Boss GT Pro any good?

[_Brutalism_]

I was wondering if any of you have experience using the Boss GT Pro Effects Rack processor. Does it give you the versatility it claims it can and has anyone managed to get some brutal tones out of it?

I ask this because I intend to purchase it but I'll have to order it from abroad and won't be able to try it out beforehand.

Cheers!

EDIT : just noticed this might be in the wrong Sub-Forum. Sorry.

 

[kev]

The deal with boss has always been some excellent effects, whereas line 6 has been the king of the amp modelling. If you intend to use it with a seperate amp, it'll be at its best.

 

[_Brutalism_]

Yes I intend to use it as an FX Send/Return from my the head of the amp. So this is its best use or am I mistaken? Is this a good choice? Any more people who experienced this processor?

 

[spioraid]

it's tricky stuff dealing with that level of FX boards because it'll give you some good stuff and absolute crap at the same time.

if it's easy to use and can achieve stomp-box style of playing then it's worth it for the FX to be together in one floor unit. It's good for manipulating the guitar sound to the amp. however like any amp modeling board will show it just doesn't work decently as an external FX unit. the best I've seen out of FX boards/PODs has been with massive editing and impulses. they haven't been half bad, but for all the work and time put into polishing a turd I'd think it better just to get the original amp you've got the impulse for.

I've got a similar FX board that I use for changing the cleans and a tad of pre-head EQ. That's all I ever use it for, save maybe a few highly edited and modded amp models that I use to practice on. the best metal sound I can get out of it was a tweed amp mod set on full gain with my EMG 81 and a comb filter set to scoop the mids. However, that's the only remotely close thing to a metal sound I can get and I never use it to record.

whats your current rig like and what are you hoping to accomplish with added effects?

 

[_Brutalism_]

Well to be honest with you I am a drummer and a novice engineer so this site opened so many new doors of information I need to do a hell of a lot of research on PODs and Impulses because I never used such dandy technology yet.

My band's guitarist is pretty happy with just a Digitech Metal Master footpedal and a crappy Tanglewood guitar for now since we aren't going live or recording yet, using a Laney LX120H head. (I understand that however that improving these items is imperative before anything to get a better sound).

Through limited research (before I saw this site), I was thinking of including to the guitar rack a: compressor, Sonic maximiser, Graphic Eq and this Boss GT Pro for a live rig, obviously. We play progressive death/thrash and I was wondering if this processor can deliver when desiring extreme sounds because on all its adverts it played pretty commercial stuff.

Thanks for the info though spioraid I will look into the PODs and Impulses just to learn how they may help me.

About the rig I thought of, is it a completely rubbish theory?

 

[beyond dead]

i have heard good results with this board through a mesa triple rec. i believe you can bypass amp sims ect. and place in the loop. i would place it in the loop and only use modulation effects and bypass all amp simulation and overdrive. personally im not a fan of equalization so i would bypass that aswell, but you could use the eq as well if desired.

I wish the pod was able to bypass the amp sim and desired effects because then i would actually use it for something. i rather enjoy the delay, and chorus on the unit and would like to use it in conjunction with my dual rec.
ahh well, i dont play guitar in a band anymore (I have been lured into the dark side of the force... drumming muahahahaha) so i guess i will add delay and chorus to my guitars in daw before reamping.

 

[spioraid]

Well to be honest with you I am a drummer and a novice engineer so this site opened so many new doors of information I need to do a hell of a lot of research on PODs and Impulses because I never used such dandy technology yet.

My band's guitarist is pretty happy with just a Digitech Metal Master footpedal and a crappy Tanglewood guitar for now since we aren't going live or recording yet, using a Laney LX120H head. (I understand that however that improving these items is imperative before anything to get a better sound).

Through limited research (before I saw this site), I was thinking of including to the guitar rack a: compressor, Sonic maximiser, Graphic Eq and this Boss GT Pro for a live rig, obviously. We play progressive death/thrash and I was wondering if this processor can deliver when desiring extreme sounds because on all its adverts it played pretty commercial stuff.

Thanks for the info though spioraid I will look into the PODs and Impulses just to learn how they may help me.

About the rig I thought of, is it a completely rubbish theory?

typically for that style of music you don't need a lot of external effects and processing. to me the thrash element would cancel out the majority of effects, although I see you play in a more progressive style. I suppose it depends on your style of writing too...incorporate FX if it sounds good, don't use them just because you have them.

by all means improv the basics of the rig (guitar, pickups, amp head and cab) and then start working on effects, compressors, exciters/maximizers, etc. for me I save a lot of the effects for my DAW so I get cleanest sound possible, i.e. clean guitar recorded then chorus added in the DAW.

it's not completely rubbish in theory. actually in theory it works quite well, although for the high level of quality and integrity one would want in a record the majority of low end rigs and amp sims just can't produce.

best piece of advice is start with a good guitar and a good amp. tighten up the playing ability and you can't miss.

 

[_Brutalism_]

Cheers guys. Yes definitely, the guitar and amp should be the key elements before anything else and that is what I am aiming for.

I agree with you that the thrash element wouldn't really need effects but to get some deep, heavy distortion for the sludgier death metal riffs and to make the clean guitar bits which we incorporate in our songs ( in the recording we intend to use a miced acoustic guitar but for live we'd have to use effects on an electric), I thought it was the best way to go. Anyway, if the equipment I intend to set up in this rig doesn't work out for the guitar rack, there is always use for it somewhere else in the recording process.

by all means improv the basics of the rig (guitar, pickups, amp head and cab) and then start working on effects, compressors, exciters/maximizers, etc

I totally agree with you here. Its totally useless buying all this gear when the beginning of the signal chain is rubbish. I'd probably spend a lot of time trying to "polish a turd" as you put it, then realising what a waste of time it was once the fundamentals (guitar, pick ups, head and speakers), are improved and everything would need to be redone.

I just hope the Boss GT Pro pro can give us a solid, yet versatile punch. I heard its clearer tones and acoustic effects and they were brilliant. Even the solos sounded fantastic (although I'm pretty sure he was using some high end gear with guitars and amp on the demo which I saw on youtube.)


Another question, which do you guys recommend, I was looking at some Digitech stuff too which were quite appealing. Any of you have used Digitech racks and got some killer sounds?

 

[beyond dead]

my buddy had a digitech effects processor, and it spent more time in the shop than in the practice space

 

[evolutions_end]

i have a boss multiple effects stomp box. i dont use it for the distortion, but i use it for some other effects. really easy to do eq sweeps, assign an EQ to the expression pedal and walla. the wah isnt great, but it does the job.

 

[spioraid]

generally I stay away from digitech. there's so much within a basic DAW it's almost eliminated the need for all the external stomp boxes for recording. I'd rather not spend $30-$80 bucks on a single effect pedal I'm almost never going to use live. I find effects placed post-tracking are cleaner and take up more stereo space. YMMV.

my multi-FX board does have some good clean and acoustic-y tones on it. I'll use those to record with. was it worth the $400 and the hopes and dreams of writing the next Divine Heresy album? nope.

although I admit my relationship with peripheral digital FX processors is biased and much likened to Icarus hoping the wax wings will take him to the sun. (for the uneducated crowd - it's like a crackhead hoping cheap sex and alcohol will improve his social life and car mileage.)