Boss GX-700

Not easy after pedals. Difficult. Need brainstorm to learn MIDI before. To simlify your life use PC Software like GX-700 SoundStation patch editor. If u use it, dont forget update trial key in the registry on you PC [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Internet SoftParam\NetParams] "TimeOut"="130" (should be between 120 and 130) ;-)

Good, very near separate Boss pedals. I use korean washburn and GX-700 in the Marshall AVT-50 loop. That`s quite good for home music. I use GX700 most for rever-modulation-wah, not for distortion-vamps. Also I has behringer BCF-1010 Midi foot controller.
But if u use something like Original Les Paul Gibson and Mesa Boogie stack, try to find something more expensive.

Very reliable, made in Japan. I had some troubles with front and rear jacks (noisy in contacts, need clean) and removed cover. All made _very_ good and professional, not China as latest devices like POD.

Common guys, I`m from russia, no services!

Suitable for home guitar player like rever-mod-delay-wah effect processor for hybrid or solid combo in_the_loop insert. Don`t hesitate ot its birth day (previous century). There are nothing was made since then, really.
And, GX-700 front panel harmonized with Marshall amps front panel ;-)

Well ,well, designed componenet has proved to be very rugged with out any problems of any kind , 8 yrs running 20-30 gigs a year, The engineer boys @ Roland did a great number on this puppy!

I run my unit stereo coupled witha ART tube stereo peramp the trough the GX-700 and through 2 Roland blues cubes with stereo line s also to the live mix. Awesome combo for anything you want to play.

Like previously stated 8yrs running and NOT ONE incident of failure, and I have owned several hundred gadgets over the past 20-25 yrs all to which cannot even compare.

Never had to make onr call because all has been well

I play souhthern blues/rock, classical, lots of homegrown

Prbably the best and most user friendly interface I have ever used. Had Line 6, Roland GT-Pro, GT-8, GT-6 etc But the old GX-700 is the friendliest little beast I have ever come across. Soundstation (PC based software - search for GX-700 Soundstation) is quite good to back-up and organise your favorite patches and works on XP. One of the best features is the ability to turn the preamp off and keep the speaker simulation! GT-Pro doesn't let you do this!! The manual is fine.

Don't go looking for the sound of my fav artist whilst I've got my own tone thing going on! But I have got all the sounds I could ever wish for from this little unit. The trick is to not make the patches over compicated and make it muddy with too many effects. I use a Ibanez RG550 and Gibson LP in combination with the a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Roadster and the GX700 switched through a DMC GCX switcher/looper thats it! I choose whether I use the preamp from the Boogie or the GX700 and then patch it back into the return of the Boogie and Bingo! I have the best of both worlds - transistor or valve. If I bypass the effects on the boogie and compare a DRY boogie against the WET FX from the GX700 I can notice some colouring of the Sound... BUT .. It doesn'T bother me because it doesn't sound bad! Anybody who says things colour there sound are perfectly correct. Everything colours your sound! The only difference is whether its a bad colour! I have recorded with this little monster instead of using my 3000 bucks Mesa and the studio engineer said "will you sell this to me? where can I get one! this thing is great!". A 10 would require 24Bit 96Khz quality but the GX700 gets a 9.

Never had a problem

Never needed them. You can get all the manuals on the web.

I play everything imaginable (except classical). Been playing 24 years (on and off). If it were stolen I would use my second one (yes I have two) or if they stole my second one also I would find them and kill them. I love how easy it is to find a great sound. I created a few killer patches within 10 mins in the studio! Spontaneous ideas are only useful with equipment which permits you to make them happen! I just wish that instead of making that giant GT-Pro, Roland should take the GX700, kit it our with 24BIT AD/DA and keep us all happy for another 10 years! As I mentioned, I have had Line 6, Zoom, TC, GT models and other valve preamps. The GX700 is the best all-rounder with an easy interface and I am seriously considering getting a third! One for the practice room, one for the studio and one for sleeping with!

Maaan, I love this little baby!
Compared with the other multi effects I??ve invested in over the years, this is one of the easiest to use. I only had to use the manual for reference.
As with a few other users, the control knob ??hops and skips?? but that was sorted with some contact spray (WD-40)

From Dire Straits through Pink Floyd to Death Metal the Boss does it....apart from the Distortion.
Through the mixing desk she sounds great, although initially she whistled like a banshee. Changing the output setting to 'Line' sorted that out.
As I've mentioned, the Distortion is pretty iffy especially when I played through my Marshall 6100 30th Anniversary. At Home, in the Studio or Live I use a Rocktron ProGap v2 set to Hot (patch 42); plug it into the Boss and switch off the Boss distortion. Sounds like a killer!!! Make's me dribble just thinking about it.
Noise isn't much of a problem and adding the Rocktrons Hush makes everything silent.
I love the tuner which is well readable from a distance.
The rack setup is: an ART SGX 2000 - a Rocktron Progap into Loop1 - the Boss into Loop2 - Mono Marshall Head/Mixing Desk.
The whole lot gets plugged into a Art Tube->Korg/Tascam Amp Simulator->Behringer DI Box at Home or the Studio which gives it loads and loads of fat Sound.
The whole rack gets controlled by an Art X-15 foot pedal which controls all the parameters like volume/delay etc.. alot of kit, I know, but it keeps my options open ;)
Guitar wise I play a Gibson Les paul with active EMG 85/81's, an Epiphone LP with a pair of fat Seymour Duncan's and a Squire strat for the real soulfull stuff.

I bought the GX-700 used off of E-bay a few years back and apart from the problem with the main Dial all has been champion up to now. She's never left me down ever and I use her five days a week.
I play the Gigs without a backup, but if there were any dramas the Marshall would take over (2 mins to set up).

I've never had to deal with them... yet ;P

I play Blues, Hard Rock, classic Thrash Metal and Death Metal and the Boss covers it all, apart from the Distortion which I only use for Blues.
If she was stolen, I'd find the B'stard; rip his legs off and beat him to a pulp with the soggy ends. Then I'd go to the Pub and get wankered. But, I would definetly buy another one. Failing that, the GT-8 looks like a very good option.
The compressor is so-so as is the Distortion...the tuner and the effects patchabilty is second to none.
I wish it had a couple of tubes in it for a full-on throaty Growl. (One isn't enough - the Art sounds like a Daisy too!)

The reason I bought the Gx-700 was because Bolt-thrower used them. No regrets though, this thing is so versatile. I'd not even sell it if I was starving, I'd flog the Bed instead and sleep in the Bath... yeah ;P
All in all the Boss has added more colour to my songs and creativity. Priceless!!

It is easy switch effects on or off, but it is really tedious to dial the presets with the turning knob, especially when it is a little defect, like mine. Sometimes it is jumping into the wrong direction, so it is hard to dial in a specific preset number.

I like the reverb, but most effects sound digitally to my ears. I am not an experienced guitar player and don??t know much equipment, but I heared better things, especially the modellers, like Tonlab oder Pod. I don??t like the amp models of the gx 700.

This is why I am posting here. I bought a used unit and I am really disappointed. The unit brings terrible noise into my rack setup. I think it is because of the Inputs. The back input is completely broken, although it worked a few days ago with terrible noise. Today the front input broke (I don??t know why, i did nothing special), out of the sudden the unit produces awful, screaming noises and i need to tip on the input jack to stop it. A few minutes later it may start again, i was getting really afraid of it, because I could never count on, when the unit will start to produce this noises, which are louder than my guitar signal. The peak led will flash all the time, while it happens.

I can??t recommend to anyone to buy this. I am really disappointed and frustrated. I read other reviews, the unit seems to work for some people, but for me it doesn??t. I am sorry. I think this is BOSS??s fault, they use Input-slots of minor quality, but this messes up the whole unit.
I apologize for my bad english, I am not used to it anymore, but I wished to share my bad experience with you.

I've owned the GX-700 for about 10 years now. I found at first it was hard to get a good clean slightly distorted sound that would jump out of the mix, but after playing with the editing functions it became a piece of cake. The manual was very thorough and easy to understand. One night playing live there was a power outage and when the power came back on all my presets were GONE....Took me only 10 minutes to reconfigure my presets and I think actually improved on the ones I had lost while doing it.

If you take the time to learn what each effect does and how they modify a particular sound you can quickly get a very close sound to the artist you are striving to sound like. The effects for the most part are very good some I would call super. With the NS on there is never any noisy spots if it is set correctly. You'll find there is a fine balancing act between the Noise Reduction and the Compressor Limiter that needs to be tweaked with each individual patch. I usually make at least two patches for each song, one for the main part of the song and one for the solo. Since there are so many user patches to use I have never worried about running out of room. I play mainly though the PA in stereo when playing live with no amp...sounds GREAT.... I use an expression pedal to control volume and at times a pitchshifter or wah. I control the SX-700 with a Digital Music Ground Control...The cadilac of foot controlers...can send midi changes to 8 different units at once....I control the SX-700 and my GR1 with the Ground Control...I also control patches my bass players Art Bass Processor and I control a Digitech Vocal Harmonizer and lastly a Ensoniq SP4 sound effects unit. It's quite a good live setup with great control over the sound of the band.

10 years no problems...played all over the US...played indoor and outdoor....In the rain....you name it...NO PROBLEMS.....Never brought a backup.........One minor complaint.....hard to see the screen when playing outdoors in the sun.

Great people to deal with......Sent me a new Power Supply for free when mine got broken.

I play anything from light jazz, acoustic, acoustic electric, folk, classic rock, 70's and 80's metal......works great for all of it. I've played Roland gear since the GP-16 came out. Bought the GR-1 the day it came out. Traded in all my other effects units the day I got the Boss GX-700. Thinking about upgrading to either the Boss GT Pro or the GT-8, not because I think they will sound better, but they have some new sounds I'd like to try.....anyway...If you get a chance to pick up one of these units for under 200 bucks...BUY IT....I've played this unit on a number of CD's and I've had it borrowed by other people to use in the studio when they heard how it sounded. IT's built like a tank....can handle life on the road or in the studio.

I feel the need to say something about this unit.

After owning it for a very long time and toured with it four or five times, I have found it very easy to get into any parameter on the fly and with a foot controller in any situation. The 'peak' light is useful as you can monitor the output of each effect in the chain. You can put the chain into any order you like which means you get to find out what it's like to throw a delay and reverb into a distortion whith a limiter after it. I'm into noise and sound creation to very deep depths plus I play classic rock/funk styles from time to time and try to emulate some classic tones. This unit has never let me down, it's more like another musical instrument for me because I like extreme effects settings as well as it's ability to sound like a rig in a box.

Prestige Ibanez RG->GX->whatever amp the rehearsal studio or gig supply. It can be noisy and even self oscillating, this is a good thing in my opinion from a unit that can be really nice and clean too.
I have managed to emulate every guitar (and some synth!) sound with this unit, depending on the amp. I use the clean channel on all the amps I've used because the OD/DS is covered by the GX or pedals.
I get better feedback from valve amps and try not to push the preamp of any amplifier too much which is impossible with some high gain heads I've come across.
The patch changes can be as seamless or as noisy as you like. If you copy a patch onto the next patch with the same delay on each but turned off on the second then the delay trails off as you change patch. There are very few glitches in terms of patch changing. If all you need is a clean/crunch/lead channel you can set expression pedals up to introduce more gain, a second distortion and a delay at any point in the arc of the pedal. I have managed to get the lead solo sounds of Time by Pink Floyd as well as Vai, Satriani, Hammet, and more obscure drones like Winter, Cathedral, Earth, Sunn O))) etc.

The compressor is mono, meaning that any effect before it becomes mono including all the stereo delays and reverbs etc. I use the compressor first in the chain for most of my patches so I'm not affected much by this fact. You can get anything from mild clean compression to hard limiting which gives the preceding distortion something to work on all the time if you like that kind of thing. It can become choking and sucking on the sound if needs be, revealling everything about the pickups and leads you use.
The wah is flexible and can turn real synth like if pushed because of the 'peak' setting (resonance). If used before a distortion it can sound like a regular wah and if used after a distortion it can give a really big sound as the filter frequency can go a lot lower than a regular wah and higher too. Extreme funk sounds etc. are no problem as well as any wailing wah sounds imaginable.
The OD/DS section includes vintage OD and some Boss effects from distortions to metal zone and fuzz distortion. The fuzz is almost exactly the same as my Big Muff and the metal zone is the same as my metal zone apart from the parametric EQ.
The preamp section is a little more organic and noisy (in a good way) than the previous section and can add warmth and a less predictable sound. If used more conservatively the preamp can be clean-dirty-full on if used with an expression pedal, cleans up perfectly. There are more emulations of certain preamps here that I cannot comment on because I don't own the gear to test against. I use the preamp section occasionaly to keep the tone of the guitar. It can be very clan and totally saturated like an amp rather than a stomp box. If used with the OD/DS effect it can become over-saturated and firey. Some really brutal sounds can be had from these distortions and preamps.
There is an effects loop which is cool but introduces some out-of-phaze effects when used in parrallel with a dry signal. great for delay effects or reverbs or for inserting an effect rather than mixing. Perhaps I need shorter patch leads for this.
The EQ is anothe mono effect but is very effective as there is a full parametric mid EQ with a mid Q parameter which can become very resonant like the wah if you want but goes up and down in steps, not smoothly.
There is a noise suppressor, it's OK but I like to try to avoid it, like I would any gate. The trigger for the gate can be set to be triggered by the guitar input, regardless of where the gate is in the chain which is great.
The modulation section is too huge to fit here but I'll hit the main lows and highs. The phaser has no mix control so it's full on phaze or....full on phaze. The mixing and panning of all other MOD effects are good tho...The formant filter is great but only with an expression pedal, the lfo for it is more like a square wave than a sine wave so it jumps a bit, from one extreme to the other without being smooth. It can sound good as well, especially when fed by the resonant wah and sweeping resonant EQ. There's no end to these filters if used properly. The ring modulator is a regular one, a little crude but has an interesting feature that locks on to the note you are playing as long as it's only one note. This effect is really good and not very common. There is a vibrato effect that can be set to wobble the notes straight away or fade in over so many seconds. Nice effect to feed a never ending delay into with an extreme wah after the two. The GX can be like a synth if you want or a vintage amp, the cab sims are good for recording with, not sure if they sound like the originals but they use the COSM, like the GT series.
The delay is cool but digital. Sometimes I can get a PS2 type modulation when moving the delay time around, sometimes it's glitchy. I think it depends on the type of delay or something. I find something new every year with this unit.
The chorus section is what you would expect from the inventors of chorus, and so say Sound on Sound in their review. Trem/Pan is predictable but does the job with squre or triangle lfo waveform settings. The reverbs can sound as real or artificial as you like but never extremely massive, the parameters for the reverb are effective but simple. No reverse reverbs or reverse delays on this unit. The delay has a low pass filter to help with the digital-ness of it and the roll-off can be quite extreme as can be said for all of the parameters on this unit. It can be noisy as you like but still provide a tight metal sound with a heavily compressed yet noise-suppressed sound.

I have depended on it for a few tours, It vibrated off the side during a gig once (still using no racks) and the jack output to the amp broke (my fault) because the jack lead was in this output. I just changed to the right output and carried on. This unit has survived being thrown onto the cargo bay of a plane and flown in the freezing cold to Norway and Finland and straight into a hot humid gig with no problems.

Never dealt with them

I have been playing Death/Doom Industrial/EBM and many other more contemporary styles for over 15 years. It is a good, flexible match that can go from very quiet or choppy cleans to firey, raging gain highs with little or no glitches in patch changes if programmed properly. The thing I hate about it is that it's probably one of the last units ever to have such a flexible routing system aimed at guitars for this price range. I've played and recorded bass with this with good results too. Drum machines and synths also, it adds dirt. I will buy more of these in case mine blows up or something. It's old now.

Really easy - I didn't really need to read the manual - a complete doddle to use.

Used with Yahama electric guitars and various bass guitars into Peavey and EA amps. Great noise supression with a 18v active pre-amp on an old bass.

Obtained really warm tones on the bass plus great funk sounds.

With the Yamaha guitar, I gained the sound of guitar greats and I don't really play skiiny strings!!

Totally even gigs with shaeking fingers!

I play various style from jazz through to rock and back around again. I would be totally lost without this piece of kit. I've used floor pedals from Boss and also Zoom pedals and this is the best I've used, just mounted onto of my amp.

This is a system that matched with my loop station really helps me to make music.

Simple, just press the button of the FX's you want to use and adjust.

The best I have ever heard from digital FX's I have had mine almost 10 years now. My tip is DON'T use it with a valve amp, digital FX's hate valves use a good soild sate. I have a Carlsbro GLX150T Head and matching cab. I play Gibson flying V and the band I am in plays Heavy Rock, like Crossfade, Breaking Benjamin, Alter Bridge etc.. I have found I can get a really nice full on metal sound but also some really nice clean tones too. Even after 10 years this thing keeps surprising me with what its capable of. My band has recently recorded an album with the above set up. If you want to hear what one of these sounds like have a listern on www.myspace.com/lostinvegaauk

I have played 100's of gigs with this all over the UK. Its never even seen a rack and just gets carried around in a gig bag. Its never let me down in almost 10 years.

Downloaded the manual the other day as I have a new MIDI pedal. Website was ok.

The Best of The Best

Was confused the first couple minutes .I was impatient . Then figured out how to use the thing . The manual made it more confusing than it actually was .

Its pretty much user friendly .

I'm using it through a Fender 120w Reverb (has 2 awsome celestians) , with a Digitech S100 and Boss mega distortion , EH Bigg muff , Boss super chorous , Boss Digital delay . Playing a Jackson DK2 and a BC Rich Platinum Pro Warlock .

The unit is very quiet compared to alot of units I've used .

The distortion is not the best but if you spend alot of time you can get a semi decent sound . Most of the other effects sound really good.

If you have figured out and cool death meatal/nu metal distortion sounds ... please e-mail the settings to me. tiedstick69@yahoo.com

I would rate it as pretty much reliable . Just need to put a decent plug on it . Had a 2 prong plug . Dont trust those .

Dont know about this one ... here in S.A. .

I play many styles of music . Death metal / Thrash metal / Prog / Rock .... and some odd stuff . I wouldent really recomend it for really heavy distortion ... if thats what you want, but the other effects are really cool and you can combine basically as many effects together and get some really cool/weird stuff out of it . Alot of fun creating sounds .

Dig it

for experienced effect go-er fairly easy...you need to understand unity gain and a phenomenon called GAIN STRUCTURE...google search! learn it...I read alot of these reveiws and laugh and all the amatuerish mistakes...yes this is deep but you can get world class pristine sounds out of it.listen for analog distortion..its all in level setting.same difficulty of any other piece of rack gear

sound quality is among the BEST...maybe ever!I use a Jackson soloist (SL-1) had it custom made with duncan jb in the bridge, ran this thru the effects loop of my peavey half stack and sounds better than amp distortion.effects are transparent and that reverb is soooooo luscious..when properly set up you can hear right thru this and hear a pin drop...no kidding!the noise suppressor is perfect!all these effects can be set up to sound amazing...fave artists are megadeth,children of bodom,nightwish and scorpions,king diamond,whitesnake,van halen,slayer,testament,.countless classical and jazz artists .you know...anyone with world class talent.how am I to judge? owned some of the most popular effects /distortion units ever.me and my cousin ran a pedal, you may have heard of it..its the mt-2 metal zone and A-B it to the metal distortion...same settings and same guitar cabinet=same sound! proof that these models are accurate and the 5150 is accurate! how would I know..I own a 5150 head!same settings and it is to a T! for all the ones saying the distortions arent accurate to the boss pedals, how do you really know? did you run a test? we did!

reliable? like a kitchen light...no problems to a point you take it for granted and not even in the back of your mind that it might have a problem, awesome!

what support! (lol) am very loyal to roland/boss but...they are cluelass and the kind you meet in a bar and take outside...

I play metal in the vein of children of bodom or king diamond..yes I'm in a band...very excellent band, great match for metal, anything I would imagine...effects sound good dirty or clean. been playing since the 70's and this is among the finest I've ever owned (like my gt-3)use to own an engl,hughes &kettner,hafler triple giant,mesa triaxis(over priced),peavey tube-fex,rocktron voodoo valve and this beats them all...no kidding!more effects than all of them tooo...hmmmm for the money..the new champion ....the gx700

Well, of course it's easy to twist knobs or control parameters, but I don't think giving 10 to ease of use won't help any review readers. It takes some time to find your tone. I was using a Digitech GNX2 before this unit, and I was able to get some nice tones (not nice enough, that's why I sold it) from it easily. But it took 3-4 days full with tweaking with this one, for me to get an average tone for my tastes. But I had improved my tone after that, you can add new things to your tone all the time, it seems like there will be no end of this unit's capacity. But as I said before, you need some time and patience. My unit's verison is the latest one (something like 1.09, I am sure that it's the latest, but not sure of it's exact number)

I am using this one with an Epiphone Explorer and a Marshall MG15CDR. I am playing death and black metal, Swedish metal especially, like In Flames, At The Gates, Arch Enemy, Dark Tranquillity, Soilwork, etc... It's damn noisy in some settings, but don't give up, just continue tweaking and you will get a better tone with less noise. Effects are doing pretty good. I have a nice death metal tone, a crushing sound with clarity, but i sometimes think that it lacks some character, so i will try using a Sansamp GT2 and a bigger amp with it, 'cause some people say that this unit's OD/DS sucks. But I'll try that after buying an EMG 81(soon!), my guitar's pickups are not so good. The worst side of this unit is the Speaker sims, they are useless in my opinion.

I like what this unit is capable of doing, every combination of preamp&distortion brings another nice tone, extremely versatile.

I bought mine used, it's an old machine but it works perfectly, no problems at all, and I don't think it will cause me trouble. If you are having problems with it, I would advise you to update the version.

I haven't dealt with the company yet.

Like I said, my main style is Swedish Death, for nearly 2 years(I have played classical guitar for 1.5 years before that),and I like this unit. Very versatile. I would try getting another one but this unit is pretty rare, so I would like check out POD XT. I don't use much effects, I like the preamps and OD/DS (My opinion can change after using another distortion pedal for distortion though, I have a DOD FX86 Death Metal, but I think it won't make a difference, so I'm not using it with GX-700). I wish it had better speaker simulations. I think GX-700 is one of the best, comparing to other units you can get for this price.

Like I said before, I really like this unit, just be patient and TWEAK! Until your tone is perfect (which means, tweak until you get your dream equipment worth 10000$ :)).

Feel free to mail me if you would like to ask something.

It will take some time before you get the perfect sound. When I began using this unit I got a few good sound out of it, but after a couple of days f*ckin' around with it, the sound began to grow to my liking. I didn't even use a manual. So it's very easy to get the best out of the unit if you take a little time to figure the thing out.

The delays, chorus, etc.. are not bad. The overdrive/distortion wasn't much to my liking when I first sarted out. I ran my Boss Gx-700 trough a marshall JCM900 at the time. The unit was way to noisy and I send the sound out at a (master)volume of 30(a preset within the boss-unit itself). But it all changed when I bought a marshall 9200 power-amp. The overdrive really began roaring!! grrrr....REALLY GOOD.The gain in my perfect setting is now only at 50 in the metal setting, with a master volume of 100!!It's A BEAST!!!!As of then I only use my boss for the distortion, IT'S JUST F*CKING BIG!!!
This is mainly because the unit leaves a pause in between switching effects. For my effects I now use a TC electronics.

I've never had problems with it!

As I said it is REALLY GOOD!! together with my marshall 9200 JCM 900 that is!

Pretty easy. The manual sucks so I got the Video Manual. Look for 'em on ebay.

I've owned 3 over the years (still have 2). I refuse to use it for anything other than recording leads. It makes my Marshall TSL 100 sound like shit live. I used to use it with a Marshall 8008 power amp, and it sounded good. The noise is terrible on these things unless you place the Gate at the end of the signal chain. The compressor sucks. Delays are good.

THe only trouble I've had out of all 3 units is the Value dial. It jumps and skips all over the place, but I use the FC-200 to Cannel Up/Down so it's not a big deal.

I've heard they're assholes.

I play death metal so I require a lot of gain. Again, the noise is terrible and you shouldn't buy one unless your playing Mellencamp or Dave Matthews.

Getting good sound out of this unit is a piece of cake all the precet patches are prettty good sounding for starters
Editing is not too hard even without the manual you can figure it out pretty easilly
The manual is clear so anybody should be able to program this puppy in no time
I don't know if mine is upgrated

I use this unit solely for recording cuz i like not having a bunch of noises on our recordings Them not being the noise i make myself
I use a B.C Rich Warlock with EMG 81 in bridge position and 85 in neck
and Jackson KV2 with Seymour Duncan JB's
Like I said it's not noisy Thats why i bought it I play Deathmetal and i have been searching for a long time for and effects unit with a GOOD metal distortion I fell in love with the Metal bottom effect which is a preset i don't use it but it made me realize what it had in store for me after trying everything from Rocktron through Digitech and what not
Don't use it with an amp straight into the mixing board
Best Distortion unit i ever came across... if ya need drive this is the best unit for it.... If ya can't affort a Mesa triple rectifier that is

It Never let me down so far... had it for a cppl of years now
Don't use it on stage if I did I would use it without backup defenately

Never dealt with the company so dunno

Like I said I play Deathmetal so I use it for the Distortion and preamp sections on it
been paying guitar for 18 years,Other gear I use Marshall JCM 900 SL-X 100 watt head for gigs with 1960A cab Boss MT2 , GE7
If it got stolen or lost I would defenately get a new one couldn't live without it ... need it for the studio work I'd be lost without it

Patch editing is a breeze, IMO. Just start out with some preset that's close (or just grab one and disable all effects) and go from there. Simply pushing a button will enable that effect group, and some clicking and turning a knob and you've got that effect ready. It pretty much operates like you had a big pile of stomp boxes at your disposal.

The manual is IMO very easy to understand (got me up and running in some 15 minutes reading, and this is my first ever multi-fx).

I run this thing stand-alone, just guitar->GX-700->computer->headphones. The guitar is either a Jackson KE-3 with an EMG 85 in the neck and an EMG 81 in the bridge, or some cheap strat clone with some passive single coils in it.

I get slight noise using the KE-3 (EMGs, mind you) on both dist and non-dist patches, but then again I'm sitting in front of my computer (meaning two computer monitors right into my guitar). I wouldn't say noise is a problem. Of course, the noise gate is constantly enabled.

I mainly use COMP+(OD)+PREAMP+EQ+SPSIM+NS effects groups (not in that order), sometimes some chorus or reverb or modulation. Nearly no wah, delay or trem/pan. I find all the effect I use to be at least satisfactory. The tracking on the pitch shifter and harmonizer are lacking when you play lower than a normal low E, but they work well in the higher registers. Bending does confuse the harmonizer though.

I wouldn't say I can get the sound of my favourite bands, but I can get sounds I like for the music I play, so I'm happy.

So overall, it's good to my ears, but it's not perfect to the point where it just "sounds SO RIGHT!!!".

I've had it for uhm.... I think 6 months or so now, and it's never to the best of my memory failed me. I just keep it in my house though, as I have no band to gig with.

I'd use it live without backup, partially because I've got nothing to use as a backup, but also because I pretty much trust it.

Never dealt with them

I used to listen to nearly only metal (Iced Earth, In Flames , Cryptospy, Soilwork) but has since opened up alot. For me this unit works well. I get the sounds I need (both dist and clean).

I've been playing for 4.5 years, and this is my only "ampish" piece of gear.

If stolen, unless I quickly got enough money for a more complete rack setup, this would be my first buy.

What I love? The orangish color!!! It's just sooo sweet!

I'm giving it a 10 here because it (at least for me) is great value for it's money. Compared to what I'd need to fork out for a comparable amp+pedal setup, it's very cheap.

very easy to use!

Right , i use the 4 cable method to plug the preamp of my Ampeg VL 1002 in the loop of the GX 700 , the loop in the Ampeg is boosted in return by a dedicaced preamp tube witch seems to work wonderfully . I use to the same hooking before with a GT-3 but , even if it is 24 to 22 bits the GT-3 is much less usefull in this configuration . And now i have a few questions for you !
Do you feel that the GX suck a bit of the preamp tone throught the loop ; if it is like the GT-3 for witch i've read that there is a bass cut at around 250 hz , or related to the quality of the A/D converters of the GX ?
To reach a level of 65-70% in the loop of the GX , with setting the preamp of the tube preamp at 65%, i have to put the master of the tube preamp at 100% ; is it normal ?
The level in the effect chain of the GX rule the ouput returning in the power amp of my amp , that's good , but what is the effect of the knob in the back of the GX witch say -10 db to +4 db ?
I have read that the od/dist section and the loop where analog circuit but what is the benefit if anyway it is converted in digital for other effects ?
Thanks for your help .
Fabrice

It is rock hard builded and beautifull looking baby !

I play symphonic metal and this product seems to me the best effect processor ever concived for its architecture ; especially with the loop .

When i first got the unit i didn't have a clue what to do but when you read through the manual for an hour or so and lay with it irt becomes child play.

I use mine with an electro acoustic (fitted with a kaman feedback buster)and all of my sounds come from the GX700. I use alot of filter and modulation sounds and heavy distorted sounds (although it sounds un orthodox seing as im using acoustic!!....it works!)

Eediting the patches is a breeze....Put on the effect you want...play, listen and edit...simple as that...the menus are simple to use and navigate.

the maunal was useful to me..especially when i was trying to work out MIDI for the first time ever and when i tried to save patches and name them etc...however, ive had my unit for about 3 months and i rthink ive now lost the manual! bu tthere isnt anything within the BOSS i cant do so thats nk problem really....it's not like i'll be ever selling it.

I have the most recent firmware version...1.4 i think....something liek that..i only ever checked on the first say that i got it...to be honest i could personally use more than 4 assignable parameters within each patch...5 or 6 would be nice as i use each patch as 2 channels..changing via MIDI expression pedals..more on that later..

as i said earlier. i use an electro acoustic with feedback buster...gx700 and a marshall MG100DFX combo.

The noise supressor works briliantly as a feedback controller so even when im rocking it large i only ever get a teeny weenyt amount oif feedback if any!

is is a very quiet unit. I've had no problems..especially as it has a noise supressor in it.

all the effects are great....My favorites are the autowah (althought it took me a few weeks to get how i like it) and the metal ditortion....


Ive tried to model my autowah and overdrives on WHEATUS...im pretty close as i use a similar guitar...

id say that the worst effect on the GX700 is possibly the fuzz overdrive..but again thats [probably just my guitar.

ivbe had no problems at allwith my GX700

im buying a second one..but thats because i want one for clean setting and one for overdrive..i can swell each one in and out using the 2 expression peda;s on the BEHRINGER FCB1010.

n/a

a brilliant uint..go get one!.....i was going to buy a digitech 2120 but i realised althogh thats has a couple of valves..the boss has a shit load more features so it works for me!...i wish it has a second effects loop so i could slap in 2 more units into the chain but thats me bcing picky..when i buy my secong gx700 in a few weeks ill be able to to that anyways!...

the unit is great.......espeically when teamed with the FCB1010..i control everything via midi when im playing live and its a dream!

email me danielzieba@aol.com if u wanan chat abot the unit!

No es dificil de usar. Tampoco lo mas sencillo. El manual es bastante preciso por lo que no entrare en detalles.

Muy buena calidad de sonido. Ninguna queja al respecto, este procesador puede dar muy buena calidad de sonido, pero hay que saber controlar los parametros porque son muchos. En relacion a los amplificadores simulados no los uso mucho. Pero los efectos de por si son muy buenos. Me funciona mejor este aparato conectado luego de mi preamp y antes del power. en effects loop no me ha dado mejores resultados pero todo depende de los equipos de cada quien.

Es Boss, lo mas confiable del mercado.

No tiene nada que envidiarle a otros procesadores que he probado incluso de TC Electronic. Me gusta mucho este procesador y se adapta muy bien a mis demas equipos. Espero que nunca me sea robado...

It's a snap to get up and running (even if all you've used are pedals) and changing sounds is a breeze and fairly intuitive - the presets offer a good range to start - 100 writable patches and 100 unwritable means you can't screw up the presets, they're always there to work from. If you get ambitious, there are Windows programs and a GX 700 online community that swap patches and utilites.

I use the GX 700 into a Fostex 4 track for mixing and straight into the PC-Cakewalk. It's super quiet. I also run it into a Roland JC 120, makes a perfect combination. The nicest thing about it is the subtle differences you can infuse from one song to the next - the GX700 makes it so easy to change patches and make new ones, that you do and your recordings take on new depth and new atmosphere - it gives you the ability to tweak distortions, change amps and even play with mic/cabinet placement.

Never had a problem. I'm going to back up my patches soon but I've had it for 5 years and I haven't had any crashes or lost patches yet.

Haven't needed support

Paid $625 and would buy it again in a hearbeat. It's ease of use and range of texture has made it my favourite piece of gear. I write and record everything with a Gibson 335 and the GX 700 and I can make that combo sound like pretty much everything from a STRAT in a Fender amp to a Gretsch through a VOX.

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 !