Most of us happily associate Boss with candy-colored stompboxes; Boss guitar effects pedals are indeed colorful and attractive. They look stylish and elegant. And there are many traveling musicians who swear by the platforms; these metal workhorses are incredibly durable. Since Boss is a long-time player in the industry, these facts are not surprising.
However, the confusion usually comes when you have to choose one model from the numerous options available. If you are reading this article, you are now most probably not sure whether to choose Boss GT-1 or Boss GT-100. Both are popular guitar effects pedals with comprehensive features and qualities. The legendary Boss GT-100 is indeed more expensive by several hundred dollars; it is packed with all the powers you need to create virtually limitless guitar sounds and textures. Will Boss GT-1 be a more cost-efficient solution? Let’s see the comparisons below!
Designs and Dimensions
The first thing that you may need to consider when choosing between Boss GT-1 and Boss GT-100 is the overall size. Boss GT-1 is still quite compact and lightweight, and is still quite portable. It measures by 305 mm wide, 152 mm deep, and 74 mm tall. It weighs by about 1.3 kg, and that already includes the batteries. Boss GT-1 is easy and convenient to bring along to places. On the other hand, Boss GT-100 is quite significantly larger at 542 mm x 271 mm x 80 mm and 4.8 kg. Of course, there are many traveling guitarists who don’t mind Boss GT-100’s bulky and heavy body, but the dimensions certainly require you to think a little more about how to bring the device.
Boss GT-1 comes with a sturdy black housing. The sides and the footswitches are bordered with blue lines. It looks nice and professional. It is equipped with three footswitches, an expression pedal, and some knobs and buttons. There is a backlit alphanumeric LCD for control, which is convenient to read thanks to the neutral color. Unfortunately, the size of the display is a little bit too small. Reading it from a standing height can be difficult, especially if you are short sighted.
Boss GT-100 features an ultra-rugged metal housing that houses lots of footswitches for the ultimate control. Seriously, there are eight on-board footswitches and an expression pedal. Now, who needs that many footswitches? They bring tremendous control power, but, if you have been used to having just two or three footswitches, you probably won’t use some of the footswitches often. There are also various control knobs and buttons. The on-board text is written in a golden font, and the red backlit display screen is wide and very easy to read, even from a standing position. However, some people may find the glaring red color not very convenient to read for a long time. Good thing that there is no need to stare the display continuously if you know what you are doing. Overall, it certainly looks very professional. (Read also : Boss ME-80 Vs GT-100)
Connectors
Of course, the two models come with different connectors. Boss GT-1 is already considered usable by many guitarists, as it already has a USB port that you can use to connect to a PC to download more patches or to employ the editor/librarian software. All the input and output jacks are 1/4” phone type jacks. There are also stereo miniature phone type AUX input jack and CTL2,3/EXP2 jack.
Boss GT-100 has more connectors. It certainly comes with the 1/4” input and output jacks, stereo miniature phone type AUX input jack, and USB port. But it also has dedicated MIDI I/O ports, a stereo 1/4” phone type output jack for headphones, external loop jacks with send and return channels, an amp control jack, and a CTL1,2/EXP jack. Not all people use the additional ports, so, if you don’t need Boss GT-100’s additional ports, you may want to stick with Boss GT-1.
Powering
Another thing that you may need to consider when choosing between Boss GT-1 and Boss GT-100 is whether you prefer to use a battery-operated pedal or not. Boss GT-1 has a smaller current draw, making it possible to be powered by batteries. It works on four alkaline AA batteries. The batteries can last for approximately 7 hours. It can also be powered by a power outlet using an AC adaptor, but the AC adaptor is sold separately.
On the other hand, Boss GT-100 has a larger current draw that it cannot be powered by batteries. It has to be plugged to a power outlet and powered by a 9V DC power supply. Fortunately, the AC adaptor is included.
Effects and Features
Each of the two models comes with a looper that can record up to 38 seconds continuously in mono, 19 seconds if in stereo. Boss GT-1 features 108 types of effects, including various types of reverbs, delays, overdrives, distortions, and mods. The memory is quite large. There 99 factory presets included, which are nice and usable, and you can store up to 99 user patches.
Boss GT-100 comes with a tremendously big storage. There are 200 factory presets included, and the memory can store another 200 user patches. There are numerous effects available.
In general, the two effects of the two models have comparable quality. Boss GT-1 sounds almost as good as Boss GT-100. However, the acoustic patches on Boss GT-100 are clearer and more natural than Boss GT-1’s. In addition, Boss GT-100 also has better overall definition than Boss GT-1. In live situations, these differences do not matter much because of room acoustics. However, for recording, the differences are more noticeable, though not very significant.
| Boss GT-1 | Boss GT-100 | |
|---|---|---|
| Brand | BOSS Audio | BOSS Audio |
| Key features | Flagship-class BOSS sound engine squeezed into a light and compact floor unit Modern design with no hard edges enables safe transport in a guitar bagEasy Select and Easy Edit functions for quickly choosing and tweaking patchesFour AA batteries provide up to seven hours of playing time for busking and mobile gigsOnboard control switch and expression pedal; footswitch/expression pedal jack and USBDownload ready-to-play pro patches for free at BOSS Tone Central | Advanced COSM amps that model vintage amp tones and delivers never-before-heard tonesImproved EZ Tone with graphical Tone Grid for constructing new patchesAMP Customize and OD/DS Customize lets you easily create original amps and overdrive/distortion by customizing their behaviorNewly developed ACCEL pedal for simultaneous control of multiple parameters2 LCD displays (132 x 64 dots, backlit LCD)MIDI connectors (in, out)44 effectsProgram memories: 400 (200 user + 200 preset)USB connector |
| Price | ||
| Customer Ratings* | 4.1 out of 5 stars | 4.3 out of 5 stars |
| Best Deal* | Save Money Please click here | Save Money Please click here |
NOTE : Product prices, availability, ratings and save money information are accurate as of the date/time indicated on post time (as seen right bellow the tittle) and are subject to change. Any price, ratings, availability and save money information displayed on Amazon Site at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Decision
Boss GT-1 is more compact and can be powered by batteries. The effects are nearly as good as Boss GT-100’s. If you don’t mind the small display and don’t need the additional features offered by the more expensive option, Boss GT-1 is definitely the better value for the money. However, if you don’t mind spending more bucks for slightly improved sound quality, Boss GT-100 is a solid choice. It also has great control and additional ports.