Question and Answer

Was the Roland GR300 'Blue Box' guitar synthesizer used for the lead parts in the track 'We Live Here?' Also, who builds your guitar controllers, in particular the GR controller with the Synclavier control panel, and the GR controller with the whammy bar and custom neck?

yeah, i love that blue box- the gr300 thing. in fact, i think most people seem to think that the sound that i use on tracks like WLH or "r u going w/me" is the synclavier when in fact it's this cheap, obsolete, 1979 technology weirdo guitar synth, the gr300. it's a sound that has got some funk in it. it's not "clean" the way most synths are, it's kind of raw. i love it. the controller you are talking about for the synclav was made by my friend and production manager david oakes, and all it is is the remote control panel of the synclav merged into a 303 controller. the one with the whammy and the custom neck was done by mark herbert who is the man in boston for setting up and customizing guitars. he does alot of work for me, although it is carolyn chrzan who actually is in charge of maintaining all the guitars all the time. she has been with me for many years now and also does all the tuning for all the live gigs. the new headstock was mark herbert's idea for helping to keep the whammy model in tune.