High-Tech Guitar

[yamex5]

Hello All,

I've been playing guitar for over 40 years and synthesizers for over 30. From the time the ARP Avatar was announced, I've wanted to tap into the power of synthesis via a guitar. I've won a Casio MG-510 on ebay and would like to pull together a support group, since this breed is almost 30 years old.

I'd like help on problems that others have seen, and perhaps I can share some core MIDI knowledge if someone needs it. Anyways, I'm hoping to hear from other Casio MIDI guitar owners (or future owners!).

-Mike L.

[mygolfcart123]

Originally Posted by yamex5

Hello All,

I've been playing guitar for over 40 years and synthesizers for over 30. From the time the ARP Avatar was announced, I've wanted to tap into the power of synthesis via a guitar. I've won a Casio MG-510 on ebay and would like to pull together a support group, since this breed is almost 30 years old.

I'd like help on problems that others have seen, and perhaps I can share some core MIDI knowledge if someone needs it. Anyways, I'm hoping to hear from other Casio MIDI guitar owners (or future owners!).

-Mike L.

I am curious why you would want to use such old technology when something affordable like the Fishman triple play (that will be better than even an axon at not even half the price) is just around the corner?

[MERCO]

The best Midi Gtr ever !! i love my MG510 and i use everyday for the last 25? years!!
Great to compose in PC,great to play .
Remember:use only whit the correct power supply !!

Cheers!!

Mercogtr

Originally Posted by yamex5

Hello All,

I've been playing guitar for over 40 years and synthesizers for over 30. From the time the ARP Avatar was announced, I've wanted to tap into the power of synthesis via a guitar. I've won a Casio MG-510 on ebay and would like to pull together a support group, since this breed is almost 30 years old.

I'd like help on problems that others have seen, and perhaps I can share some core MIDI knowledge if someone needs it. Anyways, I'm hoping to hear from other Casio MIDI guitar owners (or future owners!).

-Mike L.

[MDLMUSIC]

I finally sold my PG-380 after 20 years of use. Great guitar, but I wasn't using it enough to warrant keeping it. A lot of the synth sounds weren't very usable, but the ones that were made it unique. My favorite was to combine a clean guitar sound with the string swell sound for slow songs. Really filled out the song on tunes like "Knocking on Heaven's Door."

The other cool thing about it was that since everything was self-contained in the guitar, I could go wireless and still have all the synth sounds. Of course, all those onboard electronics made for one heavy guitar, another reason I sold it.

[Chumer]

I bought a PG380 when they first came out. I loved it and I used to use it for going fully wireless also! The harmonica was acceptable as was some of the more percussive sounds such as marimba. It was in a class of its own in terms of a fully fledged self-contained guitar synth! I was rather heavy though and I did not like the neck...just pain too big for me.

[Karma1]

I bought a brand new white PG-380 from a local music store in the 90's. It cost a fortune at the time but I really dug it and it was my main guitar for years. As mentioned, it is a bit on the heavy side - although probably not more than a Les Paul. I've heard that the guitars were actually built by Ibanez, with Casio adding the electronics and putting their brand name on it. It was definitely a good quality instrument and sounded fine as a regular guitar.

Going midi-out to a synth, the tracking wasn't great, but the fact that it had internal sounds was awesome and put it in a class by itself and the internal sounds tracked great. I was really into tweaking synth sounds at the time and since they weren't editable on the guitar, I went out and bought a Casio VZ-10M synth module, which is the same synth engine as in the PG-380, to use as a "workstation". I would edit sounds in it, arrange them in the order I wanted, and load them onto a ram card which went into a slot on the back of the guitar. That worked out really well and gave me some nice custom sounds. I also bought a couple 3rd party sound cards that were available at the time.

Overall, it was a very cool and innovative instrument at the time. The fact that it has a built-in tuner was nice touch, although I was never much of a Floyd Rose fan. But I really enjoyed using the guitar for a number of years. I eventually got into the Roland guitar-synths - GR-50, GR-30, and currently a GR-33 and VG-99. I sold the PG-380 to a keyboardist friend of mine a few years ago, but he recently told me that he wasn't using it much and wants to sell it. Everything was working fine when I sold it, but when I played it recently it had developed some issues so is not in perfect shape. But worthwhile fixing up for someone who wants a really unique instrument. As I recall, Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead played one for a while and they were officially endorsed by jazz great Stanley Jordan at the time. I'm surprised that guitars with built-in synth sounds were not really developed after the Casio PG guitars - too bad.

[yamex5]

Originally Posted by MERCO

The best Midi Gtr ever !! i love my MG510 and i use everyday for the last 25? years!!
Great to compose in PC,great to play .
Remember:use only whit the correct power supply !!

Cheers!!

Mercogtr

Hi Merco,

Several companies are selling 'compatible' power supplies for the MG-510, but they all differ slightly in their specs. I picked one, but the connector is very loose, and the cord is only 3 feet long.
Do you know where I can get a truly compatible power supply?

Thanks,
Mike

[MERCO]

yamex5:

Hi,i use Boss model ACA 220 power supply and works like a champ for many years,try to
find it. ( my country use 220 v)

Good Luck !!

NOTE: Caution whit the power polarity or you fried the internal electronics !!
( like one of my friends....)