Most realistic guitar amp modeller - I've finally found it and you should audition it!

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K33EUK33EU Frets: 6

Before i start - let me clarify that this post is not intended to start a war of modeller manufacturer hate or re-start the amp vs modeller debate. Nor am i affiliated with any products mentioned. I don't usually post - just want to help my fellow GAS sufferer.

It is just intended as my personal view of the only device (since owning virtually all of them over the years) that actually genuinely sounds and feels as close to cranked valve amps that I can't actually tell. This is only my opinion of course - which means shit all and you may well not agree with - but i thought i'd share my discovery as it may help others in a similar hunting boat.     

I have owned and still own masses of valve amps. All types and manufacturers from all eras. Hell i have even PTP built a few. I love them and am fascinated by them and nothing can entirely replace them probably or ever will. But possibly like many of you, i have always dabbled with modellers. In fact, i think my first was a Zoom unit from the late 80s which may well have been the original forerunner. 

Down the years i have owned most all of them. Most recently having a Line 6 Helix, Axe FX2 and Headrushes. They all have their USPs and sound decent, but none sounded or felt quite there despite all the hours of programming, IRs, firmware updates and tutorial videos. The Axe is the closest but still no cigar. Frankly i had all but given up and contemplated the only possible options left i.e. the very latest model Kemper or Axe FX3. I'm sure these units are fantastic, but i couldn't justify the cost Vs what if. And i was sick of programming and not playing. 

So on a complete whim i purchased a Boss GT-1000. Yes a lowly Boss i hear in a market full of high end modellers that recreate the whole history of guitar amplification. I wasn't expecting much as the last COSM thing i had was rubbish. It was £500 quid (think they are 750 quid odd new) so i'd pass it on without much loss if needed. 

I unboxed it. It's built like a tank and surprisingly small, light and tactile. Plus it has an expression / vol pedal and all the connections and switching i need. To be honest i was expecting this. Boss make solid, dependable gear. 

I turned it on. The interface and screen was dated and the programming part actually needed the manual! And the presets were over-processed with levels all over the place. Back to square one. Turned it off again in disgust.

Thought id give it another go a few days later. This time using my own patch routing, the X model amp sims and just reverb. Holy christ it was an eye opener. I tested the failure points that lets modellers down every time - low to mid gain crunch, feel, expression and dynamics. It was all there just like my best amps. I have never had this before. And once i knew how to program it i could create further patches within a couple of minutes and just get on playing. 

After more time i realised that the GT actually has several other standout features. But for me, its the only unit that i have found that sounds and feels genuinely like a valve driven circuit. Plus its cheaper than most and can actually seamlessly switch patches and spill-over without delay or loss and has massive DSP left for all your effects etc   

Give it a try - i think you will be as surprised as i was. 
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Comments

  • ICBMICBM Frets: 71956
    K33EU said:

    I turned it on. The interface and screen was dated and the programming part actually needed the manual! And the presets were over-processed with levels all over the place. Back to square one. Turned it off again in disgust.

    Thought id give it another go a few days later. This time using my own patch routing, the X model amp sims and just reverb. Holy christ it was an eye opener. I tested the failure points that lets modellers down every time - low to mid gain crunch, feel, expression and dynamics. It was all there just like my best amps. I have never had this before. And once i knew how to program it i could create further patches within a couple of minutes and just get on playing.
    I've always found the best approach with multi-FX is to start by turning off *all* the effects, then try the distortion (or amp modelling if it has it and that's what you're using) section first, on its own - usually with a lot less gain than the factory settings. If you can get that sounding decent then you can add other effects sparingly as needed. The factory settings are always rubbish, for me - far too much going on and not at all subtle.

    I also think the 'feel' is one of the most overlooked aspects of the programming, which probably explains why the factory settings are always wildly different in level - to whoever set them, they probably aren't, but if a player with different dynamics uses them, they are.

    As you'll know if you've been here for more than about five minutes ;) I love the Boss ME-50 - for me it not only sounds but most importantly also responds like analogue pedals both in terms of dynamics and how you control it. It doesn't have amp modelling though, and I have been tempted to try either the ME-80, or possibly the GT-1... which doesn't have the all-knob interface of the ME that I really like, but seems to be extraordinarily powerful and flexible for such a small and inexpensive box. From what I understand the sounds in it are based on the GT-1000 ones - although that doesn't necessarily mean they sound identical.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 23930
    Nita Strauss and Dave Murray both use the GT-1000. In fact it was Murray that suggested it to Strauss and she uses it for smaller gigs (not the Alice Cooper ones).


    Still - every single modeller on earth needs the presets deleting. Always useless.
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  • PhiltrePhiltre Frets: 4164
    edited August 2020
    I have a Boss GT-100 (hundred, not thousand). Sounds OK to me if you tweak it to what you want.
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  • K33EUK33EU Frets: 6

    I had an ME-50 i think it was back in the day. Didn't do it for me then but may have been me. Haven't tried the GT-100 What i can say is that this is in an entirely different league.

    There seems to be some wizardry going on with this AIRD modelling that outdoes anything i have used before. My faves are the included X series of amps that are apparently MDP modelled. Whatever. They have the dynamics and feel. And the cab sims work great for me with some tweaking and a dyn mic. Not even tried any IRs - not needed. Oh and the FX are killer too. I'm running straight into powered FRFR and i've never had it so good.
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  • TTBZTTBZ Frets: 2873
    edited August 2020
    A fully featured current gen modeller at this price certainly makes it appealing - out of the big ones I've only owned a HX Stomp and it sounded pretty good but felt quite limited even for me who doesn't really use much in the way of FX etc. And I wasn't blown away enough by the tones to splash out on a Helix LT to get the extra features.

    Always been put off by demos of the Boss as it doesn't sound amazing in any of them. Might have to give it a shot when I'm in the market for a modeller again. Can you set presets up in a similar way to a Helix on these with the Boss equivalent to snapshots or stomp modes? As well as used 4CM as an effects only pedalboard replacement with a real amp?
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  • The Boss GT-1000 sounds fantastic, it’s worth the price of admission for the X-Modded amp alone. 


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  • polotskapolotska Frets: 116
    ICBM said:

    As you'll know if you've been here for more than about five minutes ;) I love the Boss ME-50 - for me it not only sounds but most importantly also responds like analogue pedals both in terms of dynamics and how you control it. It doesn't have amp modelling though, and I have been tempted to try either the ME-80, or possibly the GT-1... which doesn't have the all-knob interface of the ME that I really like, but seems to be extraordinarily powerful and flexible for such a small and inexpensive box. From what I understand the sounds in it are based on the GT-1000 ones - although that doesn't necessarily mean they sound identical.
    The GT-1 is derived from the GT-100.

    I’d quite like to try the GT-1000, and I’d love to see Boss release a new ME-series model with sounds selected from the GT-1000.
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  • The GT-1000 is actually a really nifty unit.  Not only does it sound good, it's easy to use too.  When I first saw the chain for effects I was taken back a bit, but in less than five minutes I was all over it.   

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  • TeleMasterTeleMaster Frets: 10103
    It's decent, especially for the price. But I couldn't say it sounds better than Kemper or Fractal. Most realistic? I don't agree at all. Glad you love it though. 
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  • TINMAN82TINMAN82 Frets: 1845
    I went to a Simon Mcbride demo/workshop on the GT1000 at guitarguitar last year. It sounded good. Not sure anyone was blown away (by the tone...his playing was excellent). Despite a lot of plugging and a discount no one seemed to bite that evening.

    The single biggest improvement to the tones in my HX Stomp have been made by using 3rd party (Celestion) IRs. Such a great unit the Stomp, now it’s £399 it can’t be far from being the best value purchase in electric guitar.
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  • TINMAN82 said:
    I went to a Simon Mcbride demo/workshop on the GT1000 at guitarguitar last year. It sounded good. Not sure anyone was blown away (by the tone...his playing was excellent). Despite a lot of plugging and a discount no one seemed to bite that evening.

    The single biggest improvement to the tones in my HX Stomp have been made by using 3rd party (Celestion) IRs. Such a great unit the Stomp, now it’s £399 it can’t be far from being the best value purchase in electric guitar.

    I have an HX Stomp and keep meaning to get round to finding some IRs to see if they're better than the built in speaker sims (which I think are perfectly adequate). Did you get the IRs direct from Celestion? There's so many IRs out there that I can't be bothered to try to whittle them down to find the good ones!
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  • TINMAN82 said:
    I went to a Simon Mcbride demo/workshop on the GT1000 at guitarguitar last year. It sounded good. Not sure anyone was blown away (by the tone...his playing was excellent). Despite a lot of plugging and a discount no one seemed to bite that evening.

    The single biggest improvement to the tones in my HX Stomp have been made by using 3rd party (Celestion) IRs. Such a great unit the Stomp, now it’s £399 it can’t be far from being the best value purchase in electric guitar.
    Whats your favourite ones mate ?
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  • CrankyCranky Frets: 2629
    Does the Roland Cube sell in the UK?  That's a killer little modeling amp, in either 30w or 60w.
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  • TINMAN82TINMAN82 Frets: 1845
    TINMAN82 said:
    I went to a Simon Mcbride demo/workshop on the GT1000 at guitarguitar last year. It sounded good. Not sure anyone was blown away (by the tone...his playing was excellent). Despite a lot of plugging and a discount no one seemed to bite that evening.

    The single biggest improvement to the tones in my HX Stomp have been made by using 3rd party (Celestion) IRs. Such a great unit the Stomp, now it’s £399 it can’t be far from being the best value purchase in electric guitar.

    I have an HX Stomp and keep meaning to get round to finding some IRs to see if they're better than the built in speaker sims (which I think are perfectly adequate). Did you get the IRs direct from Celestion? There's so many IRs out there that I can't be bothered to try to whittle them down to find the good ones!
    TINMAN82 said:
    I went to a Simon Mcbride demo/workshop on the GT1000 at guitarguitar last year. It sounded good. Not sure anyone was blown away (by the tone...his playing was excellent). Despite a lot of plugging and a discount no one seemed to bite that evening.

    The single biggest improvement to the tones in my HX Stomp have been made by using 3rd party (Celestion) IRs. Such a great unit the Stomp, now it’s £399 it can’t be far from being the best value purchase in electric guitar.
    Whats your favourite ones mate ?
    My experience with IRs is limited but after a bit of research I’ve opted so far for genuine Celestion ones. I’m aware ownhammer also have their fans.

    I can certainly recommend the Celestion G12M greenback and Vintage 30 IRs along with the Celestion A-Type. With all of them I’ve opted for the Royer 121 mic (balanced), 48khz, 200ms.

    For example, I’ve got Rhett Schulls HX stomp preset pack and the Deluxe Reverb patch has been greatly improved by deleting the Line 6 cab block and adding the A-Type IR. 
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  • NelsonPNelsonP Frets: 3347
    TINMAN82 said:
    I went to a Simon Mcbride demo/workshop on the GT1000 at guitarguitar last year. It sounded good. Not sure anyone was blown away (by the tone...his playing was excellent). Despite a lot of plugging and a discount no one seemed to bite that evening.

    The single biggest improvement to the tones in my HX Stomp have been made by using 3rd party (Celestion) IRs. Such a great unit the Stomp, now it’s £399 it can’t be far from being the best value purchase in electric guitar.

    I have an HX Stomp and keep meaning to get round to finding some IRs to see if they're better than the built in speaker sims (which I think are perfectly adequate). Did you get the IRs direct from Celestion? There's so many IRs out there that I can't be bothered to try to whittle them down to find the good ones!
    Easy. Ownhammer.
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