Roland GR-500

The Roland GR-500, manufactured by Roland Corporation, was the first commercially available guitar synthesizer.

The synthesizer module included Bass, Solo Synth, and String sounds based on previous Orchestral and analog mono-synths from Roland. There are a number of sliders to adjust the VCO, VCF, VCA, and LFO sections, but no memory to store your edits.

The synth module is controlled by a "highly modified" guitar. It utilized a special pickup system that connected to the synth module via Roland's own 24-pin interface and controlled it using CV/GATE signals generated by the guitar's pickup system while playing the guitar. In addition to the modified pickup, there were magnets under the face of the guitar that could increase its sustain. Performance accuracy was "iffy" but good for 1977 and pre-MIDI. As a piece of guitar-synth history, the GR-500 makes an excellent collectors item and may come in handy for the occasional growl or a strummed analog sound effect. It has been used by Chuck Hammer, Lou Reed, Guitarchitecture, Jimmy Page, Tangerine Dream, Mike Rutherford of Genesis and Alex Lifeson of Rush. [http://www.vintagesynth.com/roland/gr500.shtml] , http://www.vintagesynth.com/roland/gr500.shtml.]

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