NMFXD, I finally decided on the GT1000 Core

tekbow

I'm pleasantly suprised.

I mainly bought it for fully wet Stereo FX, but have to say, the amps are more convincing than I assumed they'd be.

Didn't bother mucking around with the cabs, just stuck my CAB-M+ in the loop.

The X-amps are tasty. I mean I guess they don't model a specific amp with those, but they sound like their own (Marshall based) thing

Isn't that what the big Modding Names basically went for when fiddling with Marshall's etc?

I can't See how this would be less valid because 'modelling'. And the models of actual amps are idealised versions of the amps they're based on I suppose, but great? I don't Have to muck around too much to get them to sound good.

So yeah, pleasantly suprised.

thomasw88

Well done, It's a very good unit.  I've had loads of mult effects before including the Line 6 HX/Stomp, Fractal FX8, and countless 'lesser' ones, and I think the core is probably the best of the lot.

I wouldn't rule out the stock cabs - i've tried a load of IR's with the core and actually the stock cabs stand up them really well.

I added a Morningstar MC3 to mine, that's worth looking at.

vasselmeyer

The Boss X-amps are really good. For clean, instead of the "Natural" amp try the "X-Crunch" or "Maximum" with the low-gain setting and you get a nice responsive amp with a little bit of grit when you hit it hard. For decent classig rock sound, I've had decent results with the "Natural" amp and the Guv'nor model before it.

Also, to echo @thomasw88 the stock cabs are pretty good. The idea of Boss's AIRD stuff if to model the whole preamp & cabinet together so they interact with each other rather than just have an amp model and then a cab model. You can also get a very decent stereo sound from two different cabs. Check out this video from Paul Dean at the Studio Rats. He's got a lot of decent (short) videos on the GT-1000 Core.

John_A

Good old Boss with their monochrome LCD in 2021 . Glad you're happy with it, I should really try one.

tekbow

@thomasw88 , a midi controller is something I have in mind for down the road. Would be nice to just hit a switch and go straight to whatever patch I wanted.

@vasselmeyer, actually... i put the CAB-M in the loop, then ran stereo FX blocks after it for Micropitch shift, dual delay, and reverb. This was all just through headphones so it sounded pretty wide, with my amps I'll be running it WDDW in a dual setup.

@John_A, I'm not going to lie and say it's not a Bit clunky. It makes sense once you figure out its work flow, but I suspect deep dive programming from the PC editor would be quicker and more simple. Really am pleased with the actual sounds though.

John_A

It’s the sound that matters

downbytheriver

I’ve just got one too - struggling to get going with it at the moment! I shall persevere

TTBZ

I think the X amps sounded really good in Leon Todd's dial in video, but they did seem to be improved with his IR over the AIRD cab. I kinda prefer that idea of just making do with what's there rather than going for specific amp sounds which ends up being a lot of tone chasing and not a lot of playing. I do fancy having a go on one of these, it's a lot of power in a nice sized unit!

vasselmeyer

Programming the GT-1000 just means getting your head around the idiosyncratic Boss workflow. I'm used to the terminology from the ES-8 so I understand all the principles (like ASSIGN and CURNUM) which are really powerful once you understand them. I tend to use the PC editor or phone app, get a good base template (dump all the unused blocks in an inactive loop and drag them in when you need them) and then build the sound from there. Once you've done that in software, editing on the fly from the unit is really fast. It's not as intuitive as the Helix or Headrush, but I bet, once to know your way around the interface, it's just as fast.

They also sound really good. Currently I'm loving the "Maximum" amp...it's a lot of fun

tekbow

So, spent most of the evening with it and still dialling in for use with my actual amps.

Definitely easier and more satisfying doing everything in the box than running actual signals through it, but I think its more to do with balancing relative levels of FX in the wet tracks.

It's all routing as it should, different levels of detune and different delays left and right etc.

Plus ive picked up a ground loop, but... am I suprised..?  

John_A

Just been checking these out and seen how much more they are than the HX stomp.  What made you go for this over the Stomp?

tekbow

John_A said:

Just been checking these out and seen how much more they are than the HX stomp.  What made you go for this over the Stomp?

For one the processing power it's the Same internally as a GT1000 and doesn't run out of DSP which the HX Stomp would have for some of my potential applications, also the power supply requirements (you could run this off a doubler cable from a suitable power supply). Boss stuff is pretty much Nuke proof too, and while I was re-assured of the line-6 build quality in a recent thread, Boss is just Boss.

It's also got stereo ins which the GT1000 doesnt Have.

The amp models weren't A factor when I got it because it was primarily for wet FX, but now I have it, I'm super impressed.

I don't care that they're mostly not authentic models of specific Amps, I care that they sound good, and in comparison to my SLO or Gower, through monitors, they sound REALLY good.

I actually feel the Brit Stack model performs very similarly and realistically to my Gower dialled in for its 800 settings w/SD-1 boost (it started as an 81 800 1959) with the OD-1 model boosting the amp model.

I'm also acclimating to the GUI, which is actually pretty quick to get around once you get it. The unit allows for surprisingly deep editing of nearly any parameter you could think of.

Still haven't played with the Stock Cabs which I'm just about to.

John_A

All very good reasons . 

I'm looking at replacing my recently sold Helix and weighing up the options (there are too many) 

vasselmeyer

The DSP usage is one thing that Boss does well...essentially all the blocks are available all the time and you never have to compromise in terms of processingf power. This is the same on the floor unit as well as the Core. I don't have any experience of one, but I know that it is possible for the Helix units, espesially the Stomp to run out of DSP. Again, neitehr good nor bad, just a design decision. The other thing that Boss does well is instantaneous patch switching. You can switch between the most insanely complex patches with one button press and it's there...bang.

What I really love about all Boss units (including the ES-8 pedal switcher) is the power of the ASSIGN command.If the normal one CTRL command which is binary (e.g., flip an effect on off, or change the speed of a rotary effect etc) isn't enough, you can zero out that button and create an ASSIGN configuration where you can flip between up to twenty different parameters of pretty much any element of the blocks in your chain, even down to individual EQ bands etc. For example, you could compltely re-EQ an amp at any time with one press of a button. Once you get your head around it, it's super-flexible.

tekbow

vasselmeyer said:

The DSP usage is one thing that Boss does well...essentially all the blocks are available all the time and you never have to compromise in terms of processingf power. This is the same on the floor unit as well as the Core. I don't have any experience of one, but I know that it is possible for the Helix units, espesially the Stomp to run out of DSP. Again, neitehr good nor bad, just a design decision. The other thing that Boss does well is instantaneous patch switching. You can switch between the most insanely complex patches with one button press and it's there...bang.

What I really love about all Boss units (including the ES-8 pedal switcher) is the power of the ASSIGN command.If the normal one CTRL command which is binary (e.g., flip an effect on off, or change the speed of a rotary effect etc) isn't enough, you can zero out that button and create an ASSIGN configuration where you can flip between up to twenty different parameters of pretty much any element of the blocks in your chain, even down to individual EQ bands etc. For example, you could compltely re-EQ an amp at any time with one press of a button. Once you get your head around it, it's super-flexible.

Oh yeah, forgot about the patch switching, but I haven't even needed that yet because I've used the assign matrix to assign a toggle between a comp And OD, then low and medium gain levels with gain/MV adjustments on the 2 footswitches of the FS7.

So basically like scenes or snapshots.

So I have clean, two levels of crunch, with different MV and gain settings, plus two boosts giving like 4 different sounds that I use (with some pickup switching) on a single patch.

Also assigned tap tempo to ctrl 1.

downbytheriver

I’ve now got the Boss Tone Studio running and talking to the GT1000core which is making a great deal more sense to me (and is helping me to understand the in-box UI better). 

I obtained the GT1000core with recording in mind but I’m trying to work out what I’ll need to make it a gigging proposition - I don’t do vastly complex effects setups but I’d like a fair bit of control over the make up of the sound as I go ( switching rather than twiddling). I’m thinking maybe a Morningstar MC-3 or MC-6, an expression pedal (not sure about that) and a couple of aux switches. I’m also wondering how to use the fx loops - one will probably be a Mystery Brain... and maybe another Blackstone Appliances MOSFET drive before the GT1000. Essentially I’m edging toward my MS3 setup but appreciating the output options. An MS5 with the GT1000 engine would make a great deal of sense to me - I think it’s a relatively undeveloped concept. 

And I’ll be able to sell my (actually very good) Boss GT001 to help fund the Morningstar... and hopefully I’ll stop wondering whether I should have got an HX-Stomp instead... 

vasselmeyer

@downbytheriver ;Once you add those Morningstar options on, it might make sense to look at the full GT-1000 instead (unless you already have them, of course). It has ten buttons plus the expression pedal, two loops, balanced XLR out and bluetooth which is amazing for live work (stick a loop on), go out to FoH and tweak your patches/master EQ from your phone. Personally, I'd say that Core is great for recording and patches that don't change much whereas the full-fat version is better for live. The only pedal I have for my full GT-1000 is the Digitech Freeqout because the built-in feedback effect doesn't quite do it for me, otherwise all my other pedals are back on my big ES-8 board.

downbytheriver

@vasselmeyer - that sounds like it makes a lot of sense, however I now have the core version! As I said, I bought principally for recording but the temptation to look for more is significant! 

tekbow

downbytheriver said:

I’ve now got the Boss Tone Studio running and talking to the GT1000core which is making a great deal more sense to me (and is helping me to understand the in-box UI better). 

I obtained the GT1000core with recording in mind but I’m trying to work out what I’ll need to make it a gigging proposition - I don’t do vastly complex effects setups but I’d like a fair bit of control over the make up of the sound as I go ( switching rather than twiddling). I’m thinking maybe a Morningstar MC-3 or MC-6, an expression pedal (not sure about that) and a couple of aux switches. I’m also wondering how to use the fx loops - one will probably be a Mystery Brain... and maybe another Blackstone Appliances MOSFET drive before the GT1000. Essentially I’m edging toward my MS3 setup but appreciating the output options. An MS5 with the GT1000 engine would make a great deal of sense to me - I think it’s a relatively undeveloped concept. 

And I’ll be able to sell my (actually very good) Boss GT001 to help fund the Morningstar... and hopefully I’ll stop wondering whether I should have got an HX-Stomp instead... 

Yes, I'm becoming more fluent in using the main screen because of TS also. I still keep the Param guide handy now I actually know how to use it, but I find myself using it less and less.

You'd be suprised just how much you can control with an aux switch and the assign matrix set up for a patch.

Loops are easy, stick em where you want them, make sure the in level Isn't clipping the pedal, bring the out up to unity with what the signal would have been if the loop was deactivated.

tekbow

On the upside, a midi controller is something you can use with more than just the Boss and can stay with you should you ever move the unit on.

tekbow

John_A said:

All very good reasons . 

I'm looking at replacing my recently sold Helix and weighing up the options (there are too many) 

Yeah, I mean basically it met all my requirements including cost (I was also considering the FM3).

Perhaps it would be pertinent to say that my expectations Were non existent as I've never owned a modeler, and I knew the FX would be good quality because, you know, boss.

If they can't get an effect right, who can?