Small and Mighty: The GT-1B Bass Effects Processor

The Ultimate Mobile Tone Companion for Bass Players

BOSS GT-1B Bass Effects Processor.

If you’re a gigging bass player, you know how beneficial it is to travel as light as possible. With BOSS’s GT-1B, you have all the tone-shaping tools you need in an ultra-portable device that fits easily in your instrument or gear bag. This compact powerhouse is loaded with pro-quality preamps and effects specially tuned for bass, and it even runs on batteries for the ultimate mobile convenience. Read on to learn more about the deep features this streamlined bass machine has to offer.

Video: GT-1B Bass Effects Processor

Pro Preamps and Effects, Tuned for Bass

While they cross paths in some areas, the sound processing needs of bassists are usually quite different to those of guitar players. BOSS has long recognized this fact, and has produced a wide range of bass-specific tone tools over the years. The GT-1B combines decades of BOSS know-how with the very latest technology, giving players a wealth of creative options in a space-saving, travel-ready design.

The GT-1B Bass Effects Processor offers pro effects and extensive real-time control in a compact, rugged package.

To start, the GT-1B comes with 13 different preamp types. Newly refreshed versions of preamps found in the legacy GT-10B are included, plus new GK BASS and MARK models. Many preamps are derived from classic bass amplifiers, and there’s also a flat-response preamp type for uncolored sound shaping. There’s even a preamp that works great with acoustic bass, plus four guitar-flavored preamps for increased versatility. You can use the preamps to shape your core tone before running into a bass amp, and pair them with matched speaker emulations for direct applications live and in the studio.

The GT-1B also includes 77 unique effects optimized for bass. Essentials like compressor, graphic EQ, parametric EQ, T-Wah, and more are on board, plus more intensive effects like Harmonist, Bass Synth, Defretter (a cool fretless simulation) , and numerous others. And with the Bass Simulator effect, you can emulate single coil and humbucker pickup types, active and passive circuitry, upright sounds, and more. A large selection of bass-optimized overdrives and distortions are available too, along with an array of modulation, delay, and reverb effects. There’s even a dedicated looper for practicing and spicing up live performances.

Thanks to its slim, travel-ready design, the GT-1B slips easily into the accessory compartment of a bass bag.

Dial in Sounds Quickly and Easily

Via its intuitive interface, the GT-1B makes it easy for anyone to get great bass sounds. Editing for each effect category is a quick button press away, and three panel knobs provide direct access to the onscreen parameters. The category buttons can also be used to turn effects on/off, and have built-in indicators that show the on/off status of all effects at once.

By using the Easy Select and Easy Edit functions, you can create patches even faster. Easy Select lets you call up ready-made patches by genre, perfect for beginning players and anyone who is new to effects. And with Easy Edit, you can fine-tune the tone, modulation, and reverb sounds in any patch with just a few knob turns.

The GT-1B runs on four AA-size batteries or an optional PSA-series AC adapter.

Extensive Real-Time Control in a Compact Space

The three footswitches on the GT-1B provide a lot more control than meets the eye. The left and middle footswitches scroll up and down through the GT-1B’s 99 user and 99 preset patches, while pressing the right footswitch controls a specific function designated in the current patch. This could be tap tempo for a delay or mod effect, on/off control or parameter adjustment of one or more effects, or a boost for soloing. Up to six unique functions can be assigned in each patch, so the sky’s the limit!

The GT-1B’s three footswitches provide access to a variety of functions.

Pressing the left and middle footswitches together calls up the built-in tuner (and also mutes the sound by default). Pressing the middle and right footswitches together provides on-demand access to the GT-1B’s looper, and automatically reconfigures the right switch for looper control.

The GT-1B also features a built-in expression pedal with an integrated toe switch. You can assign the pedal to control functions like volume, wah, pitch shift, and many more, and use the toe switch to toggle between them as desired. And if that’s not enough, it’s even possible to connect up to two external footswitches or an expression pedal via a rear panel jack.

BOSS Tone Studio, USB Recording, and More

USB cable connected to the rear panel of the GT-1B.

Connecting the GT-1B to your computer via USB opens up even more creative possibilities. At the BOSS Tone Central website, you can download a growing number of free patch collections created by pro bassists. Also free is the BOSS Tone Studio software, which provides a full-featured editor/librarian for the GT-1B and built-in access to all the patch collections at BOSS Tone Central. In addition, the USB jack lets you record the GT-1B’s great bass tones directly to any DAW.

To learn more about the compact and mighty GT-1B Bass Effects Processor, check out the product page at Boss.info.

Screenshots from the BOSS Tone Studio editor for the GT-1B.