Boss Eurus GS-1 Electronic Guitar, Black

Boss Eurus GS-1 Electronic Guitar, Black Overview

A boutique top spec guitar with groundbreaking Boss technologies built-in.

Overview By GAK

The EURUS is everything a guitarist could ever need, in one instrument. The Boss GS-1 is the perfect instrument for creative guitarists that what to explore unique sounds beyond the traditional “ham and eggs” guitar player.

The EURUS is first and foremost, a premium spec electric guitar with top of the range hardware and craftmanship. Crafted in Japan, this cutting-edge Boss guitar features an offset double-cutaway alder body, 24 medium-jumbo frets and a compound radius Indian rosewood fingerboard on a maple neck. The hardware included is top-of-the-line, as the GS-1 has a Gotoh 510T-FE1 two-point tremolo bridge and Gotoh SG381-MGT-07-L6 locking machine heads.

The scale length is 648 mm (25.5 inches) which makes for an extremely comfortable playing experience and easy access to the higher frets, you do not strain your wrists. The contour of the double-cutaway body is sleek and modern in aesthetic, plus makes for an ergonomic fit and lets you play for longer.

The pickups inside the EURUS are custom humbuckers in both neck and bridge. The EURUS-CTM humbuckers have a five-way selector switch, giving you the widest amount of tonal variety possible. The pickups have been meticulously tuned by Boss themselves, offering high output modern weight and glassy spangle to cover all the bases.

A guitar with such impressive specs wasn’t enough for the engineers at Boss, as they strive to revolutionise the playing capabilities for a guitar player. Boss recognise that there are guitarists that want the sound/capabilities available to a keyboard/synth player, but do not want to learn a new instrument. With the EURUS, there is a powerful Synthesizer engine built-in, meaning you can use your technical proficiency on the guitar to explore the same sounds.

With the GS-1, the advanced guitar synthesis techniques included have been refined over more than four decades. The goal was always for guitarists to be able to explore synthesizer sounds without the use of or connection to any external gear. The EURUS only needs a jack cable, there’s no special lead or fancy connector. Simply plugin as normal to your amp, pedalboard or DAW to explore the brand new tonal possibilities EURUS gives you. This also means that you will not experience any latency, ghosts notes or wobbles, which is a common issue with MIDI Guitar products.

The technology found at the heart of the GS-1 is an evolution of over 40 years of Boss research that includes ground-breaking development. The EURUS features carefully selected synth tones, designed to be expressive and use the dynamics felt when playing the guitar. The six patch locations on the EURUS come with presets sounds out of the box, however synthesizers are for creating.

With the use of the free GS-1 Editor app, available on Android and iOS, you can connect via Bluetooth and create your own sounds. There’s also a synth control knob that enables a wide range of dynamic expression as you play. Every synth sound offers smooth playability that fully responds to all your guitar techniques, with no latency or triggering issues to disturb your musical flow. Each of the 6 patch locations can be personalised to your own preferences, which can be stored on the guitar itself for use without the app.

The thing to remember with the EURUS is when you are using a synth tone, the instrument is no longer a guitar. You could be using a lead synth sound, and because you have plugged into your pedalboard, it would be like using a synth at the beginning of the chain. This means you can use your pedals or amp effects to further manipulate the sound of the EURUS.

What the GS-1 even more useful, is the addition of 2 outputs. The first is a blend between the guitar and synth sounds, whereas the second is synth only. This is a great feature for playing live, as you could send the raw synth output directly to a PA or an FRFR monitor whilst sending the guitar output through your amp/pedalboard. With GS-1, the choice is yours.

To further enhance your performance, the built-in Bluetooth connection isn’t just for the app. The EURUS can also connect wirelessly to the Boss EV-1-WL Expression Pedal, meaning you can control filter sweeps and numerous other controls without any cables.

For the gigging guitar player, you do not have to worry about cables. The EURUS can runs on 4x AA batteries, with an approximate lifespan of 9 hours, so you can still make the most of your performance. For longer studio sessions, you can use a PSA power supply (sold separately).

To protect the EURUS wherever you go, a CB-EG10 gigbag is included. If you want extra protection, you can upgrade to the CB-EG20 semi-rigid guitar case.

The EURUS GS-1 is compatible with the Boss EV-1-WL control parameters wirelessly, including:

• Tone
• Resonance
• Depth
• Pitch
• Synth level
• Direct level
• Multi-parameter control
• Hold & Pitch Functions