Since I travel quite a bit for my job, I'm always looking for ways allow me to take along a guitar for practice or writing when I'm stuck in some hotel. I have a travel-sized guitar that I use (check out the Traveler Guitars, I have the one called the Speedster). Recently I decided to look for a palm-sized tool that I could use with my travel guitar for practicing and recording while I'm on the road.

After checking out a few different models I decided to get one from Roland called the Micro BR-80. After getting this and playing around with it for the past week, I have to say this is one of the best, most well-thought-out tools for guitar players looking for a way to practice or capture song ideas on the go, or even at home. (unlike a PC, you don't have to wait for it to boot up, or setup mics to capture your song idea :-)

This device is just a little larger than a smartphone, (about 2x the thickness also). It contains an 8-track recorder, built-in stereo condenser mics, guitar-amp modeler (COSM modeling), SD Card input, Guitar input, USB connection (for side-loading stuff to/from your PC), etc.

The device can operate in several different modes.
One of those modes is called E-Band, which allows you to plug in your guitar and jam along to tons of pre-loaded background tracks in various styles. Or you can plug in your iPod or load MP3s of anything you want to Jam along with. The COSM amp modeler allows you to get tons of amp sounds that are very usable, including an acoustic guitar simulation, bass guitar simulation as well as tons of classic guitar tones. You can also use the device to slow down your favorite songs to transcribe solos etc.

The second mode is MTR mode (multi-track-recorder) which allows you to use it as a standard 8-track recorder, layering your own guitar tracks with the built in drum patterns. The COSM amp modeling is available in this mode also. One of the best parts of this is that they allow you to track bass parts with your guitar using the bass-guitar model. This is great for getting a simple bass part down with your guitar tracks so that you have your song idea captured.

Lastly, the unit has a mode called Live Band, which allows you to capture a live recording of your whole band using the built-in stereo condenser mics. Then you can take your recorded performance and add more of your own overdubbed tracks, or master it right from the unit to create an MP3 of your final mix.

I'm very impressed with this device, even as just a practice tool it is incredible. But adding the capability to do demo recording on it with all of the amp modeling and 8-track recording makes this thing insanely useful. I paid $299 for this at Guitar Center. There are cheaper field recorders out there, and less expensive headphone amps for guitar, but none of them has integrated it into such a useful package as this. I've tried some of the other ones and this is the best I've seen. Highly recommended!
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-a...RWXGB&ZYXSEM=0


--Jim