New Boss GM-800 Guitar Synthesizer

[BearBoy]

New Guitar Synthesizer pedal:

BOSS Guitar Synthesis Evolves with the Power of ZEN-Core

The GM-800 elevates guitar synthesis into a new age of natural playability and boundless creative range. Driven by the newly developed Serial GK interface, the advanced ZEN-Core engine unlocks any sound imaginable—from acoustic instruments to classic and modern synths—while high-performance DSP delivers tracking stability and expressive scope never before possible. Freely combine and edit Tones with the intuitive Scene workflow, color sounds with a huge selection of effects, and explore a universe of fresh content on Roland Cloud. Compact, streamlined, and ultra-versatile, the GM-800 infuses your guitar or bass with unlimited musical potential.

Features

• Next-generation guitar and bass synthesizer with the newly developed Serial GK interface

• Advanced ZEN-Core sound engine derived from flagship Roland synthesizers

• Natural playing feel and solid tracking stability, realized through high-performance DSP

• Powerful Scene workflow with four Tones plus Rhythm

• Vast onboard sound library with over 1200 Tones and 70 Rhythm sounds

ZEN-CORE INSIDE
The GM-800 is built around the expandable ZEN-Core Synthesis System, the sound source behind professional Roland products like the JUPITER-X and FANTOM keyboards, the ZENOLOGY software synthesizer, and many others. ZEN-Core is the most powerful synth engine in Roland’s long history, distilling decades of expertise into one sonically vast and deeply expressive creative instrument.

Unlike the SY-1, SY-200 etc, it looks like it needs a special pick up:



LINK

[BearBoy]

Couple of demo videos:

[BearBoy]

Andertons in the UK have it up for pre-order at £689

[Pepe]

Strange. I thought that the GK pickups are a relict of the past with the technology introduced in the SY-300 that offers reliable polyphonic synth sounds.

[BearBoy]

You need a GK pickup to use some of the functionality of the SY-1000 (e.g. alternate tunings), which I think came out after the SY-300? Although the technology has come on massively with the stable polyphony of the more recent pedals, it looks like there are still some areas where it's not advanced enough for some of the more complex functionality.

TBH, I think I'd be far more likely to pick up an SY-1 or SY-200 than something as advanced as this.