GK 13 pin MIDI Interface

Started by Ash-studio, October 17, 2021, 02:48:27 PM

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Ash-studio

Hi Team nice to be here amongst learners friends. My query is I have a Godin Multiac, which has a GK13 pin option. I am wanting to use it in my recording studio (DAW), and I am using a Mac Mojave 10.14.6 and I have tried using a Roland GR-55 as an interface via the USB. After working through issues with Roland, they confess that this module does not work well with USB (even though it has this option) and they recommend using the MIDI in and out through another MIDI interface module. I ended up having to us the Roland UM-ONE to USB to the Mac, which still took a lot of attempts before it would be recognised by the Mac. However, the whole exercise seems an absolute overkill as the idea was to play the guitar and use the huge library of VST's I have in the DAW. making the GR-55's limited library of sound ineffective. Can anyone recommend a better solution of GK 13pin that can act as an interface to the computer via USB? (it seems like the goodness like Roland Gi-20 and even the AXOM AX-50 are no longer in production) can anyone suggest or recommend a better system that would be value for money. Cheers Ash

admin

#1
Many use the following as GK 13 to 5 pin MIDI

GI-10, G1-20, GR-50, GR-1, GR-09, GR-30, GR-33, GR-55

VG-99, SY-1000

On GR-55 Must enable Guitar to MIDI -its off by default

Follow steps here
https://www.vguitarforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=3787.0

And assuming you DO NOT have a new M1 ARM cpu machine,  the GR-55 USB Driver for mac OS should work

Here is GR-55 macOS 10.14 USB driver ( try that 1st) with a known working USB 2.0 printer cable to a known working USB -C hub for your Mac Book
https://www.roland.com/us/support/by_product/gr-55/updates_drivers/56d57ee5-e7dd-4717-81dd-7ddf0cf0570b/

Ash-studio

Hi thanks you, we have got the unit working through using a Roland UM-ONE, but still we found we still had too may issues with the GR-55 with this particular Mac 10.14.6 Mac (and also for future proofing the GR-55 won't work with Catalina either because the GR-55 cannot support 64bit)

So we have ditched that unit and I am looking for something better to replace the GR-55 with. Any suggestions would be much appreciated
Thanks Ash

gumtown

There is a Catalina (OS 10.15) driver on the Roland GR-55 downloads website, which supports 64 bit only Mac operating systems.

As per the other topic, I recommend the Fishman Triple Play, since it is only for studio use.

or also the Boss SY-1000 if you want 8 channel audio in/out over USB for the hexaphonic guitar processing of each string.
Free "GR-55 FloorBoard" editor software from https://sourceforge.net/projects/grfloorboard/

Green Lantern

#4
Quote from: Ash-studio on October 17, 2021, 02:48:27 PM
Hi Team nice to be here amongst learners friends. My query is I have a Godin Multiac, which has a GK13 pin option. I am wanting to use it in my recording studio (DAW), and I am using a Mac Mojave 10.14.6 and I have tried using a Roland GR-55 as an interface via the USB. After working through issues with Roland, they confess that this module does not work well with USB (even though it has this option) and they recommend using the MIDI in and out through another MIDI interface module. I ended up having to us the Roland UM-ONE to USB to the Mac, which still took a lot of attempts before it would be recognised by the Mac. However, the whole exercise seems an absolute overkill as the idea was to play the guitar and use the huge library of VST's I have in the DAW. making the GR-55's limited library of sound ineffective. Can anyone recommend a better solution of GK 13pin that can act as an interface to the computer via USB? (it seems like the goodness like Roland Gi-20 and even the AXOM AX-50 are no longer in production) can anyone suggest or recommend a better system that would be value for money. Cheers Ash

I can, but it's an expensive route. You can get a vintage Casio guitar that has MIDI converter built within it. I have a Casio PG-310 , but these are really sought after these days and are on the price-y side. I think I got mine in good shape for around $750 dollars on Reverb, but it was a good deal and I think they have appreciated since then. I've seen them for around $1000-1200 more recently. They are rare and they're really good guitars. They're essentially 80s/early 90s Japanese Ibanez guitars with a built in MIDI converter and what sounds to me like a Yamaha FM sound chip, so they even have their own synthesizer in there, though some models like the MG 510 only have the MIDI converter.

Going this route, you can completely bypass any external MIDI converter like the GR-55, as the guitars have their own 5 pin MIDI jack.

There are some MUCH cheaper alternatives, but I have no experience with them. If you look up guitar to midi devices, or pitch to midi, you might be able to find some for around $100. But I think the ones I saw weren't polyphonic, which means you would only be able to play one note at a time, which could potentially be a massive hindrance. I had one saved in my Reverb watchlist. I'll see if it's still there...

Ahh, here's one such device. You might want to look into this type of thing. I'm not sure all of what is out there regarding these types of devices:
https://reverb.com/item/2284452-sonuus-g2m-universal-guitar-to-midi-converter-version-3

I have found the GR-55 works well with USB and MIDI. There were some latency issues with USB, but it was something that could be fixed in the DAW, and I'm led to believe it would happen with a lot of different converters.

If you want to stick specifically with the Roland GK stuff, the best you will find is probably the GR-55 and SY1000.