Boss GX-700

The thing is pretty simple to to use, although getting the sound you want is another thing with so many parameters,the manual gives a good overview of the different FX, but since I consider this a "beginners-box" I must say they could have made some thing a bit more clear, I also miss the "suggested settings" overview you get with the Boss pedals, my software is 0.9, couldn't care much for that unless it gave me trouble

I use this box with a Ibanez RG620 with dimarzio PUs into a Marshall 8004 2x40 Watts poweramp with an FC200 pedalboard, when using the noise-gate this thing is quiet, but that does take away a bit of your natural signal. The FX: compressor: don't use it much since it feedbacks pretty fast, Wah: never touched it, Distortions: I like the sounds of the distortion and the metal distortion but i wish I could "Merge" those two together-->the gain of the metal-distortion and the clarity of the normal distortion, without having to use my EQ, the Pre-Amps: I guess the JC-120 is right on the money since this is a Roland box, the Fender twin is a little too glassy for my taste, the matchless is great(O.K. maybe not for a matchless but...)BG I don't use, the Soldano is O.K., the marshalls are too gainless (although at low settings they are pretty good) soldano is O.K., and last...Maybe it's me or did they give the 5150 too much gain??? next is the loop wich I don't use, the EQ: Well, everyone uses it differently, with me it's sometimes in use, sometimes not, The Speakersims: pretty good I guess, the Noisegate: As I said, it does it's job, but it degrades your signal a little, the Modulation: Nice flanger and phaser as well as pitch-shifter and harmonist, the ring modulator is something I wish I could rip out, vibrato is O.K., the Delay: very nice, use this box in stereo and you could give yourself the idea as if you were playing on top of the world, a real broad effect, the Chorus: another great effect, very versatile very "real", the Trem/Pan effect: I have a tremelo on my guitar wich I prefer, as for the pan-effect, this I might use in recording for a nice stereo solo or something, the Reverb: this is quite dissappointing, not full or wet or.... it realy is the bad side of this box, they make it sound like it was never meant to be there I prefer to call the sound a "Background effect" too thin really, they should have thrown that **** ring modulator outta there and put a little more effort in the reverb, I like the programmable FX-string...but tell me something: WHY is the output volume IN THE BACK???? The presets???: I guess the most useable are the direct Boss/Roland copies at least 90% wasn't worth the effort of programming.

.....uhm, it's a Boss, they don't die easily, and since I'm on a budget I do not have a backup, don't think I need one... But since this isn't a stompbox I guess there's a larger chance it might fail, so no 10 here

I have NO idea... Does Boss need customer support????? as far as I know the products might even survive WW III

I've been playing for ehh 2(?) years now and so far this is my best buy yet, I am playing Hardrock/Heavy metal (manowar, Iron maiden etc..) and this box -though basic- is pretty versatile for this and probably many other styles, it has many FX for your pleasure -some good, some bad- and if I compare this box with the pedals I had (almost learnt how to tap-dance) and the Zoom 9150 I had (What the hell is keeping the gain??? It should've been there when I dialed 100) this "Beginners box" rates Higer than those and probably at a similar pricetag, if it were stolen I'd be p****d, but my next buy would probably a more professional (and expensive) rig, My end-conclusion: Everyone should've used it in their guitar-life, you don't need to stick with it, or liked it much, but for some reason this box gives you another dimension that no other effect can give you...It might not be your dimension but you'll keep remembering it!!!
For an Budget/beginners box this thing gets a 10...perfect value,...compared to professional Signal processors I'll bet it'll still hold it's own and be better than average: a 6!

Ici pas de problemes, tous les parametres sont presents et les variation efficaces. Seule ombre au tableau, la notice d'explication est un peu legere vu les possibilites de l'engin. Question branchement tout est OK

J'utilise le rack celon 2 types de branchements : soit en direct sur un ampli fender bluesdeluxe, soit en ligne dans mon home studio. les deux sont interessant mais les sons sont bien entendus pas tout a fait les memes. La qualite des effets est identiques a celle que l'on peut attendre des pedales BOSS separement. Donc de ce cote la pas de probleme. La technologie COSM permet d'avoir a sa disposition plusieurs preamplis classiques dont le realisme est a coupe le souffle (M.B, Roland, Marshall, Soldano, fender). L'emulateur de HP est efficace, surtout en studio ou il se revele necessaire. Bref tous ce qu'il faut pour faire monter la mayo....

Ici encore vraiment super !

Depuis bientot 2 ans d'utilisation intensive aucun problemes n'est apparus.

Ben si vous etes un fana du son de la mort qui tue alors n'hesitez pas. c'est le meilleur investissement que j'ai fait en 20 ans de pratique guitaristique !

Prepare to spend a couple of hours with the manual with this beast. The manual is pretty good, but sketchy in places. Once you get to know it, you can really can get a lot of sounds out of it. My firmware is 1.09

Currently, I'm using a BC Rich Virgin with seymour duncan invader pick-ups. Your guitar and your pick-ups matter a lot with your sound quality. It does not color your guitar and let's its natural character shine through. I personnally think this is great. All of the sounds are great, but prepared to tweak the hell out of the distortions. The wah is alright and it is the hardest to get a good sound out of. Oh, did I mention that this mother was quiet? I've been to get anything from 80's metal to a reverbed 50's tone to a nasally 60's distortion tone to death metal. I can even get some of that wahed out funk tone from the 70s. Ive also gotten some downright weird sounds out of it too. Just plan to experiment with it a lot. Don't expect to sit down with it for 2 hours and get perfect tone. You got to work at it! I mainly use this for direct reocrding and the amp simulations are incredible....

Well, my knob sticks because it rubs against the casing, but I really don't see any problem with realibility. I mean, I take it out occassionally to play with friends, but this puppy mainly stays in my home studio.

Never had to deal with support yet, but I'm suspecting it might be lacking since this model is out of production and I simply do not understand why...

I like to play different styles of music, but I really enjoy heavy metal. But, I've been known to play a little surf, funk, country, industrial, and just all and all out weird stuff. This box can handle everything that I can throw out it. You just have to spend some time with it to get the sounds that are in your head. I've been playing for 8 years and this is simply a dream come true. I've tried other units and this is the first where I would go and hear a guitarist and go man, his distortion sucks, mine is better! This box has inspired me to no end. If this was stolen, I would buy it again in a heart beat! I simply love the flexibility that it gives me with a flick of a switch I can go from a pychedilic 60's tone to a tight 80's tone to something that sounds like it should come from space. The only thing I wish I could do was change more parameters and make more parameters modifieable through MIDI control change events. If they ever cross bred this thing with a synth, I think I would shoot myself. It scares me that roland has decided to go to the all floor model route (YUCK!). But, maybe they'll come to their senses and realize what a great box this was for the price. I mean this is almost identical to the GP-100.

I like the lighted buttons to see which effects are on. It is also easy to edit patches, although I now use a MIDI-Cable with my PC to program it and all I want is a better tool for saving my patches, uploading patches...it works awfully good. Only thing that could be improved is the display, it is a little small and hard to read from a certaim angle

I like the sounds a lot. I use a Marshall Power Amp and a 4x12 Marshall Box in a selfmade rack with them. The presets are as bad as any presets of the other effect units out there, but I think Boss wants to demonstrate the real power of this unit this way, which is not at all archieved. But if you sit down and program your own patches, it generates the sounds I want it to. The DS is okay, if used correctly with Preamp and Speaker Sim. Others who worry about it might not have the sparetime to experiment enough. I would be very interested in discussing and exchanging personal experience in creating patches and using the unit. Just mail me.

I've had it for about 2 months now and it works like it is supposed to everytime I flip the power switch. The AC Adaptor gets a little hot (my Mashall Power Amp does not get half as warm) after a time, I hope I won't experience a little firework out of it like some others did. I have not gigged with it for now, but I will use it (I have backups, but I don't think I will ever need them) and it WILL work, I'm sure.

After I experienced other customer support I don't expect Boss to be a lot different. But I never had ANY problem.

I an playing guitar for about 8 years now, with a band for 2 years now. As I replaced my Zoom 505 with this tiny baby and getting my very own 4x12 Mashall Box with a power amp, I really loved it. It does every job I want it to, from transparent clean Delay/Chorus/Flanging to the Ultrabrutal Killermegadeathshredding Metal Distortion everything is in this small wonder box. I would definitely buy a new one if it is lost or dies in my arms one day. It seems the best money can buy, in the store a Line6 Amp lost my interest after 5 minutes playing the GX-700!! I would be interested in exchanging tools, patches, tips and tricks with other interested users. Just mail me.

Well.. I will put 7 this time!

Good

I never had a problem. But I descouvered a bug in the OS that impides me to control a PS-Pitch parameter with an assign. I have firmware 1.09. Try it before your submision and tell us if this happens to you too and wich firmware you have!

As there is no chat (for what I know) for the GX-700 I put this here. I writed the MIDI implementation into a TXT file and is downloadable "http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Hub/4693/IMP.txt"

Yes, this is my second thing, as I know some users were not able to get the MIDI impl. from Roland I submited this, ok? If you have the same problem with the PS-Picth parameter controlled from an assign I would know it.

I know there are probably more review for the GX-700 than for any other effect but I had to weigh in. Ease of use? 6 for beginners. Now that I have had them (I own two) I would say 9. I don't ever use the presets. I turn everything off and go down the chain one effect at a time.

I use a Mex Strat with a Tom Anderson humbucker (HN2+). At home I use two Peavey Blazers in stereo. At church I use a Roland GC-408 combo. I always run the unit into the front of the amp. I like my clean clean and my gain supersaturated with searing harmonics.
While I think this processor is nothing short of amazing, it has very much to do with your amp/poweramp. The unit sounded bad through (or maybe I should say that the GX-700 couldn't save) a Sovtek MiG-60, Peavey Envoy, and Peavey Classic 50/50. Sounds excellent through the Roland, Peavey Blazer, Peavey Classic 30, and Mosvalve.
I have read others claim the distortion is poor. I don't agree. Here's what I do: choose an amp, set the preamp volume on 100, the gain switch on HIGH, the master wherever. Then I turn on the OD/DST making sure the drive is 0 but the volume is at 100 just like you would do with a Tube Screamer in front of, say, your Marshall. Then scroll through the pedal choices until you find the one that textures your amp setting to the sound you like. DON'T prejudge. The best lead sound for my current live situation uses the METAL distortion, no gain and all volume, into a totally gained out Clean Twin. (Go figure?) I mean this is searing, over the top, speaker crunching heaven.
HINT: Play around with your Output Type selection in the Tuner/Utility section. This can make ALL the difference in the world. On my Peaveys, "Guitar Stack" works best. On the GC-408, "Power Amp Stack" works best. Also, sometimes the speaker sim is better on and sometimes better off. If on, play with the mic setting.
I'll repeat what I said in my GC-408 review: the amps in the Boss sound like the real thing going through the right amp. In fact, I prefer my Boss + GC-408 over the Triple Rectifier. No joke.
As for the rest of the sounds? They're in there. In my opinion, the chorus sounds better than that found in the JC-120. I tried it the other day and really didn't notice the JC's chorus that much when playing clean. Yes there is alot of stuff in here I wouldn't use but alot that I do. For example, the Limiter is great for cleaning up a hot pickup, the Compressor added some needed sustain in my amp, the noise suppressor works very well, too. Reverb stinks but I am no fan of it anyway. Cool delay.
Honestly, I am extremely fond of this unit. That's why I bought two.

Never broke. As for firmware quirks. One of the two did destroy my presets upon powering up once. Never happened again. Never had a problem with the other.

Talked to Roland twice, once to find the GC-408 and once to discuss their TubeLogic. I guess I would say professional at least.

I play clean chorusy stuff to downright brutal. This unit does it all. I like this unit so much that I found myself finding amps to match it rather then the other way around. I figured if the GX-700 can't make it sound good, nothing can. My only complaint? I wish you could divide gain modifying stuff from the time-based effects. In other words, I would like to run my guitar into the unit and after the preamp back into the main in. Then I would like to run the rest of the effects through the amp's signal loop.

I know most users consider it easy to make patches with it, but I don't agree very much on this. That's why I built a little patch editor for it. It's a 16 bit Visual Basic APP (1993 compiler!) but it's usefull, little and fast to load. Download it at: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Hub/4693/

Sounds great if you waste enough time tunning it. Only the chorus disappoint me a little.

Good, they supplied me the MIDI implementation for free via mail in 4 days.

I think it is a good effects processor, I use it with synths too, I don't consider it just a guitar effects box.

Very easy to program. Would give a 9 but the display is a bit hard to read from a high angle. The manual is good.

Hard to fault. Very versatile. Good for D.I. recording or live use. The factory sounds were 'patchy' (sorry), but I made some of my own - it is very simple to edit. I also got a MIDI librarian called GXL700 which came with 600 patches - by the time I'd checked them all out I realised that there isn't much the box can't do. I happen to like prog rock lead sounds (I use a Strat) - although the factory presets don't cover that area very well, I have some great sounds now.
I use a foot controller - to be really picky I find the wah can be a bit 'notchy' on very fast pedal movement, but only noticeable if you listen very carefully - its still useable.
Others have criticised the distortion effect, but perhaps that is based on using mostly the presets - I think the combination of distortion, COSM amp simulation, EQ and speaker simulator is very flexible.

I have firmware 1.08 - no problems with it so far.

Definitely recommended - amazing VFM, wish I'd checked it out sooner.

Very easy to program. Only needed the manual for the more intricate details and that was very easy to read.

Superb. It gets a lot of critisism for it`s distortion sounds. But you don`t need them. Using the pre amp gain and the many different preamps you can make just about any diatorted sound. I use it straight into a desk and it has replaced a; sansamp psa1,gp8,and a virtualizer. It now sounds better than any sound I could ever get out off my Marshall. The only reason it dosn`t get a 10 is the reverb could be slightly better.

I`ve got vers 1.09. No problems yet and I use it live 2-3 nights a week.

Not needed yet.

Fantastic. And I would buy it again in a shot.

This unit is incredibly easy to use. You can just choose an effect & directly edit it's paramaters without going into a bunch of confusing sub-menus. Manual is typical - it gives basic instructions on how to make selections & edit patches. I have version 1.09 (finally!!!! - read below), and there hasn't been any problems with it.

Great delays & compressor. I really don't even use the distortion. I'm using the unit through the effects loop of my Carvin Quad X-Amp, into the Carvin 100 watt power amp, and into a Marshall 4x10.

Yes. Until it started crashing on me & I lost my presets. I then got firmware version 1.09 (more below!) and have had no software problems since. HOWEVER, I also just had a problem with the power supply. Seems it blew a couple of the resistors and other components internally. Still haven't gotten a new one. It's only been 3 months, what do you expect???

Let's get something straight - ROLAND tech support is USELESS!!! I brought my unit in to get the firmware upgrade. 4 months later, it finally came in. What the hell takes so long? Then, the power supply blew. I've read a couple of other accounts of this happening to other users too. Seems Roland has had a problem with these.
Well, I'm on my third month waiting for a power supply to be shipped from Japan. I find it impossible to believe that there isn't a goddamm power supply in all of the United States that can work with this thing. I got the unit back fine, and am using a friends power supply until mine comes in. So I finally got pissed off enough and called Roland. They said they're really sorry, but the power supply is on back order. It should be in soon. They're sending me a t-shirt though. That should tide me over. Sorry, but that t-shirt isn't going to help me out when I have shows.

The unit itself is great - when it works. But then again I really wouldn't know. I've had the unit for exactly 1 year, and it's been in the repair shop for about 7 months of that time. The effects are great, but if the thing never works what good is it?? I also own the Roland GR-30, and am wondering if something happens to that, what's going to happen??