Product: Roland GR-500
Price Paid: USD 2500 USED
Submitted
03/30/2009
at
06:00pm
by
Andrew Sheldon
Ease of Use
:
No Opinion
I run the guitar pickup through a little boogie and have the synth part DI into my desk. As with all real analog stuff it takes probably 10 min to warm up. I have a mixture of modern and old stuff. The GR sounds work nicely with analog delays and dark reverbs.
The system is pretty to easy use of the surface. You must use its desiginated guitar controller, the Les Paul looking GC500. There are 3 synths in it, a bass, lead and polyphonic string synth. You can assign each string to various synths, as well as turn and off the portamento. You can also control external synths (CV) from the guitar and the module.
Some people whing about the tracking, however, I think that most people have never used one and just assume its sluggish. To be honest it tracks way faster than early MIDI ones. Obviously its not designed for EVH style playing. But if you play cleanly, its really pretty good.
Sound Quality
:
No Opinion
This thing sounds amazing. I am big fan of early analog string sounds, think Gary Newman, Jean Michel Jarre, Yellow Magic Orch, Bowie. The string sounds are the same as that from the classic RS series- truly my favourite. I believe the other sounds are derived from the System 100 and 700 series, predating the SH series and Jupiter 4.
It really has an unbelievably great sound, very earthy and warm. The only downfall is the normal humbucker, its very bland sounding.
Reliability
:
No Opinion
Never had a problem, every switch and knob functions as well as they she was born.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Never had to deal with them.
Overall Rating
:
No Opinion
This guitar synth should not be compared to others as it is what it is. I believe that this is one of the most underated pieces of gear. It is truly a beautiful sounding synth that is great to play. The one issue is that is really really really heavy. If you think this is your thing, give a try, it will not dissapoint.
