Re: OT: Guitar Synth

[David Hayes <stringfling@gmail.com>]

Axon AX 100 or AX-50 with an RMC piezo pickup system. 

These pickups are the best, most playable way to do Guitar Midi. It's not some mass produced thing though... some guy named Rich makes them and it may take a while to obtain even the correct information about which is right for you. 

http://www.rmcpickup.com/

You'll need to email him what you have and ask what you need. Then  it may be easier to have the guy who runs a local guitar store near his work shop actually ride his bike over and get it and ship it to you rather then Rich himself. 

The guitar shop near his workshop is Subway Guitars, 1800 Cedar St. Berkeley CA 94703,  (510) 841-4106. 

Then you'll need to have your local guitar shop install, which means replacing the bridge with his and installing the 13 pin plug. The actual conversion electronics may not fit in your guitar... I have a separate box like this http://www.rmcpickup.com/polydriveii.html I plug into.  My bridge looks like this one: http://www.rmcpickup.com/powrbridgest.html . I have a PRS-513, but he's got pickups for all kinds of guitars... electric, acoustic, and nylon string.

I think the whole thing ended up costing me around $6-700 installed. A lot, I know, but to me it was the difference between using it or not using it. I tried Rolland's magnetic pickup and got way too many blips, bleeps, inconsistencies, etc. etc. for it to be truly usable. Nothing's perfect, but the RMC yields quite good results. Good luck!

On May 19, 2008, at 11:16 AM, Kevin Cheli-Colando wrote:

I sometimes feel like I ask far and away the most off topic questions here and yet, I find this community to be one of the best resources of information about a wide variety of things so I can't think of a better place to start most times.  That said, I wanted to ask any of the guitar synth players their advice on the best options at the moment.

I'm completely new to this so I'll have to start from scratch with the pickups and then the synth itself and so on.

What I'd like ideally is a way to use the guitar as a trigger for a wide variety of odd sounds and percussive elements.  I really love the feel of the guitar and like to play it in non-traditional ways (more like a stick with long strings instead of as a melodic instrument) so I would need something that can track odd strikes and picking strength and the like, something that can register a wide dynamic range.  Tracking doesn't have to be perfect or lightning fast but it would need to be 'musical'.  And how far back can I go in the technology and still have something that doesn't seem horribly dated or overly limited?  Oh yes, and price is always a concern.  The cheapest route is always best for me I'm afraid, but I don't want to waste the time and money on something that is too limited either due to its being inexpensive now

And then there is the pick-up/interface, what is the best way to get into the synth (GK pick-ups or pre-wired guitar) and so on.

So if anyone feels like having a go of this question and offering their opinions, that would be greatly appreciated.  I know I could look at guitar synth sites and forums, but I feel like the people on this list are coming from a pretty sympathetic space musically and all share an expansive view of the possibilities of music that I'm not sure really is as common out in the larger on-line world which is why I'm asking here first.

And if not, so it goes, I hope another OT question doesn't offend.

Thanks

Kevin


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