RatingsPros:A mind-boggling selection of great-sounding effects and amp sims. Versatile connectivity. Well-engineered and -executed, user-friendly design. Solid value. Cons: Amp simulations could be more realistic. Street: $699 Boss GT-1000CORE boss.info/us
| Tones:  Ease of Use:  Build/Design:  Value: |
Boss requires no introduction among guitar pedal nuts. But while the company has made countless classic compact stompboxes since the late '70s, their multi-effects units have become stage staples in their own right. While it is much more than a simple multi-effects pedal (it also features amp simulations and deep programmability), the GT-1000CORE is the newest addition to that branch of Boss' lineage. And although the company likes to emphasize the CORE's relatively small size and ease of integration with pedalboards, it's hard not to be struck by its deep capabilities.
The GT-1000CORE has the processing power of its big brother, the GT-1000, but fewer onboard functions and no built-in expression pedal. Yet there are 140 unique amp and effects types available as well as up to 24 simultaneous effect blocks—all rendered via 96 kHz/32-bit processing and AD/DA conversion. It also has 250 user and 250 preset memory slots. Needless to say, there won't be room here to discuss every sound, editing capability, and programming function at length, but Boss offers excellent online and user-manual resources to help you navigate this substantive unit.
Selection Committee
The user interface includes five push–button/rotary parameter editing knobs, one selector knob, one master output knob, three stomp switches, and six pushbuttons that take care of additional menu, programming, and navigation functions, which are monitored via a 1.75" x 4.35" LCD control screen.
In theory, almost everything can be programmed from the GT-1000CORE itself, but, as with most such high-functioning processors, it can be easier—and instructive—to edit with your Mac or PC via USB and using Boss' user-friendly Tone Studio editing software.
The CORE has stereo ins and outs (the left output doubles as a stereo headphone out), along with connections for several expression and external control pedals, two sets of loop sends and returns for use with other pedals, amps, or processors, and MIDI connectivity. Since it's usable either as a multi-effects processor or as an effect-and-amp simulator, the GT-1000CORE can be configured for output into a traditional guitar amp or full range flat response rig (with or without speaker/cab-sim IRs engaged). The amp simulations use Boss' new AIRD technology, an impulse-response method that evolved from the Tube Logic system in Boss' well-regarded Katana amps. The unit also works great going direct to a DAW for recording and re-amping. And … phew, we haven't even got to the sounds.
Sounding Off
Tested using several guitars and a variety of connection methods to traditional guitar amps and studio monitors, the GT-1000CORE unleashed a mind-boggling selection of great-sounding effects and realistic amp simulations that can be mixed and matched in what feels like infinite ways. As you might expect from Boss, the effects are the real stars of the show, and many of them that I selected from the very impressive range of Boss favorites and other pedals were practically indistinguishable from their originals.
Boss packed plenty of creative presets into the unit, so it's easy to get up and running—and have a lot of fun in the process—without touching a control apart from the selector. Tweaking and saving your own presets is easy enough, though, and you can create, re-shuffle, and manipulate ridiculously complex signal chains that would be tricky to replicate in physical form.
Amid all this virtual stompbox richness, the amp simulations are a nice bonus. They sound good and pretty consistently replicate the experience of hooking up to the Katana platform. That said, I generally experienced a more satisfying “in the room" sound and playing feel by disabling the AIRD and running the GT-1000CORE as an effects unit into traditional tube amps.
The Verdict
The GT-1000CORE is effectively the stompbox collection of a Boss fanatic's dream—all packed into one very compact, practical, and user-friendly box, with a ton of bonus features for flexible connectivity, editing, studio-quality processing, recording, and performance. It's quite an achievement for the price and size. Players obsessed with the most realistic, responsive amp tones and hyper-realistic IRs may need to consider more expensive options. But for a fly rig, or home recording, the GT-1000CORE offers a whole lot of value.
Watch our First Look demo of the Boss GT-1000CORE:
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This month’s mod Dan’s uses a 500k linear pot, a 1.5H inductor (L) with a 0.039 µF (39nF) cap (C), and a 220k resistor (R) in parallel.
Don’t let the name fool you, this is a purely passive device—nothing is going to be boosted. In general, you can’t increase anything with passive electronics that isn’t already there. Period. But you can reshape the tone by deemphasizing certain frequencies and making others more prominent (so … “boost” in guitar marketing language). Removing highs makes lows more apparent, and vice versa. In addition, the use of inductors (which create the magnetic field in a guitar circuit) and capacitors will create resonant peaks and valleys (bandpasses and notches), further coloring the overall tone. This type of bandpass filter only allows certain frequencies to pass through, while others are blocked, and it all works at unity gain.
“You can’t increase anything with passive electronics that isn’t already there … but you can reshape the tone by deemphasizing certain frequencies and making others more prominent.”
All the systems I mentioned above are doing more or less the same thing, using different approaches and slightly different component values. They are all meant to be updated tone controls. Our common tone circuit is usually a variable low-pass filter (aka treble-cut filter), which only allows the low frequencies to pass through, while the high frequencies get sent to ground via the tone cap. Most of these systems are LCR networks, which means that there is not only a capacitor (C), like on our standard tone controls, but also an inductor (L) and a resistor (R).
In general, all these systems are meant to control the midrange in order to scoop the mids, creating a mid-cut. This can be a cool sounding option, e.g. on a Strat for that mid-scooped neck and middle tone.
Dan Torres offered his “midrange kit” via an internet shop that is no longer online, same with his business website. The Torres design is a typical LCR network and looks like the illustration at the top of this column.
Dan’s design uses a 500k linear pot, a 1.5H inductor (L) with a 0.039 µF (39nF) cap (C), and a 220k resistor (R) in parallel. Let’s break down the parts piece by piece:
Any 500k linear pot will do the trick, in one of the rare scenarios where a linear pot works better in a passive guitar system than an audio pot.
(C) 0.039µF cap: This is kind of an odd value. Keeping production tolerances of up to 20 percent in mind, any value that is close will do, so you can use any small cap you want for this. I would prefer a small metallized film cap, and any voltage rating will do. If you want to stay as close as possible to the original design, use any 0.039 µF low-tolerance film cap.
(L) 1.5H inductor: The original design uses a Xicon 42TL021 inductor, which is easy to find and fairly priced. This one is also used in the Bill Lawrence Q-Filter design, the Gibson standard Varitone, and many other systems like this. It’s very small, so it will fit in virtually every electronic compartment of a guitar. It has a frequency range of 300 Hz up to 3.4 kHz, with a primary impedance of 4k ohms (that’s the one we want to use) and a secondary impedance of 600 ohms. Snip off the three secondary leads and the center tap of the primary side and use the two remaining outer primary leads; the primary side is marked with a “P.” On the pic, you can see the two leads you need marked in red, all other leads can be snipped off. You can connect the two remaining leads to the pot either way; it doesn’t matter which of them is going to ground when using it this way.
Drawing courtesy of singlecoil.com
(R) 220k: use a small axial metal film resistor (0.25 W), which is easy to find and is the quasi-standard.
Other designs use slightly different part values—the Bill Lawrence Q-filter has a 1.8H L, 0.02 µF C and 8k R, while the old RA Gresco Tone Qube from the ’80s has a 1.5H L, 0.0033 µF C, and a 180k R, so this is a wide field for experimentation to tweak it for your personal tone.
This mid-cut system can be put into any electric guitar not only as a master tone, but also together with a regular tone control or something like the Fender Greasebucket, or it can be assigned only to a certain pickup. It can be a great way to enhance your sonic palette, so give it a try.
That’s it! Next month, we’ll take a deeper look into how to fight feedback on a Telecaster. It’s a common issue, so stay tuned!
Until then ... keep on modding!