GT-8 Yes or No?

psio · #1 May 14th, 2006

I'm considering getting a Boss GT-8 floor multi-effects proccessor because I need a multi-effect board. I love floor pedals and stomp boxes and I need a good variety. I only have one stomp-box and I use the gain on my amp for distortion. Should I get this or not? Opinions and suggestions are much welcomed!

allthumbs · #2 May 14th, 2006

The reviews look good.
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/revie...cts/boss/gt-8/

Cedric01 · #3 May 15th, 2006

No! I don't like the digital sound the GT 8 produces. I like my effects to sound as close to the original as possible but that's just me! LOL Some folks have a hard time navigating around this unit, meaning you will probably spend more time tweaking the darn thing instead of really getting to use it. Go to www.bossgtcentral.com and have a look around on the forums before you make your decision. I am interested in Digitech's GNX3000 multi-effects unit. I heard some sound clips on this unit and it sounds sweet. It also has two acoustic guitar simulations that do come close to the real thing!

WernHalen · #4 May 15th, 2006

Nocat has one, he is not too impressed with it though... (if I may share his opinion.

) He struggles to get the right tone from it. This was my impression about it too...

I have a Vox Tonelab SE... It's got brilliant tone you can get from the pedal straight out of the box. plus you can download lots of patches for it as well. It is really easy to operate.

It does not have same amount of features as the GT-8 has though... i.e. the channel switching on strumming hardness or signal strength etc. Play one and see for yourself...

Chris Russell · #5 May 15th, 2006

I have the Tonelab SE too. I've had several different brands, and this one is the closest to "real guitar" coming out the other end.

psio, keep in mind that a processor will most likely force it's will on the amp. example, the amp is set high on the distortion channel, and the floor board is set for clean w/ chorus. what you get is clean w/ chorus, and a touch of break-up. most single stomps don't do this.

nocat · #6 May 15th, 2006

Hey psio... Wern is right, I own a GT-8, and have been been doing battle with it since
day one... Although I've been getting more proficient with it, I still don't think it's all
it's cracked up to be... the reason I bought it was all the rave reviews it was getting and
all the positive comments I was reading about it, plus it just looked really cool...!!!
After messing with it for over a month, here is what I've found:

+
Huge variety of effects
Lots of ways to adjust and shape sounds
Easy to transition between sounds
Some very nice clean effects
Sturdy metal case and stompers (built for gigging)
Lots of ways to hook it up (amps, monitors, PC, digital equipment, etc.)

-
I have yet to find a way to store a tone I've created, and be able to recall it and have
it sound the same as when I stored it.

70% of the preset patches are so strange, the only thing I would ever think to do with
them is maybe, try to communicate with aliens.

The digital artifacting of distorted tones just kills me... There are some cool distortion
effects, but they only sound good if you play power chord rhythms, once you switch
to playing lead they just sound dirty, with some awful harmonic overtones.

I attribute some of this to my lack of knowledge with the unit, and if you play with the
knobs and settings you can usually get something that sounds good... But that's not
what I'm about... I, literally just want to plug and play. Not plug and play with knobs and
settings for 2 hours trying to get a tone while I forget what I was trying to play in the first
place...!!!

Just about everybody that owns one will tell you that it's the best thing since sliced
bread... So it could be that I'm just an incompetent fool with this thing, but I'm not very
fond of sliced bread either...!!!

Cheers
Ben

psio · #7 May 15th, 2006

Allright, sounds like some good input, but with some of the problems you guys are overlooking the www.bossgtcentral.com if you go there the people there can tell you how to store pre-sets and how to get the Boss GT-8 up and running.

nocat · #8 May 15th, 2006

I know how to store presets and my GT-8 is up and running... It's the retrieval of the
sounds... Somehow you get a close approximation of the sound you stored. Once you
recall it you have to tweak it to get it to sound as it once did... I'll record a couple of bars
of a melody, and get called away for some length of time. So i store the effect I was
working with, shut every thing down and, go do the thing....
When I come back to finish what I started, I fire everything back up, recall the effect
and try to continue the melody line... Only to find that it sounds like a different guitar...!!!
Now I become a knob turner and button pusher, instead of a music maker...!!!

This I don't like...

WernHalen · #9 May 16th, 2006

Oh, now i understand why the lead on your bel bottom blues post sounds different in the beginning of the song when compared to the rest of the song. This might be the reason why people were saying you seem to ocme alive in the middle of the song... Im not sure if this is the case...

Anyway that was my 2c about the GT8 and Tonelab SE. I might seem to be pushing the Tonelab aolt in the forum but that is only cause I am very happy with the unit. I'va had numerous questions about how do you get that tone you have since i own the Tonelab... (and i play a really cheap guitar) I enjoy the mesa boogie models most I think... but there are so much to choose from the AC30 is also one of my fav's...

There are other models in the same price range out there, but i'm not sure if they measure up... All depends do you want gadgets or tone.

In order of preference:

1 Tonelab SE
2 Boss GT8
3 Line 6 (cant remember the model)
4 Digitech GNX4

Chris Russell · #10 May 16th, 2006

I'm glad you've recognized that all you've gotten here are individual opinions. which, as an overall rating on an expensive, complicated product... is what it is. LOL

(how can you know what we like, play, the tones I prefer, etc)

if you can, try to test drive one. with as real as possible conditions is the best. but here's a twist: take someone with you that's used to hearing you play. whether they know a lick or not. I promise they will hear things (or not hear things) that you're too involved to notice at first.

you're perfect tone will come with sacrafices, as with us all. my perfect tone is a 1948 Gibson BR-6. it's a harp amp with one knob. not much of a palate there, one might think anyway.

good luck, many cool tunes
Chris3

nocat · #11 May 16th, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by WernHalen

Oh, now i understand why the lead on your bel bottom blues post sounds different in the beginning of the song when compared to the rest of the song. This might be the reason why people were saying you seem to ocme alive in the middle of the song... Im not sure if this is the case...

You are absolutely right Wern... That song is a perfect illustration of my problem with
this effects unit...!!! The sound actually changes 3 times... Every time I had to stop
and start again...!!!

Ben

8LU3 · #12 May 19th, 2006

maybe consider a line 6 pod xt live, its sexy too!

WernHalen · #13 May 22nd, 2006

It is kind of sexy yes. I dont particularly like the sound from the machine though...

It seems to change the sound as well. Slightly but it does...

8LU3 · #14 May 22nd, 2006

that's only if you have it modeling some other amp or guitar, turn the modeling effects off and its perfect sounding, i dont have one, but i almost got one and played with it for hours in guitsr center. i might get it for my b-day

macman01 · #15 May 23rd, 2006

I have the Digitech GNX3000 and I can highly recommend it. Simple to record via the included USB cable.

Here is me playing the solo to Pink Floyd "Mother" using my GNX3000

Tone is pretty natural from it.

http://www.digitech.com/soundcomm/gu...&music_id=2229