Roland GR-S V-Guitar Space Effects Pedal Review and Test and Demonstration
http://www.joness.com/gr300/GR-S.htm This is a review of the features and sounds of the Roland GR-S V-Guitar Space pedal. The four modes are reviewed. The GR-S is also tested with a standard guitar pickup, for non-GK guitars.
#Roland #GRS #VGuitar #Space #Effects #Pedal #Review #Test #Demonstration
Originally posted by UC6FbFdlQjD3KGTpDKqMLcjQ at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15O6W1EV0cs
Every time I see a Roland product I wonder, "But will it Alex Hutchings?" So far roland has held up great!
I have a question sir. Sir I have a fender bullet stratocaster and today I received this product roland GRS V can I played on my stratocaster Or is this pedal played with my stratocaster
Can it be modded to have a midi output?
Does the freeze effect work without a GK pickup?
Perfect!, I will buy one of this!. Thanks for the demo…
Thanks for posting lots of really useful videos on Roland guitar synth gear – keep up the good work! Well done also for designing and building such excellent products as the Filter/Buffer, (I purchased one from you a few weeks ago).
I picked up both the GR-S & GR-D last week. I'm using a Godin with a Piezo Hex output with them as I don't currently have a GK equipped guitar.
The GR-D I am LOVING sound wise but not so this GR-S, which seems to be at least 1 knob short of a picnic! The Rich Mod (2) & Brilliant Clean (4) sounds have a delay that is really noticeable when notes or chords are stopped suddenly, (a technique I use a lot, especially on riffs). There are three distinct audible delay repeats, each at a reducing volume, which are really off-putting and there's no way of stopping them, changing the tempo or decay rate or level. With only 2 real controls, (not counting the volume/level knob), the sounds are very limited. More control would be a big improvement. Being able to tweak the modulation of the chorus/delay effect is essential to me and the addition of at least one extra tone control would help as the single Tone knob only adds/cuts brightness but the low-mid & low frequencies are quite prominent, (even with the string sensitivity right down on the bass strings), and could do with some control.
Although I know that all Roland Guitar Synth gear really needs the input sensitivity setting up to get the best out of it I thought I'd give the pedals a go straight out of the box; big mistake! Though the GR-D worked really well with the factory settings, (which I haven't changed), the GR-S sounded dreadful, really tinny and lots of high pitch noise. The Crystal (1) sound was particularly horrible! However, once I'd adjusted the sensitivity down things improved although I personally don't like the Crystal sound at all.
Using the hex output to apply effects to individual strings makes a lot of sense in theory, (as proved by the distortion sounds of the GR-D), but is let down by the extremely limited controls on the GR-S. It's hard to understand what Roland were thinking, it's almost as if someone finished designing the GR-D but gave up half way through the development of the GR-S! I'm normally a big fan of other Roland guitar synths but think they need to try harder than this!
Maybe the pedal sounds a lot better with a GK pick up rather than a piezo but I imagine the lack of control would still be a very limiting factor, (and ussually I like things kept simple)!
I do like the convenience of having 4 memory locations on both pedals to save sounds, but DON'T like the fact that the S1/S2 button switching can't be disabled! I'm using the GR-S & GR-D with a VG-99, (split by a GK-4), and want to use the S1/S2 buttons to change the VG-99 patch but leave the GR-S & GR-D as they are. I will have to save more money and buy one of your EXCELLENT UX-20 pedals which has the convenience of an on/off toggle switch for the S1/S2 commands!
The normal guitar output of both pedals seems to colour the sound even when the effects are off, I wonder if anyone else has noticed this or is it just me? Though I like the fact that the normal guitar signal is NOT mixed into the main outputs when there's no jack in the normal guitar output, so I'll just leave the socket empty.
Overall I'm very happy with the GR-D which sounds great and is very usable, but disappointed with the GR-S which I expected a lot more from, (and I had expected to prefer the S over the D)! Using the hex output for the Distortion sounds really works well and I'm surprised it doesn't for the Space sounds. I can't help thinking that one or two more knobs giving increased control over the sounds would have vastly improved the GR-S – At a list price of £249 all you get is basically 4 sounds with only 2 control knobs, (I don't count the Volume), which seems very poor value for money to me. I can't imagine this being in production for very long. Maybe I wouldn't be so disappointed if the list price was Half what it is! Considering that the combined price of both these pedals is around the same as for a whole GR-55 I know where I'd spend my money given the choice again.
ooh flashing light – so cheap ( to look at) can't believe that this is what Roland expects to open the 13 pin market with. You can stick that where the crystal pad don't shine.
It's an excellent sounding instrument, but it makes me wish the GR-D had a 13-pin out for chaining into the GR-S for a killer setup of string-by-string distortion AND modulation in series.
what a great sounding pedal crippled by an insulting user interface.
only having one macro knob per algorithm, for only 4 algorithms, is utterly mystifying.
whatever. i don't sell guitar pedals, and i'm not speaking with the pretense that i understand the market. this might be a very sale-able pedal but it's not half as interesting as the Wave Processor.
btw, thanks for posting this video. you are an admirable and enthusiastic contributor to the community.