I've found a problem with the HOLD pedal of the ROLAND GR-30:

If You play a chord and then hold it with the "sostenuto" function (to play a melody with the direct guitar while the synth chord sounds in the background) at the moment you release the pedal in order to play the next chord, a group of nasty dissonant notes sounds spoiling everything. If you don't play any note between the two chords, the problem does not happens (it's like if the notes you play between the two holded chords were kept in a buffer, and they suddenly appear in a chaotic manner when you release the pedal)

By using this technique you can play something like the intro of "Shine of Your Crazy Diamond, Part I" without a keyboard player (turning down the volume of the direct guitar every time you change the chord of the synth pad). I've been playing with the GI-10 for years and I've never found this problem, but after trying the GR-30 I don't want to go back to the GI-10 (the GR-30 is incredible: you can play anything from funky chords to sweep picking or tapping, it tracks almost everything!).

The other advantage over the old setup is that being floor mounted you don't need to bother with racks, now all I need is an MT-5 and my life is complete !

If your thinking about a guitar synth try one out, you'll want it. The Arpeg and harmon functions are not much use at home (unless I'm feeling lazy) but live they might just get you through one of those gigs.....

I just got the GR-30 last week. What a piece of machinery! Craftsmanship beyond compare.

That, in addition to the GX synthetic pickup....Mmmmm!

It would have been nice to have a built-in sampler, but hey, that stuff costs money!

Nice stuff. I also own a Boss DR-5, and the two work seamlessly together.

I can use the GR-30 as an input device (the midi port is faster than the guitar-in port), and do all of my sequencing on the spot.

Not a bad word to say, other than it could have included a hanky holder so I could wipe the enormous amounts of drool off of myself whenever I look at the damned thing!

A real nice synth at a real nice price. Thanx Roland!

Excellent work!

tend to fall into a rut. Grooves and melodies of all varieties will quickly fall

out of your butt. Wow! I made a rhyme! But seriously if you know the feeling

of getting a new guitar, amp, pedal etc.. that inspires you with it's new sounds or

feel, then you'll understand the feeling I get with this fine (and affordable)

tool. Unfortunately I think a lot of spoiled brats will end up (over)using it in a

cheesy way.

of my guitar itself. My only complaint is that you can't upload custom samples into the thing, and the percussion choices are somewhat limited. External tracking is not as bad as what other people have said about it, and you can tweak the midi settings to speed it up. A must have is the GR-30 Editor, by OMNIBIRD INC. A patch and system info editor you

can't live without it. For the PC, I think there is a MAC version as well. Makes tweaking and experimenting with the settings a snap, and runs pretty much in real time. Anyone who wants to network with me about this fine musical tool, mail me!