I think I'm going all digital with my Boss GT-1000Core. (TL;dr)

[fuyume]

A little over two years ago, I took my end of year bonus money and bought myself a Boss GT-1000Core, mainly because I wanted the capabilities of the RV-500/DD-500/MD-500 trio in a box the size of one of them, to scale down the size of my pedalboard. I also got myself the DSM & Humboldt Electronics Simplifier and Simplifier Bass Station, because I was very impressed by them, and I wanted to put together fly rig pedalboards for both guitar and bass that would allow me to go direct to PA or recording desk, but retain the option of being all analogue for drive stages, while leveraging my favorite Boss digital effects. I play Mesa/Boogie amps live.

The GT-1000Core ended up staying on my guitar board, rather than being used for bass, and I was pretty happy with my setup. Although I still haven't returned to looking for gigs since the pandemic, I plan to start putting out feelers again this year, but a little over two years ago, I also went car-free, so transporting my amps is much harder to accomplish.

This was my original plan for my guitar board using the GT-1000Core and the Simplifier:

I ended up changing out the drive pedals, and never did buy the second FreqOut, because Digitech went out of production and used prices went crazy, plus I thought I'd just add an FS-7 in its place. The state of my board since last year has been this:

Although it's not finished, and the cabling needs to be tidied up, it works great and sounds great, though the Simplifier doesn't actually allow you to bypass the cab sims on the 1/4" outputs. The newer Simplifier DLX and Simplifier MKII do.

Up until last night, I'd never really fully explored what I can actually do with the GT-1000Core, so I decided to sit down with it and the computer editor, and see if I could develop a patch that would be able to do everything I need to do for my music using just the GT-1000Core, and a few other things as possible. I discovered that I'm actually quite happy with Boss' amp models, IRs, and digital overdrives.

I made a patch that uses two of Boss' AIRD models in parallel, the "Natural" and the "Boutique", using them mainly as clean pedal platforms (Middle gain setting), and front ending them with two of the Boss X-OD overdrive (essentially, the OD-1X pedal algorithm, one set to low gain, one set to mid gain), and I chose the 2x12 #4 cab IR (Vox AC-30 cab with Celestion Greenbacks) and the 2x12 #5 cab IR (Matchless DC-30 cab with custom Celestions), both mic'd with the "Blend A" mic (Shure SM57 & Royer R121, with the SM57 mixed louder), but with different placements, panned L-R, so they can be mixed as needed, although it doesn't sound quite as good in headphones. Other effects include the X-Comp compressor (the Boss CP-1X program), the Feedbacker (Boss FB-2), Vibrato, Tremolo, Chorus, Delay, and Reverb. Here's the structure:

It sounds great. It sounds natural. I'm happy and would happily use this as "my sound", both live and in the studio. BUT...

The GT-1000Core, as good as it is, has some limitations, most notably in that there are only three "general purpose" FX blocks, FX1-FX3, and only two dedicated drive blocks, DS1 & DS2, and my effects needs include:

compressor (dedicated block)
acoustic resonance enhancer (general purpose block), for piezo pickups
clean boost (general purpose block)
feedback generator (general purpose block)
overdrive (dedicated block DS1)
distortion (dedicated block DS2)
vibrato (general purpose block)
tremolo (general purpose block)
chorus (dedicated block)
delay (dedicated block)
reverb (dedicated block)

So, I need at least five general purpose effects blocks to do the things I'm accustomed to doing. The second problem is that, if I want to configure the Core so that the Main Outputs go to FOH (with IRs) and the Sub Outs go to stage amps (with no IRs), the Sub Outs use up the two effects loop sends, so I can't insert any external effects where I need them in the chain. Unfortunately, Boss' feedback generator is not the best. I have and love the Digitech FreqOut, so much so that I actually would like to get a second one.

I tried looking at some of the other Boss units, and neither the IR-2 nor the IR-200 offer the amp models or the IRs that I want to use. Nor do either of them offer the ability to use two amp models in parallel. Neither the RV-6, nor the RV-200, nor the RV-500, even, offer the reverb algorithm I favor, which is the Ambience algorithm. I could live with a Hall or a Plate, but the Ambience algorithm in the Core is my favorite Boss reverb, so far.

On top of all this, I need my pedalboard to be no larger than 385 mm wide by 285 mm deep (15.15" x 11.22"). This is about the largest size pedalboard you can fit in an airline underseat "personal item".

The easiest solution for this is two Boss GT-1000Cores, with FS-7 dual footswitches to provide extra buttons, and the Digitech FreqOut. It *just fits* the 385 mm x 285 mm size, leaving enough room for cables and cable ends. The more I look at what I want to do, the more I see that the Core is the smallest/cheapest/easiest solution, because it takes up about as much room as 2.5 normal pedals, but offers so much power:

The Countryman Type 85S stereo direct box is a big improvement over the Simplifier's DI outputs. I already have a mono Type 85 that I could use for the front end, but because this rig is being designed for travel, I want to just get two stereo ones, because the stereo and mono versions are different sizes, and for ease of packing, I think that two stereo units are a good idea. Unfortunately, I can't fit them on the board for easier setup, but I can live with that. The tuner is intentionally separate, so I can use it off-stage/backstage.

The signal path:

guitar -> Type 85S -> safety DI track
Type 85S thru -> tuner -> GT-1000Core (A) -> send/return 1 to the FreqOut -> Main Outputs to the GT-1000Core (B)
Core (B) sends 1 & 2 to stage amps (no IRs)
Core (B) Main Outputs -> Type 85S -> FOH or recording desk (with IRs)

The footswitches:

Core (A)
Up - Patch Up
Down - Patch Down
Ctl 1 - AC Resonance on/off (might not actually be needed)

FS-7 (#1)
A - Ctl 2, Compressor on/off (might not actually be needed)
B - Ctl 3, Boost on/off

FS-7 (#2)
A - Ctl 4, Overdrive loop select
B - Ctl 5, Overdrive loop bypass

Core (B)
Up - Patch Up
Down - Patch Down
Ctl 1 - Looper control

FS-7 (#3)
A - Ctl 2, Vibrato on/off
B - Ctl 3, Tremolo on/off

FS-7 (#4)
A - Ctl 4, Chorus on/off
B - Ctl 5, Delay on/off

Total current draw: 1760 mA @ 9 VDC
Core: 670 mA x 2
FreqOut: 235 mA
StroboStomp HD: 85 mA
FS-7: 25 mA x 4

The DIs run on 48 VDC phantom power. I can probably run MIDI cables between the two Cores so the patch change on one changes the other. And speaking of MIDI, there might be a MIDI footswitcher solution that is cheaper/smaller than using four FS-7s, but for now, I'm OK with the FS-7s, because BOSS quality. The only question I have at the moment is where exactly in the signal chain I want the FreqOut to go, since I can patch it in a few different places.

I would also set up patches so that in the event one of the Cores failed, I could run my set with fewer effects on just one Core, if necessary. And this should be great for bass, too, although totally overkill for bass. My bass needs are much simpler than my guitar needs. I'm sticking with analogue for bass.

If you've read this far, I hope you enjoyed it, and if you have any suggested improvements, I'd love to hear them. I honestly don't know a whole lot about what MIDI switching equipment is out there, since I've never before had an application for it. The size of the board is a hard stop, because of the travel considerations, and once this is built, it will be my rig for as long as it lasts, or until something that fulfills my needs better and fits in the same space comes along.

I will continue to use a smaller analogue/digital hybrid mono pedalboard with separate pedals for jam sessions and such.

 

[fuyume]

Oh, in case anyone is wondering, I make my pedalboard layouts in Microsoft Visio Professional 2013.

I download hi-res product images from the manufacturers, drop out the backgrounds and size them to life-size in Adobe Photoshop or sometimes GIMP, then make full scale drawings in Visio, so that everything is accurate to within 1 mm.

I just made black rectangles for the DIs, because from the top, they are just black rectangles.

 

[laxu]

I'd say if you are considering two GT-1000 Cores, you are a candidate for something like a Fractal FM9, which should at least go into a suitcase in an overhead compartment.

If I were you, I'd try to make the single GT-1000 Core work for you. To me it seems like you could solve at least part of your problem by not trying to run the fx loops into two amps or in stereo, but a single mono send for stage amp and using the other loop for the Freqout. Or alternatively just put the Freqout before the input and turn it on/off as needed.

A further option would be buying a simple MIDI controllable loop switcher, maybe the GT-1000 could command that if you can set it to send MIDI commands on e.g preset changes or via footswitches?

 

[laxu]

Oh, in case anyone is wondering, I make my pedalboard layouts in Microsoft Visio Professional 2013.

I download hi-res product images from the manufacturers, drop out the backgrounds and size them to life-size in Adobe Photoshop or sometimes GIMP, then make full scale drawings in Visio, so that everything is accurate to within 1 mm.

I hope you have heard of pedalplayground.com because what you are doing is way more complicated.

I find pedalplayground matches very well to the real world dimensions of pedals and have used it to plan my board.

 

[fuyume]

I'd say if you are considering two GT-1000 Cores, you are a candidate for something like a Fractal FM9, which should at least go into a suitcase in an overhead compartment.

The problem with this idea is that if you are flying with an instrument, you don't also get to take a suitcase on most airlines, because you are only allowed one piece of cabin baggage, so the only other option that doesn't involve checking baggage is to put everything that doesn't fit in your instrument case in a "personal item", which needs to fit under the seats. For most airlines, that is no larger than 18" x 14" x 8", and many airlines have even smaller restrictions. The FM9 is over 20" long, and costs $1800 USD. Since I already have a GT-1000Core, a Countryman Type 85, and a Digitech FreqOut, it would cost me substantially less than $1800 to finish building this. Besides which, the Boss units are a known quantity for me, and I'm happy with them. I don't know anyone who has a Fractal unit that I could even see in person.

 

[fuyume]

I hope you have heard of pedalplayground.com because what you are doing is way more complicated.

I find pedalplayground matches very well to the real world dimensions of pedals and have used it to plan my board.

The last time I looked at pedalplayground, the quality was not up to my standards. Perhaps they have gotten better, but I don't know. My methods only take a few minutes per item, and are always available to me on my hard drive for future reuse. I've been working with professional design software for over 30 years, so I barely even have to think about how to do this.

 

[JT]

What about a fullsize GT1000?

 

[Will Chen]

I'd look at a at full size GT-1000 or GX-100 before buying a second GT Core. Also...try the Boss built in feedback simulator. You can probably shed the freq out too...

 

[Desertdweller]

I'm a big fan of the GT1000 core for effects and the fact it has two loops and changes amp channels makes it the modern variant of the old G-System and G-Major from TC Electronics. This gives it a massive boost over the HX Effects or Stomp for me, especially since I can just pop it on top of an amp and go. Having said that the only parts of it I'm really not digging are the reverbs and the amp modeling. So I use it with an amp, I've set the MIDI up with the foot controller to act like a pedalboard where I can switch in and out effects. I'm using it in 4CM with boosts, wah, phasers, etc, up front, with modulation and delays in the amp's effects loop. Coupled with a standout reverb pedal, this is all the effects I'd ever need in a live rig:

 

[Jarick]

If you don’t need the power of the second GT unit and are looking for a full size one hit me up. I’ve got one with the carrying bag I’ve been too lazy to sell.

 

[jellodog]

What about a fullsize GT1000?

This makes sense to me because it would cut out an A/D --> D/A conversion if used instead of 2 Core units.

 

[laxu]

This makes sense to me because it would cut out an A/D --> D/A conversion if used instead of 2 Core units.

Doesn't the full GT-1000 have the same DSP capabilities as a single Core, just with the extra XLR sub outs, footswitches and whatnot?

 

[JT]

Doesn't the full GT-1000 have the same DSP capabilities as a single Core, just with the extra XLR sub outs, footswitches and whatnot?

Not Jello; but I don't recall. I thought the block number is different because Boss being Boss. I will say there would be zero chance I would use the Boss drive blocks over analog OD/distortion pedals so the Core tends to make a lot of sense in those cases.

 

[fuyume]

I'd look at a at full size GT-1000 or GX-100 before buying a second GT Core. Also...try the Boss built in feedback simulator. You can probably shed the freq out too...

The problem with the full size GT-1000 is that it has exactly the same limitations as the Core, and it's too big to transport in an airline personal item. The same really goes for the GX-100. The GX-100 uses exactly the same internal architecture as the GT-1000, just with a different interface, and it too is too big for an airline "personal item". Also, the way I play, I have no use for a treadle, so that's just wasted space, for me.

All of Boss' current generation products use the same Roland BMC custom DSP architecture. The GX-100 has nothing that the GT-1000 and GT-1000Core do not have, except that it is somewhat more flexible in terms of effects block placement, as far as I can tell without actually owning one. Unfortunately, the GX-100 also suffers from a number of omissions compared to the GT-1000 and Core, like you only get one Divider/Mixer block.

For instance, where the GT-1000 and Core only have one Reverb block, the GX-100 seems to allow multiple reverb blocks, so long as it judges it still has enough DSP power leftover to run them. The GT-1000 and the Core will always be able to run everything simultaneously, though it's unlikely you would ever do that, given the limitations on placement.

But the more important issure for me is that the GX-100 is 460 mm wide (18 1/8") and the GT-1000 is 462 mm wide (18 3/16"). I can fit two GT-1000Cores in less than 385 mm (15 3/16") width, and still have enough room to route cables between and under them (because I use 3M Dual Lock 250/250, there's enough room to route cables in the gap underneath the unit).

Boss' Feedbacker algorithm is very weak. It's better than nothing, but the Digitech FreqOut is an order of magnitude better. It's the one pedal from my existing setup that the GT-1000Core just absolutely cannot replace.

 

[fuyume]

Doesn't the full GT-1000 have the same DSP capabilities as a single Core, just with the extra XLR sub outs, footswitches and whatnot?

Yes, also the Core doesn't have Bluetooth. But, the processing capabilities are identical between the GT-1000 and the GT-1000Core. The only differences are the physical form factor (number of actuators and inputs/outputs) and the Bluetooth.

 

[jellodog]

the processing capabilities are identical between the GT-1000 and the GT-1000Core.

I am disappointed to learn this. I always thought that the full size GT-1000 had more juice!

 

[fuyume]

I realized last night as I was looking around at different footswitch options that, no matter what I do or what product I use, there's simply no way I can fit two FreqOuts and still get eight footswitches. With the layout I made, the FS-7s are already only 75 mm on center, which is a bit tight, and there's 80 mm on center between the FS-7s and the FreqOut. Two FreqOuts side by side need about 90 mm on center just to be able to plug them in.

So, since I can only fit one FreqOut, in the end, it looks like the FS-7s are still the easiest way for me to get my eight footswitches. There are smaller third party switches, but they may not have the same functionality as the FS-7.

Zoom in on just the board. Even with solderless jacks, it's a tight fit, but it will work:

 

[fuyume]

I am disappointed to learn this. I always thought that the full size GT-1000 had more juice!

Conversely, the reason why I and so many others find the Core so compelling is because you give up nothing in terms of processing power, just switch gear and jacks and Bluetooth, for a unit that costs about 2/3rds the price and takes up a lot less space. I have right-angle USB pigtails to make the USB jack on the Core easier to reach when it's mounted on a pedalboard.

Since I don't use wah, volume, or expression pedals, it's a no brainer, for me.

 

[fuyume]

The big limitations of the GT-1000 and GT-1000Core are that you only get one reverb block, only two dedicated drive blocks, and only three general purpose effects blocks. And for the Core, the fact that the Sub Outs use the FX sends, so having Sub Outs means you lose the two FX loops.

If what you need fits into those limitations, it's a fantastic unit. I don't feel particularly limited by having only one Reverb block, but I do run into problems with having only two drive blocks and three general purpose blocks.

Adding a second Core gives me three more general purpose blocks and gives me back the two FX loops, in the same amount of space as would be taken up by 2.5 regular Boss compact pedals.

And who knows, I might find something really cool to do with the remaining blocks of the front end Core.

The back end Core will handle the amp and cab sims, the Main and Sub Outs, my master reverb, looper (only for practice, never for performance) master delay, master chorus, my tremolo and vibrato, and maybe one more always on effect.

The front end Core will handle my compressor, acoustic resonance enhancer, clean boost, overdrives, an FX loop for the FreqOut, and still have a whole bunch more leftover that I might find a use for.

 

[fuyume]

The Roland BMC custom DSP platform is getting a bit long in the tooth, and Roland will need to come out with a newer DSP eventually. Given what they've managed to achieve with the BMC, I can't wait to see what they do with the next generation.