Members MusicalSchizo Posted April 1, 2011 Members Share Posted April 1, 2011 Got home and the damn AC adapter wasn't in the box. Son of a bitch. Not sure if it was never there or I accidentally left it in my studio at work (I don't remember taking it out, so...) {censored}. So, no playing with the toy until tomorrow night...provided I can get an adapter. Just glad I bought local so that I can go to the store and say, "WTF?" and have the situation fixed immediately if it indeed is their fault... But if it's my fault, I'm going to feel like a complete tool. Brian V. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bim1959 Posted April 1, 2011 Members Share Posted April 1, 2011 According to Sweetwater. the AC 9v power supply is supposed to be included with both models - the one with the pickup and the one without. Look around and make sure you didn't leave it anywhere. Check the box and manual to see if the manual says it's included. If it's sposed to be there, take it back with the receipt and, giving your best poker face, tell them that you didnt get a power supply with it. Even show them on the box where it says it is sposed to be included but you didnt get one. Otherwise, I think a Roland power supply is maybe $25.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bim1959 Posted April 1, 2011 Members Share Posted April 1, 2011 Nice toy btw!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Anderton Posted April 1, 2011 Members Share Posted April 1, 2011 Handy hint of the day: Label ALL AC adapters with permanent stickers. Saved me a lot of hassle over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MusicalSchizo Posted April 2, 2011 Author Members Share Posted April 2, 2011 That's a great idea, Craig! Turns out it was the music store who neglected to include it - I guess they had taken it out of the box to demo and just hadn't put it back. Which is LAME...but I've got the GR up and running, installed the GK-3 on one of my lighter guitars, and I'm so far a pretty happy noob in the world of guitar synthesis. I do feel like Roland's interface design is lacking, though...I'm hoping there's some sort of external editor available because it's not exactly intuitive for me. And so far the COSM modeling sounds like gronky ASS compared to what I'm used to (POD Farm 2, Guitar Rig). Why do presets so often disappoint? But I swear I'm not unhappy with it - all this was expected - I just have to work it all out. Brian V. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members aliensporebomb Posted April 2, 2011 Members Share Posted April 2, 2011 There is a beta of an preliminary editor. See vguitarforums.com for more information and a beta to try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MusicalSchizo Posted April 13, 2011 Author Members Share Posted April 13, 2011 Taking it back to the store (hopefully - if not, it's going on Craigslist). Couldn't sort out the tracking issues even though I installed the GK-3 exactly right based on instructions and then spent HOURS tweaking the GK-3 and the GR-55 itself based on instructions both in the manuals and on vguitarforums.com, not to mention adjusting my technique. Got almost there, but it was still frustrating - double-triggering stuff, etc... And the GR-55 interface was ANNOYING to me. Typical Roland, though - they always make things needlessly hard to tweak (even though they're usually DEEP). In the end, just not worth the money for me based on its utility for my purposes. Plus I'm not the type of person who enjoys spending hours making something work - I like it to just work. This didn't, even after following Roland's instructions to the letter. I'm glad others are having a much better time with theirs...Brian V. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mygolfcart123 Posted April 13, 2011 Members Share Posted April 13, 2011 Taking it back to the store (hopefully - if not, it's going on Craigslist). Couldn't sort out the tracking issues even though I installed the GK-3 exactly right based on instructions and then spent HOURS tweaking the GK-3 and the GR-55 itself based on instructions both in the manuals and on vguitarforums.com, not to mention adjusting my technique. Got almost there, but it was still frustrating - double-triggering stuff, etc...And the GR-55 interface was ANNOYING to me. Typical Roland, though - they always make things needlessly hard to tweak (even though they're usually DEEP).In the end, just not worth the money for me based on its utility for my purposes. Plus I'm not the type of person who enjoys spending hours making something work - I like it to just work. This didn't, even after following Roland's instructions to the letter.I'm glad others are having a much better time with theirs...Brian V. Sorry yours didn't work out. I can't wait until I can get mine. I have an axon Ax 100 Mark II that despite what people say about this unit being so "great", is not going anywhere! I have it hooked up to a yamaha Motif XS rack that KILLS in midi tracking and sounds. But the GR 55 is going to be for when I play out places. And maybe will be played some with my regular gear, depends on how I get it set up. But I have not heard of that many GR 55 owners having the tracking problems you describe though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MattMayfield Posted April 13, 2011 Members Share Posted April 13, 2011 Sounds like typical pitch-to-glitch to me. I've never gotten satisfactory results out of multiple Roland and Axon setups with several different guitars with various hexaphonic magnetic and piezoelectric pickups. Maybe my technique is just too sloppy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Polaris20 Posted April 13, 2011 Members Share Posted April 13, 2011 Taking it back to the store (hopefully - if not, it's going on Craigslist). Couldn't sort out the tracking issues even though I installed the GK-3 exactly right based on instructions and then spent HOURS tweaking the GK-3 and the GR-55 itself based on instructions both in the manuals and on vguitarforums.com, not to mention adjusting my technique. Got almost there, but it was still frustrating - double-triggering stuff, etc...And the GR-55 interface was ANNOYING to me. Typical Roland, though - they always make things needlessly hard to tweak (even though they're usually DEEP).In the end, just not worth the money for me based on its utility for my purposes. Plus I'm not the type of person who enjoys spending hours making something work - I like it to just work. This didn't, even after following Roland's instructions to the letter.I'm glad others are having a much better time with theirs...Brian V. Was this your first Roland kit? I can understand your frustration, they can be very picky getting the right mix of settings. The 55 in particular is very deep in terms of settings for pickup adjustments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members orourke Posted May 6, 2011 Members Share Posted May 6, 2011 Sounds like typical pitch-to-glitch to me. I've never gotten satisfactory results out of multiple Roland and Axon setups with several different guitars with various hexaphonic magnetic and piezoelectric pickups. Maybe my technique is just too sloppy. I've been using a Roland GK-3 pickup with an Axon 100 to trigger the soft synths in Logic 9. I've been getting very good results. I've got the GK-3 on a Variax 600 (I figured that guitar was made for this kind of thing). I can't exactly knock out drum parts with the Variax/GK-3 tracks a little slow for that. But for synth, organ or piano lines it's really handy. I don't play keys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members aliensporebomb Posted May 6, 2011 Members Share Posted May 6, 2011 Shrug. That's why I went for the VG-99 - lots of magical spacey type sounds but none of the tracking hassle. Hex guitar FTW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Karma1 Posted May 6, 2011 Members Share Posted May 6, 2011 Shrug. That's why I went for the VG-99 - lots of magical spacey type sounds but none of the tracking hassle. Hex guitar FTW. I have the VG-99 and it's an amazing tool, however to be honest, I've been a bit disappointed in it's synth section. The "magical spacey type sounds" you mentioned are exactly the kind I am looking for to use in my ambient soundscapes and while there are definitely some of them in there, I'm not finding a wealth of the kinds of sounds I go for, ie. Wavestation-like evolving pads, V-Synth type textures, etc. I realize that the VG-99 synth is based on the original Roland guitar synth (GR300, I believe) so perhaps it's not realistic to expect to find what I'm looking for in it. Or maybe I haven't done enough programming on it, like I have on my GR-33. I recently played a GR-55 in a store and it had some nice ambient synth sounds in it. I'm considering selling the GR-33 and getting a GR-55 when it's in the budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cincy_cosmo Posted May 12, 2011 Members Share Posted May 12, 2011 I've had the GR-55 for a few months now. I have to say it is becoming a major part of my creative process. It is a technically deep box, much like buying a VG-99 AND a GR-33 at the same time and sorting it out all at once. I'm still tweaking the guitar sounds...they are good but not great yet. Very usable box. As far as having trouble with it, I think it so much depends on the guitar and strings that it is not even funny. I had a GR-33/Roland Ready Strat setup a few years ago that was a total loss. I never could make it right. This is much much much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mcfontio Posted May 17, 2011 Members Share Posted May 17, 2011 I'm hugely enjoying my 55. When I first powered it up and scrolled through the stock patches, I was just laughing for solid two hours. I also hugely appreciate how the two buttons on the GK3 scroll through patch banks... huge for me seeing how I can go through four or so tones for any given song. I was pleasantly surprised how well it tracked with my playing and how good it sounded, too. All around bad ass unit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Karma1 Posted May 17, 2011 Members Share Posted May 17, 2011 I'm hugely enjoying my 55. When I first powered it up and scrolled through the stock patches, I was just laughing for solid two hours. I also hugely appreciate how the two buttons on the GK3 scroll through patch banks... huge for me seeing how I can go through four or so tones for any given song. I was pleasantly surprised how well it tracked with my playing and how good it sounded, too. All around bad ass unit. How are the more basic guitar sounds, especially clean rhythm and also high gain lead, etc.? I played one in a store and I liked the synth part of it, but wasn't as impressed with the modeled guitar sounds, although I'm sure they can be tweaked. It also didn't have the same playing feel as you would get on a guitar through an amp. Hard to describe, but something didn't feel right about it. I need to spend more time with one, and if the past is any indication, I'll probably wind up getting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mcfontio Posted May 17, 2011 Members Share Posted May 17, 2011 I'm not going to be using the guitar modeling tones for the most part. Strangely enough, with the GK set on GK only, the guitar modeling tones still work on the 55...? The 1/4 output is going to my pedal board (right from the guitar) into the triaxis. But yea, relative to that, there's no real comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members girevik Posted May 18, 2011 Members Share Posted May 18, 2011 I realize that the VG-99 synth is based on the original Roland guitar synth (GR300, I believe) so perhaps it's not realistic to expect to find what I'm looking for in it. The GR-300 is just one of several synth models in the VG-99. Bill Ruppert likes to layer it with another synth model. I think he also likes using the Brass synth model a lot. aliensporebomb got some cool synth sounds by just running a guitar model, instead of a synth model, through Slow Gear and other effects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mcfontio Posted May 18, 2011 Members Share Posted May 18, 2011 Taking it back to the store (hopefully - if not, it's going on Craigslist). Couldn't sort out the tracking issues even though I installed the GK-3 exactly right based on instructions and then spent HOURS tweaking the GK-3 and the GR-55 itself based on instructions both in the manuals and on vguitarforums.com, not to mention adjusting my technique. Got almost there, but it was still frustrating - double-triggering stuff, etc...And the GR-55 interface was ANNOYING to me. Typical Roland, though - they always make things needlessly hard to tweak (even though they're usually DEEP).In the end, just not worth the money for me based on its utility for my purposes. Plus I'm not the type of person who enjoys spending hours making something work - I like it to just work. This didn't, even after following Roland's instructions to the letter.I'm glad others are having a much better time with theirs...Brian V. I've noticed that mine likes false triggering if I even lay a finger on a different string (picked or not). No slop allowed apparently. Which is good for us butter finger guitar players. You found interface hard to work with?? humm. I've only (so far) looked at the manual to find the tones I want to make and have had no problem intuiting where and what buttons I need to push. But then again, I use a triaxis & gsp 1101 and have spend HOURS pushing buttons... Damn, I would have taken it off your hands if I didn't have one already. Sorry to hear you didn't like it. I'm sure someone will buy it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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