A review of the newest offering from Roland – the SY-300 synth pedal, by Alistair Andrews
The new SY-300 Guitar Synthesizer by Boss is an unbelievable analog-style synth designed to play polyphonic synth sounds with any guitar, bass or other string instruments, using standard pickups. (No need for specialised pickups, just plug in your axe using a standard 1/4-inch cable.)
I used one (on bass) for the first time on Sunday and was knocked out. I did not have to alter my technique and the tracking was simply unbelievable. Never played any guitar synth this playable before
The SY-300 has a powerful polyphonic synthesis engine with sections for wave shapes, filters and amps, and low-frequency oscillators (LFOs). There’s also a step sequencer (with tap tempo control) for creating dynamic melodies and arpeggios just by playing a single note, and a Blender function that lets you mix and match synth settings from other patches to discover new sounds instantly.
The SY-300’s synth engine can also be used to process a normal guitar/bass sound to create an endless supply of unique textures. Four simultaneous effects engines are available, each packing a number of effects types, including overdrives and distortions, Slow Gear, Isolator, Slicer, and many others. Some types can perform two effects at once, such as chorus and delay or delay and reverb.
Other features include:
A graphic LCD display
Three assignable footswitches, and a dedicated on/off footswitch.
Two external footswitches or an expression pedal can also be connected.
There are 70 preset patches, plus 99 user patches for storing custom sounds.
Dual output pairs (Main and Sub) offer assignable signal routing options, while MIDI In and Out/Thru jacks are provided for interfacing with switchers, drum machines and other MIDI gear.
The SY-300 includes a USB audio interface to capture audio tracks directly into music production software on a computer. Via USB, users can also route existing tracks into the SY-300 to “re-synth” sounds using the synth engine and effects to create new sounds for music productions.
The SY-300’s USB connection also enables players to build and organize patches with the dedicated BOSS Tone Studio editor and download new patches from the BOSS Tone Central website.
The SY-300 will definitely add another dimension to your guitar, bass or other stringed electronic and instruments sound pallet.
It does not trigger external sound modules, but I do not see this as a problem as it is what is supposed to be, a stand-alone guitar/bass synthesizer and much more.
Be sure to hear it on my next album. Awesome invention!!!
