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Is the Boss GT-100 the best bang for the buck for guitar multi-effects ?

RockPianoman

By RockPianoman
in Electric Guitars

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RockPianoman Newbie

RockPianoman

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I've been comparing guitar multi-effects units that are currently for sale new and this seems to be my conclusion.......

 

What do you guys think ? I'm looking for the best deal for the price......the Boss GT-100 is $500

 

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/ampli...s-pedal?pfm=sp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The amp & cabinet simulators in previous effects units were weak and not very good.....it sounds like that has changed with this unit......people with Marshall stacks say it sounds as good as the real thing......it's about freakin' time.....the other amp models are equally as good too....Boss has been making their bulletproof stomp pedals forever and they definitely know what they're doing in that department.....people are getting great tone finally just running into the PA......you definitely have to go into settings and set what you're running into correctly....

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Steve2112 Newbie

Steve2112

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It depends what sounds and types of effects your are looking for. For a Vox/Marshall with an decent assortment of usable FX and 2 controllers (one always on volume one for wah/pitch/etc)...can't go wrong with a Vox Tonelab SE. Absolutely the very best low/mid gain tones from a box you can get. Not great studio cleans. Modern high gainers will not be satisfied....not because of lack of gain there's PLENTY...but it's not a modern metal scooped mid razor sharp gain. It' doesn't have a good enough EQ system to dial it in.

 

Line 6 HD's have everything you need and a load of stuff you might not. The flexibility in FX and routing is astounding. Absolutely astounding. Takes a little bit to master, and there are many good resources to get all the tricks. I personally found the overall enjoyment of tones and feel not matching it's high octane specs. Probably more of a personal thing than any fault of the unit.

 

The Digitech RP(500) is a good buy- it is full of usable tones and FX, although everything seems to have a moderate parameter range. Unlike the Line 6, it's hard to dial in too much and often you wish there was more. An example might be flange...even at full blast it's not going to raise your eyebrows. Sometimes it lacks high end and presence, even with cab sims off. All in all...good satsifying tones are had...from studio clean to Mesa/Randall metal. Solid as a rock...it will remind you of a custom stomp box pedal board.

 

I can;t speak for the Boss GT 100 series. I had a GT10 for a little bit. Good effects but the pure guitar aspect was lacking. Didn't like the soft pedals. (Prefer the digitech stomp box switvches)

 

I had a Boss ME 80 for a little bit and it was the worst of the bunch. Just a very sterile lifeless joyless thing. Now, maybe it just wasn't my style, I do prefer a bit of sponginess.

 

The zoom has intrigued me for years, just can;t bring myself to spring for one, lol.

 

All in all the tonelab was probably my favorite- if it had a better studio clean and a comprehensive EQ it would have been the very best in the biz. Digitech next. I do also like the Rocktron Voodu valve if rack unit works for ya. Some people will say "it doesn't have a good cam sim", but that's malarkey, between the speaker and mic sim, and the pre and post EQ....you can dial in perfect cab tones.

 

As you can tell...not a fan of the boss MFX. Sounds like we agree on the previous models. But...why not just try it? If you get a good price, you can move it easily enough.

 

 

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Crownman Newbie

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I bought a used Digitech 2120 Artist with the updated chip and the foot controller for $300 a few months ago. It's a great band for the buck for the prices they're going for these days. And it's flexible as hell as far as programming and routing goes. Also, having the choice of tube or solid state preamp is nice.

 

Also take a look at the GSP1101 if you haven't already.

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RockPianoman Newbie

RockPianoman

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How does your Line 6 compare to the Line 6 Floor Pod Plus ? ....because I have that......

 

The Line 6 units I've heard on Ebay sounded really good, but didn't sound as good as the Boss GT-100 to me, but other Boss units didn't sound as good either......the GT-100 seemed way better

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RockPianoman Newbie

RockPianoman

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I used to have a ZoomFire amp / effects unit....I know it can't compare with what you're talking about but it was kind of a novelty.....many Zoom effects units I've heard tend to sound "transistor Radio" compared to others....

 

The Zoom units I've recently heard on YouTube didn't compare favorably with others I've heard....Zoom seems to have excellent reverbs and choruses but the distortion effects seem to fall short.....

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RockPianoman Newbie

RockPianoman

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I've listened to sooooooo many demos on YouTube and to my ears, nothing has beat the Boss GT-100 (not even other Boss units).....the demos should be good representations of the units too as all are designed to be used for recording as well......I run my laptop through my stereo to get a good picture of the sound on all of them.....

 

I think amplifier simulation might be the most important aspect to me, but of course the effects must be great too and the Boss GT-100's most important aspect is it's amplifier simulations.....they are miles better than other Boss products.....people that have the actual amps are saying they sound the same....

 

I don't feel my Line 6 Floor Pod Plus sounds like the real amps and my Boss GX-700 before it certainly failed at that (the GX-700 is very old by now.....1995 or before).....

 

My Line 6 Floor Pod Plus does have a lot of great patches but the real amps sound sooooooo good.....Roland has made it their goal to make the amp simulations in the GT-100 to be top notch.....

 

Don't buy the Boss GT-100 for the looper....38 seconds is laughable and stereo is half that.....you can't increase it either.....

 

I've also heard effects units with no distortion effects, but I definitely want distortion effects.....I would like it to be able to provide everything I need.....

 

I don't need synthesizer sounds from my guitar.....I play keys and have many synths.....they give me all that.....

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bernardo gui Newbie

bernardo gui

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I've owned the Boss GT-6, GT-8 & ME-50.

All these units had GREAT modulation effects.

Chorus, Delay, Flanger.......all these were pretty good.

 

On the other hand the Distortions sucked.

EXTREMELY digital sounding & just sounded bad.

 

Line 6 Distortion sounds better & the modulation effect are as good as Boss.

I'm really surprised: after all these years, Boss has not gotten they're Distortion sounds right.

Not a sermon, just a thought........

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Steve2112 Newbie

Steve2112

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Rock, lets backtrack just a little bit because you aren't giving us enough info.

1st off, these floor multifx are great...but they are ALL a compromise at best. Hope you realize that first and foremost. Best case is to have 5 or 10 amps and a dozen stomp boxes and a couple rack FX..then have a professional switching system . Obviously..we are not steve stevens or Andy Timmons etc...so we compromise with a single floor mfx.

 

Sounds like you don;t really have a favorite amp or ten available...so you need and FMX with amp sims. Or preamp anyway, like a mesa quad, digitech 2101, Line 6 HD Boss GT100 etc. Right away you have a compromise.

 

Plus...you want effects. Again, instant compromise because no one unit can do everything great.

 

Now on the plus side suddenly you can have several different tones at the press of a button. FX...same thing. You can go from a dry low gain rhythm tone to a saturated delay lead tone with one press of a button. AWE>>>SOME! If you have planned well and know what you are doing, your listeners will not notice you don;t have a pile of different amps and a big rack full of FX. Even if you do.

 

So now it comes down to whcuh single unit MFX. Such great choices these days. When I was a wee lad there wasn't anything,. Then the Digitech/DOD Chain Reaction came out. WOW! LOL. Nowadays the choices are...well hard to chose. Do you want some simple amp-like and stomp box like effects? Or do you want a single unit with a 1000 amps and 1000 racks?This choice is yours and crucial to your selection. Do you want it more organic or digital? Whats' your budget/ What is your tweaking tolerance?

 

It's not just a simple "is this for me?" We cant answer that question for you. You have to put in the blood sweat and tears. Have to pony up cash for something you might have to sell.

 

I think rather than say "is this for me"....give me your style and genre, your tweak ability and capacity, your expectations and applications. What is your goal/ What do you want to do with this thing? Keep in mind a perfect be all and everything to you and everyone...just isn't gonna happen.

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RockPianoman Newbie

RockPianoman

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I do rock and that's about it but a very wide range of rock.......

 

I remember that my Boss GX-700 didn't do as good at distortion as my Line 6 Floor Pod Plus and the amp models left a lot to be desired (the Line 6 is better at these)....when I bought the Line 6, it was the best they made....

 

I know nothing is perfect but things keep getting better and better......

 

I guess amp simulation is my number one concern.....how do the newer Line 6 floorboards compare to mine ?

 

The GX-700 did pretty good on other effects other than distortion and it sounds like the distortion effects are dramatically improved in the GT-100....

 

I'm pretty sure that with any of these, just like with synthesizers, that the presets don't necessarily show the best that the unit is capable of......if you take the time needed, you can expect results that exceed the presets (synths are often this way too)....I would backup anything I make to DVDs so I could re-load if there was ever a theft or a crash.....

 

I hear the Boss GT-100 is outstanding at amp & cabinet simulation......I'd like to be able to run straight into my PA with my guitar (I have Yamaha PA speakers with a 12" and a horn in each)......I play bars and not halls with this setup and it works good......I'd need better speakers to play halls....

 

My amp is a QSC USA 900 (heavy little beast, but loud as hell) and I run through a mixer with 10 mono channels and 8 stereo channels but each mono channel can be panned so two mono channels can make 1 stereo, so doing that gives me 13 stereo channels.....the mixer has two stereo busses, 4 band EQ and effect sends and returns on every channel....I would need better speakers to play a large hall but the amp and mixer could do it.....for bars these speakers work great....

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RockPianoman Newbie

RockPianoman

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I think I will run it into a tube amp as well as the PA and I think I will use my Line 6 through the effect send & return so I'll use both....I'll use the tube amp as my guitar monitor...since I have the Line 6, it seems kinda redundant to get another but I'm going to play all the units mentioned here before I buy.....I appreciate everyone's suggestions....

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Grant Harding Contributor

Grant Harding

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The GT-100 would have to be waaaay better than the GT-8 for me to consider using the distortions or amp models, because they suck in a major way. Not even as good as the very first Line 6 amp from 1996, which I still have. I use the GT-8 in my effects loop to add reverb, delay, and other effects. Amps and distortions always off.

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Steve2112 Newbie

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Still - TC Electronic G System.

 

 

 

I think the TC is great for effects, but the regular G System doesn't have amp/drives sims right? Can;t go direct w/o amps.

 

Now, as part a larger M-FX system- with other FX and amps- I think it would be great!.

 

I kinda wish they would include some amp/distortions so you could opt for a single stand alone unit if you wanted. But I don't think amp sims and distortions have ever been a big concern for them.

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Les Paul Lover Newbie

Les Paul Lover

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It's true Steve, it hasn't got a fuzz or OD or distortion on board. It does channel switch though - so if your valve amp is good enough, you can yuse that, or it has 4 loops for your favourite OD / fuzz and so on. If I was to use a multi effect, it's the only one I would look at. I think it has the best bang for the buck - even though it's really expensive.

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Steve2112 Newbie

Steve2112

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Les...keep in mind in this case, the OP wants to go direct. So he's going to need those amps sims/distortions. It sounds like he may be using a couple M FX units- which is kinda weird to me- I believe you can find usable tones in any of the modern floor Multi fx systems. I am not sold on the Boss unit as yet...BUT! there is little doubt the video I posted with Glen is awwwwwsome. If you use Glen's patches you should be good to go, even if you aren't as adept as he.

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