Roland GR-33

Double sided tape and presto, pickup is attached.
Basic patches are OK, but I will trash all and put in my own.
I find that it sends MIDI reasonably well so I will use another synth or brain to fatten up the sounds. Manual is OK. The tuner is nice but it has some funny outcomes. The sensitivity would be nice if you could set it for every patch rather than globally. Also the people at Roland thought that you could control the leslie speed via the expression pedal rather than the footpedals. Cripes, apparently no one there EVER was a B or a C player, this is A SERIOUS omission. Hopefully they correct this in the future with software revisions.

Fender strat. Reverb is really one dimensional, but hey check out the price. Receives MIDI just fine also, so it can be used as an additional unit to a keyboard controller if you choose. The effects are good especially the EQ program, if you want to bring out areas of certain patches.

Don't drop it.

I emailed Roland about the leslie on / off and hopefully they correct.

Tracks pretty good. You have to watch your picking, but generally this has improved by leaps and bounds over the years. I play keys also, so putting new sounds in this puppy is a breeze. Triggering other synths and setting up remote patch changes is fairly painless. Moving from patch to patch is cumbersome with your feet, especially if you are changing banks. Also on patch changes the volume pedal can get a litle funny, ie it can start to play even if you have the pedal off when you change patches. Patch changes are a little slow and mucky compared to other synths and brains I have used. Sounds very good thru a baord or high quality sound system, but pretty awful thru guitar amps, so I would suggest a keyboard amp or rack to put it thru.

If you're someone who strives for instant gratification, you'll be okay with this unit. However, if you like to really create and modify sounds, you will also love this unit. I find it very simple to use, especially for Roland. I wouldn't give it a 10 though because setting the pick up at the right height on some guitars can be a problem.....I hear they offer professional installation?

For the price, this thing sounds incredible. My friend compared the Grand Piano sound to Roland RD-600 digital stage piano (flagship model) and we both thought the gr-33 was just as good, if not better!!! Of course, factory presets are normally weak compared to your own, but I really like the string sounds on this (i.e. Romantic Pad). If you split the signal and run the synth sounds into something like a Roland KC-300 amp, it sounds absolutely incredible!!! It sounds better than the gr-30, definitely. And the tracking is the fastest out there, with the exception to that one that costs way too much, that one pickup that you can use a Roland synth with, forgot the name. Anyway, the tracking is awesome!!!

It's Roland, it's reliable. As long as you're not stupid with it, it should be fine. I'd like to see it in the same type of casing as the GT-3 though.

So far, I really haven't dealt w/Roland before. I had to get my VS-880EX looked at once, but it seems that the service all depends upon where you take it. Go to reputable Roland service place if you need help, they'll take care of you.

I love it, I play everything. I'm not going to go into what I play and what my gear is because that's boring. If you haven't read anything about it, READ THIS.....I didn't need anyone to sell this to me, it sold itself. I played the GR-30 many times, but never felt like spending the money.......HOWEVER, the first time I played the GR-33, I bought it. I really enjoy this unit, and it's definitely a fair price.

Well, I owned a GR30 for over a year- so some of the stuff came naturally. If I was new to guitar synthesis, I would think that it's fairly easy- once you get used to it.

I'm using three guitars onstage curerently- a Godin Multiac acoustic, a Godin ACS classical and a Parker Fly- All with syth-access. I generally play through a rack system- Mackie mixer- piped straight to the board. This unit sound like complete crap through a typical guitar amp. Even with the new settings. The effects are so-so.

Pretty dependable. I wish it was a durable as my metal-case GT-3 though. Plastic has to go away some day!

Roland ranks at the bottom of the chart for customer service and support. Lean on email groups and other users for help!

Ive been playing for 35 years- 12 years professionally. The GR33 is always on when I play- sometimes slightly in the background- sometimes it's 100% of the sound. Once you get used to using it- it's a tough "jones" to break!

4, ok it's Fairly easy to use ....once you install the hex pickup , sorry guys but it's NOT easy to use if you need to modify your guitar to use it then it's not easy
patch set up is FAIRLY intuitive but the manual is written for people with a clue about synths (ie not me )
but I have 3 or 4 GOOD patches already

wahhh this is where it excells the sounds are Full lush and usefull (ok the basic patches have a couple of REAL doinks in them but )
with a touch of work i became the organist and horn section I always wanted to be
I'm running it to give me tonal options on and off stage so far it's done that for me

who knows, there are some patches my guitar doesn't like to trackI can work around them

where is the info on this thing ?

nice tool but only as good as the mind behind it, I get what i need and more out of it I have read nightmares about nearly every other synthn and contrary to comment the expression pedal is worth it as well as the extra banks and improved tones, the acoustic stringed instrument sounds are weak but think about it we are guitarists we can do that ourselves

Roland has finally entered the median price point for a great unit. The patches are a good start to show the potential of this unit and are fun to play with. The patches are easy to edit, but there is many parameters to work with in this unit. The manual can be confusing like most Roland manuals, but its their to use when you get lost exploring the unit. I dont beleive in reading the manual front to back, you should learn the unit hands on, and read the warnings and set-up instruction so you get the best possible sound when exploring the unit. I hope they come out with an upgrade for this unit to expand on its sounds. I remeber the original GR-1 and this thing is like making toast compared to that monster.

I am currently using a Fernandes Native Elite with the sustainer pickup, and you can do some crazy things with this guitar and the synth because, the strings hold the synth sound. Its great for layering guitar and sound effects. The unit is completly quiet and sounds good out of a standard guitar amp. I am definatley going to purchase a Roland KC-500 to make the patches stand out in my rig. There are some glitches in the unit. It does occassionally let out some blips and bleeps. Tracking is definatley improved, but the synth sometimes cannot compensate for fast leads, so you have to work with the unit. Some patches track better than others and work fantastic and some patches are not meant for fast picking. I tried the banjo present and its a joke, they should stay away from stringed instrument sounds, and leave that up to the VG-88 that is a completley diffrent beast. They should focus on the GR-33 to bring out vintage analog synth sounds and old leslie, and hammond and B-3's and quality horn sections. This way you could do back up with the band for Allmond Brothers, James Brown, Steely Dan,Doobies,etc... Those sounds are in there but they need to be tweaked a little. It would be nice if they could get some korg m-20 sounds, and old Cure and Joy Division sound sets. This would become an analog beast for guitar players. I am currently using an ols Kustom lead 1/2 stack and it sound good, but a keyboard amp would brighten up the mix. The effects are quality in this unit, but dont think of them as guitar effects, they are synth effects so they mimic a guitar so they effect is digital and synthetic but quality.

Built like Bootsy Collins spandex tight as hell!!!!!

NO, but Roland makes a quality products so the support should be good.

I am an old funk machine, but I love bands like Underworld, Radiohead, Stereolab, Joy Division, Bauhaus, and old seventies rock. I have been playing for almost 21 years and I am always intrigued by new gear that sets new standards. My friend still uses his GR-1 on stage religously and I was always amazed what you can do with that machine. Beleive it or not it still works good. This box is a great resource for breaking into new boundries during live performances. Roland set a new standard for synth tracking in this price range. You shouldnt purchase this piece of gear to get rid of your keyboard player, this is specifically made to enhance the sound of your music and to create new atmospheres on stage.

Absolutely user friendly

Yamaha SE 350. I like the Tabla + Sitar combination,

Yes

Thanks to my friend George of Swee Lee Co., Singapore who had recommended this excellent product of Roland to me. Swee Lee are so friendly and helpful at all times.

Classical, Traditional, Fusion, Jazz and Pop

I'm a first time guitar-synth user and this was really just plug in and play. The only tweeking I have done so far is balancing out patch volumes to my regular set up and pick up sensitivity levels. I have been reading the manual and will begin foolin' with the patches to get exactly what I want. I hate reading manuals... however, I looked at the manual and the instructions are step-by-step and easy to follow. For example, setting up pick-up sensitivity and patch volumes, nothing to it. I quess it's onward to bigger and more compicated things. So far so good.

I have a Warmoth strat( hum/single/single), Carvin Quad-x pre-amp, two processors, and all this through 2 - 2x12 cabs. The GR-33 sounds big. I'm a wannabe violin, sax and flute player, so I mostly use these patches and they sound authentic. All I have to do is add the breathing for the woodwind players. I probably won't use the effects in the GR33 because I'm going through two great sounding processors already; a Digitech TRS-24 and a Lexicon MPX-1. It's already overkill. I noticed a little bit of noise when I added the GR-33 to my rig, but that was in a very quiet studio. There's no problem in a live situation.

I've only had it for about 3 months. I have boss guitar pedals that are about 15 years old still going strong. Fellow musicians speak highly of
Roland products so I'm confident that I can depend on it.

N/A

I compose and perform Rock fusion (Rock/Classical/new age/jazz).It's easier for me to do all the parts in my studio and then find someone to play it live.So the GR-33 is a Goddess sent. I don't like the acoustic guitar patches at all. The feel is all wrong and they don't sound real. I would rather use real acoustic guitars. The pianos seem to stutter. Maybe that's because I'm a novice guitar-synth user. Overall, I like the idea of perfecting my guitar-synth chops as opposed to learning all the other instruments that I really love. Audio alchemist will love experimenting and mixing up new sounds.

As an owner of the last three generations of Roland guitar synths, I'd have to say that the GR-33 is probably the easiest to program of all of them. Unfortunately, it is harder to use onstage after it is set up. The addition of the expression pedal is nice, although I am used to setting my EV-5 in a different spot on stage than what is allowed with the attached pedal. This is a minor point, however. One dissapointment is that in order to use the Leslie effect, you have to give up volume control- definitely a major point, as there is no external controller output to hookup an additional pedal. Why this isn't allowed to be controlled by the control pedal instead is beyond me. Another major point is that effects can only be programmed "on", then you have to go to the pedal menu to bypass them. This means more button and pedal fumbling in the middle of a performance or when setting up a patch before a tune that you want to add an effect to- something you could specify on the GR-09 and GR-30. Also, the hype from Roland brags about all the effects- but you can't use them simultaeously, except for chorus and reverb. Also, the tuner is definitely a step backward- very hard to see under stage lighting, and even after hours of tweaking the string sensitivity, I could only tune the low E and A strings using harmonics- the display would jump all over, with sensitivity ratings tried from 1 through 8. I use a Godin LGX-SA, and run the acoustic piezo output through the guitar synth outs. The output is definitely lower through the GR-33, forcing me to cut patch levels back and amp levels up to compensate. I tried all the combinations of Line, Guitar, and Amp simulation, but the out put was still much weaker. Maybe this is on purpose, I don't know.

After waiting since January for this unit (it arrived in October), I was most disappointed in the sounds of the unit. I use a lot of acoustic type simulations (banjo, fiddle, harp, saxophone, etc.) and to me the GR-30 does a better job. Maybe the GR-33 excels at techno or electronic sounds- I wouldn't know. Tracking speed is a major point of the advertising hype for this unit, but on plucked type sounds- banjo, harp, guitar, the tracking is definitely inferior. On a few patches like organs, it does track a tiny bit faster, but also glitches more- little beeps and bomps that I never heard on the Gr-1, 09 or 30. It seems to track slow passages worse than fast ones- go figure.

I am giving this a ten rating based on my past excellent experiences with Roland and Boss gear. I can't see any reason this unit wouldn't be the same. I only kept this unit for a month before returning it to Long and McQuade music, and it didn't break.

No experience with Roland Customer Support, as I haven't had to deal with them- sort of like the "Maytag Man".

I have been playing guitar for thirty years, professionaly for 25, in all styles of music. I have been using guitar synths since 1993 as an integral part of my stage set up- so I know a little of what I speak. I have a Fender Strat with a GK-2a installed, and a Godin LGX-SA (read my review of this in the harmony central guitar section). As stated earlier, I returned this unit after a month. Why?- price wasn't a concern (I have a day gig as a high school teacher)Unfamiliarity?- not really, as I am quite familiar with using a guitar synth. No, the major reason was that after extensive A/B comparisons on stage and in my project studio, the Gr-30 proved to be the superior unit, with better tracking on the majority of patches, and far more musical sounds. The velocity sensitive sax on the R-30 sounds much better than the GR-33 equivalent, as well as the "Moog" sawtooth simulations. Flute as well (India flute?)- I could go on and on.I use outboard effects and an EV-5 anyway, so the effects and built in exression pedal weren't that important to me. Newer isn't always better- ask a vintage guitar or amp owner. I went through the same thing with my Boss ME-10 multi effector- trying all the newer units( GT-5, etc.) and not finding one that sounded as warm or musical.(I'm trying to find another one on Ebay for backup)Take my advice, if you own a GR-30, be happy with it, and don't get rid of it for the pittance they are offering on trade just to have the latest toy. I glad I was only offered $200.00 for mine, and didn't trade it in. Or if your looking to get into guitar synthesis, the Gr-30's are going cheap right now- at least until other people figure out what I did. Pass on the GR-33.

It's the ultimate Idiot's guide to Midi Guitar. I used my old Gk2a mounted on a Fender Telecaster and immediately started scanning through all the features. It's pretty easy to use... I've had previous experience with the GR30, so it was a breeze.

I use it in my studio for original scores and also for the Soul Band that I'm presently in.

Want to Jam? blas.moya@intel.com

Basic sound quality of Roland products.. They're great but the generic patches that are loaded need to be tweeked.

I'm rating it a 10 on my previous GR30...I'm hoping that it's solid. Most Roland products that I've purchased have had no problems.

The style that I play is usually R&B/Soul and it's definitely a good match for me. This is a cool gadget and everyone should purchase one.. "you know how hard it is to find a keyboard player?" You won't need one with this baby.

I won't repeat the specs of this unit as others have covered this below but I'll just give my impressions after having it for a couple of days. I also have the GR-30 and the GR-33 is a BIG improvement! It's *far* easier to use and program than the GR-30 and has much better sounds and much better - and far more - effects. I've hardly needed the manual for anything - and the manual is one of the good ones.

Sound quality is excellent but many of the 128 patches are pretty lame but there are 384 JV1080 sounds that you can use as a starting point and layer and edit - attack, release, brightness, transposition, effects, player feel etc. etc. very easily and quickly and create some much better patches. It's very clean sounding (no noise). The effects are very good indeed. I'm using it straight into my mixing board (Yamaha 01V) and it sounds great. One reviewer below said that the tracking was improved but not much - well, in my setup, there's a *big* tracking improvement. I use it with a couple of Carvin guitars and it's when I use the pitch-to-MIDI converters of the GR-33 to drive my XP-60 0r any other synth that I can really see/hear the tracking improvement. I now have access to the sounds of all my synths and they track beautifully - even on the lower strings so I can now play bass parts and sounds on my guitar. It's opened up a whole new world for guitar players. It's kind of what Roland has been promising for about 20 years and have now finally delivered.

I've never had any trouble with Roland gear.

I dealt with Roland in regard to my VS-1680 and they were very helpful - but they have never fixed the inept channel EQ in the VS-1680 so I can't give them a 10 here.

I've been playing about 30 years and I love this thing. I can't keep away from it! Every time I go into the studio and start playing with it I end up programming a great new patch in the first few minutes. Someone better make a patch librarian soon! If it were lost or stolen I would do whatever was necessary to get another one as fast as possible. My favorite feature? The new level of access to all the sounds from my synths with my own expression as a guitar player.

This thing is easy to use, but be warned - there is a LOT of power behind this thing, it has a lot of parameters that can be set to get a good sound, and you can quite easily get lost, tweaking here and there. The patches that are provided are superb, but it's when you actually get into the editing of the patches that the real power is seen. I have this unit a month, been using it every spare moment that I can, and each day I have made new discoveries. In fact, I am itching to get to use it again, this evening. The manual isn't the best, but in a few months there's going to be a raft of websites devoted to this unit. For now - go to www.gr-30.com.
I have no idea what version of firmware is loaded, and I have no idea how to find out. I'm giving this section a 10, it really is that easy to use.

Fender Deluxe Plus Strat, Tech 21 Trademark 60. It's not a noisy unit. The sounds are not weak at all, very good presence.
Sound quality is good in the majority of the patches (about 350 of the 384 built in tones, I would guess), I found the tracking a bit "wobbly" on a few of the Piano Patches when playing chords as opposed to single or double notes. And the Acoustic guitar sims are nowhere near as good as the ones on the VG-8. The tracking can be set by using a "Play Feel" category that adapts to your style of playing, be it finger picking, hard or soft strumming, etc. Each patch has dedicated chorus and reverb plus one of 40 effects that can be applied to either or both of the voices that are used to make up a patch. You can also set a Harmonist on each patch or an Arpeggiator on each patch. You can set the hamony key, and the intervals, and there are 14 different types of arpeggio that you can apply. I'm not sure if a particular arpeggio can be programmed in by the user, but i'll keep y'all posted.
Basically this means that a tone can have Chorus, Reverb, maybe a touch of Flanger, and a harmony. This gives a filling sound, which is exactly what my band wants. It gets a nine 'cos I can't get the Piano tracking 100% and the Ac. Guitar sim is a little "fake".

Don't know if I can depend on it - it's got a battery in it that could go at any minute, so I better get those patches MIDI'd out to a PC. And i'd better write a little patch editor to allow me to do that, 'cos I haven't found one yet! It's not exactly built like a tank, but I love this thing so much that I am going to take good care of it anyway - starting with a flight case.
I would not bring it to a gig without backup, as I haven't even gigged it yet, and I'm not gigging it until I get the thing programmed for the sounds that I need.

Roland - what can I say. I haven't had to deal with them yet.

Overall, this is going to change the "sound" of my band. We are a 4 piece showband (Bass, Guitar, Vox, Drums) doing all the cabaret tunes, and this will expand our musical horizons. (This is our new direction.....we hope you like it). You know, Brass for Cracklin' Rosie and La Vida Loca, Keys for Hey Jude and Let it Be, Ac. Guitar for Wonderwall.......
Haven't compared it to other products. If it were stolen, get one in a minute, it's that good. It's a very inspiring piece of equipment, and now my band are going to revisit all of the tracks we jettisoned because we didn't have the correct instrumentation.

I think Roland did a much better job of making this more user
friendly than its past guitar synth line. Everything is laid
out with just a touch of a button.

It carries 48 voice polyphony which is 20 more than the GR30. The
sounds are more rich and detailed. The majority of the tones derive from the JV 1080. The added bonus of the 25 effects and expression pedal adds extra creativity to the mix especially towards industrial, techno, soundtracks, and progressive rock music. Some of the preset patches blew my mind away. The tracking speed has improved but I would not say a massive amount.

Only have had it for 1 week. But it looks better built than past guitar synths from Roland.

Roland does not have a 1-800 number for tech support but atleast they have finally updated their website. I would not expect much from them considering its Aug 2000 and this product was supposed to be released in April 2000.

Looks like a winner all the way. Any one who has past guitar synths from Roland and is looking for advancement in imagination should look no further than the Gr33.