Vintage Roland GR500 Guitar Owned By Ryo Kawasaki Rare Playable Project 1977

Selling a Roland Gr500 Owned and Modified by RYO KAWASAKI No synth module, no synth guts in the controller. Playable Project
For your consideration, a unique guitar with quite a history.
This is one of RYO KAWASAKI’S personal prototype Gr500s.
When Roland gave Ryo this guitar to try out, he immediately began a long and thorough modification process to really ‘open up’ the potential of the design. Not only is Ryo a gifted musician, but also an avid tech tinkerer. The modifications and experiments he performed and refined on this guitar helped to shape the foundation of guitar-to-synth interfaces, guitar-to-effect compatibility and guitar-to-computer interfacing which has become almost the basic standard of today’s independent recording boom. He drilled quite a few holes in the lower bout to add a lattice work of additional controls. He removed the finish off the neck to give it a smoother feel for his Jazz-Fusion style. He changed the pickups and made DIY pickup rings to fit the modified pickup routes. He did all this in the effort to create a better instrument for ‘Expression’.
This is the Third Gr500 I have had in my life. Always without the synth module. Over the years I have had dozens of Gibson and other high-end Les Paul’s, but my favorite Les Paul type guitar always comes back to the Roland Gr500 controller. The attention to detail on this instrument always sold me over any other similar type of guitar. From the striking deep burst finish, the ribbon-like script gleaming on the ‘mushroom’ carved headstock, or the ‘Deal Breaking’ Swooped and set-in control Plates. This guitar would be right at home with someone looking to restore, collect, resto-mod, or simply build a dream into.
The synth guts and modifications were unfortunately removed before I acquired the guitar. The pickup rings are the original ones made by Ryo himself. I don’t believe the pickups are anything he added. The guitar is set up with two humbuckers and one single coil in the bridge. The switches are on/off switches for each pickup. There is one volume knob that works as a Master Volume between all of the pick ups. The red button does not appear to do anything, though I’m sure you could wire it up as a temporary kill switch. The tailpiece is original, but the bridge saddle is not. The lower part of neck near the 1st to 3rd fret position has a repaired crack. I believe this is what originally decommissioned it from use by Ryo. The repair is stable and could easily be cleaned up to be less noticeable if that was the goal. (I left it as a battle scar from its 'old days'). It has never moved under full string tension in the time I have owned it. The fingerboard near the Nut is slightly separating from the neck. This is occurring from the 1st fret to the 3rd fret, but it's not traveling. Just about enough to get your fingernail under. Aesthetically it's just a slight visible line. This does not interfere with the guitar being playable. It would be really easy to fill with glue.
With that in mind, the guitar DOES need some work and a set-up to really shine. My intention was to clean up the neck repair/Finger Board separation, replace the bridge saddles, replace the pickups and electronics, set it up and keep it for what it is. I have been too busy to do that, and hate to see this guitar go unused any longer.
A lot of the thrashing put on it is from Ryo touring with it extensively, using it as one of his main guitars and modifying it heavily and continuously. As a result, the guitar has battle scars (which tell the epic story of this instrument), and could use a little TLC. That being said, this is a solid instrument with a lot left to give once it is cleaned up. (If you want to see one of these prototypes in action [Ryo had a few], check out 'Ryo Kawasaki & The Golden Dragon: Comes The Night -1980' on Youtube).