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My Boss GT-100 Thread

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Drew_TNBDDrew_TNBD Frets: 22445
in FX
Gonna post some stuff regarding the Boss GT-100 here. I wont blort it all out at once, as it only just arrived today, and I've had no more than 15 minutes with it.

The dual screens are very easy to use with the 8 knobs and very clear to look at when standing up. The tuner is very clear and you don't have to squint like you do with the M-Series or the HD500. It's nice and bold looking. The patch name is big and readable, but it is a shame that when you press the bank up or bank down buttons, that the screens don't visually cycle around the patch names allowing you to see what you're switching to before you actually do it. The Ground Control does that, and it is really useful.

Naming a patch when you save is very quick too. Instead of cycling around an entire alphabet, you can switch in groups between capitals, lowercase, and symbols. Saving a patch to a different slot was a doddle.

Sonically it sounds very good. I detect absolutely no change to my tone comparing going into the unit and going straight into the amp, but I have not tried 4-cable method yet. Switching patches seems pretty much instantaneous; again, I haven't used the FX Loop block yet. Might be a different story when I bring that in.

The amp models are pretty dire to be honest. I wouldn't want to use them even as a backup. But I didn't buy it for that, so I'm not too bothered. But it slightly irks when Boss say they put lots of effort into that area, coz I just don't hear it.

Global tap tempo is nice and easy to configure. The delay block when set to reverse mode seems to warble as you change the BPM though, which is odd because the DD7 doesn't do that. Going to have to see if that is a bug, by design, or a preference of some kind. It's a bit annoying, but not the show-stopper it usually is on some tap tempo pedals. The sub-delay doesn't do it at all.

EZ Tone is bollocks. I never plan on using it. More comments as and when I play around with it some more.
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Comments

  • GrumpyrockerGrumpyrocker Frets: 4149
    "Naming a patch when you save is very quick too. Instead of cycling around an entire alphabet, you can switch in groups between capitals, lowercase, and symbols."

    You can do that on the Line 6 gear too. I haven't got my HD500 to hand, but I think it might be down on the dpad. You can change between caps, lowercase, numbers, symbols and blank.

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  • Drew_TNBDDrew_TNBD Frets: 22445
    Aye I just never felt it was all that obvious nor intuitive on the HD500. The Boss gives you an actual read out and position of where you are in the current character set. It's pretty good.

    I've tried 4-cable method now. It actually works really well. Absolutely no faff, not like the HD500. No inserting of volume effects or EQ's or any of that. It just works.

    Manual mode is really easy to program. It shows you a grid of the pedals. You turn the knob underneath the pedal you want to change, and it will cycle through a bunch of parameters that you can assign to that individual pedal. So in preset mode, I've got the accel switch assigned to tap-tempo, and the phrase looper switch assigned to manual mode on/off. Then in manual mode I've got the phrase looper on manual mode still (although I could have something else if I wanted) and the accel switch is also still tap tempo (though again, it could be something else if I wished) and then the bank switches and the preset number switches turn on and off various effects.

    Expression pedal can be setup to be volume, wah, or wah and volume, or just an expression pedal to control any parameter on any effect. I'm gonna try the wahs later tonight and see if I like them or not.
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  • monquixotemonquixote Frets: 17661
    tFB Trader
    Grumpyrocker said:
    "Naming a patch when you save is very quick too. Instead of cycling around an entire alphabet, you can switch in groups between capitals, lowercase, and symbols."

    You can do that on the Line 6 gear too. I haven't got my HD500 to hand, but I think it might be down on the dpad. You can change between caps, lowercase, numbers, symbols and blank.
    Zoom G3 does that as well. Very handy.
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  • Drew_TNBDDrew_TNBD Frets: 22445
    edited September 2013
    I can't emphasize enough how easy this unit is to use and how instant gratification it is. APART from the amp sims. But everything else is honky dory!

    I will probably end up using a few additional pedals, probably my Zoom MS70CDR. Gonna keep all my others for the time being, just in case it doesn't work out. But I think I can simplify my rig quite a bit here.
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  • ThePrettyDamnedThePrettyDamned Frets: 7490
    Sounds awesome, just did some looking around and it looks perfect for me.

    That said, I made a Djent kind of tone on my pod studio the other day. Despite the gain and aggression, it cleans up to a lovely warm tone with the volume backed off. Modelling has come a long way!

    Are the amp sims bad? Or do they just need some work?
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  • Drew_TNBDDrew_TNBD Frets: 22445
    Ehh.. I didn't play around with them all that much truth be told. But they sounded kinda fuzzy and artificial to me. Certainly nowhere near some of the VST's I have and my real amp. I may have a play with them further on down the line, but right now my priority is getting a gig worthy setup going.
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  • digitalscreamdigitalscream Frets: 26717
    I know it's totally ridiculous, but my main complaint with all the Boss units is the damn switches - I just hate their lever-style switches, and vastly prefer the exposed-switch type ones on the Line6 gear.

    Whenever I've given the Boss units a chance, it's always been with the amp modelling - and, let's face it, their amp modelling is plain shit. Zoom managed to do it properly in units that are a third of the price, so as far as I'm concerned a company like Boss/Roland has absolutely no fucking excuse to get it that badly wrong.

    Although, on balance, I refuse to have anything to do with a company that sells such a fucked-up product as the LS-2 and keep a straight face. Yes, it's perfectly irrational.
    <space for hire>
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  • Drew_TNBDDrew_TNBD Frets: 22445
    I really prefer the Boss switches actually! ha!! I find the L6 ones break easily and they're too noisy. When you come down into a really quiet section of a song, and you start tap-tempoing, those L6 units just totally ruin the vibe. The Boss ones are dead quiet. That's why I opted to stick with my FS5U switch even though it is twice the size of other TT pedals.

    LOL @ Your LS-2 rage though ;)
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  • digitalscreamdigitalscream Frets: 26717
    Drew_fx said:
    LOL @ Your LS-2 rage though ;)
    I'm still angry. Every time I look at it, I just want to take a hammer to its smug little jack sockets.
    <space for hire>
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  • guitarfishbayguitarfishbay Frets: 7962
    Do you still have the HT Dual? You could place it in 4cm config instead of your amp in place of using the boss sims for a backup rig.
    Music
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  • Drew_TNBDDrew_TNBD Frets: 22445
    Sell it to @ICBM :)
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  • digitalscreamdigitalscream Frets: 26717
    Drew_fx said:
    Sell it to @ICBM :)
    He only wants it for parts, which means I won't get what I paid for it. Worse, now that I've had my rant, I can't even sell it to anybody else on here...
    <space for hire>
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  • Drew_TNBDDrew_TNBD Frets: 22445
    Dooohhh.. If you'd done it on The Gear Page you could've deleted the thread and no-one would be any the wiser ;)
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  • fretmeisterfretmeister Frets: 24562
    Sell it on basschat.

    They love them (as do I, but I have 2 already)
    SPEAKER IMPEDENCE CALCULATOR
    https://speakerimpedance.co.uk/?act=two_parallel&page=calculator
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  • Drew_TNBDDrew_TNBD Frets: 22445
    So... phaser. It will do the sound I get in the middle of our song 'Calligraphy' but it wont do the sound I get in the middle of our song 'Sungazer' so the Hardwire Phaser might have to stick around too.
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  • Drew_TNBDDrew_TNBD Frets: 22445
    Hmm, actually... I think I've nailed it. It's just a bit more difficult to dial in because of the extra resonance control.
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  • ThePrettyDamnedThePrettyDamned Frets: 7490
    Drew_fx;40401" said:
    So... phaser. It will do the sound I get in the middle of our song 'Calligraphy' but it wont do the sound I get in the middle of our song 'Sungazer' so the Hardwire Phaser might have to stick around too.
    Guilty admission - I've never really heard much difference in phasers, just good, bad, and subtle or not.

    But it's no big deal to keep an extra pedal. Means you have a backup for both sounds too, in a pinch.
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  • Drew_TNBDDrew_TNBD Frets: 22445
    It's mainly the depth of the resonant peak I couldn't get quite right. The way I see it, it's the peak and the speed that are the two main factors.
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  • longilongi Frets: 95
    I hated I the amp modelling on the GT-100 at first, but now i've had it for almost a year and have had time to mess around with it, I've found managed to find the sweet spot on both my amps and the modelling sounds great. Well, the models I use that is! The best ones I've found to be are the Core Metal mode, the Blackface model which sounds almost identical as the clean channel on my MJW Orion (Blackface), the Combo Drive and Natural Clean models. The real let down was the SLO model which really is a disappointment. Most of the other amp sims I don't use other than the Marshall 1959 which is pretty good. Have you tried the other output settings? I actually prefer those models than most of the Line 6 offerings which I couldn't dial in for toffee!
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  • SporkySporky Frets: 28650
    Does the phaser do barberpole always-up mode?
    "[Sporky] brings a certain vibe and dignity to the forum."
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