Roland GR-700

The Roland GR-700 is a guitar-controlled synthesizer released by Roland in 1984, which came with a G-707 guitar. It had MIDI interface and is more keyboard-like in sounds produced, compared to previous Roland GR models. The voice architecture largely modelled on the JX-3P synth. It made use of the pitch-to-voltage converters for CV/gate control via each of the guitar strings, like the GR-500. Also, it is the first guitar synth to have patch memory (of 64 programmable patch memories, allocated to 8 banks). For onboard effects, it has a variation of the classic Roland analog Chorus effect and the hexaphonic fuzz.

Andy Summers was one of the first adopters of the Roland GR-700, having previously worked with the GR-300 and GR-500 before with The Police. He and Robert Fripp worked with the GR-700 extensively on the Bewitched album in 1984.

Further information

 * Joness Roland GR resource