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BOSS GM-800 Synthesizer
- Thread starter Krisfield
- Start date
This one confuses me a bit. Don't get me wrong, it sounds great, but I am struggling with the practical application of it in a live context. With the sounds this would put out, it seems like you'd want a separate line to the board just for EQ purposes. With needing a direct input from the specialty pickup, wouldn't that basically mean this is on a completely separate board if you wanted to use it with any effects that aren't in the unit? At that point, what is the advantage of this vs. a midi keyboard rig? Or is this meant to be more of a desktop recording tool?
Again, not knocking it at all. As an early adopter of the SY-1 and SY-200, when I heard some of the sounds I immediately wanted to grab one. Especially to put something like a Gen Loss or Microcosm with it. I'm just not quite sure how this would actually integrate into a rig without needing to be something on its own.
Again, not knocking it at all. As an early adopter of the SY-1 and SY-200, when I heard some of the sounds I immediately wanted to grab one. Especially to put something like a Gen Loss or Microcosm with it. I'm just not quite sure how this would actually integrate into a rig without needing to be something on its own.
I've got some gear to sell that I don't use, I'm probably gonna pull the trigger on this. I've got the Boss GT 1000Core so I'm thinking it will go well being routed through that then output to an amp or USB interface.
Yeah, I guess I am just confused as to how the external pickup would interact with everything else I run. When I am looking for a synth sound, it's for a particular passage or song, so I'd still need an easy way to route my normal bass pickups through my chain.
It needs the GK serial input. That can either be a GK5B pickup added to your bass, or a GKC-AD converter plugged into your basses existing 13pin GK output. It doesn't work with a standard 1/4" analog output.
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Yes I reckon it's about a grand to get a system (pickup, cable, synth). The biggest change I see is in the digital serial cable vs the old 13pin analog cable.
and you need the Boss cable - not an ordinary TRS line cable (so they say).
and you need the Boss cable - not an ordinary TRS line cable (so they say).
I wonder if they've actually resolved the latency issues with bass and the pickup tracking that has always plagued the Midi pickups. I've owned the old GK2B and GK3B pups and it was always a struggle below the 12th fret with latency. Always loved the idea of playing synth on bass, but always felt they missed the mark with anything that required halfway quick tracking.
Well, one of these are going to find a permanent home in my house.
I have been checking out solutions for guitar/bass to midi a lot lately and this unit seem to do all I want.
The Roland synth engine is going to get used a lot too.
One pickup for bass and one for guitar and I'm good to go.
Just have to figure out what bass and what guitar to attach the pickups to.
(the 13 pin connector sucked BIG time)
I have been checking out solutions for guitar/bass to midi a lot lately and this unit seem to do all I want.
The Roland synth engine is going to get used a lot too.
One pickup for bass and one for guitar and I'm good to go.
Just have to figure out what bass and what guitar to attach the pickups to.
(the 13 pin connector sucked BIG time)
Why not ???
Have you tried to reach out to Boss support for this ?
This is easier solved for bassists who've gone down the rabbit hole of having a modeler do all of their amp & effects sounds, and run into a full range system ( speaker or IEM ) to hear all bass tones. A modeler that has discrete, routable inputs allows you to change presets so that you can have your standard bass tone, synth, or a blend of the two.
Agreed that if you're running a traditional bass setup, this can be difficult. No way around it, though. To go this route adds complication to your bass rig.
Ditto here. I've been so close to pulling the trigger on various expensive, sophisticated bass synth/trigger systems but just couldn't get past the fact that there are inherent latency problems on the lower notes. You either have to adjust to playing an octave higher to get the tracking, or deal with the latency. I'm hypersensitive to it, so I just can't do it yet.
I really love my C4 too. It uses monophonic tracking which is really fast and reliable on bass. However the C4 is pretty much a digital re-creation of 4 voice analogue Synth in a tiny 4 pot pedal. This Boss unit is a whole different beast...it's a literally a modern zencore synth. Think Jupiter XM in a pedal. It's just a pity it has to use the weird OEM (as of yet unreleased) divided pickup. The bass examples sounded to me like the player was trying to hide a lot of latency and was often playing right up in the double octave region of his Ibanez fanned 6 string fretboard.
I really would like to demo one of these...I'd probably fall in love with it! I love the Rhodes sounds!
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Looks like that's what was used in the demo. Looked like a headless multiscale Ibanez. EHB1506 probably?
This is why doubling on keys . . . .
. . . saves me lots of headaches.
. . . saves me lots of headaches.
The GM-800 is part of the Zen-Core ecosystem which is accessed through the Roland Cloud. The GM-800 is a sound module in itself. So you you can connect MIDI keyboard or a KM 12 Step type foot controller. You may not even wanna bother with the GK pickup.
The GK cable is now TRS.
The GK cable is now TRS.
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