SUMMER NAMM: In a surprising move, Boss has developed and unveiled its first electric guitar – or more specifically Electronic Guitar, as it names its new EURUS GS-1. And the distinction is significant here.
The GS-1 EURUS GS-1 Electronic Guitar's synth capabilities go far beyond your usual 21st century electric. Made in Japan, the premium build hosts a polyphonic Boss synth engine with six onboard memories for access to a huge palette of sounds, with what the company says is seamless response with "no latency or triggering issues".
The potential here is for an industry-leading instrument for forward-thinking musicians who want and need to go far beyond traditional guitar tones
Boss's experience in developing synth technology for musicians has been a 40-year journey on innovation; it has put the work in and the potential here is for an industry-leading instrument for forward-thinking musicians who want and need to go far beyond traditional guitar tones.
The guitar itself is an attractive offset with a slim alder body and black finish, a 24-fret C-shape neck and compound 12-16" radius Indian rosewood fingerboard.
A Gotoh 510T-FE1 two-point tremolo bridge system and tuners underlines the quality spec here and the EURUS-CTM humbuckers are controlled with a five-way switch.
Onboard controls are Synth CTL and Synth memory knobs, a Mode switch and Bluetooth button.
The latter enables connectivity with the free GS-1 Editor app for iOS and Android mobile devices to enable players to quickly and easily customise their onboard sounds with synth types and parameters including tone, resonance, and more.
Parameters can also be assigned to the GS-1 guitar's synth control knob, and your favourite sound combinations can be saved to the onboard memory slots for performances or recording sessions.
In addition, Boss's new EV-1-WL Wireless MIDI Expression Pedal opens up even more possibilities for this guitar when it comes to controlling the guitars synth sound parameters – like pitch shifting.
One puzzling part of this next generation package is the power situation though. The EURUS GS-1 is stated in its specs as being powered by four Alkaline AA batteries offering approximately nine hours of continuous use. While it's not a situation unique to Boss in the guitar industry, this feels especially old school in the context of the tech elsewhere here.
The guitar can also be powered by a Boss PSA adaptor and obviously we'd advise investing in some rechargeable options to save you money in the long term for gigging.
On the whole this is looking like an instrument with huge potential and we're impressed with Boss making the move into a new area with its synth tech. We'll find out how it all adds up in October 2021 with the EURUS GS-1 Electronic Guitar is released at $2,199.99.
More info at Boss
