• 6 voice, Dual Oscillator Synth Engine Based on the Roland JX-3P/MKS-30

• 3 - Selectable Octave Settings for Each Oscillator, 2’, 4’ and 8’

• Choice of Square, Sawtooth or Pulse Waveform, plus Noise for Oscillator 2

• Cross Modulation Between Oscillators

• Frequency Modulation with Envelope and/or Modulation

• VCF Low-Pass Filter with LFO, Envelope and Pitch Modulation

• Variable High-Pass Filter

• Four Stage Envelope Generator

• Low Frequency Oscillator for Vibrato Effects

• Selectable Dynamic Control Over Pitch, Filter and Amplifier per string

• Selectable Pitch Bend, Hold and Voice On/Off per String

• Lush Analog Chorus Mode

• Programming Via Foot switches or with optional PG-200 Programmer

• Dimensions: 27 3/16" (W) 14 3/4" (D) 6 1/8" (H)

• Power Requirements: 45 watts

• Response Time: 29.88 ms

The GR-700 is classic Roland 1980s analog synthesizer technology. Released in late 1984, the GR-700 is the pinnacle of early Roland guitar synthesizer design. The distinctive and futuristic GR-700 features both a digital CPU for guitar tracking and a warm, fat hybrid digital/analog synthesizer engine for lush sounds.
A look at articles written about the GR-700 in Guitar Player, Guitarist, and other magazines, plus the synthesizer's appearance on television shows like The Tonight Show (US) and the Rock School series (UK), demonstrate the enthusiasm in the belief that the long anticipated age of the guitar synthesizer had finally arrived. The GR-700 launched just as the MIDI standard was being introduced, and musicians were entering a brave new world of electronic music where relatively inexpensive CPUs made possible instruments like the Prophet 5, Simmons drums, and the GR-700, instruments unimaginable a decade earlier.
Generally speaking, the GR-700 has not held up as well as its 24-pin brethren, like the GR-100 or GR-300. But for a guitar player in 1985, the GR-700 offered an astonishing range of sounds that could never have been triggered from a guitar: strings, basses, electronic effects, synths, and more. It was assumed that guitar players eventually would become fluent in GR-700 programming, and that the great silver box could become as ubiquitous as the wah-wah pedal.
Like the current generation of Roland guitar synths, the GR-700 controls the internal synth engine directly for faster response. But, make no mistake about it, when it comes to tracking the GR-700 is not a GR-300. Of all the products Roland has ever made, the GR-700 has the trickiest and most erratic tracking. The GR-700 is certainly better than equivalent products made by other manufactures at the time, but it is inferior to the GR-100, GR-300, GM-70, Korg Z3, or the Ibanez MC-1. The GR-700 has a MIDI out port for controlling other MIDI modules, but the MIDI output is erratic and unreliable. In addition, no pitch bend information is sent via MIDI.
Stand alone converters like the GM-70 became more popular toward the end of the eighties. They were faster and more accurate than the GR-700, plus via MIDI the range of sounds available to guitar players expanded considerably. The GR-700's combination of clunky pitch tracking, married to a limited synth engine, boxed up inside a huge, heavy foot pedal crammed with complex electronics made it more of a curiosity than a must-have piece of gear for the gigging musician. Still, for those who love the GR-700, nothing else sounds or responds quite like this unique guitar synthesizer.
The GR-700 was played and recorded by such prominent guitarists as Al Dimeola, Robert Fripp, Chuck Loeb (video), Jimmy Page and Andy Summers. The GR-700 was the top-of-the-line guitar synthesizer system in the mid-eighties. Retail price on a GR-700 was almost two-thousand dollars. More recently, Amir Derakh has used the Roland GR-700 extensively on several records.