Playing Bass through a Roland GR-55 Guitar Synth Pedal – Bass Practice Diary – 14th August 2018
I started using a Roland GR-55 about four years ago. Soon after getting it, I made a video of some of my original compositions arranged entirely on my bass. I used the GR-55 to create different voices. Remarkably, that video passed 20,000 views last week. You can watch it here. To mark the event I’ve decided to feature the GR-55 in my Bass Practice Diary for the first time.
I never imagined that my original video would be so popular. In fact I was slightly concerned about releasing it. Because I thought I might get some negativity from people who don’t like the idea of playing a bass through a guitar synth. In fact the reception that the video has received has been almost entirely positive.
Why I started using a Roland GR-55
I write and arrange music on my bass every week. I can play several instruments, but bass will always be my first instrument, just like English is my first language. So it’s far easier for me to compose with my bass than with a guitar or piano. The Roland GR-55 gives me the capability to use my bass like an electric keyboard. As a way of utilising MIDI. The advantage of this is that I can lay down entire tracks on my bass, either multi-tracking or looping without it sounding like an orchestra of bass guitars. And the GR-55 also gives me the potential to use the regular pickups on my bass at the same time or independently, so I have the best of all worlds. It’s like my bass has become a bass and an electric keyboard all rolled into one.
I get that many bass purists won’t like some of the synth sounds. But for me, as a way of presenting my music, the pro’s of the GR-55 vastly outweigh the cons.
Can You Plug a Bass Straight Into a Roland GR-55?
No, you need to install a Roland GK-3B pickup onto your bass before you can plug into a Roland GR-55. Because the GR-55 does not have a jack input. You need to use a 13-Pin MIDI cable which will connect with the GK-3B pickup. The pickup also has a jack input so you can plug your bass into the GK-3B and control both your normal bass pickups and the GK-3B MIDI pickup through the GR-55.
The GK-3B is relatively easy to install. I installed mine myself by following the instructions. You can install it with double sided sticky strips, so there’s no need to drill into your instrument unless you want to attach it permanently. You may have noticed that I’ve attached the GK-3B to a black bass. The pickup is black, so if you install it on a bass of any other colour, there’s a good chance it will spoil the appearance. You can attach the GK-3B to 4, 5 or 6 string basses. The same pickup works for all of them.
Using the Godin ACS Slim for Solo Fingerstyle performances
I made this video to demonstrate playing my Godin ACS Slim guitar solo fingerstyle. I think the ACS Slim works particularly well for playing solo fingerstyle. The guitar has two different inputs, one for a standard guitar jack cable and the other for a 13-pin midi cable. This second input allows the Godin ACS Slim to be used with Roland guitar synth pedals. In the video I’ve demonstrated both inputs.
Here’s another demo I’ve made with my Godin ACS Slim.
I made this video to demonstrate the versatility of the Godin ACS slim. In doing so I’ve done something I very rarely do. I’ve made a video of myself playing other peoples compositions. All my previous videos have contained 100% original material. But in this video, I tackle some solo fingerstyle arrangements of tunes by musicians as diverse as Sting, Stephen Sondheim, Mike Stern, Coldplay and Norah Jones. My reason for doing this is to demonstrate the styles that I think the Godin ACS Slim is ideally suited to playing and how brilliant the Godin ACS Slim is as a solo fingerstyle instrument.
What are the strengths of the Godin ACS Slim?
In my previous video I demonstrated the guitar in both a solo context and as part of a group. Here I wanted to really show off what I feel is a big strength of the Godin ACS Slim which is as a completely solo instrument capable of playing fingerstyle chords, melodies and bass lines simultaneously with no overdubs or accompaniments.
The vast majority of this video features just the sound of the nylon strings. Unadulterated by effects or MIDI sounds. It was recorded using the standard guitar jack output only.
The one exception to this is on the Norah Jones tune Don’t Know Why where I have featured the synth access using a Roland GR-55 pedal. In this case it is to demonstrate a capability which I did not demonstrate in my previous video which is that of changing the tuning on the guitar without retuning the strings. On this particular tune I had the guitar tuned in standard tuning but the sound you are hearing is that of Pat Metheny’s take on the Nashville tuning with the 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th strings tuned down a 5th and the 3rd and 4th strings tuned up a 4th.
Once again I have to stress that the retuning was entirely electronic and done with the 13-pin synth output connected to a Roland GR-55. Have a listen to Don’t Know Why it starts at about 3 mins 30 secs into the video. You wouldn’t guess that the notes you are hearing are not the same notes that came from the guitar strings. Whatever your personal feelings are about synth access guitars you have to admit that the technology is amazing.
About the Godin ACS Slim
The dimensions of the guitar are similar to that of a standard electric guitar. The scale length is 25 1/2 inches and the width at the nut is close to 1.7 inches. Which gives it a much narrower string spacing than on acoustic nylon string classical guitars. The advantage of this is that if you’re used to playing steel string guitars but you want a guitar with a nylon string sound. Then the Godin ACS Slim gives you the sound of an amplified nylon string classical guitar. But feels much more like an electric guitar to play. The dimensions of the “Slim” body and fingerboard radius also generate the feeling of holding an electric guitar. But the Godin ACS Slim is still light because the body is chambered rather than solid like a standard electric guitar.
The electronics
The Godin ACS Slim has two inputs. One jack input for a standard guitar cable, and the second input is a 13-pin connector for synth access. I know not everybody is a fan of using guitars to trigger MIDI sounds. And if that’s you then you should think about getting one of Godin’s other multiac guitars without synth accessibility. But for those of you who are interested in the synth access then the Godin ACS Slim is outstanding.
The custom RMC electronics that are installed in the bridge not only give fantastic sound quality when amplifying the nylon strings, they also provide outstanding responsiveness when using the guitar as a synth controller. If there is any latency when triggering synth sounds then it is so small that it is undetectable and hopefully the video I’ve made can give a very small example of what the Godin ACS Slim is capable of when plugged into a Roland GR-55 guitar synth.
Not an acoustic guitar
One word of caution I must add is that this is an electric guitar and it does not function un-amplified. When you play it acoustically, it doesn’t make any more sound than an un-amplified solid bodied electric guitar. So, you must use it with amplification.
I feel that while this guitar is extremely versatile and works well for virtually all styles of music. I’m personally not a fan of using it to play classical music. This will come as a surprise to some because nylon string guitars are usually classical guitars. But there’s something about amplifying the Godin ACS Slim that just doesn’t quite sound right for classical music. For me the Godin ACS Slim comes into it’s own for jazz, pop and most contemporary styles of music both playing solo and in a band. But for classical I would always prefer to play an acoustic classical guitar and use a good quality microphone for amplification if needed.
The pieces I’ve performed here in this video are as follows:
I made this video to demonstrate my Godin ACS Slim guitar. The guitar has two different inputs, one for a standard guitar jack cable and the other for a 13-pin midi cable. This second input allows the Godin ACS Slim to be used with Roland guitar synth pedals. In the video I’ve demonstrated both inputs.
Here’s a quick demo I made with my Godin ACS Slim. It’s a brilliant guitar, with a great natural nylon string sound and synth access.
The dimensions of the guitar are similar to that of a standard electric guitar. The scale length is 25 1/2 inches and the width at the nut is close to 1.7 inches which gives it a much narrower string spacing than on acoustic nylon string classical guitars. The advantage of this is that if you are used to playing steel string guitars (which most of us are) but you want a guitar with a nylon string sound then the Godin ACS Slim gives you the sound of an amplified nylon string classical guitar but feels much more like an electric guitar to play. The dimensions of the “Slim” body and fingerboard radius also generate the feeling of holding an electric guitar but the Godin ACS Slim is still light because the body is chambered rather than solid like a standard electric guitar.
Two Inputs
The Godin ACS Slim has two inputs, one jack input for a standard guitar cable and the second input is a 13-pin connector for synth access. I know not everybody is a fan of using guitars to trigger MIDI sounds and if that’s you then you should think about getting one of Godin’s other multiac guitars without synth accessibility. But for those of you who are interested in the synth access then the Godin ACS Slim is outstanding.
The custom RMC electronics that are installed in the bridge not only give fantastic sound quality when amplifying the nylon strings. They also provide outstanding responsiveness when using the guitar as a synth controller. If there is any latency when triggering synth sounds then it is so small that it’s undetectable. Hopefully the video I’ve made can give a very small example of what the Godin ACS Slim is capable of when plugged into a Roland GR-55 guitar synth.
Does it work as an acoustic guitar?
One word of caution I must add is please be aware that this is an electric guitar. It does not function un-amplified. If played acoustically it doesn’t make any more sound than an un-amplified electric guitar. So, it must be used with amplification.
I feel that while this guitar is extremely versatile and works well for virtually all styles of music. I’m personally not a fan of using it to play classical music. This will come as a surprise to some because nylon string guitars are usually classical guitars. However, there is something about amplifying the Godin ACS Slim that just doesn’t quite sound right for classical music. For me the Godin ACS Slim comes into it’s own for jazz, pop and most contemporary styles of music. Both playing solo and in a band. However, for classical I would always prefer to play an acoustic classical guitar and use a good quality microphone for amplification if needed.
In the video I start by demonstrating the sound of the nylon strings using the piezo pickups in the bridge. Then in the second half of the video I add the synth sounds with a Roland GR-55 synth pedal.
This is a video I shot with my friend Lewis Davies a few years ago. We spent the afternoon hanging out and having a jam at his studio. We recorded this to show what we came up with.
I took my Warwick “Steve Bailey” Artist Series bass and my Roland GR-55 over to my friend Lewis’ studio in South London during the summer of 2015. We spent the afternoon having a jam together and this is what we came up with. I hope you enjoy it.
Warwick Steve Bailey Artist Series Bass
You can find my video demo and written review of my 6-string Warwick Artist Series bass guitar by using this link.
Jamming at Home Playing My Bass With a Roland GR-55 Guitar Synth
This is a video I shot at my house with my good friend Siemy Di. We didn’t prepare anything, we just turned on the camera and jammed. I’m using my Warwick “Steve Bailey” Artist Series Bass and a Roland GR-55.
Siemy Di and I have worked together since 2006 and we have a fantastic musical relationship. We were introduced when I was in my early twenties by a mentor, Lucky Ranku, leader of the African Jazz All-stars.
In the video I’m using my 6-string Warwick Artist Series Bass with a Roland GK-3B divided pickup that I installed by the bridge. I’m playing it through a Roland GR-55 guitar synth pedal. The pieces are entirely improvised.
Around the time this was filmed, Siemy Di and I were performing live regularly around East London at venues such as The Servant Jazz Quarters, The Vortex, Open The Gate and The Passing Clouds. The gigs were almost entirely improvised and we deliberately did very little preparation for each gig. Some performances were better than others but it was always great fun to play with a great musician like Siemy. This video captures a little taste of what those performances were like. Not perfect but always interesting.
Siemy Di and I are still close friends but we don’t do those gigs anymore. We both have young children now, so spending our evenings at jazz clubs is out of the question these days. Maybe one day in the future we’ll do something similar, although I imagine it will be quite different. This video captures a moment in time that was an important time for both musicians.
Check out Siemy Di’s Drumeo video here. I recorded all the bass and guitar parts for both the first and last pieces.
