# Boss SY- 300 Guitar Synthesizer



## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

If you're not into guitar synthesis then this may not interest you but for those who are, Boss has finally come out with a new polyphonic guitar synth that doesn't require the GK pickup. You can use it with a standard 1/4" guitar jack. Check out the website for more information: 

http://www.bossus.com/products/sy-300/

And here are some YouTube demos:

[video=youtube;9EdzJz5X2-c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EdzJz5X2-c[/video]


[video=youtube;jPoZ7BGkMDY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPoZ7BGkMDY[/video]


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

whoa. I just got a GIGANTIC GAS attack. I need one of these in my cover band so much!

I've always tinkered with the idea of adding the roland VK99 or something similar, but never wanted to add the GK pickup to my guitars, or get a midi guitar. If this thing works as-advertised, this is a no-brainer for me, as long as it doesn't cost a fortune. A comment on YouTube says forumites are guessing ~$600, which is pricey, but I would pay it.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

I wish they would stop making these things easier and easier to use. It's getting harder and harder to stop myself from ordering them. Sheesh!!!


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

All of this pretty much began with the Boss OC-3 and the EHX POG. Once there was a way for identifying the pitch of each string in a _mono_ signal and applying octave division to it, the next logical step was to add other forms of processing to the strings.

In the early days of guitar synthesis, one needed to use a hex/divided pickup so that each string provided a separate signal. Each of those separate signals would then be processed in whatever way, including recognition/detection of when a note had been picked. Once DSP speed and complexity reached a certain level, however, the identification of what was going on with each string became a matter of processing the "information stream", rather than doing something to 6 separate signals.

The knob twiddler in me would like to have more knobs to twist, rather than modes to shuttle through on a screen, but it still looks like there is plenty to play with there. I have a Casio MIDI guitar that will let me do a lot of what's shown in the demo, but it still requires a hex pickup, and the detection of "string events" inserts a tiny bit of delay to the processing; more delay for lower notes than higher ones. Although not nearly as convenient as simply plugging ANY guitar into the SY-300, I can run my MIDI cable to any tone generator box, as well as to a software synth on my computer. The SY-300 web page indicates that such possibilities are also available ( http://www.boss.info/products/sy-300/ ).


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## TWRC (Apr 22, 2011)

This isn't my cup of tea, but WOW, Boss has really been impressing me this year.


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## sulphur (Jun 2, 2011)

In the second vid, the guy mentioned something about it costing 699 Euros = over $900 CD.


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## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

I think the Fishman Triple Play is the new way to go.

[video=youtube;bs9fBAsg6kM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs9fBAsg6kM[/video]


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

Steadfastly said:


> I think the Fishman Triple Play is the new way to go.


Sure sounds cool, but what the Boss unit has that this doesn't is ergonomics. I don't need a separate transducer or a laptop/outboard modules to haul around.

Some people are complaining that the sounds in the Boss unit aren't the best they can be, and that's not a surprise, considering what they've packed into a small piece of hardware. But, to my ears, they're definitely serviceable in a live context, which is exactly how I would be using it.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Boss has been the cheeseburger-and-fries for guitar players for a long time. I don't mean that in a pejorative way. Their menu consists of the things that, at any point in music history, will keep a lot of players content and earning a living. So they won't produce many things that are outrageous or counterintuitive. And when they...well, they end up like the Slicer on sale at Steve's for essentially half price.

So, is the SY-300 going to set "new frontiers"? Only insomuch as more players might be willing to take a chance on guitar synthesis for the first time, because it doesn't require MORE than a pedal (although the sticker price might create a barrier). But it won't, and likely isn't intended to, foster new ways of thinking about synthesis. It will provide a considerably expanded palette of sounds to guitar players. People will buy it, and a small nucleus will create their own patches, or modify some of the stock ones, but most will likely end up selling their units with no changes to the 70 stock patches it comes with, and maybe a few disappointingly incomplete or sloppy custom patches attempted.

That's not a slag at Boss or the users. Whenever you have a piece of equipment requiring reading of a manual to learn about operating modes and submenus, especially if it has tons of possibilities, many folks will balk at that. The stock patches may be exciting and great sounding; enough so that people don't feel the need to go beyond them. If there were, say, 15 built-in patches, folks might feel compelled to go beyond that. But 70 is a lot to fiddle around with, fill a lot of niches, and cover a lot of territory and tunes.

At any rate, that's my take.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

mhammer said:


> Boss has been the cheeseburger-and-fries for guitar players for a long time. I don't mean that in a pejorative way. Their menu consists of the things that, at any point in music history, will keep a lot of players content and earning a living. So they won't produce many things that are outrageous or counterintuitive. And when they...well, they end up like the Slicer on sale at Steve's for essentially half price.
> 
> So, is the SY-300 going to set "new frontiers"? Only insomuch as more players might be willing to take a chance on guitar synthesis for the first time, because it doesn't require MORE than a pedal (although the sticker price might create a barrier). But it won't, and likely isn't intended to, foster new ways of thinking about synthesis. It will provide a considerably expanded palette of sounds to guitar players. People will buy it, and a small nucleus will create their own patches, or modify some of the stock ones, but most will likely end up selling their units with no changes to the 70 stock patches it comes with, and maybe a few disappointingly incomplete or sloppy custom patches attempted.
> 
> ...


That's pretty much how I'm planning on using this. I'm waiting for a more comprehensive list of what the stock 70 patches are and also whether I can change patches via an external midi controller like my Disaster Area DMC controller. If I can, and if the stock patches cover all the things I would need, then I'm 100% sold on this thing.

Synthesis is low on my priority list. We're a cover band that does a lot of rock and motown, so a good chunk of our setlist doesn't need an fancy gee-whiz sounds, but our 80's and Top 40 songs could certainly use some synth sounds and I just need something small, easy-to-use and decent-sounding. The GR-10 or VG-99 are more than I need and also require the GK pickup. This is way more along the lines of what I would need to get into synthesis.


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## Slooky (Feb 3, 2015)

hollowbody said:


> That's pretty much how I'm planning on using this. I'm waiting for a more comprehensive list of what the stock 70 patches are and also whether I can change patches via an external midi controller like my Disaster Area DMC controller. If I can, and if the stock patches cover all the things I would need, then I'm 100% sold on this thing.
> 
> Synthesis is low on my priority list. We're a cover band that does a lot of rock and motown, so a good chunk of our setlist doesn't need an fancy gee-whiz sounds, but our 80's and Top 40 songs could certainly use some synth sounds and I just need something small, easy-to-use and decent-sounding. The GR-10 or VG-99 are more than I need and also require the GK pickup. This is way more along the lines of what I would need to get into synthesis.


Did you mean Gp-10?


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

One of the things I like about this is the fact that not only can it be played with bass as well as guitar, but you can plug any other instrument into the 1/4" jack (provided it has an output) and use that to drive the synth as well. Imagine using a less expensive microphone with a 1/4" output, or a more expensive one with an quarter inch adapter plugged into this and singing your synth lines? That would attract some attention! :smile-new: I was also toying with the idea of playing a harmonica into the mic to drive the synth sounds. Pretty amazing stuff.


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

Slooky said:


> Did you mean Gp-10?


haha, yeah...


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## Kenmac (Jan 24, 2007)

Just thought I'd let you all know that Steves Music Store has got these on order already. Here's the link: http://www.stevesmusic.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=22&products_id=15766 A little on the pricey side right now. I'm hoping that'll come down a couple of hundred or so in the next couple of months.


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

Impressive technology, but again, all but useless for me.

The technology was never the obstacle for me. It was simply that I could find no practicle application. 

I've always preffered having a keyboard player.


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## Guitar101 (Jan 19, 2011)

I have to agree with Milkman about no practical application as I've had these sounds on the various synths I've owned for many years and can't think of a time when I've used any of them out playing. Sounds like a lot of money for a noise maker.


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## mhammer (Nov 30, 2007)

Milkman said:


> Impressive technology, but again, all but useless for me.
> 
> The technology was never the obstacle for me. It was simply that I could find no practicle application.
> 
> I've always preffered having a keyboard player.


To do the synth stuff, it has to essentially separate a mono input into 6 "streams". But it is also a multi-FX unit, capable of a lot of very normal and frequently used effects. So now I'm wondering if the FX are applied to the individual streams, or to a mixed-down version of the whole thing.


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## DrHook (Oct 28, 2013)

I'm going to have to reserve comment on whether I think it's the next best thing until I actually find one in a store and can sit down with it and put it through it's paces. Currently in the band I'm in I use a Fender GC-1 Strat into Roland GR55 out to a POD HD500. Basically I use it for hammond b3 pads as well as synth pads for a lot of songs, and the flute is killer when we play Can't You See...people stop and look for the flute player  What I'd really like to do is find out how well the processed string separation is in the BOSS unit as well as find out how good the stock pcm tones are. Given that Roland and Boss are partnered there may be a lot of similar sounds in it. If it suits my needs...then I'll probably get one....simply for the fact that then I can change guitars...I hate being limited to the GC-1 when I have so many great guitars.


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