Guitar Synthesizers

Am I broken lol??? Sold an amp a couple weeks ago, have the cash just sitting there... haven't bought anything hahaha what's wrong with me

Eventide h90
Soma lyra 8
Fractal am4
Tonex
???


I feel like me 10 years ago woulda already have bought and sold something by now
 
I'd love to be able to do something like that!

I don't need the capabilities of a full synth or even the most powerful synth pedal. The fact that there's stuff out there that costs more and/or requires a hex pickup really isn't what I'm interested in.

If I can get a decent Hammond B-3 organ tone for background parts out of a sub $500 pedal I'd be interested. If it does anything else that would be a bonus.

I've gathered that there are some options I could do with my Fractal gear but it sounds like it would require a fairly deep dive and I rather get something that's pretty much plug and play for something I'd only have very sporadic use for.

Jimmy Smith used to come over to our house to visit the guy that lived in the apartment below us and I grew up on that sound. I'd love to have it at my disposal for use now and then.

I'd love to be able to do something like that!

I don't need the capabilities of a full synth or even the most powerful synth pedal. The fact that there's stuff out there that costs more and/or requires a hex pickup really isn't what I'm interested in.

If I can get a decent Hammond B-3 organ tone for background parts out of a sub $500 pedal I'd be interested. If it does anything else that would be a bonus.

I've gathered that there are some options I could do with my Fractal gear but it sounds like it would require a fairly deep dive and I rather get something that's pretty much plug and play for something I'd only have very sporadic use for.

Jimmy Smith used to come over to our house to visit the guy that lived in the apartment below us and I grew up on that sound. I'd love to have it at my disposal for use now and then.
You don't need to buy anything. FM9:

compressor -> Pitch block, dual chromatic -> rotary literally just drop it in -> clean/veeeeeeery mildly gritty amp -> cab to taste

In the pitch block, set one voice to octave up and bring its level up to taste. The other voice can be octave down, or can be 5th up or 4th down and brought in to taste.

If you wanna get crazy tie an expression pedal to the levels in the pitch block so you can bring those harmonics in/out as you want.

Play with fingers, claw-plucking all strings simultaneously mostly as chord stabs, occasionally held.
 
Thing is, when you turn off the rotary on a Hammond, it still sounds like an organ. But when you turn of the rotary on a guitar sound, it sounds, well, like a guitar.

Same goes for some other synth-ish sounds.
You can mimic certain sounds pretty well with wahs, touch wahs or envelope following filters (dialing the tone control way back helps), but when you turn them off, you're back at a guitar sound whereas a synth would still sound like a synth when you take all filter movements away.
 
Most of the actual keyboard options that are decent are much more expensive (and much larger) than an effects pedal for quick organ-style parts, and so I personally wouldn't bother unless you're committed to using those sounds a lot or specifically want to explore keyboard playing...

If you're interested, but not THAT interested, an old, used Hammond XK3C can be found for relatively cheap and is pretty good. Leslie sim isn't as good as like a Nord C2, but iirc people rate it as better than the one on the older Nords you're more likely to find for cheap-ish used.

If you want something compact and aren't picky about keys, the Yamaha Reface YC has a surprisingly nice Hammond + Leslie sound. The current price (at least in the US) makes that whole line harder to recommend now though, and they do have mini keys (though probably the only mini keys I've ever actually liked to play, so there's that), but if you find a good price they're nice and scratch that itch pretty well.

If you're wanting to spend a lot on a digital Hammond, I'd personally look at the newer Hammond stuff over the Nord ones. Though the spring action on the comparable Nords makes them better as "all around" keyboards, which may or may not matter if you're not a keyboard player to start with and don't plan on playing piano-style parts.

For home / studio use, you best bet is a keyboard controller and a decent plugin or two, which will sound way more realistic than any of these other options anyway.
 
You don't need to buy anything. FM9:

compressor -> Pitch block, dual chromatic -> rotary literally just drop it in -> clean/veeeeeeery mildly gritty amp -> cab to taste

In the pitch block, set one voice to octave up and bring its level up to taste. The other voice can be octave down, or can be 5th up or 4th down and brought in to taste.

If you wanna get crazy tie an expression pedal to the levels in the pitch block so you can bring those harmonics in/out as you want.

Play with fingers, claw-plucking all strings simultaneously mostly as chord stabs, occasionally held.

Yep, organ sounds are just about the easiest thing to fake. Some of the nuances can be a little trickier, but it's diminishing returns for this context.
 
Guitar synths are like a distorted guitar sound on an entry level Yamaha keyboard from 1994. Far from the real deal. Proper synths can be had for very cheap these days.
Joni Mitchell used a lot of guitar synths on her 90s albums. IIRC, most of this album was Roland guitar synth.

 
Back
Top