Next-gen processor boasts a cutting-edge sound engine, high-speed DSP, over 150 sounds and much, much more
Boss has unveiled the SY-1000 Guitar Synthesizer, which the company is calling its most powerful guitar/bass synth processor to date.
The processor offers over 150 sounds, as well as a newly developed Dynamic Synth and refreshed versions of historic Boss/Roland instrument modeling and synthesizer technologies.
Users can build patches with three simultaneous instruments and combine them, with an extensive set of parameters for tone shaping, mixing and tuning.
Inputs include a 13-pin GK, as well as a standard ¼-inch to blend in regular guitar/bass pickup sounds.
(Image credit: courtesy of Boss)
Ten oscillator waveforms are offered, plus six filter types, amplifier control, two LFOs, and two 16-part step sequencers for automating pitch, filter, and amplitude parameters.
Alongside the Dynamic Synth are two additional synth instruments – OSC Synth (an analog-style engine with numerous filter options and full ADSR control) and a sonic recreation of Roland’s classic early Eighties analog guitar synth, the GR-300.
Instrument models include a large selection of classic electric, acoustic and bass guitars, each with independent tuning, EQ, virtual amp settings and more.
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There’s also a unique VIO Guitar instrument that emulates bowed tones, and a Poly FX instrument that produces rich voices with high-res definition.
(Image credit: courtesy of Boss)
The SY-1000’s effects and user interface, meanwhile, are derived from Boss’s flagship GT-1000 multi-effects.
Operation and controls include a large LCD display and eight customizable onboard footswitches. There’s also main and sub stereo outputs with independent EQs, and an effects loop for integrating external gear.
The SY-1000 will be available in January 2020 for $999.99. For more information, head to Boss.
Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.
