Boss GX-700

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.

It takes a few minutes to get the idea,but it's one of the easiest to set up.

Wonderful.Clean. and with MILLIONS OF POSSIBILITIES.
The best preamps are the TWIN settings. Awesome.
Did I mention MILLIONS OF POSSIBILITIES?

Bars,clubs , studios you name it.I've been everywhere with it.
My rack even fell on the floor once.It was up and running in a flash.

Never had to get service for it.
But Boss and Roland are reknown for great customer support anyway!!

I'm sure this piece of gear will get the same amount of attention as the now famous Tube Screamer that Stevie Ray Vaughan was using.Why?Nobody cared until they found out that HE was using it.
I've been playing music for the last 30 years or so and I own a commercial recording studio up in Canada full of gear.With all honesty , this is one of the best pieces of equipment I've had the chance to own.
The biggest mystery is WHY the BOSS company is not producing it anymore???!!
They probably will when they find out some big name guitarist is STILL using it.

Its a great unit with lots of parameters and so, lots of possibilities. You must spend time with it, create the patches depending on your other gear and how these are connected. You WILL see the result is amazing.
The manual is 8/10

Using it with Tube Works 9002 preamp and Tube Works 962 MOS Valve power amp. The GX-700 is not noisy at all, has meany features and sound excellent.
The effects are all very good specially the harmonizer.
And people, THIS THING HAS A TUNER BUILT IN! its just a great and very useful idea.
I'm surprised about the last person (Jeremy) comment and rating for this unit. I think your have too much gear and not too much interest in getting to know a bit this unit. The GX-700 is a remarkable piece of gear. It DOES NOT KILL YOUR TONE if you set it up correctly and use at least 2 of your neurons as with any device. On the contrary it adds a bunch to your tone. I suggest you sell a few things or become a collector. You can do almos anything with this unit depending on your other gear as well. I have recorded 5 songs with this and surprised a few of the best Sound Engineers I know.

Have no problems what so ever.

Play alternative, classic rock, blues, progressive.
Playing for 16 years.
After smashing a few things and taking a pill to calm down, I would buy again if stolen.
I love the sound, the tuner in it, the interesting modelers built in it and its affordability.

I play Gibson Custom or PRS Custom 22 & Hollowbody Guitars and a PRS Dragon!!! into different setups! I use a Mesa V-Twin Rackmount, Quad Preamp, TriAxis, Engl 930 tube amplifier, Mesa strategy 500, a Mesa Dual Rectifer Trem o verb Head, Marshall JCM 800 with reverb. Mesa Rectifier Cabinetts with 30 Celetions Speaker
Effects: Rocktron Intellifex LTD, T.C. Electronic G-Force, 2xBoss PH-2, Boss RV-3, Boss CS-3, Boss Oc-2, EH Q-tron, MXR Phase 90, Hughes & Kettner Tube Rotosphere, Ernie Ball Volume Pedal, Digitech original WH-1, Vox V847 Wah, Dunlop Uni-Vibe,
Ebtech Noise Supressor and some vintage stuff!!!

I tried the boss unit in every combination with my Setup and it is totally bullshit, 'cause it kills your tone completly. It was my first effect that my parents buy me for my 15th birthday 8 Years ago!!! As a kid I find this unit cool, because I my setup wasn't good enough that this unit can kill my tone. But if you own a good setup than buy other effects. I love my Pedals. I like the tone of the G-Force as well! Save your money and buy something better

Ok, this unit works! Hope it won't

I never had a problem with my boss gear so I don't know thei support

Don't buy it if you want be a professional Player with a good sound!!!

I've had the unit for a long time: bought it when the price dropped as they were about to discontinue it. How easy to get a good sound? pretty easy for all the sounds it will make. It has so much potential, it demands a good amount of work from the user to tap into it. I have spent quite a lot of time programming it to work like I need, but in return I get most everything I want. So I give it fairly high marks in this department. good manual for a translation. (I just got through putting a bookcase together that deserves a place in the Bad Manual Hall Of Fame...)

I use this unit with an American Strat with Vintage Noiseless pups and an original Fender Telecoustic (not a plasticaster) straight to the PA in my full-time duo here in Florida. I get great quasi acoustic sounds by turning off the preamp sims and using the EQ, compressor and delay to simulate a miked up flattop. No, it doesn't sound like a great acoustic guitar, but it also doesn't feed back uncontollably in a live setting. I can play as loud as I need to without compromising my tone. (the Telecoustic helps in this regard). really happy with the acoustic side of it. for electric stuff, I use several of the preamp sims: Twin, Matchless, Marshall, and Soldano mostly. I don't really use the distortions much, just on a couple of patches, but I get plenty of grind from the preamp sims. The other effects respond well to judicious programming, as do the preamp sims and the speaker sims. Really, the key to this or any other device, especially multi-effects boxes, is your willingness to spend the time tweaking. I've stored nearly 50 patches to cover LOTS of stylistic ground and even have the sequencer we use (FOR DRUMS ONLY) to change my patches at the right time. (how incredibly convenient). Does it sound like the real thing? DUH...No, but is that really the point? Of course it's a compromise, but I can get such a wide variety of really GOOD tones out of this thing for live performance that it's earned it's place in my rack for the last several years. That's the bottom line for me: GOOD TONE. I get plenty of compliments on the sound, and remember, I'm going straight to the PA. Yeah, it's a good PA, and I've tweaked the speaker sims and the outputs for my specific setup, but who wouldn't do that? We play many different styles of music including everything from James Taylor to ZZ Top and Louis Armstrong to Grand Funk, and I have no trouble getting the appropriate sounds out of the GX-700 for all of 'em. I guess folks who only need a couple of (perfect) sounds might be harder to please than me in this respect, but the versatility far outweighs any compromise for me...

I've never had a problem with it, other tham the rear jack going out, but I have an identical unit for backup just in case. If it went out on a gig, I'd be up and running in no time.

Never dealt with 'em. No idea...

My overall rating for the GX-700 is obviously very high; It's my primary sound tool for the gig. I've been playing for a living for 30 years. I've owned lots of gear from all the major players, and currently have stuff from Mackie, Crown, Lexicon, Rane, Yorkville Elite, Behringer, and Yamaha.

Editing patches is actually pretty intuitive and the 'patch copy' function makes it very easy to copy and paste fx parameters between patches. I.E.; I really like the flanger setting on patch 18, I want that flanger on patch 6: click, click, done. That said, this is still a unit that you'll need to get your hands dirty on while you mess around under the hood finding settings that you like. As far as manuals from Japanese manufacturers go, this one is a pretty easy read and provides plenty of info.

My basic setup: Fender Tele and Carvin TL60-T through an assortment of pedals (fulldrive, soulbender, carl martin comp, etc.)to the GX-700 to a Boogie DC-5. I've been using the GX w/a MidiBuddy for about six years now and have about ten patches that I generally use when playing live. As for overall sound quality, I've owned many of these Boss effects as stand-alone units at one time or another and the sound on the GX doesn't always measure up. Case in point; the compressor. The Boss CS-3 comp is a great pedal that can really beef up your sound without compromising your tone. The GX compressor, frankly, sucks. It's not even close. It does, however, have a limiter function that sounds pretty good, which the CS-3 doesn't. So,here's the basic poop with the GX-700: does it sound as good as owning all these pedals individually would? No. Does it get as close as can be reasonally expected for a one space rack unit w/a gazillion fx? Yes. Obviously, if you were to own all these units individually, you would need a pedal board roughly the size of Rhode Island to contain them and a ridiculously expensive switching system to utilize them in all the configurations available on the GX. So, what you sacrifice in tone is more than made up for with the endless possiblilty of programming options.

There are more than enough fx, preamps, speaker sims, and routing options to get a good sound out of this puppy. Don't like the sound of any of the distortions? Try rolling off the gain and bumping up the output or maybe use it to push one of the preamps and patch the eq after it to dial in the sweet spot. Then try running it into one the cab simulators and see what you get. I've also used the GX for direct recording and you'd be surprised how good it's capable of sounding- natural to the point where you'd swear you can hear an amp breathing in the room. I wouldn't put it up against a POD but it's all there if you're only willing to TWEAK.

All in all-

Pros:
Mucho parameters, flexible signal chain, LCD readout is easy to work with. Each fx group has its own dedicated button; you won't waste ridiculous amounts of time scrolling through a byzantine maze of menus and sub-menus.

Easy to edit patches on the fly. Easy to fly in existing fx parameters to a new preset.

Silent onboard tuner. Good preamps and speaker sims. Now, at the touch of a button, I can turn my boogie into a plexi. Nice.

External footswitch can be integrated to control fx parameters within a patch. Very cool.

More fx than you'll probably ever use. But you'll feel good knowing that there's always a new sonic possibility just under the surface somewhere.

Cons:
Compressor and tremolo are kinda blech. Reverb? Sure, but nothing to write home about. Get a stand alone OD unit if you're serious about your lead tone.

Ocassional goofiness; that patch you've decided you didn't want delay on still has delay on it and the GX refuses to save it w/out the delay button activated. It's happened to me here and there but always seems to go away after a little while.

Pitch shifter does not track very well. Even trying to set up a simple 'octave below' patch is an exercise in futility. Don't even think about hooking up an expression pedal to the wah. Vox, it ain't.

I've gigged w/this unit without a backup for 6 years without any problems. Rear panel input jack shit the bed not long after I bought it. That's a pain, but I'm apparently not alone judging by the number of people on this page who've had the same problem.

I've been playing for twenty plus years and gigging steadily for the last ten. All this means is that I've gone through enough gear to appreciate a unit that is dependable and flexible ebough to give me what I want, where I want it. I'm fussy enough about tone that I've spent a good deal of time accumulating OD's and compressors that really deliver the goods. For me, the GX-700 is the mortar that fills in the cracks. It's a very reasonably priced unit that has so much to offer that I can't imagine a guitarist who couldn't find it useful in one way or another.

First let me start by saying I have been reading the user posts here for a couple years and it seems that everybody either loves it or hates it. Well, I have been using my GX-700 continuously since I bought it new circa 1996. At one point I even had gotten another one to use as a backup, but then I sold it since after I got the EPROM upgrade (see prior posts) it's never gone down and I have traveled the WORLD out of this unit. Basicaly, in my opinion the GX-700 out-performs any other unit in its class, and I own a POD and a GT-3. The secret to it's tone is in the preamp simulations, nothing else. It took me a long time to find the tones I was looking for but now I can play that baby though whatever guitar/amp/speaker compination I choose and it still sounds great. I have used it at gigs where the sound guy wanted to know how I got such a great tone. DON'T just use the presets, altough they can be good starting points for ideas. Make your own sounds using the preamps and effects. It's not that hard.

The main way I use the GX-700 is a Fender strat though a couple pedals (MXR Dynacomp, Fulltone II, Ernie Ball volume pedal) and into the front input. Then I take the stereo out into my Mesa 50:50 (tube)power amp and from there to a stereo 4X10 cabinet. Usually the house mix only gets a mono feed (sm-57 on one of the right speakers) but I like the stereo for my own monitoring. My Dynacomp is on all the time, because the compressor in the GX-700 just won't cut it, IMHO.

Here is what I DO NOT use: the compressor, the distortions (too noisy and "digital", the wah stuff and by all means turn off the reverb! (I don't use the speaker sims because I use it live with a cabinet)

The good: the noise gate (works as a noise gate should based on your guitar's input - leave it on all the time), the preamps, especially the TWIN (clean or crunch), MATCHLESS (more crunch) and RECTIFIED (for all out distortion) settings, the delays (very full and clear) and the tremolos. (And of course the tuner.) The JC-120 setting isn't bad either and the chorus is OK (but who uses chorus anymore?). The step phaser is kinda cool for a wierd effect now and then. I use the unit with an FC-200 midi controler which gives you control over delay tempos and tremolo speeds. I basically have 20 presets I use that cover any kind of music I need to play. (I have the same ones programmed into my GT-3 for situations where I can't take my rack with me, but the GX-700 sounds WAY better.) My sounds are tweaked for the strat, but if I have to use a guitar with humbuckers, I just go into "Function" and change the output from "Power Amp" to "Line" and it immediately takes away the mud.

I only use it for live playing. It always sounded a bit thin for recording, which is why I have the POD. (Or with a miked cabinet it sounds pretty good on tape) Sound quality? Even the pros use this unit, like Tim Pierce, an awesome studio guy from L.A.

Once I got the software upgraded I didn't have any problems, but before that, since mine was one of the original models, I would have that thing where I would lose all my patches!!!!(But I always have had them backed up on my computer anyway). I found out the hard way several times that you NEVER gig without a backup of some sort, like I said I had another GX-700 in my rack, but now I have the GT-3 instead.

I got my upgrade though a local music store, so I never have dealt with Roland directly.

I said everything above. This unit ROCKS. And of course they don't make them any more, but the newer Boss stuff just doesn't sound as good, except maybe the VG-8. I would try and get another one If I lost this one, or I might just start using the POD, now that I got a floorboard. I'm very happy with my tone right now, but I'm always up for discovering something better if it came around. I've been playing for more than 20 years but I'm still always looking for the "perfect tone"...

Been covered elsewhere---but generally pretty easy.

I've had this beast for a couple of years and am not writing based on the fact that "I got this thing two hours ago and it rocks!". To be honest, I've had a "love-hate" relationship with this thing---but I have the same feelings for all multi-effect devices. It seems one day I'm raving about the unit, the next I am saying that this thing sucks because you can get such a better tone just running straight through an amp. I use a mesa/boggie dc-2, fender hot deville (4-10's), trace elliot vellocette, and a mesa/boogie 50/50 power amp. I also use an skb powered pedalboard with rotovibe, dunlop wah, bk butler era tube driver, pro-co rat, rocktron hush pedal, zoom choir, ibanez eq pedal (old one--for solo boost), and a slew of other pedals that occasionally end up on the board once in a while to make a 'guest appearance'. Most of the time I just use an amp and flip on the pedals every now and then for "spice". Why I keep going back to using the GX700 is that although the sound is not as good aas my 'anolog' setup, the convience takes over. For live use I use use a midi pedal switcher (either an art x-11 or an old art x-15) and being able to hit a switch and have your compression, distortion, modulation etc.. all there without hitting three or more buttons is very appealling. The compromise is the sound quality. Although the Boss is not completely horseshit, and actually sounds somewhat decent running into a pa or my computer, it's not the end all of sound. I have the unit set up in two ways: 1. use through a pa or power amp (settings 1-50)and 2. used as you would stomp boxes and getting most of my sound once again through the amp. When I want to stay a 'purist' the latter use is the one that gets the most air time. Alot of postings here complain about the buzziness of the distortions. Here's a couple of ideas (for what's it's worth...):
1. crank it up. when used at bedroom levels, the distortions are very, very buzzy. when playing at a gig level or rehearsal level, the buzz somewhat goes away.
2. watch those settings. overkill on the preamp will create alot of the buzz. try using less gain. really. you'll get better clarity and sound.
3. set the preamp like an amp. meaning: take the twin setting, run up the volume and set the master low.
4. use just the distortion boxes just like you would a stomp box. no amp simulation. the same goes for the modulation effects.
5. try the 'power amp' setting not the guitar amp setting and run it into the front end of a combo. more punch this way---but be carefull to turn the combo's treble down or it gets a little crispy sounding.
6. turn off the unit's reverb. this is a big one for getting rid of that buzz. use your amp's reverb if you need it.
7. use the trick someone else mentioned here: put a metal zone (or any pedal type simulation) set really low on gain, but high on output and run it into a hot amp simulation (low gain, high volume setting, low master setting). this gets the sound a little fuller that just alot of pedal type gain.
8. use the effects loop. I don't always do this since I like to use my amp's preamp, but it might work for you. If you go heavy on the preamp sims, it will sound buzzy running into your amp's preamp. use one preamp or the other.
9. try another guitar. borrow a buddie's for an afternoon.
10. run it into something decent. people here complain that the sound sucks and then state they are running into some junky practice amp. well or course the sound sucks. you started with crap, you are going to end up with crap. this unit won't change that.
11. ease up on the effects. this has a ton of them. Something that sounds great in your bedroom will sound like mush when cranked up. Experiment at the volume you are going to use it at and practice at practice volumes--no tweaking.

there are tons more little 'tricks', but I'm having a brain fart right now and the best thing I can say is just to experiment around. If it sounds good to you, then i

so far, so good. but I use everything pretty hard--but I try to take of my gear.

never delt with 'em.

Overall, not bad. Sure, it would be more convenient to have an effects unit within a pedal board (gt-3, etc...) instead of hauling a midi board around. but when you look how abused my midi boards have become from various gigs, you start to wonder if you want to put all your sound into something that could get drenched in beer and just generally get beat on. Like I've said before, if it's inspiring to you, it's a great piece of gear. I'll say that for anything--doesn't matter if it's a cheapie danelectro unit or some boutique unit, if if doesn't inspire, it's junk (no matter what it is or what name is on it). When playing a gig, most people could care less about 'boutique' tone, or that you've spent hundreds (thousands?) of hours and moola trying to get the 'perfect' tone. I'm not saying to settle for crap, just to keep focused on a few great tones instead of a 100 mediocre ones. If flexibility is your game, try this (or most) multi-effectors. If one or two golden tones are your game--save your dough and blow it on a really great amp. Alot of people blame their setup for crappy playing. While partly true, the sad but true fact is that it probably isn't your gear....after a while, you should be able to make anything work. If you're not there yet (who truly is?) then keep practising--it's all part of the journey. make it fun!

Funny the other guy says the weak points of this unit are the pitch shifter and harmonist. People, those are actually the 2 only things about this unit that are pretty unique and useful :) It has a very synthetic tone to it - but it tracks. Your guitar ends up sounding like a synth from those old Steve Miller songs or whatnot.

The distortion on the GX-700 is utter crap. The effects are useful in a very synthetic way. If you want clarity, get a Digitech - they ave very clear sounding in the FX department. For warm, get lexicon or the like.

The GX-700 is the most 'toy' of any component I own. I can't believe that guy owns 3! I baerly and keeping the 1 around - just for the weird noises it puts out. Real grind comes from good tube products. Problem is the market is so flooded with crap tube products, people think they can't be clear or slam - tubes need high voltage and stuff, not these wimpy little power supplies like in a Digitech or something.

I won't say that this unit is easy to use when you first buy it, but once you have a chance to get to know its charateristics it kicks ass. I started with one of the presets and tweaked it from there and then copied it to a user patch. Needless to say those "initial" patches that I created are long gone now that I've had a chance to get to know the unit. This isn't a unit that you just "plug and play". It takes time to get the sound you want because there are so many variables. I believe that if you take your time, you CAN get the perfect sound that you're looking for. As far as the manual, I only read it when I want to know something specific. I purchased the video manual on ebay last week. It's very informative in areas that the printed manual doesn't discuss. I'd rather have it demonstrated than have to read about it, so the Video Manual was a money-well-spent necessity for me.

When jamming with my band, I use an Ibanez s-470, the GX 700 and a Marshall 8008 Valvestate 80x2 Power Amp pushing 2 Marshall 4x12 cabs. When at home, I use another GX 700 thru another Marshall 8008 pushing 4-10" Celestions. When recording, I use yet another GX 700 and go straight into the console from the speaker sims. For control, I use the Roland FC 200 and the FS-5U's and L's. My main style is Death Metal, but I've found the GX 700 to be suitable for just about any style. If you take your time, you can find the perfect settings for ANY genre. I've found the sounds of my favorite guitarists in this unit: Andy LaRocque, Vinnie Moore, Chuck Schuldiner, Michael Lee Firkins, Steve Vai, etc. The most kick ass thing about this unit is the BULK DUMP feature, which is invaluable if you own more than one unit and want them all to be set up exactly the same. The least kick ass thing about the GX 700 would be the Harmonist and the Pitch Shifter, as they are kind of slow and sketchy. Overall, this unit kicks ass.

So far, so good. I don't think I'd play a show without a backup for everything.

I've heard Roland is Japanese for "A**holes", but I've never dealt with them and it would be unethical for me to assume that they are. My Roland FC 200 has two #7 footswitches (but no #6) and was brand new when I bought it, but I think it's kinda unique so I never bitched about it.

I play DEATH METAL. The GX 700 suits my every need. I've been playing for 18 years. I own a lot of gear, but my Roland roster consists of 4-VSR 880's, 3-GX 700's, a Boss DR550 MKII drum machine, and a vintage Boss CE-2 chorus pedal from the old shool. I sold my Marshall JMP-1 when I realized what the GX 700 was capable of. Now chicks dig me. Thanks Roland!

This is about the easiest multi effects unit I have ever used I purchased it used and did not recieve a manual This is about the best
user interface I have ever seen on a guitar effects processor

I run an all tube setup I am by nature and experience very suspect of AD/DA conversion The modulation and pitch shifting on DSP have been suspect from day 1 After a few days you develop a strong dislike for the chorus wah and flange effects in them This is the first Guitmulti that I like

No doubts here I will use this in my rack daily and liberally until someone show my ears somthing drastically better

I am customer support I been tweaking guitar anps and effects for 30 years If it ain't broke I ain't gonna call

I love this thing Nuttin but the best for my dog Frenchie

People say this can sound like a Metal Zone pedal. It cannot. All it's distortions are based on a single one, that is EQed different ways. The distortions are all crap - really, no lie. Becasue I only paid $180 for the thing I am not trying to delude myself into thinking it's something it isn't. If you want good tube tone, get a Peavey Rockmaster - THEN run it's signal into this thing for using the effects :) This Boss has very 'warmed out' effect box emulations. It is EXTREEMELY colored - useful for getting those '80's tones. For distortion, it is a joke!

Useful as a stomp box emulator - except the distortions, which all suck - NOT LIKE ANALOG DISTORTION, it is way too grainy, noisy, no sustain (comparatively speaking) no ethereal grind like you can get from a Metal Zone.

P.S.: You can emulate EVERY Boss pedal with the Metal zone - simply EQ it different ways BEFORE the distortion, AND after. For example, to get 'grindy' things, put more bass before. For more 'modern' things, put more mids/highs before, etc.

Boss and most other brands of this type are FRAUD products. They say they sound like XYZ, but they DO NOT! It is like how Bose speakers say they sound like a live concert - what a joke LOL Get real - it is all lies. I heard a Roland VG-8 and god what a toy - absolutely compressed, lifeless, no highs or shimmer - very closed in like a toy sound - pathetic! I'd even put the GX-700 above the VG-8 :)

If you want shimmer, get DIgitech. If you want Electronica/Industrial, get an Oberheim. If you want 80's rock, get a Tube Fex. If you want Hair metal, get Rocktron, etc. I own all of these units and more. They are colors on a painter's pallate. NONE of them will do what the others do. For instance, I find the pitch shift on the Digitech Valve FX very useful :) It tracks really well like using a trans trem type guitar - fun fun fun! And the oberheim and boss have nice shifters too. The boss will give you these Steve Miller synth sounds, and the Oberheim will make your guitar sound like a raging church or Hammond organ - the digitech will sound spacey. Even though you may set them the same, they have their own character - and it's more than EQ differences - it goes to the core of the sound.

In short, people, stop pretending you can get your whole sound from one box. It ain't gonna' happen - not unless you delude yourself into thinking so - or if your range of sounds you like is severely limited.

I would put the TRANSPARENCY of this product near the bottom - EXTREEMELY false and colored (but useful if you want false and colored!)

I would rank the USEFULNESS of this item about the middle :) It WILL NOT do analog distortion tone - it is way grainier. If you want metal zone tone, sorry, you still need a metal zone. I A/B them and there is simply no comparison - the metal zone is vastly vastyl superior (distortion wise)

I'll try to write the best as I can in english.

the gx-700 could be more easy to use if it has more knobs (it's not useful when you have to edit patches). you have to take your time to make the machine sound ok.

I have a telecaster 52 reissue and I plug my guitar in the gx-700 and the gx-700 directly in my Hotrod Deville. I have never heard something so much noisy. Maybe its because I don't have humbuckers on my guitar. But there is always and strange and disturbing noise and you have to use the noise gate frequently when distortion is on. The chorus is very bad, the distortions and overdrive don't have a very good sound too. You can't really bypass the processor and the machine changes completely the sound of your amp.

No problem with that.

Never dealt with the company.

I never sounded as I expected with the gx-700. On the effect side, you have a lot of possibility and you can do what you want (I use to play Gentle Giant and Frank Zappa's stuff at college) but it will alwas kill the natural sound of your guitar.
I always hated to manipulate the Gx-700. Maybe I didn't use the right gear with it. Anyway, it cuts the sound of your instrument and that is not allowed for me and I hope for anybody of you.

First about the Sound: WOW, never thought I can get such a sound out of my guitar. I got it as a "present" for X-mas (bought it for myself) and started at the same evening with testing. Started with some Factory-made-patches and with the first strike of the strings, the cabinet was roaring. After that I tried to make my first own Patch. Oh my god...so many parameters...but the manual is well written so that you can understand the GX-700 in only a few minutes. And for every effect there's a button so you can edit every effect seperately.

I'm using the BOSS GX-700 with a "Westone Spectrum II Series" guitar, a "Epiphone Les Paul Studio" guitar, a "Vermona Graphic-Equalizer", a "bespeco Volume Pedal" and for the Amplification I use a "Rocktron Velocity 100" Power Amp and a "Hughes & Kettner 4x12" Speaker Cabinet.
The GX-700 is working noiseless and because of the included NoiseSupressor no patch is humming.
The effects sound great...really every effect is great! This Preamp can do really more with the sound than I ever expected.
I'm really impressed by the Ampsimulation-Section in the GX-700.
Especially the "Roland JC-120"-Simulation is great. Now my clean sound sounds exactly like James Hetfield's.

Reliability? Yeah! Absolutely!!! Yesterday (28.12.2001) I played over 8 hours with my band without any longer stops between the songs and the GX-700 delivered constant power all the time.
And yes, I would use this thing live without any backup. The Brand "BOSS" stands for quality and so I believe in its reliability!

I never had problems with the products of BOSS.

Me and my band play much of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal like Black Sabbath, AC/DC and Metallica. We are all Metallica fans and I'm a great Kirk Hammett fan. Everything I do must be as Kirk does, so my guitar has to sound like his and so on. And the BOSS GX-700 can take my sound as close to Kirk's that it sounds nearly the same. Okay, my guitarplaying is not as good as Mr. Hammett's but I think I'm not bad in doing the thing I like best and thats making music with friends.
The GX-700 is the perfect partner for me to get the sound I like and if it were stolen I would, yes I fucking would buy it again, no matter what it costs.

Quite easy unit in editing etc. Someone has written a piece of software (Soundstation) to edit patches and dump ur patches on the computer bla bla. Works nice.. U do need the manual (http://gx700.freeservers.com) if u want to use all functions of the unit. Manual is okay.

I have some dean d-92 guitar with h-s-h config. Not the best guitar but it was best i could pay for at that time. It's plugged in the gx700, then from the mono output to my Bassmann 70 (2x15"). Got a Viscount PX3000 fc with 2 swellpedals and a lot of buttons (bank up/down, 10 patch switching, mode button, bypass button).

I really like the modulation effects (flange, phase, chorus). Delays and reverbs suit me well too (i don't know much about delay and reverb quality). It doesn't have much choice in delay. Only normal and tap delay. U can make ping-pongs but no ducking etc. Pitch-shifter and harmonizer work okay. Bit sloppy tracking sometimes. But u really need ur guitar tuned perfect. Has got something to do with internal frequencies of the notes that r programmed or something like that. Doesn't sound like 2 guitars tho. But is nice.

Compressor i don't understand. Most times i don't like what comes out of it. But i also don't know how to work it well. They say it is fine.

I really don't like the distortions and preamps. Clean tone is perfect tho. But all overdrives and distortions do zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. U can make some hefty metal distortions and some real heavy stuff. I bought an ibanez TS-10 (has got a bit more grain than the TS-9). It sounds much better than all them gx700 overdrives. But perhaps i just don't like Boss overdrives.

So, Metal distortions i shall rate a 7, modulation a 9 (except for pitch shifter and harmonizer, but the unit is cheap. So no real complaints there.) Reverb and delay an 8. Overdrives and fuzz and stuff a 4.

Don't know if u can depend on it. Digital units tend to fail u after some years. I only have it a few months (occasion tho). We'll c. I'm still searching for my pedals. Those will be my backup.

Well, most ppl say that Boss customer support barely exists. Never dealt with them. Hope i never have 2.

In my band i play mostly rock and metal. Personally i play lots a stuff. Classic, jazzy, bluesy, metally. Playing guitar now for 16 yrs (of wich 5 yrs only acoustic). 2 yrs ago also started playing bass. I wouldn't buy it again if it where stolen. Would try such a floor multi effect (GT-3, Digitech RP-2000 or RP-21 wich has a tube), most likely it would be a digitech with a tube in it. Or i would buy stompboxes again and try such a Carl Martin combinator.

Some words in french.
Assez facile d'utilisation, mais le manuel ne doit jamais etre bien loin au debut... Les effets sont accessibles facilement, il faut seulement etre bien au courant des parametres et des possibilites de connexions, assez nombreuses et tres utiles pour profiter pleinement de l'engin.

Tres tres bon son sur les effets "standards", similaires aux pedales Boss bien connues. Les effets plus exotiques sont un peu riches pour une utilisation normale, mais les possibilites sont infinies. Les preamps et simulateur de HP permettent de bosser au casque avec un son monstrueux, et peuvent apporter un plus meme dans une chaine GX700-preampli-ampli-baffle. Je branche le GX dans un Quad Mesa-Boogie, soit en entree soit en boucle d'effet, et le son du Mesa est toujours bien present.

Aucun probleme, ca a l'air costaud. Le mien a 5 ans (achete d'occaz) et n'a aucun probleme, ni connectique ni boutons...

Jamais eu de problemes, donc jamais eu affaire a Boss.

Excellent pour le prix, tres polyvalent (je joue du Jazz et d'autres choses plus rock). Teste avec plusieurs guitares (Telecaster, Firebird, Jazzmaster, ES175...), le son est toujours tres convaincant.

I found my GX-700 extremely friendly, with its lighted buttons for each effects "module" to tell me which effects were active. Pressing one calls up that effect and you scroll through the parameters with the knob. I'd swear Roland/Boss manual's are written by people who don't speak fluent english, though. They're never very descriptive. It's better to experiment to find out what the parameters do. Getting started is easy. You can just flip through the presets with the knob.

Thanks to the COSM amp simulations and analog-sounding effects, this rig sounds very natural, like an amp and pedalboard combination. It can also be just as noisy if you aren't careful with your gain and gating. Don't use more gain than you need to get the sound you want or the preamps do just what a tube amp does - go over top, get flappy, lose attack and sound like frying bacon. Just one parameter value can make the difference between "perfect" and "too much". Also, never forget that its a digital device. You have to "gain stage" every module in your chain. Some modules, especially the modulation module, can't tolerate a high input level while they're operating. Keep an eye on the clipping lights and palm mute to bring out the bass and check distortion.

I'm using my GX-700 with only a stereo 31-band graphic EQ, a power amp, and a pair of small PA speakers. I *always* us a preamp even if it's just a clean one, and I use the onboard cabinet simulator. I use the FC-200 midi controller. In my home studio, the stereo outs from the GX go straight into my VS880EX digital workstation.

The effects are all comparable to stomp boxes but without the hassle. I'm particularly pleased with the flanger, since I have a special way of tuning the sweep for a custom modulation effect I like to use. I also use it to simulate a Univibe, Robin Trower's "In City Dreams" wide flange, and the high end of my 3-speed Leslie patch. I'm surprised the phaser sounds so rich. Digital phasers usually stink. My only complaint is that the auto wah can't handle any gain. I have to cut down the level going in and boost it coming out or it distorts.

I know the word's over used, but I'm an "eclectic" guitarist. My first rock concert was Boston in Philadelphia and I remember Tom Scholz standing in a frosted spot making his guitar play itself. I have a GX patch called "Spotlight" that sounds like that, along with a whole bank of Boston patches. I also have everything from Police, David Gilmour, and Stevie Ray to Eric Johnson, Allan Holdsworth and Satriani. My GX is flexible enough to do it all. Recently, I duplicated some of Steve Hackett's old Genesis sounds.

One little trick I like to use is to put an overdrive module in front of a preamp to simulate an extra gain stage. You set the drive *very* low so it just clips, and the output so its only barely a noticable boost. Start with the tone of the OD module flat. You'll probably have to make it dark because the extra gain will brighten things up. A little "vintage OD" can turn a 1959 Marshall (inputII) from a JCM900 into an SLX-1 with edgier, thrashier gain. Some "blues driver" can turn it into a HiWatt.

I've been using this box for four years without a single glitch so what else can I tell you? So far, it's 100% reliable. Having used BOSS equipment for years and never having had anything they made break down, I wouldn't be concerned about taking it to a gig.

I've never had a problem with my BOSS equipment, but I have dealt with their parent company, RolandCorp. When I first bought my Roland VS880 digital studio, it locked up on me. Being something of a technophobe and afraid to do anything and possibly breaking it, I called them. They were extremely helpful and their expert advice ("Shut it off and turn it back on.") did the trick. :-)

I'm an original progressive rock artist. I've been playing 28 years. My music requires a wide variety of sounds and that I change sounds often. I find my GX-700 to be flexible enough to give me what I want without being unduely complex, and it sounds like an *amp*. I'd buy it again if they still made it. It's like having a room full of amps, and I can custom design my own project amp and tinker with it. I know they said they wouldn't print "glowing reviews", but seriously, I can't think of anything I could replace this with. You'd have to pry it out of my cold, dead fingers.

The GX-700 is quite easy to use, with direct access to every single effect (straight from the front buttons) and to every parameter of the effect you are editing. A little more complicated is to change the effect chain order...it's not as intuitive as editing an effect.

I use it with an ENGL screamer 50 head, a 4x12 ENGL cabinet with vintage celestion speakers and a left-hand american Fender stratocaster (...yes i'm left handed..SOB!!!) The signal path is quite complicated: I plug my fender into the GX-700 and then from the loop-send (of the GX-700) to the input of the ENGL head. Then from the loop send of the ENGL head to the loop-return of the GX-700 and finally from the left (MONO) out of the GX-700 to the loop return of the ENGL head (into the power section). I found this (terrible !!) wiring scheme much more versatile and good sounding than putting the GX-700 in the effect loop of the ENGL head. Acting on the loop send level (on the GX-700) i can control the signal strength on the ENGL preamp, thus obtaining a wide spectrum of tones in every channel of the head's preamp. I also use the vintage OD\DS BEFORE the ENGL preamp clean channel and the result is a wonderful crunch sound, with a lot of clarity and warmth. I never use the PREAMP effect because the ENGL preamp section is a lot better (all valve of course!!).
Again using the lead channel of the ENGL preamp and pushing the loop send level of the GX-700 i can obtain an incredibly sustaining lead sound (increasing "de facto" the head's gain: quite good with a single coil pick-up guitar). The best GX-700 effects are (in my opinion) the delay and the reverb units. I play a lot of U2 songs using as a consequence a lot of delay, and this unit is very good.
The chorus and the tremolo FX are also good.
With this rig i can get the sound i ever wanted and i like the tonal versatility i can get from the ENGL head via the loop send level (as i wrote before) using it quite as a midi preamp.
The unit can be a little noisy when used with high gain settings (on the head or on the OD\DS) but the noise suppressor works well.

I've been using this unit in live concerts for 2 years and never had any problem. I heard (from friends) about some problems with the rear input (??) i use the front input!

I've never need any support so i can't evaluate this point.

I play a lot of U2, Police, Lanny Kravitz ....and i found the rig i described before a perfect one. But i can play also heavy metal licks with very convincing sound. I think the overall setup is very versatile especially for rock and rock & blues sounds.
If my GX-700 were stolen i'll probably buy it again or perhaps i'll buy a ROLAND GP100 wich is the natural "father" of the GX-700. I like very much the Control 1\2 feature that let you change some parameters of any effect through a footswitch pedal in the same patch. This is useful when using a patch with a lot of delay effect...the change to another path kills all the delayed sound resulting in a muted sound during the change.
I wish it had the external control feature (programmable, like the Roland GP100) that let you automate the head channel switching.

This unit was my entry into digital FX and could'nt have been easier to use.it took only seconds to edit, change & save patches.The tuner is great and is really easy to see at gigs. The speaker simulator is exellent & I have used it both thru a P.A and a 4 by 12.there is also virtually no gap between patches when using a foot controller(I use an ART- X15

The overall sound ,I thought , was great. There is a great deal of scope in all the patches but as with any unit you have to take time. The Auto-wah is worth an extra mention.

I have gigged this unit constantly for 5 years and have only recently had technical problems ,which are only due to exessive use and rough handling between thousands of gigs.This unit will be hard to replace!

I prefer heavier stuff but am a very fussy semi-pro and play all manner of music 4 times a week the GX-700 has allways suited my needs

I 've no idea about it's firmware ver but this is a KILLER "machine" !
Very easy editing,you can have your own sound in minutes.

I use many guitars ,such as a BCRich Warlock (with Dimarzio pickups),a Kramer Vanguard (with Seymour Duncan pic ups) ,a Gibson Explorer,etc., and I have the best possible HUGE sound I want.It's an amazing effect processor at all the ways.With a small 12" Marshall or a JCM 900 or even a Valvestate,this processor works perfect with a brilliant sound,clear (no noise if you use the amazing NoiseGate),it's distortions are great but better try to experiment through it';s Metal Distortion & EQ to have the characteristic sound of a Metal Zone pedal.It is ,also,great for practise with headphones (the amp simulators sounds so real...) and I recommend you for direct recordings as I was surprised by the result ...Huge and Heavy !!!

I use it very often at gigs without any problem so far.But,I recommend you to use the reverb of the amp instead of Boss ones as you 'll get better quality. I don't care for it's small LCD screen as it's very readable in darkness and on the other hand you only need 4-5 different pre-sets witch is easy enough to change while on stage.

Their customer in Greece was much friendly with me.They also let me try it at their studio room and that was enough, in seconds I was ready to buy it !

I use GX-700 for more than 3 years without any problem so far. Recommended for Heavy,Thrash,death,black metal !If someone stollen it,I 'ld buy a GT-3 'cause I 'll save the extra pedal-footswitch a GX-700 needs but...maybe no. Another GX-700 'ld be OK as it's what I need. Excellent treble sound ala SATYRICON & EXODUS (Bonded by Blood),huge distorted sound like CARCASS,everything is here !I love Boss distortion sound and this is my "dream machine".

took me a while to get the hang of it, needed to look at the manual for a very long time b4 it sunk in!

i use a PEAVEY valve rack amp and an old Marshall Bass cab (which incidentally used to belong to defunct rockers CHELSEA, bass player BILLY IDOL!!)which has g12-80's instead of bass speakers. Guitar is Gibson Explorer custom shop special, and use Roland FC200 footpedal (ace!) I can always get the sound i want (eventually) by finding the nearest preset patch and modifying it from there. footwah takes a while to set up right, but once you get the settings..its killer! Get a really convincing Slayer sound on the o/d and a really nice rough drive for FOO FIGHTERS covers!! Chorus is naff but very slight pitch shift is better!!! Dreamy! Love the delays! hate the stupid 'laughing' effect!

Have used it in about 4 different bands, and found it to be very adaptable to different styles (metal/electric folk/indie/acoustic!!) Only problems ive had with it are A: knob fell off after 3 days B:rear jack socket has gone michrophonic and squeals whenever you try to connect the guitar or wireless to it, can only use front jack. Has behaved itself up to now, ive had it 4 years, and its been well gigged, so yes i would trust it on the road (in a very good flight case)

n/a

i play all styles, it follows where ever i go musically. ive been playing since i was 11. im now 35. Other gear? Peavey heritage VTX combo/samson wireless/fender acoustic. if it were nicked i would buy another. hate the stupid sounds (laughing) bets feature is the ability to set almost 2 second delay, then set a slow rise and get a dreamy keyboard effect, loaded with chorus and reverb...yum! compared to yamaha 77 (noisy) zoom 505 (even more noisy) boss is quiet(est). ive written my best tunes on this unit.