Synth help please!!

[Realidown]

I just bought an old Roland Gr-1 with the Gk-2 pick up but I cannot get the synth to work at all. I'm thinking I'm not setting up the pick up right. Any ideas? Thanks.

[aaronp]

Well, not to sound rude...but there are WAY too many things that could be the problem, to try to determine here.

Did yo try it out before you bought it?

[DarthWombat]

At the risk of sounding patronising, Aaronp is right. You wouldn't call your mechanic and just give a fault description of "my car won't go", would you? You'd have to give information like: Do the dash indicators light up? Does it turn over? Does it start? etc, etc.

OK, after all that: some specific things to check...

1. All the usual "Microsoft Help" type of things: Is the power connected and turned on? Is everything plugged in where it should be? etc. etc.

2. RTFM. Roland should have the manual available somewhere online if you didn't get it with the unit. Read it.

3. Another dumb thing: Do you actually have the GK-2 switched to "Synth"?

4. Keep it simple. Just plug headphones (ones that definitely work) into the phone output and use those to check things before plugging it into an amp.

5. Do a factory reset on the GR-1. I do this as a matter of course with any new gear I get just to provide a known starting point to work from. As to how to do this, see item 2.

6. Is there any indication that the synth is receiving a signal from the GK2? I'm not familiar with the GR-1, but there should be an LED or something which lights up whenever it detects a note. There's probably a mode where you can set the sensitivity for each individual string - that should have something like a signal strength meter. If you can't see anything there, then you have to check the GK2 or the 13-pin cable.

7. If you've still had no luck, find a mate or a friendly music store who has a GK2/GK3-equipped guitar, a compatible synth and a cable. Take your unit there and use the process of elimination to work out what the problem is.

I hope this helps.

Alex.