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Boss GT-1B


NoirBass
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  • 2 weeks later...

Anyone picked one of these up yet?

Been looking the GT-1 vids online and they sound great so assuming the functionality's not been nerfed, it should be good fun. The deep editing afforded by the Tone Central also looks awesome. Here's a particularly good ambient patch with the Tone Central view of the entire signal chain, which in theory, should be possible with the bass version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbmgtVKjJ7s&t=10s

Tone Central not released until September though so editing on the unit directly until then...

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've just been treated to one of these by myself (via wife) as an anniversary gift.

I don't play live much anymore so main goal was to have something I could practise through with headphones and bonus can have audio through usb.

Will be trying it out over next few nights and will comment then and maybe try and get a video or two as well.

Shame the tone central isn't live yet.though.

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[quote name='TobyMunkling' timestamp='1503824462' post='3361022']
I'd love to hear your opinion.......
[/quote]

Well I'm not sure I have a considered opinion yet after four hours or so of working with it other than its quite compelling and kept my attention.

So my perspective is for it as a recording device rather than for live use. Also, at the time of writing, I'm still pre-Tone Central.

But with that in mind here goes:[list]
[*]It is capable of some good tones, and by the same token some very bad ones...
[*]Keyword is levels - any one of the individual signal chain components, and their parameters can wildly affect gain and levels - key part of getting a good sound (and no different to 'real' pedals really)
[*]Presets are a mix of surprising, unworkable, awful, glitchy and OKish - some usable crunch tones and nice ambient tones. (Inspired one composition already with '8-string chord' patch)
[*]Any patch with 'Synth' in the title simply doesn't track well and glitches even on higher notes - not so much of an issue for me as my name's not 'Bootsy' (I've noticed that there is already a firmware upgrade for tracking on some patches available.)
[*]That said, some synth-like patches - organ, for example do track well and are good for chords.
[*]There are plenty of delays available, in the FX1/2 as well as the Delay element itself and aided with nice reverbs so plenty of ambient fun available
[*]My sense is that the ODs and Pre-amp modelling is not at the level of the B3n (where I heard a pretty convincing Darkglass patch) but it is early days for me and we don't have Tone Central's easy deep editing yet.
[*]Editing is a little bit fiddly so I'm not sure how 'gig ready' this would be for you live players (until the set-list editing becomes available with Tone Central)
[*]Haven't tried the looper yet or recording interface as I'm still in the preset and patch creation stage.
[/list]
So my super-early review may come over as mixed or even negative but actually it's shaping up well for what I want it to do and I have Two Notes Le Bass for god-like crunch tone anyway.

For £189 (Dawsons) it's a very sophisticated device and is capable of a creating a complete signal chain and rig all into your headphones/PC so in that regard it's good value.

My recommendations are to be clear on what you want it for, and do your research online with the specific GT-1B videos coming out but also look at the GT-1 videos for guitar, particularly those using the Tone Central editor as that opens the whole thing out considerably.

I'd recommend trying one in the shop too - take your headphones and if you can hear potential from a few of the presets for what you're trying to achieve, then there's plenty of tweaking you can do to personalise them for what you need.

I haven't tried a Zoom B3n so can't give a comparison other that from what I've seen on YouTube, there are better modelling examples for crunch out there (at the moment - Boss may surprise us with the Tone Central downloads when they go live next month).

Will report back after Tone Central and give a more considered review. Hope that helps.

Visog

Edited by visog
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Yes - firmware update for synth tracking here: https://www.boss.info/us/support/by_product/gt-1b/updates_drivers/4dc785af-c865-4da4-9e24-1355cd19505a/

Not downloaded it yet as I'm still exploring other patches and editing them. It's weird the synths track badly because the octavers, organ and woodwind track very well.

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[quote name='visog' timestamp='1503946671' post='3361777']
Yes - firmware update for synth tracking here: https://www.boss.info/us/support/by_product/gt-1b/updates_drivers/4dc785af-c865-4da4-9e24-1355cd19505a/

Not downloaded it yet as I'm still exploring other patches and editing them. It's weird the synths track badly because the octavers, organ and woodwind track very well.
[/quote]

I know it is odd I thought that too. I was actually quite surprised at how well the octaver did below bottom G. My ebs pedal dies after that point.

Edited by Adonbass
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  • 3 weeks later...

[quote name='rmcki' timestamp='1505372569' post='3371336']
Software available from Boss Tone Central
[/quote]

Indeed! With link: http://bosstonecentral.com/liveset/category/gt-1b/

Let the fun begin... please all share your favourite patches...

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So got home and did the full update:[list]
[*]Driver
[*]System program (v1.02)
[*]Tone Studio
[/list]
All went seamlessly. The result:[list]
[*]GT-1B talks to the computer (not tried recording yet).
[*]The unit tracks better on synth patches (but still not great I have to say)
[*]Immediate comprehensive deep editing and pedal order shifting - great fun and so flexible - really opens out the full functionality of the unit
[/list]
No new artist patches as yet on Tone Studio but hey - so much flexibility at the click of a mouse...

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So... notes on progress...

Leaving the USB plugged in during PC DAW or YouTubing results in some USB hum. This isn't really a problem if you're not editing during other soundcard activity.

You can nix this absolutely by buying an USB isolater at ~£30. See this vid: [url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItD2GDpqKkA&t=156s"]https://www.youtube....2GDpqKkA&t=156s[/url]

Otherwise having immense fun sound-sculpting...

Edited by visog
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Most of these sentiments seem to be similar of my experience with the MS-3.
Most of the sounds were great, loved having the Defretted and Slow Gear sounds back after selling my ME-50B.
But I found the workflow quite fiddley, gave up doing it on the unit as it took too long, so did it on the Mac Librarian software.....and even then couldn't get it to do what I wanted.....oh well.
Great sounds (mostly), but just a bit difficult to use. Sticking with my Line6 M5 for now.

Si

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How does this pedal sound through an amp and with a band? It seems expensive for a headphone only practice tool.
I'm keen on going back to multi fx after having issues on my pedal board and needing to downsize my gear. I had a boss ME20 and didn't have the patience to edit the patches, this looks more simple to edit but IMO multi fx units can sound sterile through an amp

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  • 4 months later...

I can’t believe I have only just stumbled upon the existence of the Boss GT-1B! So now I’m intrigued to hear people’s experiences and thoughts. So digging this up.

I do have a Zoom B3n, i find myself more recently using the Tech 21 Flyrig as I find the analogue amp sims just do it for me. I wish it had some presets though like the zoom, so I don’t have to faff in a live situation. What are amp tones like on the Boss? Use?

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Not sure you'd justify a GT-1B and a Zoom B3n but it's a good unit. Regarding the fiddly editing.. that's all resolved with a USB cable and Boss Studio app. Dead easy and hugely in-depth.

Disappointing then that to date, there's no artist patches or indeed any uploads on Tone Central other than the two starter libraries - which are a bit 'random'?

Edited by visog
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1 hour ago, visog said:

Not sure you'd justify a GT-1B and a Zoom B3n but it's a good unit. Regarding the fiddly editing.. that's all resolved with a USB cable and Boss Studio app. Dead easy and hugely in-depth.

Disappointing then that to date, there's no artist patches or indeed any uploads on Tone Central other than the two starter libraries - which are a bit 'random'?

Intentions are to have just one unit ideally. 👍

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Depends on your use then. I've not done a direct comparison so take this advice as a start point but from what I recall when researching my purchase, popular opinion had it that whilst fairly evenly matched as direct competitors, the Zoom beat out the Boss for live use and on-the-fly editing. So stick with your Zoom if you're happy with it. From what I heard on YouTube - It certainly does a good Darkglass impression...

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  • 5 months later...

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