Re: Best Cheap Guitar Synth

[Shayne Cafferata <scafferata@sasktel.net>]

Title:

altho' it will be considered "old and glitchy" by most,  one of the best cheap guitar synth purchases i've made is a korg x911. it has a 1/4" audio input, so you can use anything, not just guitar, as a controller. it's main  functions are either a monosynth very similar to the ms10 or a unique polyphonic filter effect with fairly precise envelope-shaping capability and optional distortion.
as a monosynth w/guitar controller, i've been able to get some great analog synthbass as well as higher octave flute-type leads. since i've learned to play with a very clean staccato technique, i've encountered very little glitching or lag. the triggering is pretty much instantaneous.
as a polyphonic filter effect w/guitar controller, the results are more varied. you can get an eh micro-synth type of sound with dirt and wank. you can get cleaner synth-like tones. in this mode the original sound source is being processed, and when you play polyphonically, glitching abounds, but i love it and have learned to more or less control it's intensity and frequency of occurrence. the glitching has a burbling musicality to it and not at all like the glitching on a gr700.
the greatest asset of the x911 is being able to send anything through it. the monosynth works amazingly with strictly monophonic sources such as voice and electronic wind instruments. the filter effect can tranform mediocre drum machines into a grimy vortex of groove. after owning one for over five years, i still use it regularly and rarely pass up a chance to rave about it.
hey i didn't know the vg-8's had dropped that much in price! wow, maybe time to pick one up...

shayne
....still waiting for my dd20...on back order...sigh

I want something that will take the guitar as signal and allow me to do synth-like manipulation of it.  I already have a GR-33 but the latency on fast passages drives me nuts.

The Roland VG technology can probably give you what you're looking for, with no latency (since it processes the existing signal, rather than using MIDI conversion, or "pitch-to-glitch" as it's occasionally known.

The original Roland VG-8 has been going for pretty good prices over on Ebay.  I picked up one a couple months ago for a little over $250 (excellent condition, and included a flight case and extra Boss EV-5 expression pedal).  I've seen 'em going for as little as ~$150 for the VG-8 alone.  It requires a GK pickup, but I've seen used GK-2a's passing for $60-90, which puts the whole setup at just a little over your budget.