The Roland GR-S V-Guitar Space is a specialized stereo effect pedal in the familiar Twin Pedal format. Powered by GK technology, it processes your guitar’s strings individually, achieving unique, synth-like modulated sounds that no other stompbox pedal can produce. The GR-S has a 13-pin input that works with GK-equipped guitars such as the GC-1 GK-Ready Stratocaster®, or with nearly any other guitar when you install a GK-3 Divided Pickup.

Exploring the Sound Types

The GR-S has four different sound types, with big numbered buttons that make it easy to access them quickly.

Type 1 is called “Crystal.” It adds an edgy, modulated, and somewhat metallic synth-like sound an octave above the note you’re playing. When Crystal is selected, the COLOR knob adjusts the character and emphasis of the tone in the upper frequencies, adding a bit more “ring.” TONE makes the effect brighter.

Type 2 is “Rich Modulation,” which blends a lush chorus texture with your normal guitar sound. The effect is highly touch-sensitive: the harder you play, the more effect you get. COLOR controls the strength of the effect, while TONE adjusts the sound from mellow and dark to quite bright.

Type 3, named “Slow Pad,” is an interesting textural sound. It produces tones both one octave above and one octave below the note you’re playing, with a Slow Gear kind of “swell” attack and a bit of modulation. COLOR increases the sound of the note you’re playing and adds it to the synth pad sound, and also speeds up the attack and adds a third tone in the middle of the other two. TONE reduces the lower octave tone and increases the upper octave tone. This sound also includes a good amount of ambient reverb to help make it rich and pad-like.

Type 4, or “Brilliant Clean,” is similar to Type 3 in that it produces tones one octave above and one octave below the one you’re playing. However, these tones are treated much differently; there’s no modulation or Slow Gear kind of inverted attack, and the sound is compressed to emphasize the attack and create sustain. The result is a kind of multi-string guitar sound. Twisting the COLOR and TONE knobs alters the sound considerably; COLOR increases the amount of effect, from almost none to very present, while TONE emphasizes the lower to upper overtones, depending on the knob position.

Saving Your Settings

The GR-S is programmable and can store and recall all knob settings. There’s a Manual setting and four memory locations for saving your favorite tones, giving you five instantly accessible sounds.

Manual mode is a feature found on many Roland and BOSS programmable products. It reflects the current knob positions, making on-the-fly tone adjustments very easy. Manual Mode is useful for sound experimenting or program creation, allowing you to tweak whatever you want without affecting or accidentally losing any of your presets.

The four memories and Manual mode on the GR-S can be chosen either with the SELECT button on the panel, or with the S1 and S2 switches on the GK-equipped guitar. Pressing SELECT scrolls through them sequentially, while the S1/S2 switches scroll through them in either direction. You can control the GR-S’s volume directly from the GK-equipped guitar as well.

Pedal Functions

The left pedal on the GR-S lets you turn the effect on/off, while the right pedal engages the unique FREEZE function. When you press and hold the right pedal, it captures what you’re playing and sustains it for as long as you hold the pedal. You can then play over the “frozen” sound, either with the current sound type or a different sound altogether.

Plugging Into Your Rig

The GR-S has a very versatile I/O configuration, making it simple to integrate with just about any guitar rig or recording setup.

You can use it in line with mono or stereo devices, and even route the signal from your guitar’s normal pickups to other processors via the GUITAR OUT jack. The G.AMP/LINE switch allows the GR-S to be used with a guitar amp, or connected directly to a recording setup or PA mixing board.

That’s the Roland GR-S V-Guitar Space—if you have a GK-capable guitar, this pedal will give it a unique voice it’s never had before. And when used in conjunction with the Roland GR-D V-Guitar Distortion, it can produce amazing new sounds that will enhance virtually any kind of contemporary music.