Boss GT-10B

The Boss GT-10B is a bass multi-effects unit from Boss, the guitar and bass brand of Roland Corporation¹. What sets it apart from many floorboard multi-effects of its era is its computer connection: the GT-10B hooks up to a computer over USB, and Boss published a long line of USB drivers for it covering Windows versions from XP through 10 and Mac operating systems from Mac OS X v10.3.9 through macOS 10.14²³⁴⁵⁶.

This page covers the computer side of the GT-10B: how the USB connection works, which drivers Boss published for which operating systems, and how the bundled GT-10B Librarian software fits in. Players comparing it with other Boss multi-effects units like the Boss GT-10 or the BOSS GX-1B can use the driver record here to see exactly which computer setups the unit supports.

USB connection to a computer

The GT-10B connects to a computer over USB. Boss's driver pages describe the requirement as "a computer with a USB connector that supports USB Specification Revision 1.1 or higher"⁹, and the Mac drivers call for "an Apple Mac series computer with on-board USB"¹⁰⁸¹¹. The Windows Vista driver lists a slightly lower bar, "a USB connector that supports USB Specification Revision 1.0 or higher"⁴, and the Windows 10 driver asks simply for a "Windows-compatible PC equipped with USB port"⁵.

One point Boss makes about the USB connection is worth knowing: plugging into a faster USB 3.0 port does not change how the unit performs. As the driver page puts it²:

In other words, even if the GT-10B is connected to a USB 3.0 port, the performance of the product will not change².

Windows drivers

Boss published GT-10B drivers for five Windows generations. Each is version 1.0.0, and each targets a specific Windows release, with 32-bit and 64-bit editions getting separate downloads in some cases⁴¹⁵.

The Windows Vista situation is the one that catches players out. The standard Vista driver, Boss states plainly, "does not work with the 64-bit Edition of Windows Vista"⁴, so a 64-bit Vista machine needs the separate 64-bit edition driver¹. Boss also notes that the 64-bit driver is not for Mac hardware: "Macintosh computers running Microsoft Windows are not supported"¹.

Mac drivers

On the Mac side, Boss spread driver support across a wide range of Apple operating systems, from Mac OS X v10.3.9 to v10.5 up to macOS 10.13 and 10.14. The driver version you need depends on which OS X or macOS release your computer runs³².

All of the Mac drivers require "an Apple Mac series computer with on-board USB"¹⁰⁸¹¹. The pattern in the version numbers is straightforward: the earliest Mac operating systems got version 1.0.0, the OS X 10.9 through 10.11 era got version 1.0.1, and the final macOS 10.13 and 10.14 release got version 1.0.3, the same version Boss lists for the USB 3.0 note above²³¹⁰¹³.

The GT-10B Librarian

Licensing

The drivers are covered by the Roland Software License Agreement², and the software and its copyrights are the property of Roland¹⁰. That is standard for Boss and Roland downloads: the driver is free to download and use with the unit, but it remains Roland's software under their license terms²¹⁰.

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