Boss GT-100 - thoughts?

Kebabkid

Yep, this old fella but still part of the Boss product line and still being sold in shops and it's piqued my interest as I fancy having a multi-fx around.

I've looked at some of the older posts for this and at the time of it's launch, things like the POD HD500 were it's competition but modelling has come a long way since then and I just wanted to know from users, owners, previous owners etc what they think of it?

I have been looking at the more expensive and high end Fractal FM3, too, but is it really going to be to £1K better (going by used GT-100 prices) and I'm not interested in the GT-1000

 Is anyone was still using there's and how (with an valve amp, power amp & speakers, FRFR or straight to PA) and for me, this would be probably going into a Fender '65 DRRI 65 but I might like to add a couple of my own drives or I do have 2 powered PA speakers.

The feature set/spec seems fine for me but it's the sounds I'm really interested in and whether they hold up. I mean, I'm an 80s rock/pop/funk guy and so I'd want to get Eric Johnson/Andy Summer's delay/chorus cleans, Nile Rodgers clean compressed funk sounds and then Gary Moore, Lukather, Huff, Schon type lead sounds so is this guy's demo a true reflection of the sounds out of the box and are these results easy to achieve?



Cheers,
Cos

monquixote

Put simply the FX are really good but the modelling is a bit crap.

It's the same brain as the Katana but the amp modelling doesn't seem to be quite as good.

Jonny Marr used to tour them with a DRRI.

chrisj1602

I’ve got one and would happily gig it.  It was the Boss flagship not so long ago so obviously a very good unit.

Here’s the Johnny Marr video..

https://youtu.be/NFbo58jcyi8

Kebabkid

monquixote said:

Put simply the FX are really good but the modelling is a bit crap.

It's the same brain as the Katana but the amp modelling doesn't seem to be quite as good.

Jonny Marr used to tour them with a DRRI.

Thanks Nick and interesting that JM uses his through a DRRI (thanks for that @chrisj1602)

I've had the GT-3, GT-5 and GT-8 and the FX were good, cleans were ok but things fell down on the modelling and overdrives. Now if it's like the Katana, an amp whose sounds I do NOT like, or worse, we're going to have a problem.

Do you know if it takes other overdrive pedals well? I have a Wampler Mini Plexi and early OCD that I love and they could cover my overdrive needs if the rest and the unit/fx are good.

Rob Marcello gets some fantastic 80s AOR type leads out of it in his demos but in other ones, not from official or pro demonstrators, things sound a bit pants and so I'm cautious

monquixote

Depends what you mean by takes overdrives.

The katana clean channel takes overdrives very well if that's what you mean.

I used it with a clean amp into the front. I put an overdrive in the loop which means you can move it in the chain and put boosts and eq around it to get a variety of tones from one pedal. You can also use the amp switching jack to turn pedals like Suhr on and off.

The other thing to note is though the ods are mostly meh. The Adaptive Distortion is superb and is the predecessor of the superb DS1-X and OD1-X.

It also has the overtone and terra echo which are both great.

Kebabkid

monquixote said:

Depends what you mean by takes overdrives.

If I put my overdrive pedals into the loop, will it take them well i.e. sound good or will it 'digitize' them. I know this works very well on the HX Stomp but I don't like Line 6 FX, which is a shame as its size and power would've otherwise made it a contender.

monquixote

Seemed fine to me.

CarpeDiem

If you're only interested in effects, and not amp modelling, it may be worth considering a Boss MS-3.

monquixote

CarpeDiem said:

If you're only interested in effects, and not amp modelling, it may be worth considering a Boss MS-3.

I think that's basically got the same FX in it. The advantage is it's got more loops.

Kebabkid

monquixote said:

CarpeDiem said:

If you're only interested in effects, and not amp modelling, it may be worth considering a Boss MS-3.

I think that's basically got the same FX in it. The advantage is it's got more loops.

I was interested in it more as an All-in-one i.e. amps and effects and as an alternative/back-up to my pedalboard.

I see the MS-3 as more of an add-on to my pedalboard without as much readily available functionality as the GT-100 and as I already have a Gigrig QMX6, the loop side would be a bit redundant.

Funkfingers

My brother has one, acquired locally from somebody underselling it horribly. (Not stolen. Bought BNIB via eBay.)

monquixote said:

the FX are really good but the modelling is a bit crap.

I programmed a few sounds on my brother's behalf. These were mostly textural extravaganzas, worthy of Belew or Fripp. I found the amp modelling entirely unconvincing.

monquixote

Kebabkid said:

monquixote said:

CarpeDiem said:

If you're only interested in effects, and not amp modelling, it may be worth considering a Boss MS-3.

I think that's basically got the same FX in it. The advantage is it's got more loops.

I was interested in it more as an All-in-one i.e. amps and effects and as an alternative/back-up to my pedalboard.

I see the MS-3 as more of an add-on to my pedalboard without as much readily available functionality as the GT-100 and as I already have a Gigrig QMX6, the loop side would be a bit redundant.

Hmm, Helix stomp is the obvious, but if you don't like the FX that's no use.

I went GT-1000 which is generally great but obviously experiensive.

Not sure what the latest generation Zoom stuff is like.

hollywoodrox

Nita Strauss used a gt100 before the gt1000 came out 

dindude

Hey Cos,

Have you seen this, it’s Lukather doing a demo of the GT001, same engine as the GT100 but in desktop format. I’ve had the GT001 (twice!) and really liked it for the type of sounds you suggest.

https://youtu.be/_i30ahxCeBQ

Kebabkid

dindude said:

Hey Cos,

Have you seen this, it’s Lukather doing a demo of the GT001, same engine as the GT100 but in desktop format. I’ve had the GT001 (twice!) and really liked it for the type of sounds you suggest.

https://youtu.be/_i30ahxCeBQ

Hi Dan,
Yep, I've seen this one before and not bad sounds - cheers

monquixote

If you are going to combine some overdrives with it anyway you could include a Nux Solid Studio which would give you IRs and good power amp emulation.

Kebabkid

The Nux looks like an interesting bit of kit

monquixote

In fairness the Nux MultiFX is probably also worth checking out.

Tenebrous

I have a GT-001 & have had the pedal in the past, both of which I'd consider to be very good units. The effects are as great as you'd expect (the Tera Echo might just be the most underrated effect ever IMO), but the amp modelling is pretty damn underrated if you're not pushing your ear to hear differences between what the model is meant to represent & what it actually achieves.

Second hand, there's plenty of good sounds in a GT-100 (I paid £120 or so for the 001 complete in box). Can recommend

I will say though that one of the biggest reasons a lot of the default patches sound dead is because of overly aggressive noise-gates. Once I figured that out I was much happier with the unit.

BintyTwanger77

From memory, Johnny Marr runs his guitar into a Diamond compressor before going into the GT-100.

Stratavarious

Fine unit.. especially for live, with the footswitches.

 I use one, usually in manual mode, with a bunch of virtual pedalboards that I have set for different styles.  Loads of great sounding ODs and drives.  Unlikely you will need to use any more.  I do use it 4 wire method sometimes with my Boogie.. and it handles extra external drives/pedals fine.

The stock presets do not present it well and some amp models are better than others.  You generally will have them switched off if going into a tube amp anyway.

It is always in my rig as backup and I will use it for small gigs DI to desk and for theatre stuff.  

Recommended.  Quick to learn too.  Virtual pedalboard display and 4 knobs that make it work like a regular pedal when you select one.