Roland GK-2a Guitar Synthesizer Driver

MuseWiki, wiki for the band Muse
Jump to: navigation, search
Roland GK-2a Guitar Synthesizer Driver

The GK-2a is a hexaphonic pickup designed to drive Roland guitar synths. It consists of six tiny pickups (one for each guitar string) and sends six parallel analogue signals to an apropriate receiver, using the 13 pin 'GK' cable. The GK-2a is often refered to as a 'MIDI pickup' - this is partialy true, as it does transmit patch-change and volume-control MIDI signals. However, the guitar signal itself is analogue, NOT MIDI; it requires an external processing unit (such as the Roland GI-20P) to be converted to MIDI.

Matthew Bellamy has the GK-2a built into two of his Manson guitars as he used to use a Roland VG-88. The most obvious example is the 'trumpet' solo during Darkshines.

Back to Guitar effects