Roland GR-20

It doesn't require too much to edit patches. It's easier than editing patches on a standard multi-effects unit for sure. The GK-3 pickup was a breeze to install. It comes with a supplied bracket that's perfect to fit on a tune-o-matic bridge. The manual is pretty clear. A 5 year old could read it and understand what effects to what. Getting a good sound out of it isn't hard with so many presets. Very easy overall.

In a way, you could use this on a terrible guitar and it really would make no difference as long as the intonation is correct. I've used it on a Fender Strat, and now it resides on an LTD Viper. There is no outside noise, and there is no reason why there should be. The soundboard doesn't rely on an analog signal. Aside from everyone else, I believe that all the patches are excellent. Paying $600, nobody should be dissapointed. People should have tried it in the store before buying it. Don't rely on a company's demo. As said above... don't expect a $3000 synthesizer. So for me, it's everything I heard and wanted. I sat in the store playing it for over an hour before I even thought about buying it.

The patches overall are great. A bunch such such as the Flamenco guitar, breathy sax, organs,strings, pianos sound really well. The trick to using some patches (and it should be obvious) is not to play them as if you were playing a guitar. That's how you get the realism across from a synthesizer. I can play a ton of piano sounds on the guitar and make them sound exactly real. Some of the basses can get by as being realistic while a lot of basses and guitar sounds are their purely for some extreme synth sounds. I've never heard a correct distorted guitar patch on the best of synthesizers, and wouldn't expect it from this. That's what multi-effects are for.

The trick to getting the best sound is setting up the GK-3 right. The manual says 1mm from the string with the highest fret fretted. Once you acheive that, this unit wil pick up pull offs and hammer ons with no problems. This allows you to lower the sensativity so you won't have random sounds coming through. The tracking is good. I don't have much problems with it. You have to be precise in your playing. A small bend in the string could mean a change in sound that you don't want. The fastest song I've emulated was Bach's Toccata and Fugue with the "Cathedral Organ" and it tracked it all. The velocity is also excellent to add-in to the realism.

Overall, it's pretty good sound quality.

I surely can depend on it. I would gig without a back up... but then again, I'm not sure I have any need to gig with it in the first place. I bought it as a desktop tool which it is doing an excellent job. It's plastic construction isn't a problem. It's pretty solid and sturdy. Nothing is loose. I use to own a Boss ME-30 with worse construction than this, and I beat the hell out of the ME-30 and it still made it through gigs and recordings without a single issue. I expect the same if not better out of the GR-20.

Never had to deal with them.

I'm going to give it a 9 overall rating. It has everything to suit my needs. I tried it out, and knew what it had before I bought it... therefore making it everything I need. It's a better value to me then the GR-33 I tried out. The tracking is great and everything that goes along with the GK-3. It definitely helps makes music. It also allows you to open your mind to other things than just rock. It's a great peice of technology for the price in my opinion.

I'm sure the synth unit is a snap to use, but the GK-3 pickup is a different story. DO NOT count on using the double sided tape as a way to keep it on your guitar. It clearly states in the manual that the tape is meant only for TEMPORARY use - and with my experience it was very much temporary. The second option (the mounting plate) would not fit on any of my guitars - strike two. After having a tech do the holes and get the plastic GK-3 mounted, it took a LOT of adjusting to get the thing to track even remotely well. There is a reason you don't see a lot of guitar players using the synths. Not saying it cannot work, but beware for a lot of headaches. Mine went back to the dealer, even though I got the whole thing at an incredible discount. No regret returning it.

Fair from what I hear online, but I didnt care much for the majority of the sounds.

Seems flimsy (the GK-3). The synth unit is probably okay...not built like a tank by any menas, though. Would not try to gig with it on a bet.

In the past, it has been rotten with other products. Doubt it changed.

It may work for some people, but certainly not for me. Not worth the hassle; poor tracking, obviously made cheaply. When you have it professionally installed and spend forever adjusting it (yes, everything was to the specifications in the manual) and it is still WAY less than mediocre - I can't help but not recommend this one.

The GR-20 controls are intuitive and very easy to use. Once the HEX/DIVIDED pickups is installed you're ready to go. I had to engineer a pickup mount for my PRS Santana SE for a piece of plexiglas. Drilling holes and glueing to were not an option. Please drop me an email for installation photos.
Tuning the guitar and setting the sensitivity of the GK-3 was also a snap. Compared to the old GR-1, the 20 is miles ahead in improvement.

Patch is editing is quite easy although the built in patches are great.

The manual is complete with easy to follow prodcedures with pictures and diagrams to support the setup and use process.

Currently, my GR-20's GK-3 divided pickup is attached to my PRS Santana SE. As mentioned, I engineered a mount to prevent the invasive techniques described by Roland. I comes with a Gibson style auto brige mount that doesn't fit the PRS. The one I made affords a more exact placement of the hex pickup to the exact specs. as provided by Roland (tolerance and position relative to the bridge.

I connect the unit to directly to headphones, the computer or to my Carvin Quad-X/Twin 50 arrangement.

The unit is quiet and would fare well in a studio environment.

Steve Morse often used a Synth and I'm sure you can replicate some of his work give your ability to play as well as him. All effects a cool synth type effects. Most venture out of the realm of guitar effects and rightly so - the is a synth.

This unit tracks very well when mixing dry guitar with the synth output.

It's made out of plastic and is not water proof. Aside from those, It seems well made. I wouldn't slam it around though. Treat it like an expensive keyboard.

I play at the guitar. I enjoy all styles except what call shucking (a.k.a. one chord, out of tune, with lyrics like "kill, I hate everybody etc). Give me Steve Morse, Eric Clapton, Eric Johnson, classic and most other music that follows some or of the diatonic syetem.
Lost or Stolen? It's insured
I don't hate any feature. The 13pin cord seems to be a weak spot but must consider the amount of information be transfered between the guitar and the GR-20.
The unit has everything. If you got the GR-20 and the Adrenalinn II, your ready to Rock and roll or handle most studio work (in my opinion).

Nothing can be easier! There's really no need to study the manual. I used to play GR-33, GI-20 and Clavia Nord Rack2x and spent a lot of time with it trying to edit and create new patches. In fact, it was waste of time as mastering of all other gear was a drudgery and all my guitar playing was only browsing the sounds for more than a year. Now I've found it. It's simple as a breeze and what impresses me most is the response. I am sure the digital correction of a pitch works perfectly so there is only minimum of sound mistakes compared to GR-33

Strings, voices, pads, pianos, ethnic instruments, organs and some synths are great. Generally I don't like much the Roland saw and lead type synths but usually setting the attack and release helps to my ears.

It's new and I hope it will be "a holder" like all other Roland stuff I have

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I've been playing for more than 20 years but still nothing special. Mostly classics, poprock and recently I started to learn rock guitar. This gear suits perfectly to embelish the backgrounds and makes people stare where are all the sounds coming from looking at the one man band.
I also use VG-8, VG-88, Godin ACS

Installation: I have a trapizoid style tailpiece and there was no easy answer to the mounting of both p/u and controller.
After raising the p/u to the proper height from the body using the spacers it was so unstable and with all the palm muting and stuff I kept pushing the P/u over. Once the sticky spacers came off, they were
not as sticky anymore.
I decided to carve a p/u holder out of wood with a curve to match the curve of the guitar body. It works great, real stable.
I also made a mounting platform for the controller so it's on a flat surface. I used velcro. Now the controller is also stable and can survive a tug from the cable, enough to pull apart the velcro. I needed to use epoxy in a few vital velcro holding spots.
The whole thing took me all day to do, but now the GR20 is mounted and stable enough, All without hurting the guitar at all.
Great for me because I know how to do things like that. But for people that don't or won't, well, Roland could have planned better.

Playing: It's very easy to use, almost to easy. Very intuitive. It's so easy, I'd like more editing control. But what it has is cool.
Tap tempo? no. Not good for time based fx.
Must play in front of the beat to sync. Pat Metheny does it with a slower unit. But It's weird.

I dig them. There's more here than I'll ever use. I'm already finding my faves.
It definatly makes you play different, or at least more accurate. I feel like I have to pick harder with less dynamic range. I'm still working on the optimum settings for each sound. It's coming into focus.
I'd give it a 10 for sound if it wasn't for the lag in time of the sound. I'm just into playing a note and hearing it as I picked it in time. The GR20 is fast but I can hear it.

I'm enjoying it. Makes me work hard for good sound, and that's a good thing to do.

This has to be such a simple Guitar Synth to use - honestly, you plug it in and go - easy to use, easy to get sounds out of it. Havent looked at the manual - thats for girls, right?

I love the variety of textures this thing brings - I love just listening to the different sounds - its made me rethink how I play - not because there are tracking problems, but because of the different instrument sounds

usual Roland kit - well made and will last for aeons

Havent had to ever call them - i;ve got a VG88 as well - and its just awesome.

I play a mix of classical, Rock and blues. I've played for over 35 years - I started young! I play it via a Godin Multiac Nylon SA, which is a peach of a a guitar - the nylon string sound mixed with the breathy voices is awesome. I've also got a Jackson Rhoads, a Line 6 combo, and a Hohner GT3 with the GK2 which drives the GR20 as well.I'd definately replace it if it were lost.

I've wanted a guitar synth since the first time I heard a VG-8 but always thought it'd either be too expensive or too hard to set up...RUBBISH.

This unit is cheaper than I expected and is a doddle to set up if you take your time and have a bit of common sense.
The pick-up is tricky to install but not impossible.

WARNING: I had to use it with a Strat because I couldn't get it close enough to the bridge on my Tele because of the metal plate thing (technical eh?)

Manual: Absolutely MUST read it before you start - gets you in the right frame of mind.
Editing Patches: I found it necessary to store all the patches I want to use regularly (42 so far) to the user bank so that I could balance their volumes and chorus/reverb/delay levels (which didn't take that long).
Setting-up the individual string sensitivity was a 2 minute job too.

Only moan in this area is that the disply only shows numbers and so I need to keep a list handy to remind myself which patch is which number - this might improve over time but I don't want to be fiddling around on stage if my mind goes blank at the wrong moment.

If you have had no experience of playing around with effects then take a point away, likewise if you're expecting to edit every aspect of a patch but otherwise...

Sounds vary dramatically in quality and I have to say that I agree with most of what's been said on this page so far.

The piano / piano & strings / piano & orchestra sounds are good but need a certain amount of fiddling about to get them right.

Saxes, trumpets and brass section sounds are the best and indeed most usable and realistic patches on the unit - yes the breathy sax is as good as everyone keeps saying. My pop covers band has added both One Step Beyond and Tequilla to our set-lists because of this these sounds.

I have used the banjo to turn a few heads when playing with my Country band although I was hugely disappointed with the quality of the acoustic and nylon string guitars.

Many of the sounds such as the pan pipes, marimba, steel drums, clarinet and sitar are excellent if you can only find a reason to use them. However, that's the real joy of this unit in my opinion i.e. that there are so many good patches you'll be scratching your head and pestering your bandmates to try to find a way to use them all.

I'm giving this section a high score despite the awful guitar sounds because you have to remember that you ARE actually playing a guitar in the first place. If you want good guitar sounds use the flaming thing in your hands! I just don't see the logic of buying a guitar effects unit to make your guitar sound like a guitar.

Simple fact: treat it carefully and most things will last.

My cheap plastic Zoom multi-fx has lasted over 3 years and it's not exactly inspiring to look at. This is slightly more sturdy to look at but won't take a pounding like the metal Boss stompboxes. I have a slight concern about the special GK lead that goes to the pick-up, but only time will tell on that one.

Back-up? You're kidding though - I carry this so I don't have to bring the keyboard and there's no way I could afford to buy a back-up GR-20 just to have it sit around incase this one breaks down.

I am thinking of getting a spare GK lead though (depending on price).

Based on my suspicion of the cable my rating loses a point, if the cable lasts well add a point back on.

N/A and hope it stays that way.

The people in the shop I bought it from knew nothing about it at all. I had learnt more than these so-called experts knew simply by reading this page!

I play an old Strat into this with the guitar output going into a Zoom GFX-707 that I've tweaked beyond recognition over the last 3 years and that gets the job done nicely.

I play in a variety of bands and play a variety of music such as 50's / 60's Rock n Roll, classic Blues (Clapton, Hendrix, Fleetwood Mac) and Country (traditional right up to modern stuff) but always play cover songs and mainly bought this to try to get out of playing keyboards (which I hate, but have to do on a few songs).

I mainly use the piano, brass, saxes, organ and banjo sounds and find them all convincing and more than up to scratch.

The main thing to bear in mind is that you simply must remember what kind of instrument you are immitating: if you're playing a piano part then forget the string bending and vibrato, if you are using the brass section sounds stick to one or two strings max - I know this sounds obvious but you'd be surprised how many people still try to play their usual licks regardless of what sound they have on.

As for tracking speed, I don't play anoything fast anyway so couldn't tell you how well it would keep up with sweep-picking or tapping BUT I do know that a lot of the patches don't like hammer-ons or pull-offs that well. This thing really screws with your technique.

OVERALLL: Highly recommended if you're willing to spend a relatively small time being creative and actually THINK about what you're doing with WHICH sounds, HOW and WHY.

Having owned previous GR series synths, this is by far the easiest one to set up and get good sound out of. Previous versions required sometimes hours of tweaking for just one patch and the GR20 simply a dial in and tweak the attack, decay, reso, etc...but all very easy if you've have any knowledge of the synth terminology.

I installed the GK-3 pickup on my Carvin DC135T. It took about two hours mostly for the measuring of the spacer to get the height correct. This part is critical...this is not the time to be in a hurry. After the pickup was installed and the guitar restrung I had do to just a minute adjustment with the provided screwdriver and I was up and running.

As for the sounds, like others said the guitar patches are lacking but the winds, brass, synth, organ/keys, ethnic and even some of the percussion are very useable.

The guitar out goes to my Boss GT-5 and back to the Mix In and then to a Carvin 300SX 3/4 stack (100 Watt) using the effects return.

The sax patch #3 really blows me away. I put on a Tommy Bolin CD and ran through "People People" and hit the sax solo note for note and I really couldn't tell the differenct between the synth and the CD.

I'm planning on using the synth for 70% home recording and 30% on gigs.

I know I can depend on Roland products, they are the cream of the crop. I've never had any problem with ME units (GT-5), synths, or Boss pedals.

No problem not to have a backup...after all I play guitar, this just enhances the sound....if it were to fail onstage, I'd just have to go back to playing like I did without it.

I've only dealt with customer support at Roland once, and that was to get the EPROM upgrade on my GT-5....they gave me an RMA and I sent the unit back. The turn around time was about 3 weeks and it came back cleaned up and working good as new right out of the box.

Mainly I play classic rock (60s & 70s) with a good share of funk, jazz and blues thrown in. I've been playing since 1974 and although my current work keeps me away from home so I can't be in a regular band, I travel with my rig and have joined many other bands on stage in clubs around the country.

My present gear consists of a Carvin DC400T, Carvin DC135T, Line6 Variax, Fender Strat, Fender Tele, and Fender acoustic guitar. My main amp is a Carvin SX300(SS) with an additional 4X12 slant cab loaded with Brits. I also have a Peavey Express 112, Fender Champ, Line6 PodXt, Behringer V-Amp2, and Morgan Monroe MAC80. For effects, if not using the V-Amp2 or PodXt, I use a Boss GT-5.

I would have to say I'd replace this unit if lost or stolen.

My only problem is sending patch changes via MIDI from my GT-5...not sure its possible, although I know for a fact the GT-6 can do it.

For home recording this is a great tool to have.

One of the fun things about playing a guitar-synth (from prior experience) is the head trips you lay on the crowd when theres only 2 guitars, 1 bass and drums on stage, but their hearing flute, sax or synth.....this unit has some really good VOX patches that I'm sure will spawn some creativity on my part also.

If you're thinking about getting a guitar synth, and don't want to learn or don't have the time to get into deep editing, this is the cat's meow.

Just be sure to read the manual on the pick-up and follow the instructions to the letter and you're installation will be simple and flawless.

This is a follow-up to my first post, which is the bottom most one on this page.

I've had it for a few months now and am starting to use it in band practice now and perhaps gigs later.

The unit is easy to use, though installation of the included GK3 pickup may not be easy, espcially is you are suing an archtop guitar with a trapeze tailpiece like I am.

Patch editing is minimal - you can change the amount of chorus and reverb as well as attack and delay, but little else. for that reason, it is real easy, but very configurable compared to the GR-33.

I'll give it a 9 for ease of use after installation of the GK3.

Oh yeah, this thing is more of a desktop processor as using it means you have to twirl knobs to go form bank to bank or step through each patch in a bank to get to the next bank.

I plan to use the User section to copy over the 20 or so patches i will use (out of 300+).

It also has MIDI capabilities, which I haven't tried to see if I could get thorugh the banks by foot. I've got a large MIDI pedal which I'll try someday.

you can't change the instrumentation cominbations given like you can with the GR-33. If the ptach gives you a bas on the lower 2 strings and an organ on the upper 4 strings, you can change that to be a violin on the lower 2. Supposedly, you can do that with the GR-33.

OTOH, this unit is almost as easy to use as a Zoom 505-II, but like the Zoom mfx pedal, you are locked into what they give you. Don;t worry, there's enouhg in there to keep you busy for a year.

Tube amp, SS - I use both as needed.

There are 8 or 9 banks of instruments - wind, brass, strings, synth, voices, etc, each with 20-50 patches.

The sound quality is decent and very close to the real thing in some instances like the "Breathy Sax". Most of the sound samples sound digitized, but they sound thta way on th elower end keyboards, too, so what's the dif?

Some patches are noisy, but most aren't.

I like (some of) the organ sounds, bass guitar patches, piano, strings, wind, and synth as they give my gutiar an added dimension that is just not possible even with the best floor based processor (Digitech GNX3, for ex).

I can add violin solos to rock tunes that while they don't sound like a Stradavarius going thoruhg a million dollar sound system, sound like a violin.

Tracking is generally good, though fair at times on some ptaches that seem to lag just a little behind. You can alter the attack and decay to sharpen or soften that feature as needed.

Keep in mind that using other instrument sounds means you have to think in terms of the other instruments and how they would be played. that means mastering a more melodic approach when using strings or a chunkir rhythm apprach when using the organ patches.

didn't liek any fo the guitar-related patchhes - nylon, 12 string, distorted. they all pretty much such, though the nylon can be somewhat useful, I guess.

I'll give it an "8"

Eh, my little plastic Zoom 505-IUI has held up well over gigs, so I expect the GR-20 to do so as well. Some folsk are unhappy it's plastic; not me as I need lighter gear.

At $600, i will not be using a backup, but if the unti did go out,I'd have to rely on my mfx pedal as best I could.

I can't grade the reliability yet, not without trying it live for a year.

I have no idea. i don't usually buy Roland products (hate their amps).

I (try to) play jazz, blues, rock. I bought the thing because I was in a gigging band that needed some keys now and then. then I quit the band (I'm older and had played with them for 3 years) due to a need for change of scenery. Then I jstufued keeping it as i thought I'd get back into jazz, perhaps a duo and add a dimension to that. Then I hooked up with old friends for another rock/blues effort, so I'm shoe-horngin the GR20 into that project.

If I had my 'druthers, I mgith have shot for the Gr-33. I'm not a tinkerer, so the GR-33 scared me as to having to config it. The Gr-20 is real easy - almost too easy as I am seeing a need to control the combination of instrumentation more than i thought I would. Still, if I got the GR-33, I'd probably be unhappy at having top spend too mcuh time programming it, so I'm probably better off with the "idiot gauges" of the GR-20 <g>

I wouldn't say the problem I had was with the GR-20 by itself, it was with the GK3 pickup that came with it. I thought it was a flimsy piece of junk and I never got it to mount correctly to my guitar. I thought the patches were easy to navigate through on the GR-20, and editing was easy

The sound quality was good, the tracking was awful (because of the pickup), and the variety of sounds wasn't there. For the money I thought it lacked versitility. There were a couple of good patches out of each group, but after that it seemed like the same thing over and over again. I mean how many tabla sounding patches do you really need?

Again for the money this was a cheap plastic pickup and a cheap plastic pedal that was not worth it. I was disapointed to say the least

Didn't bother with the manufactor and the retailer Sweetwater jipped me out of $80 in restocking fees.

I have since returned this item but I am staying open to Roland for future purchases. If I had a midi equipped guitar with a good tracking piezo bridge, I would have kept the unit. I thought the hold and slide functions were really cool, and the expression pedal was very useful. If Roland gets more experimental and adds on to some of the cool basic sounds this thing already has and puts it in a metal chassis it would be a winner. If you already have a Brian Moore or a Godin or any other midi triggering guitar, I would reccomend this unit. It has some very useful sounds that will make recording a lot of fun. If you plan on using the provided GK3 pickup I would say forget it.