• GEAR EXPO SUMMER 2022: all the latest gear from NAMM and beyond
NAMM 2022: Mooer has officially released the GTRS Professional 800 series, offering and upgraded version of its next-gen electric guitar that adds a suite of DSP-powered features to a modern S-style format.
The GTRS series looked very much like the future of electric guitar design when it was launched in 2021. Here was a guitar that looked familiar, even down to the classic finish options on offer, and yet that third control pot looked a little funky.
Sure enough, complementing the typical volume and tone dials for the pickups, the Super Knob activated the GTRS’s onboard DSP, allowing players to connect to the accompanying app on their smartphone or tablet and access 126 onboard effects from Mooer’s GE Series, 11 guitar sims, 40 drum machine types, 10 metronomes and a looper with a generous 80 seconds of recording time.
The GTRS Professional 800 (P800) has all this and more, with upgraded hardware, pickups and a host of premium appointments.
While the P800 shares the 25.5” scale length, the build is a little different. The original GTRS had a solid basswood body with a bolt-on roasted maple neck; the P800 has a solid alder body with a bolt-on roasted figured maple neck topped.
This being Mooer’s flagship guitar, it is no surprise but a delight nonetheless to find stainless steel frets on the rosewood fingerboard, high-ratio (18:1) locking tuners, and a Wilkinson VS 50 II bridge.
Mooer has also refreshed the pickups, offering a dual-humbucker pairing of the GTRS SCN-1N/M and GTRS HM-1B, which are controlled by the aforementioned volume, tone and Super Knob, plus a five-way selector switch.
The P800 also supports play through headphones and USB-OTG recording, capable of being sending its signal direct to a desk or DAW, or for live-streaming your playing. Very handy for the Tik-Tok generation. Very handy for anyone who is looking for a new way to introduce a lot of sounds to their playing without amassing a well-stocked pedalboard or outsourcing to a powerful amp modeller.
Players can use the Super Knob to cycle through their tones or alternatively use the GWF-4 footswitch. The GTRS Intelligent Processor System is powered by a high-capacity lithium battery that offers up to 10 hours of playing time and can be charged via USB-C.
The P800 is offered in Tiffany Blue, Olympic White, Mint Green, Flamingo Pink, Fiesta Red, and Dark Night. Familiar colours, unfamiliar sounds. For more information, head over to GTRS.
