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.
Comments
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.
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.
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?
LOL @ Your LS-2 rage though
I’m so bored I might as well be listening to Pink Floyd
But it's no big deal to keep an extra pedal. Means you have a backup for both sounds too, in a pinch.