Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Guitar Amps
  • Plugin Week 25
  • Guitar Pedals
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Artist news
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Software & Apps
  • Drums
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • Plugin Week A-Z
  • You Oughta Know
  • Fake AI band
  • 95k+ free music samples
  • Wrecking Crew
Recommended reading
Dire Straits Brothers In Arms
Artists How Guy Fletcher and a classic ‘80s synth became Dire Straits’ secret weapon on Brothers In Arms
Lorde
Artists Lorde unmasks the guitar part on her new album that was created using a ‘90s Roland V-Guitar processor
Jackson X and JS Series Surfcasters: the long-awaited offset electric guitar is now being offered in white, satin black and metallic black, and and at the entry-level JS price point and the mid-priced X Series.
Guitars “A bold new take on a classic metal machine”: Having ridden the wave of popular demand, Jackson’s Surfcaster offset has landed – and it’s built for speed
Mark Knopfler of Dire Straights performs onstage in 1985 with his red Fender Stratocaster. He wears a dark suit and a burgundy shirt with an open collar.
Artists How Mark Knopfler grew up wanting to be Jimi Hendrix until he ditched the pick and went fingerstyle
Brent Mason
Guitarists “I thought, 'Well, now I have a Strat, a Les Paul, and a regular Tele all in one’”: How a top session player struck gold
native instruments
Music Production Tutorials "As nuanced as the real thing, but only if you know what you're doing": The ultimate guide to plugin guitars
Steve Stevens poses with his new Ciari signature guitar; a fold-away travel-friendly electric that comes in pink, black and white.
Artists Steve Stevens' new Ciari signature model is a fold-away electric guitar for musicians on the go
  1. Guitars

The history of the guitar synth

News
By Guitarist ( Guitarist ) published 19 November 2015

How the crossover Franken-axe came to life

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Introduction

Introduction

Many have tried to make the guitar synth cool. Most have failed. Let’s take a quick journey through the evolution of the instrument…

The fact that Boss' new SY-300 can be played from any guitar actually harks back - long before the hexaphonic pickup made its debut - to the very first processor that was marketed as a ‘guitar synth’: the EMS Synthi Hi-Fli, a large tablet-like structure on a stand as used by David Gilmour.

The big step in guitar-synth evolution was pitch-tovoltage conversion technology

This, though, may just be thought of as an analogue multi-effects processor that simply processed the sound of the guitar’s output as it combined ring modulation and other effects. Other companies, such as Maestro with the USS-1 Universal Synthesizer, produced similar products.

The big step in guitar-synth evolution was pitch-tovoltage conversion technology, manifesting itself in 1977 in Roland’s first foray into guitar synths, the GR-500, as heard on David Bowie’s Ashes To Ashes.

This consisted of a guitar (GS-500) equipped with a hexaphonic (or divided) pickup that senses the sound of each string separately, connected by a multicore cable to a desktop synth unit.

Don't Miss

Boss SY-300 Guitar Synthesizer review

Page 1 of 4
Page 1 of 4
GR-eat steps forward

GR-eat steps forward

Around the same time there was also the ARP Avatar, reportedly used by Jimmy Page and Pete Townshend, and driven by a proprietary pickup. Both GR-500 and Avatar were capable of monophonic synth sounds but could do polyphonic fuzz. The only polyphonic guitar synth at this point was an expensive beast made by 360 Systems.

Roland made the next step into something that more resembles a modern guitar synth when someone had the idea to put the synth part of the equation on the floor. Released in 1979 and used by Andy Summers, among others, the combination still featured a dedicated guitar, chosen from four available models, but it now connected via multicore to the smart blue GR-300 floor unit (not unlike the SY-300).

They were still limited in their range of sounds, but in the 1980s, the invention of MIDI really opened things up

There was also a simpler yellow GR-100. A few pedals played directly from guitar and marketed as guitar synths, such as the Korg X911 and the EHX Micro Synth, were also available in the late-70s/early 80s.

While guitar synths were getting used and heard - Robert Fripp’s and Adrian Belew’s GR-300s are all over King Crimson’s Discipline album - they were still limited in their range of sounds, but in the 1980s, the invention of MIDI really opened things up.

MIDI (an acronym for Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a system that allows communication between a variety of musical instruments, computers and related devices.

MIDI carries event messages that specify such things as the pitch and velocity of notes allowing one MIDI-equipped instrument to send a message that plays the same note on another connected instrument. Modern guitar synthesis relies on pitch-to-MIDI conversion.

Page 2 of 4
Page 2 of 4
Roll on Roland

Roll on Roland

In 1985, Roland introduced the GR-700. Okay, it was still a guitar (GR-707) and synth combination connected via a cable, but had rudimentary MIDI, so you weren’t just limited to the sounds in the GR-700, but could link to and play other MIDI-equipped synths.

The next step was for guitarists to be able to use their own guitars for synth control when Roland brought out the GK-1 pickup, which could attach to any guitar. This could connect to the GR synths, but also to the GM-70 guitar-to-MIDI converter.

Roland’s GR-1 synth and associated GK-2 pickup put the sounds in one box with onboard effects.

Other manufacturers had alternative pitch-to-MIDI products - one option was the Shadow SH-075 synth controller, which looked like a pocket calculator strapped to your guitar, but let you connect to and play MIDI instruments.

MIDI, and the development of sampling technology, spawned a whole generation of synths, samplers and sound modules that could recreate the sounds of real instruments: now you could play piano, strings, brass, and so on, from your guitar.

In 1992, Roland’s GR-1 synth and associated GK-2 pickup (connected with what’s become a standard 13-pin cable) put a load of these sounds in one box with onboard effects. It’s since been followed up with other Roland GR synths, such as the GR-20 and the current GR-55.

Page 3 of 4
Page 3 of 4
To the future

To the future

These days, you can buy synth-ready guitars with built-in hexaphonic pickups; you can even do away with the cable if you opt for Fishman’s TriplePlay wireless system, which sends its signal to a receiver ‘dongle’ connected to a USB port.

The latest, a development of the You Rock Guitar, is Inspired Instruments’ forthcoming Lineage MIDI guitar

There’s been another strand to the story other than using a conventional six-string guitar. There have also been some wacky and wonderful things (probably better labelled as guitar-shaped MIDI controllers) that, while bearing a resemblance to a guitar in that they were designed to be used by guitar players, eschew a normal string setup for electrical switching as found in keyboard synths to circumvent the tracking problems of a pitch-conversion system.

The SynthAxe, a favourite of Allan Holdsworth, comes to mind, as does the Stepp DG1 Guitar, as well as the Yamaha G10 and some Casio models. The latest of these, a development of the You Rock Guitar, is Inspired Instruments’ forthcoming Lineage MIDI guitar.

Don't Miss

Boss SY-300 Guitar Synthesizer review

Page 4 of 4
Page 4 of 4
Guitarist
Guitarist
Social Links Navigation

Guitarist is the longest established UK guitar magazine, offering gear reviews, artist interviews, techniques lessons and loads more, in print, on tablet and on smartphones Digital: http://bit.ly/GuitaristiOS If you love guitars, you'll love Guitarist. Find us in print, on Newsstand for iPad, iPhone and other digital readers

The magazine for serious players image
The magazine for serious players
Subscribe and save today!
More Info
Read more
Dire Straits Brothers In Arms
How Guy Fletcher and a classic ‘80s synth became Dire Straits’ secret weapon on Brothers In Arms
Lorde
Lorde unmasks the guitar part on her new album that was created using a ‘90s Roland V-Guitar processor
Jackson X and JS Series Surfcasters: the long-awaited offset electric guitar is now being offered in white, satin black and metallic black, and and at the entry-level JS price point and the mid-priced X Series.
“A bold new take on a classic metal machine”: Having ridden the wave of popular demand, Jackson’s Surfcaster offset has landed – and it’s built for speed
Mark Knopfler of Dire Straights performs onstage in 1985 with his red Fender Stratocaster. He wears a dark suit and a burgundy shirt with an open collar.
How Mark Knopfler grew up wanting to be Jimi Hendrix until he ditched the pick and went fingerstyle
Brent Mason
“I thought, 'Well, now I have a Strat, a Les Paul, and a regular Tele all in one’”: How a top session player struck gold
native instruments
"As nuanced as the real thing, but only if you know what you're doing": The ultimate guide to plugin guitars
Latest in Guitars
Deals of the week
MusicRadar deals of the week: It's your last chance to grab a Prime Day deal on gear from Fender, Roland, Casio, Yamaha, Toontrack & more - but you'll have to be quick
Ernie Ball Music Man Pino Palladino StingRay: the bass legend's new signature model is offered fretted or fretless, and in a deep and luxurious 79 Burst finish.
Pino Palladino teams up with EBMM for a signature StingRay inspired by the bass that started it all
Mooer Audio F15i Li Intelligent Amp: this battery-powered take-anywhere guitar amp is packed with amp and effects models, and is an all-in-one practice solution.
Mooer’s F15i Intelligent Amp is a desktop doozie equipped with 55 amps, 69 effects and a touchscreen
Epiphone 1957 Les Paul Goldtop Reissue
“A really vintage‑flavoured friend”: Epiphone 1957 Les Paul Goldtop Reissue review
EVH Gear Hypersonic FR-12: The newly launched FRFR speaker packs 1000-watts, is available in black or ivory, and might just be the perfect companion to your amp modeller.
EVH Gear drops the Hypersonic FR-12 FRFR speaker – 1000-watts to get the most from your amp modeller
Jackson Pro Series Misha Mansoor Juggernaut HT7 and HT7P
Misha Mansoor spills blood as a home shopping TV presenter to unveil new signature Jackson 7-strings
Latest in News
Exodus Gary Holt
"It might have been like 12 people there”: Exodus’ Gary Holt pulls zero punches in his new autobiography
Jeff Lynne ELO
"Jeff is devastated": ELO's last ever mega-gig plunged into jeopardy after last-minute cancellation of last night's Manchester show
Deals of the week
MusicRadar deals of the week: It's your last chance to grab a Prime Day deal on gear from Fender, Roland, Casio, Yamaha, Toontrack & more - but you'll have to be quick
Ernie Ball Music Man Pino Palladino StingRay: the bass legend's new signature model is offered fretted or fretless, and in a deep and luxurious 79 Burst finish.
Pino Palladino teams up with EBMM for a signature StingRay inspired by the bass that started it all
Amerie
How Amerie created a ‘00s R&B/funk classic with producer Rich Harrison
Mooer Audio F15i Li Intelligent Amp: this battery-powered take-anywhere guitar amp is packed with amp and effects models, and is an all-in-one practice solution.
Mooer’s F15i Intelligent Amp is a desktop doozie equipped with 55 amps, 69 effects and a touchscreen

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...