How do I use a guitar MIDI synth?

metallicafan18 · #1 03-23-2009, 07:35 PM

Hey all, my guitar player in my band said he'd sell me his Charvel GTM-6 MIDI synth to me for $50. I thought it would be cool to have a synth rackmount for my bass. Thing is, I don't know if this will work, or how to work it. There are no instructions or anything.

Can someone please explain if this will work, and if it will, how to do it?

elros · #2 03-24-2009, 01:40 AM

Does it include all the bits? Rack mount device, power supply, cable, guitar? If so it could work. Probably not with bass though: it's a guitar system.

bongomania · #3 03-24-2009, 01:42 AM

It will not work with your bass.

metallicafan18 · #4 03-24-2009, 05:50 AM

It includes all the parts.

Why will it not work for bass? It's made for a guitar, so I figured it would work for a bass.

RCCollins · #5 03-24-2009, 06:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by metallicafan18

It includes all the parts.

Why will it not work for bass? It's made for a guitar, so I figured it would work for a bass.

you havent spent much time in the effects forum, have you? most of us around here are less than satisfied with using guitar effects on bass. The synth system you're describing is an extreme example of a guitar effect that just plain wont work with bass, though.

AndyLES · #6 03-24-2009, 07:55 AM

I assume this uses pitch-voltage tracking? Nah, it won't work - it's not set up to track notes that low.

bongomania · #7 03-24-2009, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RCCollins

most of us around here are less than satisfied with using guitar effects on bass.

Well, I don't know about that...

However the reason that this system won't work for bass is that it requires a special pickup which is a hex pickup, meaning six strings, spaced at guitar-string spacing. Even if the brain of the system could effectively track low pitches, which most of the time these older guitar MIDI systems cannot, it wouldn't know which notes you were playing because of your 4 strings over its 6 transducers!

Here's more info I found on an arcane and obscure reference site called Google:
http://jpsongs.com/troubadortech/mgtr.htm
http://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?t=161602

fightthepower · #8 03-24-2009, 02:12 PM

The second link is especially helpful, it ends a few posts in with someone telling the OP to google it