- Very easy to use
- Compact and quick solution for recording guitars and vocals
- Table top design
- Possibly couldn't compete with modern guitar processors, but it's extremely affordable!
Hello there, back again with another piece of content here for you. In this article, I would like to feature one of the most practical and budget-friendly guitar processors out there by Boss. This unit is called Boss GT-001 and offers a wide variety of guitar amps & effects in a very portable, desktop-style design. During my service in the MI industry, I had the chance to test a lot of these and even managed to record a quick demo and review for our customers.
Table of Contents
Note that, Boss GT-001 is discontinued and now they offer an advanced version of a new generation desktop guitar processor, Boss GT-1000CORE.
Boss GT-001 can be considered a portable, desktop processor that features Boss GT-100 V2‘s amps and effects. It’s incredibly portable, very easy to use and fits almost into any workspace. On top of the guitar input, you can also throw a microphone into its XLR mic input for your vocals or acoustic instruments.
In addition to that, you will also have a USB input which functions as a USB/MIDI audio interface for recording your guitars/vocals directly into your DAW, as well as tweaking your presets via Boss Tone Studio software. 
There’s also a really cool and unique feature that GT-001 offers. The GT-001 comes with a monophonic guitar-to-MIDI function that allows you to play and trigger software synths and VSTis without the need for a special MIDI pickup.
Before I provide you with the detailed tech specs, I would like to feature that quick demo & review video that I made a long time ago. 
Sound Demo (no talking)
Fun facts about the video above 🙂
I recorded a set of preset sounds with different playing styles and used an SX SST57 Stratocaster guitar. For the audio recording, I used an ancient Apple laptop with a Core2Duo CPU and a FireWire interface by TC Electronics Impact Twin. Since we wanted to show off the unit in a visual way and were really tight with timelines during a busy day, I just recorded the audio and then took the unit outside for a better-quality video. 
As you can see from the video, there were no cables connected to the output, which proves it wasn’t a real-time demo; however, I had to match the preset names with the recorded audio, and I just need to change the presets to show which one I was using for the visual part of the work.
You can see my reflection on the shiny plastic knobs, yes it was me! 🙂
Before I tell you what I think about this unit, let’s have a look at the detailed tech specs of the Boss GT-001 guitar processor.
Tech Specs
| Boss GT-001 | Tech Specs |
|---|---|
| AD Conversion | 24 bits + AF method |
| * AF method (Adaptive Focus method): This is a proprietary method from Roland & BOSS that vastly improves the signal-to-noise (SN) ratio of the AD and DA converters. | |
| DA Conversion | 24 bits |
| Sampling Frequency | 44.1 kHz |
| Patches | 200 (User) + 200 (Preset) |
| Effect Type | COMP, PREAMP(*1), OD/DS(*2), EQ, FX1/FX2(*3), DELAY, CHORUS, REVERB, PEDAL FX, NS1/NS2, ACCEL FX |
| *1 PREAMP | NATURAL CLEAN, FULL RANGE, COMBO CRUNCH, STACK CRUNCH, HiGAIN STACK, POWER DRIVE, EXTREME LEAD, CORE METAL, JC-120, CLEAN TWIN, PRO CRUNCH, TWEED, DELUXE CRUNCH, VO DRIVE, VO LEAD, MATCH DRIVE, BG LEAD, BG DRIVE, MS1959 I, MS1959 I+II, R-FIER VINTAGE, R-FIER MODERN, T-AMP LEAD, SLDN, 5150 DRIVE, BGNR UB METAL, ORNG ROCK REVERB, CUSTOM |
| *2 OD/DS | MID BOOST, CLEAN BOOST, TREBLE BOOST, CRUNCH, NATURAL OD, WARM OD, FAT DS, LEAD DS, METAL DS, OCT FUZZ, A-DIST, BLUES OD, OD-1, T-SCREAM, TURBO OD, DIST, RAT, GUV DS, DST+, METAL ZONE, '60S FUZZ, MUFF FACE, CUSTOM |
| *3 FX1/FX2 | T.WAH, AUTO WAH, SUB WAH, ADV. COMP, LIMITER, SUB OD/DS, GRAPHIC EQ, PARA EQ, TONE MODIFY, GUITAR SIM., AC.GUITAR SIM, SLOW GEAR, DEFRETTER, WAVE SYNTH, SITAR SIM., OCTAVE, PITCH SHIFTER, HARMONIST, OVERTONE, SOUND HOLD, AC. PROCESSOR, PHASER, FLANGER, TREMOLO, ROTARY1, ROTARY2, UNI-V, PAN, SLICER, VIBRATO, RING MOD., HUMANIZER, 2X2 CHORUS, SUB DELAY, TERA ECHO |
| * A-DIST is available in OD/DS and in SUB OD/DS of FX2. | |
| * OVERTONE and TERA ECHO is only available in FX2. | |
| Nominal Input Level | GUITAR IN: -10 dBu |
| MIC IN: -40 dBu | |
| AUX IN: -20 dBu | |
| Input Impedance | GUITAR IN: 1 M ohm |
| MIC IN: 4 k ohms | |
| AUX IN: 27 k ohms | |
| Nominal Output Level | OUTPUT L/MONO, R: -10 dBu |
| PHONES: -10 dBu | |
| Output Impedance | OUTPUT L/MONO, R: 2 k ohms |
| PHONES: 44 ohms | |
| Recommended Load Impedance | OUTPUT L/MONO, R: 10 k ohms or greater |
| PHONES: 44 ohms or greater | |
| Display | Graphic LCD (132 x 32 dots, backlit LCD) |
| Connectors | GUITAR IN jack: 1/4-inch phone type |
| MIC IN jack: XLR type, balanced, phantom power (DC 48 V, 10 mA Max) | |
| AUX IN jack: Stereo miniature phone type | |
| OUTPUT (L/Mono, R) jacks: 1/4-inch phone type | |
| PHONES jack: Stereo miniature phone type | |
| CTL/EXP jack: 1/4-inch TRS phone type | |
| USB COMPUTER port: USB type B | |
| DC IN jack | |
| Power Supply | AC adaptor or obtained via the USB port (USB bus power) |
| Current Draw | 240 mA |
| Included Accessories | Owner's manual |
| Using The Unit Safely document | |
| AC adaptor | |
| Optional Accessories | Dual Footswitch: FS-6, FS-7 |
| Expression Pedal: FV-500L/500H, Roland EV-5 | |
| Size & Weight | Width: 211mm Height: 58mm Depth: 135mm Weight: 500g |
Conclusion
As I have given you some fun facts about the quick demo of Boss GT-001 above, it was clear that the product is an excellent choice for quick guitar recording scenarios. It actually took me a really short time to hook up the unit and start recording without any operational hassle.
In my opinion, Boss GT-001 doesn’t promise a ground-breaking solution with the most unique approach in the digital guitar modelling domain. But it is always a good idea to judge the products within a given context. If you need a complex guitar modelling unit with a lot of essential features such as built-in expression pedals, advanced switching options or extra input for flexibility, it is obvious that you don’t want one.
However, if you consider Boss GT-001 as a very affordable, easy-to-use guitar recording solution, I would totally recommend you to get one, as it’s not going to damage your budget. Tone-wise, I can not prove my point, but when I played with Boss GT-001, I just felt like I was playing with typical Boss COSM amp models, which I really like.
The sensation of the modelling amps and effects reminds me of a portable recorder, the Boss Micro BR-80, which also comes with COSM amp modelling technology. I strongly believe it has the same or almost identical digital structure as this recorder. 
Note that, Boss GT-001 is discontinued and now they offer an advanced version of a new generation desktop guitar processor, Boss GT-1000CORE.
Being able to record your electric, acoustic guitar or vocals via USB for this price and size is very impressive, and as I tested this scenario in a real-life situation, I can easily say it does the job perfectly! An ancient laptop and an audio interface, a very cheap entry-level electric guitar and a Boss GT-001 allowed me to lay a couple of tracks within minutes.
Pricing & Availability
As mentioned in the article, GT-001 was already discontinued when I first released this article. Die-hard Boss fans would know that Boss had already released a new line of guitar processors. So, in case you are still interested in this portable, desktop guitar processor, you may want to check out the GT-1000CORE.
Check out Boss GT-1000CORE on Thomann here
That means you are highly likely to get GT-001 as a used item, not brand new anymore. For this purpose, you need to check out Reverb as there are multiple GT-001 processors listed most of the time.
Check out Boss GT-001 on Reverb here
Also, weirdly, you may see some brand new GT-001 still on Amazon!
Check out Boss GT-001 on Amazon here
Hope this brief article has been helpful. Thanks for visiting my blog and supporting me so far! I will hopefully see you in the next review here!
