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Midi capable guitars/pickups

sqrlcub	Date: September 6, 2007 @ 4:00 PM Anyone out there have experience with these? I know Godin makes one of the more hyped instruments but have never seen one in the stores to test it out. I'm considering buying one for an easier to use than a keyboard midi interface for some compositional work that I've been doing and before shelling out the cash, I want to hear some honest reviews.
leedsquietman	Date: September 8, 2007 @ 1:20 PM http://www.roland.com/products/en/GR-20/features.html also get the GK3 pickup and this USB/MIDI guitar processor unit which is an even sweeter combi http://www.zzounds.com/item--ROLGI20 Roland pioneered this type of technology and have a long standing reputation with their GR range of products. Just remember though that latency can be an issue, especially on the bass E string, although it is usually manageable unless you plan on doing shredding to sound like flutes and saxophones solely on your bass E string !!!!
zedsalt	Date: September 9, 2007 @ 10:12 AM I've heard that Graphtech makes a pickup that tracks better than the Roland, but that was just the opinion of one guy who has the next-to-newest Roland (pre-installed on a "Roland-ready Strat") and the newest Graphtech (replacing the saddles on another Strat).
sqrlcub	Date: September 10, 2007 @ 11:56 AM I picked up the Godin Multiac SA (the nylon strung jazz guitar) on a recommendation of my guitar teacher. I got an ok deal with it but had to buy the Roland processor outright. The good news is that I think I am up for recording again after a year and a half of some jazz lessons. The bad news is that I'm not sure what I want to start with just yet. I have only had it for a day so I haven't gotten the full personality of the instrument. I like how the action is more similar to an electric rather than a straight up classical. I think I have to rework some technique though since the strings are really sensitive to touch. It's more of an accuracy issue dealing with muting appropriately with my right hand I think. The Roland synth is probably going to cause me problems. I've spent so much of my time focused on acoustic music that I'm not sure where to go with electrical equipment. :/ Thank you everyone for your input.
leedsquietman	Date: September 10, 2007 @ 5:23 PM Good suggestions Zed, I don't use any MIDI guitar based synth processing but have tried it out in the past. The Roland stuff was pretty sweet but that's not to say that better stuff exists out there. I haven't tried graphtech for a comparison, so it could well be great. What I don't recommend though is the early Roland GR stuff with the scifi look (GR707 etc), they were more for show than truly useful with very limited synth tones and latency issues on bass E and A strings.
Woof	Date: September 10, 2007 @ 9:59 PM Been a Roland user for years... maybe the tracking's not 100% spot-on, but then again, the best advice that anyone ever gave me about guitar synths in general, was that they're put to their best use when the synth sounds are layered with the real guitar tracks. They can do a lot to add an extra ethereal feel... especially when playing live, and there isn't an 100-track studio available to meticulously arrange each part.
sqrlcub	Date: September 13, 2007 @ 1:51 PM I have another question. I have been playing around with it for a few days now and I notice that the A string doesn't necessarily sound on the various synth sounds but always sounds fine if I just use the regular guitar sounds. Is there something I can do to track that? Should I take it back to the store and get a replacement one?
zedsalt	Date: September 14, 2007 @ 10:43 AM I don't have anything really useful to say; I just wanted to wish you luck. I don't think it'd be anything but appropriate to take the guitar back to the shop and at least ask. It'd be great if it was just a simple problem with a loose wire or something, but if it turns out to be a problem inherent with that make and model, that wouldn't necessarily be a tragedy. I mean, the era of hinky Rolands that l'q'man mentioned- just listen to what Robert Fripp and Pat Metheny do with THOSE!
zedsalt	Date: September 14, 2007 @ 10:44 AM Note: they went for the pretty, dark mahogany models instead of the one with the big funky handle, but the guts are the same.
sqrlcub	Date: September 17, 2007 @ 2:38 PM Well, that's good to know. I haven't had a chance and won't until this coming weekend to deal with it.