GT-1 - And so I got a GT-1.. after a GAS attack! - Now with review

Started by pasha811, November 13, 2016, 10:09:54 AM

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pasha811

Yesterday I got a GT-1.
In the next days I'll post my opinions here.
So far that's very little I can say except that It's the smallest thing I have ever had.
I have run through some patches and edit some and all worked fine without a computer.
As said it's too early to talk about the sound but I can say that so far I like it.
Price was 167 Euro that's around 17% less than MSP of 199 Euro. I needed something small factor to avoid carry
VG99 at rehearsals and in perspective at gigs. Despite my tinnitus I'm trying to get back with ear
protections. What could be good with my review is how GT.1 performs at low volumes.
Thanks to Elantric and this forum members for all useful info! 
Listen to my music at :  http://alonetone.com/pasha/

pasha811

#1
A week with GT-1

I picked up GT-1 because I decided that I won't bring VG99 to gigs anymore. I possibly add a GP10 in the near future to have 'guitar modeling' on the go in a solid floorpedal.
Back to GT-1, I decided not to give it a try. I knew from VG Forum that the sound was in the same ballpark as other units sharing more or less the same architecture like GT-001 and GT-100, although not the same FX chain due to DSP limitations. When I saw the lower than expected price (about 16% less than MSP) I had no doubt it had to be mine.

Sounds. I have a 1989 Strat Plus with GK2a and an LTD ST-213 so I tried with both.
First of all, after so many years of VG99 usage I felt let down. Less FX, less parameters, less Amps.. I began to be skeptical. Another GAS attack with no valuable results...
Then I decided to go on. Using standard pickups again was something intriguing. Discovering again  what sounds were packaged in my guitar, especially the Strat was a nice experience.

GT-1 is very responsive to Pick Up position changes and Tone Controls. I love clean sounds and the TBX control in my strat (which I had to replace recently)  was now sparkling.
The Natural Clean amp is very well balanced. I was impressed by the better quality of the factory patches compared to VG99. The most impressive sound to me was Patch 11 AC SIM Straight. It can really stand in the back of a song as a nice acoustic addition, and it comes out of the box. I began to respect the unit. I also like a lot Clean Sustain patch, witch after some tweaks I was able to tune to my likes.

Editing without a Computer it's easy and intuitive, the Tone Studio adds the ease of use of a bigger screen and a mouse, plus Tone Central. I discovered that I can load patch from GT-001 Alex Hutcings set and they are limited to the matching FX parameters I have on the GT-1. Well done Roland, sharing the same architecture helps.

My biggest concern (as you might tell from my boring posts) was: "..is the FX chain good enough to be a bread and butter for all genres? "
With VG99 I have plenty of combinations, no limitations at all, even using a single channel, let alone Guitar Modeling.  Since 2011 I used only VG99 and so I was not up-to-date with recent Boss Pedals releases, and achievements. Effects like Overtone, ToneModify, GuitarSim,Acoustic Sim, Multimensional Overdrive and Tera Echo were new to me. Well I have to say that GuitarSim it's very interesting, it does not sound anywhere like a real Guitar Modeling with an Hexa PU but it changes the tone of your guitar for many applications. A good example of this is the Jazz Simulator patch. Tera Echo adds 'space' to your sounds in a way I did not imagine. Multidimensional  Overdrive sounds better than conventional ones. All in all an FX powerhouse.
Limitations? Yes, some, compared on paper to GT-001. If you want  a Compressor, Chorus, Flanger, Delay, Reverb you have to look for compromises. I have found that if I use the delay as a Chorus (Modulation Delay with 14ms delay, rate and depth set accordingly) I can have that chain, except a 400 ms delay.

COSM Amp simulation is good but I'm missing the variety of VG99 Amp types. It seems that GT-100, GT-001,GP10 and GT-1 share the same view on modern guitarists, rock it's about crunch, distortion, saturation. Although a JC-120 is present I miss the Warm Clean and Jazz Combo from VG99, plus the T-AMP Clean and VO Clean ones and that makes Natural Clean my go to one.

Controls are just what you need with the CTL1 pedal and Expression Pedal with intelligent pressure  switch. On this I had to calibrate the pressure sensitiveness to make it work. If you need more control you can add CTL2 & 3 via the same pedals you used with VG99. Cool.

The Looper it's a very welcome addition to the package. After some practice it works very well and it's a handy help when you want to practice a solo or something else.
Pitfalls? Sometimes I still would have liked a Compressor block as stand alone but at this price you cannot ask for more. This is a very good package in a small form factor at the right price.
The overall sound sometimes to me feels less organic than VG99 but on a side note GT-1 sounds more crystal clear to me. Reverb and Delay definition it's there and even better sometimes than VG99. In the future I will try to make them work together. Adding a Tera Echo and a Looper to my VG99 it's really worth the price! I can even add a 3rd channel to VG99 by routing the normal guitar out to GT-1. Endless possibilities.

After a week I decided to keep the unit and I'm happy about the little boy.
Thanks again to this forum members for very useful info and impressions. 8)
Listen to my music at :  http://alonetone.com/pasha/

alexmcginness

If you plan to use the GP-10 for guitar modeling you may have to rethink that if you use alternate tunings on your 99 and want to duplicate that in the GP 10. Ive tried it and theres pitch anomolies in the GP 10 that the vg99 doesnt have. Just sayin. I have both and continue to use the VG 99 for live playing. Its a bit of a hassle but the benefits far out weigh the drawbacks IMO.
VG-88V2, GR-50, GR-55, 4 X VG-99s,2 X FC-300,  2 X GP-10 AXON AX 100 MKII, FISHMAN TRIPLE PLAY,MIDX-10, MIDX-20, AVID 11 RACK, BEHRINGER FCB 1010, LIVID GUITAR WING, ROLAND US-20, 3 X GUYATONE TO-2. MARSHALL BLUESBREAKER, SERBIAN ELIMINATOR AMP. GR-33.

pasha811

Quote from: alexmcginness on November 20, 2016, 04:00:53 PM
If you plan to use the GP-10 for guitar modeling you may have to rethink that if you use alternate tunings on your 99 and want to duplicate that in the GP 10. Ive tried it and theres pitch anomolies in the GP 10 that the vg99 doesnt have. Just sayin. I have both and continue to use the VG 99 for live playing. Its a bit of a hassle but the benefits far out weigh the drawbacks IMO.

Thank you for your point of view. VG99 to me appears as a delicate beauty, that's why I am worried to bring it around. Temperature Stress, a spill of beer, a hit can damage the unit.
VG99 was not meant for the floor, IMHO.
GT-1 solves the problem for Cover Band playing to me without many hassles.
I have already experienced VG99 live and I was worried all the time. I had plenty of control with an external pedal board for Program Change and the addition of CTRL3/4 plus an EV5.
Yes I might get an used VG99 for live but I was thinking to expand the home capabilities (GP10 has interesting value, despite the differences with the bigger brother and SY-300 it's tempting) while shrinking the live ones. I usually rotate on five to ten patches overall. With GT-1 I miss the GR300 sounds, thats why I was thinking to GP-10. Alternate tunings for me are a welcome addition when I do not want to lower my guitar intonation to match singer capabilities kind of a Key Transpose for guitar (usually not more than 1 tone) because transposition would change a specific riff too much. 
Listen to my music at :  http://alonetone.com/pasha/