PIANO ON GUITAR
I play in a five-piece covers band. We play a range of stuff and although I’m not big on effects, a handful (footful?) is sufficient to vary the sound enough. I don’t have unlimited funds and to create a little depth I have an Electro-Harmonix MEL9, which is okay for quiet background.
However, with all the available technology and pedal makers, why is there not a simple pedal to produce a straightforward piano sound? There are synths that do it, and the TriplePlay is pretty good, but I don’t want a computer on stage. Sometimes a piano would just hit the spot. Could I ask you lot to prod a few boffins and come up with something for say, £300? You know you want to! Jim Quaife, via email Sounds simple enough, but to our knowledge there is no such beast… yet. Your current options are limited to a guitar synth such as Roland’s GR-55GK, as you suggest, whereupon you can have all the piano you like. Even if you get the sound, however, amplification becomes an issue – the kind of frequencies a piano produces aren’t best suited to a guitar amp. If you want it to sound like a piano, you’ll need some sort of full range flat response (FRFR) amp (a PA amp/speaker).
Guitar players are much better provided for when it comes to electric keyboard sounds. The sister products to your MEL9 – KEY9, B9, C9 – are capable of fantastic keyboard sounds. They fare a little better through a regular guitar amp than a traditional piano sound, though will still be best through some full-range amplification. We’d recommend the KEY9, so perhaps tweak your setlist and await the P9, if they ever make it. There are tons of cool electric piano songs to learn!