GP-10 Guitar Processor with GK-3 Pickup Review

Still a tech wonder!

I use a GP-10 with a Godin XTSA guitar (with GK divided pickup/output). And though I recently moved up to the SY-1000 (which is like GP-10 on steroids)-- the GP-10 still punches way above its class. The design is excellent, and it is built like a tank-- metal chassis, metal i/o jacks. Not only does the GP-10 do fantastic models of a wide variety of electric and acoustic instruments,… read more it also has splendid selection of amp models and effects. The editing features are surprisingly deep, for the models, fx path, and for realtime control with switches & pedals. The reverbs are a little weak, but they're ok. There's a cool, little-known secret config that you can use to create an external FX send/return loop. It involves using a combination of the GK input and normal input. Be warned, it requires careful setup, as it can create a feedback loop if you don't understand how to set it up and use it. I doubt if SW wants me to paste the instructions here. :)

---

Cancel Comment

Amazing range of sounds

Bought this a while ago, never reviewed it, since I still use it all the time I thought I'd give my views. I use a lot of different guitar sounds and this box just makes my life so much easier. Being able to switch from acoustic to electric and back mid-song, for example, is just awesome. If you're obsessed with just getting one perfect tone, you might prefer something else,… read more but if you play a range of different styles, and you need to fill a lot of sonic space, this is the perfect tool. Some detailed thoughts: - it's worth putting effort into the hex pickup setup, especially if you want the acoustic models to sound good. I have a Godin guitar with a built-in hex pickup, needed a few tweaks to the settings, now it tracks perfectly. - There is a TON of flexibility in things like signal routing. Programming without a laptop is do-able but fiddly. Get the Tone Studio App and you'll find things much much easier. - the GP-10 accepts external pedals and footswitches, and has the same powerful/deep control programming features as the GT-10. With a little extra investment in a second foot control pedal and a couple of footswitches, you have a LOT of control of live performance. - Because the tracking is instantaneous, blending synth and guitar sounds works really well. Also blending modeled guitar sounds with "real" guitar sounds. - As with a lot of Bose/Roland products, some sounds that don't sound great in isolation work really well in a band setting. I found this to be especially true of the amp models. No idea if they sound like the amp they are supposed to be modeling, but they sound good. - To my ears, you can get the same wonderful crystalline clean tones as you can with the GT-10. - I don't use alt tunings much, they seem to work very well as long as you're not detuning very far from the original guitar strings.

---

Cancel Comment

Boss GP-10 Guitar Processor with GK-3 Pickup

Works exactly as advertised, amazing sound, endless configurations, really a pleasure to use. For anyone who has limited space you get tons of functionality with this compact device. I am more then satisfied with my purchase ... now for the GK-3 pickup, I dont like the design of the control module... the GK-2 was better looking and fit better on my V-cut style guitarbody, other… read more then that it works fine. For those on a budget its alright but if you want a cleaner look and can afford it you might want to look into the graphtech piezo ghost internal pickup.

---

Cancel Comment

Multi-Tool of Pedals

I have had this pedal since 2015, and can't say enough great things about it. I also have a Gr-55 too which does some amazing things that I love. Here's what I love about the Gp-10 it has tons of amazing effects, tones. speaker, amp, and cabinet simulations. I love the computer interface that allows you to set your parameters, save your patches, and download more patches. I also… read more love the different tunings that you can do too. I love the fact that you can use this pedal has a regular guitar pedal with the 1/4 input too unlike the Gr-55. also the Gr-55 is harder to use too. Sure you lose some of the midi banks on this one, but I use this one more most of the time. Also one time I was playing a song that had a banjo in it play it with the Gp- 10, since I don't play banjo the sound man told me that the night before they had a real Banjo player playing the song and the GP-10 with my Godin Xtsa sounded better. Also have played slide in the middle of a set without having to tune.

---

Cancel Comment

Plentiful Sounds

I bought this unit because Im a theater musician which means I frequently need both an acoustic and electric guitar (sometimes mandolin and banjo as well) and Having that many instruments with you can be an absolute nightmare. I was expecting the acoustic sound to be OK and work in a pinch, but WOW the acoustic simulator on this unit is truly remarkable, it sounds phenomenal. … read more The onboard effects are also quite nice, the chorus is of course great as is the selection of dirt boxes. The signal pathing is also extremely flexible, allowing you to insert effects wherever youd like in the signal path. This unit also mimics some amplifiers pretty well too. I had originally programmed my unit with 25 patches (one for each song in the play) and as the songs progressed you just move to the next patch. I was also going out directly to a mixer and a PA and was using the amp models in there to mimic having an amplifier, the sound was always ideal (particularly with some distortion) but it sounded much, much better than just sending an electric guitar to a mixer. The synth sounds in the unit are also quite nice and very customizable. The biggest gripe I have with the unit is that its hard as hell to program without a computer. Its not HARD necessarily but tiresome as there are so many options it takes forever to scroll through them all, using the computer software makes programming a breeze though I highly recommend hooking it up to a computer when programming it, it will save you a TON of time. If you have a complicated set with a lot of effect choices, or you need an acoustic guitar quickly during a set, this unit is a fantastic choice. This unit can also sit within the signal chain of your existing pedal setup but I would keep in mind that the signal will be buffered. the connection it uses is the 13 pin cable plugs into the tailpiece part of the pickup, and 6" cable goes from the input jack to the tailpiece, then the signal gets carried on pin 13 to the unit. Ive noticed it retains the guitars tone extremely well, especially because the signal isn't traveling through a ton of cable before it gets buffered. This buffering will interact strangely with a Wah or Fuzz though, they seems to not like buffered signals too much. All in all, this is a fantastic multi effects unit and the ability to use the pickup to synthesize other electrics, acoustics, and synths is really great (the bass effects I do not like though, I haven't tweaked them to sound GOOD yet. The electric guitar synthesis, the synth sounds, and the acoustic synthesis are all GREAT though, theyre really nice.) The unit also sounds pretty good without using the pickup, however I feel the strongest effects you get come from using the pickup (theres a multi string effect called Poly distortion, its really cool. You can get a hugely distorted sound but when you strike a chord, you can hear each note sounding clearly, its not just noise. ITs really cool) Its also worth noting that installing the pickup isn't necessarily SUPER easy. It gave me more problems than I was anticipating. I originally thought it would fit so well on my strat because it seems almost built for strats and LPs, but I noticed that this pickup doesn't fit super well if you like to keep a very low string action. When I slipped it on my Stratocaster, it looked like I was going to have to raise each saddle in order to just fit the pickup under the strings. I found the most luck with tune-o-matic styled bridge, theres a clip that slips over the posts and the bridge goes on top (youll need to lower each post as far down as you can in order to fit the pickup in and NOT raise your string action too much). Using a bridge like this also means you don't have any holes to drill and its completely reversible. (Ive even been able to change which guitar its on while the strings are still attached, however its MUCh easier to do while the strings are OFF. )

---

Cancel Comment