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BOSS

BOSS SY-1 Guitar/Bass Synthesizer Guitar Pedal (SY-1)

Based on 593 reviews
Condition: New
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$179.93
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At a glance

Condition
New
Style
Guitar/Bass
Model
SY-1
Dimensions
6 x 3.75 x 2.65 in
Weight
1.3 lb
Color
Blue
Voltage
9 volts
Warranty
Boss five-year warranty.

Features 4

  • Polyphonic Synthesizer Effects Pedal f Guitar Bass
  • Expression/Switch Input
  • With Send/Return Loop
  • Hold function for playing normal guitar over sustained synth voices

Description

With the SY-1, it’s never been easier to infuse your creative arsenal with BOSS’s legendary guitar synth technology. This amazingly expressive tool is filled with 121 ultra-responsive sounds, all distilled down into a BOSS compact pedal that slides easily into any setup. Best of all, it’s as simple to use as a standard stompbox, so you don’t need any background in synth programming to bring a new world of sonic textures to your music.

Specs 22

Brand BOSS
Style Guitar/Bass
Color Blue
Item Weight 1.3 pounds
Voltage 9 volts
Amperage 300 milliamps
Audio Output Effects Synth
Controls Type Knob

Frequently asked questions

The BOSS SY-1 is a bass synthesizer guitar pedal that offers a wide range of synth sounds, from leads, basses, and pads to arpeggiated sequences. It has 121 total sounds divided between lead, pad, bass, sounds effects, strings, and organ categories. It's highly versatile and offers two optional modes for inserting synth sounds into your normal playing.

Yes, the BOSS SY-1 is designed to work seamlessly with the frequency range of a standard bass guitar. While it offers various synthesized effects, it effectively considers the unique frequency range of a bass guitar, ensuring the produced sounds are always clear and musical.

The BOSS SY-1 is designed for easy plug-and-play use. The pedal features simple, intuitive controls for Variation, Tone and Depth, enabling a player to quickly dial in preferred synth sounds. Its usability does not require any background in music technology, making it user-friendly for even the novices.

Absolutely! The BOSS SY-1 has been designed with live performance in mind. Its latency-free performance ensures instant sound tracking, meaning the synth sounds will play exactly when you strike a string. Moreover, the SY-1 offers separate send/return insert functionality for blending the synth with your normal bass tone, providing a highly balanced and unique output during live performances.

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🚀 Abunda's Overview

This is our summary and key points to consider based on customer reviews.

The BOSS SY-1 Synthesizer pedal is seen as an advanced and compact piece of technology that offers enjoyable synthesizer effects for guitars and bass. Many users appreciate the product's quick note tracking, and some found it fun to experiment with. However, some noted the pedal's lack of control over sound shaping and its limited types of sounds. A few users also have experienced occasional note tracking issues.

Pros

  • 🎛 Fast and accurate note tracking
  • 🎶 Operates polyphonically, allowing users to add complexity to their sounds
  • 🔌 Compact and familiar BOSS pedal design
  • 🎸 Transforms sound from your guitar or bass, enhancing musical possibilities

Cons

  • ⚖ Limited control over sound shaping and types of sounds offered
  • 🔊 Some users reported occasional fading in and out of tracking
  • ☠ Pedal does not have MIDI and no preset options
  • 🚀 Can be difficult to adjust settings during live performances

Should I Buy It?

If you are interested in significantly expanding your musical range with your guitar or bass and are willing to navigate some quirks and limitations, the BOSS SY-1 Synthesizer pedal could be a fun and unique addition to your setup. Just be prepared for a learning curve and potential limitations in live performance settings.

Great pedal without obvious application in muted-attack guitar style
Reading reviews, I see that others have covered the pluses and minuses of the SY-1 pedal well. Yet, there are a few points that bear mentioning. While I admire the pedal's conception, implementation, and performance, it falls short in the one category that really matters: usability, relative to my muted-attack guitar (and synth) playing style. The SY-1 is an incredible piece of technology in a small form factor - one with which Boss fans are familiar. I have several Boss pedals that implement this dual-knob design; and once you get used to making tiny adjustments, it's a piece of cake. Whole lotta functionality in a small foot print. Good job, Roland/Boss. The guitar tracking is great. I compare it my previous experience with a guitar synth, an ancient Roland GR-20, and there is no comparison. For fun, I like to test different types of input to see how each translates to tracking and sound. Some improvements can be made, based on input, but generally speaking, about any input will work in triggering notes. On the SY-1, there may be *some* equivalent to velocity sensitivity on a keyboard, but any transition in timbre between slow/soft attack and fast/hard attack is almost instaneous and imperceptible. As another reviewer has said, the "resulting sound has a built-in attack that cannot be modified." On the GR-20 guitar synth, by contrast, there are attack and release controls, which add immensely to the item's usability. The SY-1's value would be enhanced if those two controls were added, plus the ability to control for the effect of varying attack on timbre. But that's asking a lot for a synth pedal at this price point. The best way to play most SY-1 sounds is full-on. Generally and preferably, add the original guitar with some sort of distortion, and mix the two timbres together. Subtlety is not supported, at least without extra equipment. Next test will be with an envelope generator, which won't affect timbre relative to velocity, but which may result... in a slower envelope. While I like to rock with the best of them, my guitar and keyboard style is generally more subtle - muted or slow attack. This style does not translate well on the SY-1. So it is an adjustment to use the pedal, in an unnatural style that typically results in less than optimal output. Still, I have had fun using the SY-1, followed by the Boss Slicer SL-2; but honestly, results work as well with regular guitar in the first position. As is, the SY-1 is (thus far) a great pedal without obvious application. Synths are superior in both sound output and control, whereas guitar output is typically better sounding... with guitars + other effects. A project in progress. I know there are indispensable sounds in the small SY-1 pedal (e.g. fast leads with synth output, possible only on a guitar). I just need to work harder to find them. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2026 by Now N. Zen
If you're on the fence, give it a try, it's a fantastic value!
I can play keys okayish, but I'm mainly a guitarist and bassist. I use synth and guitar on a lot of the music I do, and I've always wanted a simple solution to switch between synth tones and guitar. I've tried several types guitar synths, and none of them have had a good combination of versatility, tone, and easy of use. This pedal does close everything I'd need it to and it's small and compact. Sure, some of the sounds are more convincing/all around better than others, but in the mix, it barely matters. Additionally, the ability to use it inline with other effects so easily smooths over a lot of the minor deficiencies you might find. Also, I'd say it's better for bass than guitar, but great for both. You can get some great classic synth bass sounds out it with relative ease. The worst thing about it is it has so many sounds and so much versatility that you might need to develop some way to mark down what you're doing to get the tones and sounds you like the most! Definite give it a shot, especially if you're a bassist in a band that needs some occasional synth bass sounds! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2024 by chilaquiles
Excellent pedal.
Love it! To happy transparent pedal that has some beautiful sounds. Very inspirational and really expands songwriting potential. Really happy with it.
Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2026 by Drew
Amazing & fun piece of technology with a few limitations
I really struggled with my final rating for the BOSS SY-1 Synthesizer pedal because while it does have a few shortcomings that warrant the 4-star rating, it's also an incredibly advanced (and compact) piece of effects circuitry and a lot of fun! When it comes to the basic concept of the SY-1 and technical execution thereof, the SY-1 is a 5-star product. Pretty much since the birth of MIDI (or the development of analog synths prior to that), there have been efforts to translate guitar playing inputs into real-time synthesizer tones. Many of these early efforts were plagued by horrible tracking (meaning that the synth note sounded does not correspond to guitar note played), latency, and unwieldy or expensive setups. The BOSS SY-1 suffers from virtually none of these problems. It fits into the familiar compact BOSS pedal footprint, has only a few control parameters promising just over 100 different synth tones, and the note tracking is stunningly fast. Even more impressive (and setting it apart from recent synth pedals from EHX and others), the note tracking is polyphonic, meaning that you can sound pads and other synth tones using chords, as long as you don't get too complex. It's really quite amazing how the SY-1 will completely transform the sound of your guitar or bass into a completely different instrument. I've had hours of fun already messing around with a looper and layering different sounds and note combinations on top of each other. You can suddenly create soundscapes (or approximate them, at least) that previously might have led you to pull out a synthesizer and laptop DAW. Where the SY-1 starts to run into a little bit of trouble, however, is in the types of sounds offered and limited control over sound shaping. My knowledge of actual synthesizers is pretty limited, but ADSR (Attack, Decay, Sustain, and Release) is a critical aspect of sound design, and one completely lacking in the SY-1. You can pick lead, bass, etc. preset from the SY-1, but then the only option you have to modify that is to adjust the tone (basically a low-pass filter, but very useful), and then the Rate/Depth of the waveform. So you have no control over whether your notes are punchy/percussive versus slow-building/swelling. In fact, my primary complaint about the bass sounds and may of the lead sounds is that while the note-tracking technology seems almost instantaneous, the actual resulting sound has a built-in attack that cannot be modified. And many of those notes sustain and cannot be cut off abruptly, even when palm-muting. Perhaps part of this is user error, and there are playing techniques you can develop to get more out of the pedal. Also, I really wish we could have gotten 1/4 to 1/2 as many of the bell and sound FX pages in exchange for additional "banks" of lead, bass, or pad sounds. I'm not sure how many users set up a $200 FX pedal in their signal chain just to make an explosion sound or whatever, and do nothing else until you change the settings. An entire bank of the Lead sounds, and several of the Bass ones involve musical fifths - those are certainly useful in a lot of synth context, but completely unusable in others, and I would have liked a wider variety of sounds instead of a half-hearted harmonizer feature. Finally, it should be noted that the pedal does not have MIDI, and there are no presets, so if you do find a particular sound that you like and want to come back to, you'll need to bend over and twist the knobs until you have it. That's pretty limiting in a live context. I am not sure of my complaints are fair or realistic given the price point and form factor, but I think they need to be known by prospective buyers of this pedal. This effects pedal is NOT a full-on substitute for a standard synthesizer. But it's a TON of fun, and I like to give extra credit for effects pedals that offer sounds I simply can't get from anywhere else. I can imagine ambient or praise & worship having a field day with this one, especially the pads, which are quite good and can be used with the Sound Hold feature (holding down the switch locks in and sustains the sounds, similar to the feature on the BOSS Tera Echo). The SY-1 is an amazing piece of technology that I could see growing increasingly fond of the longer I have to work with and adapt to its quirks. UPDATE (03/24/21) - I've owned the SY-1 for just over a year following the review above. My impressions of it are largely unchanged. What I will say is that are something it does quite well, and some things I have not been able to get it to do. Polyphony is great, and the note tracking (even on accurately-played chords) is great for pads, strings, etc. It can do some leads. But the sounds are just presets, and very...BOSS. I'm looking at the Source Audio C4 Synth, which is a very different take on a synthesizer pedal. It uses monophonic tracking, but has a much better emphasis on bass notes and single-note leads. It also has a robust online/mobile editor with community presets. I can't actually say that one looks "better" than the other, but I think they could complement each other quite well. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2020 by StormJH1
Awesome pedal
works perfectly =]
Reviewed in the United States on July 29, 2026 by Thomas
Fun pedal to have on the board.
It has a couple effects that I probably won’t use much, but it’s a great pedal on my board. I have my SY-1 feeding into the Boss SL-2 Slicer feeding into a Boss PS-6 Harmonist into a Boss DD-8 Digital Delay into the Boss RV-6 Reverb. The sound is magical with tons of room for creating your own unique sounds. Since the pedals I listed above are all modulation pedals, they will sound best through the effects loop on your amplifier (if it is so equipped). The SY-1 also pairs well with other instruments, my violin sounds great through it and so does my Les Paul using a violin bow to play it. Keyboards sound great, ukulele’s, mandolins and bass guitar are all instruments the SY-1 can substantially enhance. In summary, fun pedal, built to Boss’s standards that can enhance your church playing or send you to freakyville. Very versatile pedal, highly recommended. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2023 by Patrick W.
unbelievable technology
just... wow. we live in the future, and it sounds like the past. i absolutely love this thing.
Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2026 by Stephen Scholtz
90+ SYNTH EFFECTS
Boss may be pricey, but the build quality is renowned. There are over 90+ effects you can have on this one pedal and it's been a real game changer. A definite "must-have" for your pedal board. The design is pretty self-intuitive.
Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2025 by dante
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