Boss GX-700

I've had it for years so getting patches is easy for me. I can't remember far back enough to think about how I first started with it, but I don't think it was too difficult.

Ok, this is where I have mixed opinions. I'll tell you why.

I've gone through a ton of equipment, but this unit has been with me from the start, and that's not going to change. Nothing else will ever give me the versatility and variety this unit does. I've tried later units like the GT-6 and not even that can deliver what my GX-700 does. So as far as variety goes, I'll give it a 9.

Now for the catch. I have read before that BOSS units don't have a true bypass feature. I never believed them. However, I recently got a really good quality valve amp (the one I always dreamed of...) and after playing it for a while I decided to run the GX-700 into it. As always when I'm starting a new clean patch I disable all the effects and start from there, and I was amazed to hear that even with no effects enabled alot of my beautiful tone was gone! I'd just never had a good enough amp to notice before. I eabled the bypass feature and had the same problem. I have come to the conclusion that the input is digitally sampled regardless of whether any effects are enabled or not. This REALLY disappointed me, but not enough to lose the GX-700. What I'm probably going to do is build an external bypass switch before the GX-700 to avoid this problem. Pity.

This drops the rating down a point.

One final note - I waited years before I bought a midi foot controller for it - DON'T!!!!! Get one now!!! There are so many awesome features that are only available through the foot pedal! (I use the Behringer FCB1010 because it has 10 banks and 2 expression pedals)

One expression pedal globally controls the output volume, the second is used to control various effects.

For example:

On my clean patch I'll enable the delay but set the centre volume to zero. The second pedal control this volume so I can set the amount of delay I want while playing.

I have a lead patch where the second pedal varies the preamp volume to boost the volume where necessary.

On some of my rhythm distortion patches my second expression pedal turns the preamp on/off. Nice.

Finally, the FCB1010 also has analog switched which I connect to my amp's channel switch, so I can set up a patch which loops in my channel distortion, and also switches it on/off when I switch to that patch.

So far it's been great, and I've had it for years. I do know that it's known for having problems with the rear input (lol) but I only ever use the front one so I haven't had any problems.

I'd have no problem gigging without a backup, seeing as I don't have one, but if anything happened to it I'd just use the amp's channels with no regrets.

Never dealt with them.

I play jazz, blues, rock, metal, punk etc etc but I always go back to blues tones.

This unit is excellent. Please note that it is not going to give you any and every sound you want, but it will be able to give you ALOT more versatility and variety and stomp boxes. Note I'm comparing variety, not quality.

I will never sell this unit. Ever. If it was stolen I'd have to make a plan with something else because these units are so hard to get hold of.

Pity about the lack of proper bypass, but as I said, I'm going to make a plan and fix that myself.

Ive owned this thing for about 8 months...I know what I need to know about it. I just downloaded the editor, let's see if I can figure that out.

Looking through these previous reviews, I notice that along with myself, practicaly everyone who uses an Ibanez guitar with this is at least happy with it. I use an Ibanez RG going into an EQ, then to a Hafler G300 (monster pwr amp) then to two Peavy 412M series cabs...(Ouch my ears!). I dont play for volume, but the extra power helps to push some of the lower tones-especially in larger places. I use a Fender Squire for backup (yes, I said Squire-I can't afford a lot). The GX-700 makes a good solid state head for me. I personally like that sound, and the GX-700 does OK. Now, I do plan on getting a Marshall JMP-1 or a Rocktron and running it throught the send/return of the GX-700 to give me a much different distortion. It should be cool. I definitely got my money's worth out of this thing.

Since I used to run this right over my G300 (power amp), it would occasionally overheat. As a result, the GX-700 would mute my signal, or not use some effects in the patch. I since have moved the equipment around, and that was the end of that. Oh ya, one of the knobs broke to, but I suspect the singer's 3-year old son.

This is a very good match for the Hard Rock style that I play, but it does well with Jazz to. Not a bad unit for the buckage.

OK, a multi-fx of these complex possibilities may never by completely easy and I'm more of a straight into the amp guy.
But anyway, I feel is is easiest possible way to get all these different sounds.

I play a Stratocaster into the front input, from send to the front input of a Fender Concert Reverb Amp, from the amps send back to the fx's return and from mono-output back to the amps return.
With this setup, I have full felxibility and can achieve just about any sound desired.
I use all those modulation and delay-effects as supposed, but change a lot the routing of compressor, wah, distortion, eq and loop (=preamp of Fender combo) to get a wide tonal range.
I basically don't use the modelling pre-amps.
I feel like beeing able to get just any sound I desire from this unit - and always sounding really good.
After all, there might be some minor disadvantages in sound quality compared to single effects pedals - on the other hand, those parts cost the same price per piece as the gx-700 altogether - so great value for price and more than sufficient quality for playing live on stage.
If I were a pro-studio-guitarist, I might something else .....
FINALLY:
For my money and my use (live) this is one of the best sounding and best value-for-money units I know. The absolutely top feature in my opinion is the possibility of changing the fx-path including the external loop

No problems by now!

Never necessary up to know, but I had some bad experience with Roland in former times

The unit perfectly matches my needs playing classic live rock music.
I never had a multi-fx before and I'll never need anything else.
If it were stolen, I would buy it again right away - if I am lucky enough to find it again.
I love the sound and tonal possibilities, so I basically hate to program sounds - but that is not the fault of this unit :-)
And again: best value for money! No second affordable unit I know, were you can change the fx-chain and were you have a programmable loop with flexible position within chain.
I'm still absolutely happy to have it!

It's an easy to use, 1U rackmount, orange multi-effect processor. Firmware version 1.09. Editing is a breeze. My first ever processor was a Digitech RP10. Spent days trying to get some decent sounds out of that one. But it kept having it's own, artificial, sound. The GX however, can sound like everything you're looking for. (But be prepared to spend some time with it.)

This unit now acts as the centre of my setup. Formerly owned a Laney Pro tube 100 Watt (all tube) amp head, with 1 and later 2 4x12's. (Much like an old JCM800.) Never really liked the fact that it didn't have switchable channels or a reverb. (Here come the stompboxes. But since I hate setting those up everytime, and the wiring spaghetti on the floor...) So I bought the RP10. (Comments on that are above.) After getting tired of hauling that stuff back and forth every time, I traded the head for a BBE 386 acoustic pre amp (Wich is now in the GX's effects return. So I can go from acousic to electric with the flick of a switch and can still use all kinds of effects.), and bought me a Marshall 8280 valvestate combo. Loved that for a while, but the RP10 kept getting on my nerves. So I traded that in for the GX and an FC200 midi footcontroller. I started out with the 5 way wiring trick, so I was able to keep using the Marshall's pre amp. (Basiccaly using the GX as a bunch of stompboxes.) After a little while I changed to just using the Boss in the Marshall's return-inputs, with the 8280 acting as a poweramp and speakermonitor. It's much more flexible in this manner. Second advantage is that my setup doesn't weigh a ton anymore. But I'm still looking for a dedicated poweramp in a 1U rackformat (Marshall 8008), so I don't need to take the Valvestate along anymore. As far as speakers go I can use 2 12" wedges as monitors, or when it has to look like something on stage, I can still take the 2 4x12's.

As far as guitars go I use an Ibanez RG470FMR, 2 Hohner L59 Les Paul copies, a Squire strat, an Aria (nylon string) acoustic and an Ovation Celebrity CC257 Deluxe (steelstring). The electric guitars all go through a Rexer wireless (diversity) system, connected to the rear input of the GX. (Leaving the front input available, in case of a breakdown in the wireless system.

Basically you have to think of this setup as "studio monitoring" at high volume.

It's as quiet as possible, even with all the gains cranked. (That's probably what a real tubehead will miss. A lot of hiss, hum and static.)

Effects are good. (But, as I stated before, you have to spend time tweaking this contraption.) Standards for sound quality are higher when recording. So, if it's good enough for a studio, it's certainly good enough for a live situation.

The (switch pedal) wah sounds a bit weak and is a little unresponsive. It keeps switching off while using. But that's probably because of the used continuous controller on the FC200. (I'd love it when that would have a dedicated switch underneath the pedal.) I guess I still haven't finished tweaking.

The ring modulator is useless for me. Delays are good, as are the speaker and pre amp modulations. (Delays and reverbs were a bit more flexable on the RP10. But more parameters also mean more chances of f**ing up your sound.) If you think that the amp simulations sound a bit dead, use the plate-reverb in between the pre amp and speaker modules. Then use the delay for some ambiance. (This can give you a nice warm tone.)

Guess so. I've been using it for over 5 years now. It has never let me down. (But I never had any problems with my inputs (yet). I guess it's because I don't have to plug in and out every time, due to the wireless receiver.)

Good. I once had to find out if the midi connectors on the outside (pin 1 and 5) were "blanks, so I could use them for phantom powering the FC200. Sent them an e-mail and got a reply in 2 days. (Still have to perform the mod, but it's possible....)

I play everything. Basically top 100, funk, blues, rock, (80's and 90's) metal etc. After (again) some tweaking this baby delivers. I guess nothing beats a tube-amp at 11. But this is so much lighter !

The GX has turned out to be very flexable. Also in conjunction with other gear. (But you have to connect it properly. So read the easy to understand manual.)

I wish it had some more assiignable controllers, instead of the ring modulator.

Hi ! Deko here from A TASTE OF RORY, the Dublin-based Rory Gallagher tribute band.

I have used the GX700 for about 5 years now, and it's a breeze to get a good sound out of.
The instructions are really easy to follow (For a guitarist!)

I'm using a '79 Strat ( I'm a leftie!) straight in to the GX700. It's then split- one output to a Fender Delux, and the other to the mixer.
I 'dep' a lot, and it's handy to store your patches under a band title. or type ( blues, pop, etc.)
I've never found the Boss to be noisy, as I use its Noise Reduction facility for most tones, especially the OD ones.
I find I can get a fairly accurate approximation of the early Rory Gallagher sound ( e.g. Vox AC30 + Rangemaster).
Most effects are acceptable, tonally, yet the more metallic distortions could do with a 'creamier' parameter ( a la Tubescreamer)

Unfortunately I could not depend on it for two reasons -
1. The power supply is not a standard type, so having one fail just before a gig is a major bummer ! This, added to the fact that most shops do not keep AC 14V / 800 m/a power supplys is a majopr turn off !!!
2. The knobs portrude too much from the housing - I had mine flightcased, and one night it fell and bent the knobs and cracked the screen. Only the excellent guys at Roland (Irl.) (Thanks Ger & Co.!) stopped me from throwing it away. come on Boss ! - give the working guitarist a unit with 'road-friendly' input & outputs, and a decent flightcase - we'll pay the difference!

I've dealt with Roland (Irl.) (see above) and the people there are fantastic ! Many times, I've arrived in a state of panic, and was given service beyond the call of duty. Nice one lads (& lassies).

I play all styles ( got a mortgage!)
The GX700 is a godsend ( apart from the power supply)
I've been playing 28 years, professionally.
I use Strats and Les Pauls, Takamine EG10 (L/H), through a Fender Deluxe (battered and road-tested !)
If my GX700 were stolen or lost, I would write an "Ode to a Faithful Partner' blues song!, but buy something else more rugged (WITH A STANDARD POWER SUPPLY!!!!)
I love its simplicity, and the fact that you can see the results happening one at a time without going blind !
I HATE THE POWER SUPPLY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I like the 'metal' OD - its really felxible !
I chose the GX700 after reading a review ( and LOVED the gold colour!)
I wish it had intelligent harmony - setting one up is time-consuming in the sense that you repeat the same process a number of times - psychologically speaking, this is prone to error !)
I think it helps in making music - the sounds can move you, and its diversity is creativity-provoking.
Please give us a GX700 for the road !

This unit is pretty user friendly, once you read the manual a time or two. Only a few pushes and you are in once you know what you are doing...like I said, read the manual. I have 2 of these things, and both have had the software upgraded.

I use this with power amps and tube amps depending on my mood. The noise supression works pretty good for the high gain and distortion settings. I like most all the effects on this unit except the tremolo(clicks too much, sounds artificial), and the harmonist, which warbles(does not hold tracking), especially when bending notes when 3 tones are set. Its ok with 2 most of the time though. I love the preamp settings..it fits my musical tastes nicely.

Here is where I really have to be hard on this unit. I bought my first back in '97 for 300 bucks on sale at our local music store. Before that, I never owned any rack effects with preamp settings. It really worked well for me for about 2 years while I was playing in a classic/modern rock cover band(before all this nu metal crap got popular...please, no more mesa rectifier tone please....)Then...the back input jack went caput...I then took it to a Roland authorized repair center near me...and they fixed it...kind of. They also upgraded the software...and charged me 125 bucks. I say kind of because the back input jack still didnt get full connection. Luckily the front input jack which I always use anyway never broke, and still is fine today. A few years later, I decided to look for another one for backup to buy on EBay, and bought one used for 140 bucks. When I got it, it didnt work right...there was a bad humming sound on all patches, and...you guessed it...the back input jack was busted as well!!!!!! This must be a common problem with the unit...please comment if any of you have had similar problems. Anyway, I decided in a temporary momentary lapse of reason to keep it and get it fixed....same repair place, same price, and same result..back input not fully working! I will return this unit to repair shop to fix it right! So, I have to deduct points for reliability...sorry, but this unit seems to have bugs, which is probably why they discontinued it.Too bad, because for a 1 space rack processor, its pretty good for the money, and Roland had a rep. for reliability as far as I knew.

I never dealt with them.

I play rock, blues, country, jazz, metal, spanning from 1950s to 1990s... I draw the line at this new crap...I hope the popular guitar music scene shifts back to a time when it mattered more about the music and not about mass tattoos and piercings. Back to the unit...uh, I am a 25 year man with an axe, and have used too much equipment to mention. That being said, I would not buy another one of these, im done. Nothing like a good tube amp and good effects. Even just an amp and a guitar and your fingers is enough if you are a good player. Keep it Real!!!!!!! So, I rate this a 7 because the reliability, and the tones arent anywhere near pro perfect, although it has many useful parameters and tones to pull from it.

Nothing will replace the sound of a good tube amp. But as far as this unit goes the majority of people who spend time tweaking the unit and it's patches will find many useful sounds. You will also keep a lot of those sounds for use for different moods and songs.

Editing patches will take time, but no problem if you do it enuogh times.

Manual contains a lot of information and is a real time consumer compared to those who are used to plugging in a stomp boxe with dails.

I don't know the firmware revision number as I have done no upgrades. Bought the unit new in 1999(I think?).

I am using a Marshall Valvestate 120/120 Dual Power Amp. I use the left channel for my Korg ix 300 keyboard, which serves me most the time as a drum machine. I use the right channel to power the GX 700. The speakers are two separate, but identical, 12 inch factory enclosed Fender speakers. I use my Takamine acoustic and Les Paul electric. Both have a marvelously clean sound with this set up. Too sweet!

Everything is ultra quiet for the type of playing I do (heavy rock to east coast ballads).

Some effects are awesome and some are weak. It really depends on what you need it for. If your looking for that sound that only a tube/valve amp can produce, then buy that kind of amp first. If you want to be able to cover a huge variety of tones and that is your priority, then get this unit first as it will do wonders and get you through in a pinch until you can get that valve amp and then combine the two. If you sit in the basement 9/10 times when you play, get the GX 700 as you will be able to do all kinds of music without an expensive valve amp on top of that too.

For what you pay and what you get it is the bargain of the year, but there a some effects that will have very limited use. The wah is nothing like a good Morley pedal, And I have the FC 200 footboard with the expression/volume pedal. The distortion isn't too bad interms of where it is generated from, but once again, get a valve amp, valve rack unit, or valve pedal if you have to "that real distortion".

I have had this thing at home most of it's life and have had no problem with the reliability. BUT MY TUNER HAS SOMEHOW GONE OFF A LITTLE. SEEMS LIKE WHEN I TUNE MY GUITAR, IT ENDS UP BEING OUT OF STANDARD TUNING BY ABOUT A QUARTER STEP. I WILL CHECK MY SETTINGS WITHIN THE TUNER FUNCTION ITSELF AFTER I FINISH WRITING THIS. MAYBE I UNKNOWINGLY ADJUSTED IT?. ANYONE ELSE HAVING TUNER PROBLEMS? IT WORKS FINE OTHER THAN THIS.

If I played out regularily I would want a back up of some kind.

Never had to yet.

Never had it upgraded or repaired. Works fine.

I have played a lot of styles and this unit is a perfect match for that versatility.

If this unit was lost or stolen, would prefer a simliar unit with knobs/dials like onthe boss stomp boxes.

I like the versatility to switch to different sound and tones. I hate how long it takes to set it up/configure. I hate having to refer to the manual years later. Some stuff I've just given up on as I'd rather be playing than using that valuable time tweaking/pushing buttons. Put some knobs on the damn thing!

I wish it had a Marshall JMP-1 rack built in for the distortion fuction.

I don't bother tweaking the unit too much any more. I like the set ups/patches that are stored. Including my own, it is way more than I will ever use.

If you are going to buy five effects stomp boxes you may want to get more for your money and have fun with a new toy at the same time. But just remember, less is usually better in terms of effects. I use very few together these days when I play.

its shit easy to get sound out of it. plug it in to ur amp, then to the wall, then plug urself into it. editing patches is easy, but it will take u a long time until u get what u want out of it. theres a lot of tweaking to be done when u use this. it came with a manual but i havent been bothered to read it. i just went straight into the gx700. theres a lof ot technical shit in here word wise, but have a fiddle and ull realise what it does.

u can fully create your own sound from speaker cabinets to the speakers themselves, then preamps to what ever the fuck you want!! its not noisy as it has a noise supressor... u can make anything sound good or shit, it depends on what u want. you just have to twirl a lot with the knobs, its made for detail freaks, people who insist on having the perfect sound. but for me the distortion was crap. its almost there for me, but not quite, i have to resort to my MT-2 (metalzone) for the distortion. even then it still lacks a bit or definition and "balls"

iv gigged with it, dropped it, accidentally stodden on it, had things dropped onto it and its still working better than before! u could beat this thing with a axe and it will still work sound!

n/A

im into progressive metal/nu metal.. eg limp bizkit, tool, korn, deftones. it pulls out all the wac assed effects simulation head & munki and wes borland, but the distortion lets me down. its not quite deep enough. tinny almost... im still yet do discover the perfect distortion, im thinking marshall JMP-1 preamp here.. but not sure still. if it were stolen i would definitly buy another 1. i wish the distortion was a bit better, i still have a bit of fiddling to do with that i think to gt it sounding orgasmic, its just sounding good. by the way, i am a complete tone freak so thats why im so critical.

It's easier than many rack effects because there are buttons to access each effect module directly. Lack of a footswitch is troublesome but i was able to fit in a footswitch that i made that cost me just a couple of dollars. I bought an expression pedal for the wah effect, but use it for everything other than wah, because I dont like the wah in GX-700 a lot.

I've never used real tube amps but I've used a tube preamp before. I like the amp simulations (at least Fender and Roland JC-120). I also like blues driver. I dont like metal, but I do use distortion, usually the blues driver sim in GX-700 (I've not played the real Boss blues driver predal). I plug it to the power amp input of Fender HOT 25W amp. I could easily recreate the Fender HOT's preamp with GX-700 preamp settings, that's why I dont use the amp's preamp any more. Wah is crap though. Also, I dont use harmonizer, humanizer, or phaser. What I'd like included here was slow gear, which I really need. I like the chorus. Compressor is so-so in my opinion, but I owned a Boss compressor and also didn't like it. Expression pedal allows me be much more creative in sound design, because every parameter is assignable to expression pedal, even the ranges. I've recently made a sustain patch that you can hold a chord or note and play over it as long as you wish, using the expression pedal like a sustain pedal. I'm quite happy with my GX-700. It's very versatile. I initially didn't like the pitch shifter but when rearranged the order and put after distortion and before preamp, it sounded much more natural. I also wish the effect parameters could respond to the guitar envelope like in Adrenalinn or higher grade effects like Tc Electronics.

4 years ago when I bought it new, it did once go blank but when I switched it on again it was operating normally. It was probably because of mains electricity I guess, but never happened again.

Each effect has many parameters, but the unit only has one knob, so setting up patches requires patience, as you have to scroll through menus, setting a single parameter at a time. Be prepared to go a back and forth, back and forth between several parameters until its finally tweaked to your liking. Each parameter has a large range of values (like 1-100), when I only usually set it to the nearest 10. It is a tweakers dream, but those of us that like effects with a single knob or two, its a bit daunting.

Adding to the complexity, there are several places where you can set the tone. You have tone controls in the distortion effects, the preamp effects, the EQ effect, and then several of the other effects also have tone settings. There's so many opportunities to shape the tone in the signal path, that's its not intuitive as to the right approach.

The system is extremely flexible, but the limited user interface makes it difficult to use to its full potential.

I usually use it for headphone jamming, or playing at low levels through studio monitor speakers. I rarely use it with my amp, because my amp sounds great as is and I like keep my setup simple using just a pedal or two. That being said, for the purpose I use it (direct or headphone) it often sounds harsh and nothing like a real amp. It has a cabinet simulator that removes some of the harshness, but the sounds still come out lacking, sounding very synthetic and processed. I've noticed that some patches and effects that I think sound horrible actually sound decent through an amp (for example distortion). Which makes me think this isn't the best for direct to PA type of applications.

The effects I like are:
Chorus--light chorus is good for mild settings, in the extreme settings it starts to have a thin processed and unnatural sound
Phaser--again, the milder settings are good
Tremolo-- can add nice shimmer or throb

The effects which are so/so:
The preamp-- the preamp modeling is essential for my purpose, since I only use this device when I can't use my amp. It's ok. I haven't ever used a pod or those other modellers so I can't compare. But only a few of the preamp settings are usable, most are too extreme and sound nothing like an amp I would ever use. They are also pretty noisy.
Delay-- well the delay is quite good, but I dock it because it is very hard to set up. The signal goes to three channels each which has its own delay time and mix level. This means you can get all kinds of cool ping-pong delays, however as I mentioned above, the user interface requires more time and patience than I'm willing to use to set it up. They made it almost too configurable. Tweakers dream, but not simple plug in and go stuff.
Reverb-- it's ok. I usually leave on some mild reverb.
Auto-wah-- kind of fun, but it sounds almost more like a phaser than a wah. My expression pedal isn't compatable with this one so the pedal wah doesn't work for me.

Effects which are bad:
Compressor-- I just can't get a good sound out of this compressor.
Distorion-- It's not bad through an amp, but for direct recording and headphone playing the distorion patches sound over processed, even with a cabinet simulation turned on.

The rest:
There are lots more modulation effects. Most are useless far-out sounding stuff I'd never have a real use for. Set the phaser to subtle, and that's about the only modulation that I want.

The power supply went dead on me. It's a non-standard supply, and I couldn't find a replacement at any electronics stores that had the same voltage. The only one I could find was a direct order from Boss, for which they charged over $50 dollars.
Sometimes it's really noisy and other times its not. For the most part, except for the power supply its been reliable.

They would not repair the defective power supply because the warranty had expired. So it cost me over $50 to replace it. I couldn't deal with them directly, had to go through an authorized service store.

I wouldn't buy this again, but at the time I bought it I was excited at the prospect of having so many sounds at my disposal. The longer I've had it, the more I realized that I only need a couple of pedals to get my sound, and the multi-fx was overkill. So now I use it only for low-volume playing when I can't use a tube amp (apartment living). This has essentially become my practice amp. I'd rather have a simpler device, but I haven't bothered to look, prefering to just make do with what I own.