Volume / Expression pedal that can be assigned to several options . Also on top is a convenient Master Output knob and Select knob with Page selector below . Also , there are Six buttons , Effects , CTL / EXP Menu , Exit , Write , and IN / OUT settings . On the Back is : ¼ inch Input , Stereo Out , Headphones , Send / Return , Amp Control , EXP control , MIDI In / Out , Bluetooth Adaptor Port , USB B , Power Switch & Power Jack .
IN USE : I was immediately impressed by the LCD Drag and Drop feature . When you press the EFFECTS button all 154 FX pedals show up in a line that you can scroll through with the select knob or your finger . You can view them alphabetically or by type . There are 100 Factory Presets baked in and 200 User presets . The great thing is that you can find a factory Preset that gets close to whatever you are looking for and edit and save to a user spot .
I must also mention the fantastic BOSS Tone Studio App For MacOS and Windows via USB or Wireless ( with the optional Bluetooth Adaptor ). If you use an iPad for Charts you can easily switch to the Tone Studio App and edit or download Artist Presets on the fly . I love having the BOSS Tone Studio on my big computer screen for editing . The Drag & Drop functions work fantastic . BOSS has also just announced BOSS TONE EXCHANGE where you will be able to upload and share your own custom patches online .
On a side note , before going too far , make sure you take advantage of the IN / OUT settings on the front panel . The GX-100 can be set up for 10 programable input types / levels . I ’ ve set up input setting one as my Strat and two as my PRS McCarty 594 with humbuckers . It ’ s a good idea to pair your input level to your instrument . Likewise , there are a number of output scenarios . Just find the one that is closest to your setup . I ’ m using the Line / Recording output into Protools for this review . I ’ ve got the global EQ off , but it ’ s a handy feature to quickly get your rig sounding consistent playing live in different venues .
After I connected the GX-100 to my studio rig and installed TONE STUDIO on my Mac , I dove into the tones . The Presets have both realistic sound and feel . AIRD technology makes the Amp models very dynamic and punchy . Speaking of Amps there are 20 Guitar Amps , including Boutique , Hi Gain , JC-120 , Twin , Tweed , and Deluxe Combos , Brit Stack , Rectifier , Matchless Combo , and Bogner to name a few .
As for Speaker Cabs , there are 12 different variations besides the original one matching the Amp . You can also Save up to 16 of your own custom Impulse Response Cabinets .
After going through the GX-100 presets ( Sweetwater has a nice video playing through each one ), I decided to start from scratch and create something of my own using the Touch Screen . I first made an Ambient Pad-like patch for Swells . It ’ s got a Compressor , Boost , Overdrive , then Volume Pedal , and a Divider that puts the following pedals in Parallel . ( This is what my L . A . Bradshaw rig does , and the sounds are lush ). In the Parallel chain , I ’ ve got a Vibe & Stereo Chorus into a Space Echo and Mod Delay followed by a Hall Verb and a Shimmer Verb , all hitting a Pitch Shifter +/ - 10 cents . Man , It took me about 3 minutes max . It sounds Massive ! Once you get the hang of it , creating sounds is super intuitive .
There is a Knob view option on the screen that engages the four knobs below and you can quickly mess with any effect parameter super quick and intuitively . I can get all the Shimmery tones and add the Octave stuff for guitar lines . I can ’ t think of any sound I can ’ t get . If some how I did , then I ’ d just run something into the Send / Return .
My plan for the perfect Church set-up will be to create 5 main patches using the bottom row footswitches and an external Clock going into the rear Control jack for Song Tempos . I could also program Tempos into the patches , but this is super quick , and what I ’ m used to . On a side note , the C2 / Tuner switch on top will be assigned to a manual Tap in case something changes in the middle of a set or song . I set them as 1-Clean for rhythm , 2-Slight crunch with dot delay , 3-Crunch with Big dot delays , 4-Big Ambient Swells , and 5-Solo patch with good stuff and a little octave up mixed in . I could now simply copy these banks of patches as one bank per song etc . if needed for a more complicated musical set . Finally , I discovered that there are tons of crazy creative sounds like Organ , Acoustic Simulator , Ring Modulator , Slow Gear and DeFret , and of course Wah and Bass Amps . There is also a built-in Looper with 38 seconds Mono and 19 seconds Stereo . Also , you can use the GX-100 as a recording interface into your DAW . For my workflow I ’ ve also added a guitar DI along with the Stereo outputs in case the producer wants more control in the mix . The GX-100 can be a viable portable Studio board . I ’ ve done it , and the producer loved it !
MY TAKEAWAY : The GX-100 is a beast to be reckoned with . It looks cool and sounds fantastic . I love the authentic feel of the Amps , and the Pedals ( some sound even better to me than the originals ). Drop and Drag with the Big Color LCD is very intuitive . Bringing in my own Cabinet IRs is a nice feature . The idea of a multi-FX unit with Speaker cab emulation is becoming more accepted and desired at most House of Worship Venues . Not to mention the ease of carrying just the GX-100 and a guitar . I imagine some of the tone guys will come up with specific patches for well-known songs . In other words , the future is bright for the GX-100 . Don ’ t sleep on this one . I think you will be in for a pleasant surprise ! The GX-100 sells for about $ 619.00 . I also highly recommend the Bluetooth adaptor for $ 59.00 .
$ 619.00 www . Boss . info
Michael Hodge Record Producer , Writer , Studio musician , Staff Guitarist at Lakewood Church Houston TX . Owner of Gman Productions film music
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