Product: Roland GP-8
Price Paid: N/A used
Submitted
11/15/1998
at
11:22pm
by
Tanis Rafter
Email: tanisgr<at>goshen dot edu
Ease of Use
:
9
Very easy to use...makes a Digitech, for example, seem ridiculous. Scroll-knob alpha dial is annoying, though.
Sound Quality
:
10
All analog an amazing. If you spend long enough toying around with it, you can get tones that make boutique tube amps seem hollow. I used to use a Marshall Plexi with a slave out tapping the power tubes to get more output tone in my Johsnon Millenium, but now I replaced it with this. The effects are nice, but the tone is what makes this a gem. Better than tube. I also like the seperate overdrive and distortion that can be used simultaneously for wider range of distorted sounds. The EQ is very nice, can give you the sound of any guitar. Compressor provides sweet milky sustain, but can be noisy, and doesn't have a threshold control.
Reliability
:
10
It's been thrown around my dorm, spend a summer on the livingroom floor of a frat-house, been used on gigs, toured with, recorded with, thrown through a plate-glass window, and not only still works perfectly, but the only scratches on it are where it was bolted into a rack, which happened before I even got it. I don't know what kind of abuse it endured before me. I would trust my life with this thing, and I certainly never use a backup.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Never dealt with Roland.
Overall Rating
:
10
I love it. As I said, the compressor is noisy at higher settings, but I do use a little in simulating the sound KT88 power-tubes, it still is super-quiet. Nothing digital is anywhere nearly this good, even later Roland GP-series processors. While it doesn't have a reverb, the delay can be set to simulate one so well that it's impossible to tell the difference (Eric Johnson, who can tell by the sound what brand of batteries are in his effect pedals probably couldn't tell it's not a real reverb). Although currently I use it only for power-tube simulation, both recording and live (and as I said, it IS better-sounding than the real thing), I wouls gladly use it any day for distortion or effects. It has any amazing warmth and vintage tone, and even if you're doing something crazy like cranking the delay and pahser all the way up, it still sounds natural. As I said, while really high-end processors are more versatile, none equal this in terms of quality.
Product: Roland GP-8
Price Paid: US $1500
Submitted
03/24/1998
at
08:16am
by
Dave Perry
Ease of Use
:
6
Easy to use, with comprehensive manual. I find the alpha dial system a little irritating, but with 128 patches you can use a separate patch for small changes in fx, volume etc
Sound Quality
:
9
I use a strat and a rare Yamaha Sg1000 through various amps and PAs. It is quite noisy at times but the sound is up there with the very best. Just wish it had a reverb.....
Reliability
:
10
Absolutely reliable. I bought mine in 1987 and gigged hard with it ever since, Norway, England, Alaska and Ireland. It is my sound and almost as much a part of me as my guitars. The best I have ever used. Make sure you change the internal battery every 5yrs though!
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
Very helpful at the time of the battery change.
Overall Rating
:
9
I paid 1500USD for this machine 10 years ago and think its still about the best and most natural sounding fx processor. If you can pick one up used and cheap, don`t hesitate......
Product: Roland GP-8
Price Paid: Canadian with FC-100 foot controller $350 used
Submitted
09/07/1997
at
02:54pm
by
Jason Fee
Ease of Use
:
8
very easy to use. Editing patches is easy. Takes a while to get use to but you can setup presets quickly once you know what you're doing
Sound Quality
:
9
Sound quality is good. There are only 7 effects (compression, distortion, overdrive,phaser, digital delay,digital chorus, and equalizer) plus a noise gate. These effects sound as good as good as the boss pedals. And are silent when the noise gate is on. The only effect I don't like is the compressor.
Reliability
:
8
I bought it used. And everything on the unit is in perfect shape still but the some of the switches on the FC-100 foot controler weren't working great. So I replaced the switches and everything works great now
Customer Support
:
9
Never Used. I e-mailed the company about a manual for it. And they phoned me the next day to talk to me about it.
Overall Rating
:
9
Yes I would buy this again. It save me carrying around 8 pedals that do the same thing and it's more reliable because you don't have to worry about shorts in cables and there is not 8 wall warts to worry about plugging in. If you're looking for something good for gigging this is your unit
