Roland GR-77B

very easy to use and it plugs into new digi synths

a great sounding bass just played thru the normal output 1/4" jack
rotary knob between front & back pickups .As far as the floor synth box goes the sound of the organ is exellent the other sounds are pure early anolog synth hokey but the flute sound makes for some great upper octave effects,the octabe bellow sounds are a workout for 18 inch woofers.It is stereo so getting the dual amp flange and chorus sounds can be big

I used it for recording and to combat a great keyboard player new to stnths who drove the band crazy playing with patchs.Not a good sit down instrument,on stage it was an attention getter and lousy stage lighting didn't cause any hums & buzzs.
back ups are rare to impossable to find so bring your regular bass

By the time I got this bass/floor box synth nobody at Roland knew anything about it but Rolandis good when it comes to support

i was an R&B player at that time-jumping around with this instrument with it's odd broom stick above the neck could be a problem,its rare and not a toss around work horse bass.Alot of knobs and delicate but alot of fun if you're bored .This is a real 80s relic like hair jelled mullets and spandex pants. You can play faster than it will midi track so its limited and goofy looking.if you can find one buy it but it,it won't be your gigging bass.in the studio it will come in handy.

This should include the G-77 bass guitar. Tracking of the (analog) synth itself is imho every bit as good as with the newer GK pickup systems. The MIDI out however seems to be far more unstable. Correct setup of the bass AND the synth (there are a few internal pots to adjust)is necessary - get the service manual!
Some bass players may complain that they have to adjust their playing stile to this synth. That is true, but not to the extent that a piano player must adapt his technique to a Polymoog.
Remember that this is still a synth and not some digital emulation of whatever.
The factory sounds are mediocre at best and do this machine no justice.
Parameter-punching (stepping!) editing is painful and neither intuitive nor effective, so get the PG-800 programmer and be very happy (after swallowing its hefty price!).
This is an old machine that needs some love and understanding, but with the progammer and correct setup it's as easy to operate as a Minimoog and plays as easy as any new bass guitar synth (and i did compare).
The manual is OK, the service manual ist for your tech.

I use this through my bass amp (GA Fireball, 15 inch Celestion speaker) as well as various monitoring systems, most of them High end.
Fortunately, the G-77 is a great bass guitar with a beautiful and powerful sound, maybe not enough piano-sounding for some.
So ist can stand for itself or be mixed with the synth sound as desired.
Routing the bass sound through the synth is not optimal, but the small gain in sound quality when going directly into the bass amp, preamp or whatever, is rarely worth the extra cable.
The synth sound itself is nothing short of fantastic, and with some individual character. No wonder the MIDI rack version of this synth engine fetches high prices these days, being really good sounding, analog and even programmable.
Just don't use too much of the typical Roland-synth chorus that kicks in hefty.
Otherwise, it's analog heaven to me.

First, this thing is NOT built like a tank.
It's built like a keyboard - only you place it on the floor and step on it!
Sides are plastic, the rest is a tin box that relies on the plastic to keep it together.
Most printed circuits are fastened directly to the tin floor, so if that floor gets a dent, the circuits can crack (happend to mine, but fortunately only the simple power supply board suffered and was repaired. A broken main board would probably be a hopeless case.
So use a flightcase for transport, Roland even offered a special one back then...
Second, these things are getting old. Expect weird reactions at times due to oxidized plugged connections between the boards (best cured by slight vibration, like an half-hour ride on the back seat) or a smoking condenser or diode, waiting to be replaced.
So, nothing different from any other vintage keyboard.
I am currently looking for a backup, just as a safety measure).
The bass guitar itself is Greco quality - enough said.
If you don't trust the all plastic Roland cable of the time, get one from an earlier Roland guitar synth with metal connectors or an Ibanez cable, also with metal connectors.
If you fear to rip the cable out of it's connector instead of ripping the connector out of the guitar, remove the two metal clips that secure it there.

I did not deal with Roland.
However, they are posting the user manual on their US website for download, which is good.
They do not post the service manual, which - considering the age of the unit and the unavalilability of replacement parts - is not so good.
The reportedly molest those people who sell copies of the service manual for small money un the net. This really puts me off (since i need that stuff) and keeps me from buying a new V-Synth from them.

My music styles range from contemporary classic music to jazz to techno to chaos and back. No 80ies synth pop.
This instrument has inspired me greatly and brought back a lot of enjoyment in my music making. You would have to take it from my cold dead hands!
So how can i rate this other than perfect 10? Of course it is not perfect, it can't do everything, it has it's drawbacks (see above).
Still; it has unique character, it is something that needs and rewards to work with it.
Similar sound quality may be obtained with a modern GK-Bass system with a MIDIfied Moog Prodigy or something.
But this synth system with it's special bass (controller is too small a word) may give you directness and inspiration - or nothing at all.
It is a love or hate affair and sometimes both, but that is the same with all real instruments?

Incredibly easy to use. Although I dont have the programmer its still preaty easy to get sounds just by pressing a button and moving a knob on the bass.

The bass sound in itself. It is my main bass and I love it - but connected to the synth it just rocks - I love the ability to combine the 2 sounds - electroic and synthetized

I dont like that muth the feel oof the cable. I never used it live but just feel it can easyly disconnect. Apart from that the floor controler is a TANK and the bass in itself is pretty solid also

no contact at all

For me to get those 80's sounds this machine is incredible I'm not much of a bass player but I live this synth - and I play live with it sometimes with some mates - pure fun.
If lost Id really try to get another but a guitar version prabably since I can play better guitar than bass - the guys in the hardware store that sold ie to me didnt even know waht was it about cause they didnt have the cable - so pure bargain - get a cable on the net (I am still very proud of being able to do that since they seem to be impossible to find) and rock it - this one is for bass players, synth afficionados - photographers doing music fotos :), studio oner - Its just lovely.

This is pretty easy to use. The floor synth unit has some large pedals and a few spare buttons with a large red lcd. The bass guitar controller has a few extra knobs to control cutoff and whatnot... so this stuff isn't calculus. Again, editing is easy via the onboard knobs... not bad for mid '80's. I don't have the manual but I can imagine it's a typical Roland one... not so great. The tracking is an issue, though not completely major... doesn't follow soft nuances very well, then you get this blurred mess of bubbly noise. That's pretty cool actually. The bass doesn't balance very well, so that's a bit of a pain. The GR-77b isn't made for slap-and-pop-at-200-mph Flea. ;)

Man, the sounds are surprisingly pretty nice. Sure, there's the usual cheese but for the most part, the sounds are usable: punchy Virus basses, ocean washes, tight sweeps, etc. These are typical 80's synth-wave-pop Depeche Mode type affairs with the warm character, since it's engine is based on the old JX-8P board. The bass would sound incredible through a full stack but I have just my studio monitors for now, but they're Events, so they faithfully reproduce the low end nicely. The creepy, dark industrial bass sounds can coax some Twiggy Ramirez-like lines.

Everyone who knows about these older guitar/bass synths knows about the extremely rare 24-pin thick connector cable with cheap plastic connections on either end. I treat that cable with ultra care, for the simple fact that you can find these damn things anywhere. The controller and floor unit themselves are solid but even with the cable, this looks too damn badass not to use live.

I've called them up once before, though not for the GR. That experience sucked... but that's what you get with a huge corporation.

Man, did I find a steal. I play industrial and the GR has the total look, while providing some sweet synth basses. I'm very capable of solid bass on a Virus Indigo, etc... but it's the look. Call me shallow, but it has definite sex appeal for industrial aficionados. Sadly, if it were lost or stolen I don't think I'd buy one again. Even if I wanted to, would I be able to find another one? It's mainly for live visual appeal... looks too fucking cool with that black bar and trapezoid shape... and the onboard knobs! :) Ability to play both synth sounds and dry bass is great. Double bass, anyone? Synth bass panned hard left and a super-distorted slapped metallic bass on the right, anyone?? It can sound pretty heavy, like Justin Chancellor's (Tool) lines in 46&2. I'll continue to have some fun with this system before something (like the cable?) gives. Also, it's my only bass guitar... so then I'd have to buy a new one anyway.

Fairly easy to program if you have the manual. Same interface as the JX-8P (basically the same synth engine). Kind of sucks that the unit only has midi out capability (no midi in connector). Programming is much easier with the PG-800 if you can find one. Do need to understand how synths work to properly use the bass synth. Setup is very simple, involving setting up the tracking and adjusting the individual pick-up volumes for the quad pick-up. Might be a difficult transition for a bass player with no synth experience. The bass balances very poorly and is difficult to play without a strap.

The synth sounds are awesome - even with DCO's, the unit has a very warm sound. Very versatile synth unit. Now for the bad news - the tracking is mediocre at best. The unit will never track as well as any of Roland's other guitar synths and demands extremely clean technique. Also, tracking speed is very patch dependent. You can play fast leads from the twelve fret up on the top three strings on about 50% of the factory sounds (fast meaning eight notes at about 120 bpm). Forget about fast tapping, harmonics, slapping, etc. Even with all of these caveats - the unit is a useful addition to my basses.

The main issue with reliability is replacement cables - these units use the now extinct 24 pin connectors which are impossible to find. The connectors are only plastic and fragile. Roland sold the last set about ten years ago. Another issue is getting the synth unit serviced - almost no one knows anything about these units. For these reasons, my unit is used only for recording. The stabilizer arm on my bass had a broken boss on the upper mounting plate that I needed to repair using epoxy. Very solid construction on the floor unit.

Forget finding anyone at Roland US who knows anything about these units. It took me about two hours on the phone to finally find someone that could only tell me Roland can no longer get replacement cables.

I do some recording for electronica music and find this unit very useful. Due to the rarity of replacement connectors, I am contemplating buying either a V-Bass or a Yamaha GR-50 to use as a replacement.