Guitar Synth Controllers

[CEB]

I have a need for a synth controller. I have thought about the Godin and GK-55.

 

I'm a keyboard player primarily and I carry a rack of synths already.

 

Is their an afforble and effective way to add Midi control to my existing guitars.

 

Roland no longer sells the GI-20 midi converter.

 

Does the Fishman triple play wireless system require a computer? I have a Yamaha synth that already provides USB power. But I really didn't want to carry a laptop.

 

Our guitarist got let go and it would be really helpful if I can play more guitar and control some external Midi devices during the transition with the new guy.

 

I was hoping to do it without buying a GR though the Godin xtsa looks sort of nice.

 

I have Strats and a modern player Tele I could use but I would like to use this old MIM Telecaster guitar. It is not a Ashtray bridge but the way the saddles are intonated would the low strings be too far away from a hex pickup? Thing is so Frankensteined what is another addition going to matter.

 

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y70/CEB2/telenash2_zps71031f04.jpg

 

 

Thanks

[Winston Psmith]

CEB - the GHOST pickup systems on the Godin SA guitars are some of the best hex pup systems available. Believe me, I wish I'd been able to afford a Godin, instead of screwing with the GK-3 pickup.

 

I'm not sure how you'll like the GR-55. It's more than a Guitar Synth, incorporating effects from the GT-series processors and modeling from the VG/Virtual Guitar series. It may be more machine than you want, if you're mostly looking for a Guitar-to-MIDI converter. OTOH, I see the GR-20's showing up for around $200 used, which is about what a GK-3 pickup would cost you. Again, if you're using it primarily as a Guitar-to-MIDI converter, the GR-20 is probably enough machine for you. Latency issues should be about the same with either unit. For really fast tracking, you're probably better off with the GR's internal synth engine, than with MIDI tracking.

 

If you can find a used Axon Blue Chip, or Yamaha G10, they're similar, if not exactly identical in design, and the way they process your guitar signal. Some of the Axon models came with synth engines built-in, although I suspect it was very close to a General MIDI sound set; the Yamaha unit has no on-board sounds. I had one (a Yamaha) for a while, but preferred using my GR-1/GR-30.

 

AFAIK, yes, you do need a laptop interface for the Fishman. It seems that you'll also need a new, fast machine to handle the processing involved. Part of why I don't have one.

 

If you want to send me a PM, I'd be glad to go over my experience with Guitar-to-MIDI systems: I've been using them for over twenty years.

[CEB]

Thanks.

 

Yes all I need is a guitar to MIDI converter that tracks OK.

 

Only way I would like the GR-55 is if I can drive it with something like a Godin where I can split the guitar from synth at the guitar. I tried the GR-55 a few months ago and GK 3 plugged into the guitar jack and everything came though the 13 pin into the GR-55. I want the hex output to be completely seperate.

 

Now I'm wondering months later whether I could have just not plugged the GK-3 into the guitar output jack.

[Winston Psmith]

First of all, I realize that I neglected to address your question about mounting a hex pup onto the Tele - from the photo, I would say probably not. It's less an issue of the strings' distance from the pup, than the difficulty of mounting the pickup onto that Tele bridge/pickup plate. Also, with the position of that bender system, you'd have some hard choices in terms of mounting the pod portion of the hex pup.

 

One of the things I disliked about the GR-55 is that it doesn't have a Guitar Send/Return, which my GR-30 & GR-1 both do. I suspect it's because Roland expects you to use the GR-55 as Synth and Processor, all-in-one, rather than sending your guitar signal out to a GT-3, or the like. At any rate, I can send my guitar signal Out from the GR-30/1, and process it independently, from there. However, there is a workaround . . . you don't have to plug your guitar Out jack into the GK-3, at all.

 

The GK-3 is actually six pickups in one unit, hence the term 'hex pickup'. It's tracking your guitar strings, independent of the pickups on your guitar. I know this because one of the Roland demo guitars at my FLMS was a Jackson body with no pickups, and no electronics but for the GK-3 mounted onto the front of the plank. If you switched the GK to Mix, you heard nothing but the GR-55, if you switched it to Guitar, you heard nothing, period. So, you could mount a hex pickup onto a guitar you currently use, and still get a discrete guitar signal.

 

I'll shut up for now, but if you want to discuss this further, send me a PM. All the best with your selection process.

[harvey]

Winston knows gt synths

 

All I will say is that I like your frankentele...