Roland GR-20

This little gem produces quality right out of the box. There are many ways to alter the waveform and modulation of each patch, but you cant really alter the base tone of the patch. That is probably its only weakness. This thing is a breeze to use.

I am using a roland-ready stratocaster. I run the standard 1/4 inch guitar jack into a Boss GT-10 and the 13 pin synth jack into the GR20.
I use Roland cube monitors on the left and right outputs of the GR20. The sound has incredible depth and separation. I tried using different amps (Line 6 Spider, Cyber-twin,Roland jazz chorus) but the little Roland Cube monitors are the ticket. (Not the roland cube amps, but the cube monitors they are different items.) Using the monitors instead of amps allowed the GT10 and GR20 to keep their rich tones.

This is my third GR20. My first 2 I bought on EBay and they had problems when I got them. I just bought a new one and hopefully it will last a long time. It does feel fragile I wish roland would invest a little more in a sturdier chasis for their great electronics.

I have never dealt with Roland on a personal level.

I play neo-classical and classical-jazz fusion.
I have been playing 32 years and this little unit is my favorite pedal of all time without question. I dont use the pianos, organs, brass etc, as their own sound, but rather use them more like a pad, my guitar signal decays into a hint of a percussion, woodwind, etc. It just gives me this massive beautiful tone. The only thing I dislike is that some of the patches are waste filler patches.
If it were stolen or lost I would have a new one within a week.

I am not a techno guy, but it was easy to set up and get going. I already had a synth ready guitar so that was helpful. Manual is OK.

I have a synth ready Turner Model 1 and play the synth mostly through a Carvin AG1000 amp just because I get a clean sound. I know some use cheap guitars to mount the included split pickup on, but make sure you have a guitar that stays in tune. The Turner is a real luxury and I feel unworthy of it to be honest. Some of the sounds are off the hook, sax and strings in particular, but also some good keyboard sounds. When people see the gorgeous koa Turner guitar and hear the sounds that come out of the Roland, they are really blown away.

Seems good so far, but is still quite new. Probably more trustworthy than the Carvin amp!

No cause for customer support yet.

I play fingerstyle and have for 35 years or so, many genres, and the Roland really opens up a lot of new sounds for me. I experiment with different sounds and songs, and sometimes things just fit well. It is easy to save favorites sounds to the user bank and pull them up for a particular song. It is a luxury and I am not a pro, so probably would not replace it if stolen. Keep in mind this thing hates harmonics, so you cannot be sloppy or too aggressive or you will get all kinds of garbage.

ROLAND has decided to go for a stomp box kind of ease since they know that guitarists are no experts in synth technology.The layout of the controls is...minimalist.Just 2 knobs..one for bank select and one for sound select.Basic FX like reverb,chorus've their own knob so u dont've to surf thru banks of FX.Using this gadget is a no-brainer.
Editing patches is also extremely simple,but keep in mind that they dont offer in depth synthesis.Just utter basics like attack/release,EQ,reverb/delay on a patch.
Please keep in mind that using this gadget demands very clean finger technique.MIDI is unforgiving.it doesnt understand fret noise,muted notes etc.Either its a note or its not.If u use muting,pinch harmonics etc,midi'll just generate some awful junk notes.U'll need to clean up your sloppy finger techniques if u want to get any useful sounds out of it.(there's a bit of a learning curve,but its worth it).
manual is simple and to the point.

I/m using a chinese strat imitation guitar brand called J&D.Its a cheap guitar,but neck is smooth.Guitar's pickups are OK,but in this case,it doesnt matter cos u need to use roland GK pickup as input into GR20.this gadget is totally noise free!(even considering that i use a cheap local made guitar amp).BIG PLUS POINT:The internal synth sounds are surely mind boggling.they open up an endless ocean of creativity.Orchestral,ethnic,pad sounds really stand out as flawless.guitarists please keep this in mind:Sounds such as sitar,sax,violin r unbelievably realistic,but please dont try to shred on these patches.U r supposed to imitate those instruments techniques if u want any realistic results.
FX:As i already mentioned,u dont really've a wide range of FX in this gadget.Roland has assumed that most guitarists already've FX units,so they've focused on giving u the raw synth sounds.U can process the output of GR20 wit an FX box if u like.The reverb/delay FX in this unit r too simple but atleast usable.the only control u've is more/less of rev/dly.There r no internal controls over rvb room type or dry/wet.EQ is also very basic.Just a cutoff & resonance control.
REALLY COOL:This gadget has midi out,so u can play external synths/sequencer software synhs thru it.This measn the possibilities are endless!

Lemme warn u that this gadget is made of plastic.it surely wont sustain ruf use on stage like stomping on it.The glide/hold pedals look really weak.I'm scared to even wear shoes when i'm using the exp/glide/hold pedals.This thing is very delicate.considering the money i paid for it,i look after it with a lot of care,so its safe in my hands.But any rock/metal guitarists would stomp it into the ground in no time.

havent needed it so far.

I/m quite diverse in my music styles.played rock/metal for a no of years,got tired of it,moved into flamenco & indian classical for a while.Ever since guitar acquired midi capability wit GR20,i've moved heavily into electronic music like trance,rave,techno etc.midi is a whole new world for me so i'm tripping on all its features!i've been playing for 8 years,have a zoom 707II also.
i love: the endless creative possibilites this opens up for me in terms of sounds,the arrangement possibilites wit midi & the chance to drive people crazy when i'm live.Crowd goes mad when they hear all kinds of electronic sounds coming out of a guitar.
i hate:LATENCY ISSUES:the tracking on 1,2,3,4 strings re perfect.U can go upto 140 bpm(16th notes) with no issues,but u get some funny unintended notes beyond that.this is gud enuff.But the latency on 5th & 6th strings is so bad that its unusable.(manual says that its a law of physics that it takes a long time to detect pitch of bass notes,so its not a defect.)In any case,u almost cant play any melodies on lower strings,so m a bit grumpy bout that.
When using midi out to drive an external synth,there's a small delay.usually u wont notice it cos synth sounds r not exactly meant for shredding,but its annoying when it misses so many notes when u play 16th notes at even 120 bpm.So i just end up using texture pad/arpeggiated trance sounds on which u cant make out any delay.
Compared it to axon ax100.Inspite of all its 'great reviews',its more expensive than gr20.Also,there's no way axon could beat roland in sound realism.however,axon might've low latency as a +point.
Guitarists,pls explore the amazing world of midi! it'll make u a better songwriter,arranger.U'll also develop better finger technique as midi guitar is unforgiving.

Very little is menu driven. Most of the unit's features are controlled by real knobs and switches like the stomp boxes of the 70's. Most of the patches are quite satisfactory in their original state, so editing is not a big issue for me; tweaking the parameters is an easy process, however.

The manual is comprehensive and easy to follow. There are no glitches so commonly seen when there has been a translation from another language.

The samples and sound quality are very good. For me, however, the least realistic patches are the guitars. Players have to keep in mind the nature of the instruments they are imitating; if you set it for piccolo and play power chords, it's going to sound a little weird. I consider myself to be a pretty klutzy player, but I've experienced very few unwanted sounds. Individual string sensitivity and "play feel" settings can accomodate all playing techniques.

The first one out of the carton did not pick up the B string. The retailer (Sam Ash) immediately replaced it and the second unit is flawless.

A telephone inquiry with a Roland technician prior to purchase was very productive.

I'm using it with a guitar that has the Roland pickup built in, so installation error was not a factor. I feel that any perceived latency problems can be corrected with changes in the attack setting. All in all, it's a great toy that delivers reliable, professional effects.

Hear GR20 samples on tribute site - myspace\kimcarnesmutantdoppler
GR20 is a GREAT TOY, and has some good synth sounds that are a BLAST to thicken, add texture for an impressive WALL OF SOUND. I was immediately able to add piano on GR-20 guitar synth on one song. Since piano chords are constucted differently than guitar chords, the sound is a bit different, but GR-20 adds spice. You can stream the midi into Cakewalk Sonar to change or add 1 or more layers using favored soundfonts or DXi / VST sounds or effects.

A COMPLAINT is that the cord curls up into knots within 30 minutes. Embossed black legends on the black plastic case are hard to read.
GR20 has 5-pin DIN-5 midi ports but lacks USB midi port.

Tip - Set the unit to ALWAYS transmit in poly mode (all notes on 1 channel. Why? Although GR-20 synth output handles note bends OK in mono (6-channel mode), the streaming midi output note duration
and bends is inaccurate and unusable for recording (and probably also unusable to sending to an external synth). By contrast, the streaming midi from poly mode has accurate note duration tracking, and although omits note bends, poly mide streaming midi is usable for recording, for layering sounds in Cakewalk Sonar, or routing to an external synth. I found Piano - Patch 4 (in poly mode) gives the most accurate streaming midi, which I was able to layer sounds during live performance in Cakewalk Sonar (and presumably would also work OK for an external synth). Streaming midi for midi recording or for layering live performance tracks works much better in poly mode, despite lacking note bends, because the streaming midi note duration data is far more accurate in poly mode.

I like over 20 of the GR20 patches. GR20 has several impressive lead synth, keyboard, brass and wind sounds. The Sax samples are superb.

Using GR20 at a gig is a bit dicey. You must adjust your style (avoid fast changes, also, GR20 does not like harmonics), find a setup that gives good sound without GR20 tracking errors and squeals
(use Poly mode), and then remember what patches go with what songs (use GR20 user bank).

When dialing in a new patch, you must adjust volume, chorus etc to get a proper sound. This problem is avoided by storing the corrected patch in the user bank, which automatically saves and loads the
revised presets whenever the user patch is retrieved.

A major advantage of the GR20 is to correct guitar tuning. Fender strats whammy bar are notorious for shifting strings slightly out of tune, but GR20 keyboard patches are superb in correcting that problem. GR20 Keyboard patches automatically shift notes to the correct semitone which gives perfect pitch and intonation, which is crucial for getting the best result. Using a GR20 keyboard patch-4 in poly mode, the streaming midi with perfect note pitch can be passed on to layer new patches in Cakewalk Sonar or an ext synth for live performance, midi recording, audio recording, or re-amping with new patches and effects.

I used GR20 as an external synth driven by Cakewalk Sonar and found that Cakewalk Sonar can drive several tracks onto 1 Gr20 patch (only 1 GR20 patch can be played at a time from GR-20 Midi In Port).

Very easy to use as a standalone and also as a VST softsynth controller.

This is the key point of my review here. Everybody keeps saying "the unit is terrible as a PC softsynth controller". Well, let me tell you that THEY ARE WRONG! To all of you people who keep saying this, try exercising this simple techniquet - try changing the patch on the unit! Yes, it's just that simple. Once you set the GR-20 to a patch that is SUPPOSED to play legato, hammer-ons, etc, - for example any horn or string patch - you will have all of the control you could ever ask for. Duh. Don't believe me, e-mail me and I will send you links to samples of my playing.

Also, you can also try adjusting the string sensitivity. Each string can be set to 6 dferent levels of sensitivity. I have mine set on the highest for the top four strings, and the aecond-highest sensitivity for the bottom two strings, and I get SUPERB control from the unit as a softsynh controller.

If you ae a real guitarist who is able to control his/her instrument, you will have no problems in any of these areas. My guess is, if you are a casual/hobbyist guitarist who tends to strum as much as you pick, you won't get the most out of this instrument. Fingerstylists and accurate plectrum users will. And I don't mean that you have to be John Williams or Paul Gilbert, either.

Sounds range from average to good to superb. There are limited but excellent electric piano and B3 organ tones. Horn and reed patched are good to excellent. Single-note string patches (violin, cello) are a little weak. Double-bass patch is excellent.

Other than the unit is mostly made of hard plastic, so would not withstand being fallen on by some heavy gear (so don't let it get fallen on!) it is sturdily constructed and solid.

As poor as has been stated. "On page XX of the manual, it says..."

I don't think this unit performs any worse than the Axon. I have watched many of the Youtube videos that demostrate the performance abilities of the GR-20 and the Axon 100, and it is obvious after watching them that their performance is comparable in terms of tracking and latency. The only area the Axon outperforms the GR-20 would be in bridge-to-neck string assignments, which is truly a unique and interesting feature.

easy to edit.poor when using external sound modules.the gr1 was very easyto set to external modules.

This is the weak point on the gr20.roland seems to go for number of sounds instead of quality of sound.The saxs,accordian and violin are good.The organs,horns and most of the other sounds are not usable on stage.

I have used many roland products most where very reliable.I still have two gr1's.both have problems,was told by roland that it was my guitar. I now have three midi guitars all have the same problem on the gr1's no problem with the gr20

If you own two units with the same problem this is most likley a disgn flaw. if so admit it

big band,country,rock&roll and gospel.Started playin in the 50's rock&roll.Play dances gospel on stage for the last 35 years. I have 4 guitars old fender strat ovation and breed love all are midi.I use the ketron x4 and korg pa50 for backup via midi pedals.The gr20 is ok for the price, If stolen would opt for the gi20

The GR-20 is definitely easy to use if you are exploring the patches for the first time. The Aptch Link feature is of great help to change patches in a live situation, but I wonder what would happen to those without a good MIDI pedal board. I miss the bank/patch buttons of my GR-1. But ot os true that, once you installed the GK-3, sounds came easy.

I based my rating considering two factors: basic sounds and "new" sounds. Basic patches are quite good, and even better for certain patches, like the smoke sax. Tracking is a real improvement over the GR-1. In fact it is so much better that I can ever use drums and percussion pads in real time, with no extra care on playing. But in some areas I am still looking... Rhodes pianos aren't there and I like the fretless bass on my GR-1 better. I guess Roland was not looking for the best sound, but for the "best for the buck" here. Now about the "new" sounds: If you are looking for original sounds, forget it. The lack of real editing wont allow you to came down with the killer patch. I guess I would keep my GR-1 for the new patches.

Don't have any real experience here, my unit is new. But, considering my old Roland equipment is working without a glitch (GR-1, GP-16, D-110, JV-880, and even a W-30) I bet this one will be the same.

Never use it. But if manuals came into this section, boy... I wonder if there is any real musician involved in those texts...

I play mostly rock, and some progressive, so probably a third of the sounds are quite useable (a big number, by any standard). I have been using guitar synths for the past 15 years. Although tracking has improved, I was expecting a little more from this unit. Probably it is perfect for those musicians looking for basic sound mimicing, and those who doesn't like to dive into synth programming. I am not a synth programmer specialist, but I would like to have some room for exploring. I would buy it again, but I am not getting rid of my GR-1.

I'm a total synth idiot. Tried in vain to get good sounds from soft synths for recording, and despite my early years of piano lessons, I'm a guitarist at heart.

The GR-20 couldn't be any simpler to get a GREAT sound from. There are over 400 stock patches that cover everything I'd ever want to use live and recorded. So easy to dial in. Just turn two knobs. And the MIDI setup for use with my POD X3 Live was a piece of cake.

Manual and quick start guides are great. Patch editing is limited, but it really gives me only what I need to edit. This is a synth for a guitarist that doesn't understand programming synth sounds.

Amazing. The piano sounds alone are worth the price of admission. Very convincing. I especially like the blended sounds of strings or horns with the pianos. Organs are very, very good. Strings and pads are just awesome. I have to keep reminding myself that this is a guitar synth.

I give this an 8 because the brass and winds really leave something to be desired, but I have to say, I do enjoy the distorted blues harp. Didn't have a way to get that sound before for a song. Now I do, and it isn't bad.

All in all, it contains every synth sound I would ever need. I mostly use pianos, organs, string and pads. But the synth lead sounds are great too.

Tracking...not bad at all. The key here is to be very careful about installing and adjusting the pickup. Be sure to do it exactly as the manual states. I have almost no perceptible latency with mine. I'm wondering if what some people are calling latency might in fact be the attack time on the patch.

It is made of plastic, except for the metal bottom. And the cable, while it looks sturdy enough, you should always have a backup. I put mine in a custom case to protect it during transport. Don't plan on stepping on it much because I control it from another unit, but under normal usage, it should last.

I play in both an 80's Hair type band and also do praise and worship music. Been playing 20+ years and use a couple of Line6 POD X3's and an Atomic Reactor 212-50, depending on which band I'm with.

I installed the GK-3 pickup on my Schecter C-1 Classic using the Les Paul bracket for the pickup and the strap button mounting bracket for the controller. Perfect fit on that guitar. Didn't even have to modify my guitar case (a hard RoadRunner case from Guitar Center).

One thing I would have liked to see come with it would have been a better cable for the magnetic pickup input. Something with a right angle jack. Not a huge problem at all, just go to the store and spend a couple of bucks for a nice one. Makes the whole setup look neatly done.

One thing to remember about getting the most from the unit is not to play your guitar like a guitar. Play it like the instrument you are emulating with the synth. Play chord inversions that are common on the piano, play piano rhythms, etc. Also, play within the register of the instrument. A flute is going to sound silly played up on your 24th fret. Won't sound like a flute at all.

All in all, aside from the Line6 PODs that I've bought over the years, this synth is probably the next most versatile piece of gear I have now. It makes me into more than just a guitarist. Now I can go to the bands and offer keys for songs that we just weren't able to do before.

This unit is designed for ease of use.Read the manual. Set up of the GK-3 pick up is crucial. Use the supplied feeler gage. Once your guitar is set up,even a string change should be no big thing.

Here is where I distance myself from the rest of these reviews. OK, you purchase a guitar synth so you can duplicate piano, organ, horns, etc... Have you ever seen a piano player running into a guitar amp? That's right, you now need a good full range PA to duplicate your orchestra. Your Marshall stack was designed for guitar, not a flugal horn. Running this unit into a quality PA produces accurate tones of the selected instruments. I use this in live gigs with nothing but compliments.

Never had a problem. Unit is high impact plastic. So far so good

Haven't had the no pleasure.......

Our band does a number of Doors, Stones, etc... The sax patches are killer as are the sitar and acoustic guitars.
A little pricey but the dimension it will add to your music makes it well worth it.

Considering there are not many options for using this thing, it is pretty simple to get it up and going out-of-the-box with very little setup. This is a good thing for getting going but a bad thing if you need advanced options. The thin manual covers pretty much everything you can do with the GR-20.

Not bad. there are a few good sounds. However, there are no advanced options for layering sounds or editing sounds beyond the most basic parameters. I had hoped for some nice synth lead sounds for jazz fusion improvising ala Jan Hammer, Chic Corea, Jay Oliver, George Duke...

There are some nice sax sounds and keyboard sounds. If you want to expand the sounds further by using this thing as an external MIDI controller, look somewhere else. This thing works well on the patches in the unit but is the worst controller on the market. It sends pitch bend data at +-24 and unless your synth allows you to change this you will get terrible response from the GR-20. No pitch bend, no slides, no hammer-ons... Not good.

I have only had it a couple of months, so I can't comment on this.

Email support is like sending your email off into cyber-space where it will never return. Phone support is a bunch of guys with the manual saying thing like "Well, it says on page 24 that it does this..."

I guess this is about as good a guitar systhesis is going to get after 20+ years. It looks like it will never touch keyboards for tracking anaccuracy. You have to play very cleanly to get this thing to work well. Even then it can be a challenge.

This a follow-up to my 11/05/2007 review in which I had "no opinion" regarding customer service. This has since become an important issue for me and I wanted to post on this matter for the benefit of others.

Still fine, except that the guitar and mandolin patches are extremely bad with no possibility for firmware upgrades to improve them. Shame on Roland for that. The pickup has been mounted as precisely as possible, but some patches still track very poorly.

It has not failed to work or malfunctioned in any way.

This is where I want to comment: I have sent so many email messages to Roland Backstage I truly cannot remember how many I have sent, and have yet to receive a response of any kind. So, based on my experience and that of others who have reviewed this product, there IS APPARENTLY NO ROLAND SUPPORT for the GR-20, so for Pete???s sake, don???t buy one of these expecting to ever hear back from them. You are on your own!

I use it, but not as useful as I had hoped. An expensive toy.

All has really been said about this unit, I just want to add a tip. I bought the GR-20 not as much for the use with my guitar as for the sounds themselves. I connect the GR-20 to my synthesizer (Yamaha SY-85, SY-22) and use the GR-20 as a "sound-box". No latency and perfect pitch. I still use it with my guitar aswell, and it works fine, exept for that annoying latency, especially on E and A strings.

this is a very simple pedal to operate just twist a couple of dials and you can get pritty much any sound you want, there is a patch list in the manual which you may need as there are over 400 different sounds.

for setting up your own settings on sounds there are many different thing you can change, the hold type, the function the glide(pitch effect)button and the exspresstion pedals function, there are also dials for attack, relaese, delay/revurb and chorus.

the reason i marked this 9 was the gk3 pickup it very irritating to install as you have to make shure it is the right distance from the strings, the manual is very helpful and tells you everything you need to know

i use this through a marshall avt50 the sounds are brilliant, you can get anything you want from deep synth sounds to banjo. the sounds are designed to respond in a simalar way to the instroment there mimicing, the piano sounds are all cromatic which mean if you do a bend it will jump pitch rather than graduly bending into pitch, like a real piano.

many of the sounds i cant see anybody using on stage and are there for novelty value but many of the sounds are very useable and mixing them with your guitars tone can get some very intersing sounds, try playing clean with the string sounds or with plenty of gain and a modulation synth sound the possibilities are endless.

well built dials and buttons, a very sturdy expression pedal and solid metal casing make this pedal very dependable for gigging. iv spilt beer on it and it still works like the day it came out the box, take care of it and it will last you a good ten years with no problems

never had the misfortune of dealing with roland the way this built i never will

this is one of the best guitar synths on the market, if you set the gk-3 up right you wont get any tracking problems i use 8 gauge strings and iv had none. the sounds are fantastic, its built like a brick shit house and its as easy to use as your basic guitar amp.

addmitedly only a certain guitar players will want to use this as it is just a keyboard controlled by your guitar, but if you want to add a edge to your playing and have a different sound to your useual guitar player look no further, this pedal is brilliant i recoment that all guitar players should at least cheack this out it realy opens up new musical idears.

This thing is super easy to use. I mounted the included pickup on one of my Strats. I removed the strings to make it easier, as they suggested. Just center the pickup under the strings and mark the screw holes with a pen, then mount it after you take the strings off. Simple.

Changing patches, etc. is very straightforward. The best thing to do is load the ones you use most often into the User bank, then you can save your edits, etc. Plus, you'll have an easier time remembering which patch number corresponds to which sound if you have them set up the way you like within the User bank.

Manual was very good and easy to understand. It is very important to adjust the sensitivity of each string for consistent output. Just follow the instructions, it's easy.

The big sticking point of these things is the latency when triggering sounds. This is inherent to the technology and there is no way around it. I actually measured the latency by recording straight guitar signal to one track, and various other synth patches to another track, and then measuring the latency offset of the note attack. The latency of the low E string is about 70 milliseconds; the high E string is about 28 milliseconds. The way to offset this is to transpose the patch by an octave, and use the first 3 or 4 strings for your sounds. Also, if you are using it for recording, just record a dry guitar track along with the synth track, and adjust the waveform in your multitrack software to offset the latency by using the dry guitar track as a guide. It's really simple and will tighten up your mix.

No noise noticed. Nice, clean digital synth sounds. Yes, the Sax and Organ sounds are what sold me on this unit.

The effects are very basic. You cannot adjust the delay time, only the repeats, and the reverb and chorus are very rudimentary.

I am using this with a Fender Strat. Do not mount the pickup on any old guitar you have laying around; if the guitar does not have good sustain acoustically, or has fret buzz, etc. then your synth sounds and tracking will suffer greatly. Use a decent guitar. In my studio, I am running it through a mixer and out through my studio monitors. Live, I run it into a Crate Powerblock power amp and into a full range Peavey PA speaker.

I have been using Roland/Boss stuff for years and have never had a failure. No worries. Yes, I'd use it without a backup.

Never had to contact Roland. They have a great website with all documentation, tip sheets and manuals readily available. You can even register your product on line instead of filling out the warranty card. Cool.

I play many styles of rock from thrash metal to jazz fusion. I bought this unit so that I could retire from going through the pain of learning to play various keyboard parts for my recordings. I'm a guitar player since 1975, not a keyboardist, but love having those sounds on my tunes. Using the guitar to trigger these sounds is a blessing.

The latency issues can be worked around by time correcting them in your multitrack. Live, it actually sounds pretty cool, particularly when you play your guitar in unison with the synth. When Jan Hammer and Jeff Beck play a unison part, they are not perfectly in sync with each other. If they were, it would sound like a robot playing. The inherent latency adds a more realistic element when playing unison parts. Many of the pads and orchestral patches have a volume swell built into the attack, so you don't really notice a few milliseconds of latency.

I didn't compare this to any other products. For the price, this is the only game in town, unless you buy a used GR-33. I wish it displayed the patch name instead of just a number, but once you save your favorites to the User bank, memorizing them is a snap. I have found this to be a great compositional tool, as the different sounds lend themselves to different musical styles, ones that you may not normally play with. It is helping to push my creativity into new directions.

Bought this and was assured that it wouldn't take much to set up. Imagine how relieved I was to find that this was the case.

The pick-up itself was on and adjusted nicely within 10-15 minutes but the real time and effort, or should I say the real fun, was in putting my sounds together. I basically went through each and every one of the sounds on the whole machine, making notes of the location (bank and number) of every sound I thought I'd need / use. I later copied them to the user bank and started editing them.

The trick seemed to be setting the right sensitivity (st) and balancing out the volumes across all patches. I also set the expression pedal to be my volume pedal for all patches (more later).

Manual was great: simple enough for when you've just got it out the box and want to sound good immediately. but also in depth enough to tinker once you're more comfortable with the system as a whole.

Most of this has been said so far but I'll sum it up if I can: yes, the guitar sounds are largely useless, but if you want to sound like a guitar, try using the guitar itself, you know, that thing your new synth is attached to???

Yes, the breathy sax is great, but like someone already said, the most amazing sounds on here will be the ones you'll struggle to find a reason to use. Clarinet, steel drums, xylophone, accordion, glock, didgeridoo loop, etc don't always lend themselves to your classic pop / rock covers band - but then again that's not what I do and for my show, this is the absolute perfect tool.

No worries with the sounds. Play your usual chops with bends, pull offs and etc and you'll get the odd problem, approach the thing like you'd approach the actual instrument (play within a certain range, don't bend piano notes etc) and you'll be fine.

Three years down the line and never had a second of bother with the main unit. Stupidly put my guitar in a soft case ONCE and smashed the knob on the pick-up (my mate got me a replacement from a poweramp someone was throwing out at work).

Always gig without a back up. Would call in sick at work the next morning to go and buy another one as soon as possible if it ever broke.

n/a

I play in a comedy trio with a drummer and an acoustic guitarist / singer / comedian. We do comedy songs (a la Bill Bailey) and although some of our 're-worked versions of classics' are more obviously meant to be funny than others, we do some songs quite normally and use this beauty to help us with that.

Our version of My Girl has slower brushed drums, a chorused guitar with strings mixed into the background, our version of the Who's Squeezebox has the banjo in the background and often the sounds come in handy to add a bit of variety to a 3-piece set-up e.g. the accordion in Irish songs and the strings / keyboards to fill gaps in slower numbers.

In terms of the comedy aspects, I use the flute for the whistle in Always Look on The Bright Side of Life, the B5 type organ for a blues parody, the steel drums for a reggae parody, the glockenspiel for a door bell effect during a joke we do, the didgeridoo loop as ambient backing during a longer joke about two Australians, the banjo for a 3 second clip of Duelling Banjos to end a joke about the inbred family at the wedding we played recently, and the xylophone works brilliantly for a version of King of The Swingers.

We do jokes and routines including 'Name That Tune' which use the bass (Mission Impossible, Under Pressure, Grease: Summer Loving, Another One Bites The Dust), the clarinet (Pink Panther, Strangers On The Shore), the brass (Spanish Flea, The opening Rocky Theme / Fanfare) and more, and this really is the heart and soul of the musical side of our show.

This doesn't mean that the sounds can't be used seriously. Like I said above, I happily use the accordion, strings, piano, organs, banjo, bass and a whole host of other stuff in a serious 'I want this to sound good' setting and have even guested with a local blues band using the brass and keyboards to do stuff like Midnight Hour, Mustang Sally etc.

I've seen a few reviews elsewhere and a few people saying that this really isn't a live performance device, but be realistic with it, use it in the right context and play the thing in an intelligent way and it's absolutely amazing.

My first guitar synth ever. I'm 58 and been playing popular music for 45 years.
Actually, the GR-20 is among the easiest guitar toys to use and program I've ever owned. Saving patches in the user area is DEFINITELY the easiest ever. Setting the sensitivity was easy. Setting "Play Feel" is a little tougher, primarily because the pickup must be installed exactly right and the sensitivity must be set correctly. Regardless, the play feel setting is set different from patch to patch, and I think it can be very subjective.
Detailed tweaking of the actual voices of the patches is not an available feature, but I don't mind that. Not for the money I paid.

This is where my review will differ from the others. Other reviewers don't mind the fact that the guitar patches are quite poor. They don't track well either. In my opinion, if the VG Strat and Line 6 Variax pioneer of guitar synths do likewise? I cannot imaging any excuse for this. That complaint laid aside, all the other patches are very realistic. The flutes, harmonicas, and keyboards are just downright spooky good. Horns are pretty good too. The Gr-20 needs a better "rock" tenor sax patch for things like Delbert tunes. I score low on sound quality because Roland has let the upstarts steal the show in the guitar patch area. Evenb more curious, Roland designed the guts to the VG strat!
The unit is quiet. I run it through a Mesa nomad 45. My 82 ESP strat is the synth guitar is use. I did not have to deface my guitar to install the GK-3.

I have no concerns about reliability.

The jury is still out on this. I sent an email awhile back to customer support that still has not been returned.

Let me first further explain my gripe regarding "no good guitar patches": If the GR-20 had good electric guitar patches I would do less dancing on my pedalboard because I could assign guita patches (if it had clean/compressed Strat, LP on rear pickup thru a JTM 45 set on 8, etc.) to my midi pedal and just fly between them without having to reach back and throw the GK-3 selector switch and push buttons on my pedalboard. Just one example, for instance: On Neil Young's "Old Man" I use the 5 string banjo patch (incredible!) but then have to reach back and switch to straight electric and punch my compression pedal to do the slide up at the chorus. Sometimes I don't make it. If there was a steel guitar patch on the GR-20 I would have no problem. Also, sometimes I'm playing a distorted lead through my Mesa and need to switch to horns. I have to go to the amp's clean channel first, yada, yada, you get the picture.

It took less than 10 minutes to unpack and setup the GR-20 to work with my GK-3 equipped Epi Les Paul. The GR-20's string sensitivity adjustment is much easier than the AX-100 method. The negative, the AX-100 can be setup for four separate guitars (8 with the new firmware)--the GR-20 only stores settings for one guitar, so you must recalibrate it for each guitar you play.

The manual is short and sweet and covers the GR-20 features and configurations very well. The GR-20 is a dumbed down unit, and thus lazy folks like me should find it quite user-friendly and easy to setup and use.

Patch editing is simple, unfortunately, there is not much to modify.

By way of comparison, I also own the Axon AX-100, considered by many as the best guitar to midi converter available. Though it was relatively easy to setup, the GR-20 is even easier.

Internal Sounds
I have not had time to work through all of the sounds, but the pianos, organs, strings, brass, and wind instruments sound great. They are significantly better than the throw-in internal sounds of the Axon.

I have read that the unit is noisy. Not mine. Evidently, some are , some are not. However, like all effects boxes and synths, you want to make sure you don't have ground loops and the like. All my boxes get clean AC from a power conditioner.

I run the L/R outs into a Mackie mixer and send that to my recording interfaces and a SLP power amp with PA speakers. Sounds great.

Tracking and Note Recognition
For my style of playing (bare finger fingerpicking) the GR-20 tracks just as well as the AX-100. It keeps up with my fastest alternate picking as well. Shredders may reach its limitations, but frankly, shredding and most synth sounds are not a great combination.

External Synths
I connected the GR-20 to my Yamaha S03 synth and it triggered perfectly well. I could sense a slight amount of latency, but certainly not a show stopper. I had both the GR and S03 outputs in the mix and they sounded perfectly in sync with each other.

The one negative is the GR-20 pitch bend range is fixed at 24 semi-tones (two octaves). That's great for its high granularity/resolution, but my S03 patches range from 0 to 12. Thus I have to set each S03 patch to PB range of 24. I knew this going in, but wish the GR allowed a flexible PB range or a chromatic option.

Sure, I would (will) depend on it. Just don't toss it in the back of the van unprotected.

I called Roland/Boss several times before purchasing and had no difficulty getting a hold of real human being that knew what he/she was talking about. Plus, my dealer, Sweetwater.com, stands behind everything they sell.

I recently purchased the Axon AX-100 from Sweetwater. According to most reviews, it is the best guitar to midi converter available. And I agree, it works very well. However, it is not (for me) very portable. So, I took a chance and purchased the Roland GR-20 through Craig Wilson at Sweetwater.

I say chance, because there are quite a few reviews that state the GR-20 tracks noticeably slower than the AX-100 (especially on the lower strings) and does not trigger external synths as well.

After owning and playing both, I believe most guitarists would be perfectly happy with the tracking, note recognition, and external synth triggering of the GR-20. Can't wait to play this unit live!

I definitely would buy this unit again, and frankly, probably would not have purchased the Axon if I had known the GR-20 performs as well as it does. Of course the Axon has a 1/2 dozen cool features not found on the GR-20 (layering, arpeggio, pick/string splitting, etc.), but those are features I would use more live and the Axon just is not as portable as the GR-20.

It takes a fair amount of time to audition all of the patches available but moving your favorites to the user bank is easy enough.

I use the GR-20 to fill in quite a wide variety of pads, licks, and accompanyment. Going just by the display (numbers) can get confusing in the heat of the moment, especially when impromptu playing.

Be sure and keep a copy of the patch list (from the Roland site) in your gig bag for future reference. A cheat sheet taped to the pedal board has been handy too when dialing in impromptu patches.

Nothing's worse than bringing up the wrong patch...

Prior comments are pretty much on...

Having a variety of picks helps. I keep a bunch of the 0.38 flimsy Dunlop picks or in a bind, will use a matchbook cover as a pick for some of the more "delicate" voices (i.e. flute soloing).

Sometimes, simply the pulloff will trigger a note which could be very inappropriate if you're providing solos or accents. You can either practice your technique for these but sometimes, slapping on a capo to the correct fret so that the pulloff will produce a compatible (root, harmonic, whatever) sound is a quicker and safe way to proceed. The pads are sufficiently broad to occupy the sonic space.

I don't use it's stringed instruments for lead sounds but as a backing to the guitar. This has been alot simpler than getting lead quality sounds for the stringed instruments (which earlier posts observed as a GR-20 shortcoming). Works well...

Prior posts suggested using a keyboard monitor. Didn't have one so I sort of cheated:

For most playing, I run the GR-20 into a Fender Acoustasonic Jr. DSP amp. It's a dual amp so one channel gets the synth signal and the other channel gets the guitar feed from the GR-20 (after running through the pedel chain). The amp with it's tweeters and ambience effects complement the synth outputs well.

The better way to play is to send both L/R synth outputs to the Acoustasonic (adjusting the ambience for each channel separately) for a broader sound and run the guitar out through the pedal chain and into (in my case) a Fender Princeton Reverb II. I'll drag this rig out for special events where I've enough setup time.

On stage in smaller venues, you can place these amps apart and really fill the room nicely.

Earlier posts warned of it's plastic construction. I concur...

In the moment once, I really stood on mind and could feel/hear plastic giving way. It was a scary moment. Also, the jacks in the rear weren't as secure as I would've liked for all the setup and teardowns a week the unit had to go through.

Fixed both by sticking the GR-20 on a dual level pedal board (22" x 44"?) -- The cables in the rear working loose have no longer been a problem and the upper deck is such that I can't carelessly stomp on the GR-20 pedal, rather approach it with a bit more control.

Been solid since...

This is not a review for Roland - We all know about them. This is a plug for the place I bought the GR-20 and that would be Danny's Guitar Hacienda in League City, Texas.

The folks at Danny's have been nothing short of friendly and helpful to area players over the years I've visited them (And there's a G-C down the road to boot) Every town should have a place like Danny's.

Manny got me an incredible deal on the unit as it was to replace a stolen Marshall. I believe we're well beyond even see below).

Few have done so much to help me improve as a player.

Been quite a ride...

Had a Marshall stolen and about that time, our keyboard player was thinking of moving on so I picked up the GR-20 to replace the Marshall and to fill in the pad the keyboard player provided. That was about three years and alot of GAS ago.

Following prior advice, I stuck the pickup on a cheap instrument (my Ibanez strat clone) and found that my better sounding setups not getting any use -- A wierd frustration. Fixed that by picking up a synth ready Godin Fireway SA (though the Fender synth ready Strat was a close second).

Got a bit tired of playing electric guitar out of the acoustic amp. It wasn't bad but it was solid state. So I fixed that by picking up a Fender Princeton Reverb II for the guitar feed.

Wasn't pleased with all the setups / teardowns on the plastic unit so I built a huge pedal board. Made the mistake of building such a large one that I simply *had* to fill the spots with more pedals.

Despite all of the above, things have honestly worked out musically well. Even my wife likes what she's hearing and throughout all of this, there's a GR-20 somewhere in the middle...

I bought it on ebay and everything was in good shape. I had the local music shop install the GK3 pickup on my PRS Custom 22. The plate wouldn't work with my bridge and I didn't want to tape it since it's harder to adjust and maintain. They did it in 2 or 3 hours.
I think I have software version 1. Version 2 is an update for bass support, so I'm not worried about it.

The controls and layout are very user friendly by any standards. I played the old GR-1 back in the day and that thing had a learning curve. The manual is helpful surprisingly. I wanted to hook up the GR-20 to my computer so I can play Absynth and had no trouble whatsoever. I expected it to be more complicated...go figure!!! Patch editing is easy but not very deep but not a concern given what I will say about the sound quality in the next section.

I talk about the sounds later, but the biggest barrier for guitar synths has always been with tracking. The GR-20 isn't so bad actually. I haven't played the GR-1 in well over 5 years now, but the Gr-20 is definetly an improvement. After reading some articles and playing with it for a few days, I have to agree with the consensus that you do have to adjust your playing a little and realize some of the sounds are not appropriate to "shred" with...even if playing a keyboard. If you set it up properly and play with precision, you can play just about anything. Remember, you are no longer playing "guitar" and you are playing guitar synthesizer. Dynamics are different regardless of tracking. With that said, tracking isn't perfect nor can you expect it to be, but I'll go on the record as saying the tracking is good using the GR-20 by itself or with soft synths..

Ok. As far as the sounds in the GR-20 go, I wish I had nice things to say. Unfortunately, the patches seem to serve the purpose of showing that " hey look, I can play synth sounds on my guitar". Flutes and trumpets etc sound ok, but I have little use for that. In the modern era of advance synthesis, these patches are a joke and I can't imagine any serious keyboard player using and especially basing their rig around these sounds. That being the case, why would anyone settle for them.

I originally bought the GR-20 assuming that I would use it by itself and just mess around with it hooked into my computer. I expected latency using Absynth, etc, but this turned out not to be the case. After being very disappointed with the sounds and discouraged in general about incorporating cool synth sounds in my rig, I decided to try hooking it into my computer. Let me say, it was a whole different world. No noticeable latency and the sounds on Absynth and Rapture are amazing to say the least and so much fun to play with and actually useable. I'm sure most of you that played these programs know this, but it still rings true when using it thru a Gr-20.

Right now, I'm in the process of rack mounting my home PC and adding it to my guitar rig. Ableton Live can be used for guitar and or synth looping in a live setting, it can host vst synths, and has amazing effects to add to your soft synth..or guitar I suppose if you wanted to.

I have an AMD X2 4200 processor with 4 gigs of RAM for those of you who may want to try this. Using a few effects in Ableton Live 6 with Absynth uses about 10% of my CPU which leaves alot of headroom! I have the buffer size all the way down to 64 samples too!

No foreseeable problem and see no need for a back-up. If there was a for a back up processor, etc for fear of it crashing, I'd be looking for something else that u don't have to worry about.

N/A so I'll give them a 10.

I play hard rock mainly, but play almost everything. I've been interested in electronic/computer music lately which is why I've been interested in guitar synths. I've played guitar for over 15 years now. I play a PRS Custom 22 thru a Diezel VH4 head with one open back and one closed back Mesa cabinet. My effects are a Mutronics Mutator (hooked into a Boss Line selector), TC G-System, EHX Big Muff Pi, EHX HOG, a custom Dunlop Wah pedal (roger mayer upgrade enclosed in a dunlop hi/lo volume pedal with a custom led and on/off switch), the Gr-R-20, and now my computer with a M-Audio sound card.

I'm 55, playing rock since I was 12 and new to midi. This thing is great. I came home after buying this thing, stuck on the pickup and plugged it in and out came the most amazing sounds. There really isn't much editing of the sounds, but there are some great ones in there. I look at it like this is for a midi rookie that wants to use it without a long learning curve. Manual is ok, but it leaves a few things out. I have not updated to the bass version and I probably won't.

Smokie sax is unreal, as soon as the rest of the band heard it, it was being used in several places. Voices, horns, organs, pianos, all just amazing, but as you read this you have to remember I'm new at this.

I ended up doing a hard mount on my Parker Nitefly, the pickup is too tall for a clean mount on that guitar and my action suffered; had to cut the pickguard. I made an amp out of a VOX 2-12 combo amp box, Crown DC75 power, Crate acoustic preamp, and a pair of Emenance 12's with horns and X-overs, going for that full range sound. I use this amp for the acoustic side of the Park also. I send the electric side to a VOX AD120VT, quite a wall of sound.

It's a Roland---they seem to last. I guess we will see, had to replace the power supply already, but under support I fill you in on that one.

Here is all the positive stuff on the company---got the unit home that the power supply was intermittent. Called GC and they didn't have another one so I called Roland--immeditely faxed them a letter stating what was wrong along with my receipt and within two days I had a new one--no questions asked, and no need to return the defective one. They also have an email support team--when I can't figure something out, I email them in the morning and by noon I have an answer. I have used them three times, and the same thing everytime. They are great!

I happy, the band is happy, the audience is happy, even my wife is happy. I spend more time playing than I use to and that's a good thing. I will have one for along time. Playing three different sounding guitars all the time can get confusing, but it good for your consentration.

This thing is great. I've had it over a year now. Editing is a breeze (after you do it a few times). There's ample space to store the sounds you plan to use live for quick access. In the user bank, you can edit and store the sounds you like. I keep about 20 of the possible 99 in that bank at the ready. In the studio, it's a valuable tool. I've done three independent film scores using the GR20 and a Tascam 2488.

I have two synth setups. I use a GK3 pickup with a Schecter C1 Classic and a GK2A with my D'Agostino Benchmark. The guitar feed goes to a fender Cyber Champ and the synth goes into a Peavey KB/A100 keyboard amp. For solo work, I run the whole mess through the keyboard amp and dont use a PA system. The sax sounds are great. The "dread nanosecond" is still alive and well, but this device triggers much faster than those I've used in years past. I'm very pleased with the strings and piano sounds. The guitar sounds leave a bit to be desired, but I just turn the damn thing off and play guitar.

I use it on the gig with no backup. I bought an extra cable and I have two GK equiped guitars. If the module failed, I'd play guitar.
After over a year...no problems.

NO experience. I was able to download this and other Roland manuals on line before I made the purchase.

I play whatever I want. I've been playing 50 years and found unemployment in every field of music. I'd buy another, or maybe even upgrade to the GR33... The GR33 has words in the display instead of numbers. I love the fact that I can play 3 instruments at the same time. I hate the fact that I play 3 instruments when often one would be more tasteful (My fault, not Roland's). I've been in and out of guitar synths for about 15 years. This thing is the nuts!!! Great live, great in the studio. I heartily recommend this effect.

Brain-dead user friendly with all of it's limitations compared to my
Yamaha MU 100 tone generator and Yam. G-50 guitar midi converter, bought 'prox '99, which is a headache to utilize on a regular basis, with me as a hobbiest with tons of eq., as well as me having less and less of a tolerance for "getting back to a particular play mode". As Boss pedals go, including the RC-20XL looper and surely the Boss RC-50 new looper, this is a simplistic, go-for-it, type synth of the Steve Morse type applications, with some gravies and sauces for your choices of applications.

For $595, excellent and I agree w/ a lot of the evaluations. The Yahama's quality is to die for, esp. with the pianos w/ a sustain pedal and others; however, I'm satisfied with the Roland. Pads, overall and in general, were/are shockingly good and the tabla drum/sitar are much better than the "world" music aspects of the Emu
versions I checked out 3 years ago. Guitars do suck, but the slap bass is more than usable in a Stanley Clarkish kind of way (do I hear strings coming)? I'll re-evaluate perhaps in a year. The guy on page 4 has the right idea, with utilizing a mixer! Then, you can add the spices and ginger to the mix. Marshall eq. for majors.

I'm a hobbiest so it's cool. Wouldn't imagine that it would hold up on the road very well, but otherwise, it doesn't appear to be fragile. Other than the rack units, arent they all that way? Treat it with respect.

Never had a reason to deal with them.

Strictly instrumental/improvizational/experimental ala Jerry Garcia's Dark Star, John M'cLaughlin, Rachmananoff, dash of Soft Machine, Miles Davis, Hendrix, Trower tones, Peter Green's End of the Game, David Torn, Beethoven; whatevers. I'm going to isolate this thing and rape it for everything's it's worth, w/ processors and select pedals w/o breaking down main system, run thru Rode K2 variable mike to Superscope cd/rw recorder...very inspiring first stage w/ lots of headroom...thru pignose 40 and Laney 30; later to Marshall 1960ax's/TSL60 to Pro-tools or Sonar 5. Lots of fun with the former! The mike is to die for! Will review again next year.

The manual for installing the pickup was too detailed for me, I just concentrated on the instructions in italics and then had enough confidence to install it. I didn't take the strings off like it says. Maybe a helpful tool to have before you begin is a thin steel metric ruler that measures fractions of millimeters found at most hardware stores.(mine is in inches and I had to convert to millimeters as I went).

I am using it with a mexican made strat and I plug the synth into a Yamaha PA. It generally doesn't sound as good through a guitar amp, because of the more limited range of the typical guitar speaker. Guitar amp will still sound good as long as you have a very clean channel to play it through. I think this unit sounds very good. The pads are fantastic, and worth the price of the whole thing. Instruments with a sharp attack (piano, mostly) have to be compensated for with your playing style, and can also be adjusted by trying some of the different built-in tweaks. I feel that the compensation I am making for sharp attack instruments is no big deal at all, and is actually making me a better and more precise player. Bottom line: This unit tracks very very well when the pickup is placed in the right spot on your guitar. And the technology should only get better.

The manual lets you know that this unit will not take too much abuse. That's fine with me, since I am very easy on stuff anyway.

Hope I never need it.

This is a great unit for me. I play jazz-classical fusion, and jazz-folk fusion. I also play folk music, and it isn't as suited for that. I really hate smooth jazz (where's my frontal lobe? and how long have I been stuck in this dentist's chair????), but it is extremely suited for that, since the unit is midi. If you are creative enough, you can find an application for the GR-20 in any music. Using the guitar to trigger a pad makes playing and practicing extremely enjoyable for me. The sax is great for playing jazz lines. Now when I play an arpeggio, it sounds like a piece of heaven, and not just a geeky guitar run. If you have even a slight "experimental" edge to your music, then I whole-heartedly recommend this unit. If you are extremely straight ahead (punk, rockabilly, classic rock covers) then I don't recommend it as strongly.

Very easy to get into this. A simple synth for technical dummies but with enough possibilities to make your mouth water. The cabling together with an effects pedal like my Boss GT5 is very cleverly organised. I mix on board, no technicians screwing up my sound.

Top machine with very good patches. I'm looking forward to expanding on this when a new version comes out.

It's a Roland, it's made of very robust plastic. Sometimes I wish they'd use more roadworthy power cables at Roland/Boss though.

I've used Boss/Roland for nearly 10 years and never needed them, that says enough.

I play christian music in a very wide range of styles, I like many of the ethnic sounds and the harmonica, sax, horns and synth patches are very good.