Boss has once again pushed the boundaries of Guitar Synthesizer technology with the GM-800. Initial demos reveal a sonic landscape richer and more vibrant than its predecessors, including the Roland GR-55 and even the older GR-30. The sound quality is undeniably impressive, offering a significant step up in clarity and depth. However, much like the SY-1000 before it, the GM-800 introduces a frustrating layer of complexity that may overshadow its sonic achievements for many guitarists.
To understand the core issue with the GM-800, it’s helpful to revisit the critique of the SY-1000. While the SY-1000 boasted incredible guitar modeling and user-created synth tones, its design felt fundamentally flawed. It seemed misplaced in a casing that was essentially a stripped-down GT-1000 multi-effects unit, lacking essential features like an expression pedal and XLR outputs. This forced users to purchase additional pedals and grapple with unnecessary limitations. Many felt that the SY-1000’s powerful capabilities would have been better served within a more comprehensive unit, perhaps even integrated into the GT-1000 itself.
For those primarily interested in triggering non-guitar sounds from their instrument, a more logical step would have been an evolution of the GR-55. Imagine a unit that combined the SY-1000’s advanced modeling, amp simulations, effects, and synth engines with the GR-55’s user-friendly features like an expression pedal and backing track player. This all-in-one solution would simplify gig setups, minimize cabling, and cater to both GK-equipped and standard guitars. A single unit capable of handling everything from amp modeling and effects to advanced guitar synthesis would be a game-changer.
Instead, Boss has chosen a path that introduces further complications and costs for guitarists seeking the latest synth sounds. The GM-800, in essence, functions as a modern GR-30 – a dedicated synthesizer module focused on triggering sounds with exceptional tracking and sonic fidelity. However, unlike the relatively straightforward GR-30, the GM-800 introduces new layers of complexity, particularly in its connectivity. While lacking a built-in expression pedal like both the GR-30 and SY-1000, the GM-800 falls short of the GR-30’s cable simplicity. It omits a standard guitar output, let alone a return, forcing users into a more convoluted setup. To utilize both regular guitar sounds and the GM-800’s synth capabilities, guitarists must employ both the new GKC digital TRS cable and a standard guitar cable, requiring more input channels on a mixer. This represents the most basic GM-800 setup envisioned by Boss, and it necessitates the purchase of a new GK-5 pickup, which must be adhered to the guitar, adding a cable near the picking hand.
For guitarists who prioritize clean aesthetics and hard-wired setups, the prospect of a stick-on digital pickup is far from ideal. This departure from the traditional, integrated GK pickup systems will likely deter many users.
Recognizing the potential for a standards conflict with the shift to digital pickups and TRS cables, Boss offers the GKC-AD adapter. However, this “solution” comes at nearly the same cost as a new GK-5 pickup. While the GKC-AD allows compatibility with existing 13-pin GK-equipped guitars, preserving the investment in Roland-ready instruments, it introduces further complexities. It enables the use of a single 13-pin cable between the GM-800 setup and the guitar, and includes a guitar output. However, the GKC-AD lacks a GK 13-pin ‘thru’ socket. This omission prevents users from easily routing the signal to both the GM-800 and an SY-1000 simultaneously, limiting the ability to access both the new synth sounds and the SY-1000’s guitar modeling and DIY synth capabilities without additional routing solutions. Furthermore, the GKC-AD requires its own external power supply, adding to the cable clutter. The absence of a short TRS cable for connecting the GKC-AD to the GM-800 further complicates matters. The GM-800’s compact size suggests pedalboard integration, but users with 13-pin GK guitars will find their pedalboards burdened with the GKC-AD, its power adapter, and the lengthy TRS cable.
While it might seem initially that integrating the GM-800 with an SY-1000 is impossible without a complex Y-cable setup or a US-20 splitter (unavailable in some regions), Boss does offer a solution – the GKC-DA adapter. By adding another TRS cable and the GKC-DA, the GM-800’s TRS output can be converted back to a 13-pin analog signal for the SY-1000. However, this “solution” exacerbates the cable problem, requiring yet another lengthy TRS cable and an additional power adapter for the GKC-DA.
This cascade of adapters and cables raises a critical question: Why didn’t Boss create a more integrated solution? A unit with a larger footprint, incorporating a built-in expression pedal, internal GKC-AD and DA converters, and a comprehensive array of inputs and outputs (including quarter-inch guitar out, 13-pin GK in, and 13-pin GK out) would drastically simplify setups. Consolidating the functionality of the GM-800, GKC-AD, and GKC-DA into a single, pedalboard-friendly unit with an expression pedal, similar to the GR-55 or GP-10, seems like a more user-centric approach. Such a unit, priced competitively with the current fragmented system, would likely be more appealing than the current cable-heavy and adapter-dependent setup.
An even more ambitious, yet highly desirable product would be a single unit combining the internals of the GM-800 and GKC-AD with an expression pedal and the processing power of an SY-1000. Adding features like a backing track player (or Bluetooth for smartphone/iPad integration) would create a truly modern successor to the GR-55 – a complete guitar synth workstation.
Until such integrated solutions materialize, the GR-55 remains a compelling option for its simplicity and all-in-one design. While its sounds may lack the absolute cutting-edge brilliance of the GM-800, it offers a remarkably streamlined package, particularly for guitarists who prefer the integrated GK pickup systems and dislike external cables.
However, there’s a crucial aspect that might make the GM-800 more appealing to users already invested in 13-pin GK technology. Despite the focus on the new digital pickup system, the GM-800 can be triggered via MIDI from older 13-pin devices. While promotional materials highlight MIDI triggering from computers and keyboards, the possibility of using the MIDI output of devices like the SY-1000 or even the GR-30 to control the GM-800 has been largely overlooked in initial demonstrations. Experimenting with this MIDI-based approach reveals surprisingly effective results, especially when using high-quality keyboards as MIDI controllers. For users already owning 13-pin gear with MIDI out, purchasing only the GM-800 and a MIDI cable could unlock its sonic potential without the need for new pickups or adapters. However, for those already leveraging the sounds of current-generation keyboards or DAWs through MIDI, the advantage of adding a GM-800 to a MIDI-based setup becomes less clear.
For guitarists without existing 13-pin setups, alternative MIDI guitar solutions like the Jamstik Studio or Classic could drive the GM-800’s MIDI input, while the guitar’s regular output could feed a standard effects pedalboard. Wireless guitar systems could further mitigate cable clutter in such setups. The Jamstik’s wireless MIDI capabilities highlight a potential missed opportunity for Boss. Instead of pushing a proprietary digital pickup and cable system, a wireless system compatible with existing guitar synth technologies like Fishman and Jamstik could have been a more open and user-friendly approach. The current direction raises concerns that Boss may be prioritizing proprietary technology and ecosystem lock-in over user convenience and compatibility. This strategy risks alienating long-time GK users who might instead explore wireless MIDI solutions and software-based synthesis as more flexible and cost-effective alternatives.
Update (June 20, 2024): Further investigation into MIDI control of the GM-800 from the SY-1000 has been conducted. Click here to read the findings.
