Boss GT-5 Guitar Effects Processor

very easy to use and very simple
very pleasing on editing my patches especially on those bank c special functions can serve u want a boost, delay or some special function.....
i'be made a custom bank up and downfor it so i can play it and change each patches very fast.....

i use a legen les paul guitar, G&L strat, edwards les paul, an es335, fender esquire......

got it into my amps, jcm 900 fullstack, vox ac30 and fender 70's twin reverb....

i put also loops on my board .... diy digital/analog delay, eventide timefactor, ibanez pds1, 1st version procorat, hiwatt custom wah..i get it all hooked up on my GT5.... and then ill let it go send return of the amp.... then boom it makes an awesome live or either recording sound.....from very warm distortions, wet delays.... nice modulations and a very bright hiwatt custom wah with upgrades......

unlike gt10, gt8

i think this gt5 and gt6 is the only multieffects with analog sounding type of multis are produced

not as a back up but as a main!!!!

i don't need

bought it 2nd hand

10 yrs. of use only the skin and cosmetics is the problem (MEN 10 YRS!!!!)

superb multieffect unlike todays multi's

It is an old processor so it can be a little "user unfriendly" at the time of setting it up. It has A LOT of settings to take care of and the speaker simulation/pre-amp function can be tricky to set with your cabinet

I have had this processor for YEARS now and I have no complains at all. I used to have an RP-2000 which I hated and this has turned to be my main multieffect pedal.

I have gigged with this one pedal for 9 years now and I have had no issues whatsoever

I can't say, in 9 years I've never required any help from boss on it for it has been an extremely reliable pedal.

I would go higher, however like the reviewer below me I also took about 7 years to figure out how to use the GT-5 in front and in the loop at the same time. And in doing this I got rid of 6 pedals from my board, I was using it only in my loop and used other gear to get those sounds I needed. Now it all comes from the GT-5, and in the right order which is also very important.

There is a pic in the manual that depicts this set up, but it is a bit vague and no in depth explanation is provided, however it is very informative and easy to get an answer to some degree that can get you of to twidling.

I use a PRS Custom 22 into a Soldano Hot Rod 50+xl and it is like butter baby. Sorry. The unit does very little to color my tone, once I got good level going it was off to the races and I have used it everywhere I have played since 2000, and I played every state except Alaska as well as overseas and I never have any problems with the unit. It doesn't attract unwanted noise, and the 2 points of Noise Suppression are quite ample if it were to. There is a NS spot for your patch and an overall NS circut, so handy.

Like I said, it has been everywhere and I won't get rid of it. One day I may upgrade, but I still don't see the need to. This was bought for me as a backup, and now it is my main.

No opinion, it's Boss though so I can't knowck them.

I use my rig for all sorts of music and the Gt5 works fine with everything from Rock to Blues uses etc. Almost everything you want to do is in here, it just takes a minute to figure out the best way to do it. For example, I have a patch that uses the expression pedal, toe up the dry is prevelant as the main guitar signal with a reverse delay on it very mildly. As I toe down, I set the pedal to lower the dry and raise the reverse sound. Also, the expression pedal is adjusting the delay rate in small increments but enough to get a real wacky record player slowdown and reverse thing that is always interesting to me.

I would also like to recommend a couple of small foot switches, especially if you are using several patches. Manual mode is helpful, I set an onboard pedal to switch back and forth, however it is great to assign 1 particular function to an external pedal. I always use #2 for my delay tempo, and #1 to turn on my distortion/od for a patch. This way, even in patch mode you have a versatile pedal board

If you understand stompbox knobs and can transfer that knowledge to the art of digital editing and have a good ear, it's pretty easy to get good sounds. Just remember that what sounds good in your living room has, at best, a 50/50 chance of not cutting it on stage with your band. You will probably have to make adjustments, so be patient.

The manual seems to have been translated badly from some language other than English (surprise!) and also includes a chapter on midi implications which nobody I know uses. It is full of great diagrams though, so that compensates for the occasional odd phrasing.

The setup/connections section SHOULD HAVE INCLUDED ONE MORE DETAIL ON HOW TO USE THIS UNIT WITH YOUR GUITAR AMP'S EFFECTS LOOP, as that is the setup that makes the GT-5 sound its best.

Follow the instructions on connecting the GT-5 to your amp effects loop and use the Power Amp setting.

You have to have the LOOP effect in the unit ON in order to use your AMP essentially as an EFFECT. This setting allows you to make Treble-Bass-Mid-Preamp Volume knob adjustments on your amp which gives you some tone and volume control over Patches in which you are accessing the GT-5's PreAmp models. This saves you from having to drop to your knees in the middle of a song and make parameter adjustments to the unit within the patch.

While this seems like an intuitive thing to me now, for the first 5 years I owned this unit I was clueless about this detail.

Carvin TL-60 with Carvin Twin Blade humbuckers->Mesa Boogie MarkII-C. No noise problems. Ambient effects are all terrific. Decent Compressor. Lots of useless gizmos like Ringtone and limited stuff like Synth.

Can get any sound I want, clean or overdriven, all from clean channel of the Boogie with relatively flat settings (Treble 4-5 / Bass 6 / Mid 5 all knobs IN). Tone & Volume knobs on guitar come in handy sometimes.

Only problem with amp models is volume differences, even with same volume setting between models. I guess this is because maybe they are based on real-life power ratings of the amps.

I have set up GT-5's Control Pedal for Manual On/Off control of effects in each of your patches, and assign one of the pedals to the PreAmp models. This gives me one more tonal variation, and it is a Major one. With one step on a pedal I can switch back to my amp's tone and volume.

I've had this unit since it came out in 1996. Wish it had a removable power cable. Sometimes when I power up the LED display does this weird gibberish thing and the unit has to be shut off several times to correct itself, but it always comes back. This is the unit's Achilles Heel. When that LED goes, the GT-5 is probably doomed to the recycle bin. *see customer support category

I've always gotten great customer support from forums like this, so I never call the company. The cost and hassle of repairing a GT-5 just makes me go shopping for a new one. I'd probably go for a GT-10 instead of fixing the 5.

BOSS SHOULD INCLUDE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE MANUAL FOR HOW TO RECYCLE THEIR EQUIPMENT IN AN ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY WAY. Don't just throw out your GT-5!

I play Country Rock Jazz Blues. Been playing 35 years. I haven't gone to a gig without the GT-5 since I bought it, including solo acoustic shows. It definitely has helped become a more expressive and conscientious musician. If you are playing a variety of styles of music and are trying to make an honest attempt at creating the sound each of them requires, you need a great sounding reliable multi-effects unit with reasonably accurate amp modeling capability, and the GT-5 fulfills that role.

OK, this was one of the first "serious" multieffects floor processor for guitar by BOSS; one that had a ton of effects, COSM modeling, and was built for abusive stomping. BUT, it`s not user friendly at all...that`s a major concern for people who expect it to sound good right out of the box...the menus, like a lot of stuff from roland; are just plain tedious. It made more sense when they started to add knobs instead of a scroll wheel to change parameters, but still a lot of the presets suck pretty badly. It`s amazingly frustrating to scroll into menus to adjust one band on the EQ or the treble on your virtual fuzzbox; while your playing at the same time.... So you have to take lots of time and patience to write your own programs on the GT5. The manual is a must if you want to FULLY understand the processor, and to all you tweakheads it`s worth to know about a few techy stuff like the manipulation of any effect parameter with a virtual wave controller...specially to achieve a lot of weird experimental effects/noises.
But all in all, if you have patience, like to tweak sounds, hates presets, and/or play experimental guitar, this is a great option. (Check them out at ebay! They`re dirt cheap!)

I`ve been using this processor just about for any type of gig, recording session, jam, whatever, possible...again, you have to make some adjustments to make it sound good and it totally depends on how you hook it. I play a strat, LP, tele and even an acoustic guitar with the GT5. I`ve played all sorts of music...from industrial/experimental, noisepop to folk acoustic, and everything in between (metal, pop, blues, etc.)
I`ve mainly used it:
1)Direct to the mixer. At this setup, I use the line/headphones setting with the cabinet simulation always on. It`s very, very, very, very DIFFERENT the way it FEELS your playing...most people freak out and they hate it for that, hahaha...But it`s actually easier to mix the guitar this way, effects are always present and the sound never gets buried in the mix. Obviously, you depend totally on the monitors and the PA system. But if you have a decent and trustworthy soundguy at the mix, I guess you`ll be fine. And of course, all you need to carry is a guitar, some cables and the GT5!
The only tip of advice I can give you soundwise, is to lower the general highs on the GT5, the headphones/line signal might be a tad bit bright, maybe a bit too HIFI for most people.
2) GT5 & combo or stack, thru the effects loop return or into the preamp in (depends on the amp). Ok, this is where I think it`s preamp simulations really shine...again you have to tweak, twaek, tweak... some of the most convincing preamp simulations (at least to me) , are the clean ones...the dirty ones, are a bit more artificial sounding, you have to really experiment a lot to get a convincing marshall sound. But thru a lot of the combo amps that use a 1x12" speaker, I can get a sweet Fender sound without any hassle...
I`d recommend to use the cabinet simulation off on the GT5 for this setup and turn the power amp combo/stack setting on. And maybe back off on the reverb`s wetness %.
3) GT5 thru the amp preamp. Sometimes I`ve had to plug in this way, mostly it`s because I`m not using my own amplifier and/or the amplifier that I`m plugging into doesn`t have a preamp in or an effects loop. This is my least favorite way to use the Gt5, because it totally changes the sounds, and is totally dependable on the amplifier and it`s speakers...You could just bypass all the preamps and cabinet simulations all together and just use the GT5 for modulation effects or whatever, and use your amp`s distortion instead. But then, it would be better if your going that route to place the GT5 thru the effects loop, if it has one....hahaha, ok that`s another story...
Is it noisy? I guess not, considering high gain and massive distortion hiss normal playing on single coils, hahaha...seriously NO, it`s not noisy, also it has a splendid noise reduction effect that`s very usefull when needed. I guess it varies to what kind of pickups you use, and the amount of distortion, the use of compression, etc... Speaking of which, the gt5 has a little knob to turn the input`s signal up or down...I`ve found it a little bit frustrating to adjust it every time I have to switch to another guitar, since my les paul has hotter pickups than my strat; because the signal line has a tremendous effect on the sounds of your programs. BOSS recommends to turn up the signal until the little red light starts to light up ocassionally when you strum or pick hard.
All of the effects are top notch. I`m not gonna get too much into details (this review is getting longer than I expected). But every effect has it`s place...even the guitar synth has it`s use, I can get a very cheezy sax sound that`s so cool for improv jams, hahaha...every head turns. Delays are awesome, lush chorus, flexible phaser, aural reverbs, zany ring modulation...you get the point.
I use different amps, marshall half stacks, peavey combos, etc...
I can get sounds that go from cocteau twins to van halen, the cure to david gilmour, beatles to bloc party.

Like all of the BOSS pedals, built like a tank. It`s even got a thick power cable instead of a wallwart. Although it would`ve been great if it were removable, you know; like the standard power cable.

N/A

Well I guess if your reading this, it`s because you`re looking for a used, cheap multieffects unit. And at the prices they`re selling for now, it`s a great option. I bought mine when they released it, and it`s never ever given me any trouble. I`ve been playing for almost 20 years, and for maybe half that time I used pedals. I bought the GT5 to replace the pedals, and to a certain degree it did. But like I said before, and I repeat...you have to TWEAK, TWEAK, TWEAK a lot before getting GREAT sounds out of this unit.

It has a little learning curve- even for a rack head like I am with a rack full of Korg, Rocktron, and Boogie stuff.

I use mine for what you would not expect- I am a solo singer/ songwriter playiing solo acoustic shows- and this is the BEST unit for acoustic guitar effects. It does not color the tone of my Taylor 410CE with the Fishman system in it at ALL. Perfect. And this is one of the few units that you are truly bypassing the entire preamp section. It's just guitar to compressor to effects. I don't use the onboard EQ at all.

The delays are- well- let's put it this way. I have had an Eventide, various Rocktron and Korg units, and this thing sounds just as good. Friggin' AMAZING.

Perfectly clean and quiet. Effects are WONDERFUL, especially the choruses and delays.

Only had ita couple months... I'll judge reliability later. No problems yet.

I know form the past that Boss has great customer support. I worked in Music retail, and they were one of the easiest companies to work with.

Nobody really makes a pedal designed for what I want- no preamp stuff- just a compressor straight to the effects section- that has the control ability I wanted. I thought I'd give this thing a shot, and it is a real winner. I HIGHLY reccommend it for solo acoustic guys to get osme effects. Other friends of mine were using the POD live floorboard, but I could tell it killed their tone a little.

The pre-sets sound gaudy. They sound good once you edit down the effects. Less delay, less distortion, less everything. I found the manual essential for creating patches.

Most of the patches I actually use (about 10) are edited presets, some SUBSTANTIALLY edited. I cant imagine using any of the presets for gigging. They seem designed just to 'show off' this piece of kit.

My main lead guitar custom patch is the edited (Fender) TWIN-REVERB one. Similar to Jerry Garcia's sound (he used a Twin Rev at the heart of his system). It sounds very good.

AMP: I use this with a Fender Stage 112 and 5 instrument leads. You need 3 to cobble it through the effects loop. This way you get the clearest signal and the amp is then slaved to the GT-5, using its clean channel and bypassing all the switches & dials. Another lead is a line out to the band PA.

GUITAR: I mostly use a Jackson Soloist XL. Though a single coil pickup may the ideal option (cleaner signal), I find I use the brighter humbucker a lot of the time, especially towards the end of a gig.

The key to creating the best sounding effects is to know how to place them in the chain ie: what comes first & last. I created a patch at home that sounded superb in the dining room, but sounded horrible cranked up at gigging volume. Expect to do a lot of tweaking to patches as they do sound different at high volume.

I use this without a backup. I have used it for many years and it just goes on & on. This year I had to have the power lead chopped back, it had worn loose after years of heavy use. Boss should really have used a kettle lead here, but this is a minor grumble.

One favourite user-patch has a tremolo effect asigned to the stomp button, this stopped working properlly after a couple of years for some reason (The volume now dips substantially). I have not tried to ???fix??? this, as I only use on one song and I am lazy.

There have been 2 occasions when programming the GT-5 that I???ve managed to make it ???lock up???. Switching the thing off and on again restored it ok again (just like PCs).

Actually it is very reliable where it counts.

Have not used customer support at BOSS ROWLAND. The power lead repair I had done by my local dealer. It cost about ??10.

I play in a 7 piece band rooted in soul & ska. In practice, this accounts for less than half of our set. We have updated our set to include songs by The Coral, Keiser Chiefs etc. Sadly (for me) no original material is played.

I briefly used a Zoom unit. The built quality was not very good but I reasoned that if it lasted a year, it would be money well spent. At that time the band was recording and the sound engineer found the Zoom was compromising the sound quality. He had a GT-5 handy, and I used that for the first time in the studio. Before that week was out, I had chopped in the Zoom for the GT-5.

With so many other instruments competing at mid-range, I find that I do about 60% of my rhythm work with no effects at all. This mean I have no compression at all, and I can hear me much better in the blend.

I have fewer outlets for my personal music than I would like, but the GT-5 is essential for that too. Presently I am using it for recording (with the Jackson + a Washburn) and using the acoustic guitar simulator for a couple of finger-picked instrumentals. I have both a steel string and a Spanish (nylon strung) acoustics available but get a clearer sound and signal from the GT-5.

I???ve been playing for 37 years and play all styles. One effect I would like to have is a nylon string simulator (Spanish guitar sound). This was included on the GT-6 but I have not heard it myself so I don???t know how authentic it is.

If my GT-5 were lost or stolen I would try out a GT-8. If the build quality or sounds were not good enough, I would try to source another GT-5.

I like to solo. My most important piece of kit is the Jackson. The 2nd most important is the GT-5

Ok. I thinks is very clear once you??ve read the manual. The manual doesn??t tells you how to get a great SRV sound or whatever. Its good at telling you what the effects do and the parameters for each of the effects. Editing gets easier with the quick settings (read manual).

Lets be honest. First, you start going through the factory presets trying to find nice (or great) sounds. YOU DONT! Ja! The thing is probably they didnt have someone who can program a decent sound on this. This obviously gets you frustrated. You have to do it all for yourself. And believe me that you can get incredible sounds with this, IT JUST TAKES TIME. The effect chain order is crittical for the sound you want. And found out that EQ and some filtering with the AUTOWAH (fixed) makes wonders. The custom overdrive/preamp is amazing.
2 aditional exp/control pedal jacks, the loop can be place it anywhere you want and doesnt REPLACE the distortion section as in the GT6, AWSOME! Manual mode for using effects as stompboxes, UNIQUE. And the exp/ctrl pedal or external can be assigned to ANY PARAMETER, not just volume or wah.
In other words it will take you time to understand what a beast this is, probably it is better suited for pros or players with good understanding of effects.
Im giving it 9 beacuse it takes time but the rest is just amazing sounds anything from country and acoustic clean sounds down to heavy metal and Floyd sounds. I havent seen anything this versatil

As EVERYONE says, built like a tank. No backup. Never had a single problem.

Never had to deal with them. Hope i??ll never have to. Doesnt seems like it.

Mostly in cover bands: Beatles, Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, latin rock, samba jazz, BLUES, country. Ive been playing for 13 years and hopefuly know something about what good sound is. If it were stolen I already have another one that I use for my own project. Its great to have something that just have to get plugged to work like it should. I didnt compare it in front of anything I just got it, foolish move i thought, NO WAY! Everytime I compare my toys with other guitar player i always shine on.

It's not terrible difficult to get a good sound. The dial makes a big difference for one thing, as does all the buttons being there in front of you. You spend time in menus but it's all pretty intuitive.

As long as you understand how individual stomp boxes work, and what each effect does, it shouldn't take too long for you to figure this one out.

Never bothered with the manual although in my experience Boss Manuals tend to be ok.

All excellent apart from the distortions which take a bit more programming to get something decent. You can always insert your own pedal through the effects loop however. The rest, with the exception of the wah, are all brilliant, especially the chorus and delays. 10 years since it was released it holds up extremely well to current gear. I don't try and emulate anyone in particular but most sounds can be approximated using this pedal.

Makes me laugh when people claim the distortions sound digital - because they're not - they're ANALOGUE! Pure gear snobbery.

I found it in a pawn shop with a very battered case and one knob missing. It's been used and abused an AWFUL lot. It all works perfectly. 'Nuff said. It's a horrendous cliche to compare Boss gear to tanks, but it's based on truth...

My previous dealings with BOSS have been nothing but decent, but I am not about to call them about this old thing.

I've been playing for 10 years and this was always the dream pedal when I started. I have owned an ME-30, GT-3, GT-5 before but usually sold for some reason or another (strapped for cash). I have also owned many models of Zoom and Korg, and individual stompboxes. This isn't the best pedal anymore but at these prices you are getting an incredibly, professional capable unit that will serve your needs, and for the bits that you don't like (probably wah/dist) you can put your fave into the loop. I don't care and I know a lot of other people who don't either, and I just use it as an all in one. Never had a single complaint from the audience either.

If you can get it for around ?100 you are laughing. It's so much more versatile than even the successor pedals, and creates more sounds than I could ever dream up. I loved my GT-3 so it's a toss up which you can get cheaper really, however I do prefer the GT-5 overall.

Pretty damned easy - so long as you can read a user manual. Speaking of which, the manual is reasonably well layed out and easy to follow...
One thing which would make it even easier is PC connectivity (I know I'm asking alot for a pretty old product!). I have found some third party softwares but they don't work real well - manual programming is the only way with this baby.

I actually play a six string ibanez soundgear bass with alembic pickups. I run my axe into a behringer MDX2600 compressor, then out into the GT-5 input jack, then from GT-5 send jack to the compressor's second channel, then out of the compressor into a Trace-Elliot 100W commando combo bass amp, then from the Trace-Elliot send to the GT-5 return jack, then from the GT-5 output to the Trace-Elliot return, then from the trace-elliot to either mixing desk or recording device via DI.
Sound quality is great, I can make overdrives / distortions that NO bass effects pedal will ever go near. The GT-5 basically includes every boss stomp-box I would ever want, give-or-take a few parameters.

One thing I must say is that the synth sounds do not register way down low on my "B" string... not surprising for a guitar effect!

I have had this thing (since new) for about 6 or 7 years now, every now and then I open it and clean it, has some corrosion from gigging on the METAL casing, but hasn't effected sound quality. The thing is built like a tank and has travelled around australia with me gigging - you do not need a backup. Reliable as swiss military neutrality!

I have never dealt with boss direct (as I've never had the need).
Their website has everything you could need - there are alot of "GT sites" out there by third parties too.

I play alot of different styles of bass - metal, funk, rock, jazz, disco, et al. In our band we only have drums and trumpet apart from my bass, so I play alot of chords and "sound like a guitar" half the time. For my purposes the GT-5 is perfect as it has unlimited classic "guitar sounds", but handles the lower frequencies of my bass really nicely.
If there are other bass players out there looking at the GT-6B (boss's attempt at an actual bass pedal) don't bother. The GT-5 has better cosm chips and the DSP chips are alot flakier in the GT-6s.