Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Sweet Torture with a Boss SY-900

While torturing myself over the Boss RC-50 and replacing it, I decided this really isn't sufficient pain so let's go for it all ... and ... presto ...


For a sample of what it can do, check out Boss SY-900 (link is to Boss)

There's no way to get into this thing without getting geeky but you can find a musical demonstration on the Boss page above.

The way it is done is, to my knowledge, unique.  Previously the only way to get anything close to synth sound from a guitar is to use MIDI output from a specially-designed guitar or to slap one of the after-market MIDI pickups on it.  The latter is not recommended here at the Rockhouse where the preference is for a Godin xTSA guitar with MIDI access and it's built into the bridge.  It's fast and effective ... but ... the MIDI cable from the guitar to the guitar synth is vulnerable and prone to breakage.

The difference for the SY-900 is it does not use a MIDI cable and generates synth tones from a standard 1/4-inch guitar plug.  This does not make it substantially different from any guitar effects unit ... but ... this one does it better than any I have ever heard.  Words cannot possibly tell you well enough and do check out the demo video at the Boss page to find out for yourself.

The torture part is it retails for $699 so there's no possible way of getting one but I would have jumped for it in a millisecond at a different time.  I would do it now if I could afford it but the question of how much it would actually get used is a big one because ... long sad story (sob).

The reason for doing buying one when I have a guitar synthesizer now is the MIDI cable from a guitar to a synth is not standard MIDI and has an extra pin for power.  The cables are easy to break and replacing one costs $60 or so.

The Boss SY-900 seems to deliver the same capability even though it is done a different way since it determines pitch through its own internal software rather than being handed that information via MIDI.  The processes are quite different but, as you can hear from the demo, highly-effective.

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