problem with being able to play Sitar in "Misty" is that you might!! Lately, I'm writing soundtracks for an action film and a documentary. The "ethnic instruments" section has already shown me significant value.
I've been playing guitar 46 years. I have a Strat, a D'Agostino Benchmark, a '74 Gibson Howard Roberts Custom, a Gibson LG0 flat top and a lowly (but nice) Galveston Jumbo A/E. I also own an Alvarez bass and a room full of assorted amps, speakers, effects and recording gear I like to call the studio.
I'd buy a replacement. I love the sounds and the simplicity. I'm an old guitarhead who grew up with off/on and volume for amp settings... please dont ask me to scroll through menus for answers. I hate the fact that you need that special 13 pin connecting cable to send the data to the sound module. (That reminds me... I need to buy a couple of spare cables.)
I owned a couple of prehistoric Rolands and 3 Ibanez midi guitars with Kawai sound modules. I chose the GR20 because of the great reviews it got on Harmony Central from people who bought it and had nice things to say. It tracks quickly, but the dreaded nanosecond delay is in there. You have to learn the restrictions of the instrument.......just like any other instrument.

Mounting the GK-3 pickup to my Eggle LA Pro was easy even with the adhesive tape. My guitar man was not prepared to drill into this guitar and frankly I agree. (I replaced the sticky with a high quality d/s tape after about three months when it started to lift taking care to degrease the area well - since then it had stayed firmly put a further 6 months and counting)

No, you can't edit the patches much other than attack/decay and reverb/delay. Once you have tweaked the dozen or so patches you desire (and there are piles of them to choose from) you can easily drop them into a user array that holds up to 99.

The manual is comprehensive and easy to get to grips with.

I have the original firmware - I can't see me needing to update it, so I cannot comment on how easy it is to do this.

I tried it for a spell on my strat but it didn't suit the tremelo system - pushing the bar a little lowered the strings onto the hex p/u. Back on the Eggle it will stay because it fits next to the bridge fine. You have to experiment for comfort.

Running the GR-20 direct into a guitar amp seems wrong to me because guitar amps aren't meant for keyboard type sounds. Would you let your keyboard player crank his act through your amp too? No, I got some powered monitors with 15 inch cones and horns designed for all purpose use and set them some ways off to each side of my regular combo and they handle all it can give. Now we are talking about making a substancial further investment in your sound reinforcement if you want to gig with it or you can route it through your bands PA of course. Putting it into a guitar amp at gig levels will blow your Vintage 30 as soon as look at it so don't go there IMHO.

Once you have selected the patches you want and done what honing you can you have to practise your technique to avoid unwanted notes errupting - you mustn't be sloppy with your fingering because you won't get away with it.

Yes, some of the patches are "pants" but consider the unit as having a library for you to check out the ones you need, load to your user space and you'll be fine. Somebody somewhere will want a Chinese new year street party going off around them but not your humble scribe thank you.

There are two non-latching stomps on it that can be defined. Out of the box they are assigned to hold and shift pitch respectively. So you can play a note or chord and hold that sound as long as you wish or wizz up or down an octave (or a designated interval) at the touch of your toe.

At the guitar you have a volume control, a selector for guitar only, for synth only or for guitar plus synth and two buttons to advance or regress the patch number without bending over to do it. Therefore you have all the permutations at your fingertips. Your regular guitar output is routed through the sturdy proprietory 5 metre midi lead supplied. There is a master volume control on the front panel for extra fine tuning and a sturdy power supply unit. Finally there is a Kensington security port to lock it down in mosh pits. (Caviat - it's a plastic chassis - hmmmm)

The floor unit enables you to connect to your choice of amp and/or PA system accordingly quite simply.

I have gigged it with no problem. The floor unit is plastic when it could have been metal so you just have to avoid being a monster with it - although it isn't flimsy by any means. Buy a decent hard transit case to take it places and it won't get chipped.

If you can afford a backup then do so, I haven't been let down by it. Get a spare midi lead to be safe.

Had no need for support.

I play reggae / rock. It compliments my style and what I am listening for. It performs faithfully. If it goes missing then I buy another because it was one of my better decisions in the first place and I have the gear to go with it.

I've been at guitar playing since the early 70's and have a raft of stomps that I rotate through a pedal board as required.

This is a lovely piece of kit and with a bit of application and patience you can derive some great soundscapes for your band or recordings. My main reservation to offer to someone thinking about a GR-20 is that is generates a bigger sound than a regular guitar amp should handle and some other means of amplification should be considered.

Not a problem. If you can set the clock on your VCR you can run this unit.

You should take a quick look at the manual and go thru the sensitivity settings etc. but it's making cool sounds in no time and you quickly figure out what sort of adjustments you need as you work with it.

Don't expect any thing with a wide range of tones to sound good thru narrow range sound equipment. Through a good pa, or direct in to record or even thru a good keyboard or acoustic amp. It's amazing.
I play it thru a Bose PAS and I couldn't be much happier.

I play it live about every other week. I kick it around my office to record all the time. With normal use, I'm cool without a backup.

I've had no problems with mine but I have had to send a Boss product back to CA for repair. They were very nice about it and had my other toy back in great shape with no hard feelings.

First, I can't believe the tape is still holding the pickup in place perfectly after 4 months.... I don't mind hard-mounting it but , hey, it's still cool.
I have this on my Variax 700 Acoustic !

Folks, I have the ultamate swiss-army-knife of guitars.
I love it. Whether I'm blending slow attack strings behind 12 string guitar or taking a sax break THIS THING IS FUN.

I bought this when it became available after seeing a live demo at the NAMM show in Anaheim. This is the best tracking Roland synth I have tried. It tracks just as well (and the latency was no worse) when I MIDI'ed it to a Yamaha TX-81Z external tone generator...very impressive.

There are some very good presets...some of the pianos, the strings, the organs, the pads...the "Moody Sax" really sold me. Some of the presets are not very useful. The sound effects are just that...effects.

There is no software editor at this point in time. You can't really edit patches like on the GR-33. This synth just has basic cutoff, attack, delay, chorus, etc.

The manual is adequate and easy to understand. There is currently software available from Roland to update the unit for use with a bass with a Hex pickup. I have no desire to do that so I haven't installed that update and have no plans to do so.

This synth would be great for any style of music...especially for pop, jazz, or progressive rock. Some sounds are more realistic than others....true with any synth. I believe this sound engine is based on the Roland JV series of synths.

You must play this thing according to the patch you're using. Don't expect Yngwie licks to sound good using a string patch.

As with any Hex pickup, the trick is to spend a couple of hours adjusting the pickup and the "feel" settings on the unit according to your playing style. I *highly* recommend installing the pickup in a semi-permanent way by using the screws included...the double sided tape always wants to come undone and the pickup will move using the tape. I attached the pickup to a Fender Stratocaster. I had to buy a gig bag to store the guitar because the hex pickup assembly sticks out a little and the guitar won't fit in my form fit Fender case anymore.

Les Paul guitars have the advantage of using a special Hex pickup attachment to the bridge...no modifications necessary to the guitar.

I can not emphasize *enough* the need to properly set up the hex pickup...this makes a world of difference in the performance and lowered latency. If you're Joe or Joan Six Pack guitar player and have no patience for doing this, don't bother buying a guitar synth. But for the intelligent guitarist, this unit is amazing. I have been playing for 30 years and have better technique than your typical rock player so I was able to adjust my playing to fit any ideosyncracies that pop up with the patches. If you play as sloppy as Jimmy Page, you won't be able to use this thing. Playing with your fingers using piano or string patches works better. You can't have your strings kissing the frets (like Joe Satriani) and expect no glitches. If you raise your action a little...Strats need higher action anyway to sound good...it will make a world of difference.

I also suggest practicing your guitar chops while using the synth....you will get more used to the patches and how it reacts the more you use it.

I have seen guys on other websites rag on this unit as not tracking well. They walked into a store and picked up the hex equipped guitar and it didn't track. Surprise, numb nuts! Store employees don't know anything about this thing and don't want to take the time either to set it up. They'd rather sell $149 Affinity Strats to alterna-rock weenies that come in with their mommy's credit card. I bought mine at Sam Ash and there wasn't even a demo model. And they made sure to let me know that they weren't going to open it up either....I'd have to buy it new in the box.

The bottom line is that I am extremely happy in this unit. And knowing that it tracks well when MIDI'ed to external synths means that I won't outgrow this thing anytime soon. I want to use it with samplers and other higer end external synths.

There is a max of 48 voice polyphony. The effects are delay, reverb, chorus with minimal, one knob control of each. You must write your change to a User patch (99 on board).

This is a great entry level synth that doesn't sound entry level. Not expandable, but with the excellent tracking to external synths that's not really an issue. Playing dynamics can be adjusted. You can match the synth output to a guitar amp or line level using built in settings. You can split the guitar and synth outputs to different amps or you can take just the guitar and run it to outboard effects and back into the GR-20 and *then* take the composite guitar/synth signal to a single amp or sound recorder. The internal effects DO NOT work on the guitar signal...only the synth sounds.

There are Glide and Hold foot pedals....their functions can be modified as to what type of Glide and Hold effect you want. There is also a Continous Controller pedal that can be modified the same way.

I bought mine for recording purposes...I don't gig with it although I would not hesitate to do so.

I have used Roland products since 1982 and have always been impressed with the sound, quality, and reliability.

I've never had to deal with customer support nor get anything repaired.

Software upgrades are available on the Roland website.

If this was stolen, I would buy it again and is definitely worth the $$.
I have used this since May of 2004. I love the tracking speed. I wish there was more editing capability, but I'll be able to do that on other synths I buy to go with it.

I used to own a Yamaha G10 guitar synth which, on paper, was probably the fastest tracking guitar synth available, but *awful* to try and play. (Playing a plastic, bowling pin shaped guitar strung with 6 .016 plain strings is just not natural.)

The GR-20 is much more user friendly and an outstanding piece of equipment. I sometimes lurk in the Yahoo GR-33 and GR-20 Groups...a good place for information and to network with other users.

Overall, this thing is a breeze. The floor unit it practically self explanitory and as guiatr synths go, good sounds are easy to get. The manual is very clear.

I installed the GK-3 pickup on a 1990 Ibanez EX. This model was the rock-botoom of the Ibanez EX line and I had no reservations about drilling two tiny hols in it. The pickup took about 15 minutes to install and the onyl adjust ment I made was to the overall height of the pickup. It is mounted on springs so this was easy. Everything worked right out of the box.

I run this unit into a variety of amps and mixers. It depends on what I am doing at the time. The unit makes no unwanted noise that I can detect. The patches are of inconsistant quality. There are some good ones, some great ones, some poor ones, and some that make me wonder if they should even have been included. I gave this category a 6 because of the inconsistancy. If I could I would say that half the patches get a 10 and the other half get a 4.

Its plastic and because all guitar synths are so technique sensitive, I would never use one live. I will do tons of tracking with it though. If I have to go live, I'll recruit a keyboardist.

I play a mix of hard rock, psychadelic and fusion. I've been doing this on and off for over 37 years. I own 2 Les Pauls, a Strat, an Ibanez EX (now a MIDI guitar), and 2 Takamine acoustics. I also have a few amps. If this unit were lost or stolen I would replace it but not until months later which is how long it would take to save up enough money. I love the idea that I now have the instruments I need to get my ideas across. My favorite feature is the HOLD pedal so I can jam with my bad self. I compared this unit to the Roland GR-33. The GR-20 won hands down because it takes less than 2 weeks to generate a sound after you attack the string.

An absolute scoosh! 20 minutes to fit the pickup to a 20 year old Ibanez Roadstar II using the sticky tape, and it only took that long because I had to go and hunt for an allen key to arise the bridge saddles to give the 2mm clearance specified in the manual. I've decided to keep it on that guitar so I'll eventually drill through the location holes on the pickup and screw it down.

Accessing the sounds is another doddle. The manual's good but you could find your way round this thing in a minute or two by trial and error.

The sounds are clean and there are a few very useful ones.

I play a range of music from folk to blues mostly in sessions and folk clubs and I don't need much power so I've been running this into a Peavey 15watt practice amp which I use as a side monitor and mic up if I need more level on the FOH than it's giving me. The odd time I use distortion it's through a Zoom 505 which is just fine for what I'm doing.

Playing is different. You have to adjust your playing dynamics to suit the individual sounds. Some, like saxes and the accordion are better played monophonically with a flat pick. Pianos are good finger picked, strings sound nice behind clean picked guitar. Banjo (?) works well alongside picked guitar, and some of the percussion kits are terrific with reggae type rhythms.

There are of course a lot of sounds on here that a normal player will never use, or which have novelty value and nothing else.

The (limited) editing facilities work ok. Useful if you want particularly "Synthy" sounds.

I've found the most use for the user bank in storing my favourite presets for quick access on stage, maybe with a bit of reverb added.

Because the sounds are dead clean the unit is perfect for digital recording. I use a Zoom 8 track mutitracker, and laying downs tracks has suddenly become a lot more creative and fun too.

I'm always on the lookout for more portability in amplification and I've run the GR20 through a pair of computer speakers to try it. It sounds as good as you'd get from PC speakers.

Here's the rub.

The bank selector switching on my unit has become unstable and jumps from bank to bank spontaneously.

Nobody at Roland has heard of this before so I think hope this is a once off. - see customer support

At #370 a pop I'm not going to have a backup on what I get paid for a gig.

The (very pleasant)guy at Roland had never come across this problem before. He suggested a possibleproblem with the MIDI patch controls an I should do a system reset - back to factory settings - which didn't work. SO it's back to the shop with it.

I called my dealer, the excellent Sound Control of Glasgow, and the guy said "Bring it in and we'll replace it." so no problems with support.

Assuming the switching problem is unique to this individual unit and the replacement works fine, I'm delighted with this box.

It does all the things I need it to do.

Take the time to setup the pickup correctly. Then everything is easy. I mounted it on my big green Gretsch. It tracks perfectly even yanking on the Bigsby. I screwed the controller onto a tiny wood shim on the underside of the F-hole and it's rock solid. Tweaking the organ and Mellotron sounds is easy and fun, and I hate programming stuff. It's nothing more than turning a few knobs and hitting "write".

This is why I wrote this review...ORGAN GUYS TO NOTICE. I run mono into my tube amp. If you plug into the "mono" output, the organ sounds nice and church like. But...if you plug into the "left" output...WHAM!... a close mic'd leslie! Really powerful. I'm selling my Leslie simulator. And it doesn't affect the other voices at all.
Just ad a bit of tube overdrive and there it is!

Great

Excellent

I found it easy to install the pickup (I'm using the sticky pads on my acoustic). It takes a bit of doing but if read the manual you can't go wrong. As for the GR-20 itself, it's easy. There's not much to it. Bank knob and main sound selector knob...

I haven't tried this on a full rig yet, but I've tried it on my home studio setup and it sounds wonderful. There are some silly things that are cool to play with, jazz scat singing etc.

I know a few folks who have gigged with the older GR-33 and the GR-1 for years and they have not had problems. I have no reservations about gigging this thing.

Never had to deal with them.

I don't think I've had so much fun in all my musicial life. This was just a joy to play. It's now the mainstay of my rig and I'm starting to write material with the synth pads and choirs on the GR-20. For the pickup and the main unit it's well worth the price.

RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX, THIS UNIT WORKS GREAT. I ALREADY HAVE AN IBANEZ S 470 DX WITH A GK-3 INSTALLED, THAT I USE WITH MY VGA-7 AMPLIFIER, SO I BOUGHT THE GR-20S WHICH DOES NOT INCLUDE A GK-3. I ALSO ORDERED THE GKP-4 GK SPLITTER TO SEND MY 13 PIN OUTPUT TO BOTH THE VGA-7 AND THE GR-20, (WITH 2 MORE OUTPUTS STILL AVAILABLE,). LUCKILY, THE IBANEZ TREMELO IS THEIR ZERO RESISTANCE MODEL THAT IS THE BEST UNIT FOR A GK PICKUP, AS THE STRING HEIGHT STAYS CONSISTANT WHEN YOU DROP AND LOWER THE PITCH, RESULTING IN FAR SUPERIOR TRACKING! MOST PATCHES NEED TO BE SLIGHTLY MODIFIED TO SUIT MY PARTICULAR PLAYING STYLES.

I RUN THE GR-20 INTO THE STEREO AUXILIARY INPUTS OF THE VGA-7, BYPASSING ALL OF THE MODELING FOR THE GUITAR SOUNDS, AND GOING DIRECTLY TO THE 130 WATT STEREO AMP. I INSERTED A DUMMY PLUG INTO THE GUITAR OUT OF THE GK-20, WHICH SHUTS OFF ANY GUITAR SOUND COMING FROM THE GK-20, GIVING ME TOTAL CONTROL OF BOTH STEREO SIGNALS. THE HORN AND STRING PATCHES ARE MY FAVORITES. REALISTICALLY I WILL ONLY USE A TOTAL OF 10 PATCHES FROM THE GR-20 AND 10 FROM THE VGA-7. THE VGA-7 IS A FULL RANGE AMPLIFIER INCLUDING HORNS WITH THE 12 INCH SPEAKERS, WHICH REALLY COMPLIMENTS THE RANGE OF SOUNDS THE GR-20 IS CAPABLE OF.

I AM PLANNING ON MOUNTING THE GR-20 INTO A RACK, AND CONTROLLING IT FROM MY BEHRINGER 1010 FOOT CONTROLLER. MY OLD GR-300 WAS METAL AND REALLY STURDY. THIS IS PLASTIC AND I'M UNCERTAIN ABOUT IT. THEN AGAIN, MY DELL LAPTOP IS PLASTIC, AND IT GOES ON THE ROAD ALSO...

ROLAND SLACKS AT CUSTOMER SERVICE! THERE IS NO DIRECT E-MAIL SUPPORT, WHICH I'VE FOUND TO BE THE BEST WITH OTHER COMPANIES IN THE PAST. VIA PHONE, THEY SEEM TO BE CLUELESS. HOPEFULLY, I'LL NEVER REALLY NEED THEIR SUPPORT.

I ONLY GIG AND/OR JAM OCCASIONALLY. I RECORD SHORT 30/60 SECOND SEGMENTS FOR RADIO ADVERTIZING FROM MY ATTIC. FOR THE RECORDING THIS IS AN EXCELLENT PIECE OF GEAR, WHILE IT HAS ME CONCERNED ABOUT GIGGING ABOUT TOWN. I DON'T WANT THIS TO BECOME AN INDISPENSABLE PART OF MY LIVE SOUND.WHEN IT COMES TO GUITAR SYNTHESIZERS, ROLAND IS NOT ONLY THE BIG DOG, THEY ARE THE ONLY DOG. I'VE TRIED THE AXON AND OTHERS AND THE HEADACHE IS NOT WORTH THE EXTRA CAPABILITIES. ROLAND IS THERE OWN COMPETITOR. I HAD TO DECIDE BETWEEN THE GR-20, AND THE GR-33, WHICH HAS BETTER MIDI IMPLEMENTATION. THE GR-20 SEEMS TO TRACK A LITTLE BIT BETTER, AND IS WAY LESS COMPLICATED.