Another NewB

Started by TheParasite, February 20, 2017, 03:59:04 PM

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TheParasite


Been playing about 40 yrs now. Rarely used effects at all, preferring to just dial in with the guitar and amp. I think I used a phase shifter in the late 70s to early 80s. I never had that "natural talent" so many of you have. Instead I practiced for about two hours per day just to keep up with the likes of you. LOL. As a result once I got married and subsequently had three kids, that pretty much nixed any practicing. For the past 10 yrs I've been blessed to have headed up a contemporary ensemble at our church. The biggest blessing was that my daughter (keys) and oldest son (bass) started this whole thing, later the youngest son joined us when we added drums to the mix. Yeah. I raised my own band.


But today I don't want to practice all that much for leads, preferring to focus on more of the rhythm parts and our sound.  It's a Catholic Church so we want to be reverent and not blow people out of there, considering Catholic Mass typically only has a piano or organ for accompanying the cantor. 


About 2-3 yrs ago I started looking at the Godin XTSA since I could switch from a good sounding acoustic to electric easily. I've always miked the electric amp and run an acoustic direct.  But having to change guitars -- and haul them down there and back -- wasn't always fun.  So after reading reviews and watching vids (a.k.a. research) I decided to get the XTSa. I was also watching the various guitar synths to see what I could do with them, if they could fit into what I/we do.


I decided upon the GR-55 for various reasons. Namely Kennis Russell's reviews etc on YouTube and subsequently found a new/used one here locally on Craigslist.  It was literally only used a few times and you could see that from the lack of dirt, smudges, etc. The guy didn't like any of the sounds right out of the box and tried setting a few up, but was discouraged with the lack of docs to guide him. Also he decided it couldn't be used live due to the latency when switching to different patches, and the ghost note issue.  BTW I tried finding a used XTSa but never saw one come up anywhere in the SE USA. Talking with several music stores and owners of Godin synth access guitars, and even Godin rep in Canada, I found that almost 100% of those buying them love them. Therefore they don't sell them.


Now having lived with both for a bit over a year I have to say I LOVE my XTSa!!  And I only like my GR-55. Which sent me on a journey this past weekend to find out what I could, to develop my own, or install, new and hopefully better, patches. I thought the only place would be on the Roland site. But, lol and behold, I stumbled upon this forum. It look like this is the place to learn about the -55 and other equipment. I watched a couple of vids and read some posts.  I'm hopeful that by the end of today I'll be an expert on the -55. Or at least become knowledgeable about it over the next few months.


Thank you for putting this forum together!



Godin XTSa (a pretty one)

Brent Flash

Welcome to the group TheParasite!  :)

gumtown

Welcome aboard,
one bit of mandatory software for GR-55 users is the
GR-55FloorBoard patch editor, which you can get from
https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/
Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

TheParasite

Thank you, gents. I do have the floorboard already. Just haven't played with it yet. Am I coming in on the ending of this forum?  Just looks like sparse posts for the past 12 mos. Or maybe I just haven't gotten into them all yet?

Godin XTSa (a pretty one)

Brent Flash

Quote from: TheParasite on February 20, 2017, 04:54:00 PM
Thank you, gents. I do have the floorboard already. Just haven't played with it yet. Am I coming in on the ending of this forum?  Just looks like sparse posts for the past 12 mos. Or maybe I just haven't gotten into them all yet?
The GR-55 is fairly old now so that is why there is not as much activity on the GR-55 forum if that is what you are asking.

TheParasite

This took a weird but prob true turn last night.  Told girlfriend last night of finding this forum and that I was liking what I've read so far; it seems to be a nice community of people helping people.; how I'm looking forward to truly learning how to use that GR-55.  She's the one that bought the Godin for me.  I digress.  So, after telling her about the forum and wanting to learn to use the 55, she said, "Why?  If there are people out there that have already done what you want [make better patches], why don't you just use those and play.  You don't have the time to devote to that thing." [Side note: I have 3 kids and 4 grands right now that I love spending time with.] 


Hmmm....So, I suspect that eventually I'll get to downloading some patches from some site somewhere, but for now, I am enjoying reading the posts, even if they are a bit old.  :-)  I love learning about my "stuff."



Godin XTSa (a pretty one)

gumbo

#6
"So, I suspect that eventually I'll get to downloading some patches from some site somewhere...."

Try this Forum!
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?board=67.0
Spoken by a 68-y-o who just flew nearly 900 miles to celebrate his youngest kid's 40th birthday last weekend...and see 5 grandkids..
...everything you will need is right here; you don't have to look too hard or far!   ;)

Cheers,
Peter
Read slower!!!   ....I'm typing as fast as I can...

Elantric

QuoteHmmm....So, I suspect that eventually I'll get to downloading some patches from some site somewhere, but for now, I am enjoying reading the posts, even if they are a bit old.  :-)  I love learning about my "stuff."


Try here

GR-55 Guitar patch Exchange
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?board=67.0

TheParasite

Thanks, gumbo.  You've helped me feel a bit younger this morning! 
Godin XTSa (a pretty one)