Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: gwEm on May 05, 2017, 11:17:06 AM
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despite my pedalboard only having five pedals on it and a power supply, carrying it around London was getting me down.
after trying a Boss ME-80 a few months ago I had mixed feelings about digital. however considering the size and price of the Boss GT-1 I did actually purchase a B-stock unit soon after. I promptly didn't touch it.
anyway, after getting thoroughly cheesed off with carrying gear I finally opened the GT-1 box and tried it out.
actually, despite the small size and minimal interface the unit is far more powerful and sounds noticeably better than the ME-80 I tried. Its possible to make alot of pedal rearrangements, there are countless options and ways to configure it.
with so many options and such a minimal interface it might have been a bitch to program this thing. in fact i found it reasonably intuitive in the end. I have an ancient half rack boss se-70 and there are similarities in the way it works.
its possible, very easily, to make the unit sound like the digital shitee we all know and love to hate. however, i decided to exercise discretion and spent a long time A-Bing the GT-1 against my existing board and tuning the sounds.
with a plexi model set to low gain I managed to reproduce the core of my sound, in fact I challenge anyone to tell a difference on that basic crunch tone.
i think the reverbs on my hall of fame mini sound better, but I was able to come up with a perfectly decent reverb on the gt-1 by adjusting the hall reverb setting.
the wahs on the gt-1 sound excellent and i actually prefer the GT-1 wah to my Morley. I could have and did manage to make it sound the same, but actually i came up with a better wah sound in the end.
the volume pedal on the gt-1 is equally as usable as my Morley. possibly i prefer the robust nature of the morley. but the boss is fine.
finally, for a boost pedal, i was really spoiled for choice. I felt that the overdrive/distortion pedal models on the ME-80 were excellent when I tried it. The GT-1 is just as good, but there are alot more options. the treble booster on the GT-1 didn't really sound like my rangemaster, more like a screaming bird. i went with a clean boost model in the end, which I thought sounded the closest with a few careful EQ and gain adjustments. actually, that was kind of a boring choice considering the array of options available.
good, even excellent sounds, are in the unit. however, it takes alot of time and patience to dial them in.
i can't argue with the size of the unit, as it fits in a small bag with no issue at all. i think it'd even fit in my guitar gig bag.
i felt the built in tuner could have been easier to read.
theres alot of ways you can setup the three foot switches. in the end i was able to set the unit up exactly as i have my normal pedal board - kicking on individual effects.
the problem i've had in the past with digital units is the unnatural disconnect between player and sound due to the latency of the unit. at least with the simple way i have the unit setup, i didn't have this feeling with the GT-1. latency wasn't an issue, and it felt 90% as organic/connected as my normal pedal board.
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I hear ya! Every Friday I have to schlep home a guitar (usually one of my LP clones), pedal board, MIDI keyboard, and back pack. And every Monday I start bringing it back into the city piece by piece! =p
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I've been following your threads and posts with great interest Gwem, especially the rig downsizing you've done with the EHX Magnum pedal and your results with it. Been thinking myself about getting the Orange Dark Terror in conjunction with a solid state poweramp to have a backup option if my main amp ever lets me down, seeing how you enjoy the GT-1 I might take an additional look at digital options. I'm not a fan of it but if you managed to get some decent results, it might be that I was just too lazy so far to tinker around with patches (had a Zoom Multieffects processor). Friend of mine got himself a used Line 6 HD 300 and he told me he's satisfied with the unit as well. Good to know there seem to be digital options besides the Axe FX that work without busting the bank :)
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an extra note here.
tested the gt-1 last night comparing the built-in cab sim to a real cab. Bad news - the built-in cab sim didn't sound very good at all. Artificial sounding spiky mids, and some digital artifacts.
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Is there actually a single product that has a proper built in cab simulation? Apart from the high end two notes torpedo stuff etc.?
The speaker sim on my IRT Studio doesn't sound half as bad when going straight to the PA but as soon as I have a real cab or a proper IR next to it I wanna puke...
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Is there actually a single product that has a proper built in cab simulation? Apart from the high end two notes torpedo stuff etc.?
In my opinion, no. Gimme speakers and a microphone any day!! :evil:
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I think Digitech recently launched a pedal with cabinet simulation. I think it uses IR's, but I'm not sure
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I think Digitech recently launched a pedal with cabinet simulation. I think it uses IR's, but I'm not sure
They did. I'd like to try it.
I tried my Palmer Bonamassa simulator instead of the built-in Boss one, and it was far far better.
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You seem to be very happy with the Bonamassa, is it worth the 172 bucks Gwem? Could use a proper cab sim for rehearsals to substitute the one on my IRT
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You seem to be very happy with the Bonamassa, is it worth the 172 bucks Gwem? Could use a proper cab sim for rehearsals to substitute the one on my IRT
yes, it is worth it, and I am very happy.
the main competitor in my opinion is Palmer's own PDI-09 "Junction". This unit it comes up from time to time second hand. It sounds just as good as the Bonamassa, but the Junction is missing a few features:
low end control
mid control
unbalanced output
cab mounting holes (you need to buy a special plate for the PDI-09, the Bonamassa has them already fitted.
I am so happy with the units I now have one Bonamassa and two Junctions.
One Junction is in my cab, one is on my pedalboard. I use the Bonamassa in the studio for recording.
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Good to know, gonna get one of the two when I have some money to burn :)