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Roland GR-55: Guitar Synthesizer

 The Roland GR-55 is a revolution in guitar synthesis, with features never before available in any guitar processor. In terms of speed, it’s the fastest ever. It’s also the most accurate, thanks to newly developed pitch-detection technology. As for sound, the triple-core generator houses a world-class array of virtual guitars, basses, amps, and synth voices, enabling tones and textures that have never been heard before. Onstage or in the studio, you can instantly access the GR-55’s huge library of ready-to-use sounds, from pop to rock and beyond, with quick-access category buttons. Welcome to a groundbreaking new era in guitar synthesis!

Guitar synths have come a long way in the last 10 years or so. My biggest complaint with the old Roland guitar synth units was their lack of ability to track the notes correctly. When you played a fast run up and down the neck it had a hard time tracking each note. There was a bit of lag between notes and sometimes it would skip one all together. I was a little skeptical when I plugged in the new GR-55 and gave it a test run but I'm happy to say the tracking is lightning fast. Roland has a new pitch detection technology that stays right on top of what you're playing so the tracking is instant.

There's a ton of cool new sounds on the unit and they're all processed at 24-bit/44.1khz for incredible sound quality. This is the perfect unit for a guitar player to use live without carrying around a ton of pedals and rack mount gear. It also has the famous Boss COSM engine for modeling reverbs, distortions, flanges, delay and more.

The most fun I had with the GR-55 was using the built in looper and layering a synth bass line first, a funk guitar track second, and finally layering trumpet hits on top. There's so many possibilities and incredible sounds you can get out of it and it's now my favorite new piece of gear for playing out and for using in the studio. You can pick one up today here at Lynchburg Music for a great price and have it shipped for free. Click here for more details.