Best usage of guitar synthesizers?

So, I was listening to Moments in Love by Art of Noise and noticed what sounded similar to the same guitar synth tone Steve Hackett used on his first few albums. Specifically the GR-500 produces this sound that just washes over me, an example here at 1:42




Are there any albums, whether they be rock or electronic based, that extensively use a guitar synth to good effect. I know that Tangerine Dream used guitar synth some point but I'm struggling to remember when (Force Majeure I think?)

 

Lou Reed's 1992 'Magic and Loss' features guitarist Mike Rathke often playing a Casio synth guitar. Also, in the late '70s, Lou often played through a Roland guitar synth to mighty effect ('Street Hassle', 'Live: Take No Prisoners', 'The Bells').

 

any time Robert Fripp held a G303 connected to a GR300 in his hands.

bonus points given if Andy Summers is there with him:

Andy Summers and Robert Fripp, 'in the cloud forest' (from I advance masked, 1982)​

 

**** I actually have this album. Never listened to it though. I know what I'm doing right now.

 

For me Pat Metheny's work in the 1980s - Offramp, Travels, Falcon & the Snowman, Still Life Talking etc

If I need to nail it down to a single tune, most probably "Are you going with me" from Offramp.

 

Pat Methany is the first artist that comes to mind. AxeD is right, Offramp is s great one.

 

Pat Metheny also came to mind first for me, but I have to say that Paul Gilbert did a great song on the third Mr. Big album, Bump Ahead, called Nothing But Love. There isn't any leads on the synth, but a really lush rhythm guitar.

 

Priest - Turbo? Maybe not best use, but it's a use.

 

Quite some time ago John Abercrombie was using guitar synth a fair bit and I always thought he made the most musical use of it as anyone.

 

The first one I thought of. Locked In is a great song.

 

Paolo Tofani with tha band Area . Here is what I found in his web page:
At that time (1971) I started becoming more interested in electronic music and for many months during the day I was going in a new lab/company named EMS (Electronic Music Studios) where one person named Peter Zinovieff was making small synthesizers. That experience opened a new world of sound for me. Finally I could explore different sound spaces that gave me an incredible opportunity for expression, Later on in 1972 when I came back to Italy to enter the group called “Area”, Peter and EMS practically gave me two AKS synthis. These looked like 2 black brief cases with their own digital keyboards, inside the case, also I received one pitch to voltage converter unit that was an amazing piece of work, I had never heard anything like that before, I could play the synthi with my guitar. (Remember this is 1972) “Area” fans will remember this sound in the introduction of the famous piece “Luglio Agosto Settembre Nero” (Black July August September) and other pieces that which were done with the guitar thru this unit.

 

A Favorite.

 

"Moments In Love" is an amazing song - will listen out for the guitar synth next time

 

I Want to Break Free

 

I like the way I use my GR-09. I like to use string sections, flues, oboes, cellos, and like that.
I spent the time programming mine to sound like the old Moody Blues mellotron string sound.
I really can't say I ever payed attention to whether artists were using guitar synths or keys.
I wondered if on The Ladder by Yes some of it might have been guitar synth.
I am curious that they are used far more often than we might know.

 

Depending on how you regard the Synthaxe... I give you, Allan Holdsworth, "Atavachron", "Sand" and ""Secrets"! I saw him on a couple of those tours and that rig he was using was really touchy.

 

Nope. Jupiter 8.

 

Gotta go with Andy Summers. Tons of GR-300 on Zenyatta, Ghost, & Syncronicity. Tuned in 5ths.

I love guitar synth. Have GR-300 and 700 systems. The 300 is limited tonally but is a breeze to play and sounds delicious. Tracks like butter. The 700 has a great synth engine with dual oscillators and lots of modulation but has terrible latency and horrible tracking.

 

yea dawg metheny is kind of the grand master of guitar synth

 

this is really key. a friend of mine who is a very knowledgeable music head and runs one of the remaining record shops here in the city was once talking with me about 80s king crimson as the live in japan 1984 DVD played on the store's monitor.

'such a cool sound, and the most amazing thing about it is that there are no synthesizers at all!' he effused, gesturing to the screen, where at that exact moment, RF was busy noodling away on his G303 controller.

I didn't have the heart to tell him.

I'm not sure most people would recognize a guitar synth being played if they saw one, or conversely, as you said, recognize one if they heard it.

 

I have wondered how much Justin Hayward uses one in the studio, I bet some of the stuff on Strange Times and his solo stuff is.

 

Andy Summers demonstrates the Roland at 1:30...

 

Damn, I always thought that was Sting doing all the synth work. I don't give Andy Summers enough credit I guess. Will be looking out for it next time I play those albums.

 

Robert Fripp playing on Bowie's Heroes plugged into Eno's 'suitcase'?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03g18sx