Boss GT-10

The Boss GT-10 is a floorboard guitar effects processor from Boss, released in 2008¹. It runs two COSM modeling engines with 24-bit processing, and Boss's own history of the GT series credits it as the first model in the line to introduce a dual parallel chain, a dual parallel preamp, a USB audio/MIDI port, and a looper². MusicRadar's review counted 200 factory presets and 200 user memory slots².

The GT-10 series has been discontinued, as Bass Gear Magazine reported in December 2017³. Boss still maintains support pages for the unit, covering USB drivers for Windows and macOS, the GT-10 Librarian, and firmware updates, which is what this page focuses on.

What the GT-10 does

MusicRadar's review describes the GT-10's patches as arranged in banks of four, navigated with the bank up and down footswitches and the first four footswitches of the main row². The review also notes that Boss reduced the amount of real-time control compared with earlier GT units, in line with Boss's own account that the GT-10 moved away from tactile knobs toward button-based menu scrolling²¹.

The review found the 24-bit processing of the dual COSM modeling engines apparent in the sound, praised the looper as user-friendly, and called the sound quality fantastic. On build, it describes the whole unit housed in a steel casing with an expression pedal of the same material, while flagging the raised plastic knobs and footswitches as possible onstage damage risks².

Boss's GT-series history also notes that the GT-10 shipped with custom patches created by Paul Hanson, a Boss Product Specialist and author of the book "Shred Guitar"⁵.

USB drivers and the GT-10 Librarian

The GT-10 connects to a computer over USB, and Boss hosts a driver page for it with information on the driver compatible with Microsoft Windows 10⁵. During installation on Windows 10, the Windows SmartScreen warning may appear; Boss gives this procedure⁵:

1. Click [ More info ]
2. Click [ Run anyway ]

On the Mac side, Boss lists two drivers⁶⁷:

Boss notes that even if the GT-10 is connected to a USB 3.0 port, the performance of the product will not change⁷. Both drivers are distributed under the Roland Software License Agreement⁶.

The GT-10 Librarian, the patch-management software for the unit, is compatible with the bundled version of the driver, according to Boss's support notices for both the GT-10 and the bass-oriented GT-10B⁸⁹.

Updating the GT-10 firmware

Boss's firmware update instructions for the GT-10 support two connection methods: a MIDI connection from the PC's MIDI OUT to the GT-10's MIDI IN, or a USB cable. If you use USB, the GT-10 USB Driver must be installed before the update, and the update tool's UpdSMF MIDI Out device list shows the unit as [BOSS GT-10]⁴.

The update itself runs in the GT-10's update mode⁴:

1. Simultaneously hold down [CHANNEL SELECT], [DISPLAY MODE] and [WRITE] and turn on the power.
2. Run the update from the computer over MIDI or USB.
3. Wait for the update to finish; Boss says the process takes approximately 30 minutes⁴.

To check which firmware version a GT-10 is running before updating, hold down the [DISPLAY MODE] button and turn on the power; the version number is shown on the display⁴.

GT-10 versus GT-10B

The GT-10B is the bass counterpart on the same platform, and like the GT-10 it has been discontinued³⁸. Its driver lineup mirrors the guitar unit's, with separate downloads per operating system^10111213:

The GT-10B also connects over USB to an Apple Mac series computer with on-board USB¹⁴, and its own Librarian is compatible with the bundled driver version⁸.

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