Roland U.S.

Mike Bauer

Through the Years With My Boss GT Effects Pedals (Part 1)

I’ve been using BOSS GT multi-effects pedals faithfully since 2000, and they’ve toured all over the world with me from Europe to Asia, Alaska to Africa and almost every state in the U.S. Through all that time and travel, I’m happy to report that not once did I ever have any mechanical problem with my GT pedals. BOSS’ reputation for reliability is true – they really are built like tanks!

There are so many things I love about the GT pedals. I started with the GT-5 and recently upgraded to a GT-8, and the thing that keeps me coming back is the seemingly infinite number of quality BOSS effects I have at my disposal in one unit. Literally any sound I need is there and easy to call up. From the most common effects like overdrives, delays, and tremolos, to the most unusual ones like a whammy pedal and voice/vowel simulators – having a GT pedal is like carrying a gigantic pedal board in a hand bag.

Besides the convenience of myriad effects, switching sounds on a GT is a dream. I love not having to “pedal dance” to change tones (my sister got the dancing gene).  When I want to go from a clean tone with compression and tremolo to my dirtiest distortion, I can do it in one tap of the foot. On my big analog pedal board, that would take at least four very strange dance steps.

The built-in tuner is another one of the GT’s great features, which is very important to me. Not all units out there are equipped with trustworthy tuners. But with BOSS’ long history of industry standard tuners (TU-12 & TU-2) they obviously put a great one in the GT. There are two things I especially love about it besides it being accurate and easy to read. I can set the tuner to mute the output when tuning. This allows me to tune silently anytime, even in the middle of songs if I need to. Another great tuning feature is its ability to move up or down from standard “A 440". This comes in handy when I play at churches whose piano is a little sharp or flat. I can set my tuner in the GT to “442" or “439" and easily get in tune with piano. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to do!

Finally, I have to mention the ability to “go direct”. In the Global section, there are several options for choosing what you’re running the GT into, i.e. combo amp, amp stack, direct, et cetera. The GTs have the amazing ability to sound terrific going direct into a P.A. system. Just make sure to use a direct box.

Using one of the GT’s many speaker simulators makes my sound smoother and warmer when going into a P.A. or recording console instead of an amplifier. This is a wonderful option to explore in worship applications because all your sound is only coming out of the monitors and really helps keep the stage volume down. This also gives the sound person much more control. I remember several years ago when I was playing with Pam Tillis. I came into the second rehearsal with my GT-5 and asked the sound man if I could go direct. His look was priceless. I’m sure he was thinking something like, “Digital effects AND you want to go direct on a country gig?” Well, by the end of the rehearsal he was so surprised he said, “You can leave your amp at home if you like” and then bought a GT for himself!

A GT multi-effects pedal has lots of powerful tools for guitarists in any type of music and in my next article I’ll talk about how you can make the most of them for yours.

Mike Bauer is a Nashville-based guitarist and clinician who has worked with over 35 artists including Pam Tillis, 4HIM, Paul Baloche, Point of Grace, Sara Groves, and Chely Wright. Mike and his wife also have a worship seminar and praise team coaching ministry called "The Art of Worship Seminars.” Currently he is working on two instructional guitar videos. To learn more about Mike Bauer visit his web site at www.artofworshipseminars.com.