Finally, Another Pedal!

The BOSS SYB-3!

Is it still Pedal Frenzy if I can go eight months between pedal purchases? I guess I've become very selective.

The SYB-3 caught my attention some time ago when I read that it could also be used with guitar (the pedal is marketed as a Bass Synthesizer). Mind you, the asking price for this pedal threw me for a loop.

Time to show my age: many years ago, I bought an Electro-Harmonix Mini-Synthesizer months after it was first released here in Canada. This is one effect that has yet to be re-issued. Unlike EH's Guitar Synth pedal, the Mini actually boasted a "keyboard" which was essentially some kind of plastic membrane. That's right, this was not a guitar effect. You plugged this puppy into an amp and hit the "keys" (one at a time - pure monophonic pleasure).

It was great fun, and I really dug those analog "bleeps" and "bloops". When EH re-issued their Guitar Synth, I was intrigued, but the asking price was simply too much - twice as much as the SYB-3!

The plan was simple - I'd stop by my local music shop, get the price, then enjoy an upcoming week's vacation to troll for a used SYB-3.

I entered the shop, and couldn't find a SYB-3 right away. Finally, I thought I saw one under another BOSS pedal. Imagine my surprise when I discovered this SYB-3 was used, and selling for nearly half the price of a new one!

I spent over 30 minutes with the SYB-3 and a Strat before I decided to dent my credit card.

Mind you, that was over a month ago. Why the long wait to write a review?

There may have been a few personal issues (note: guitars and girls do not always mix), but as well, it's hard for me to describe the pedal.

The SYB-3 is certainly packed. The first knob combines Direct Level with Effect Level (I love these 2-in-1 knobs), the second knob combines Resonance and Frequency, the third is for Sens/Decay (only one knob, with the effect determined by the fourth knob), while the fourth offers up 11 different modes.

That fourth knob is the one that is hard to describe. The first seven modes are variations on INTERNAL SOUND, including sawtooth waves, square waves, pulse width modulation, and combinations of one wave with octave or "noise". While in any of these seven modes, you can also access a Hold function that lets the effect continue to sound while you play over top of it.

The next two modes are Wave Shape that affects your instruments input. The last two modes are T-Wah effects, the first of which has the cutoff frequency moving up, while the other goes in the opposite direction.

Essentially, the first nine modes are variations on the old analog synth "bloop, bleep, hum". I can get various laser blasts, and other odd sounds. You have to play around with the Sens/Decay to get an effect which does not cut out almost instantly. Messing around with the Resonance and Frequency can provide many wacky sounds, but I can't say they'll all be musical.

And you must be very precise with your playing. If you don't strike the string cleanly, the SYB-3 simply won't track the note. If your guitar is too overdriven, the notes will die out faster. I used a compressor for a noticeable improvement. I've even tried hooking up a distortion after the effect, which beefed up some sounds and added sustain.

I found the T-Wah modes to be very useable. Think of it as a flexible envelope filter. However, the SYB-3 makes for a rather expensive stand alone T-Wah pedal, particularly if purchased new.

As far as the synth sounds are concerned, I haven't really found a use for them yet. At the shop, I thought I could spice up my home recording tracks with some of these unconventional sounds, but maybe I'm a bit too bluesy for it right now. I can see this pedal coming in very handy if I wanted to try some Hawkwind type songs. I'm not a techno-rock or industrial rock kind of player, but this could be handy.

The bottom line is you really need to check out this pedal carefully while in the shop. If you like to mess around with unconventional sounds and textures, this could be right up your alley.