Boss GX-100

fcs101

fcs101

Axe-Master
Just watched Leon Todd's video describing the just announced Boss GX-100. Honestly, I'm a little confused by Boss's move here. It's got some nice bells and whistles and has a built in expression pedal. Holy cow, Boss actually has a colorized touch screen (I hated my monochrome Boss display)! It compromises on power though. I was watching LT build a preset and (despite maybe some previous comments by myself and others that the Fractal UI could be improved) found myself missing all the options for any given block. It just felt very dumbed down and they try to make up for that by dressing it up. Overall I wasn't very impressed.



EDIT: Just found this review. If you go to the 11 min mark they explain that this unit is more for guitar enthusiasts and, without using the words "dumbed down", do indicate that is the case. One interesting thing these guys bring to light is the flexibility of the DSP in this unit.

 
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FullReverse said:
I have one on the way. I’m very much in the “I want this dumbed down yet rock solid.” Less is more for me as long as what is there sounds good, and in this case I think that it does.
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Let us know what you think about it. Boss has a lot to like, but I wouldn't give up my FM3 to go back to them.

I was just a little confounded by this product. It looks nice, sleek, and pretty and then you've got the flagship GT-1000 over here with the ancient Boss monochrome display and a UI that makes Fractal look good! :p
 
Yeah, I have an FX8 and Ax8, on the list for an FM9 (impatiently waiting :) ). But I’ve always liked Boss and have had their GT-1000. Didn’t really care for the set paths / workflow in that unit, but really liked the sounds in it. Seems the GX fixes the things I didn’t like.

Will hopefully remember and report back with an update once I’ve had some time with it.. but I have a newborn on the way so that is unlikely…..
 
I bought one of these last week and tried it out in depth for several days, hoping that I could use it for a cheap fly rig. I swore off Roland a while back, but I truly wanted to see what they had to offer.

I was shocked at how little Roland's amp modeling has improved since the GX-700, VG-88/99, etc (I did direct comparisons, as I have all of these products). The raw amps sound like crap. Not much better than their stuff from the 90s. I tried every which way to get the Marshall model to sound like anything other than an ice-pick. There is simply no available parameter in the amp block to fix it. All of the eq/presence sounds like post-gain filtering, in every model. No interactivity. No preamp / power amp separation. One-dimensional caricature tone. Perhaps two of the limited number of models sound ok, but just ok. You have to add a crap-ton of effects to hide the shit modeling. IMO, it's a toy. I tried my best, and I'm no novice at this. My Ultra sounds better, and it doesn't hold a candle to the III.

I do like the interface, touch screen, and the variety of effects. But the raw tone is, for me, unusable.

I sent it back and am ordering an FM9 even though I totally can't even remotely afford it right now. Sometimes, you get what you pay for.
 
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