PART 1:
Seven Impressions of the New GT-10 by Yutaka Nakano

The new flagship of the BOSS floor-effects lineup is the GT-10. It’s the fifth-generation floor-effects unit since the GT-5 was released in 1996. As someone who's been watching (listening to?) the GT series grow over the years, this new model feels like the largest evolutionary step that this series has taken so far.

I would like to go over all the details of GT-10 in a series of articles starting this month. For those of you who are saying, "Aren't multi-effects difficult to use?" or "I hate reading manuals," my plan is to give you information that you can immediately put to use, so I hope you enjoy these articles!

In this article, I will be using GT-10 and commenting on my impressions as I go. Please also visit the "Product Page" link below.

Photo 1: Product Page

Impression 1: GT-10 Styling

This is a photo of GT-10 and the previous GT-8 for comparison.

Photo 2: In terms of size, the GT-10 is slightly larger
but it includes an effects board from the GT-8.

While both models are almost the same size, the GT-10's aluminum enclosure and new finish gives it a more up-market feel. The real thing looks much cooler than what you see in the photo.

And you may not notice in the photo . . . the LED lamps that give you effects on/off feedback are much brighter on the GT-10. This gives you excellent visibility in dark places on the stage or even at outdoor gigs under bright light.

Photo 3: Effects on/off are shown in a straight horizontal line
so you can tell what each effect is doing at a glance.

It also comes with a large LCD that is easy to view, and rotary encoder-type knobs.

Photo 4: Make adjustments while viewing the LCD.

The GT-10 feels really good to use because of its value dial, which you use to select or change parameters, and the cursor buttons are conveniently located close to each other. This design makes it much easier for guitarists to operate because we often have a pick in our hand when we adjust parameters.

Photo 5: Easy to operate, even with a pick in your hand.

Another great feature is that the GT-10 has two control pedals, CTL1 and CTL2. The GT series has always been known for its excellent real-time effects control features, and these two pedals expand the range of possibilities even further.

Photo 6: Two control switches allow a broad range of controls using nothing else but this unit.

Assigning functions to these pedals is easier than ever. I'll get into how to actually program these settings in a later article.

Impression 2: Large LCD and Display Modes

Since the GT-10’s large LCD displays much more information than the LCD on the previous model that displayed only two lines, you can now view more than one parameter at once. This lets you get to the parameter you are looking for with fewer actions, and makes it much easier to check your current settings.

In the previous model, when you switched patches, parameter settings for the new patch and knob positions would not match. The GT-10, however, comes with rotary encoder-type knobs whose positions are shown graphically on the LCD. This lets you make your settings much quicker.

As in previous GT-series units, pressing any of the effects buttons will take you to Edit mode, and you can control each of the parameters using the four corresponding knobs. For effects with a large number of parameters, you can scroll the page to access other parameters.

Photo 7: COSM amp parameters.
You can check you settings and control them at the same time.

In Edit mode, you can view your parameters in "icon view" or "list view." The four knobs work exactly the same in either mode.

Photo 8: This is a list view of the same settings that you see in photo 7.
Use whichever view you like.

In Play mode, you have several display options that you can switch between depending on your needs. In View mode (pictured in photo 9), you can operate each of the four parameters directly.

Since you can easily set which parameters to display, you can change your sound in an instant, even when you’re playing in a band, by assigning parameters that you use often.

Photo 9: What about this setting for a live performance?

Impression 3: GT-10 Sound

My biggest impression from using GT-10 for the first time was that it felt really good to play. The quality of the COSM amp (which features new amp models) is just amazing. Even through the line output, the sound would respond naturally to differences in picking force or different playing nuances. Of course, it clearly conveys the character of the guitar that you hook up to it, so I had more fun than ever playing the GT-10.

The sound that I got when connecting the GT-10 directly to my amp was also great. In particular, the quality of distortion effects have improved dramatically, so I was able to enjoy a fat distorted sound just by plugging into a JC-120. Also, the GT-10 comes with a wide range of booster effects so it'll make a great combination with distortion-type amps.

As for the GT-10's different tones, my next article will delve into this topic, including example tones you can listen to.

Impression 4: A Large Selection of Preset Patches

All multi-effects units come with preset patches that have been created by professional guitarists of all styles from around the world. The GT-10 comes with everything from simple tones to meticulously crafted “way-out-there” tones. It's a lot of fun choosing from this vast library. The manual includes information on patches and types of guitars (type of pickup) recommended for each patch, so it's a good idea to reference your manual when you choose your preset patches.

But we need to keep in mind that guitars sound completely different depending on how they are played, and taste is a huge factor too. So, a great way to create your own sound would be to find a preset patch that's close to what you want and then fine tune the tone from there. Have fun and experiment to get an idea of what the parameters do.

You can also use the category button to narrow your patch search and see how they sound. This is a very handy feature!

Photo 10: Category view. You can also create your own categories.

Impression 5: The New and Evolved EZ TONE Function

The GT-10’s EZ Tone function has gone through quite an evolution. All you have to do is select the musical genre (BASIC TONE) and select a variation. You can almost hear the sound just by looking at the icon and the name of the variation. Indeed, all of these tones are usable as-is! Highly recommended.

Photo 11: The icon speaks for itself!

You can also use the Tone Grid view to adjust your tone based on feeling. You'll be surprised at how intuitive it is to use this.

I think this is a feature that everyone will enjoy using, whether you're someone who's had problems creating tones on multi-effects units or even if you’re an advanced user!

Photo 12: Tone Grid view.
You can change the amount of distortion and even the quality of the tone.

Impression 6: Parallel Chain Function is Very Flexible

One of the major advantages of the GT-10 is that you can reorder the chain of your effects. In addition to this capability, the new GT-10 allows you to split the effects into two channels and assign effects any way you wish. Since the GT-10 allows you to connect all of its effects (not only its amps) in parallel, you can explore a variety of ideas to create a new tone.

Photo 13: This is an example of what you can do!

With this feature, you can mix the tones from two channels, split them to stereo, and even switch between A and B channels for dramatic changes in the tone. This means you can switch from "clean" to "distorted" or "backing" to "solo" in the same patch — and with no interruption in the sound. This feature will come in handy especially during live performances.

Impression 7: USB Port

The GT-10 comes with a USB port, which lets you use it as an audio interface to record your guitar performance to DAW programs such as SONAR 8. You can also use a special librarian program for managing your patches, for example to reorder and save your patches.

There are many more new effects and functions that you will find on the GT-10, which I will touch on in subsequent articles.