Finally got the GK-3 working!

[Winston Psmith]

So, after much adjustment, changing strings and adding another spacer, it's finally acting right. This is the first 24-fret guitar I've used with the GR synth rig, and it's big fun. (PRS SE 25th Anniversary Custom 24 - couldn't afford the U.S. version, but it's still pretty sweet.) Now, I just need to go back through ALL those patches and tweak the Play Feel again.

 

Next time I get it in my head to 'upgrade' my rig, I'm getting a Godin SA guitar. I hear only good things about the Godin system, and if it's good enough for McLaughlin . . .

[Caevan O’Shite]

Did you change from one brand/type/gauge of strings to another? If so, from what to what, and specifically why? Or, did you simply put a fresh set of the same strings on it?

 

What are some of your favorite patches/sounds? Do you blend any of 'em with the straight-up guitar sound, or do you primarily use the synth for synth-only sounds when you use it?

[Winston Psmith]

I took your advice and switched to DR 'Pure Blues' a while back - I'd been using DR's for a few years, so it wasn't a big move. I'd just been waiting to play out the set I had on the guitar, before I went through taking them all off to tweak the pup. Adding that last spacer was a big help, then it was just some minor tweaking, albeit minor tweaking on nearly three hundred synth patches. I won't be trying this again anytime soon.

 

I make all my own sounds, almost all synth sounds on the GR-30, lots of filtering, some use of the arpeggiator. On the GR-1, I have a nice fat B3-type sound I call "Chest Fever", a nice Jean-Luc Ponty electric violin sound, a Miles-inspired horn patch, and an EP patch that I call "Foolish Heart", after the Grateful Dead tune. Other than that, most of my sounds were inspired by the great synth tones of the 70's & 80's, so you'll hear elements of Thomas Dolby, Eno & Gary Numan. Sometimes I blend in the guitar sound, although my guitar sound is also highly processed, so the line between synth & guitar is kind of blurred. I also have about half a dozen outboard synths, keys & modules, a sampler & a drum machine, that I drive using a Unitor 8 MKII MIDI patchbay. All the outputs go to a small Behringer 10-channel sub-mixer, and then out to a Roland KC-60 keyboard amp - I used to haul around a Peavey KB300. When I have everything cabled together, it's like having an orchestra at my fingertips. If you really want a run-down of the whole system, I'll send you a PM - it's kind of insane.