Keyboards are rather cool in that as a musician you can kick out any sort of sound you want with the right software and connectivity. We bring this up because Boss has launched a new guitar that features a synth as well as Bluetooth connectivity.

The Eurus GS-1 looks like a regular guitar. It has a Stratocaster shape, a rosewood fretboard with 24-frets, humbucker pickups, a tremolo bridge and locking machine heads.

But where generally you would find one output on an electric guitar the Eurus has a second for the synth.

“The guitar and synth electronics are fully independent in the Eurus GS-1, allowing you to switch between the two voices seamlessly. Use it as a regular guitar, then instantly transition to the selected synth sound with the flip of a switch. And with the two ¼-inch outputs, you can send the guitar and synth to separate destinations for dedicated processing,” Boss explains on its website.

Boss has also launched the EV-1-WL Wireless MIDI Expression Pedal alongside this axe that can connect via Bluetooth.

“Using the GS-1 Editor, you can assign parameters such as pitch bend, hold, filter depth, and more to the EV-1-WL’s pedal, toe switch, and up to two external footswitches. Each sound can contain its own set of assignments, allowing you to perform octave bends on a synth lead, slow filter sweeps on a pad sound, and nearly anything else you can dream up,” the firm explains.

On the guitar you will find knobs that control the built-in synth alongside the tone and volume knobs you might be familiar with.

Unfortunately, the Eurus GS-1 does not come cheap with Engadget reporting it will retail for $2 200 (~R31 000) when it arrives in the US this October.

While this guitar is rather cool if you want to get a bit creative with your guitar playing, it’s not the first to feature a synth built into the guitar. That honour belongs to the Roland GR-500.

Looking a bit closer to our time, Manson Guitar Works has been creating guitars for some time now and one of its clients (and majority shareholder since 2019), Matthew Bellamy of MUSE, has used a Kaoss Pad built into his guitar before.

The MB-1 signature guitar from Manson Guitar Works was one of the coolest things we ever saw and you can see what it made possible in the video below.

Perhaps the Eurus GS-1 can inspire a new breed of guitarist to push the envelope just like Bellamy and MUSE have done.