gr 55 guitar synth v axe

jeff fox said:
the gr55 is definitely not a toy....the ability to use alternate tunings or downtune a 6string to 8string levels is very impressive, as well as the ability to have instant doubled synth souds with a guitar is spectacular.You can do that with the onboard cosm sounds, or better yet, run a regular cable to the axe for the distorted guitar sounds.Most people are aware that the gr55 has near flawless tracking on about 90% of the patches, but the tracking on the piano sounds is pretty horrible regardless of technique.The synth sounds tracking is scary good, as well as the sitar and xylophone sounds
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Sure it's fun, but the GR55 has too many limitations, and when compared with the Axe Fx ... well you are selling it so that says enough !
For me the main limitation is I had to destroy one of my strats, drilling holes in it and all that , to put in the stupid midi pickup, and then having to have the damn 15pin midi cable hanging out of the guitar all the time.
Major pain in the a**.

Sorry I must be in a crabby mood this afternoon.:roll
 
skintone1 said:
Fair enough.
So, do you have the GK3 pick up on your strat, going into GR55 , and normal output jack on the strat into the Axe Fx ? ie. 2 cables out of your Strat?
This is what I have done in the past.
But it can get messy.
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I'm only using the 13-pin cable with the GK pickup. I run both the real pickups & the modeled pickups out of the back of the GR-55 into the Axe. With the GK pickup, the real pickups only need to drive a 6 inch cable into the 100K input impedance of the buffer. I don't notice any significant difference between the sound of my pickups coming out the back of the GR-55 vs. going from the guitar into the Axe - other than very little, if any, loss of highs as I roll back the volume. I use low capacitance Elixir cables, so I suppose if you use typical cables or high capacitance coil cables, you'll notice a difference simply because of the lower capacitve load of the GK pickup input.
 
skintone1 said:
For me the main limitation is I had to destroy one of my strats, drilling holes in it and all that , to put in the stupid midi pickup,
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I install the GK-3 pickup with that removable double sided tape (3M Command). I trim it to the size of the pickup with just a little tab sticking out that I can grab with a needle nose pliers for removal. It's totally revertable at any time without any holes.
 
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skintone1 said:
Sure it's fun, but the GR55 has too many limitations, and when compared with the Axe Fx ... well you are selling it so that says enough !
For me the main limitation is I had to destroy one of my strats, drilling holes in it and all that , to put in the stupid midi pickup, and then having to have the damn 15pin midi cable hanging out of the guitar all the time.
Major pain in the a**.

Sorry I must be in a crabby mood this afternoon.:roll
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i agree about the 13 pin being a major pain, but it is more expansive than limiting with alternate tunings, drop tunings, and the ability to get as much as 3 entirely different tones(at least with my carvin which has regular pickups, piezo, and the 13 pin)...and i am selling because i want an mfc and have been unemployed for 9 months, not because i don't love it...and this is the only place i have listed it so i am not really trying too hard...after watching a few more vids i hadn't loaded into my cpu yet this weekend i am not even sure that is a good idea....i like the whole sci fi aspect of guitar synth.....but of course i like the axe more by itself.the abilty to use the 2 together is something i have barely experimented with and would love to explore further
 
jeff fox said:
i agree about the 13 pin being a major pain, but it is more expansive than limiting with alternate tunings, drop tunings, and the ability to get as much as 3 entirely different tones(at least with my carvin which has regular pickups, piezo, and the 13 pin)...and i am selling because i want an mfc and have been unemployed for 9 months, not because i don't love it...and this is the only place i have listed it so i am not really trying too hard...after watching a few more vids i hadn't loaded into my cpu yet this weekend i am not even sure that is a good idea....i like the whole sci fi aspect of guitar synth.....but of course i like the axe more by itself.the abilty to use the 2 together is something i have barely experimented with and would love to explore further
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I have a Brian Moore guitar , the GR-55 and the Axe II. The combination is incredibly diverse. I use GR55 for Synth and Alternate Tunings and the Axe for all Piezo and guitar sounds. The GR-55 is not a toy and in a live setting can be incredibly good. I wouldn't part with it so quickly.

I did this with the GR55 doing Horns and Keyboard and Axe doing the Piezo Acoustic

Does Anybody Really Know - YouTube
 
WITELITE said:
I have a Brian Moore guitar , the GR-55 and the Axe II. The combination is incredibly diverse. I use GR55 for Synth and Alternate Tunings and the Axe for all Piezo and guitar sounds. The GR-55 is not a toy and in a live setting can be incredibly good. I wouldn't part with it so quickly.

I did this with the GR55 doing Horns and Keyboard and Axe doing the Piezo Acoustic

Does Anybody Really Know - YouTube
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I assume you had the pedal on the GR-55 blending both piano and horns? Which vocal harmonizer? Voicelive 2?
 
GuitarDojo said:
I assume you had the pedal on the GR-55 blending both piano and horns? Which vocal harmonizer? Voicelive 2?
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When pedal is depressed horns (toe) and when pedal is up piano (heel). That's another cool feature of the unit. And Voice Live Rack for the chorus. I like it because i have it racked with my Axe and can feed the signal easier while minimizing an already large pedal space (MFC and GR55)
 
WITELITE said:
When pedal is depressed horns (toe) and when pedal is up piano (heel). That's another cool feature of the unit. And Voice Live Rack for the chorus. I like it because i have it racked with my Axe and can feed the signal easier while minimizing an already large pedal space (MFC and GR55)
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Good job.
Reminds me what I used to do with the GR55 but have stopped using it since I got the Axe Fx.
Maybe I should get it out and start playing with it again.:razz
I use the Voicelive 2 also.
Man that unit kicks ass...
 
skintone1 said:
Good job.
Reminds me what I used to do with the GR55 but have stopped using it since I got the Axe Fx.
Maybe I should get it out and start playing with it again.:razz
I use the Voicelive 2 also.
Man that unit kicks ass...
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You should. It is a great unit along with the axe. I think they complement each other well. And voice Live stuff is great too especially if you are in a small band
 
WITELITE said:
I have a Brian Moore guitar , the GR-55 and the Axe II. The combination is incredibly diverse. I use GR55 for Synth and Alternate Tunings and the Axe for all Piezo and guitar sounds. The GR-55 is not a toy and in a live setting can be incredibly good. I wouldn't part with it so quickly.

I did this with the GR55 doing Horns and Keyboard and Axe doing the Piezo Acoustic

Does Anybody Really Know - YouTube
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cool jam, love the mirror in the back.....yeah, i really don't want to get rid of either it or the carvin but most of the projects i have planned right now will just be using the axe and i really need the mfc to pull them off for the videos.i could get by without one for recording audio but i need some midi switching for the youtube videos.i might just get a cheaper midi controller if i can't sell it, although it remains to be seen if i can actually get the thing to work considering my midi knowledge is absolute zero
 
WITELITE said:
When pedal is depressed horns (toe) and when pedal is up piano (heel). That's another cool feature of the unit. And Voice Live Rack for the chorus. I like it because i have it racked with my Axe and can feed the signal easier while minimizing an already large pedal space (MFC and GR55)
Click to expand...

I also forgot to say...Great job!!! Is that your brother on the drums?
 
jeff fox said:
cool jam, love the mirror in the back.....yeah, i really don't want to get rid of either it or the carvin but most of the projects i have planned right now will just be using the axe and i really need the mfc to pull them off for the videos.i could get by without one for recording audio but i need some midi switching for the youtube videos.i might just get a cheaper midi controller if i can't sell it, although it remains to be seen if i can actually get the thing to work considering my midi knowledge is absolute zero
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I'm sure you could get it to work but the MFC is so well integrated with the axe that it is worth the investment IMO.

Good luck.
 
I love the idea of it. I just dread the added complexity. I already have 10 presets in the axe for odd stuff, and 5 for amps tones. violin/flute/B3/siren/synths etc. I know the 55 can do that better, but the idea of that on the floor next to the MFC and three pedals...and the wire. I think that is the big worry for me. I do wireless now. Just plugging in for the tunes I need it for -that is a great idea I hadnt considered. Seriously considering it.
 
carydad said:
I love the idea of it. I just dread the added complexity. I already have 10 presets in the axe for odd stuff, and 5 for amps tones. violin/flute/B3/siren/synths etc. I know the 55 can do that better, but the idea of that on the floor next to the MFC and three pedals...and the wire. I think that is the big worry for me. I do wireless now. Just plugging in for the tunes I need it for -that is a great idea I hadnt considered. Seriously considering it.
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Just rack the GR-55 and control it with your MFC... I think this is where I will eventually head with it. Although I did just buy an axon ax50 to use with my motif rack.... I have also discovered that the midi out of the GR-55 controlling the motif actually works better i think. The piano's not only sound better on the motif but also seem to track better with the midi out from the GR-55. Weird but that has been my experience. While I'm enjoying the sounds of the motif better I must say the gr-55's flexibility is probably going to be more important in the end. I find it easier to navigate and control. Plus you have the ability to have all the alternate tuning and guitar modeling going into the axe as well... I haven't used the Axon yet. Just received it yesterday.
 
I have the Axon Ax 100 Mk 2 with a Roland Fantom XR rack mount for sounds. It works well once you dial in the Axon sensitivity and attack properly ( I have 3 different attack and sustain presets so i can adapt for the different Roland sounds). I plan on getting the VG-99 or the GR-55 this week (probably the GR to save $$). looking forward to blending all three synths with my rig :) I use an fcb1010 as a master controller right now but it wont be the final controller.... that video kinda put me over the edge on buying. :)
 
Picked up the GR55 and I am really impressed with the tones... what I was looking for was a better flute, violin, organ and I find myself wasting hours playing piano. I plan to just sit it on top of the rack and use it sparingly in tunes. I need to go thru the next set list and see where I would need what. Thanks for that sticky tape idea. Though it mounts easy and vanishes pretty well on my black Tak LP, the Suhr is really the #1.
 
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