The time has come for me to start experimenting with various DI options for getting a great recorded tone. We all know that the simplest thing to do would be to simply place an SM57 infront of a Bogner, however this can still be a tricky scenario to perform at home.
The reason that I’m after a DI solution is mainly because of acoustic treatment and room miking that’s involved with a professional recording studio. Although you can still get great results at home, I think having an ‘option B’ is a good tactic, which can also help to alleviate some of the hassles involved with moving heavy equipment.
The Boss GT-001 sparked my interest mainly because of the great promotional efforts on YouTube. They have some great players who have created presets that are available on their Boss Tone Central website. It goes for a good price on Amazon, too. I picked mine up for $300.
This is the desktop version of the floor-based Boss GT-100. I’ve owned the GT-100, but I found it to be bit bulky for my purposes so I sold it.
My first impression is that the factory presets didn’t really delivery what I was after. I had a lot more success with the presets available on Boss Tone Central, particularly the “Stereo Lead” patch created for Steve Lukather.
In terms of programming the unit, the GT-001 has an ‘input level’ setting that isn’t really touched in-depth in the manual. I’ve left mine at 0 for now. It also contains a global EQ, with an option for setting the midrange frequency. The higher it’s set, the better the palm muting and response. Lowering the value seems to remove a lot of digital harshness. I guess it’s best left in the middle?
After spending some more time with the unit, I discovered that it functions quite well as a USB audio interface if you connect your monitor speakers to the outputs. It’s like having a Focusrite with a built-in amp modeler. It also includes a metronome, and a tuner that I’m particularly happy with due to its super fast response (faster than the DD-2 that I own).
At this point I’m quite happy with the USB audio signal provided from the unit for recording purposes, however I’m not completely satisfied (yet). The unit seems to have a slightly harsh response, which I would think is a result of the modern circuitry. I think it’s more of a ‘feel’ thing than something you would hear.
The older Boss GT-8 has some keen interest on YouTube (released somewhere around 2006), and there are some people getting some great tones. I contacted a GT-8 user recently, and his claim was that the modern units don’t contain the analog circuitry that the GT-8 did. There’s even the GT-8 Brilliance PDF that has been doing its rounds on forums. It doesn’t focus on the newer models.
Later today I will be going to purchase a used GT-8 in order to make comparisons.
I will also be experimenting with the Boss GT-5 and Line 6 Pod 2.0 at a later stage.
I will post updates regarding this topic soon.
