GR-300 and 808 guitar controller would you buy one?

Started by chrish, June 30, 2017, 09:48:34 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

chrish

Ever since I purchased the spicetone 6appeal I've been kind of crazy for analog gear now.

I've been checking for the gr 300 and the Roland 808 guitar controller however I've decided that I'm not interested in a 30 year old piece of gear right now.

Also I think that the gr 300 emulation is good enough for that particular sound in the VG 99. It's not a sound I use a lot.

However here's a deal that I came across with 15% off sale.

I am pretty sure that if I wasn't married I jump on this, even though I don't really need it. :)

https://reverb.com/item/5708401-roland-g-808-gr-300-synth-w-joness-audio-lab-of-georgia-audio-path-upgrade



chrish

Quote from:  sec6
The "neck joint repair" and non-original pickups in the description causes one to pause.
yeah it's hard to tell from the pictures what's going on with the neck repair.

The non-original pickups wouldn't scare me away. But I think I'd want some sort of arrangement to have the guitar looked at by a qualified luthier with a return option if necessary.

Fortunately I don't have the cash so I'm a Dreamer.

chrish

#4
If it were real bad it could be repaired. But you're correct it's not a nightmare I would want to get involved in.

https://hazeguitars.com/blog/les-paul-neck-removal-and-repair

It's kind of funny that the seller states that "This guitar has only been played a few times around the house, in very good condition. "


chrish

I was doing some internet research on replacing Les Paul necks and came across this.

"Gibson Guitars Require A Major Redesign !!!!
The Design Flaws Are Many


Les Paul Necks Are All Prone To Easy Breakage!!! "

http://www.edroman.com/rants/les_paul_necks.htm

admin

Quote from: chrish on August 15, 2017, 03:04:48 PM
I was doing some internet research on replacing Les Paul necks and came across this.

"Gibson Guitars Require A Major Redesign !!!!
The Design Flaws Are Many


Les Paul Necks Are All Prone To Easy Breakage!!! "

http://www.edroman.com/rants/les_paul_necks.htm

Common knowledge IMHO.

chrish

#7
Quote from: admsustainiac on August 15, 2017, 03:34:21 PM
Common knowledge IMHO.
it was also probably common knowledge that Ed Roman was a interesting fellow. His guitar company left his rants up on their website with a definition of what a rant is in the Guitar World.

All new to me. Indeed quite a character. :)

"Statements & Opinions That Will Surely Draw Fire & Flaming From the Diehard, Lumpen Proletariat, Traditionalist, Old Boy Network That Decides on What Your Next Guitar Purchase Will Be.
Misdirected ignorant brand loyalty clogs the wheels of progress !!!"

mooncaine

For an interesting perspective or two on Ed Roman, web search his name and "steinberger."

Elantric

#9
http://www.edroman.com/guitars/steinberger.htm

http://www.edroman.com/guitars/nsd.htm


While many write off Ed Roman as outspoken, myself I had the opportunity to talk to Ed Roman via Telephone for a lengthy phone call back in 2010 , and found he could back up with facts regarding what he expressed on his web site  ( we had "experiences in common" with several icons in the guitar world we had both worked with / for)

I miss him - but I know I'm in the minority
https://web.archive.org/web/20120423170628/http://www.edroman.com:80/rants/vintage.htm

chrish

#10
This looks like an interesting buy if you live near Maryland for local pickup or the guy will ship it apparently if you arrange for the shipping.

Guitar is the G-505 and it comes with a gr 700 synthesizer and looks like a few of the 24 pin chords and the PG 200 programmer.

Roland GR Guitar G-505 or 202 Synthesizer GR-700 PG-200
$859.00

http://m.ebay.com/itm/Roland-GR-Guitar-G-505-or-202-Synthesizer-GR-700-PG-200-/292225035789?_trkparms=aid%253D222007%2526algo%253DSIM.MBE%2526ao%253D1%2526asc%253D20150519202348%2526meid%253Dc9d7506df0a14efc921b55fcdc763511%2526pid%253D100408%2526rk%253D1%2526rkt%253D5%2526sd%253D251322577688&_trksid=p2056116.c100408.m2460

chrish

Okay call me crazy but I bought a used Roland GR 300. Looking forward to testing it out see if it even works.  ;)Lucky there's a 30 day guarantee on it.

So I was talking to a guy about buying his g505 as a controller for the thing. Real nice guy.

Pretty sure I'm going to buy it from him cuz it has a rosewood fretboard, however, he says that it needs heavy Gauge strings (.12 hi E) in order for the neck to tension up correctly.

I guess the beauty of a strat type guitar is the necks are changeable and the pickups are easy to change, but what's the deal with a neck that needs heavy gauge strings and can't get any more adjusting with the truss rod?

And yes I'm still married and my wife knows about the gr300 now as of this morning, but the response to the guitar was" but you have so many guitars already that you don't play"

My response was " but this guitar is different, it's a dedicated synthesizer controller". :) :)

We've been together since she was 18 years old. Hard to believe, going on 40 years together.


chrish

#12
G505 on its way.  :D
And I'll get to try out the included GR 100

Brak(E)man

Man ! A Gr300 and a Gr100
I'm green ... :)
Good luck with the guitar
swimming with a hole in my body

I play Country music too, I'm just not sure which country it's from...

"The only thing worse than a guitar is a guitarist!"
- Lydia Lunch

chrish

#14
Quote from: Brak(E)man on September 18, 2017, 07:56:57 AM
Man ! A Gr300 and a Gr100
I'm green ... :)
Good luck with the guitar
I'm hoping I'll be able to squeeze in a GK 3 pickup on that and run both the 24 pin cord and the 13 pin cord were they need to go.

Or maybe put a Cycfi hex  pick up on the rear position heading to a GK 3 board.

And maybe add a Fernandes sustainer pickup.

Originally I was lusting after the G 808 but after seeing Guitarbuilder's synth guitar project I started looking more closely at Strat type guitars.

I came across a G202 and GR 300 for sale in excellent condition at an Italian vintage dealership which I considered purchasing but it would have been just a little bit too much money with the exchange rate, possible import duties and shipping.

Also the gr300 was 220 volts and I started checking whether or not the Transformer had a 120 lug that could just be easily changed. I didn't want to deal with any possible noise that a voltage converter may add.

But man that guitar is such a beauty.

http://www.hendrixguitars.com/Va788.htm


tms13pin

Enjoy the 24-pin world.  Just sold my whole rig earlier this spring/summer (G505/GR300/GR100/US2/3 cables).  Gave my remaining 24-pin panel connectors to Wayne Joness for his own use in projects.  I love the old GR stuff, I just didn't have time to play it anymore and it was all sitting around for years.  I'll miss it, I had it for years and I'll always have a soft spot for it.  That G505 was a GREAT guitar and was my main gigging guitar in the 90's. 

Enjoy your rig.  Those GR100's are getting harder to find in working condition.  They're pretty limited, but they're such a cool piece of history that often gets overlooked. 

--Tom

chrish

#16
Quote from: tms13pin on September 19, 2017, 08:35:50 PM
Enjoy the 24-pin world.  Just sold my whole rig earlier this spring/summer (G505/GR300/GR100/US2/3 cables).  Gave my remaining 24-pin panel connectors to Wayne Joness for his own use in projects.  I love the old GR stuff, I just didn't have time to play it anymore and it was all sitting around for years.  I'll miss it, I had it for years and I'll always have a soft spot for it.  That G505 was a GREAT guitar and was my main gigging guitar in the 90's. 

Enjoy your rig.  Those GR100's are getting harder to find in working condition.  They're pretty limited, but they're such a cool piece of history that often gets overlooked. 

--Tom
yes that GR 100 is like dialing in Steve Hackett's tone. Kind of a long sustaining hollow smooth  distortion.

I think that's the main difference between the GR300 and the VG 99 emulation of the GR300, that being smooth sustain that doesn't Fade Out to digital noise.

But the GR 300 emulation in the VG 99 is really very good.

Pretty cool gear.

I do remember, what I gather was your Tobacco Burst G505 with the GR 100 GR 300 + US2 on reverb.com. Guitars are hard to part with.

No problem fitting a GK 3 onto the G505. No need for a BC13 and it also avoids having to split the 24 pin off so that both the 24 pin and the 13 pin gear can be used at the same time.

The clean tone on that G505 guitar is surprisingly good.


GuitarBuilder

"There's no-one left alive, it must be a draw"  Peter Gabriel 1973

chrish

#18
This mint condition G 88 Roland synth Bass  guitar reduced to $500 plus $50 shipping at reverb.com.

https://reverb.com/item/6038406-roland-gr-88-1970-stain-and-natural-original-pin-stripe?

chrish

#19
This photo shows the 24 pin cable and the 13 Pin cable being run in 1/2" wire flex tubing (from Napa Auto parts)and physically attached with zip ties to the GK mounting bracket for strain relief.

The half inch Flex tubing ads support to the two cables and keeps them from getting tangled.

The GK3 pickup is attached directly to the stock hex pickup using sticky tape. When I change the guitar strings I will most likely use some silicone chalking to attach the two pickups together.

Rhcole

I like it! It's kind of a Rock n' Roll Borg look!  ;D

chrish


chrish

#22
Anybody living in the Austin Texas area that's into 24 pin gear might want to check this out. Unfortunately the guy won't ship it.

https://austin.craigslist.org/msg/d/1984-hamer-phantom-a7-guitar/6360431422.html

"A bit of a story here. Jol Dantzig (original Hamer co-founder) was my friend and locker partner in high school. For a short time I worked for Jol and Paul Hamer at Northern Prairie Music in Wilmette IL, but moved to Austin in 1979. Back in the early 80's when synths were all the rage I called Jol and had Hamer make me this guitar. Received it December 1984 as you can see by the picture of the receipt. So this guitar was handmade back when Hamer was a small shop in Arlington IL, and is not a factory made guitar. I played it a bit in the 80's, but it's been under the bed for years, because I've been a violinist for the last 27 years. It has sentimental value to me, but as I've gotten older and nearer to the great beyond I've been starting to get rid of stuff as opposed to more accumulation. I figured Austin being the music town this is maybe someone around here can actually use this, either as a great sounding electric, or even driving a synth. So the guitar:
Quad pickup - 3 guitar pickups and a synth pickup, with 1/4" and 24pin midi output.
Kahler tremolo with locking nut.
Color called Ice Pearl.
Original Hamer logo case.
Hopefully the pictures will explain it all.
Hard to tell where to start with price, as if you google the specific model you get articles about it, but none for sale, and ebay will just show a bunch of other Hamer models, so I figure I'll just start with what I paid in 1984.
So it's $835.00 or best offer, and as usual with craigslist, it's cash and we meet in person, cuz if I wanted to mess with shipping I'd have put it on eBay.
By the way, I've got a Peavey Classic amp around if you want to try the guitar, but I long ago sold all the midi stuff, so no synth sounds."


chrish

#23
Here's a link to a Roland GR100 for sale at reverb.com for $349 plus shipping. It looks to be in excellent condition although the ad says Very good.

It's being sold by Apple Music which is a music store that I used to frequent when the wind on the Columbia River wasn't blowing (windsurfing addict) and go hang out in Portland to check out gear  at all the music stores there.

I purchased a lot of gear in Portland at those stores and sold some gear including an original Vox wah pedal.


https://reverb.com/item/7030777-roland-gr-100-24-pin-guitar-synthesizer-80-s

chrish