Roland GR-700

The GR-700 is very easy to use if you have some analog/subtractive synthesis background, and even easier if you own a Roland JX3P, since the guts are the same thing. If you don't know a THING about synths, you may find yourself in the dark, not understanding what each parameter does. This is probably not for a snot-nosed 15 year old who wants to sound like orgy, but doesn't know a thing about synthesis. The manual is standard Roland fare of the early 80's. grammatical and punctuation errors abound, as well as brief, unspecific explanations of functions. again, synthesis background is necessary. however, once you have the manual and have tried everything out as you read it, it's quite easy to operate, especially if you have a G-707 controller, with the edit knobs built right in. since i have a JX3P, i personally give the GR700 a 9/10, but other people may rate it lower.

The analog sounds in this mo-fo are unbelieveable. it's two osciallator (DCO) structure with a full-fledged VCF section, as well as a three-pattern LFO, with both envelope (ADSR) and LFO modulation. if you have a JX3P, you'll know how warm it sounds. you can get nice strings, pads, basses, drums, reeds, FX (oh god can you make FX), and pretty much anything else you can make with a 2-osc analog synth (the DCO's are syncable, desync'ed, or on 'metal' [ring modulator, kinda]). the only thing that sucks about it is when you have the guitar out plugged in, and you switch to guitar mode on your 707, there's a lot of background static, so if you play industrial metal, you may want an A/B box or a really good noise gate, if you think it might help. i would use an A/B box though.

well, it's 85% steel, except for the end pieces and the pedals. on mine, two of the pedals are loose, but they still work. also, i have problems with it cutting out on me - after some work with some newsgroups, i determined the culprit was a faulty voltage regulator on TR-1 on the main power board. after i got it re-soldered, it's been working like a gem ever since. i suspect it will continue this way, as long as i keep transporting it in my anvil case and wipe it off now and then. when i opened it up, it was built like a tank.

Hmm. Roland. Roland US is pretty crappy. they don't care a whole lot if you can't get your GR-700 working or not because it's 'obsolete'. thank god for Roland UK!! they hooked me up with a new cable, and also provided some A+ techie support. avoid Roland US!!! they get a 2, but Roland UK gets an 11 (if there was 11)

The GR-700 and G-707 combo kicks all the way. i have used a GR-1, and trust me, analog guys are way better off with a nearly two-decade-old GR700. i find the G-707 to actually have BETTER tracking than GK2A pickups with a GR-1 or GR-30. the GR-700 is a million times more versatile (because it's actually synthesis instead of sampling), and the sound quality and 'phatness' is a lot better. the GR-700 is one fun machine, and even cooler with the edit knobs on the G-707 for cutoff sweeps and more! oh yeah... and the touchplates are pretty bizarre! long live 80's guitar synths!!!!!!!!