Roland GP-16

Like any quality effects unit it is advisable to read the directions.
The manual is full size and easy to read.

Patch settings can be a little frustrating at first until you adjust to a small learning curve.
Remember, to obtain a mytriad of sounds requires adjustment.

I have yet to notice any guitar product by Roland that required a firmware upgrade, unless you have a link you are dishonest.

Typical 1/2 stack arrangement.

All effect contribute some noise, an actual musician will always have a noise gate at the end.
Remember, adding effects is a secondary canvas, small settings are the key.

All of the effects in the GP-16 & Gp-8 are extremely high quality, they rival the musical quality of the LAPC1 without any effort.

Roland gear is 1st class quality, the internal battery is soldered in which is both good & bad.

Good: THe internal battery can never fall out dut to misuse and the contacts can never corrode.

Bad: Battery replacement is difficult.

The battery in both the GP-8 & GP-16 can last +10 yrs easily.

Wortless, your completely on your own...

Big ego, deep pockets spell long wait time and no interest of support.
Email via internet (Roland), dont hold your breath.

Additionally, after a year or two they consider prior gear (OLD), unnecessary of support.
Remember, this is a fast moving high energy established company that has a pure dedication to state of the art equipment for their variety of celebrity musicians in the entertainment industry.

Similar to Ibanez support (non-available).

Overall, after almost 18yrs it is still the best available guitar processor, I own both the GP-8 & GP-16, both units are made by ROLAND (Japan), they are flagship units engineered with pride.
The colour of the sounds are truly amazing, i would not even consider trying another type.
Sadly, Roland has avoided the rack mount systems of the past to present all-in one type processors since the cost is much less overall.
The majority of the people that try to play the guitar using "ANY" type of effect always seem to go overboard and muddy the sound.
Effects were designed as a secondary canvas, small setting to achieve the desired nuance!

Avoid buying the beat-up type that has been through the mill, it probably has a few problems that will become a hardship.
In the event you really desire one, try to find a unit in a studio that has seen very little movement/travel etc...

The foot controller is a good addition if you play live a lot.
Otherwise, it is really not necessary, I find myself using it rarely.

Some of the presets are good, others are crap.
I have not yet edited patches but it appears to have the old line by line patch editing process.
The manual I found online at Roland is grainy, a bad scan job. Reads like a tech journal

This thing has a lot of sounds, some good, some useless
The choruses are of Roland renown, some of the distortion models are very good, other things I have not played with yet.
Some of the effects have some lag

Seems reliable enough.

The website had all but abandoned this device.

I bought this because it was cheap and I needed an effects rig for my bigger amp-Fender Performer 1000 - 1x12 in the combo + a 1x12 cabinet. I have a Fender G-DEC that I run through the PA that I use mostly. I was really hoping to get more for my money, that I did, this thing is a whole rack of effects for the cost of 1 cheap pedal.
I wish I could edit patches on the computer, I believe there is a product - MIDIQuest that will let me do this.

I HAVE BEEN EXPERIMENTING WITH THE GP8 SINCE IT CAME OUT, THEN GOT THE GP16 YEARS AGO.
I CAN'T REMEMBER HOW MANY YEARS AGO, BUT MY CONTRIBUTION TO ALL IS TO FIRST PLUG FROM GUITAR TO AMP, GET A GOOD TONE AT THE VOLUME YOU ARE GOING TO PLAY AT... THEN PLUG THE GP16 IN BETWEEN.
I HOPE YOU CAN BENEFIT FROM THIS CLUE!!!!!

THREE THINGS KINDA' SUCK...
FIRST, THE PATCH VOLUME WILL NOT FOLLOW YOUR AMP VOLUME AS IT IS CHANGED.
I MEAN THAT IF YOU HAVE 2 PATCHES EVENLY ADJUSTED FOR A LOW VOLUME, IF YOU TURN UP THE AMP, ONE MAY BECOME OUT OF EVEN VOLUME.

SECOND, THE CHORUS PATCH (ALTHOUGH EXCELLENT) CANNOT BE ADJUSTED ANY WHERE NEAR THE LEVEL NEEDED TO SOUND COMMON WITH THE OTHER PATCHES... UNLESS YOU REDUCE OTHER PATCH LEVELS, WHICH CAUSES THE CLARITY AND "PUNCH" OF ALL OTHER PATCHES TO DIMINISH.

THIRD, PLEASE!!!! SOMEBODY FIGURE OUT HOW TO MAINTAIN ECHO GENERATION (WITH PARAMETERS) FOLLOWING PATCH CHANGES!
EVEN THE GT-6 "AIN'T GOT IT!!!"

NO BRAINER... NO FAIL!

I SENT A SUPPORT REQUEST THROUGH NASA ON THE LAST PROBE TO MARS AND AM STILL "CHOMPIN"!

I'M RATING "NO OPINION"...
ONLY YOU GUYS KNOW THAT THE "JURY IS STILL OUT"!!!

THIS PUPPY REALLY CAN KICK SOME ASS.
THE BEAUTY IS THAT EBAY SELLS FOR 200.00 OR SO.
GET THE FC100MKII WITH IT BECAUSE IT CAN HANDLE 2 EV5 CONTROL PEDALS.
IF NOT, IT'S OK... JUST GET A LITTLE ALLIGATOR PEDAL AND PUT IT IN LINE.

it takes awhile to nail down the sound you want

I was running Kramer focus 6000> GP-16> Carvin MOSFET 450> two Carvin V412 aka (British 4x12's) so I was pushing 225W per 4x12. Alright I jammed with this cocky little prick running a Gibson into a straight Marshall half stack. His rig cut thru me like butter. And he said my shit sounded like R2D2! And he was right. I had no mid range at all. This pissed me off. So I went back and redid everything. 2years later I had nailed it. I got a nice distortion down and then I cut the middle delay out, panned left and right all the way (like full on stereo)and ran the whole thing bone dry. set the delay time to close to zero. I tell you it had punch like a Marshall stack. Then hard times and I sold everything. Ten years later I might get another because I still have the settings written down! This time I mightpay $100 instead of the $800 first time.

Hell yes! Never failed.

whatever

Blues/Metal/Rock

I've had my GP-16 since its introduction in 1990. It's fairly straightforward as far as editing patches goes. The manual is very, very detailed, too. No complaints there. Though I find it very difficult to get good distortion (or overdrive) out of the damn thing!!! I have little patience (or lifespan) to deal with its parametric EQ or lineout filter. As far as the other FX, I've always been able to achieve what I'm looking for in terms of chorusing, verb and delay. My unit has never been upgraded with the current updated software.

For years I went through a solid-state Roland JazzChorus-160 4x10 combo. Loud as hell even at three!!! But not very geared to handling the distortion/overdrive stuff. Maybe that was my amp's failure as opposed to the GP-16. It was and is a killer amp for the clean stuff. Right now that amp is on consignment at a music shop. Anyhow, the way I used the GP was from guitar output to FX input to FX output, then to the amp input. This also probably negatively-affected my overall quality of sound. Because today it's all about parallel/serial effects loops. They're on all new amps now. Being able to mix your dry signal with your wet signal, so that your tone doesn't get lost. True transparency is what you can achieve nowadays. It's such a different world now. The GP-16 is quiet for its time (early 90's) as far as the noisegate is concerned, but in comparison to today, it would be considered annoyingly noisy compared to something made by, say, tc electronic, in 2005. Big time differences. The GP-16 is especially noisy when you use flanging, phasing and distortion.

Like others have noted it's built like a tank!!! This thing will survive a meteor from the sky hitting it. And YES, I would use it without a backup. The internal battery was changed after 10 years, though it was still working at the time. It's only supposed to last 5 years.

If this thing was lost or stolen, I wouldn't cry at all. I'd get more tc electronic stuff. The GP-16 is noisy compared to today's fx processors. For that reason alone, it's time to get rid of it. You won't get much for it though. It's virtually worthless. I use it as an outboard processor with my eight track digital recorder (Fostex FD-8) to add reverbs and delays to vocal tracks. In this capacity, it's more than sufficient. My fave features of it were always the reverbs, delays, choruses and flanges. Distortions always sounded artificial, cold, digitized and tinny. Atleast to my ears. The reason my overall rating is a 3, is because of the very obvious sonic dropouts which occur when you change patches with the foot controller. Like someone else said, your delay patch gets abruptly cut off by the next patch. To me, this is a major, major flaw. Totally unacceptable to me.

Right now I'm using the tc electronic G Major, with 2 G Minor midi footswitches daisy-chained together to control it. I use a Boss volume pedal and a Morley classic wah. I own a Signature Oracle and a PRS CE-22. I own a Hughes and Kettner Tri-amp 100watt head which powers a Marshall 1960B Cabinet with Celestion G12T-75 speakers. The Hughes and Kettner Triamp is the Alex Lifeson signature edition one. The triamp is controlled with its own foot controller which they are calling a "stageboard." I think tc electronic is where its at, as far as processors go. Take a look at the G-force, G-major, or the G-system. In my opinion, the Roland GP-16 is many, many years outdated in terms of patch changing and general sound quality.

Standard digital technology. Once you get the hang of what all the
buttons do to the patches it's cool

I have found the O/D and distortion to sound very electronic and
have turned them off and now run stomp boxes through a variety of
clean chanels and get a better result. run through an Ibanez SC420
and marshall TSL 602. Noise supressor in unit is better than boss
floor unit. All sounds are easily editable with a little patience.

No real problems other than the rotary value nob pushed in. Was able
to be glued back in place easily.

A versitile unit with better clean sound than dirty.
Easily set up and easy to use.
Very solid and very reliable.

This is very easy to use if you want to just plug in and play it's patches. It is also fairly ez to program new patches.

I am now using a Parker Nitefly with a Mesa Boogie DC-5 combo. I play live (cover band) and effects are extremely important to me... especially delay. Which this unit is AMAZING at producing. The one bad thing about the installation of this unit is that when you play directly (in/out .. Not using Send/Return) it's very noisy. But when you plug in the send/return it's much better sounding. The bad thing about this setup is that the unit clipped because of the power of the pre-amp output. You lose a little power.

I have used this unit at gigs without any backup since 1990. And I have played everything from weddings, corpate parties to large arenas. My foot pedal didnt work right after 12 years so I just bought another one from eBay. back to happy !!!

Dont Know. Never needed it

I play everything from Jessie's Girl to Rage Against the Machine. This unit is not good for a Pre-Amp. But using this unit through a send/return from a good amp (like the mesaboogie I have) is awesome. The delays and EQ are extremely affective and you can mix and match 16 effects. I tried the Line 6 POD PRO and the pre-amp on that was so freakin digital. It's better to just use a great amp with a great effects processor line the Roland GP-16

Plug in and go! This unit can be used in a few ways, firstly as a standalone processor, there is the abillity to floor switch patches via a midi controller or the FC series, again by midi or RRC.
Secondly, and the way I use it, to compliment a GR series synth.

I use mine with a GR-33, it used to be a GR-50 but the world moved on!
This is my second unit, I got one when they first came out and sold it when I bought a GT-5, then I kinda missed the sound and bought another!
I use mine into a DMP7, Yamaha digital mixer, driving my live sound system (1.5Kw Stereo) and I use a Fender twin for foldback. Obviously for smaller gigs I just use the twin.
I also use a laptop running cubase SX to drive the other goodies in my rack (samplers, modules etc) to upset the keyboard player.
The distortions can be a bit harsh and "digital" sounding, even though they are analogue from looking in the thing, however the EQ is fantastic and can sort out a wayward patch.
The other effects are very useable and easy to set-up.
I use a wide variety of guitars and they all sound good, different, but good. The exception being my Godin. This is a very jazzy guitar and the standard pickups are, er, pretty dull. I tend to use a series of patches specifically for this guitar with the mid cut a little and the top boosted.
Favourite artist sounds? Pretty esay to get somewhere near, but then I am not into copying sounds. I tend to use a nice tight clean sound, a very spacey chorus/delay sound and loads of overdriven sounds. All easy to get in the first place and all easy to change.

Never failed me!
I have played hundreds of gigs with it, in places with the dodgiest power supply imaginable and it has been fine, it has survived baggage handlers and a drummer. The first one even survived an old manager knocking it 20 feet downstairs. No worries at all.

In the UK Roland are OK for support. A bit aloof and unfriendly perhaps, but OK.

I play loads of different styles of music and although the GP16 can't compete with the other units I use live (GT-5, GT-6 and Oberheim GT-1000) due to the modelling these boxes do, it still holds it's own and has a place in my set-up. I know if I really worked at it I could get everything the GP does in the GT, but when the GP is so reliable, sounds so good and is this easy to use, why would I?
It ain't broke - don't fix it!

hmm, i never heard of the firmware update, does it make a diff, i so in love with mine, i never even thought of an upgrade, hehehe. With a decent amp, the gp-16 rulz, very ez to get great sound and tone. Editing is ez, once you use to digital gear etc..and the manual was good, providing you know what each effect is, and your not a noob right boys!

geeze, i have used mine for 10 years now, so it has seen a lot of gear/amps/guitars. Gibson, fender, paul reed, G & L, kramer, cort-usa custom, all great tone, and i do get diff tones from each etc..someone said all sound the same, but i dont think so etc..i played mine for about 8 years with a jcm 800 master lead series amp(no channel switching), and pulled 2 tubes so it acted more like a 50 watt, and ran my 16 ohm cab(marshall 1960) at 8 ohms once i pulled the 2 inner tubes etc.., awesome tone boys! also had it modified with Penta Tubes which i cant get anymore, so it a real bummer lol, so i back to el 34's ect..i run clean tubes with the gp-16 etc....so it dont break up to fast, i let the gp handle that right. i guess you figure out tricks with it after a couple years, and i love the noise suppresor, if used in a weird way, it shapes the sound way cool, all effects are real nice, cept the compressor, very cheasy, no matter what i use it with, altho, it can help the lead patch scream, i leave it off for everything else., the overdrive with the marshall stack lets my marshall still sound like a marshall, so i like that etc..i think i have a Zakk Wylde type sound that way etc.., Distortion is over the top harsh, but if you play hard hard hard core, it is good lol. The Eq is great and its a good thing they put a great parametric in it, or the unit would kinda suck, cuz it does change the tone drastically, and you have to eq it to bring it to life, and sqeeze some tone out, so if you can eq and know what u looken for, it rocks.

never had a prob with mine. i bought it new for way to much money, lol, it had only been out 1 week, i was thinking about getting the gp-8, and when i went back to the store to buy it, they had the 16, and i kinda changed my mind, altho the gp-8 has analog distortion in it and is nice and warm, i have been able to make mine sound like that with the -16 model etc..ohh i prob have done 600 gigs without a backup etc..so yes it was very reliable

never had to call etc..

i play everything from metal to jazz/blues, and it always had a sound that could be acheived for every type of song. I have been playing 17 years, and had the gp-16 for the last 10 of them. I would buy another if i lost mine, specially since they are so affordable now. My main beef with the unit is the channel switching is sometimes noticable/little slow, but you get it down pact if you practice with your band and use it constantly etc..i think its much more noticable when playing alone than with our band etc..and there is always ambience live that kinda covers it etc..i would say this unit probably helped me write a bunch of songs just because of the sound i was getting, u get inspired when u have a good sound, or playing around with it and you come up with sometin new, and it makes you write a new style song etc..i think it helped my creativity drastically. Dont get me wrong, i play a Mesa Boogie trem a verb now, because the band went into a deep dark sound, but, i feel very limited the way i have to write with my mesa, and it always sound the same, dark and crunch! i dont like the gp- with it upfront of my mesa, because i have it runnen really hot tubes, but my brother has the same amp with 6l6's in it and preamp tubes for good clean sounds and it sounds great with his mesa setup. Also, there is no way to get rid of the dry signal without being a wacky mo fo, so u cant really use it in the loop, if someone has figured that one out please lemme no lol-for a while i ran mine with the pitch shifter set to 0 and ran it 100% wet and this allowed it to work in the loop etc...but i have other things that just seem'd to work better in a loop for that kinda setup(alesis quadraverb), i dont get phase probs with it, so when i run the mesa, i run the quadraverb for effets, sowy for mentioning another product, i still like my gp-16 setup better, but the band makes me run the mesa RAW lol, aight! If anyone wants to email me, or swap patches etc..i have patches tweaked for lots of amps etc..mesa boogie, marshall jcm 800 master lead series, fender hot rod deville(clean is awesome with that amp and gp lol), Stevie Ray would be proud man. I have a few songs i recorded with the gp-16 and my marshall, goto www.lostsoulsband.com, the 2 songs are Drink Some Wine and Love for Life, all parts were done with the marshall and gp-16, but i double them with a 2101 from digitech for a slightly diff tone etc..i think the solo's were even double'd lol. dont laugh at my playing ok. Those 2 songs are heavy rock sounding songs, but not death metal etc..

GOOD

SOUND QUALITY IS VERY GOOD. SO MANY POSSIBILITIES MAKE EFFECT HUNTING A VERY LONG PROCESS (YEARS). I DISCOVERED THE BEST WAY TO GET CONSISTENTLY GOOD SOUND OUT OF MY AMP IS TO PLUG MY GUITAR DIRECTLY INTO THE AMP FIRST, AND ADJUST VOLUME AND TONE FOR THE BEST CLEAN TONE. THEN I PUT THE GP-16 IN LINE, AND GET THE BEST SOUND, TIME AND TIME AGAIN.

IT USED TO BE DEPENDABLE... UNTIL I REPLACED ITS BATTERY. I TRANSFERED MY PATCHES VIA A MIDI CABLE TO ANOTHER GP-16, REPLACED THE BATTERY, AND RELOADED THE DEFAULT PATCHES PER THE MANUAL'S INSTRUCTIONS. SOME PATCHES DIDN'T LOAD, AND THE UNIT DOES SOME STRANGE THINGS.
DOES ANYBODY ELSE HAVE THE SAME EXPERIENCE?

WHAT CUSTOMER SUPPORT???
IF IT EXISTS, I WISH I KNEW WHERE THEY WERE HIDING!

THIS PUPPY IS VERSITILE, BUT JUST LIKE THE GT-6, ROLAND MISSED THE BOAT WHEN IT COMES TO ECHO.
WHAT I MEAN IS THAT IF YOU ARE PLAYING WITH ECHO, AND YOU SWITCH PATCHES, THE NEW PATCH CUTS OFF THE FIRST SOUND. IF THE ECHO FROM THE FIRST PATCH FADED AFTER THE PATCH CHANGE, THE TRANSITION WOULD BE SMOOTH.

Considering it is a fairly complex processor, I think it was easy to get up and running. Editing patches is easy and the manual helps a little.

Considering I bought this thing in the very early 90's, when there wasn't much competition, I think this thing still gets me better sounds than anything I could buy today. I used to use it in stereo with two Peavey Heritage amps and it was amazing!I now run it with two Roland keyboard mixer amps and it still cranks out great tone.

The chorus on this is the best I ever heard. That, in combination with the tap delay makes for the sweetest clean sounds available. The distortion and overdrive are still able to deliver todays sounds, including the rectifier sound. The compressor is a bit noisy.

Its over 10 years old, I think it still has the original battery, has been shipped all over the world, and every time I turn it on it works. I guess that means it is reliable.

I mostly play guitar rock ala' Moore and Macalpine. Been playing 32 years now, using Jackson soloists. If stolen, I would hunt the mofo down and get medeival....

9 because i'm 1. a computer geek, 2. a musician and 3. a semi-pro sound tech. the parametric eq in this is a piece of cake to use provided you have any experience with parametrics and how they work. programming effects is also fairly easy, but i dock it a point for having a distortion that's really hard to get a good solid "that sounds awesome" tone from.

i've used an ibanez s470 into this and also my cheap and very modified gax-70. both sound good through it. i have it through a peavey cs800 power amp and a 4x12, it gets LOUD.

seems quite reliable for the time i've been using it.

never dealt with them.

got it from a friend i know who gave it to me for some wiring i did for him. i play mostly heavy rock and hardcore type music, and for a hardcore brutal solid-state distortion it's perfect. with the distortion setting on 100 and all the volumes cranked up, picked harmonics really rip out of this thing, and for power-chord type heavy stuff it's great. i've seen them go for under $200 on ebay, even if you don't use the distortion this thing is well worth the price for the other sounds usable in it (has 10+ seconds of reverb if i remember right, plus high rolloffs for delay and reverb which are quite nice)

Fairly easy. No problems

All the effects sound pretty good, except I have grown to dislike the overdrive and distortion. I used to think they sounded really cool, but now I have started to notice the digital harshness to them that just doesn't sound real. Also the tone of my guitars gets lost. Its like it takes the input signal and models it to a sound, but doesn't really overdrive it. So my single coil pickups sound the same as my humbuckers. It is a fun box to play with and jam, but for recording it sounds too artificial.

As everyone has been saying already, it's easy to use and get a good sound out of it. There is a manual but the unit is very user friendly if you're at all familiar with the digital world. Easy to edit .. blah blah

Great sound quality. I'd choose a different noise gate, but the one in the unit can be placed in the chain where u want it to and that is an advantage. I'd choose another compressor too, but I'm used to quality studio gear so it's just me being fussy. All the effects sound briliant tho and it's fun to make kooky sounds.

It's dependable not a problem. She's a beauty mate.

Not had to contact the company (altho I'm good friends with the rep here). Can't find the cable to the footswitch so I may have to report back when I check that out.

The ONLY thing I'd say about the GP-16 is this. I miss the analog dials on my old gear. When I used to perform onstage I'd make a lot of use of the dials for effect. In anycase I fart around with analog stuff in the studio these days as well as digital and the GP16 does what it does well.

First, let's trade patches!! I have an Excel version of the Bank Chart. Email me and I'll send it to you.---> mfleming@bankofny.com
This is resonably easy once you figure out what your doing. Changing the actual settings is tedious, but not too bad. The editing is easy and immediate. You hear the change as you make it.
The manual is OK. There isn't much there and there is a great typo-on the blank Patch edit forms it reads Brank chart. too funny.
I don't think they've upgraded it.
I wish it didn't take 1/2 a freaking second to change patches!!!!!!

My current setup is a Gibson RD Artist (another amazing piece of gear)
into an Acoustic 134-a 230watt beast with 4 10"s. It's basically a PA amp, so is perfect match for the GP16.
The GP is very quiet, thanks to a decent noise suppressor.
Most of the sounds are pretty good. It's the combinations that work well. As always, moderation in all things. The EQ is great, very powerful. You could generate hundreds of tones just with the parametric eq. Neither distortion or overdrive by themselves is overwhelming, start combining them with the eq, the "secret of the box" short delay setting (delay=0, effect=100) reverb and line out and you can sound like any stompbox, rack unit or solid state amp out there.
There is one stupid effect. Auto panpot? That's reeaally useful.
The sound-simply amazing. You can get any tone you want. If you sat there for days, you could program every classic guitar sound in there.
It is digital, but the POD has nothing on this.

This could stop a bullet.
And then I'd set it up and play the gig.

Never tried to get in touch.

I play heavy. Heavy anything. Most of my patches are devoted to distortion sounds. It's just ridiculous how many ways there are to get a great sound. I've played thru Boogies, Marshalls, 5150(well let's skip that one) and gotten better hi gain, metal sounds from this wonderful box. The other great thing is it's a consistent sound.
This is a great match. The clean amp (I'd love to hear this thru a tube poweramp) is great because it doesn't put any "guitar amp" eq on the sound. And 4-10"s really push the bass.
I'd definately replace it. It really is the greatest thing ever. Like all great things, it's what you put into it. The patches that come with it are scary-My God, what did I just buy!? Make your own and realize that "This is how they get that sound!"
Roland makes great stuff. I trust their stuff.
I wish it didn't take 1/2 a freaking second to change patches!!!!!!

GREAT EFFECTS !!

Using this puppy with a Marshal Stack and a Vintage Fender Strat, and occassionally and accustic (spelling?) with an electric pick-up.

Dependable, BUT I'm looking for a manual-ANY HELP OUT THERE?, PLEASE
Lost the "pre-sets" about a year ago and it took ALOT of trouble (and time) to figure out. They should be stored it NON VOLITALE ROM, with maintaining the programmable features in EPROM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HELP ????

HARD TO FIND

GREAT, Had and NOW have ALOT of fun Hit'n a few "licks"

It's really pretty simple to set the patches the way you want. The sound is overall good. The manual is very helpful unless you like to screw around forever

I use a STD Strat with a Peavet Bandit amp. You need to keep the input on the unit about half to keep the noise acceptable. I use a min number of FX cause I like a "Guitar sound". However, the unit is quite capable of producing some pretty awesome sounds. I have played with the parameters and gotten some really cool jazz tones.

Built like a brick S$#thouse. This is my 2nd.

Don't know, never had a problem

I'm a R&B "jazz" player. I hail from Santa Cruz....what do you expect? I have also played country out of desparation. I like a little Tap delay with med compression for sustain. You get a fat sound at low volume and I like that since I use a Solid state amp. I'm a dinosaur, 36 years playing, a pro for 30. It is the most reliable unit I've ever used. If you like limitless sounds and really depend on a processor, I recommend. I can get through a gig without it if I have to, but never had to yet.

Right out of the box I was setting up parameters. Its great. I wish the Parametric EQ was a little easier, if anyone has any insite in that, it would be cool if they emailed it to me. I didn't recive a manual, but I figured most of it out all the same.

I have an Ibanez Destroyer II (the japanese one), a modern Fender, and a Cort elec/acoustic. I run these though a Peavy Moniter and a Fender Power Chorus (the BEST amp EVER). Other effects I use are a Fab Tone, a Metal Zone, a Boss Super Shifter, and a Wah. Every thing sounds great, but the distortion cuts my volume in half. Thats not a big deal, since I really don't use the distortion anyway. Pushing the pitch shifter on it an octave up gets really shaky, but usuing the fine tuner it can be settled out with little effort. The delay is AMAZING. Best I've ever used. I can do a lot of crazy Rage stuff, or somthing as simple as Satriani. The chorus is great, the flang is awesome, the phaser sounds good. I need some insite on when and where to use the Lineout filter too, I am not quite sure what to do with that. Other than that, the sound is great. I am only docking the points due to the distortion volume.

I would bet my life on it.

I will never EVER deal with roland again. I am going though a third party from now on. I had a problem. I bought the unit with the footswitch, but without the RCC cable. My word of advice, NEVER EVER find yourself in a posisition where you need one of those cabels. I made numerous phone calls, and I was about to hop in my car to drive to a diffrent state to find that cabel. I called Roland's head quarters, a VERY long distance call for me, and I got bounced around to 5 diffrent numbers, finally I gave up. I walked in to my local sam ash and saw a brand new RC-100 MKII liening on the floor. I dished out 100 bucks for a WHOLE NEW footswitch JUST for the cabel. I ended up giving the old footswitch back to the guy who sold the unit to me.

I play Satriani/Van Halen type stuff. Its good for ANYTHING. The versitility of this product is amazing. I could go anywhere, play any show with it, and it perfrom wonderful. The only other multi effects unit i had was a pos dod that broke a year after I bought it off EBAY (BIG mistake). That unit was for babies. This is, and always will be, The real deal. I LOVE the alpha dial, for its age, its WAY ahead of its time. Roland did a GREAT job on this one. Its a buncha boss pedals all in one. I suggest using and EBOW with it, its a great combination. If it got stolen, I would find the person who did it, and make them trade me for my old DOD. Thats punishment enough.

Very easy to use - just wish that I had more control over where the effects were placed in the chain (i.e. eliminating "Block A" and "Block B" so you can place the phaser or the noise supppressor later on in the chain). As far as I know, there are no firmware updates.

Sound quality is absolutely awesome! Using the "Lineout Filter" works very nicely when going direct into a mixer or deck or going direct to a power amp as well. The only problem I seem to have is using the Pitch Shifter on "octave" settings: it's just not quite "there", maybe a semitone or two off.

If GP-16 posters read this frequently, here's a little trick to add some "beef" to your overdrive / distorion patches or to make your separate preamp "open up":

1) Add the "Short Delay" to any patch you want to add this to
2) Place it as the first effect in Block B
3) Delay: 0
4) Level:100

This will add a definite "punch" to your sound. Why I think this is appearing to do this is that it simulates the "tube sag" that you get when you overdrive tubes (you'll always notice a very, VERY small delay - almost unmeasureable - when overdriving tubes due to the process of the electrons jumping from the Anode to the Cathode when the current is saturated). In short, it adds Nigel Tufnel's infamous "Volume knob that goes to 11" for your overdrive / distortion patches...and remember, it works for *any* sound.

For some more "goodies" for the GP-16, email me!

I've been using my GP-16 for 10 years with no problems whatsoever - with the only exception being the fragility of the connectors for the FC-100 MkII.

I've been in contact with Roland about the GP-16 for years now, and have always been a great help and an excellent source of info for the GP-16

Absolutely awesome piece of gear.

I DID NOT GET A MANUAL, JUST STARTED "PLAYING" WITH IT - IT WAS GREAT!

IT WORKED GREAT FOR 5 YEARS, THEN, TURNED IT ON ONE DAY AND NOW IT IS D.O.A. THE DISPLAY IS ALL LIT UP. I CHANGED THE BATTERY, ALTHO THE OLD ONE WAS STILL GOOD. I NEED SOME CONTACTS FOR A "FIX" IN THE DALLAS TEXAS AREA.

I RATE IT A 2 BECAUSE I HAVE YET TO FIND SOMEONE TO FIX IT.
I HAVE A DIFFICULT TIME ON THE INTERNET LOOKING FOR "CUSTOMER SUPPORT" FOR MY GP-16, OR FOR THAT MATTER ANY "OLDER" ROLAND PRODUCTS.

I GOT RID OF ABOUT 8 "STOMP" PEDALS WHEN I GOT THE ROLAND GP-16.
IT WAS A WONDERFUL AND A SIMPLE TO USE EFFECTS PROCESSOR - UNTIL IT QUIT.
THE ROLAND GP-16 SERVED ME VERY WELL (JUST PICKING THE 'OLE LUTE) AT HOME JUST FOR THE JOY AND RELAXATION.
I USED IT FOR ROCK TO CLASICAL TO ANY THING I FELT LIKE PLAYING.

Easy enough. Although terminology might be a problem for non-english users

Distortion is too noisy. As is the equalizer. But the digital effects RULE.

Hasn't failed me once. Is going on the original battery for 8 years now

Dunno. Never dealt with them

I think it was a tad too expensive, even back then. But it's still a solid effect processor. I use it with a JMP1 and a 8080 valvestate to feed a marshal 2 x 12 (celestion) cabinet. It's a blast working with.

Steve Brown: your mail adress is crooked. I wanted to get in touch to exchange patches, but got my email messages bounced. Please contact me!

Just plug in and go! I love the multiple outputs since I use it with different amps. (Watch out for those +4 outs though) For rock distortion...it rocks!! Not much luck for me on the light distorted side like the newer country stuff. Great reverbs and delays and speaker emulation. Step phasing is real cool for rare occasions. Unit is stock from 1990 when they first came out, never a problem. I agree with many that the parametric eq is tough to learn, but it is better once you do it.

I use it with a 1971 Marshall SLP 100 watt, Gallien-Krueger 250ML, and sometimes straight into a power amp into a stereo cabinet. Compression can be a bit noisey when used with the distortion. GREAT clean sounds though. Would like a little more range on the LFO but hey, it's the first time a guitarist had one of those to play with anyway!

Nuff said!

Over the years, Roland has been great and they have sucked. (I own a lot of Roland gear) It all depends on who is working their at the time.

A very important piece of gear in my rack. Could live without it.....but I wouldnt want too. Contact me if you want to trade programing hints or trade patches so we can hear each others creativity.

As you can see from my screenname, I am partial to the gp16. I bought it new way back when they first came out 8 or 9 yrs ago (I think) and I have used it professionally for the entire time. I have always believed in Roland products. The gp16 is a great rack. The 128 patches are not necessary becuase I only use 4 at most for live performance

I run my dry sound directly routed to gp16 via the PA (I'm in a midi duo) and my wet sound gets routed to gp16 via amp via miked to PA. The roland is very clean

Yes, I have had it for a long time and the manual stated change the internal battery in about 5 yrs in order that you do not loose your presets however, Im going on 9 yrs or so and have never changed it. Its a reliable unit

Roland, a while back didnt have much customer support etc they would rather you call the dealer that you purchased it from but I notice in recent years they are trying to become more customer oriented. I guess they know they make excellent products

I play in a midi duo where I play guitar and my partner plays the keys. We midi are bass and drums tracks. I do all the editing. The band scene is too complicated for our lifestyle in that we play local and the less members has alot of advantages. We play primarily private functions aka wedding receptions....theres more money in this that club gigs and less hassle since there is only 2 of us and there is a market.........we employ a Roland SD 35 sound canvas for the midi and it sounds real....if you heard us and closed your eyes you would think there was a live drummer and bass on stage....

The Roland GP-16 is still a great processor. I have used it since 1992- and it is now 1999- almost 2000. It has been on the road with me for years, and it has been the basis for my entire guitar sound. I programmed the GP-16 to sound like all of the many sounds and stages of Alex Lifeson's guitar sounds over the years- since I performed in a Rush tribute band. It worked so well people were amazed!!! But believe me I spent many hours of painful programming to make it sound that way. The foot controller and EV-5 pedals are VERY handy and REALLY are a must have if you want to use the GP-16 to it's true potential. I have always preferred Roland gear. I have only recently purchased a new tube head by Marshall (Triple Super Lead) and will incorporate the GP-16 with it. I just hope I can get a good sound- I guess we'll see! Thank Roland for the GP-16!!! (the GP-100 is lame)
Rush/Alex Lifeson fan? check out my site: http://hometown.aol.com/Sonicplayg/SonicPlaygroundStudios1index.html

Actually, I have been using a clean stereo, solid state power amp!!!
And I can get a great sound!!! believe it or not!!- It's in the programming!! The distortion is a little weak. I prefer the OVERDRIVE.
I could get all the Alex Lifesonish sounds I needed!

This thing has been dependable on the road. The FC-100 has been a really convenient controller! no back-up needed!

Really- the only time I have called Roland is concerning the blasted GR-1 Guitar Synth???? Blasted thing!!!

I have been playing for 16 years- The GP-16 has been a staple of my sound since 1992- that's about 8 years- I haven't bought any new f/x's not because of my financial situation- but because I haven't needed to! The GP-16 still kicks butt!

I bought the unit second-hand and without the manual, so it took me a while to get used to it (a while for me is about a day, because I'm fairly technically minded). It's a darn site easier to program than the Ensoniq DP/2. Once you get the hang of it, it's not too bad though. The only real problem with the older Roland units is that the data entry dial is not detented - ie no click and no specific number of data units per click. It doesn't really bother anyone, but my teacher is blind, and he couldn't use it for that very reason...

For its age it is pretty awesome. I got mine second-hand, after they'd been around for a couple of years. The thing about this box is that it had a lot of effects for it's time, and you could arrange the effects in any order (except they had to be grouped in analog/digital). This was before all the hype about user-definable algorithms, and let me tell you that I got just as good a sound out of this as the DP/2 which could do a lot more as far as algorithms were concerned. The actual quality of the tones is pretty good. I never really used the distortion coz it was too muddy, but instead I used the turbo overdrive fully cranked, which was fine for my chunky metal style. But then I got a JMP-1 marshall and it was white-pants time. The EQ is fantastic. If you think otherwise then you still haven't grasped the concept of parametric eq. One four-band parametric can be just as effective (if you know what to do with it) as a 31-band graphic eq. The pitch shifter was a little glitchy, but the GP-16 was way ahead of it's time anyway. The JMP-1/GP-16 combination is great!

All roland and boss gear seems to be solid as a rock.

Pretty good. Had to get some schematics etc. and they were quite helpful (here in Sydney).

Well....I sold it after about a year so I could get a Digitech DHP-33, which I then sold to by a wedding dress (ehk! - BIG mistake). I've since been through several FX units and I have thought of getting one of these again, but no-one wants to sell them so I'll have to save my pennies for an Eventide ;^)