How They Work
Guitar synths mostly work the same way in that they take an analogue signal, (The vibrating string), analyse the signal, find out what note it's sounding and converts that to a digital signal. Once the note has been converted to a digital signal, it can trigger any instrument in the synth, much the same as a keyboard does, simple or is it.
With a keyboard the notes act like a switch so when you play each note it immediaely triggers the sound you have selected. There is no analogue to digital conversion as the note plays the digital sound. With the guitar synth there is a delay with the trigger as the notes need to be analysed and then converted. The pickup needs to "hear" each note played, this is called tracking, and it needs a least one full cycle to pass before it can recognise whats being played. A cycle is a frequency wave that you could physically see on a scope. The lower the note, the slower the cycle so the bass notes have a slower trigger speed than the treble notes. This causes a delay in the tracking and can be very noticable when the guitar is being picked fast. Newer synths have improved the trigger speed but its still there so the guitar synths have never really caught on. For a guitarist, natural playing becomes difficult as you are always aware of the delay and so try to compensate.
In the studio, keyboard players had every instrument in the orchestra at their fingertips so they quickly became the producers and studio engineers. The guitar players were left behind until the guitar synth came along. Although it was now possible to play the orchestra on your favourite guitar, the synths tended to be complicated and very difficult to program. For a guitarist who was previously used to just a volume and tone control and a couple of stomp boxes, it was a step to far and so the synths were largely ignored as they were too much trouble for too little reward. The same was true for the live performer, most guitarist who bought guitar synths used them as little more than gimmicks and didn't get very much in the way of live performance from them. Most companies who marketed guitar synths quickly shelved them as being unprofitable. Only Roland persevered and have brought out a number of synths, improving the tracking and sounds along the way but sometimes taking out editing features that really made the guitar synth a powerful tool for the live performer. If a guitarist would just take the time to get to know how the synth works and figure out how to program the instrument, a whole new world of possibilities would open up.
With a keyboard the notes act like a switch so when you play each note it immediaely triggers the sound you have selected. There is no analogue to digital conversion as the note plays the digital sound. With the guitar synth there is a delay with the trigger as the notes need to be analysed and then converted. The pickup needs to "hear" each note played, this is called tracking, and it needs a least one full cycle to pass before it can recognise whats being played. A cycle is a frequency wave that you could physically see on a scope. The lower the note, the slower the cycle so the bass notes have a slower trigger speed than the treble notes. This causes a delay in the tracking and can be very noticable when the guitar is being picked fast. Newer synths have improved the trigger speed but its still there so the guitar synths have never really caught on. For a guitarist, natural playing becomes difficult as you are always aware of the delay and so try to compensate.
In the studio, keyboard players had every instrument in the orchestra at their fingertips so they quickly became the producers and studio engineers. The guitar players were left behind until the guitar synth came along. Although it was now possible to play the orchestra on your favourite guitar, the synths tended to be complicated and very difficult to program. For a guitarist who was previously used to just a volume and tone control and a couple of stomp boxes, it was a step to far and so the synths were largely ignored as they were too much trouble for too little reward. The same was true for the live performer, most guitarist who bought guitar synths used them as little more than gimmicks and didn't get very much in the way of live performance from them. Most companies who marketed guitar synths quickly shelved them as being unprofitable. Only Roland persevered and have brought out a number of synths, improving the tracking and sounds along the way but sometimes taking out editing features that really made the guitar synth a powerful tool for the live performer. If a guitarist would just take the time to get to know how the synth works and figure out how to program the instrument, a whole new world of possibilities would open up.