Any love for the SY300 in the GM800 age?

[SY.Borg.300]

Does anybody want to stick up for the lowly sy300 now that the sy1000 and now the new kid in town the gm800 has come on the scene?
I haven't used my sy300 in awhile because I have been playing keyboard synths lately but I have a bunch of patches I bought off of brock I want to try.
But I wonder if I'm alone in SY300 world today.

[Elantric]

Does anybody want to stick up for the lowly sy300 now that the sy1000 and now the new kid in town the gm800 has come on the scene?
I haven't used my sy300 in awhile because I have been playing keyboard synths lately but I have a bunch of patches I bought off of brock I want to try.
But I wonder if I'm alone in SY300 world today.

Bill Ruppert still enjoys his SY-300.

I get distracted after spending 20 minutes attempting to program it, yet mine still sounds like a harsh early 1980s arcade game

Its secret positive traits are not on exhibition within the factory presets

[gumtownadmin]

There are a few SY-300's for sale on my local eAuction sites, the resale value is not good.
And by mentioning you have not used yours for a good while does subconciously say something about it.

SY-300 in general is good, but the resulting output tone has something in it that is not obviously heard, but grates on my nerves, like a sound system AB amplifier with bad crossover distortion.
I'm sure a firmware update could have fixed it, but the SY-300 is seen as done and complete by Boss.

[Brak(E)man]

I still use mine with my electric and acoustic guitars without hexpu.

[Bluesbird]

I just bought one again, shortly before the GM-800 came out. I used the blender feature to get a lot of pleasing sounding ambient patches out of it. Within a week I had the 99 user slots filled with brand new patches. It can be harsh, but there are some beautiful tones in there if you have the patience. Also, post processing through VST audio plugins is a blast. It came out at a time when some believed Roland were abandoning the hex pickup, so I think there was some disappointment from those who had invested so much into 13-pin gear. But, it is a good unit that stands on its own. As they are going for low prices on the used market, maybe more people will start coming up with creative uses for it, as happened with the TR606, TR808, and TR909 when they went for cheap in the pawn shops of America.

[Bill Ruppert]

I LOVE mine!
You couldn't pry the 300 or the 1000 from my fingers.
There are ways to make it sound wonderful, but people gave up too fast and never unlocked the secrets.
No latency issues here!
And I have some beautiful sounds that all feel like they are under my fingers.
Not me yelling down the hall to someone to hit a certain note or chord.

I have ZERO interest in the 800.
I want the guitar to be part of the sound. It's a "guitar synthesizer", not a guitar controlling a synthesizer.
Any keyboard player or someone with midi can plug into the 800 and get the same sound a guitar player can get.
Not so with the 300.
I do love the SY-1000 as well, but I really never use the 13 pin input.
It's just not as organic sounding to me as the 1/4 input.
It is what ever floats your boat as they say, and these float my boat.

[BROCKSTAR]

I've had the sy-300 like 5 times since it came out haha... I do miss it being here again but not sure I would use it much with sy-1000 and gm-800 sitting here and I also have a mpc one that I can run into and use the synths and samples from it, so I think im good.

I made these for the sy-300

[Elantric]

I also have a mpc one that I can run into and use the synths and samples from it, so I think im good.

And MPC ONE, MPC Live, MPC-X all have a working USB Host port for direct support of Fishman Tripleplay USB receiver-no FC-1, no computer required

Could go Fishman Tripleplay > Akai MPC One > MPC One 5 pin MIDI OUT > GM-800 MIDI IN

[SY.Borg.300]

...And by mentioning you have not used yours for a good while does subconciously say something about it....

Yes and also no. The reason my sy300 has been in the box is that I tried to retire from playing guitar in bands because I am having more fun learning the new to me roll of B3 player. Unfortunately there is more call in my area for guitar so I have been forced to go back. But nobody wants to play the fun stuff like Floyd Animals where a guitar synth can be used. Plus when I do get to use synthy stuff the EHX string unit gets me there real fast. I've been meaning to combine the string9 with the SY300 but haven't yet. Maybe Bill?....

...Any keyboard player or someone with midi can plug into the 800 and get the same sound a guitar player can get...

That was my first thought on the GM800, I got a Roland Keyboard that sounds like that. If I get a GM800 will I ever really use it for strings, Moog or sax? Maybe I would, maybe not, idk.

[izayoi]

I use the SY-300 with my nylon-string guitar because the SY-300 does not need the hex pickup. That just might be the SY-300's biggest attribute.

[Elantric]

I use the SY-300 with my nylon-string guitar because the SY-300 does not need the hex pickup. That just might be the SY-300's biggest attribute.

There is a work around to use divided mag pickups - using iron content classical strings

Thomastik-Infeld KR116 Classical Guitar Strings: Classic S Series Rope Core Set

https://www.amazon.com/Thomastik-Infeld-KR116-Classical-Guitar-Strings/dp/B00162VU7I?th=1

[izayoi]

Thanks.

[SY.Borg.300]

I'm betting a Saxophone with a clip on mic might do interesting things With the SY300. Or voice.

[Elantric]

I'm betting a Saxophone with a clip on mic might do interesting things With the SY300. Or voice.

Agreed

Trivia- from NAMM shows, I met Don Wilson of The Ventures, and he revealed the unusual instrument heard on "Walk Dont Run 64" (at 55 seconds) was a mic'ed Saxophone fed into a mic'ed Leslie Speaker, resulting signal fed into a Studio Reverb - results in a sound similar to Del Shannon "Run away"  - a current hit in 1964