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Roland GP-100

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Manufacturer URL http://www.rolandus.com/
Ease of Use 8.2 (38 responses)
Sound Quality 9.0 (40 responses)
Reliability 9.4 (31 responses)
Customer Support 7.5 (13 responses)
Overall Rating 9.1 (37 responses)
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Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 02/28/2009 at 06:15pm by Larry Bushell

Ease of Use : 8
When i was first introduced to the GP-100, A friend of mine purchased it and gave it to me to learn how it works because he didn't have a lot of spare time. I was supposed to show him how to use it once I had learned. I had JUST bought a new effects unit about a month before and after trying the GP-100, I sold it and bought a GP-100 for myself. It was very easy to learn and I had no problems with it.

I Love my GP-100

Sound Quality : 10

Reliability : 10
I've had my GP-100 for about 12 years now and it hasn't let me down yet.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 10
My style is mainly classic Rock and this machine delivers everything I could ask for. I've been playing now for about 35 years and this is the most reliable piece of equipment I have every owned, bar none. If it were ever lost I would immediately try to replace it with another one. One of my favorite features is the fact that it's MIDI compliant and I can save all my info to the computer and archive it to disc.


Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 02/15/2008 at 07:47pm by Chris C
Email: cchurch32 at cogeco<dot>ca

Ease of Use : 10
Not so bad the manual is totally useless!! But the sounds of this unit more then make up for it.

Editing patches could not be easy-er! trust me you would have to be a total moron not to be able to get a sound out of this unit.

I dont know the firmware version of this unit but it sounds great.

Sound Quality : 10
I have to say I have been a guitar player for over 32 years now. I have been a professional sound engineer for 20+ years and I have been lucky enough to work with some of the best guitar players in the world. I would say this preamp is one of the best sounding units I have ever heard in 20 years of doing live sound I have never come across a better sound then this thing can give you.

I dont use the effects at all I find the reverb weak compared for my TC-GMAJOR. But as a preamp it freaking rocks.. I use the eq and the preamp on this thing and that's all.

The amp I use it with is a 1990 62 Vibroverb reissue amp with G-10 celestions in it.

Can I get the sound of any artist I want NO because there sound is not in some box.. Its in there hands...

Can I get any sound I want? YES 100% YES If you see one of these things for sale BUY IT! I spent $400 That sounds like alot for a unit made in 1995 but Its not about the $$ ITS ABOUT THE SOUND. This thing blows the crap out of anything I have ever used ada forgetabout it.. I am a tube freak and this thing sounds more tube then any tube amp I own.

Like I said I dont use the effects because IMO nothing beats TC-ELECTRONIC G-MAJOR G-FORCE ect For effects if you have a G-MAJOR and want a kick ass PREAMP that you can MIDI up with the g-major this IS IT!

Reliability : 10
I am also an electronics tech. I opened up this unit its built like a TANK. There should be no issues with reliability with this product.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never had to use them so I dont know.

Overall Rating : 10
Look I play blues and I play Jazz I play rock and I play hard rock. This thing when used with a good tube amp does not take away from your guitar sound at all Its like the TC-Electronic stuff it only enhances it. What more can you ask for in a processor? Its a shame everything Roland has built after the GP-100 sounds like crap. Why cant they build a GP100 with the preamp section and build TC-Quality effects they would have a killer unit. If you can get one of these BUY IT! ITS WORTH EVERY PENNY I paid for it. I am not just talking crap I know gear.



Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: #769 (uk pounds)
Submitted 06/12/2006 at 01:05pm by terry steward

Ease of Use : 7
it would take a while to get the tones and volumes etc uniform, but i use only a few patches, and switch everything on and off as i need them, like stomp boxes (control change mode) the best thing really is to study the manual.because i believe the reqd info is there.

Sound Quality : 9
i use my main gp100 (i now have 3 !) straight into a stereo channel on the desk, which is a behringer. as i play solo and duo,i use lem dsp 400 powered cabs, a/ only these on stands just behind and to either side of me for solos. and b/ as wedges directly behind us for that band behind us sound on duo,s, with ass 15 inch bass cabs, 500watts a side, with a pair of bose 802,s also 500 watts a side, so thats 2800 watts, we are a classic rock duo. i get fantastic sounds with the lems, and when the frontline is on !! wow !even the marshall stack school have been impressed !!, , we cover ac/dc, gnr, rainbow, satriani, floyd, santana, meatloaf, the eagles, = many many more, and it always delivers, a fantastic sound,i can go from knopfler, to satriani, to schenker, to gilmore, in one patch !!

Reliability : 10
i have had this for ten years! doing at least a 100 gigs a year !!, and it hasnt missed one gig !!, er,,,,,, yeah i would use it without back up, but as a lover of boss/roland products, i have 3 gp1oo,s, a gx700, a gt6,an me8 which my son has !!, and 3 be5,s the first multi !! with four stomp box fx, and a noise gate !!

Customer Support : 8
my dealer is pmt in southend on sea essex, and last year they got me both input sockets, as although still working, the front socket wouldnt switch to silent when i removed the jack, it took me about 40 mins to replace, and it is now fine.(main gp100. the other two i have only just purchased for #225, and this recent purchase was #160 for gp100 in 2u rack, and an fc200 !!both on e bay !!

Overall Rating : 10
i play anything from barry manilow !! to satriani !!, purple floyd,dr feelgood, clapton ,hendrix, jeff beck,feeder, bowling for soup,wheatus.van morrison fleetwood mac, van halen, bb king.i have been playing for 34 years, i have an ibanez jem 7vwh, and a washburn rs8v, and also a washburn acoustic, and an ibanez electro, fostex mr8,alesis sr16, squire jazz bass, loadsa boss n roland multi,fx,s, an 800watt pa.i would now only use a gp100, as 16 realtime parameters to control, hasnt been equalled, (even new gtpro)and the sound is warmer than all the zooms,digitechs,line 6,s etc, the only thing it lacks, is the silly stuff the gt6 has like autoriff !! but i wouldnt use it !!,the gp100 has plenty of headroom, so you could never outgrow it !! it was far advanced to everything else even in the mid nineties when i bought it which was why i bought it,,, for keeps, it will see me out !!


Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: $800 (Aus) used
Submitted 05/05/2006 at 07:30pm by Josh Ferrara

Ease of Use : 7
The only reason i gave it a 7 not a 10 was because i absolutly had to read the manual to work out how to connect it to my PC via midi - its easy once you know how. Everything els you can fool around with and even if you have overloaded some of the effects - you can get away with it :)

Sound Quality : 9
The quality of the sound of this unit and the range of uses makes it an IDEAL addition to any musician or recording setup

Reliability : 9
If you know what your doing - the GP 100 will help you do it better

Customer Support : 5
Downloadable patches have ceased - but you can get the manual in pdf format from rolandus.com - any roland dealer can fix it - ive never had a problem though. The rating of 5 is because there is huge potential for an online community of users swapping patches but it jet never got started

Overall Rating : 10
I bought it for $800 Australian - with a midi foot pedal FC200 - i have never bought something for that cheap that is SOO DAMN GOOD. I have never had an issue with my GP100 its still going strong post 2006 I love it. I may add or take away accessories but my GP100 will be the backbone of my sound untill i die - im even thinking of buying another one just incase my current one packs it in. The day i cant use my GP100 anymore will be an extremely sad day for me


Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: US $420 used
Submitted 10/15/2004 at 11:29pm by Romk
Email: romacito<at>mail dot ru

Ease of Use : 9
I got used to it pretty soon, maybe due to i had used Boss pedals previously. I started with tweaking parameters of chosen one effect in chain to hear how it works.On one hand it's a good idea to work out an effect this way.On another overall desired effect i would call a "Reverb" maybe gotten by means of combination of Chorus/Harmonist/Reverb in chain.

Sound Quality : 7
The GP completed my current setup.The only guitar i use is Ibanez S series 540 LTD. I've removed factory bridge humbucker and middle single coil pickups for DiMarzio Dual Sound and Jackson J-100 (moved from vintage Stratocaster). I still sometimes turn on Boss compressor/sustainer,then it comes to Jim Dunlop original Cry baby,then it goes to Mesa/Boogie TriAxis tube preamp from its line outputs it goes into GP-100 and then to Return of Mesa/Boogie Single Rectifier Rectoverb 50 combo loaded with 12"x1 celestion special 90W. I guess GP-100 is good with particular effects like tremolo, reverb, chorus and is not brilliant with some others.So the overall sound quality of my setup has a lot to do with tonal opportunities of guitar,pre&power amps clearity,cables.The main tone link i reckon is guitar/amp.In my set up effects of GP-100 are something i can't refuse but they are not the core of sound.Of course it's a fun to use GP-100's COSM digital preamps upon TriAxis tube basis.I find that most interesting if talking about using digital distortion models at all:)I never used any other guitar processor before but heard lot of complain regarding their tone destroying nature.I could guess GP100 is somewhere in between.But i think it's not that bad if to get just a few effects out of it and surely not to use it as the only unit.Beside that i've found to rate a device of such sophisticated level it takes some skills and time from user.I'm spending hours on tweaking and get closer to what i really want. If u're not in it it's better to stay back and keep on using stompboxes.

Reliability : 9
I think i can depend on it as it is metal coated box called Roland:) One rotating knob fakes from time to time as tweaking the parameters but this unit is 7 or 8 years wouldn't say it's something wrong with my GP.

Customer Support : 3
Roland is well known for their unfriendly silent way of response to their customers.I have some other Roland devices:
synth/sequencer,virtual studio and had experince of getting help
from them,it's all no good.

Overall Rating : 7
I play in 3 piece band of 2 guitar players,one bass player,drums programs, keyboards progrms,additional playbacks from portable
digital studio.Our mixture has got something common with pop/rock/electronica/trip hop.I used Boss stompboxes with Mesa/Boogie Rectoverb 50.Boogie blew my mind with its tonal possibilities that made me a boogie devotional who reaches for one more Mesa gear.And it was TriAxis to control which on stage i needed midi controller that led me to one more remote controlled rack,GP-100.I decided to use tube preamp and FX processor with midi controller instead 4 stompboxes. I'm 3 months deep in it and can say it's rather difficult to adopt to new terms.I guess the thing is to develop own musical ideas with gear one owns at the moment.And that is the way i use my setup now.


Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: US $450 used
Submitted 07/26/2004 at 11:16pm by Mikey

Ease of Use : 9
I came straight from a zoom 505 to this, didnt take me long to work out what did what, the only annoying thing is if your using the rotary knobs instead of a footswitch to select patches it takes ages.

Sound Quality : 9
im using a strat through a peavey transtube amp, and the range of sounds i can get out of this is amazing, and not cheap digital sounding either its really close to the actual gear that it emulates, i find thta with a bit of mucking around i can get the sounds of my fav artists no probs

Reliability : 9
havent had any problems yet, but since its full of circut boards I wouldnt go tossing it out of windows

Customer Support : No Opinion
havent had any problems

Overall Rating : 9
I play mainly blues and rock, been playing about two years this is probably too advanced for me but i wanted a unit that i could grow into and this fits that category perfectly, i love the fact that the sound quality is great, theres plenty of outputs and i can tweak the sound to my hearts content, the thing i hate about it the most is that I dont have two, its great for making music, and awesome for recording with, i use it with a roland fc 200 footswitch that works through midi, i wouldnt reccomend it for live use without some kind of floor controller


Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: 47500 BEF (about ?1200)
Submitted 01/12/2004 at 11:26am by Raf Jansen
Email: rafbear<at>hotmail dot com

Ease of Use : 9
I cam from a decidedly simple setup : guitar, wah, effects, amp, which to us guitar players is a no brainer, and had no problem adapting to the elaborate possibilities of this preamp. The factory presets were quite helpful in starting me on a quest for the right sound. The manual gets you programming in no time. Read it for ten minutes, then got to tweaking for the rest of the day, and what a great time I had. For those not willing to open up an edit page, there are always the knobs to fiddle around with. But play around with this box for a week, and I bet it'll have you doing programming stuff you never thought you'd do. The only thing I found to be a bit dissappointing, was that there were five preamp/effect algorythms, instead of one which incorporated all the aspects. That would certainly have been easier.

Sound Quality : 9
I bought it in 1995, and have been using it ever since. Most of that time, I played it through a '73 Fender Dual Showman with its original 2x15" JBL powered cabinet, which is a beast in its own right, not to mention intimidating to any guitar player you play with, just from the sheer size of it. Even at a preamp setting of '2' with the power amp cranked (Fender Heaven!), I got yelled at to turn the thing down - which i did with the master of the GP, only to have the sound guy ask me to turn it back up again because he got no signal. Now put that powerhouse to work with the digital powerhouse, which houses some nice amp models and a slew of excellent to very useful effects. The amp models are not 100% accurate, but close enough. And the good thing is : you can always get closer. With a very musical parametric equaliser, you can shape the amp tone even further. Not only that, you can really clone certain amp sounds you like from other guitar players down to the smallest detail, if you take the time. Example : I'm a big Fields of the Nephilim fan, and I especially liked their live guitar sound, which I can only describe as molten lava pouring from a crater. Thing is, one of the two guitar players uses a Gretsch Chet Atkins, and the semi acoustic body adds to the overall sound. I was able to recreate that sound, using one of the modeled amps in Dual mode, with a chorus setting and some delay and reverb. A/B'ed it with a track of the live CD, and bingo! I was also able to model their distinctive clean sound and some other sounds they use. In my opinion, it doesn't matter which amps are modeled; there's enough there to give you the sound you are looking for... Twice. A few small hitches though : you need to know some music theory to program the pitch shifter (even with the provided diagram in the manual), even though it'll help you do squeals and scratching like Tom Morello in no time (provided, you're using a MIDI controller pedal or the FC-200 switchboard); in modulation, the tremolo isn't quite flexible enough. It uses absolute tempo, so no going inbetween the measurements. So if you're playing in a band with a drummer, as most of us do, you can't adjust the tempo to the tempo of the band. That's a shame. I might have to fork out a few bucks for a stomp box, which I think could have been avoided. The delays have always been a Roland strong point, and adding a filter to it is a good idea. It makes the delay sound sound warmer. Unfortunately, it doesn't have both high and low pass filters, which would have been great to emulate - and surpass - their old DM-2 analog delay stomp box, with its sweeping feedback, for all those dub lovers' and space freaks' convenience. Am I asking too much? Well, I'm a Tone Dog, always looking to go where anyone can go and beyond, providing I have the tools. Lastly, the rise time of the slow gear (you know, the violin- like effect you usually get by turning your guitar's volume know or rocking the volume pedal) is a bit off sometimes. Especially at quick picking, you can hear the attack on the strings. Not quite the intention of said effect, is it? Still, this baby is a bomb! Use it to record directly, and by ading a little reverb in the mix, most ppl won't even know there wasn't an amp involved (except for the ones who make a living out of tone)!

Reliability : 10
This preamp has been on tour through Europe, seen a lot of action on standalone gigs, been through nearly frozen or nearly frying temperatures in draughty rehearsal spaces, doubles as a tuning rack when I'm roadieing for other bands, has fallen on many occasions - one time so much that the parameter knob was pushed back, was shorted out during a repair... and it STILL works! How much more reliable can a preamp get? I can always depend on the GP-100 to come through. I just wished Roland would have used infinite style potmeters instead of the ones with the small ribbons. They tend to wear out much faster, and if you're trying to dial to a certain number while editing, it goes back and forth, which can become quite stressing. Especially when you have a 'tone dial day' each year, in which I upgrade my sounds. Never satisfied, but the GP-100 always delivers (wish I had more presets though, as 200 is not enough ;-))

Customer Support : 9
Never had to use it, but I did on other Roland gear, and they've always been quite helpful.

Overall Rating : 10
In my 20- odd year career, I've played and play everything : from funk and disco to blues, punk, hardrock, metal, gothic, new wave, dreampop, psychedelic and even jazzy stuff. The GP-100 makes it all happen. I'm currently in the process of finding and buying another one (for the right price, of course), which could end up as a backup, but most likely will be used to double my current sound capabilities and create some neat new tricks. If it gets stolen or damaged beyond repair, I might consider buying a Line 6 Vetta, but I would certainly miss my trusty GP-100


Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: N/A used
Submitted 09/24/2003 at 02:17pm by Cameron Cotrill

Ease of Use : 7
The manual will get you started, but this is not a simple unit to program. Part of the issue is that it is very flexible and has more options than many of today's products. There is plenty of user memory (in 7 years, I've used up a little over 100 of the 200 available). It plays well with other devices and computers, so patch archival and control from non-roland footpedals works flawlessly.

Sound Quality : 10
The models are supurb, even by today's standards. I have several of the amps that are modeled (Vox, Fender, Marshall) and the models are excellent. Of particular note is the response of the models when on the edge of clipping. Roland's models respond like the real deal. Until the Vetta, Line 6's did not. Is the model perfect? No. Is it close enough? Yep. Even most musicians would not be able to tell the difference between a GP100 and the real hardware (until it comes time to haul the gear...). Of particular note is the Fender emulation. Just like your favorite blackface, turn down bass, mid, and treble to 0 and it kills all output - just like the real thing. Turn the gain up to "high" and it responds just like the Fender I modded back in the 70's that had an added gain stage (who needs tremolo anyway?). It's hard to believe these models are 8 years old and are still more flexible and better sounding than what's on the market today. Two amps at once? Been there, done that. The GP-100 has it and you can use a footpedal to crossfade between them.
By the way, I also have a Boss GX-700 and the models in it are not nearly as good as the GP-100. Don't know about any of the other Boss COSM stuff, but be warned.
The effects are solid. Most are emulations of various Boss pedals. Digitech and Lexicon have more "sizzle" in the stereo imaging, but these get the job done and are free of annoyances.
I use the GP-100 with a split feed. Part of the signal is direct to the house, and part is fed to a pair of full range monitors. The idea is that all tonal coloration is done by the GP-100.
The only dings I give it are: no 2x10 and 4x10 speaker models and no spring reverb models.
Real time control facilities are supurb. Up to 16 parameters can be controlled in real time. As an example, you can assign a continious controller to increase the preamp volume from "3" to "10", drop the master volume to compensate, and boost the treble while cutting the mid - and you still have 12 parameters left!

Reliability : 9
I have 3 GP-100s now. One lives at home, one at the rehersal facility, and one at church. They all get used at least every other week. The oldest was purchased new 7 years ago. The other two I have picked up used. I've replaced the battery back up in one. The effects loop jacks in one of the units were flakey and cleaning didn't help. I finally plugged in some jumper cables and left them in and that cleared up the problems. I've managed to get the unit in a wierd state a few times where it stopped responding to some (but not all) midi from the footpedal. Cycling the power restored it to its senses the few times it has happened.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never dealt with them since the units never needed service or upgrades.

Overall Rating : 8
I'm a weekend warrior and have been playing for over 40 years. I have 20 guitars and half a dozen amps. The GP-100 is what I use for everything except final recordings. The models are as good as anything available today. One could wish for a few more models (particularly speakers), but what is there is top notch. The effects are good but not stellar. It is more flexible than any other rack modeling solution out there. Someday somebody will surpass it, but it hasn't happended yet.


Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: US $400 used
Submitted 05/02/2003 at 03:15pm by Gerard

Ease of Use : 8
The GP100 is very simple to use, but you have to study with it and you must know something about effects and effects chains. I first read the manual for about 3, 4 times and after a few days i knew everything about the unit. The manual is quit simple to read and is a must have. The internet is also very helpfull. You can also download any type of sound you want.

The major advantage of this unit are the effects loops and of course the external swithes. I used both effects loops for two external pre-amps. Within the programm i was able to switch between pre-amp A and B, both pre-amps simultaneous or none. Sometimes i only used the pre-amp of the GP100. The external switches are used for switching channels of the external pre-amps. A few months ago i bought a Digitech 2120. Sorry guys, but the Digitech is much, much better in every way, exept for the wah. So I don't need the GP anymore.

firmware is 2.10.

Sound Quality : 7
I've had this unit for about two years now and used several different setups and effects units: Roland GP8, GP16, Boss GX700. I always used a valve amp with it. I think the GP only shines with valve amps. The speaker simulator is bad, dreadfull.
My previous setup was: Handcrafted fender model with magahony body, Peavey 5150 combo 212 (o yes, with the GP100, clean and crisp is not a problem now), Hughes & Kettner Access programmable pre-amp (also very good, reliable and flexible unit).
The GP100 is a good and very flexible effects units, but it's NOT the best! I said it before, the digitech has much better effects, and a much better pre-amp. If you have to choose, choose both or buy the Digitech.
My setup at this moment: same guitar of course!, Digitech 2120, Hughes & Kettner VS250 stereo valve amp, home made 2x12 cabinet loaded with Celestion Vintage 30's.

Reliability : 10
This is the most reliable unit ever made!! You don't need any backup. With the Digitech, I need to use the GP100 as a backup.

Customer Support : 8
Never dealt with them, but i know they are very helpfull.

Overall Rating : 8
I play rock, heavy rock and some metal. I use all kind of sounds, also clean and crisp sounds. It did not match 100%, because of the bad pre-amp section. I needed to change my setup. Now i'm very happy with my new and simplified set. But i will keep the GP100, just for the fun.


Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: US $299.00 used
Submitted 02/26/2003 at 10:01pm by Anonymous

Ease of Use : 10
Considering all of its capabilities and features I think its VERY user friendly. May be a little intimidating at first but once you get around on it its quite easy to configure and very conveniently designed in regards to configuring.

Sound Quality : 10
EXCELLENT! Probably the BEST digital non-tube preamp I have ever heard and the FX, all though not entirely fond of all of them (mainly the Harmonizer), still have superb quality.

Reliability : 10
Didnt own it very long because I wanted an analog preamp but it was built solid and considering these things came out in approximately 1995 and are discontinued and still being bought and sold without any problems (that I have heard of anyway), I would say that they're built quite well.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never called them but I don't believe there is any more support from Roland on this product.

Overall Rating : 10
I must give this beautiful piece of gear a 10. It was one of my best experiences in musical gear. Unfortunately I just bought a Marshall TSL100 amp which didn?t arrive until after the GP?100 but when plugging into the Marshall I couldn?t get quite the same warmth as I did with the analog preamp (Roland GP-8) so I really didn?t need this extra unit but when it first arrived, I plugged it straight into a solid state amp (FX-in - straight to the power amp section) and that amp NEVER sounded so good! The thing utterly screamed with high gains I had only dreamed of getting. Wish I would have discovered it before I dropped a 1k on an amp but what can I say, I can?t complain about the TSL100 either. I thought about just keeping it for the FX but I couldn?t let that beautiful preamp just sit there and waste away so I sold it hoping it would be utilized to its fullest abilities like it should be.


Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: US $885
Submitted 10/28/2002 at 04:50pm by LANCE PENTTLAND

Ease of Use : No Opinion
hello folks,
I bought the geep back in 1997 and when exposed to this great machine I was a little lost, mainly because I,m old school. When I committed to understand this machine it made me realize this wasn't a plug in and play tool. I was discouraged for a while, but kept on plugging away. I studied the manuel inside out, bought a instruction video, and read user comments. I learned more about this tool than I thought was possible and haven't solve all it's mistery's yet. One important lesson i've learned with this tool is you have to understand tone. Tone is something you can't buy, so once you figure tone out, you'll discover the ZEN in this unit. good luck.....

Sound Quality : 10
As I said before when one understands tone, one will honestly know how great this tool is. I'm so glad I waited and studied the different tools that where out in the consumer world. Even to date the geep is a special invention and should be put in the music gears hall of fame. I've played guitar through this tool for over five years and haven't found anything else nagging me to put it a side. The sound quility will be determined on your guitar (wood, craftsmanship, potentiometers, pickups, hardware, spirt, knowledge of tone and music) I build my own guitars, so I know the guitar, cable, strings, etc. are veery important. In a nutshell you have to understand tone to understand the sound quility. So if you think this tool is ok or sucks than you don't understand tone. good luck.....

Reliability : 10
no problems

Customer Support : No Opinion
didn't need to use

Overall Rating : No Opinion
I've become very codependent towards this tool. If something happened to the geep, I'd need help to get over her. OOOUUUch.....


Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: US $224.00 used
Submitted 06/04/2002 at 08:30am by Charlie Fick

Ease of Use : No Opinion
I just bought this used at a cash coverters store. The salesman and I were learning at the same time so we shared the lengthy menues. It seemed easy enough though and I was fairly happy with everything I heard. Once I get it home, (yes, it's on lay away), I find out how it really is. I'm not working but I just had to have this.

Sound Quality : 9
In the store we used this through a crappy crate combo. At home and on the job it'll go through a still hand wired 72 Marshall. (I can't wait). I'm a firm beleiver in getting my sounds down and knowing how to get thm. I'm not a techno freak and don't wish to be. My favorite sound is a Nobels ( ever heard of it? ) overdrive peddal. It screams out smooth, "unbuzzy" overdrive. The tone controls are very responsive though weak on the mounting. They can get broken easilt. I've tried everything in boxes and this one works for me. I do Blues, southern rock, some classic and we have 2 c.d.'s with some hard core rock and roll. Once I plugged into the GP-100 I was hooked. The only proccessor I ever really liked. It was non buzzy with the cabinet simulater and creamy with humbuckers. A sound I could use. The effects I thought were pretyy lush from what I heard so far. I'll comment again at another time. I had a hard time working with the delays though for some reason. Allthough many people mention the parimeter wheele goofing up, at that time I didn't get the problem. As I said the sustain was good and the effects were good. And I'm pretty fussy. I use an old Multiecho that works like a charm so there's no comparrison on the type of echo so far but it sounded really natural to me. The tone controls could be more responsive though. Had to turn them too far to make a difference.

Reliability : No Opinion
I have no Idea ye........

Customer Support : No Opinion
Ditto............

Overall Rating : 9
I play Blues and Southern Rock. I like fat blues and bending strings. So far from what I heard this peice will work for me. I liked the non buzzy sound. I hate chainsaw leads. I grew up on Allman Bros, Molley Hatchet ect., ect.. I've been playing since I was 14 and I'm 48 now. You tell me, I can't count that high!! LOL !! Yes, I'm pollished on what I do. I owned lots of stuff. My favorite and absolutely will "NEVER" sell favorite is my 72 still hand wired 50 watt Marshall. I just sold the matching 8x10 cab that was loaded with 1963 jensens. What a sound. But, I down sized. I traded for a new 4x12 1960A cab and cash. I'm still happy. I use an 87 Les Paul mainly. I also love Telecasters. Buzz and all. I run into a Sabine tuner, into a Fender reverb reissue (great preamp), into an old Multivox tape echo (Best thing that ever happened to my rig), and into an Alesis Midiverb 3. Finally, into my Marshall. No, there's not alot of noise incase you're wondering. The tape echo it super quiet. It surprised me too. The best thing is that I got it as a turn on through a camera deal I made from an ex roady. I also carry a Jackson jX3, I beleive that's the model, it's a great tube preamp. It's the only preamp so far that actually like through the pa. On the floor I use an old dod x55, the Nobels over drive, A Marshall Bluebreaker pedal, a Daddio distorsion and the Dan Electro echo. As an ad on to the floor, I carry a Nobels Chorous peddal. It has several different chorousing effects. Different sweeps I guess. But my rhythem guitarist uses them. I like it simple. When I solo I want to hit a damned button and make things happen. I don't want to play with patches and program while I play. But, I think I'll be doing this with the Rolland. It sounds good even with the Crate.
Yes, if I had the money I would buy another one If I could. . I got it at a very very good price used. I'll have to pick up the controller sometime. But for now, I'll just get 3 or 4 sounds in a row and change the settings before a song. I only like 3 or 4 distortions to choose from and only use 2 or 3 different echoes. For the kind of music I play, that's all I need. I think it's rediculouse when the ads say, It has 250 Patches to choose from!! You can use 7 patches at a time!!! For what?????????????? I want to be able to make my guitar sound like a guitar, not a spacecraft !!!! All in All, The GP100 turned me on at the store so that has to mean something to make me buy it. Oh, don't think I just plugged in and played at cash converters either. They had to listen to me for 3 hours worth of "checking out the features" before I bought it. I usually stop after I hear the didtortion sounds since they allways turn me off. Over all, I really like this and can't wait to get it in my rig. If anyone can tell me about the foot controller, I'd appreciate it. In my opinion, it's high priced compared to others so it "should" be good for the money you pay. I think the Digitechs suck because they are too colored in sound repro.. Sorry people, this is only "my" opinion. The GP100 sounded natural to me, anyway. Thanks


Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: US $400
Submitted 04/17/2002 at 01:09am by Kurt Wyberanec
Email: Vegagta<at>aol dot com

Ease of Use : 9
It's not the simplest unit to use, but it is pretty straight forward. A nice touch, but a bit high tech for when this came out, would have been a computer interface for sound editing. They did have an interesting stand alone unit for off rack editing, but it was too expensive and not quite as easy as a mouse either. All in all though, there are a lot of options for both the novice and the gear nut pro.

Sound Quality : 10
If you step up and listen to just the presets you'll get some decent sounds, but the real deal is when you start making your own. This IS the only true hidden jem I have come accross in rack gear. The thing just steams. The effects themselves are very high quality and transparent. The preamp kills. It can do almost every tone you can think of, but it just might take some time to find. Originally I was playing this through a parrallel loop on my H&K Triamp and it was great there, but finally I got a VHT 2 90 2 and it kills. This thing loves Greenbacks too. I've played it through a ton of cabs but a good cab with greens gives tons of tone. As you can see, I have a Triamp, a simply killer head, but this Roland sees more time than it. It really is that good, once you get inside. And the midi control is awesome when matched with a good controller.

Reliability : 8
Well, I would say that the internals are excellent, I would never expect them to go, although there is some issue with an internal battery that will supposedly need to be replaced. However, outside the knows could have been a little beefier and maybe metal. The parameter knobs on both mine and a couple of friends units tend to start skipping numbers and stuff. They still work, but just a bit of a pain.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never dealt with them, but I believe Roland to be a standup stand by their work kind of company.

Overall Rating : 10
I got this for a steal as a floor unit, not a mark on it, not even rack rash. Overall, this is simply the best overall unit out there. I tried all the digitechs, Rocktron (including prophecy), Lexicon G2 (very fine unit, but some of the preamp lacks, a real close second maybe even a tie, but four times the price you can get a GP for) I own the Marshall JMP fine preamp also as well as some of the mesa units, but limited. They do what they do well. Some of the high end preamps are great too, but only have a few sounds, I really want to get the new Mesa Rec Preamp as well as the VHT G3 which should be insane, but they will only have a few sounds a piece. All in all, if you want to get an uncompromised piece of gear, that can both simplify and complicate your gear depending which route you take, the GP is a pure steal. I would buy this unit for $1000 used if I had to to get it again. It really is worth every penny, hey Roland should pay me for all this praise, no wait they should release a GP-200 that MIGHT be even better !!!


Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: US $650
Submitted 10/07/2001 at 04:50pm by Anonymous

Ease of Use : 10
I've owned the GP100 for three years now and it has features that have made it a nearly perfect guitar processor. Only within the last year have other manufacturers come out with processors that have these crucial features:

*The GP100 has a unique approach to the FX chain. Each effect is like a stompbox. The user has the capability to put them in ANY order (with exception that Reverb always has to be last.)

*The stereo FX loop is fully programmable. It can be put anywhere in the chain. It can be used as a single FX loop with stereo returns, or be used as two independent mono loops. This is VERY useful and can accomodate two separate guitar preamps.

* While many of the effects are "mono" effects, a stereo signal path is maintained. This is important because if your preamp or other effect generates a stereo signal, the stereo image will be maintained through the whole path.

*The GP100 has the best automation available in any guitar processor I've found. Not only does it respond to MIDI PCs and CCs, there are two jacks that utilize standard footswitches and volume pedals to interact with programs. At the simplest level, the footswitches can be assigned to on/off certain effects, so its like having a row of stompboxes with the ability to step on them individually to on/off them. At a more advanced level, the controllers can be used to affect any parameter and multiple parameters at a time. (As an example, I can program one footsitch to simultaneously: Turn off the FX loop thus bypassing my preamp, turn on the built in preamp say to the Jazz Chorus, double the reverb decay time, turn off the tap delay, boost high and low shelving EQs, turn off the wah pedal and turn on the volume pedal thus effectively using the same pedal for both.) This thing is a switching maniac!

*Excellent built in automatic tuner.

*Patch changes are instantaneous. Unfortunately, reverb and delay tails are not maintaned between patch changes, but with the advanced sitching capabilities *within* each patch, you usually are not switching patches in the middle of a song. Rather you build a "dynamic" patch that allows you to do all the switching within the patch. This works better and is more musical.


Sound Quality : 9
I believe this unit was released in 1996 or 97, but it was ahead of its time (tonally) and the quality of the A/D converters speak for themselves. The techology has existed for transparent rack effects for some time now, many manufacturers however have not utilized good design and many of the processors from the mid-90s provide "consumer" level FX. I havent played the new G-Force or Prophecy, but when I A-B it out of the loop (against itself), the signal maintains its headroom.

The pre-amp models are tonally good, but may not have the feel of the real amp. I can see using the solid state amp models like the Jazz Chorus in professional settings, but the high gain models, while they react to input gain and pick attack convincingly, provide some artifacts in the upper registers that make them "unusable". The pre-amps are good for backup and can very easily (should) be disabled and replaced with a professional pre-amp.

The effects are all guitar based and are excellent. I do not particularly like the delay and use another processor in the effect loop of my preamp to create a stereo image. The delay is fine, but it is not easy to use or program for stereo or "spatial" effects.

Because the signal chain and FX loop are COMPLETELY assignable, the ability exists to put the compressor and/or parametric (as well as WAH or foot volume) in front of your preamp to use for tweaking the input signal. (Aside: It amazes me that many "high end" processors do not have this capability which can be really limiting. Being forced to use an external compressor or Parametric loads te signal chain and defeats the purpose of midi automation. )

Reliability : No Opinion

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : 10
As a central "brain" for you guitar rig, this thing excels. While its spatial effects and preamps are not top-notch, it is designed so that these may be added to the signal chain in whatever fashion desired. This box is not limited.


Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 08/07/2001 at 10:38am by Anonymous

Ease of Use : 8
It can be easily tweeked to dial-in the sounds that you are looking for. Straight forward menu layout, buttons and knobs make it a snap.

Sound Quality : 9
This unit works well if you are one of those pussies who is looking to sound like EHV, SRV, JMH or whoever you wish imitate. However, this unit really shines for creating new and unusual guitar sounds. If you are looking to break new ground sonically, the features, effects loops and routing capabilities combined with some of the best MIDI implimentation in a guitar processor make this a superb choice. Wanna stand out in the crowd? Buy one of these babies, learn it inside and out and start forging your own voice.

Reliability : 10
Typical - solid - Roland construction.

Customer Support : No Opinion

Overall Rating : No Opinion


Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: $800 (Canadian Pesos) used
Submitted 08/02/2001 at 11:08am by Geoff Power
Email: geoff<at>engr dot mun dot ca

Ease of Use : 10
- It's easy to get the sound you want. Just take an existing patch, tweak it and save. Editing is made extremely simple through the use of two knobs which allow you to do everything necessary. You don't have to scroll through the parameters of an effect unless that effect is actually activated in the chain - a nice touch.
- The preamp knobs on the front are another innovative idea!
- The manual is quite good considering it's a Roland product. I read it and most of it made sense.

Sound Quality : 9
- I use an American Standard Strat w/Lace sensors through the GP into an assortment of Fender amps (usually a Deluxe Reverb or a Twin). I am quite happy with my sound after years of going through crappy digital boxes that made my guitar sound like a chainsaw (read: Digitech). I think that the Lace sensors also make the tone a little warmer - our other guitarist played through my rig with his Japanese Strat (stock p/ups) and the tone was slightly harsher. Your mileage may vary.
- Fabulous sound for a digital beast. The distortions are quite believable, and the amp sims and mic placement parameter are smashing. You can really tweak the nuances of your tone. The EQ is also quite responsive.
- The chorus, delay and reverbs really make this unit shine. I've never owned a tap tempo delay before and let me tell you, it is such a useful tool, especially when playing live!
- The noise gate is awesome. You can crank it and the signal will still decay naturally without a noticeable decrease in sustain or that annoying, abrupt cutoff present in other digital units.
- Finally, it's nice to have a box that really simulates a Jazz Chorus so well! Always wanted one...now I basically have one!
- The only thing I'd like to see on this unit is a good acoustic simulator. The ZOOM 505, a pretty crappy and noisy unit, does have a good ac sim and it's unfortunate that the GP does not.
- Some slight aliasing artifacts when using the harmonizer - other than this I'd give the unit a 10.
- No ring modulator either - but why the hell would you ever use one?!
- The wah is also quite flexible and is probably the closest that any digital unit will get to approximating a Crybaby or VOX.

Reliability : 10
It's built like a frickin' tank. I also have the FC-200 foot controller and same goes for this - accidentally spilled a glass of water on it three days after buying it. Unplugged, wiped it off, let it dry - no problemo.
I trust the unit but I never play a gig without a backup - in my case, a good analog distortion box. Never had to use it yet, knock on wood!

Customer Support : No Opinion
No experience with Roland customer support.

Overall Rating : 10
- I play progressive/melodic stuff. The GP really allows me to get lush cleans, smooth distortions, and bizarre effects. The MIDI implementation is great.
- If it were stolen, I would definitely buy another.
- I can't believe that Roland discontinued a product that was years ahead of the competition! I'd like to see them release a predecessor but I doubt it'll happen.


Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: US $600
Submitted 06/19/2001 at 09:32am by Anonymous

Ease of Use : 8
Pretty basic and easy to understand, even without reading the manual. I like how the parameters are set up; they're very easy to edit. The manual is a little below average, though. I keep it around just in case I ever run out of toilet paper.

Sound Quality : 7
I have used this processor with a variety of guitars, including a '96 Strat, an Ibanez UV777BK, and my baby, an Ibanez Jem7VWH.

First, the weaknesses:
It seems like everyone has raved about the COSM amp modeling. Well, I'm not going to. Yes, most of the simulations are pretty accurate. On the other hand, a lot of the sounds seem to be missing something. Thanks to digital technology, the amp models are inevitably thin and harsh-sounding. Also, I cannot tell, for example, the Marshall settings from some of the others--and I own the amp that is being simulated! The compressor is very limited (hehe) and harsh, and the noise suppressor is nothing to write home about.

The strengths:
Let's get one thing straight. No digital preamp/processor under $1000 is going to accurately model over a dozen classic tube amps. I haven't seen a processor of any price do that. But the GP-100 gets pretty close to a lot of amps. Furthermore, when you disregard the preamp section, the effects are really good. The pitch shifter/harmonist is exceptional. I was able to get the sound of Steve Vai's Ballerina 12/24 without much difficulty. It's almost as good as his Eventide. When your moderately-priced effects machine sounds almost as good as an Eventide, you know you've gotten a good deal. Effects such as chorus and delay are worth the price of admission too.

Overall, the GP-100 does many things well. However, don't expect your mid-level rack gear to sound like a Bogner Ecstacy or a vintage JTM. Be reasonable.

Reliability : 6
The worst thing about the GP-100 is that the knobs are unreliable. Imagine that you have the output volume pretty high and you're about to switch from preset 99 to 100, which is a quiet, JC-120-esque clean tone. You turn the wheel forward, but instead of being inundated with soft, reverb-drenched bliss you wind up at preset 98, which is a painstaking simulation of a compressed, fully overdriven Triple Rectifier. Your amp releases a blood-curdling screech, accurately modeling not a JC-120 but the launch of a rocket. Hands covering ears, you barely manage to kick the off switch before everyone within a mile radius goes deaf.

That's my way of saying that there is a problem with some of the switches. Other than that, this thing is built very solidly.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Never dealt with Roland.

Overall Rating : 7
Not a bad processor. Exceptional value for the money. Because I am upgrading my gear, I wouldn't buy it again. However, I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good, flexible preamp/processor.


Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: US $700
Submitted 04/13/2001 at 09:43am by Bill

Ease of Use : 8
It takes a while to get the hang of all of the algorithms and effects but it comes with hundreds of patches pre programed so you are up and running quick. The manual is decent by Roland standards.

Sound Quality : 10
This thing makes my lame 40watt Fender Blues Deluxe amp sound awesome! The amp emulator in the GP-100 kicks ass.

Reliability : 10
No Problems so far - 1 year old.

Customer Support : No Opinion
Haven't needed them yet.

Overall Rating : 10
I play rock, blues and funk. I love it. I've been playing for 12 years with pedals, amps and the Roland GP-8. The GP-100 is the last effects unit I'll ever buy.
I've improved as a guitar player since I've owned this thing. It's versitility is amazing.


Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: US $495
Submitted 03/31/2001 at 01:43pm by dan

Ease of Use : 7
Like any feature-rich Roland product, there is a learning curve to editing the factory presets(most are overdone with effects). Be sure to read the manual on setting up global options for the 2 stereo outputs; specifying power amp type and speaker cab configuration can change the sound significantly.

Sound Quality : 8
Extremely quite unit. Previous reviews have covered the features well so I will concentrate on sound quality. Setup includes a Carvin DC-127 with a beefy Double coil in the bridge position. For direct recording it's best with the bridge double patched thru the soldano, distortion, type I marshall or metal preamp/amp simulators. Gives a thick, detailed crunch similiar to Stone Temple Pilots. Another excellent combination results from single coil neck pickup paired with any of the amps except Fuzz. I sometimes patch the Gp-100 into my 50W Carvin Bel-air 212. The astounding digital effects(delay, pitch, shift, chorus) are a perfect match with my tube amp. It took years to fully understand the optimum selections for amp, speaker cab, and mic combinations. With multiple EQ stages, and selectable effects order, various gradations of compression, sound filtering/enhancing are limitless. The reverb is good but not lush enough for 'surf guitar'. In summary: Superb for rock/grunge/metal, great for alternative/reggae/jazz fusion, fine for country/jazz. The clean sounds are a little brittle in the direct to mixer configuration. Also, headphone only seems a little thin.

Reliability : 10
Great.

Customer Support : No Opinion
N/A

Overall Rating : 9
N/A


Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: US $550 used
Submitted 03/16/2001 at 12:31pm by Sjaak de Vos
Email: sjaakdevos<at>gmx dot net

Ease of Use : 9
It will take some time before you'll know this machine, I'm using it 2 years now.
The main reason is that this unit has a lot to offer, I don't know if GP really is short for General Purpose but it can cover a wide soundrange.
Pain in the ass are the two little edit knobs, sometimes/often they don't function 100%.
This is a major construction failure imho, many gp-100 units seem to have this "feature". When I'm using these knobs the LED- display doesn't react OK to many to much times.
This is what happens: when I try to scroll forwards it goes BACKWARDS or even gets in a "loop".
And this really sucks because there is al lot to do in the editing department (the factory presets really don't get the most out this unit).
OK, at this moment do NOT decide NOT to buy this nice unit because there's more, much more, positive to say about the gp-100.
The manual is good ennuf to get you started.
It's not really difficult to get a good sound out of it, but there are a lot of things you can edit, it took me quite some time before I got the feeling that I knew what I was doing with the sound editing.
Version 1.03, never upgraded, a Roland dude told me there where some minor midi related changes in the later versions (1.05).
The knob thing seems to occur also in the upgraded version (anybody outhere who solved/"repaired" this problem ??).
I'm using a FC-200 and sometimes a patch-editor, bought the FC- 200 a year after I bought the GP-100, everybody who owns a GP should have a FC- 200.
Don't use the patch-editor a lot, mainly because of my computer/midi setup.
Without the knob-problem a 9, with the very annoying knob somewhere around a zero rating.

Sound Quality : 9
I use it mainly for home recording and practicing mainly, Turtle Beach sound card, Fender stratocaster, Ibanez Artist acoustic guitar and a cheap stratocaster imitation.
I'm very satisfied........
Could compare the GP with the Line 6 POD for a couple days.
Hooked the POD using the send/return of the GP- 100.
All the normal effects (chorus, reverb): GP-100 rules.
The speaker and preamp simulation are (maybe) a little better for the POD
Decided not to buy the POD although the clean sounds of the POD are very good, maybe even slightly better.
The GP-100 can do almost everything and much, much more the pod can, but it takes some time and tweaking.
Well, I still own a Zoom 2020 and a Ibanez DM-500, mostly for sentimental reasons (and it looks nice in my rack).
I'll rate it 9.5 or something like that, but considering the money paid it could be a 10, let's leave some room for improvement.

Reliability : 9
Never had any problems, maybe I'll buy another one as a backup but it's a reliable unit.

Customer Support : 8
Contacted Roland Belgium twice, friendly people, finally I spoke someone who knew a lot about the GP and he could tell me what I wanted to know (and more).

Overall Rating : 9
Would buy it again, it can provide you with very good sounds for guitar, with this unit I have to blame myself for bad sound quality, not the GP-100, I play guitar for almost twenty years, (hard)rock, jazzy things and blues and weird stuff, the GP-100 offers it to you.
This is the first more expensive preamp/processor unit I bought, would like to try out the all the other units and the real amp/speaker things, can't compare them all but I think I couldn't do without the GP.


Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: US $630
Submitted 02/20/2001 at 01:11pm by Rich Grisier
Email: rgrisier<at>hotmail dot com

Ease of Use : 7
You'll need to spend some dedicated time with the unit to get the hang of it. Took me about a week or so to fully understand what was going on. Once you get to that point it will become second nature.

Sound Quality : 8
I've had the unit for a couple years now and felt I'm at the point where I can provide some useful feedback. Over that time I've acquired or at least tried many different units including: ADA MP-1, Lexicon MPX-1, Lexicon MPX100, TC Electronic G-Force, H&K Access, SansAmp PSA-1, Digitech 2112, plus a whole host of other processing units too numerous to mention. IMHO, I'd have to say the GP-100 has to be without a doubt the most versatile and well engineered unit of anything I've tried. The GP-100 has five different setup 'types'. The types are Basic, Vintage, Delay, Harmony, and Dual. Within these 'types' the effects can be routed in any series order. Some effects available are: Compressor, Limiter, Slow Gear, Intelligent Pitch Shift, Various amp model preamps, Various speaker simulations, Wah, Auto-Wah, Delay, 4-tap delay, Noise gate, Reverb, Phaser, Flanger, and maybe a few others. All the effects are very useful with a great deal of adjustments available for tweaking. The preamps are good-- not great. My H&K Access is great, but rather limited when compared to the GP-100. I get some weird high frequency aliasing artifacts from the GP when using some of the high gain settings. It's a reasonably quiet unit with a very good noise gate. The gate doesn't seem to cut the sound out like many others I've heard. All in all I can get to within 90% of just about any convincing sound I'm looking for (Van Halen, Eric Johnson, Satriani, Petrucci) distortion-wise with enough tweaking. The intelligent pitch shifter is so-so, but useable for short end-of-the-solo runs. Don't expect to use it for the main part of a song like an Iron Maiden tune. The inverted harmonizer mode gives some neat freaky results. I really like the chorus. Sounds like the classic Boss chorus sound-- like Neil Schon. The reverb could stand to be a little better. It's not quite as warm as my MPX-1... but then again, neither is my G-Force. The delay accepts a tap-tempo, but nothing else does. It'd be nice if the tempo could be linked to some other effects like auto-wah. The area where this unit really stand out is with MIDI implementation and hookup flexibility. There are TWO Send/Return loops that allow for external effects to be used anywhere in the signal path. These S/R's can be parallel, Series, Stereo, one or the other, or not used at all. Most units either restrict the position of the S/R loop or don't even have one at all (G-Force)! The only thing that would make this better is if they could be separated. The MIDI implementation is extremely well thought out. Each patch allows for *independent* controls of up to 16 modifiers (8 Continuous, 8 Boolean)!!... You can set it up so that one pedal controls many different parameters. A favorite trick of mine is to increase the output volume while decreasing the preamp input-- this cleans up the sound, but keeps the volume level the same.

Reliability : 10
I haven't had any problems in the years I've had it... I don't have a backup either.

Customer Support : 6
I've contacted Roland for a software upgrade. They were very pleasant and helpful. Their web-site on the other hand needs work. I went there to get a manual for the accompanying foot controller (FC-200) and all I could find was a Spanish version. Not that there's anything wrong with that-- I just don't speak Spanish.

Overall Rating : 9
I play a variety of music from Billy Joel to Malmsteen. The GP-100 can do it all if you're willing to put the time into it. I've been at it for 20 years now and have yet to find another unit as versatile. With all the mixing and matching I've done I always see the GP-100 being part of my main rig. I can't even begin to think of parting with the unit. I love the MIDI implementation and flexability. I don't hate the preamps, but I wish they were a bit better. Comparing it to other top notch processors, this unit holds its own. I've seen them going used for about $300 to $350 and it is certainly worth it. You'll get the most bang for the buck from one of these units. It won't be too 'digital' or harsh sounding (unless you want that) like a Digitech-- and it won't be a one-trick-pony like an PSA-1 (Though the PSA-1 has better preamp sounds). I wish Roland would come out with an upgrade to this fine processor. They have come out with a new amp (VG-7), but after reading the manual it's not as flexible as this unit. I guess they put all their efforts into the VG-88 type products these days. I give it a 9 because it's an incredible value these days.


Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: US $700
Submitted 01/15/2001 at 07:27pm by briskguy
Email: none

Ease of Use : No Opinion
Well, everyone can say it was easy after a month of sleepless nights. I can say for now that it is pretty easy to edit or make the sounds I want. However, folks, I spent some serious hours and hours to figure it out. Especially, if this is your first preamp + FX unit, be ready for red eyes for several weeks.

Sound Quality : 8
I agree that it's not a bad unit. But, please note that GP-100 does not include a tube. If you want a real distortion sound, you have to harass a real tube. I thought GP-100 has a killer distortion sound until I got Rocktron Voodu Valve Online from Ebay. I learned my lesson. If you don't know what the killer sound actually sounds like, don't use the term "killer". GP-100 is basically a DSP (digital Signal Processing) board, which means it's a computer system with a CPU (so called DSP chips). It calcualte the analog signal from your guitar and generate a digital sound based on the parameters selected by you. So, if you want a real killer sound, please go get something comes with a tube. For other purposes, I think this unit is ok.

Reliability : 10
I am sure that it's going to last longer than me.

Customer Support : 8
Since it's gonna last longer than me, you don't need a customer support. It's from Roland, and they are from Osaka, Japan, not from Detroit, Michigan. Enough said.

Overall Rating : 8
It does many things, but most of what it can do are not the best.
If you want to have a unit, which is capable of doing many things, maybe you will be happy with it. If you need only few sounds but the very best of them, this is NOT YOUR UNIT. Especially, if you want to the "killer" distortion sound, this is absoultely not your baby. Also, all sounds are digitally generated, and therefore you get tired of it very quickly. But I will give it 8 because it's ok.


Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: US $700
Submitted 01/15/2001 at 08:52am by briskguy
Email: none

Ease of Use : 9
This was my first preamp + effects unit. So, for the first few days, I felt miserable to understand how to control this unit. However, after a month of tweaking, I got pretty comportable with this unit. Folks, remember this! They are not trying to make it difficult. However, it always takes some time to get used to it. So don't make a quick decision based on few hours of tweaking.

Sound Quality : 8
I think it sounds ok. However, it doesn't contain a tube. All the sounds are digitally generated. I thought the distortion sound was very impressive with speaker simulation until I bought Rocktron Voodu. I found that there is a huge difference between simulating tube amplifer and actually harrassing a tube in terms of distorted sound making. So, if you want a brutal metal sound or even just a warm balanced distortion sound, and if you are very serious about getting those type of sounds, please find something else containing a tube. For example, since I found "the" distortion sound from my Voodu, I really couldn't stand GP-100's distortion sound. It really doesn't mean that the sound is terrible.

Reliability : 10
Probably, it will survive longer than me with no malfunction.

Customer Support : No Opinion
I don't know

Overall Rating : 8
Nice equipment with a lot of functions. I have also a foot controller, with which I can edit the patches without bending toward GP-100 (It makes your life a lot easier). If you are one of those "kill'em all" type of people, probably you will like it. However, somewhere in your mind, if you want to have the "kill'em all" spirit and sometimes you have to expose that spirit, you may feel that GP-100 is not "man enough". So, if you want to get your balls back time to time and you think your balls is bigger than others, please just go for a analog pedal with marshall.


Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: 1,300.00 (canadian)
Submitted 01/12/2001 at 08:01am by Mike Pattik
Email: spikereg at home<dot>com

Ease of Use : 8
Not that hard at all... I've owned a fair bit of gear in my day though. You Have lots of options to get you to your desired sound. Editing is a bit tricky but well worth learning, you won't be disappionted. The manual is essential to find your way around. and to learn about special functions such as arranging the order of effects which is really cool. I haven't learned everything yet this unit has soo many things it can do in the midi relm too

Sound Quality : 8
As far as sound it is pretty impressive I presently use the fender clean sound with a little bit of grainyness you can vary the dynamics a fair bit by how hard or soft you pick. I run my GP-100 through a mos valve power amp (Tube Works) and a home made 2-12 cabnet (I run in stereo) Celestian speakers I also have the foot controller A must have to get the most out of this unit The waah is very nice to get those Hendrix and Clapton riffs. Also I was Impressed with the over drive you can get very very close to a tube sound especially with the power amp I use. One thing is you need to pay attention to the gain structure so you don't get digital distortion in the signal chain..
as far as effects what can i say they are great! I tend to use them as enhancements not drown out the nice tone.... No box does it all but this comes in with a lot of very useful effects especially live use.

Reliability : 10
I've had my unit on the road and not a tiny bit of trouble. The type of gig I had We played a wide range of music and with the controller i can have instant sounds from squeaky clean to raunchy. And control over volume on stage....

Customer Support : 8
Havent had the need to.... shrugs shoulders....although Ive dealt with roland in the past withanother product and they were very good...

Overall Rating : 10
Overall I recomend this unit to those who want to get a very good sound and a great palate of effects you can't go wrong Ive used it to direct record and it sounds great..!!!no fussing with mic positions.I play rock fusion country rock balads I've had many complements on my sound from other players. the only down side is that there is soo much to tweak but if you're a tweak head you'll be in heaven...I am very happy with my gp- 100 only one thing to tweak...


Product: Roland GP-100
Price Paid: N/A
Submitted 09/11/1999 at 11:28pm by Anonymous

Ease of Use : 10

Sound Quality : 8
Just a short note, the GP-100 is a wonderful box, but please folks, do a hardcore comparo in a local store trying out the Digitech 2120, 2112, 2101, and ValveFX before you go ahead and buy the GP-100.

I've spent countless hours with ALL of these units; I now have owned the 2112 for 2 years and nothing is as good. But I do also now own a GX-700 and Roland GP-100, because I got them used and cheap, and they are fun and good, but do not sound as close to a tube amp as the 2112 does.

Please read the 2112 reviews; I'm serious, I simply want buyers to be informed as possible before buying.

Reliability : 10

Customer Support : 10
Roland is wonderful! one of the industry's BEST on customer help.
Like Nigel Tufnel in Spinal Tap...this category should go to ELEVEN!

Overall Rating : 9

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